My love letter to the Estes Challenger-I

[dbrent]

This is a link to my latest retro clone video on my YouTube channel:

Retro Rockets - Challenger-I Clone from Scratch build video

 

[Hobie1dog]

Wow ,..after watching the almost 3-hour long video you sure do love this rocket. Great job.

 

[gldknght]

Here's a photo of my Challenger series clones:

 

[dbrent]

Those are awesome gldknght! "Double Challenger"...that's pretty clever. Nice job.

 

[gldknght]

Thanks. The double Challenger was scratch built.

 

[Back_at_it]

The Challenger I was my first rocket when I was a little kid. We flew that rocket so many times the body tube became soft from the ejections. It was so beat up that I eventually had to stop flying it. I was lucky enough to find an original starter set about 10 yrs ago and have it packed away. After returning to the hobby this time around I knew I needed to build myself a clone as I wanted to fly it again as often as I could. I have the fin unit for a Challenger II, Just need to get it in the line up to be built.

Here is my clone.

 

[MAT2000]

The Challenger-1 kit was my first foray into rocketry. I remember thumbing through the 1977 Estes catalog that introduced this kit with the slogan "This is where to begin." It didn't hurt that the rocket was orange and white, as orange happened to be my favorite color.

Sometime during my youth, another Challenger-1 had turned up in our hayfield. Most likely launched from the high school football field that was adjacent to our property, the wayward rocket had apparently vanished in my dad's alfalfa crop and didn't turn up until he had cut and baled the hay. While the body tube was toast, the fin and and nosecone were unscathed and ended up in my parts collection.

Fast forward to 2022. I still have my original Challenger-1, although throughout the years, the notoriously weak body tube had given up the ghost. (I also have the second fin can and nosecone from the errant rocket). Last week, I received two sets of water slide decals from Tango Papa and the new body tubes are ready for paint -- the Challenger-1 fleet is about to be reborn!

 

[dbrent]

Great story MAT2000! Hope that new fleet brings you much joy!

 

[gldknght]

I wonder how many got their start in rocketry with this starter kit. It was my first as well. Geez, that was over 40 years ago!

 

[SCIGS30]

dbrent will be busy for awhile, no need to clone.

 

[MAT2000]

dbrent will be busy for awhile, no need to clone.

Wow! Where did he score a find like that? I haven't been able to find anything related to the Challenger-1 on eBay, etc. for quite a while.

 

[SolarYellow]

@dbrent
I notice the kit box and catalog pages show the Challenger I with orange nose cone and fin can, and two clones painted accordingly in this thread. But when you show your original Challenger I kit in the video at ~10:50, all the molded plastic parts are yellow. There's another thread where the original Challenger II cone is shown to be a different yellow, more like school bus but not quite school bus.

I also noticed that Elegoo has a yellow ABS-like resin and the color in the photos of printed parts looks pretty close to what you'd want to match the original Challengers, maybe partway in between them. https://www.elegoo.com/products/elegoo-abs-like-resin?variant=39882001023024

Wondering what thoughts would be about just using that material and running it raw, unpainted.

 

[K'Tesh]

I've got an original Challenger I, with the Challenger 1 launch system... And it was orange. Didn't know about the yellow 2 part injection molded version. [EDIT] Upon watching more of the video, I now realize that the Challenger I is not the yellow finned/NCd kit at the 10:50 mark.


The Challenger II was a BT-56 based rocket, and I think the yellow could be best described as "Goldenrod". I'm on the hunt for a 2nd one (or its nosecone)

 

[SolarYellow]

I've got an original Challenger I, with the Challenger 1 launch system... And it was orange. Didn't know about the yellow 2 part injection molded version.

The Challenger II was a BT-56 based rocket, and I think the yellow could be best described as "Goldenrod". I'm on the hunt for a 2nd one (or its nosecone)

I've digested the PNC-56A thread https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/info-on-the-estes-pnc-56-nosecone.137939/page-2#post-1654000 and agree on the "goldenrod" descriptor. I think Elegoo's yellow I linked previously is pretty close. But now there are both bright yellow and orange versions of the Challenger 1 in evidence. ...Why not clone both, right?

 

[K'Tesh]

I've digested the PNC-56A thread https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/info-on-the-estes-pnc-56-nosecone.137939/page-2#post-1654000 and agree on the "goldenrod" descriptor. I think Elegoo's yellow I linked previously is pretty close. But now there are both bright yellow and orange versions of the Challenger 1 in evidence. ...Why not clone both, right?

I'd love scans of its instructions... Documentation is everything.

 

[dbrent]

@dbrent
I notice the kit box and catalog pages show the Challenger I with orange nose cone and fin can, and two clones painted accordingly in this thread. But when you show your original Challenger I kit in the video at ~10:50, all the molded plastic parts are yellow. There's another thread where the original Challenger II cone is shown to be a different yellow, more like school bus but not quite school bus.

I also noticed that Elegoo has a yellow ABS-like resin and the color in the photos of printed parts looks pretty close to what you'd want to match the original Challengers, maybe partway in between them. https://www.elegoo.com/products/elegoo-abs-like-resin?variant=39882001023024

Wondering what thoughts would be about just using that material and running it raw, unpainted.

The kit I show in the video is the Star Trek starter set which was molded in yellow.
As for using colored resin, I was trying to get as close as possible to the color of the original plastic...or at least the color as shown in the catalog renderings. But if you've found a resin that is close enough for you, then I love to see the results. One advantage to resin printing your nosecone is no seam lines to sand out.

 

[SolarYellow]

Thanks for the clarification, I had forgotten that Star Trek detail by the end of the 2:50 video.

 

[RocketJ2]

I am almost positive that was the first rocket I built, somewhere around 5th or 6th grade in the mid 80s. It was a less than stellar entry intro to rocketry, it went about halfway up the launch rod and hung, then burned. My parents were less than impressed. We drove about 15 miles to find a field to launch in without trees. At least it was a beautiful summer day and a nice drive.

Thanks for the smile and memories. It was definitely a learning experience!

v/r,
jason