That is very correct. I am still trying to get the Firebird from their last year, 1983. I have never even seen one come up on eBay. I’ve been able to get the other new issues from ‘82 and ‘83, but in the case of a couple of them, only one (I try to get two of each kit; one to build and one to keep).

Some of these latter kits are MUCH more difficult to obtain than the large Little Joe II, the Saturns, etc. Heck, Estes Cinerocs come up much more often than some of those kits.

Earl

__________________
Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

Agree that many if not most of the unique kits in the 82 and 83 catalogs from Centuri are very rare.
Their large SR-71 is very rare. So is the Python Fighter and Spacemaster.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

The model was actually a 1/45th scale Saturn 1B.
It used the capsule and escape tower of the 1/45th scale Centuri Little Joe II.

This model was produced just after Barry Tunick was put in charge of Estes.
Estes had a huge booth at the 1991 Chicago RCHTA trade show and displayed many ideas/items, not all of which were ever produced.
One of these was the 1/45th Saturn 1B.
Attached is a picture I took of Mary Roberts with the Saturn 1B model.

Around the same time there was a strange sidebar mention in an issue of American Spacemodeling/Sport Rocketry about Estes producing this kit. The brief article ended with the statement that Estes determined that the kit would end up having an SRP of $700 which would limit the market for the model so it was not pursued.

This model would show up at NARAM-34 in Las Vegas.
The Estes crew flew it on a Vulcan 'G' motor but the recovery system did not deploy and the model was destroyed on impact.
A less-finished version of that same model was quickly prepped and flown on a successful flight.

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
Bob
S.A.M. # 0014

Does anyone here have a Centuri Firebird ?
Could it be possible this ond didn't make production also ?

The one kit that never was released to the public by Estes but produced was the Black Hole Cygnus Probe Ship. They were supposedly all "destroyed". Yeah, right.
I'd really like to get one of those.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

That nose cone was available at least as far back as 1970 as my buddies and I built a 4-D cluster rocket called the Roigreetin (mashup of our three last names) and we flew it semi-successfully four and a half times. Used a cloth parachute and we could never ever get it to open. First flight used astron igniters and only ignited two motors, but they were diagonals, so no harm done. All other flights were done with Langford's Flashbulb Cluster Ignition. I think three of the five flights are on my Rocket Film.


(But Roy, i hear you ask, four 24mm D motors don't fit in a BT-70? Of course, we split the tube and crammed the engine mount in, and used wadding mixed with glue to fill in the holes, spackle to smooth it out and mounted the fins carefully, and the fins survived all but the last flight)

__________________
Roy
nar12605

There was a Saturn IB of similar size in John Boren's lab when we looked in during the tour a couple years ago. Wonder if it was a new build or that backup model from Vegas?

__________________
Roy
nar12605

I am pretty sure I have seen photos of a Centuri Firebird kit and I recall posts (maybe on the other forum) of people talking about owning the kit. So, I’m pretty sure it made it to production but there just doesn’t seem to be that many of them around, not that I have seen anyway.

Kind of like that ‘Visible Astro 1’ from the 1971 catalog. It was meant for classroom instruction use and was offered only in that one year. I have never seen it come up on eBay ever, but I do have photos of it from another person’s collection out of either PA or NY. Just not many of them were sold when it was released back then and apparently not many of those survive.

Earl

__________________
Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc - Starfighter Scorpion Centuri - Mini Dactyl Estes - F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II, Xarconian Cruiser Semroc - Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark

Comrades:

I wonder if they got a strongly-worded letter from Pontiac's legal department about the name and logo.

Yes, I know the Firebird is an old Russian folk tale and so would likely be public domain but the name and the logo are pretty darn close to what's on Bandit's Trans-Am.



The music's good though. I love listening to Jerry Reed on the Smokey and the Bandit soundtrack. For something a bit more upscale, here's Stravinsky's 1919 version of the Firebird Suite from the Toronto Symphony:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHxstiIybz4

Or it's in the Fantasia 2000 collection if you have children or grandchildren of a certain age.

__________________
NAR 79743
NARTrek Silver
I miss being SAM 062

Awaiting First Launch: Too numerous to count
Finishing: Zooch Saturn V; Alway/Nau BioArcas; Estes Expedition; TLP Standard
Repair/Rescue: Cherokee-D (2); Centuri Nike-Smoke; MX-774
On the Bench: 2650;
Dream Stage: 1/39.37 R-7

Seeing as Estes introduced a very similar kit called the Firehawk in 1989 with very similar decals (basically, just a slight makeover of the Firebird), I doubt there had been any repercussions from GM.

Catalog page: http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/nostalgia/89est18.html

Earl

__________________
Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970