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1/40 MIM14 Nike Hercules Missile, 1-4-14, Complete

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  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
1/40 MIM14 Nike Hercules Missile, 1-4-14, Complete
Posted by redleg12 on Saturday, January 4, 2014 6:26 PM

Fire Mission
1/40 MIM14 Nike Hercules on launcher
Introduction
The Nike Hercules, was a solid fuel propelled two-stage surface-to-air missile, used by U.S. and NATO armed forces for medium and high-altitude long-range air defense. It was normally armed with the W31 nuclear warhead, but could also be fitted with a conventional warhead for export use. Its warhead also allowed it to be use in a surface-to-surface role, and the system also demonstrated its ability to hit other short-range missiles in flight. Hercules was replaced in the long-range anti-aircraft role by the higher performance and considerably more mobile MIM-104 Patriot.
The Kit
I will be using the classic Revell 1/40 scale Nike Hercules kit. First issued in the late 1950s the kit has seen a number of re-issues. The kit is typical of that era with 3 small sprues and a minimum number of parts. The seams will need a bunch of work, some parts have cast in part numbers, which will have to be removed, but it will be a fun holiday build.
The Build
This was a simple build from the standpoint of parts. The missile is assembled with about 12 parts. Unfortunately most of the seams fit poorly and require putty and sanding in multiple applications. Excuse the pictures as the kit is molded in white plastic.
The launcher is assembled from about 20 parts. Here is the main frame assembled
This is the main launch rail and lifting frames. The launch rail was a mess and requires a ton of putty and sanding work.
After putty the seams on the fins nose and lower cowl, I painted the first stage with Tamiya Flat White. Then I coated the first stage with Future to prepare for decals.
The decals that come with the kit are poor scale quality. After researching the markings made my own set of decals. All of the hatch cover stencils are essentially a font 1.
The first stage is totally out of scale. It has raised bands and a raised center cover neither of which really exist.
To replace the kit parts, I used 7/16 tubes to create the four first stage motors. I made a custom covering for each with the proper stencil marking for the rocket motors and background color. The four motor mounts are .020 styrene strip used between each motor. The strips and the lower fin section were painted with Tamiya JA Green. Here is the assembled first stage, coated with Future gloss to seal the markings. 
After mounting the complete missile on the launch rail, assembling the launcher, I mounted the completed kit on a platform.
The launcher is painted with Tamiya JA OD Green and then coated with a semi-gloss clear coat. The elevating pistons are painted with Alclad Dark Aluminum.
The platform is “semi-scale” to the silo platform that would rise from underground. The platform is 3/16 inch pine cut to size, coated with Rust-o-leum Terra Cotta paint to create a “anti-slip” surface. The edges are trimmed with .020 styrene strip. I then painted the platform with Tamiya NATO Black and the front half with Tamiya Gloss Yellow

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    July 2004
  • From: Sonora Desert
Posted by stikpusher on Saturday, January 4, 2014 6:34 PM

Wow! Bow DownBow DownBow Down

 

F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!

U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!

N is for NO SURVIVORS...

       - Plankton

LSM

 

  • Member since
    August 2012
Posted by JimNTENN on Saturday, January 4, 2014 6:36 PM

I love it. Brings back memories. I had this kit as a kid. Is it still available? I'd love to have it again.

Current project(s): Hobby Boss: 1/72 F9F-2 Panther

                                  Midwest Products: Skiff(wood model)

                                  

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Saturday, January 4, 2014 6:39 PM

Stick - Thanks

Jim - Yep it is currently on re-issue and you should be able to find it.. Thanks

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    December 2002
  • From: Valrico, FL
Posted by HeavyArty on Saturday, January 4, 2014 7:16 PM

It came out great Mike.  Sometimes the old kits can become real gems with a bit of work.

Gino P. Quintiliani - Field Artillery - The KING of BATTLE!!!

Check out my Gallery: https://app.photobucket.com/u/HeavyArty

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf." -- George Orwell

  • Member since
    December 2008
  • From: Goffstown, NH
Posted by New Hampshire on Saturday, January 4, 2014 7:33 PM

She's a gem!  Great job! Yes

Brian

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Saturday, January 4, 2014 7:57 PM

Gino - Thanks. It is a good exercise in practice of putty skills!! Also except for snow, most armor modelers don't get a chance to finish coat in white!!

