to clone or not to clone

[motley16]

Sometimes i ask myself why clone a kit that is to be released in kit form? I have done it as have lots of others. But what makes us do it? Is it due to time (get it now vs getting the kit whenever) or is it the fun of putting all the parts together as the kit? Why do it?














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[tbzep]

Sometimes i ask myself why clone a kit that is to be released in kit form? I have done it as have lots of others. But what makes us do it? Is it due to time (get it now vs getting the kit whenever) or is it the fun of putting all the parts together as the kit? Why do it?








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If it has to do with Estes, it's because there's a history of them not releasing kits they've announced.

[mycrofte]

That assumes that you either buy/build every kit Estes makes or you have to have that particular kit.

I base what I clone or buy simply on what I want vs availability (or cost if beyond what I think is a reasonable price). Unlike the collectors, I won't pay a high a price for a rocket I can clone for a fraction of the cost. Then, there is the detail of the kit. I wouldn't care to clone something complicated like an X-Wing if I can buy it...

[stantonjtroy]

Most of my clones are of rockets in my childhood fleet (or the ones I wanted and couldn't afford) that havn't been available for several decades. The stuff from the late 70s and early 80s rocked. I too refuse to pay the rediculous prices on Ebay and the build, for me, is half the fun. Each clone build takes me back to the original build when I was a kid; The smells, the textures. GOD I LOVE THIS HOBBY!!! :D

[Bob Thomas]

Plus, there is the added feeling of accomplishment in a faithful (or semi-faithful) representation. Even more so when you have to fabricate a part that is unavailable or dig up that "almost close enough" cone. I am most thrilled by seeing what others are doing and either incorporating their ingenuity or trying to match their skills. I think that is how my kit stash got so big. It is around a hundred strong, but so many more are unavailable and begging to be cloned.

[tbzep]

Most of my clones are of rockets in my childhood fleet (or the ones I wanted and couldn't afford) that havn't been available for several decades. The stuff from the late 70s and early 80s rocked. I too refuse to pay the rediculous prices on Ebay and the build, for me, is half the fun. Each clone build takes me back to the original build when I was a kid; The smells, the textures. GOD I LOVE THIS HOBBY!!! :D

That's why I normally clone also, but the question has to do with kits that are (allegedly) going to be released, not kits that are long OOP.

[Mark II]

I build practically nothing else but clones right now, but the only rockets that I clone or those that have been OOP for some time and don't seem likely to be reintroduced anytime soon. I am not an indiscriminate cloner; I only build reproductions of rockets that I really like that are not being made anymore. I have substantially the same approach to this as stantonjtroy.

Certainly vintage kits can be bought on eBay from time to time; if I had the opportunity and could afford them, I would buy some of them, too. Although collectors certainly profit from these sales (nothing at all wrong with that), the kits' designers and manufacturers do not, so it cannot be said that one is being "fair and just" to them by buying vintage kits off of eBay or other auction sites.

Not too long ago I was all set to build a reproduction of the Custom Equinox, which had been out of production for awhile. I acquired all of the components that I needed, and I ordered the nose cone directly from Custom (along with some other things), because I wanted an authentic one for my clone. When I received my order, I found that Custom had included a flier announcing several new kits. One of them was a bring-back of the Equinox, this time with a 24mm engine mount, just like the one that I was going to build. As a result I have scratched my plan to clone the Custom Equinox because now I can get an authentic kit of that rocket. It is now back in production and is readily available from various vendors. I scratched plans to build reproductions of certain Estes kits, such as the Der Red Max and the Mean Machine for the same reason. I'll save the components that I bought for other projects. There are still many, many other unobtainable classic rocket designs out there that I want to clone.

MarkII

[tbzep]

I don't have much sympathy for Estes when seeing all those Saturns being sold on eBay for $150 to $250. They could have decided to re-release the Saturn for this year's anniversary a long time ago. If they had, the production run could have been in the pipelines before the new product safety laws took affect and they could have sold 2 or 3 kits to almost everybody that's been hoarding up the Saturns at those high eBay prices. Even with the news of a potential Saturn release from Estes and SEMROC, the high dollar sales are still going strong.

Otherwise, my cloning is pretty much on par with Mark and Troy. The only difference is that SEMROC tends to announce a kit release of most of my clones within days or weeks of me building one. :rolleyes:

[Mark II]

I don't have much sympathy for Estes when seeing all those Saturns being sold on eBay for $150 to $250. They could have decided to re-release the Saturn for this year's anniversary a long time ago. If they had, the production run could have been in the pipelines before the new product safety laws took affect and they could have sold 2 or 3 kits to almost everybody that's been hoarding up the Saturns at those high eBay prices. Yeah, don't cry for me, Argentina. :rolleyes:

Otherwise, my cloning is pretty much on par with Mark and Troy. The only difference is that SEMROC tends to announce a kit release of most of my clones within days or weeks of me building one. :rolleyes:I lnow, I HATE when that happens! (NOT!!!!!) :chuckle:

MarkII

[mycrofte]

Yeah, that doesn't make sense to me either. Estes should have had the Saturn kit in the works for a year or two before hand. They did drop the ball on that one!

[InFlight]

Albeit this tactic of announcing a large number of new kits and then having them turn into vaporware REALLY annoys their suppliers.

.

[barone]

....snip.......Otherwise, my cloning is pretty much on par with Mark and Troy. The only difference is that SEMROC tends to announce a kit release of most of my clones within days or weeks of me building one. :rolleyes:
So, when are you starting your Saturn clone? :D ;)

[tbzep]

So, when are you starting your Saturn clone? :D ;)

I've already cloned a couple of Centuri LES towers and one LES motor. I wonder if that's good enough? :D

[Mark II]

So, when are you starting your Saturn clone? :D ;)Yes, Tim -- can you please get on that? :p

MarkII