100% screen accurate 5th Element prop... for under 20 bucks.

[MattMunson]

I was going to post about this a week ago, but things got busy at work, and i was sidetracked.

But now I'm under heavy pressure, as our very own PHArchivist has independently made the same discovery that was revealed to me about a year ago.

PIH's recent catalog features a mangalore missle that had been on rareprops.com for like 8 years or something. Anyhow, it turns out that the missle is an out of the box, off the shelf estes rocket, with almost ZERO modifications. As far as I can see, the only difference is that they painted the nose cone red. Even the same decals were used!

If you're interested, it's the Estes Bull Pup, and can be found online for under 15 bucks, without shipping.


Boba debt, you're welcome to make an active project out of this :lol

 

[rabbit4x]

Thanks for the info MattMunson!

I haven't made a rocket since 7th grade and all I did was paint the thing completely orange. So lets see how well my skills have gotten since my first rocket model.

 

[Kadajiroth]

Thanks, Matt! I noticed the one on Rareprops.com for years, and thought the price was a little steep.

I'll see about picking one of these up soon, or two. :thumbsup

EDIT: Just a question about the launcher/rocket because I'm curious, was it actually the Mangalores' launcher or just something kept on board the Paradise that the Mangalores stole? It always seemed a little too sophisticated for the Mangalores to have, and probably difficult to smuggle on board.

 

[rabbit4x]

I just looked at the PIH catalog and found the decal set for the Bull Pup. I don't see the decal number "AIM-54A" I did find a Estes Phoenix rocket with those numbers, but haven't found the decal image yet.

 

[MattMunson]

I stand corrected. Thanks for the info! Do you have a model number for the rocket that has those decals? might be worth hunting one down.

I suppose I should retitle the thread: for under FORTY bucks!!!

 

[rabbit4x]

After some quick searching, I found a fuzzy picture of the rocket with the decal. I can kinda make out the number under the "AIM-54A". Looking at the PIH picture, the numbers look to be "770776 or 5" but I will try to confirm.
Anyways, the model from where I got this picture from is a "Estes Phoenix #1380"

 

[rabbit4x]

Well, did some more digging, found a site that had complete decals listed the production run from 1982-1998 and then again in 2001-2004.

But here is the decal. I was wrong in the number under the AIM-54A, but the SERNO seems to match the PIH catalog pic. Hope this helps.

 

[RacerX]

that's really cool, thanks

 

[PHArchivist]

Aw geez, Matt... I was planning on keeping this as our dirty little secret!

Got mine on order - thanks for the tip!

 

[Reaper57]

Well, did some more digging, found a site that had complete decals listed the production run from 1982-1998 and then again in 2001-2004.

But here is the decal. I was wrong in the number under the AIM-54A, but the SERNO seems to match the PIH catalog pic. Hope this helps.

FYI on the missle decals, AIM is for air to air missles like the Aamram , Sidewinder, Pheonix, etc. AGM is for air to ground missles like the Maverick,
john :cool

 

[MattMunson]

Rabbit, HUGE thanks for the tip on the rocket. Home run on that one.

Here's a pic of the auction in the PIH catalog:

And based on the info gathered here, I've put together a callout sheet showing where all the visible decals come from.

 

[rabbit4x]

No problem! Here's a better pics of the decals for the Phoenix #1380 rocket:

 

[MattMunson]

Looks like the phoenix rockets are a little more difficult to dig up than the bull pups. Might be worth the time for me to just replicate the needed graphics and print them out as waterslides.

Thanks for the graphics sheet, by they way!

 

[rabbit4x]

Looks like the phoenix rockets are a little more difficult to dig up than the bull pups. Might be worth the time for me to just replicate the needed graphics and print them out as waterslides.

I was thinking that too. I know theres a "print your own decals" that is offered either at Walmart or Michael's Craft Stores, so rather then fork over $30+ for the Phoenix kit, printing your own would be alot cheaper.

 

[PHArchivist]

Interesting that the auction write-up states "constructed of metal". I would have thought a model rocket kit was a cardboard tube.

 

[OB10]

I think Rabbit4x beat me to it, but there are some scans of the instructions and decals here http://www.dars.org/JimZ/est1380.htm and here http://www.dars.org/JimZ/estes/est1380x.tif .

Good find, guys!

Obi-Bob

 

[Pauleysolo]

I love those new discoveries!

 

[MattMunson]

I'll take a stab at converting the graphics to vectors to get them printed. Just a matter of identifying the font, which looks pretty simple

 

[rabbit4x]

I'll take a stab at converting the graphics to vectors to get them printed. Just a matter of identifying the font, which looks pretty simple

That would help out alot since the prices for the Phoenix is crazy high.


And the PIH auction has hit ebay, with it a Hi Res image of the rocket with crisper decals.

 

[MattMunson]

Great pic! thanks.