Nice detail !

Dave F.

More tail end detail pics.

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I'll have some more assembly photos this weekend.

In the mean time, here are two more Standard Missile photos of AIM-97 Seekbat, an early 70's project to convert the RIM-66/AGM-78 into an air-to-air missile allowing F-4 and F-15 interception of high-flying MiG-25 Foxbat recon aircraft which had demostrated Mach 3.1 at 78,000 feet. We didn't know at the time that those numbers melted the engines.

No points for figuring out which F-4/F-15 operator was subject to Foxbat overflights in the late 60's or early 70's.

The first picture is a fairly standard industry mockup but the second picture of a Standard hung on a Six-Shooter F-106 is interesting. Six-Shooter F-106s had their weapons bay modified to have the Genie rocket replaced by an M61 Gatling gun. The installation looked remarkably like the fairing from an early F-4E aircraft grafted on. The bay doors folded around the gun installation. Not all F-106s were so modified.

The Seekbat project was eventually cancelled due to technical issues and after the Air Force acquired intel from the Belenko MiG-25.

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__________________
NAR 79743
NARTrek Silver
I miss being SAM 062

Awaiting First Launch: Too numerous to count
Finishing: Zooch Saturn V; Alway/Nau BioArcas; Estes Expedition; TLP Standard
Repair/Rescue: Cherokee-D (2); Centuri Nike-Smoke; MX-774
On the Bench: 2650;
Dream Stage: 1/39.37 R-7

I liked the Genie rocket a lot better than a Gatling gun.
Anywhere close and the target gets taken magically OUT.
They should have developed a guidance system for the Genie.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, AGITATION, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, AGGRAVATION, INSTIGATION, NUISANCE-ACTION, and HAVOC !

Well,

Sometimes, when it comes time to build the rocket, you get to start answering your own questions. I started this thread asking why we don't see more Standard missiles built. Now I know: because getting the long strakes down the body to line up is a serious pain in the backside.

Picture 1 shows a closeup of the notorious Launch Pad paper hat faired in with red Bondo Glazing & Spot putty from the tube. It has been said elsewhere that mastering this technique is the gateway to the dark arts of rocketry. The underlying plastic is the Estes parabola from a Fat Boy or Great Big Bertha. This is really the only part of the build that used any of the Launch Pad kit. One of the problems I have with the Launch Pad kits is fin shape and this one was no different. I've built the Lance, Hellfire and PAC-3 and they all had fins that need to be corrected and re-drawn. This may be because when the kits were originally made, the quality of material available on the Internet was more limited. Nevertheless, I changed the shape of both the steering fins and the strakes themselves using the Minokov drawings because I thought they were the best match of the pictures and because I liked the irony.

Picture 3 shows the 1/32 ply core of the strakes laid out and Picture 4 shows them in the process of cutting out. I added 1/32 balsa on each side. In this scale, the strakes were 1' wide which made measuring fairly easy. Picture 2 shows the process of adding the distinct fillets down the side of each strake. The paper is 1/2" strips of heavy cardstock.

There's no way to show the amount of fiddling that it took to get the strakes on straight. I used double-butt glueing and did each strake one at a time. I then let each one sit for an hour or two before doing the next one. Picture 5 shows the airframe out in the afternoon sun. 101 degrees and 24% relative humidity will dry out the Titebond very quickly.

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__________________
NAR 79743
NARTrek Silver
I miss being SAM 062

Awaiting First Launch: Too numerous to count
Finishing: Zooch Saturn V; Alway/Nau BioArcas; Estes Expedition; TLP Standard
Repair/Rescue: Cherokee-D (2); Centuri Nike-Smoke; MX-774
On the Bench: 2650;
Dream Stage: 1/39.37 R-7

This afternoon, very briefly, it was 111 degrees, in the shade, on my patio.

Out-gassing in the blazing Texas Sun is the Standard and a rescue Centuri MX-774.

The sun is setting now and it's still 106. The paint will still be warm to the touch in the morning.

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__________________
NAR 79743
NARTrek Silver
I miss being SAM 062

Awaiting First Launch: Too numerous to count
Finishing: Zooch Saturn V; Alway/Nau BioArcas; Estes Expedition; TLP Standard
Repair/Rescue: Cherokee-D (2); Centuri Nike-Smoke; MX-774
On the Bench: 2650;
Dream Stage: 1/39.37 R-7

Looks like a dry heat.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Mini Aero-Dart, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc - Starfighter Scorpion

Unflown: F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Jayhawk, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II, Microsonde 3 Payloader, Aerobee 300, Cyber III, Scrambler