MadCow Honest John Build Thread

[Machet_Man]

Hello fellow Rocketeers,

On Black Friday I picked up an Honest John all fiberglass kit from MadCow Rocketry and across the past two months have been working off and on making this awesome rocket. I would first like to say WOW! This was my first experience with any of the MadCow Rocketry and I am very impressed with the quality of the parts and the overall kit! The only problem that I had with any of the parts was that the shoulder of the nosecone was slightly warped so that it would fit into the BT much to tightly but after adding the nosecone bulkhead it was slightly better but still very tight. I will definitely be returning to MadCow Rocketry for another kit in the future!

I made a few modifications to the kit to make it a bit more scale to the real M31 Honest John such as layering the fins and making them match the curvature of the real fins and adding a perforated band around the center where the real missile would have been assembled.

Some specs on the rocket:

G10 Pre-Slotted Body Tube
Scale Fiberglass Nose Cone
G10 Fins
G10 Centering Rings
Cut Vinyl Decal
Nylon Shock Cord

Specifications:
Length: 38"
Diameter 2.6" (3.4" at Nose)
Motor Mount: 29mm
Fins: 4 each 1/16" G10 (Modified to 5/16" thick)
Scale: 1:8.5

Let me know whatcha think about the build!

 

[MasonH]

I have wanted one of these things forever...glad someone got one!

 

[Machet_Man]

Starting out with the fins, with plans to sandwich each fins in two sheets of 1/8" basswood I started by drilling a pattern of 1/16" holes for the epoxy to set in and also scuffing up both sides of the fin

 

[Machet_Man]

After cutting out the 8 sheets of basswood to sandwich the fiberglass fins in I smeared on a layer of epoxy and pressed all four fins together under a stack of text books to let them dry.

Once all fins where dry I brought out the sandpaper and started the tiring process of sanding all the fins to the right curvature. The slope of the surface of the fins was found by drawing a line down the middle of the fin toward the tip and sanding until the slope of the fin touched the fiberglass on the edge and also the line draw in the middle to make a nice gradual slope.

 

[Machet_Man]

Once all the sanding was done on the fins and I finally was satisfied with the curvature, it was time to fiberglass the fins!

To fiberglass the fins I took 2 layers of 6oz cloth and laid them down on either side after painting resin on both sides and vacuum bagged all four fins separately with my buddy Dustin's food saver. Thanks again amigo! The fins were then put in a hot box A.K.A. a cardboard box with my lamp punched through it to let cure. The next morning four very rough fins emerged and it was back to the sanding!

After all four fins had been trimmed, sanded and filled with Bondo spot putty they actually turned out kinda nice for my first attempt at layered fins.

 

[dixontj93060]

I really like the contour on the fins!

 

[Machet_Man]

Now that all the parts are ready to be assembled it was time for some epoxy! The motor mount assembly went together without a problem although finding the spacing of the centering rings between the fins tabs and fin slots was a bit tricky. Sorry I didn't snap any pictures of the MMT but both I first found the location of the top CR and epoxied it in place on the MMT. This assembly was taken and epoxied in the BT using the unglued back centering ring to hold the assembly square in the tube while it dried.

Once everything was dry the back CR was pulled out and it was time for some fins!

To mount the fins I made a cardboard jig to hold the bottoms of each fin perpendicular the body tube and used duct tape to hold them in place. I also wanted to put a bit of pressure on the fins while they dried so I did the only logical thing there was to do, weighed it down with cases of beer!

 

[Machet_Man]

With all the fins glued, onto the fillets! It took me about a day to go around with the 30 minute epoxy and do all 8 sets of fillets on the outside and inside of the BT but they turned out nice and smooth.

 

[Machet_Man]

Next in with was the spin motors that MadCow provides in the kit! I tryed to shape the plywood pieces that came with the kit but I didnt quite like the look of the first ones I made so I cut a new batch out of 1/4" mdf and sanded them on the belt sander to match the shape of the spin motors on the real Honest John. Along with the shaping I also drilled 2 x 1/8" holes on each piece to add to the scale detail of the rocket. Don't worry, they start to look better after some filling and sanding!

Along with the spin motors I also glued on the launch lugs and applied some hefty epoxy fillets to the stand-offs in hopes that they don't snap off being so high off the BT.

 

[Machet_Man]

Here is where I was at about a week ago! The only addition to the rocket was the 3/8" band added above the launch lug

 

[Machet_Man]

Epoxied on an Estes engine retainer after having good luck with these little pieces of plastic in the past!

 

[Machet_Man]

After some final filling, sanding and random touch-ups I finally was ready for a coat of primer. Good'ol Rustoleum primer did the job!

