Nike Hercules CAD model build

I've got a full CAD model of the Nike Hercules, but now I'm going over the model bottom-to-top, reorganizing the elements, checking, and adding detail. So I guess you could call this a 'virtual build thread', though the result is not a flyable model.

Starting with the M5E1 Nike motor. Most of the data comes from the Biedron drawings, and some from the Meatball Rocketry site. I've also scraped a lot of photos from the net, plus some of the drawings in the maintenance manual.

I still have questions about the motor and all of the Nike Hercules in general. I'm hoping folks here might clear some of those up.

About this CAD model, there are selections to use several options that are seen on the motor:

• Use either the conical, or curved forward flange.
• Presence of longitudinal motor weld line.
• Presence of nozzle shroud (not used on NH).
• Options for several forward flange lengths (per Meatball).
• Option to use the 'expanded' rear flange.

Still TODO:

• Add option for forward shipping closure instead of ignitor.
• Add wires from ignitor terminals to connector.
• Improve detail on nozzle plug.
• Add option for presence of nozzle plug.
• I'd like to add the internal bracing structure for the cluster that's mounted around the nozzles. It's not visible in the full NH assembly but it's the mounting for the fins and tail shroud, and having it there would make it easier to make sense of the fin mounts.
• Add options to 'turn off' levels of detail to make it easier to 3D print at various scales.
• Organize my photos so I can find a detail shot easier.

Questions remain:

• Radial position of the longitudinal motor weld on the NH assembly? Does it matter? The weld line seems to appear at random in various pictures.
• Is there a 'seamless' motor tube option? Many photos don't appear to have the longitudinal weld lines at all.
• I'd like real dimensions of the nozzle mounting rings and their holes.
• I'd like better data on the holes in the forward flange lip.
• In general, I'm trying to do this to represent the MIM-14C. Any notes on details that distinguish the models would be helpful.

Any help would be appreciated.



And to pre-answer one of the questions that will come up: Yeah, this is done in OpenSCAD. It works for me. I'm hoping to model the launcher as a vehicle to learn SolidWorks later.

The next component up is the tail shroud. There appear to be several variations of the tail shroud, but I think what I've got here is pretty standard with the 'C' version. Dimensions on the shroud are from the Silverleaf/Russian drawings, with a some of the detail (mostly the latches) taken from photos.

Options on the this CAD model are just to reduce detail if necessary.

• Simple vs detail side latches.
• Rivets and panel seam on/off.
• Bolt heads on/off.
• I also have an option for a 'thick' shroud that would be better for printing/modeling.

TODO:

• Add option to reduce aft launch lug detail.
• I think I'm still missing several mounting bolts.
• The internal mounting structure is visible from an aft view, so I really need to add it in.
• Add color to the launch lug blocks [done].
• The uppermost bolts on each panel are actually the ends of rods that extend between the motors and to the opposite panel. Should add them (with an option to turn them on/off).
• Add detail for the fin mounting. I really need a photo of this area with a fin off. Is the shroud cutout for the fin brackets, or do they just bolt through the shroud?

Also note that it won't hurt my feelings if anyone points out any obvious errors.

EDIT: Answering my own question, this photo shows the clean fin mounting area on the shroud with only the fin mounting bolt holes. This NH is in a museum in Italy, and I've found some very good detail photos of it.

Booster Fins are the next component. The fin itself is really easy to model, but the mounting brackets are another matter. None of the drawings of these parts reflect the complex angles involved in the brackets. I'm hoping that maybe this summer I can visit SF-88 and get the measurements I'd need. I've attempted to match the photographs with what I have, but ultimately I think I need to start over with a different approach to the brackets.

Again, I have options on it to reduce detail for printing, the low-res bracket is shown in one of the pics:

• On/off rivet detail.
• On/off phillips head detail.
• On/off mounting bolt detail.
• Some photos show a rounded profile of the upper edge of the bracket, so there's an option for that too.

It also has a mounting tab that could be turned on for model assembly, but I'm probably going to have to rework that too.

TODO:

• Start over on the mounting brackets.
• Rework the assembly mounting tab as needed.

I thought I had really messed up something. In the real bracket photo above, the bracket and fin appear to be placed much farther forward than it is on my model. Shows how you have to be skeptical of a 'real' subject. The Nike-Hercules in that photo is mounted vertically on a concrete pad. In an actual NH fin placement, the trailing edge of the fin is below the bottom of the shroud - but here they wanted the display sitting flat, not on the edges of the fins. So they've moved the fins forward, with the single bolt per side placed in a mismatched hole.

