Ye Olde Rocket Forum - View Single Post - Buck Rogers Thunderfighter Starfighter build

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Brohm

While the Black Hawk appears inspired by the Starfighter, it was a different kit and not a re-release. The Starfighter was based on Centuri parts (ST-8 body tubes) while the Black Hawk was based on Estes parts (BT-50 body tubes). Similar, but not the same.

The very same year that the Black Hawk was released (1991), Estes also released the Solar Probe (#2051). Like the Black Hawk, it too drew its inspiration from an older Centuri kit (the Photon Probe, KD-16), and was also kitted with Estes parts.

Ok, that would make sense... Estes got the rights to all the Centuri designs I presume when they 'merged' (or Estes bought out Centuri but took their name or whatever back in the day) but Estes stuck with their own tube sizes, (except for the BT-56 I guess, which was originally a Centuri tube size IIRC) and so it'd make sense that they 're-engineer' any of the old Centuri designs they decided to reissue by using their own common Estes sized tubes...

Course licensing issues and all that probably still prevented them from making the kit along the lines of the Buck Rogers Earth Forces Starfighter... ya know, royalties and all that... LOL

Paint it black and call it something else, and come up with new decals and you're in the clear... LOL

Later! OL JR