AGM-14 HELL`S COMMING " DONE" !!

This will be my build thread for the AGM-114 HELLFIRE.

I`ll be using 6" diam. BlueTube and a fiberglass nosecone,fins are 3/8" Baltic Birch.The missile will be fitted with 54mm motor tube.

Tailcone will be made in my shop with laminated 3/4" baltic Birch

I`ll machine launch shoes from aluminum stock and fit with 1010 and 1515 rail buttons ,they`ll be interchangable.

Finished size will be 64" tall

I`ll be makong this as close to scale as possible with all the bits and parts :wink:

Thanks for your interest !

Paul T

Waiting with bated eyeballs!

Subscribed. op:

Very challenging project!

I love watching your builds. What nose cone are you using?

Agagagaggaa! :drool: Subscribed!


TA

Cool subscribed

Cant wait Paul!

I thought you could copy this. warmplastic.com Check out the Mighty-mini globo former.
It also opens up a lot of Modeling possibilities.

this is going to be awesome!! can't wait to see the pics!!

I wanna build one

I was hoping you would build a Hellfire!!

cwbullet said:

I love watching your builds. What nose cone are you using?

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I hope you enjoy it Chuck.The nosecone is from Rocketry Warehouse ,first time I had ever ordered from them ,and I was very pleased with this vendor.

Take care

Paul T

Eric1 said:

I was hoping you would build a Hellfire!!

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I`ve been planning this for sometime Eric ,just needed to find some time and clean/finish other projects and make room in the old build shop.

So now it`s time to build !

Take care

Paul T

OH BOY!

hornet driver said:

OH BOY!

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Paul has that effect on a lot of us!

sodmeister said:

I`ve been planning this for sometime Eric ,just needed to find some time and clean/finish other projects and make room in the old build shop.

So now it`s time to build !

Take care

Paul T

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Paul, is it filament wound or gel coat?

cwbullet said:

Paul, is it filament wound or gel coat?

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It`s gel coat my good man.

I`ll have some pictures tomorrow as I`m just sitting here on the computer waiting for some epoxy to harden in the nosecone.I had a few thin spots after sanding ,so I added some FG on the inside and added a bulkhead in the shoulder and drilled a series of large access holes,so as to add weight later on.And I think I shall be adding a ton of 7 1/2 shot if my guess is right.

OBTW-The cone from RW is really a very nice, well done cone ,very few blemishes and pinholes.....I am very pleased.

Take care Chuck !

Paul T

You mean I can expect a day worse than today at work?
I thought it already had........................

Bones

So Paul..is the nosecone being clipped?..is it solid,or a clear dome?
Yea..the TRF Mafia was demanding more pictures..I can't help their addiction..

JStitz said:

So Paul..is the nosecone being clipped?..is it solid,or a clear dome?
Yea..the TRF Mafia was demanding more pictures..I can't help their addiction..

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I did think about the clear dome idea ,but after much consideration had to advise myself to abort the notion.The nature of the missile and it`s shape and my over the top building practises will mean a TON of noseweight will be needed to make the rocket stable.This was also the case in my 4" scratch version and also my 2.6".

Seeing how the nosecone will be hitting the ground tip first ,a clear dome of any sort will surely be destroyed and at least "buggered" LOL

So ,what I may do ,is either paint the dome area gloss black ,and then apply many many many coats of gloss clear coat ,probably lacquer.This should give the effect of glass.The other option ,is a specialty "chrome" spray finish I was looking at online ,it is expensive ,although not really ,but I just need to find out if it may be clear coated without losing is desired effect....IE: dulling the finish.I don`t expect the chrome paint would be durable on it own ,but I have plenty of time to do some homework.

Build picutes are comming today my friend !

Cheers

Paul T

PS-this is the 4" scratch version I did long ago (2001-2).I used Testors chrome ,but the clear coat made it somewhat dull ,but on it`s own ,the chrome is just not durable.The nosecone also has a ton of weight in it to make it stable ,probably a pound of shot !!!!!!!!!!

I since added 1010 rail buttons ,as i don`t like using 1/4" buggy whip rods on anything .

OK ,for starters, here`s the fiberglass nosecone compared to my scratch 2.6" version I made this summer.

