Heart o' Gold

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

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

Construction

Mainly, 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, ya bilge rat, 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. I then took t' three smallest tubes and cut them in half (three halves for each unit). I took t' three tubes and glued them to the rin' t' make up t' beginnings o' a tripod.

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

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

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

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

Well, I had used most o' the parts for t' rocket units and t' shell for me other entry, so I didn't have much left t' use. I ended up usin' t' instructions t' make up t' complete shell for t' heart o' gold. Ahoy! I took a slab o' parafin wax and used a foam cutter t' cut t' general outline o' t' forward half o' t' ship. Begad! Blimey! t' rear half I made an open box t' help with stability. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! Blimey! I then soaked a sheet of instructions and pressed it onto t' wax form. 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. I them took small strips o' t' instructions and soaked them and glued them over t' tears. I then added some crescents t' the aft hull t' simulate t' protrusions as shown on t' movie. Begad! Blimey! Blimey!

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

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

Got off work, me hearties, it was dark. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! Night Launch! In t' headlights o' me trusty truck I was able t' get things all prepped. Aye aye! Blimey!

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

Ready t' go again.