Looking good so far! The Nike Hercules is a favorite of many of us here on TRF.

The detail looks incredible. I don't think most model rocketeers will build to this kind of detail, but it is interesting to see what the parts really look like.

This next part required very little touch-up. I just added the coloring and the low-res options. This is the interstage aft mounting plate and the sustainer support ring. This is stuff that's inside the complex shroud that encloses this. I've taken some license here in that I've made the legs of the support ring much thicker than they should be, with the intent that a printed ring would be sturdy enough to support the sustainer for a display model. For a flying model, all of this stuff would have to go. Although the forward launch lugs are actually attached to two of the Nike motors, I found it easier to include them with this assembly. Most of the detail on this comes from the drawings in the maintenance manual, so there are actually few actual dimensioned elements to this.

Options:

• Low-res launch lugs.
• On/off interior bolts and cable clamps.

TODO:

• Figure out the Nike motor rotations so that the flange holes line up.
• I'd like to model the ignition cable that routes through the cable clamps and to each ignitor connector.
• In a photo somewhere I saw some groves in this forward plate; if I can find that pic again I'll add them.
• I should do a more scale version of the support ring.
• For all of the bits, the maintenance manual usually lists the bolt sizes - I'd like to go back through and size all of them properly.

I like the idea of seeing the internal structure - you can see how the thing is actually put together. The bolts for the feet of the support ring go through this mounting plate and into threaded holes in the forward flange of the Nike motors. The base of the sustainer just sits on this support ring - there is no fixed attachment. It's a for-real drag separation at staging.




Next item will be the interstage shroud, but after about ten hours I think I'm done with it today.

The next component is the interstage shroud, which was 'done', never-the-less, I've just spent a couple of hours touching it up - great improvements on the exterior flange bolts.

The shroud construction is really interesting, because it's probably not built the way you thought it was. Each quadrant is a separate piece of sheet metal, and the quadrants are joined at the seams by riveting to a triangular doubler plate inside. This plate is flat, except for a vertical bend down the middle, and right-angle flanges bent inside to rigidize it. There is also a flange bent inwards in this plate around the access hole, and several rounded triangular cutouts. All of this can be seen in the model views below. This assembly is riveted around its base to the interstage aft plate.

Model options:

• On/off rivet detail
• On/off bolt detail.
• On/off interior flange detail.

TODO: Not much todo here as this is the component I started with and have worked longest on.

• Add additional options for printability.

The next item up is the interstage transition. The rivets that join the shroud to the transition are visible around the upper edge of the shroud.

I have access to a nice SLA printer that would do a good job of this. Looking forward to the end result. Look great so far!

OverTheTop said:

I have access to a nice SLA printer that would do a good job of this. Looking forward to the end result. Look great so far!

Click to expand...

I'd love to see what an SLA printer could do with this.

OverTheTop said:

I have access to a nice SLA printer that would do a good job of this. Looking forward to the end result. Look great so far!

Click to expand...

I'd love to see what an SLA printer could do with this.

I've run into an interesting dilemma. There are no direct dimensions on any drawings that show far the sustainer tail cone sits into the upper interstage, which depends upon the support ring. There are no dimensions for the support ring, but I notice it is shown on the Russian/Silverleaf drawings, but undimensioned. Never-the-less, it's enough to show that I have modeled the support ring much too high. I see that this also matches a photo where the ring is visible. So I've got some rework to do. I'll need to revisit the overall length when I have the full sustainer in place.

Actually, I think I'll put the sustainer body in place just as a sketch, and figure out the sustainer body position/ring height from there.

Ok, I think the issues are resolved. There are good dimensions for the elevon, its position on the tailcone, and the elevon latch on the interstage transition. So a good test of the sustainer position is the full engagement of the elevon latch with the elevon, which is shown in the detail. The position of the bottom of the tailcone can be seen in within the transition shroud (the 'pink' edge). That's the point that I'll have to adjust the support ring to match. At this point it all matches the entire overall length perfectly.

And, this matches the latch engagement in the photo. Need to use a photo of a 'real' NH here as the many training rounds on display don't have real elevons.

