Estes Maxi-Brute Honest John (Kit #1269) Background

This was one of those kits I always wanted but never ordered. It's ideal for building since there is damage to the original kit box and might not be of value to a collector.

I picked this one up at the November R..O.C.K. launch from vendor Tom Tweit.

Tom had a price of $30.00 on the box. He discounted it because there was some damage to the box and centering rings. The rest of the kit, including the vacu-form fins, body tube and large nose cone looked like new.

This was one of the Estes Maxi Brutes, their larger D12-3 powered kits. The other two kits were the Pershing 1A and the V2, introduced in the 1974 catalog. The Honest John was added in 1975. That year, the Estes Saturn V and Saturn 1B both got the Maxi-Brute moniker.

Here's the specs:

37" tall, 2.6" diameter, 14 oz. weight.

Recommended Engine: D12-3

Here's one side of the original box. 

In the first picture above, I was able to comfortably put all the pieces in a different box. To get everything to fit in the smaller box, I simply cut the large vacu-form fin sheets in half. The original box was thrown away.

Check out the illustration on the side of the box.

"The Estes Launch System makes it fun to fly . . . "

Estes Launch System? 

That's a Centuri LIA-100 Heavy Duty Launcher!