HL-20 on Titan 3L4 concept

Hi Gents.

I recently purchased the Resin HL-20 Kit from Blap. I am attempting to marry it to a Estes Titan III E (X2) heavily Modified Kit. What I am doing right now is working out the best way (and for looks) to attach the craft to the nose cone. I am "roughing" in the 2 ideas. First you see a modified Centaur upper stage with the inverted mounting for the Rocketdyne Engines. The engine mount just so happens to match the diameter outline from the back and centerline of the HL-20. I will trim off all the overhanging material and blend it into the modified nose. The inverted NC-5 nosecones of two different sizes are used for a bit more surface area for a better mount. I will put styrene in the ends of the NC's to create more surface area for the HL-20 mount. I have not chosen the long or short of the NC-5's to use yet. They also emulate what I could find online as to drawings depicted for this sort of marriage. I realize there will be a lot of cutting and fitting the bits, but I like the challenge. The second option is a BT-60 Big Bertha NC. Again, when using the inverted mount and side pods with this NC is looks a bit sleeker. The kicker here is the HL-20 weighs in at 3.3 ounces by itself! Now considering I am following the Titan III E as a baseline I am following online measurements and extrapolating the proper scale. That said, surrounding the core will be 4 SRB's instead of two SRB's on the IIIE. My logic says it will increase and push back the CP to offset the more forward CG caused by the HL-20. Also the SRB's will be scaled to 7 segments instead of 5 like the IIIE. Total length has not been settled on as of yet, but I expect it to be within an inch by scale of the Estes Titan IIIE from what I have read so far.


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Hey Kidagain,

Your model looks cool! I did not know there was an HL-20 out there. I did something similar about 4 or 5 years ago, although, it was less ambitious and required fewer modifications. I modified an Estes Titan-III kit with Roachwerks (The Sandman) X-20 on top. There is a similar model in "The Spaceship Handbook" by Hagerty. I did not build my model to have a gliding X-20, everything came down with the same parachute. I did use clear plastic tubes and fins. Occasionally, these would break and were difficult to repair. I don't think that I added any nose weight and the model flew straight on an Estes D12-3, although, the trajectory was sometimes a little wiggly near apogee.

Aerostadt,

I am actually building in parallel the Titan IIIC/X-20 using the Titan IIIC era Livery and using Sandman's X-20 as well. He also lathed out the SRB Nose Cones and Engine nozzles that are just like the original plastic ones. I will do a thread on it later. He has the Estes III E Kit and uses the parts as master parts for comparison. Gordo made the Centaur payload nose cone for that kit back in 2009 for one I got off Ebay that was missing the nosecone. I have the Spaceship Handbook and that was an inspiration as well. :grin:

Dude! You must have the new version of mind sim running on a wicked fast processor! It is gonna be real purdy and all the scale boys are going to go nuts. Can't wait to see the finished project in the air.

I had trouble inserting the pictures, but I think I finally got them. It sounds like we were on the same track for the X-20.

this is really cool!!

Wow!! spectacular!

aerostadt said:

I had trouble inserting the pictures, but I think I finally got them. It sounds like we were on the same track for the X-20.


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Here is a long delayed update. I know its not a lot, but life has got in the way. The Blap resin vehicle weighed over 3 ounces and I needed to reduce the weight. I hollowed it out and got it down to 1.08 ounces. I may be able to get it under an ounce with some careful grinding. I created a thick adapter piece. I need to grind it down a bit. I will cover the bottom with a thin sheet of styrene. The back plain of the vehicle mating surface is not at 90 degrees. The angle sets the nose to far off centerline and pushes the potential air flow in such a manner across the model that it may act as a airfoil pulling the rocket in a disagreeable and premature ark in flight. Hope to have this ready for spring 2017.

NJRick said:

Wow!! spectacular!

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@NJRick what was the tube diameter used and what thickness of Lexan for the fins?

I used clear plastic tubes that are about 1" diameter. I don't know where I got them (Apogee?). The plastic tubes have a paper tube inserted into them. The paper tube is then inserted into the SRB nozzle. The paper tubes went into the plastic tube with difficulty and fit into the SRB tube tightly, too. I think the fins are 1/16" thick. Perhaps, the fins are acryllic. They were attached to the tube with CA, which was not easy to do.

sorry kidagain....those pictures were from Aerostadt and I see he has responded to your question....your resin Lifting Body is looking awesome!