Madcow 4" FG Honest John build

[sodmeister]

This is a fast build (from that I mean no pics of CRs ,MMTs and the usual things we already know about)but rather how I built it and what I thought it needed to be a more "scale" HoJo.

The parts are 100% top notch ,and the nosecone a thing of beauty ,although perhaps not truly scale ,does not matter.

The fins needed some bevels (no probs with a power sander) and fit the slots nicely.

The big nosecone comes in two parts, joined by a short coupler (about an 1 1/2" long) ,to be epoxied together.I did mine differently ,but more on that later.

Of course ,washing ,alcohol ,sanding for mating parts ,washing and a good wash down of alcohol and things are ready for building.


Paul T

 

[sodmeister]

The HoJo needs ,at this time ,some small details to make it look the part ,so bands need to be added.

Heavy cardstock ,tacked in place ,then soaked with thin CA does the trick.


Paul T

 

[sodmeister]

Here we have all the bands on ,and CAd....hard as a rock.

I doubled up on the bands to give more relief ,so the main band is perhaps 3/4" wide and the next band placed on top is 1/2' wide ( although these measurements are not exactly what i used ,but i don`t remember ,and it really does not matter......I think ? LOL)


Paul T

 

[sodmeister]

This is a closeup pic of the bands that are doubled up.

After the thin CA has been applied (very liberally to form a bond and to harden the cardstock) all is sanded with 320 to a fine polish.

The bands are now one with the fiberglass BT

Paul T

 

[sodmeister]

You really can`t build a HoJo without the mid band with all those damn holes ,so I did.

I thought this was going to be the most tedious part of the build ,but as the build went forward ,I once again proved myself wrong ! But more on that later ,as you will see.

What a beautiful and stupid rocket it was LOL

Cheers

Paul T

 

[sodmeister]

The perforated band applied ,again with thin CA.

After the whole rocket is built ,I will apply a light "wash" to bring out the details ,so the holes and bands will appear a little more 3detail ,as in model making.

Paul T

 

[sodmeister]

I wanted to give the fins that look without doing a total overhal ,so I did this.

If i ever do a big scale HoJo (and i will) I would do a FG build up and do the fins proper, but this is not the point of this build ,just to make it look the part.

I found scale pics of the rocket and then the fins ,so this is what i got.

I marked the demarcation points with pencil.

Paul t

 

[sodmeister]

So I cut very thin strips of heavy card and applied it to the fins ,and again ,CA was soaked into the strips.

At any rate ,it gives the fins a look and feel of depth ,that otheriwse would not be there ,and it needs that in my opinion ,however simple a solution it may be.

Again ,this is not a scratch build ,at least not to my specifications ,but rather a simple building block to better the kit....although the kit does not need any additions.


Paul T

 

[sodmeister]

There you go ,ass end done for now.

Onto the nosecone.


Paul T

 

[sodmeister]

I suppose it`s onto that silly looking nosecone.

For sure this thing will need nose weigth ,and I don`t like having to add it through the bulkhead ,and like having things more "modular' like my AGM114 Hellfire.

So upon looking at some scale drawings of the actual Honest John ,I noticed that there is a band of screws running the circumfrence of the NC that come very close to the area where Madcow made their NC in two parts.

Perfect.

Mapped it out ,drilled ,tapped ,then counter sunk for 4-40 socket head black oxide SS,flat screws.Yah......I have that in my shop ,you surprised ?

The upper part of the coupler was epoxied into the forward end of the NC ,the top section will be removable ,but checking the fit of the parts and alignment is pretty important here.

There were some very small blemishes that needed filling ,but my sweet mother of you know who.....not many ,and again ,hats off Madcow or who ever made this thing it......frick`n beauty !!

Paul T

 

[Daddyisabar]

You are just "embellishing" this Mad Cow Kit. Making it up "Beauty Queen Style."

 

[sodmeister]

OK ,I suppose that`s enough of this for awhile ,so I`ll take a break.

Next....The spin motors.

Madcow gives you 4 pieces of laser cut plywood.

Fair enough ,they might do.

For a person who wants a great FG scale kit ,built like a brick $hithouse ,great kit.

For a person who wants this to look like a real HoJo ,you need to make your own spin motors.

Well it`s time to learn a new way of producing exact parts of one enother ,scale them and reproduce them.

