Model Rocket Building Blog

Honest Goon - Refinish Part 1, Old Decal Removal
Here's a great small field flyer and a favorite Goony- The HONEST GOON! You can get the decals and plan set from Excelsior Rocketry HERE The builder must supply a Baby Bertha kit, a BT70AJ, a TA6070, and a small ring of BT70. This was an early BAR build, it's been through the wringer. I liked ...
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Honest Goon - Refinish Part 2, Decal Removal & Surface Prep
This nose cone section is bigger than you'd think! After the decals were either lifted with tape or sanded off with 400 grit, here's what I was left with. The primer is starting to show, probably a good time to stop before going through into the balsa. There's an Estes smile on the balsa ...
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Honest Goon - Refinish Part 3, Nose Cone Black Trim
I had to divide the nose cone in 12 equal spacings. A strip of paper was wrapped an marked. This was folded in two, those two halves folded in thirds and sixths. Pencil ticks were made at all the folds. The marked strip was taped around the nose cone. I didn't make decals of the nose ...
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Honest Goon - Refinish Part 4, Black Fin Quarters
Instead of masking and spraying the black, I though I'd try something different. The fins are square with no rounded edges. The body tube is a smooth surface. The Contact Paper just might work and be easier than masking. An over sized rectangle was cut. I made sure the top and sides were ...
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Honest Goon - Refinish - Finished
    The Honest Goon looks better with the alternating black/white fin quarters. The four spin rockets on the nose cone were drawn to look a bit more 3D. The fin fillet seam (where the two pieces of vinyl meet) is almost invisible. The semi-gloss vinyl Contact paper is the ...
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Building the Excelsior Honest Goon (part 1)
So, untapered fins it is; I started on the Excelsior Honest Goon. What Excelsior sells is the decals and a page of instructions. The “traditional” way to build a goony, and what the instructions tell you, is to bash an Estes Baby Bertha kit. Typically you’d use everything ...
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Building the Excelsior Honest Goon (part 2)
I haven’t posted in a while, partly because I’ve been distracted by another (non-rocketry) project, but I do have some HG updates. I glued and filleted the fins and installed the motor mount. The instructions say to recess it to the end of the hook (to improve s ...
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Building the Excelsior Honest Goon (part 3)
Well, finally. The number of embarrassing goofs I made in finishing the Honest Goon was, well, embarrassing. I’m surprised it came out looking as good as it does. Not that it looks great, especially up close, but not as bad as I’d feared.Hmm, I need a grey backdrop.  
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