Brian - Thanks

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    December 2013
Posted by jetmaker on Saturday, January 4, 2014 8:32 PM

That is awesome! This may sound weird, but I miss the Cold War

  • Member since
    August 2007
  • From: back country of SO-CAL, at the birth place of Naval Aviation
Posted by DUSTER on Sunday, January 5, 2014 1:39 AM

Bravo Battery! Stand By! -Ready- Launcher up- down range ready! Standing by for launch authorization!  

AH heady stuff in the mid 60's as we sat in our berm  and watched the missiles rise on the mobile launchers shut the blast "proof" doors. Waiting for the go/no go from the old man.....or was it another, NATO drill?- ya never really knew.

 Though outside of CONUS the Nike was OD as was the Herc booster

.   (that way nobody could see 'em--- shhhh)

 & Nuke warheads?!?  what? "nuc-u-lar" warheads?? we never had no nukes there 

in wes girm-man-ee No Sireee -nope 

Thanks Redleg for the memories. 

Missile secure, Launcher Secure- all clear down range

Steve

Building the perfect model---just not quite yet  Confused

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Sunday, January 5, 2014 7:11 AM

Jet - Thanks, I know what you mean, it is not as weird as you think

Steve - I love it...yep, the units deployed here in CONUS with nuclear warheads and no one knew or complained... ahhh,  the good old days when people were grateful for their freedom and did not question how it came!!

Thanks for stopping by

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    January 2007
Posted by the doog on Sunday, January 5, 2014 7:57 AM

Hey Mike, that's wickedly-cool! Nice looking model!

Believe it or not, they stil have one of these at the Danville, Virginia American Armored Foundation Museum! It looks exactly like your model there!

A suggestion---get out to AC Moore's and get yourself some black poster board for tricky photo subjects like this. You just can't shoot white against that light blue---I've tried it myself with primed models or car models.. I keep a piece of it around for situations like this.

I can't wait to see what you do with the M110A2!!!

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Sunday, January 5, 2014 12:05 PM

Karl - As always many thanks for stopping in and for your comments. Yep, I need to pick up a dark background. Usually photographing my favorite color....Green! Thanks again

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: On my kitchen counter top somewhere in central North Carolina.
Posted by disastermaster on Sunday, January 5, 2014 12:50 PM

 Outside of the science fiction genre this was/is my favorite missle......http://www.sherv.net/cm/emoticons/flirt/drool-smiley-emoticon.gif pretty hot looking like Marilyn Monroe of that same era.

 I used to have that kit at some point a  lonnng time ago but I lost track of it........

http://n5.nabble.com/images/smiley/anim_confused.gif it somehow got "wasted along the way".

  You've captured the look and as usual presented a first class piece of work herehttp://n5.nabble.com/images/smiley/anim_drunk.gif

http://www.sherv.net/cm/emo/christmas/santa-babe-smiley-emoticon.gif MM would be proud.

 https://i.imgur.com/LjRRaV1.png

 

 

 
  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Sunday, January 5, 2014 3:17 PM

Steve - I am always happy to have you stop by.

This kit does bring back memories of a time long past.

As for Marilyn.... it think of it with a little more class, like Sophia Loren. Comparisons between the two are for another forum!! LOL...Like the two of us, two classics!

Thanks

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    September 2006
  • From: Dripping Springs, TX, USA
Posted by RBaer on Monday, January 6, 2014 9:53 AM

Nice work!  How was that thing transported, or was it a hard-mount?

Apprentice rivet counter.

  • Member since
    February 2011
  • From: Ontario, Canada
Posted by gunner_chris on Monday, January 6, 2014 9:56 AM

Looks great as always!

I have that kit, the reissue from 1994 still in the stash.

My grandfather served in the AD Artillery in the 1960's and assigned to these in NY.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Monday, January 6, 2014 7:35 PM

RBaer - They were hard mounted, most in silos which the whole launch platform, as I did in the model, would rise up out of the ground. There was some experimentation with a transporter...here is an interesting transporter using an M520 Goer

http://ed-thelen.org/HerkTransporterModern-.jpg

Chris - Thanks, seem like everyone knows someone or a family who served on these!! Build it, it will be fun!

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: San Francisco Bay Area
Posted by bufflehead on Monday, January 6, 2014 11:40 PM

Mike, that's just amazing!  Awesome work sir! YesYes  Thanks for posting unusual and obscure weaponry builds on this forum!   BTW, I was going to ask just how big this Nike Hercules was, but that last photo you posted answers my question!  Its smaller than I originally thought... when looking at your previous photos I perceived them being much larger!