Of course ,I figured it out eventually ,and I must say ,it was not easy.The hardest part was to make a scale master part ,scale it and then make it out of what ??

This I will post next ,but for now ,I`ve grown tired of this subject and must take a break ,as I have an AIM-9 Sidewinder that needs some building.

Cheers all

Paul T

 

[bradycros]

I like all your improvements. Many don't realize that making a piece of card stock look like it really is part of the rocket and belongs there is an art form.

Looking good!

 

[sodmeister]

I like all your improvements. Many don't realize that making a piece of card stock look like it really is part of the rocket and belongs there is an art form.

Looking good!

Thanks T

Cardstock has places everywhere ,low power or high power ,depends how you use it ,and where.

Once CAd to FG, it`s good ,but then again ,I ain`t going mach ,and there`s no need for a HoJo, scale or real to do so.

5,4,3,2,1........watch it.........watch it........enjoy ! LOL


...of course ,like the real thing ,I hope NOT to go ballistic !


Paul T

 

[sodmeister]

You are just "embellishing" this Mad Cow Kit. Making it up "Beauty Queen Style."

Indeed you are correct my good man, just some "lipstick" and "mascara".

Oh great, now my rocket sounds like a cheap tramp.....:blush:


Paul T

 

[Brent]

What options do you see for dual deploy in this kit?

 

[Daddyisabar]

Indeed you are correct my good man, just some "lipstick" and "mascara".

Oh great, now my rocket sounds like a cheap tramp.....:blush:


Paul T

Yep, from the micrometer measuring, rivet counting, scratch building scale purest perspective she is a bit trampy. But these little tramps can be cute if sent to the proper beauty and finishing school. And lets face it, we are all just a bunch of rocket sluts, moving from one pretty rocket to another, always going for the latest fad. It is better to have a tramp than no tramp at all. Better than livin' in your parent's cellar, lookin' at your pictures of Sarah Michelle Gellar.

 

[sodmeister]

What options do you see for dual deploy in this kit?

Well myself ,I`m just going motor deploy on 54s ,but since the nosecone is so big and comes in two parts with a nice long coupler ,that would be a good option ,main in the NC and drogue in the BT ,or even the other way around.

If scale was not your thing ,you could even stretch the kit and put a band and do DD that way ,kind of how my friend`s PoleCat Army HAWK was sent to him ,with an additional piece of BT and band.

But there a several options for this kit for those who want it DD.

Take care


Paul t

 

[CarVac]

I like all your improvements. Many don't realize that making a piece of card stock look like it really is part of the rocket and belongs there is an art form.

Looking good!

I'm going to have to use cardstock techniques once I get Area Rule going because I need my custom transitions without excess weight. Also with pass-through holes for the cluster mounts.

(they'll probably be fiberglassed though)

 

[sodmeister]

I'm going to have to use cardstock techniques once I get Area Rule going because I need my custom transitions without excess weight. Also with pass-through holes for the cluster mounts.

(they'll probably be fiberglassed though)

Indeed ,cardstock transitions ,doubled up and a light glassing would be light and quite strong ,and great for pass-though holes like you mentioned.

It very similar to how I made that BLU scratch build smart bomb ,using double walled C.stock ,laminated with slow cure epoxy and heavy matteboard centering rings inserted inside the transitions to add more rigidity/stiffness and pass-throughs......very strong for this particular rocket and it`s needs ,but the proccess is the same for higher power builds.

Cheers

Paul T

 

[sodmeister]

Finally have some free time to get this back on track.

So onto the spin motors located towards the aft end of the nosecone.

I wanted to make 4 exact replicas, so I had to decide how to make a master and with what.

I decided to use a block of Balsa, as it`s easy to carve and work ,although I would rather have used Basswood ,but I didn`t have a piece big enough.

Using photos ,the spin motors on my Estes OOP HoJo (they are quite detailed) and a great detail plan I found ,I set about to carving the master pattern.

I`m quite sure it`s not 100% accurate in scale and detail ,but I think it shall do for my purposes.

After handcarving and sanding.....and sanding ...and sanding ,I filled the pores with thinned down Bondo spot putty and sanded some more.

I then gave the Balsa master 10 coats of clear gloss to make it smooth and to fill any pores left over (damn Balsa and those bloody big pores LOL)


Paul T

 

[sodmeister]

I had a product called Amazing Mold Putty lying around ,so I used it ,not knowing how it would work out.

