Nike Hercules obsession?

[billeblurzz]

 

[tab28682]

There will be some sort of Nike Hercules model in my future.

After I got my Covid 19 vaccination yesterday, I decided to do a drive by of the full scale Nike Herc that lives here in Fort Worth at a local VFW Post. Had not driven by it in 20-25 years. The good news was that it was still there. The bad news was the paint job..... A long time ago, it was on display in the correct colors.

It is on Mansfield Highway in SE Fort Worth, just a little NW of I-20

 

[dbpeirce]

There will be some sort of Nike Hercules model in my future.

After I got my Covid 19 vaccination yesterday, I decided to do a drive by of the full scale Nike Herc that lives here in Fort Worth at a local VFW Post. Had not driven by it in 20-25 years. The good news was that it was still there. The bad news was the paint job..... A long time ago, it was on display in the correct colors.

It is on Mansfield Highway in SE Fort Worth, just a little NW of I-20

Next time you’re there ask how much they want for it. They aren’t taking care of it, but I will

 

[vcp]

All I have Nike-Hercules.

 

[vcp]

.... The bad news was the paint job..... A long time ago, it was on display in the correct colors.

It is on Mansfield Highway in SE Fort Worth, just a little NW of I-20

When you see tanks and airplanes as 'gate guards' or in park displays you rarely seem to see any of them painted in anything but reasonably accurate colors. Rockets seem to be just the opposite - they seem to be fair game for any clown suit they want to slap on them.

 

[billeblurzz]

Working on a Boyce Aerospace 1/14 Nike Hercules. I’m obsessed!

 

[tab28682]

I'm not really obsessed, but I did go ahead and get one of the little Boyce Aerospace 1/24th Nike Hercules kits. All 3D printed parts, no tubes required. Add your own chute. Very nice looking little model.

Got it today and they did a very nice job on it. Will take about 10 minutes to build and a couple of hours to sand out the build lines. Should be fun to fly on single D12-5 and similar motors.

One of the web site reviews mentioned that the 3D printed motor retainer melted a bit and broke on his first flight. I am going to reinforce mine a bit with some windings of thin Kevlar thread and CA, plus a little glass cloth and CA on the screw flanges.

 

[tab28682]

One thing I am going to do will greatly reduce the time required to sand out the model.

Going to set up a container that will use acetone vapor to polish the 3d printed ABS parts. This process saves about 3/4 of the hours needed to sand it out in the normal fashion. This was standard practice for the aerospace model shop I worked at. (Does not work with PLA, works with any print plastic that can be dissolved or bonded with acetone.)

How To: Vapor Polishing ABS 3D Printer Filament | MatterHackers

Vapor polishing is the process of smoothing the surface of 3D printed ABS parts. The results give your models the look of professionally made injection molded parts. If you want to achieve this look, read on.

www.matterhackers.com

 

[gerbs4me]

Nice.

Can it be converted to fly?

You can make anything fly with a rocket engine lol