 

[Machet_Man]

And this is where im at today! Rocket is all primed, all the little pin holes revealed by the primer of being filled and im just waiting on a couple hours to lay on a coat of Olive drab! I cannot tell you how anxious I am to get this baby painted and to apply the decals from stickershock!

I havent mentioned anything about the recovery system but the last picture attatched pretty much explains it. After running a couple simulations I decided on a 36" chute. Btw if your every looking for a nice parachute and dont want to spend a lot check out rocketchutes.com
They offer a wide range of low to mid power sizes and in a ton a colors and patterns. I opted for the Camo for the Honest John, though it matched the military background of this bad boy

 

[Machet_Man]

Finally got a chance today to so the lat bit a priming/sanding and then apply the first coat of the Rustoleum Olive Drab paint! The paint job turned out nice and smooth but it definitely needs another coat.

 

[chadrog]

Looks great, love how you worked over the fins! I must try that some day.

 

[Machet_Man]

I was skeptical about trying it but it was surprisingly easy, and it is easy to fix if your attempts at either contouring the fins or fiberglassing don't work out that great on the first run, give it a shot! Thank you for the compliment

Looks great, love how you worked over the fins! I must try that some day.

 

[rheil]

Very nice, well done!

 

[TALON]

Great job, love "DETAILED" scale models. I am almost anal when it comes to display model details. Your HoJoe is display quality.

 

[Machet_Man]

Talon, I feel your pain! I am probably the most anal person I know when it comes to building! Its a curse, I tell you haha. Thank you for the compliment though, After applying the decals over the past two hours Im not sure i want to launch it anymore

Btw, I notice your a Dallas resident! Do you happen to be a member of the Dallas Area Rocketry Club?

 

[Machet_Man]

Winding down the build I started the tedious process of applying the decals! I talked to Mark Hayes at StickerShock and got a set of white vinyl decals for the rocket and within three days of talking to him via email had the custom decal set in my mailbox, what a great guy to do business with!

After drawing a grid over the individual decals of the large page I cut each piece out and began making reference lines on the rocket with strips of paper wrapped around the rocket with marks to make sure each decal was applied squarely on the rocket. This is the first time I had had any experience with vinyl decals but everything seems to moving right along! Ill be sure to post pictures once all the decals are applied

 

[Machet_Man]

Finally all decals are applied! To finish off the build a layer of clear coat to protect the easily scratched Olive Drab will be applied tomorrow. Ill be sure to post better pictures when the clear coat is on and I can find some better lighting!

 

[TALON]

Looking Kick Azz!

 

[ArthurSull]

Forgive me for the question which will be obvious to all of you but not for me, but obviously a rail or launch rod can not bend around the higher diameter of the upper section of this rocket? So is it placed higher up on a rod to prevent this?

This looks so awesome though. I am in love with scale models and want one of the 18mm mini Honest Johns from Estes. One day I hope I can achieve creations like this though when my skills allow me to.

 

[qquake2k]

Forgive me for the question which will be obvious to all of you but not for me, but obviously a rail or launch rod can not bend around the higher diameter of the upper section of this rocket? So is it placed higher up on a rod to prevent this?

This looks so awesome though. I am in love with scale models and want one of the 18mm mini Honest Johns from Estes. One day I hope I can achieve creations like this though when my skills allow me to.

That's what the launch lug standoffs are for:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showt...-Honest-John-Build-Thread&p=472818#post472818

 

[qquake2k]

That turned out great! I've always liked the Honest John. I had an Estes Maxi Honest John back in the day. Love how you did the fins. Much better than Estes' vacu-formed fins!

 

[stickershock23]

Im Jealous... that is VERY nice!

 

[Machet_Man]

This looks so awesome though. I am in love with scale models and want one of the 18mm mini Honest Johns from Estes. One day I hope I can achieve creations like this though when my skills allow me to.

That is where I started out, making the small estes scale models. I actually have the Estes Mini-Honest John that I put a little extra time into and made the fins to scale and added the spin motor accents. Start with little project like those and youll be suprised how quick your skills develop. Before you know it your building much bigger and detailed rockets than you ever though you could. Thank you for the compliments Arthur!

 

[samb]

Fantastic build, Tripp. Especially like your creatively repurposed fin jig.

 

[Machet_Man]

I finally got the chance to put a clear coat on and everything turned out great! The rockets got a nice dark shine to it now and is really smooth

On a side note I made a scale model of the Honest John Missile on Inventor and used our academies 3D printer to print out three models! The cool thing about them is I hollowed them out and made the end the same dimension for a bic pen insert so I can use it as a pen! Thought ide share haha

 

[BrianWright]

Looks great Tripp!

I have just bought this kit and was wondering what your completed weight was? Have you been able to launch it yet? I'm going to try and complete mine before the May 11th-12th DARS launch.