Estes Phoenix Bird
 

Just received an Estes Phoenix Bird kit from BRS Hobbies (thanks for the quick shipping!) - I'm surprised that the kit has a balsa nose cone and fins - considering that the original Centuri model used the common BT-56 nose cone and 4-fin unit.

Are the BT-56 nose cone and 4-fin unit on any kits still in production? I know there are kits still in the hobby shops, but I'm curious - it seems like there will be zero plastic from Estes going forwards, if they're going to balsa when there are off the shelf plastic parts available.

:(

sad to hear this ,as the Phoenix Bird was one I have wanted for YEARS.

was about to order a couple .

are the foil decal stickers nice ?

I;d still buy one and clone it with plastic fin unit and PNC56. as I have a couple of those left.

curious about the lack of plastic parts - mayube china lead testing, etc is holding up deliveries ?

Estes may be moving away from plastic because of the new regulations about lead testing for "toys." Producing parts in the US makes it easier to meet the regulations, but plastic parts made in the US are much more expensive than ones from China.

There are still, however, lots of Estes kits with plastic parts and I suspect there will continue to be many - especially for the read-to-fly and almost-ready-to-fly rockets.

Anyway ... if you're interested, we have a Centuri MARS Project kit up for auction on eBay right now. I think the plastic fin unit it has is the same one the original Phoenix used.

-- Roger

AFAIK, only kit still in production with those parts is the Estes Eliminator
http://www.estesrockets.com/store/0...iminatortm.html

Alan

Thats just stupid. I hope Hobbico can get this stupid lead-in-plastic scare thing straightened out. What the hell is the point of releasing a kit as a "classic" if it isn't even close to what the original was? The Phoenix Bird also had a plastic tube coupler section as I recall.

i don;t think it is "lead in plastic". Lead is in metals and in paint and pigments. The plastics are another problem - a chemical. Covered and explained clearly in the now "for archive use only" Estes sub-forums. I'm sure Googling "US toy law plastics" will result in something as well.

And here it is - 3 clicks away: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthalates

:rolleyes:

Point is, Revell (owned by Hobbico) has not started making their models out of wood have they? Quest is still making plastic cones. The molds already exist, make the stupid thing like the original.

It is (as explained by the Estes folks in the now archive-only-sub-forums) a combination of the age level the product is sold to and the toy laws and the cost of testing every batch run and the cost of rejecting and destroying batches that fail the test.

Estes has a long established "age recommendation" for their products and it falls under the "child" law limits.

Quest and Semroc are (apparently, and I think SEMROC has flat out stated it) not selling toys to children as defined by the new laws/regulations.

Of course, IANAL. ;)

By the way, notice how some Estes kits now have a screamingly-bold notice about age? That would include the Eliminator, but not the retro-P-Bird. Different target consumers, different applicable laws/regs.

http://www.estesrockets.com/store/r...iminatortm.html

age 18 and up.

Gotta go now. Big panic at one of our suppliers.....

The Phoenix Bird (PB) I ordered arrived today.

I bought it knowing that it did not have the plastic parts. Heck, it doesn't even use an ST-13/BT-56 body tube. This kit uses BT-55.

This PB has 'through the tube' fins but I don't know if they go all the way to the motor tube (I have yet to open the kit). The slots in the body tube appear to be punched rather than laser cut.

Speaking of laset cut, whoever was running the laser to cut the motor mount centering rings needs to cut back on the Watts! There was quite a bit of burning on the paper.

The balsa nose block is pretty long for a kit this size. After years of 'short' balsa nose blocks, the one in this PB is at least three inches long.

Estes took an easy to build and finish kit (Centuri Phoenix Bird) and made it more difficult to construct. Give me back my plastic parts! :D

Oh, I can see in the bag bits of dirt and looks like hair. Did some poor Chinese worker fall into the packaging machine while it was running? ;)

I'll get around to building this kit at some point. :rolleyes:

Bob

Honestly, after seeing the pics and new info, it looks like a nice bird - through the wall, nice long bulkhead, might still grab one but not build as a Phoenix Bird - just save the decals and rename the rocket. and custom paint :)

glad I did not order one yet though, would have been a huge disappointment, especially with limited finances to throw it away on a letdown :(

build pics when you start :)

~ AL