Estes Mini Honest John Build

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REK

REK

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I recieved a new Estes Mini HoJo from Estes after complaining that it was unstable. After letting them know that I did not recieve the clay that they have placed on the kit they sent out a new one. However I do not like the way the model looks with those tiny fins. That being the case I cut out my own tubes and my own fins in making this model look more like the actual HoJo. I wanted this one to fly under the 18mm A,B, and C engines. Allowing me for more choices to fly it under. Courtesy of my former high school teacher I aquired some parts.

image.jpg

I started off by placing an engine retainer.
image.jpg

Next I glued down the centering rings
image.jpg

After the centering rings came the engine block. I know its not required, but just in case :p.
image.jpg

Finally I came to a hault by installing the engine mount into the main body tube. As well as making fin alignment marks.
image.jpg

More pictures to come soon :).
 
I was planning on getting on of these to fly on our smaller field ,think I shall.

Post often please ,I`m very interested in this kit.

Cheers

Paul t
 
look more like the actual HoJo.
Click to expand...

There are 2 Versions of the Honest John. The old version with Large Fins and four spins motors sticking outward on the Nose section and the Newer version which has small fins and uses only 2 spin motors on the nose section that are recess inward. The Nose cone and Fins are Scale and correct for this version of the Honest John. If you decide to use large fins and the nose cone that came with this Estes kit you are NOT making a actual Hojo as you put but you will still have some thing you will enjoy flying which is really what matters.


John Boren
 
sodmeister said:
I was planning on getting on of these to fly on our smaller field ,think I shall.

Post often please ,I`m very interested in this kit.

Cheers


Paul t
Click to expand...

Sure will Paul, this kit is indeed great. I am simply modifying it to have a better looking Honest John and at the same time fly higher, instead of just 300+ feet with the mini engines. I am debating right now whether to diamond airfoil the fins or not.
 
JumpJet said:
There are 2 Versions of the Honest John. The old version with Large Fins and four spins motors sticking outward on the Nose section and the Newer version which has small fins and uses only 2 spin motors on the nose section that are recess inward. The Nose cone and Fins are Scale and correct for this version of the Honest John. If you decide to use large fins and the nose cone that came with this Estes kit you are NOT making a actual Hojo as you put but you will still have some thing you will enjoy flying which is really what matters.


John Boren
Click to expand...

John, I most disagree with you. The actual Honest John has a larger fin profile than this. I took the madcow 2.6" Honest John Rocksim and scaled it down until the body tube diameters matched. In which I copied the fins on the down scaled version and I applied it to the Mini Honest John. By doing this I not only found out the perfect down scaled fins, but the actual length of the body tube needed to be larger. I went from 6.5" to 8" to give it the real HoJo look. I will later do a moch up when I get home and you will see that there is a big difference.
 
T-Rex said:
Um, Mr Boren is correct. There were different versions and the fin size differed greatly..... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MGR-1_Honest_John
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I do know for a fact that there was an earlier version. That one indeed had small fins. I like the new version with the massive fins. However the reason I am modifying it to the latest version is because if three reasons.

1. Even with the clay going only 300+ feet is no fun
2. I just dont like the small fin profile.
3. Id prefer to have the latest looking version.

Overall still this missile is great and I highly recommend it to anyone. I plan to get Madcow's four inch HoJo.
 
New update, I've decided not to bevel the fins since I sometimes get carried away and I didnt want to screw up.

Fins have been glued on. I highly recommend gluing with TightbondII. The viscosity on the glue is nice and thick. Heres a moch up picture. Just need to finish gluing the shock cord mount and the launch lug and its ready for paint :).
image.jpg
 
I do know for a fact that there was an earlier version. That one indeed had small fins.
Click to expand...

Sorry but the new version was in fact the one with the smaller fins.

John Boren
 
JumpJet said:
Sorry but the new version was in fact the one with the smaller fins.

John Boren
Click to expand...

Whatever, I just like the one with the Massive fins :p. New update I made my fillets with the TightbondII glue as well.

image.jpg
 
making this model look more like the actual HoJo
Click to expand...
This statement was incorrect based on the kit you were building


Ijust like the one with the Massive fins
Click to expand...
This statement is what you should have stated to begin with since everyone has their own likes and dislikes.

I was just trying to get the facts straight on what the kit was based on and what you thought it was.

