TARC Parts assortment Egg Payload Question...

I'm currently building an Eggspress (1996) (from parts), and a Scrambler (2072) (from a kit), and I've got a question about the nosecone...

In looking at the TARC parts assortment, I noticed that the nosecone that is included is white. Which makes me wonder if this is made from the same kind of plastic as nearly all Estes plastic nosecones are, or is it just that they've switched to a white polyethylene?



I've read that the original Eggspress/Scrambler nosecones were molded from a yellow polyethylene plastic. The one I got as parts from Eric's sale this year had been painted, but the paint was flaking off (using a fingernail and a piece of tape, I was able to completely strip it). This makes me very nervous about the paint I'm thinking of applying to it. I sanded it to remove the seams from the molding process, and the glossy yellow finish is gone. I went with increasingly finer grades of sandpaper (320, 400, 600, and 1200), and I can't get it to look polished. An attempt at flame polishing also failed (no damage).

Thanks!
Jim

This cone is molded with the same plastic that ALL Estes blow molded cones are made of.


John Boren
Estes R&D

But yes, the original Eggspress/Scrambler cones were molded in yellow (I have two Eggspresses, one built, and one unopened). I think it may have had another color over the years, and since it started as the Centuri/Enerjet EggCrate nose cone back in 1972, it may have once been molded in black, but I've got no evidence.

JumpJet said:

This cone is molded with the same plastic that ALL Estes blow molded cones are made of.


John Boren
Estes R&D

Click to expand...

John, is that made from the same tooling as the original, or did you redo that one as you did the others a few years ago?

JumpJet said:

This cone is molded with the same plastic that ALL Estes blow molded cones are made of.


John Boren
Estes R&D

Click to expand...

Thanks John!

I'm curious about the "ALL" part of your comment though. I've never had a blow molded nosecone from Estes refuse paint like the old yellow Scrambler/Eggspress nose cone I got from Eric. I've read that those were polyethylene, and they certainly don't feel (more flexible, harder to sand) like any other Estes blow molded nosecone I've ever encountered (save the yellow and blue BT-56 NC's I got with the Heli Copter/Maniac) Is it possible that those NC's purchased in kits from the 80's and 90's were just old Centuri/Enerjet parts being used up before the white styrene ones were made?

Here's the sanded, bare plastic, yellow nosecone on my unfinished Eggspress (No. 1996) "E" powered mod... and the same nosecone as it appeared when I received it.



The real issue here is how to make them (yellow ones) look all nice and shiny like the kits show in the artwork and stay that way with regular use.

RoyAtl said:

I think it may have had another color over the years, and since it started as the Centuri/Enerjet EggCrate nose cone back in 1972, it may have once been molded in black, but I've got no evidence.

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The information that I have been able to discover agrees with the Enerjet EggCrate nose cone being molded in black plastic.

The tooling used for these TARC egg capsule is the original tooling but it is now worn out so this nose cone will most likely not be retooled.

The original cones from years past were made out of Hi Density Poly Ethylene which I guess from your description doesn't accept paint very well. This Last batch of TARC egg capsule cones were made from HIPS, High Impact PolyStyrene just like all the other blow molded cones Estes Produces. Color can be added to either of these plastics. Those smaller injected molded cones seen in the image are made of either Styrene of ABS plastic. Newer stuff that I've created has all been made out of ABS.


John Boren