Probably olive drab since that was the color for its original purpose as a Nike Ajax booster.

When they de-commissioned all of those Nike Ajax missiles the probably just wrapped the boosters in cosmoline and put them in a crate for NASA.

The white ones had two horizontal stripes joined by a smaller vertical stripe along the booster side.

This is where the missile rested on a cradle and the poor guy who had to paint them couldn't lift the rocket up to paint the part that rested on the cradle.

I see that a lot on boats at my local marina when the hull gets painted.

__________________
"I'm a sandman. I've never killed anyone. I terminate runners when their time is up." Logan from "Logan's Run"

http://sandmandecals.com/

So where did the 4 fin configuration come from? Was this a NASA mod?

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Paul
If we weren't all crazy, we would go insane - Jimmy Buffett
NAR #87246 www.wooshrocketry.org

I finally nabbed one of these Estes Pro Series II Nike Smoke kits on eBay last night with an offer that I made to the seller

I have been trying to get one of these for a good while now and I have a question too. In the past I built a Pro Series II Ascender and used BSI Plastic-Cure for the fins. Other than the brush is this really any different than the extra thick BSI Maxi-Cure?

I had good results with the Plastic-Cure on my Ascender fins but all I have on hand now is the extra think CA what did you guys find effective to use?

Attached Thumbnails

   

__________________
Steve Naquin
TRA# 677 L2
NAR# 85518 L2
SAM# 0052

🚀 In Construction: Der Blue Maxx/Minie-Magg 5.5” & Vander-Burn MDRM Clone w/Stickershock23 Custom Decals
🚀 In Paint & Detail: USR Banshee
🚀 In Build Queue: Estes Doorknob w/Vander-Burn Rocketry Upgrade Kit [Sport Decor], Semroc Centurion-F, Semroc Egg Crate
🚀 In Repair: SLS Lil’ Hustler, SLS Aero-Dart 1969 Trim
🚀 Stay Tuned For Fall 2021 Launch Dates

I wouldn't use thick CA. Gets brittle over time. Use EPOXY.

__________________
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, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

Please excuse a little thread necromancy, but I finally got a related project off the ground.

Here's the flight video of my Nike-Nike Smoke built from 2 Estes Nike Smokes and some 3D printing. It's not quite scale - I kept the 4 fin configuration of the kits.

CTI H255 WT to CTI H53 MY. Eggtimer Proton, 2x Eggfinder minis, and a RunCam2 onboard.

The chute separated at deployment (looks like a knot pulled out) and I lost the upper Nike body for a day and a half. But did some video and weather report sleuthing and tracked it down.

https://youtu.be/lNNHLL3nMow

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Charles McGonegal
Ciderwright
AEppelTreow Winery & Distillery
Ad Astra Tabernamque!

Ambitious project and excellent video Charles, very nice! I have a CTI H53 in my stash … super cool motor. You should post a few build pics I’d love to see how you wired and laid out the electronics. Good to hear you were able to recover everthing.

My Estes PSII Nike Smoke got bumped in the build pile behind a Blue Max project but I did open my Nike Smoke and it’s certainly one of my favorite PSII kits and I do plan to build and fly it one day

__________________
Steve Naquin
TRA# 677 L2
NAR# 85518 L2
SAM# 0052

🚀 In Construction: Der Blue Maxx/Minie-Magg 5.5” & Vander-Burn MDRM Clone w/Stickershock23 Custom Decals
🚀 In Paint & Detail: USR Banshee
🚀 In Build Queue: Estes Doorknob w/Vander-Burn Rocketry Upgrade Kit [Sport Decor], Semroc Centurion-F, Semroc Egg Crate
🚀 In Repair: SLS Lil’ Hustler, SLS Aero-Dart 1969 Trim
🚀 Stay Tuned For Fall 2021 Launch Dates

My original PSII Nike Smoke has served me well. It's been a Nike Smoke, and a Nike Apache, a Nike Tomahawk, and now a Nike - Nike Smoke. The drab olive Nike wasn't a complete kit - but parts ordered from Estes, printed centering rings, and a lucky begging chat with Estes customer support.

Posting a good build thread here on YORF takes a few extra steps for me, since the upload function doesn't resize server-side, and phone photos are way above the size limit these days.

But it was straight-forward. The Smoke package for the 2 stage has a sections slightly higher diameter than the motor - about the same as the flange at the top of the motor. It doesn't all fit in the nosecone, like the single stage. It made a great spot for a coupler-sized avbay. The extra wall thickness is a printed sleeve. Partly blue filament to avoid painting :-). To keep it compact, I made a shallow piston, so there is only a small amount of dogbarf between the top of the avbay and the piston. Saves a lot of length.

The wiring from the Proton is just direct runs - one forward to the powder well (a length of spent 24mm motor casing) in the piston, and three aft. One directly to the apogee charge (with motor as backup) and two pairs get crimped on header pin connectors and connect to pairs run the length of the Nike. I use pairs of 1/8" teflon tubing (I work in a lab) bound in a pair with aluminum tape, then taped to the inner wall of the body. The header pin connectors seem to work fine as break-away connections. I use CAT5 pairs from the altimeter so they are color coded, and spare wire from ematches for the chase runs. The separation charge was really small - I just filled the red cap that protects Wildman ematches and taped it over.

The nosecone was printed in 2 parts - the shoulder/base, and a spiral printed single 0.6mm wall 10degree cone. The way I fly Eggfinders is that the battery and TX get packed into a little holder I print that's the size and shape of an AT 24mm RMS casing. The nosecone shoulder has a motor tube in it. Printed in this time, but I cut the base and glue one in otherwise. This shoulder has a 29mm tube, but the TX fits in the Estes 24-29 motor adapter - with the antenna sticking out.

Power is just the battery JST connectors all around. I rely on the Proton double isolation, prep-order, and remote arming for safety.

__________________
Charles McGonegal
Ciderwright
AEppelTreow Winery & Distillery
Ad Astra Tabernamque!

Nice 2-stage flight

__________________
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, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

Thanks!

A Nike Recruit is coming up next. Then maybe a Nike Nike Deacon.

I've found the PSII tubing series to be a great base for near-one-fifth-scale sounding rockets.

__________________
Charles McGonegal
Ciderwright
AEppelTreow Winery & Distillery
Ad Astra Tabernamque!

That tubing would make for a massively good Nike Hercules.
Would require a just-plain-ignorant amount of power to fly decently.

__________________
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, CHAOS, and HAVOC !