John Boren
 
JumpJet said:
This statement was incorrect based on the kit you were building



This statement is what you should have stated to begin with since everyone has their own likes and dislikes.

I was just trying to get the facts straight on what the kit was based on and what you thought it was.

John Boren
Click to expand...

Well I most appreciate it. I like the big fins better since it gives me lots of stability to work with :p. I hope your enjoying this thread :).
 
New update, glued down the launch lug to the balsa base and then glued it down to the airframe. Notice the air foiled front and back to reduce drag.
image.jpg
 
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Latest update, I finished gluing in the shock cord mount. All is left is to install the Parachute and it is ready to fly.
image.jpg
 
I hope you all enjoyed this short thread, but it is finished :p. Here a picture of both HoJo's next to each other. I think what I will do is get the clay I received and place it in my old HoJo.
image.jpg
 
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I`m a "big fin" man myself ,so it looks like I better get two of these kits ,one original and one another to do a larger fin mod.

Either way ,HoJos are great looking missiles ,one of my favorites and am very glad I have two of the original Estes Maxi-Honest Johns in my stash.

Good job !

Paul t
 
SinfulDarkLord said:
Whatever, I just like the one with the Massive fins :p. New update I made my fillets with the TightbondII glue as well.

View attachment 126602
Click to expand...

If I may offer a suggestion,you may want to paper your fins,looks like you have the grain going the wrong direction.The picture looks like it's going the same direction as the trailing edge.The fins might snap on landing.You did a nice job on your build.I to had the same thing happen when I received my kit.It had no clay and Estes sent me another kit.I made larger fins so I could fly one of them with a 18mm motor mount.I weighed a A10-4 and a C6-5 and added the difference to the nose with the .20oz. of clay that came with the kit.The CG is dead on.I went with a paint scheme that was used at White Sands with the 18mm rocket,the other was finished with a green paint job and 13mm mount.For some reason,I can't post any pictures of my builds.
 
Hope these post.
 
cjp said:
If I may offer a suggestion,you may want to paper your fins,looks like you have the grain going the wrong direction.
...
Click to expand...

On the contrary. He is actually safe. Now if the grain was rotated by 90% compared to the pic then he would be in trouble.
 
Leo said:
On the contrary. He is actually safe. Now if the grain was rotated by 90% compared to the pic then he would be in trouble.
Click to expand...

It was only a suggestion,I looked at the fins that came with my HO JO and the grain goes with he leading edge.Papering the fins adds strength and will protect them as they do stick out more.I do see what you mean but I'm over cautious on my builds.Not trying to put anyone down with this.
 
I just wanted to mention that i built an Estes HJ stone stock, no clay and it flew just fine....Just dumb luck maybe? I had a good time building and flying it!
 
Bill Gibson said:
I just wanted to mention that i built an Estes HJ stone stock, no clay and it flew just fine....Just dumb luck maybe? I had a good time building and flying it!
Click to expand...

When I first flew it, it took off straight and no unstable flight. On the second flight the kick of the motor pushed the engine mount inside 1/4 of an inch. This probably led to the unstable manner. I do not know why the engine mount went forward as I put plenty of glue. Oh well, new rocket, new look and more motor choices to fly it on.
 
Getting it nicely painted :). Notice the fillets, they were made from fixit epoxy clay. It was difficult to make them, but the results are worth it.

image.jpg
 
Very cool, I'm a big fan of the Honest John in all of it's variations.
 
Nice clean build and sharp finish. I'm a firm believer in "my rocket, my rules" when I build and paint a rocket. Please take the following comments in the spirit of that statement. Most of these relate to your stated goal to make the model look "... more like the actual Hojo." (the M31/MGR-1A version).

I agree that the scale diamond airfoil is hard to do right, especially at this size. But I find it odd that you pointed out the streamlining of the launch lug stand-off and left the fins square. I would have put a knife edge on the leading and trailing edges or at least rounded them over.

Big fillets on rockets that don't have them in real life are kind a "disturbance in the Force" for me. I know it's a trade-off between scale appearance and keeping the fins on but I think a couple of swipes of Titebond moulding and trim or Alene's tacky would do just as well.

Your finish shot comes across on my monitor as a glossy dark forest green. Do you have a picture a real round with that finish ? The operational rounds that I've seen are O.D. and the more interesting test rounds are varying patterns of orange, black and white.

