New SpaceX Falcon 9 Kit
 

Just got a tweet that mentions this new kit:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006GX14R8/

Is this Estes, Quest, or someone else? Anyone know anything else about this kit?

In the description it says " designed by Space X and tooled in California".

Perhaps they're producing it themselves.

The parachutes look like Quest parachutes.

Kevlar and elastic shock cord system(?)-Quest(?)

Motor hook looks like Quest.

Some of the other parts appear to be Quest-like.

Interesting...

SpaceX facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/SpaceX

I agree about a Quest-like look to the parts.

I don't know who's doing those kits, but a close look at the picture tells me that the 'chutes and the motor hook are not Quest, they're modelrockets.us parts. That's a good thing. Thicker plastic and stronger shrouds on the 'chute and much springier motor hook.

I believe you are correct. Discount Rocketry is in California.

Falcon 9 does not have big-a$$ fins.

Just Tech Jerry

They're there. You just can't see them. The real thing uses transparent butyrate plastic fins.

Says they're supposed to be clear, so evidently these must be some test castings in regular white plastic or something... maybe beta-tests or something?? The Falcon 9 has rather distinct rounded engine fairings on the aft end-- they're not simple "half-cones" like the Saturn V engine fairings are... these are actual parabolic shapes, so more difficult to model... (though one could make a reasonable facsimile by cutting a cone shaped something like and Alpha III cone in half vertically, similar to how it's done on the Dr. Zooch Vanguard Eagle, which uses similarly shaped booster pods on the first stage.)

Honestly I think having the fins cast as part of the fairings is rather ugly... the kit would have been MUCH nicer had they gone with slip-in or twist-lock clear plastic fins below the engine fairings, removable for display. Maybe they'll look better in clear plastic, but seems to me this is going to be a "looks good from 10 feet away" type model... :)

Later! OL JR :)

The description on Amazon indicates that the final kit will have clear fins. What you see in the picture is probably prototyped on a parts printer.