Estes Andromeda

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Dseter

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I watched with complete amazement as the Original Estes Andromeda recently on Feebay went skyrocketing to $137 dollars plus. Mind boggling.... So after a rummage through the old extra parts boxes in the garage and my old original kit instructions from 1978 onward I was on my way to building my third Andromeda, my first two having been built somewhere in the eighties back when I was a simple boy with a dream...
I did actually buy a few of the stubby BT-50 cones for just such a project a few years back but otherwise most everything else was just laying about in my extras stuff. I had a couple unused 18" BT-20 tubes, a nice long BT-50 for the bigger section, reactor BT and Ram tubes, and some old Estes die cut adapter ring card sections I could use for the rings as well as plenty of 1/8 dowel stock. I spent today cutting the tubes to size and cutting out the fins and sanding them. Now to assemble the motor mount section and get the rings in place. I find I rarely follow the order of the original Estes instructions on most any rocket. I do generally stick to the over all order of motor mount first, then fins, then lug(s), detail pieces, etc. The main fins were cut out in halves, then glued together over some wax paper using Titebond II and a steel ruler for the root edges to sit on and line up against. Thanks to Mark again at Stickershock I'm slowly rebuilding a fleet of old favorite rockets I had when I was a teen, the Andromeda decals are already here waiting to go on. Next post I hope to have the bottom section complete with all fins in place.

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yea I know if we had half the rockets we had when we were kids we could afford a ride on the dragon..I just lost the bid on that pathfinder..it looked pretty cool.Oh and yes I had a andromeda
 
This rocket is one that many BARs want to see come back, but I don't know if Estes is interested in re-releasing it. As Saluki pointed out, most of the parts are available from Semroc making this an easy clone. So I have a hard time when I see an outrageous price for any rocket that is cloneable.
 
Go here and order all the parts, plus the fins are laser cut and the tubes are cut for you.

Yeah...No thanks- I'd rather go to the garage, grab my extras and build it all myself for less, and no waiting!
 
This rocket is one that many BARs want to see come back, but I don't know if Estes is interested in re-releasing it. As Saluki pointed out, most of the parts are available from Semroc making this an easy clone. So I have a hard time when I see an outrageous price for any rocket that is cloneable.

I don't see Estes bringing this one back either, even built properly, it's destined to take a beating if one actually launches it. I don't understand anyone actually building one of these and launching it after paying over a hundred dollars for it- madness. What's the point, a rocket is made to launch!
 
My Andromeda timeline goes like this: Owned an original in 1977. Never flew it and the guys I gave it to don't remember anything about it. Bought a set of decals from JimZ in 2001 and began work on a clone. Finally flew it in 2006, but still haven't put the decals on.:blush: At least I beat the 30 year deadline. :wink:
 
My Andromeda timeline goes like this: Owned an original in 1977. Never flew it and the guys I gave it to don't remember anything about it. Bought a set of decals from JimZ in 2001 and began work on a clone. Finally flew it in 2006, but still haven't put the decals on.:blush: At least I beat the 30 year deadline. :wink:

Ha! Great story- I had two of these guys sitting side by side in my hobby room for at least 15 years slowly falling apart from the occasional mishap until I finally had to let them go. I know I launched them both successfully at least a few times but wish I had taken better care of them. Hey get those decals on and post the photo here!
 
My all time 3 favorite Estes kits were the Pershing 1A ,Honest John and the Andromeda.....hands down ! I built them all ,flew them all and destroyed them all :(

I have since aquired two new Honest Johns from Darrell Mobeley before he passed away ,scratch built two Pershings and bought the Andromeda upscale from Q modeling ,but I think an original scratch build would be great ,and can see myself doing one in the future.

Yessir ,what can you say about the Andromeda ,this thread sure brings back fond memories of me building mine back in the 70`s.

I`ll be watching with great interest ,so plenty of pictures please !

Cheers

Paul T
 
Ha! Great story- I had two of these guys sitting side by side in my hobby room for at least 15 years slowly falling apart from the occasional mishap until I finally had to let them go. I know I launched them both successfully at least a few times but wish I had taken better care of them. Hey get those decals on and post the photo here!