I'd hesitate to stick my tongue out at John Boren (except maybe if I ever get the chance to meet him and share an adult beverage or three with him). He was very nice and respectful when he dropped his knowledge on you in this thread. As you may know, he works for Estes in product development and his participation on this forum is most welcome by me and, I hope, many others.
 
samb said:
Nice clean build and sharp finish. I'm a firm believer in "my rocket, my rules" when I build and paint a rocket. Please take the following comments in the spirit of that statement. Most of these relate to your stated goal to make the model look "... more like the actual Hojo." (the M31/MGR-1A version).

I agree that the scale diamond airfoil is hard to do right, especially at this size. But I find it odd that you pointed out the streamlining of the launch lug stand-off and left the fins square. I would have put a knife edge on the leading and trailing edges or at least rounded them over.

Big fillets on rockets that don't have them in real life are kind a "disturbance in the Force" for me. I know it's a trade-off between scale appearance and keeping the fins on but I think a couple of swipes of Titebond moulding and trim or Alene's tacky would do just as well.

Your finish shot comes across on my monitor as a glossy dark forest green. Do you have a picture a real round with that finish ? The operational rounds that I've seen are O.D. and the more interesting test rounds are varying patterns of orange, black and white.

I'd hesitate to stick my tongue out at John Boren (except maybe if I ever get the chance to meet him and share an adult beverage or three with him). He was very nice and respectful when he dropped his knowledge on you in this thread. As you may know, he works for Estes in product development and his participation on this forum is most welcome by me and, I hope, many others.
Click to expand...

I was corrected in the fact that the earlier version was the one with the larger fin profile. As for the new one I still like it, however, there is a difference between a real missile and a model rocket. The one with smaller fins is too close to becoming unstable. Hence the new clay they recently added in the kit. I didn't want to have two looking almost the same and I wanted to make modifications to be able to use 18mm motors to fly higher or lower at the same time, not worrying about stability.

I did not want to even make the airfoil on the fins because it just doesn't look right to me. As you clearly mentioned "my rocket, my rules" has always been something a part of me. However, I am open to look into what others think and I look at how I can combine their methods into a better method. As far as appearance goes with the fillets, that's another "my rocket, my rules" thing.

Going with your statement about the paint scheme I did wanted to try something different, but I didn't have the paints at the moment and I couldn't wait any longer. I have seen the missile itself at White Sands Missile range and the paint scheme there is great.

here is a picture I took with my phone
Hojo missile.jpg

As much as I know you are only pointing out what you would have done, you need to always remember that this is "my rocket, my rules" thank you for compliments.
 
HAHAHAHAHAHA :rofl:, looks like I am going to have to get me another Mini Honest John. After looking at some pictures of the improved version with the smaller fin profile. I noticed that it has a tailcone. That's right, a tailcone. A small little detail that Estes didn't include (probably because of stability issues).

Don't believe me? Take a close look at this picture
34e39649-b97c-4386-bfc7-e6113af5bb55.jpg

For certain I want this to be like the actual current version of the HoJo.
 
SinfulDarkLord said:
I was corrected in the fact that the earlier version was the one with the larger fin profile. As for the new one I still like it, however, there is a difference between a real missile and a model rocket. The one with smaller fins is too close to becoming unstable. Hence the new clay they recently added in the kit. I didn't want to have two looking almost the same and I wanted to make modifications to be able to use 18mm motors to fly higher or lower at the same time, not worrying about stability.

I did not want to even make the airfoil on the fins because it just doesn't look right to me. As you clearly mentioned "my rocket, my rules" has always been something a part of me. However, I am open to look into what others think and I look at how I can combine their methods into a better method. As far as appearance goes with the fillets, that's another "my rocket, my rules" thing.

Going with your statement about the paint scheme I did wanted to try something different, but I didn't have the paints at the moment and I couldn't wait any longer. I have seen the missile itself at White Sands Missile range and the paint scheme there is great.

here is a picture I took with my phone
View attachment 127768

As much as I know you are only pointing out what you would have done, you need to always remember that this is "my rocket, my rules" thank you for compliments.
Click to expand...

That's the paint scheme I went with.Built mine with larger fins and added .60oz of clay to the nose.Flew on a B6-4 straight and recovered with streamers.It was getting to windy to try a C6-5.Will try again this Saturday.For some reason the file is to large to post a picture.
 

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