First, a new cluster plate assembly, with a shorter sustainer support ring that matches the sketch detail on the drawings and what appears in photos.

Next, is a new 'finished' component, the interstage transition, which is mounted on top of the interstage shroud. Like the other components, this has options to remove the rivets and change the details to low-res versions for printing.

Finally all of the interstage components are combined into the interstage assembly.

Some of the features of the interstage that haven't been mentioned are the elevon latches, which are the four white widgets projecting upwards. Only the sustainer of the Nike-Hercules is guided, so during the unguided Nike powered boost, they definitely do not want any guidance inputs from the sustainer elevons. When the sustainer is sitting on the booster, the slots on the top of these brackets are engaged with the elevons and they mechanically prevent the elevons from moving. When the booster falls away, the elevons are freed. The upper slotted part of the bracket can be swung ninety degrees outward to free the elevons for ground testing of the sustainer guidance. I suspect these latches usually aren't included on flying models because they would be extremely fragile, at least on two-stage models.

The projection from the right side of the upper transition is the lanyard bracket. A cord is attached to this bracket that then attaches to a plug on the sustainer. When the booster burns out and drag separates, the lanyard pulls the plug, which starts the ignition sequence of the sustainer. How simple is that?

So the Nike-Hercules booster is 'finished', though I'm sure there'll be a ton of tweaks before it's really done. I don't have the sustainer components anywhere near as complete as I had the booster components, so they are going to take a bit longer to add in.

This by far has always been my favorite rocket. I am looking to build a flying model once retired not sure what scale but was thinking 38mm boosters. I would love a printed model of your work or a cataloged file of your gathered research with pictures etc so it could be scaled with detail. Id be happy to pay for it I am sure there are others that would as well. I don't remember may offering flying models of it. Thanks so much for sharing your work with us all.

Checking in. I haven't abandoned this thread, just delayed by some travel. I am still planning a trip to SF-88 in a few weeks to resolve a few issues that I have with existing scale data on the Hercules. None of the existing scale data sources show the centering blocks on the sustainer tailcone (that can't be seen when mated, still...) and I don't believe the sustainer tailcone has ever been done accurately.

In other news, due to the generosity of a forum member, I've acquired a massive collection of NH data and photos. I've taken the task of organizing all of this to make it easily accessible and usable. Over 1200 items are sorted into appropriate folders by subject, data type, and details. It's about 1G of data, and we'll see how it will be best to make this available to modelers.

vcp said:

I am still planning a trip to SF-88 in a few weeks to resolve a few issues that I have with existing scale data on the Hercules.

Click to expand...

I recently stumbled upon this:
https://www.prusaprinters.org/photogrammetry-3d-scanning-just-phone-camera/

This could be an interesting way to compare your model to the exhibited rockets.


Reinhard

A couple of posts earlier I described the Elevon Latches that are mounted on the upper edge of the booster transition. I went back and did some refactoring of these on my model, and added an option to have the latches 'open'. A nifty detail on a scale model would be to have the latches movable.



I'll be moving on to the sustainer tailcone next, which has some interesting issues to figure out. Spoiler: I'm pretty sure every scale drawing has it wrong.

In the process of making this CAD model, I've been collecting Nike Hercules data for quite awhile. I've recently organized all of it in a Dropbox folder. The link to that is shared below.

The information collected there has been scraped/acquired from many sources on the web and unfortunately, I usually have no idea of the attribution or provenance of that data. I'll gladly include that information if anyone wishes to provide it, or, I will remove anything upon request. I've changed a few of the original filenames to make them more descriptive and improve the organization.

If anyone has anything to add, I'll gratefully accept and include it.


Nike Hercules Scale Data Collection

Enjoy.

Larry W said:

This by far has always been my favorite rocket. I am looking to build a flying model once retired not sure what scale but was thinking 38mm boosters. I would love a printed model of your work or a cataloged file of your gathered research with pictures etc so it could be scaled with detail. Id be happy to pay for it I am sure there are others that would as well. I don't remember may offering flying models of it. Thanks so much for sharing your work with us all.

Click to expand...

Right now, I'm working on getting the full detail model finished, without regard for printability. Once done, I'll be going back through it and make printable sections. In nearly all cases, I'm including switches that allow detail to be turned off at will, and that'll make it easier to use the same files to make a printable model. Before the current scale rework, I did do a quick n dirty model for a 24mm motor and most of it looked good - feasible anyway. Ah - I found the pic of those test parts. This was scaled to use a 39mm paper tube as the Hercules body.