You mix both parts equally and knead together until the color is a uniform yellow.

You have about a 5-6 minute working time with this product ,which seems like a type of silicone rubber ?

I placed the master on a sheet of glass and worked the blob of putty over the part ,trying to get good contact in the nooks and crannies and avoid air bubbles and voids.

I let the mold sit for an hour before removing.



Paul t

 

[sodmeister]

Kinda lousy pictures ,but you get the idea.

I removed the master from the mold and was very pleased with the results ,it looks pretty good.

This is the first time I do any type of mold making ,but I think I`m hooked ,so now this will open all kinds of new opportunities in my scratch building projects.

Of course,I have not poured any resin yet ,but how hard can that be ??


Paul t

 

[CarVac]

I have this stuff called Composimold which is a melt-cast molding material. I haven't had the chance to use it, but the advantage is that you can reuse the mold material again and again.

It comes in two varieties: the standard Composimold, and a stiffer Powermold which is what I have.

I'm still figuring out what to do with it...

 

[sodmeister]

I have this stuff called Composimold which is a melt-cast molding material. I haven't had the chance to use it, but the advantage is that you can reuse the mold material again and again.

It comes in two varieties: the standard Composimold, and a stiffer Powermold which is what I have.

I'm still figuring out what to do with it...

I have to admit, this is a learning curve for me ,and I love it !

I`ve been doing some searching on Google ,plenty of cool stuff out there for casting parts etc.

I think I may have opened a "Pandora`s Box" for myself........again !


regards


Paul t

 

[sodmeister]

Well I poured and made 4 copies of the spin motors.I`m pretty happy with how they turned out ,although they need a bit of clean up and there are a few minor airbubbles ,overall they look alright.

I used some Alumilite water clear resin (1:1 ration by weight or volume) ,although not all that clear due to my heavy duty mixing technique LOL

Following the directions ,I heated the mold (used my heat gun) then did a pour and placed the mold under a heat lamp to cure ,which only takes about 20-30 minutes.

I then de-molded (no release agent needed) the part and put them in a makeshift oven to cure them fully (a large tin coffee can and a 75 watt halogen bulb ,with parts elevated on a metal screen)

A small vacuum chamber would be a good purchase if I decide to pursue this further ,as well as better molding techniques etc (TAP plastics seems to be a very good place to start)

More to come on this.

Cheers

Paul t

 

[sodmeister]

After I made the curved/radius to fit the FG BT ( hogged out the majority on my drill press and a sanding drum and fine tuned on a piece of BT with 120 grit taped to it ,sanding back and forth until a nice fit was achieved) I traced the spin motors on a piece of LOC 4" body tube ,leaving about 1/8" extra all around.This is to simulate the flange that mounts the motors to the nosecone.

After cutting ,the BT parts were soaked in thin CA to harden them and then will be sanded ,then the resin parts will be epoxied to them.

Paul t

 

[bradycros]

I had a product called Amazing Mold Putty lying around ,so I used it ,not knowing how it would work out.

You mix both parts equally and knead together until the color is a uniform yellow.

You have about a 5-6 minute working time with this product ,which seems like a type of silicone rubber ?

I placed the master on a sheet of glass and worked the blob of putty over the part ,trying to get good contact in the nooks and crannies and avoid air bubbles and voids.

I let the mold sit for an hour before removing.



Paul t

I'd like to try this out myself sometime.

Ever hear of Aluminite?

 

[sodmeister]

I'd like to try this out myself sometime.

Ever hear of Aluminite?

Yessir ,T

I used Alumilite urethane casting system ,just because I had it on hand (bought for another project ,over a year ago ,and it`s still good)

I`m not sure however if it`s the best resin for this purpose.

Ah...it worked.But I shall do my homework on casting ,and do better as time goes on.


Cheers


Paul T

 

[bradycros]

Yessir ,T

I used Alumilite urethane casting system ,just because I had it on hand (bought for another project ,over a year ago ,and it`s still good)

I`m not sure however if it`s the best resin for this purpose.

Ah...it worked.But I shall do my homework on casting ,and do better as time goes on.


Cheers


Paul T

OK, keep us posted on what product(s) your using and what you think of them.

I was wondering what tool(s) you used to make the holes in the strap that goes around the air frame in poat #6.