Vintage Estes Magician Build 1943

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SCIGS30

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I have been busy with life and would like to start building the new Estes Shuttle but I don't have the time right now. So I decided to build an easy OOP kit. This is an older kit and the parachute ink rubbed off on the parts but should not cause a problem for this build.

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The community is in desperate need of a good clean scan of the decal for this one. And an updated scan of the fins would be nice. Would you mind helping us out before you get too far along?
 
The community is in desperate need of a good clean scan of the decal for this one. And an updated scan of the fins would be nice. Would you mind helping us out before you get too far along?

I'll add a +1 to this.

Thanks!
 
I had a day off and was able to put this simple rocket together. Glued together with simple Elmers glue and she is ready for 3 to 4 coats of Aerogloss balsa sealer. This rocket should fly pretty nice with its D size motor. I will post copies of the fin pattern and decals.

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Looking Good!

I don't know why, but I always thought that the Magician had 5 fins. Doesn't look like that in the photo.
 
After brushing on 4 coats of Aerogloss balsa sealer, I sanded the balsa nice and smooth and sprayed with old 5 ball Krylon formula white and black, once again no primer. The decals went on smooth and I think she makes a nice rocket. I scanned the decal and fin.

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View attachment Estes Magician Fin and decal.pdf
 
That one dressed up really nice ! At first glance I didn't care for it but it's growing on me. A nice old school 24mm motor burner. I wonder how many flights you'll get before the fins start popping off like a Goblin ?
 
Thank you for the scans SIGS. We've been needing a scan of the decal for a very long time.
 
Thanks for the Scan SCIGS!

Ok... That's gonna take some time to sim up. All those unique decals... OUCH!

I also now need to find those paint programs to rotate the fin too. GREAT :facepalm: I just love it when a harddrive dies.

[EDIT] forgot about printing and doing it that way. Damn I'm tired (haven't been sleeping well since the weather changed... my knees hurt).
 
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Ok... Printed the .pdf file, but unfortunately for me, PDF files don't lock down the size of the image (or at least for printers here in China). The 1" box, and ruler looks to be 15/16 to the inch. Since the printed ruler was too dark to use, I went ahead and used my steel ruler here, then after imputing those values in OR, I then scaled it from 15/16 to the inch. What I end up with is this:

Estes Magician (1943) Fin template question.png

Do these number jive with what you guys are getting?

Thanks!
 
Nice Job on the rocket SCIGS!

With the clean fins (read: no decals), this should be a fairly straightforward sim... Except for all the unique decals.


You can also look up the meteor kit and check those scans. It's the same rocket with two different names and livery.

https://plans.rocketshoppe.com/estes/est2025/est2025.htm

Good to know.

Thanks for the link. I was having problems with getting plans.rocketshoppe.com's and JimZ's sites to open.
 
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Ya know... Even if the Magician and the Meteor are essentially the same kit, there still might be differences (say in the construction of the motor mount, or the placement of the launch lug, or the thickness of the fins).

[EDIT] Just checked the 1985 catalog against the Meteor's instructions. The Magician (1943) is a 24mm powered rocket (D12-3 (First Flight), D12-5), the Meteor (2025) uses 18mm motors (A8-3 (First Flight), B4-4, B6-4, B8-5, C6-5).

SCIGS, could you scan those instructions for me? I could also use the length of the launch lug (I'm guessing 2.25"-2.5") and the shock cord.

Thanks!
 
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Ok... I've got the basics down, once I get some confirmation on the numbers, I'll be willing to post a decal free version. In the meantime, I can start working on the decals... next week.
 
Thanks SCIGS,

Now, if I could only remember the length of the SC-1 shock cord.

Also could use the thickness of the fins of the Meteor (2025) if anybody knows. My guess is that they're 1/8", but with a smaller motor, Estes may have thinned that down to 3/32"
 
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18"

3/32"

Thanks!

I've printed the fin templates for the Meteor. However, I ran out of steam before getting them measured last night, and today I've got a busy day at work. Might be 48 hours before I can work it.
 
The parts list attached to the Meteor instructions on rocket shoppe say 3/32 for it.
 
The parts list attached to the Meteor instructions on rocket shoppe say 3/32 for it.

Kruegon,

It's possible that the list may be in error, or that the kit evolved over time. I've seen things like that happen. Prime examples are the drawn fin templates for the Estes Marauder, and the nosecones of the OMEGA over the years (or the Sizzler (1906))

SCIGS,

is your 1/8" from an actual measurement?

Oh, and you're right, those decals are gonna be a PITA.
 
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