It`s a big one !

Paul T

I got started by making a tail cone ,at first I was not going to add one as I don`t have a lathe and really didn`t want to get one made and pay a lot of $$$$ !

But after thinking about it ,if I didn`t make one it was going to bother me during the whole build, so I sucked it up and thought of a solution (not a good one in hindsight in a safety sense !)

I started by cutting two discs a little larger than the finished diameter out of 3/4" Baltic Birch and one of 3/8' plywood and laminated them together and clamped overnight.

I decided to use my router table with a angled fixture on which the rough cut TC could be slowly rotated on a long 1/2" straight cutting bit.It worked ,but sweet mother things could have gone South pretty quick if my full attention was not focused on the cutter !!

Anyway ,it worked out pretty good ,so I then used my drillpress and a 4" holesaw and cut out the center ,then sanded out the machine marks ,filled with Bondo ,gave it a brushing of 20 min.finishing epoxy, let cure and sanded smooth.

This is what I came up with.

Now to make a shoulder for the tailcone.

Cheers

Paul T

While I was at it ,and while I had my circle cutter set ,I cut a bunch of centering rings and a few bulkheads.My circle cutter is pretty much maxed out for cutting 6" CRs and whoooooooooooo boy ,the old drill press sure wants to do a dance all over the floor when cutting these bad boys LOL

The CRs are all 3/8" Baltic Birch.Thank goodness I have a shop that sells BB plywood in 6 thicknesses and in 5` x 5` sheets ,otherwise it would be off to Michaels with a sack full of $$$$$ !

So anyway ,I stacked 3 CRs (already drilled for 54mm MMT) and glued them together and gave them the clamps.This stack of CRs will be the shoulder for the tail cone.

After the glue cooks overnight ,i`ll glue and screw it to the tail cone.

Thanks as always for looking at my build !

Cheers

Paul T

The smaller versions look awesome. Looking forward to seeing this one come together.

I can already see it's gonna be fabulous

Following this very closely.

Well the CR/disc shoulder was dry enough to glue and clamp onto the Tailcone.I marked and drilled some holes for some #7 woodscrews.

I`m going to give the whole works a good final sanding to smooth everything out ,as i had to do a bit of additional filling and then sealed the spots with super thin CA.

Paul t

Paul, I feel like this thing really needs a 75...what kind of motors are you thinking of?

MasonH said:

Paul, I feel like this thing really needs a 75...what kind of motors are you thinking of?

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Oh ,I was thinking D12-5s ,but I may have to re-think that LOL

I`m planning on CTI 54s in the big Js to start and then up to Ks ,but remember ,I`m not going for speed or height as I`m not really a speed freak and I like to see my creations fly at least once before they crash !

I haven`t even done a Rocksim yet ,I do that last ,although I have a fair idea what`s going on.For some strange reason I consider the Sim secondary and the build and design primary and it`s worked so far.....so either I`m really smart or very lucky.

Let`s go with lucky LOL

But seriously ,I do have RS and have done some research and a rudimentary design ,but that`s about it.When I built my first true scratch rocket ,the 4" Hellfire, I had never heard of Rocksim ,I just looked at pictures and built it as close to the real thing as I could (this is like 11-12 years ago) then figured out the old CP/CG relationship thing ,added nose weight and launched it.

Hey it flew well and straight and still flies today ,but now on 29mm reloads ,as back then I did not belong to a club and all I had was AT single use motors ,E,F and Gs.

I had to gut out the engine block and add retention for reloads ,but brother ,it looks great ripping off the pad on "Sparkies" !

So you see ,I`m not smart.....just lucky :rofl:

...or i could be an "rocketry idiot savant" ,but more likely just an idiot LOL

Take care

Paul t

BUT.....I do plan on a BIG....Bullpup for 75s and a full scale AIM-9 Falcon ,probably soon after this build :wink:

Well enough for a few days.I gave the entire tailcone a good sanding with 180 and then 220 ,and am now pleased with the results.

I know what you`re thinking ,hey ...Paul T ,how about the body tube and fins ?

.......details ,details...

As you`ll see ,my building practices are somewhat unorthodox ,but perhaps you already have that figured out by now LOL

As always ,thanks for your interest and time !

Paul T