Estes Colossus?...any info?
 

Saw a photo of one the other day but did not find in in YORP...does JimZ have it or does anyone have any details? (I think it was at the time when I was away from Rocketry, and Guitars, Horsepower, and Nubile Young Women were my hobbies)

RM

I have an assembled Colossus. I can't find a good photo of it, but I found it in the attached photo. Unfortunately, it was wrapped in bubble wrap when I took this snapshot.


I'll try to get a better photo this weekend.

-- Roger

Here's the info on it from the 1982 Estes catalog.

http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/ca...82/82est34.html

-- Roger

Here's a link to Scigs30's build thread:

http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showthread.php?t=5479

As I mentioned to you on Facebook, it's an extended (+18") version of the Maxi-Alpha 3, which is a little bit easier to find. The fin unit is plastic, though built up a bit. two plastic centering rings which also make up the motor mount, which are exposed to the outside, with slots for the (too thin for their own good) plastic fins.

The Maxi-Alpha 3 is fun to fly. The Colossus, however, has an affliction that also strikes later long BT-80 Estes rockets such as the Optima and Shadow (which were shorter than Colossus), in that the D12's ejection charge did not always push the laundry out, especially if the trajectory was more ballistic than straight up.

There's a guy in our club that still flies a Colossus, but with a Super Big Bertha nose cone on it.

I never had that problem with my Shadow. The problem I had was that if the flight on a D12-3 wasn't straight up, the parachute wouldn't have time to fully deploy before the rocket hit the ground. I repaired fins on my Shadow often before I started flying it on larger motors.

-- Roger

Never had any issues with my Collossus builds, and I generally left the stuffer tubes out, as well.

I CAN vouch firsthand that it is stable enough to drop stage D12s with :)

~ AL

ps: if anyone needs a clone kit of this one, drop me a line. would have to work up a price, but I have (1) a sealed Maxi Alpha 3 with some damage, (2) correct white nosecone for the Collossus ( one of the damaged parts in the Alpha 3 ) . and (3) a spare set of Tango Papa decals for the bird ( plus an original vintage Collossus box, if need be ;) , was thinking of putting a 'clone' together, and trying it on ebay, but if someone wants, we'll talk :)

Here's a link to the instructions:

http://www.estesrockets.com/assets/...26_COLOSSUS.pdf

Thanks guys for all the info...i thought it was an "extended " maxi alpha....(me being only a "junior rocketeer") I wasn't sure!....a round of Ag1 flashbulbs and sure shot wicks for all!...

RM

I wish I could say this was a fun build, but man it was challenging. It did not take long for me to realize that Estes did not use this kit for the catalog finish. I think they replaced the plastic fins with this basswood or balsa. The red rings need lots of filler to make a smooth transition into the body tubes. The fin fillets are squared, so that takes a lot of filler to make that smooth. Then the red plastic, I shot many coats of dark gray primer and still the red would bleed through, I have never seen this before in my life. I have two of these kits and one came with an all red nose and the other came with a white nose cone, I would use the white to make you life easier. If you want to build the exact same model, then go ahead and use the Maxi Alpha kit and use the larger Body tubes. If you want a cool looking rocket that looks like the Colossus, then replace the plastic with wood. Still, a real cool looking model when all done.