This size looked entirely workable but I'd also like to do a larger model so some of the detail would be printable.

vcp said:

In the process of making this CAD model, I've been collecting Nike Hercules data for quite awhile. I've recently organized all of it in a Dropbox folder. The link to that is shared below.

The information collected there has been scraped/acquired from many sources on the web and unfortunately, I usually have no idea of the attribution or provenance of that data. I'll gladly include that information if anyone wishes to provide it, or, I will remove anything upon request. I've changed a few of the original filenames to make them more descriptive and improve the organization.

If anyone has anything to add, I'll gratefully accept and include it.


Nike Hercules Scale Data Collection

Enjoy.

Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing that is an incredible amount of research!

Still working...

I've been delaying because I have some information that the sustainer tailcone is not a simple cone, but none of the drawings give station diameters that would prove otherwise. Some drawings appear to show a straight cone, some appear curved. I'm still hoping to get to SF-88 and make my own measurements.

So I'm going with what I have for now. Something I've added that's not dimensioned or shown on any drawings are the centering 'bumpers' that appear on the tailcone. These were probably never measured because on a mated sustainer-booster pair, they are within the transition. The six radially placed bumpers are readily seen on pictures of the sustainer only.

Likewise for the NH nose cone, the drawings don't give many station diameters. So this is what I've got. I'm also going to forgo most of the panel lines and the flush fasteners until I can get better detail.

I've been continuing work on my dropbox collection of Nike Hercules data. There's not much new detail but it's been reorganized a bit. More work has been done on gathering photos together of particular displays and identifying their location. Much of the basic information came from Ed Thedens page on the NH but many of the links there are broken and some of the locations vague. I've tried to include a bit more information on where the actual missiles can been seen. There's still a ton of more work to do, but it's getting there.

I'd love to include any new data that anyone might have, and I'm starting to collect Nike Ajax data too so anything there would be welcome.

Nike Hercules Scale Data Collection

Wow, this is incredible. If you come across any data on the Nike Apache or ASP interstage I would love to see it. The museum displays are all over the map and I'm not sure what is "correct".

A quick note on the Nike-Zeus that was on static display on Kwajalein:

The static display round fell victim to the corrosive salt spray and humidity that is a constant on Kwajalein around the mid-1990s (I'll doublecheck the date.) The only thing that remains is the concrete display plinth. There is a Nike-Apache (minus the fin shroud) at the Roi-Namur air terminal. The silos on Mount Olympus on the western side of the island were filled in and sealed. Mount Olympus is planned to be leveled to allow the construction of a new runway.

Yes, it's sad that many missile displays seem to be disappearing. That's one reason I'm trying to document what's still there. I've searched on Google Maps for several displays mentioned on Ed's page and elsewhere that I'm pretty sure are gone now. Over the past 8-10 years there were at least two small museum closures, and one at a business that are certainly gone and at lest one other that seems to be missing. I'm sure that many others are at risk if they aren't part of major museums. I saw one NH 'mascot' at a high school that was still there, but had it's booster fins removed, apparently because they'd deteriorated from corrosion.

Loss of missles on display is saddening to us hobbyists. Last week while I was visiting my uncle Taylorsville UT there was a MGM-29 Sergeant static display on the corner of Redwood Rd and 5000S street. Wished I had time to take some measurements, and photos (we were on our way to play golf and running a little late).

I asked when I was at KSC earlier in the year regarding a NH that used to be on display. Apparently it had been moved to another museum in another state so the salt-spray corrosion would not get to it any more.

Some of the missiles they still had on display at the old airforce station had been severely chewed out by the brine air . I seem to remember seeing the last remaining example of a Navaho missile languishing on the ground somewhere, and another missile (Hound Dog?) on a display stand with a broken spine. The atmosphere there is bad for museum displays.

A hurricane/tropical storm (can't remember which) thoroughly trashed the outdoor rockets on display at the USAF Space Museum. Some have been repaired and restored. I think the Navaho was put inside one of the industrial area hangars and restored.

Yea! I just joined the Nike Historical Society and will be attending their reunion at SF-88 on September 1. I'm hoping that I'll be able to get the measurements that have been stalling my CAD work. I've made up a radius gauge that should be able to measure station diameters on the Hercules nose and tail cones.