Nuclear Sledgehammer Build

For my first major build,

The Giant Leap Nuclear Sledgehammer: This is an awesome kit and a builders kit. Lots or parts and instructions that are 50 pages front and back - 100 pages of instructions by my book. I started today and this will be two boxes out of my build pile.


Here are the unboxed parts photos.

You don't need instructions.....



JD

SUBSCRIBED op:

Your first major build and your are starting off with this monster? You sir... are a brave man!! I haven't worked up the nerve to start on one of these yet. I'll be watching this build very carefully............

Such a cool monster!

Subscribed !!!

Instructions: I would agree until I saw all the parts. This is not an easy or simple 3-4 fin rocket. It has 3 AV bays.

Wow them there is a hole lot of parts. Have fun:

You Da Man Chuck. Awesome. One of my favorite big rockets. Subscribed. You have great taste in all of your rocket selections. Maybe someday for me. Good luck with the build.

Chris

cwbullet said:

It has 3 AV bays.

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What's the reasoning behind this? It seems complexity is given as a "feature" of the rocket on the GLR website...

It is just the way it designed. Each AV bay is self contained. I plan to have two altimeters and a tracker.

That is a cool looking kit. Freedom Launch?

Brent said:

That is a cool looking kit. Freedom Launch?

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I hope to have my Honest John, Nike Smoke, and the Nuclear Sledgehammer. 3 M Flights. If I can get the Thor done, maybe 4.

cwbullet said:

I hope to have my Honest John, Nike Smoke, and the Nuclear Sledgehammer. 3 M Flights. If I can get the Thor done, maybe 4.

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I plan on sending my Honest John up on a N.

N? I will have the wait till I see my weight. Maybe.

Does it have a 98 mm mount?

My Honest John does. The Nuclear Sledgehammer does not. The NS will have to go on an M.

You sir are loco, :boat:
op:

Maybe.

So of each of the three av-bays are self contained, how does it sense the outside air? I don't see any ports?

Also, its already glassed, right?

neond7 said:

So of each of the three av-bays are self contained, how does it sense the outside air? I don't see any ports?

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If it's like the Talon 6, run a port from the bay to the outside of the airframe.

Also, its already glassed, right?

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Yes. It's their Dynawind tubing.

-Kevin

CarVac said:

What's the reasoning behind this? It seems complexity is given as a "feature" of the rocket on the GLR website...

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There's the minimalist approach that most of the fiberglass kits on the market take, and there's the more "design as art" approach, which is what Kent at Giant Leap does.

It's a different design philosophy than most do, and Kent puts a tremendous amount of though and effort into the kits that he produces. Nothing they do is complexity for the sake of complexity. I tend to think of the kits as more Engineered than just built.

-Kevin

troj said:

There's the minimalist approach that most of the fiberglass kits on the market take, and there's the more "design as art" approach, which is what Kent at Giant Leap does.

It's a different design philosophy than most do, and Kent puts a tremendous amount of though and effort into the kits that he produces. Nothing they do is complexity for the sake of complexity. I tend to think of the kits as more Engineered than just built.

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That is correct. I am reading the instructions right now. I will post the details as I built. This will be a very thorough build thread.

Looks like a fun build. Is this kit still available? I don't see a price. The Talon 6 seems to be discontinued.

Anyway, here's a very very very preliminary downscale of the Nuclear Sledgehammer, aka Mini Sledge. I tossed it together a few nights ago for fun after I saw your post. 98mm min diameter, 3grain max.

View attachment mini_nuclear_sledghammer.rkt

I think it has been discontinued.

cwbullet said:

I think it has been discontinued.

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Man I have been hearing that more often than I like these days!

I agree. I has planned to buy a V2 from Polecat, but it appears that one is going to be a long time or never in the coming.

cwbullet said:

I think it has been discontinued.

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I hate it when that happens. Well, there's always scratch building.

I guess back when it was available, it was at a cost of around 800 bucks +75 - 100 shipping. Here's a site that that said so. CLICK

Chuck, I'd really like to see this one go forth. I seriously doubt if you'll have time to get it finished before Freedom Launch. That's a big ole fat lot of parts and instructions.

BTW...The photo I saw first made this rocket look like a kid's toy. I hope you have better taste than that. Check out this paint job. This looks great!

I thought the rocket was a smaller one. Whoa!