Heart o' Gold

from Hitchhiker's Guide t' t' Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

As popular as this book, trilogy, matey, arrr, and myth are, thar are very few pictures o' t' Heart O' Gold on the Internet. Begad! In fact, arrr, me bucko, all o' me design has come from t' VHS movie with the exclusion o' one picture that appeared on t' net, although that appeared t' be from t' movie also and should be discounted. Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty!

Construction

Mainly, matey, shiver me timbers, I wanted t' design a rocket with an outer "shell" that would have a standard inner unit in order t' fabricate more than one design (see me other entry)

First, arrr, I took 1/2" strip of the face card and fashioned a ring, I took another strip and glued it t' the first one for reinforcement. Ahoy! Blimey! I then took t' three smallest tubes and cut them in half (three halves for each unit). Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I took t' three tubes and glued them to the rin' t' make up t' beginnings o' a tripod. Ya scallywag! Blimey!

I then took t' two larger tubes and cut them in half. Avast, me proud beauty! I then slit along t' length o' one tube and wrapped the un-cut one with t' bag t' protect from gluing. Avast! I then too t' slit tube and put it over this assembly and glued two strips o' t' instruction sheet over the gap. I then glued t' tripod t' t' larger tube. Ya scallywag!

I took t' hang tag and cut this up t' make motor mounts by wrappin' them around a Micromaxx engine and gluing CAREFULLY. Ya scallywag! I made a total o' six o' these for both entries. Begad! I then glued them to t' end o' t' uncut larger tubes. Ya scallywag! Well, arrr, blow me down!

At this point I realized that I should nay have cut t' tubes in half, as this would cause a lot o' friction upon ejection. Well, blow me down! t' then trimmed t' uncut large tube t' about 1/2" long. Avast! I then took t' balsa nose cones, cut t' points off, ya bilge rat, glued t' kevlar between the widened large tubes and t' "plugs made from balsa nose cones. Aye aye! I then made an Estes style motor mount and glued that t' t' motor mount. Begad!

Lost? this is a aft ejection unit. at ejection t' engine mounts, uncut large tube, shiver me timbers, shock mount and kevlar are kicked out t' back pullin' t' streamer till t' kevlar reaches its full length. Begad! Think o' t' parachutes used on funny car dragsters. Begad! Begad!

Well, I had used most o' the parts for t' rocket units and t' shell for me other entry, arrr, so I didn't have much left t' use. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! I ended up usin' t' instructions t' make up t' complete shell for t' heart o' gold. I took a slab o' parafin wax and used a foam cutter t' cut t' general outline o' t' forward half o' t' ship. Ya scallywag! Arrr! t' rear half I made an open box t' help with stability. Begad! I then soaked a sheet of instructions and pressed it onto t' wax form. Begad! Begad! While bein' careful t' avoid tears I made a few. Avast! after this dried I went and made a second for two halves of the forward hull. I them glued these together and painted t' whole assembly with wood glue for strength. Blimey! Blimey! I them took small strips o' t' instructions and soaked them and glued them over t' tears. Begad! Ahoy! I then added some crescents t' the aft hull t' simulate t' protrusions as shown on t' movie. Aye aye!

Anyway, I never played with Micromaxx, let alone a cluster. I heard some bits o' rumor, arrr, including soldering. Blimey! Avast! I went and loaded them up and put it on t' pad Steve stopped by to punch t' launch button while I snapped pictures. Blimey!

Nice thin' is, shiver me timbers, that with Micromaxx you can do all your prep indoors and use your back yard t' launch!

Got off work, it be dark. Aye aye! Begad! Blimey! Night Launch! Blimey! In t' headlights o' me trusty truck I be able t' get things all prepped. Ya scallywag! Begad! Blimey!

IT WORKS! Blimey! OK, ya bilge rat, somethin' don't look right, me hearties, does it? Only two o' t' three engines lit. Begad! Blimey! Did nay find this out til halfway through editing, ya bilge rat, and after all t' GSE was put away. Ahoy! Blimey! still counts, right?

Ready t' go again.