I started thinking about this project and decided that I needed to do a review on it. That got me thinking and I checked Rocket Reviews and found that I already did a review on it. :p https://www.rocketreviews.com/estes-andromeda-bill-eichelberger.html
 
Yeah...No thanks- I'd rather go to the garage, grab my extras and build it all myself for less, and no waiting![/QUOTE]

Dseter, I agree with you. If you have the parts handy use them. I just thought anyone reading this thread that wanted to build a Andromeda could find the parts a vably at a reasonable price at SEMROC.

I will be watching this thread with great interest.
 
Dseter, I agree with you. If you have the parts handy use them. I just thought anyone reading this thread that wanted to build a Andromeda could find the parts a vably at a reasonable price at SEMROC.

I will be watching this thread with great interest.[/QUOTE]

Yeah good link and nice to know the parts are out there. I'm amazed at how vendors can make old kit parts available now, with laser cut fins, etc. plus the decals can be acquired, upscaled, etc. It's so great to know we can build just about any old rocket we want and make it look like the real deal.
Spent a little time today sealing the Andromeda fins and used the rest of my balsa filler dope stuff on a Cosmodrome big Nike Smoke balsa cone. Thanks for following, more pix to come soon as I fight through a vicious cold today.
 
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My all time 3 favorite Estes kits were the Pershing 1A ,Honest John and the Andromeda.....hands down ! I built them all ,flew them all and destroyed them all :(

I have since aquired two new Honest Johns from Darrell Mobeley before he passed away ,scratch built two Pershings and bought the Andromeda upscale from Q modeling ,but I think an original scratch build would be great ,and can see myself doing one in the future.

Yessir ,what can you say about the Andromeda ,this thread sure brings back fond memories of me building mine back in the 70`s.

I`ll be watching with great interest ,so plenty of pictures please !

Cheers

Paul T

Oooo, all time favorite Estes kits is difficult but the Andromeda has to be one, you're lucky to have that Q Modeling upscale Andromeda, I want that one bad but it looks like they're still recovering from the big flood...
 
Barracuda: Where are you Texas? I have a spare Pathfinder. PM me if interested.

I have an Estes Andromeda in the bag, a boxed German language kit, and one of the Q Modeling upsale. Not for sale, though. Keep thinking I will build the Q Modeling kit one of these days. I do hope they are able to bring their company back after the flooding.
 
i liked the kit i flew as a teenager i built a 3x upscale and flew it on an I 366 r aerotech reload
perfect flight
 
Did a lot of sanding on the fins today.
Showing the rings just sitting on the lower section, made from leftover motor mount rings card stock doubled up for thickness.

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Getting the fins attached now. Had to re-cut the smaller fins that attach to the main fins, will seal those tomorrow and try to get those on.
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Added the antenna platform pieces and the conduit standoffs. I masked off the engine pod tubes and blasted the interiors with fluorescent red but haven't snapped a picture of those yet.

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1. Roll out of bed.
2. Build rocket.
3. Surf web while glue dries!

Love it!
 
Built! After getting the engine pods on, I had only to solve the issue of finding small enough diameter for the aerial rods. I did have a nice pile of white plastic rods I bought years ago for plastic modelling, but in the end, I had to go with toothpicks of all things. Of course, they needed to be 2 1/2 inches long like a toothpick, but not pointy, so I ended up cutting two sections of toothpick out and gluing them onto each aerial fin.
The engine pods were masked on the outside, then sprayed inside with stoplight red fluorescent paint. Before I did that, though, I wanted to 'beef' them up so I smeared thin CA all around inside the tubes then sanded them after they dried. It gave a funky appearance to the stoplight red but I really like it, more authentic, like something is really going on in there! Now just to beef up the fillets here and there and hopefully start hitting it with Krylon grey spray paint tomorrow.
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After two coats of grey primer and a light sanding, then finished with Krylon Gloss Black and a couple coats of clear gloss. Started decals today, just waiting on some nice silver/black wraps from Mark at Stickershock and she'll be ready, yahoo!
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Finished! I finished with the two silver and black foil wraps today. I think I will apply some other small decal details here and there but all the 'official' decals are on and she's ready to fly!
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