Ernest

Last Armor Build - 1/35 Dragon M-26A1, 1/35 Emhar Mk.IV Female

     

Last Aircraft Builds - Hobby Boss 1/72 F4F Wildcat & FW-190A8

     

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Tuesday, January 7, 2014 5:53 AM

My friend thanks. I always try to keep everyone up to date on the different and strange. It is not huge but for armor modelers a 13 inch long model is big.... if you model ships, its a destroyer!

Thanks again

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    March 2004
  • From: Spartanburg, SC
Posted by subfixer on Tuesday, January 7, 2014 5:08 PM

Beautiful work there, Mike, as always. My sincere compliments.

Lee

I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Tuesday, January 7, 2014 7:29 PM

Lee - Thanks for the peek and for the comment. Always a pleasure to have you stop in

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Tuesday, January 7, 2014 7:41 PM

There's one in the headlands in Marin that is raised out of the ground and made launch ready, once a month. There's the remains of the complexes all over the area, the most creative use of one silo which is really a big rectangular room; is the Marine Mammal Centers seal hospital.

Ahhhh.....

Mike I agree, although the thought of nuclear warheads going off ten miles down range from San Francisco is only slightly better than the ones dropping out of those incoming Bears.

Very happy to have survived that era.

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: Formerly Bryan, now Arlington, Texas
Posted by CapnMac82 on Tuesday, January 7, 2014 10:04 PM

GMorrison

There's one in the headlands in Marin that is raised out of the ground and made launch ready, once a month. There's the remains of the complexes all over the area, the most creative use of one silo which is really a big rectangular room; is the Marine Mammal Centers seal hospital.

West of downtown Dallas, on the west side of the Trinity river, there was a battery complex for Nike-Ajax, which was upgraded to Hercules.  About due for yet another marginally-useful  renovation/adaptive reuse of the complex.  This remains complicated due to compliance with one or more of the STARTs (which is a different discussion for another forum).

  • Member since
    November 2005
  • From: Formerly Bryan, now Arlington, Texas
Posted by CapnMac82 on Tuesday, January 7, 2014 10:07 PM

redleg12

http://ed-thelen.org/HerkTransporterModern-.jpg

Yet another reason we need a 1/35 GOER kit.
First kit manufacturer to get one out reaps great rewards, since, if memory serves, there's the cargo, tank, recovery, and the missile carrier variants that could be made.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Wednesday, January 8, 2014 5:37 AM

G - I agree, the idea of a nuclear warhead going off that close!!! Then again we all survived and considering all the strange thing we did in the 50s and 60s, that's amazing.

Capt - The M520 would be interesting. I do have the Commanders Models 1//35 resin kit. Yep there was a cargo version and a tanker version for fuel as standard built versions. Like the picture above, there were many other one offs and special uses.

Thanks guys for stopping in.

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    September 2005
  • From: North Pole, Alaska
Posted by richs26 on Thursday, January 9, 2014 1:06 AM

Excellent job on your Nike.  Here in Alaska, they were mounted under a steel clamshell launcher.  There are several sites that still exist here.  One is C battery outside of Eielson AFB, and another is close to JBER (Elmendorf, Ft Richardson).  I have gone through C battery many times.  There is a picture of it on Wikipedia.

WIP:  Monogram 1/72 B-26 (Snaptite) as 73rd BS B-26, 40-1408, torpedo bomber attempt on Ryujo

Monogram 1/72 B-26 (Snaptite) as 22nd BG B-26, 7-Mile Drome, New Guinea

Minicraft 1/72 B-24D as LB-30, AL-613, "Tough Boy", 28th Composite Group

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Thursday, January 9, 2014 8:49 PM

Richs - Thanks. Many of the were in those type of launchers were also down here in NJ.

Ahhh...Ft Richardson....Northern Warfare School....memories!!

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Friday, January 10, 2014 11:32 AM

Hey wow, another winner there! I love seeing those old kits we slammed together as kids built by someone as skilled as you, real demonstration what you can do with one of these gems in the rough.

Funny, I'd always assumed the missile was a lot bigger too.

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: New Jersey
Posted by redleg12 on Saturday, January 11, 2014 6:45 AM

Gamera - Thanks, I love the old kits. Yes the take some TLC but can turn out to be a nice finished build.

Rounds Complete!!

"The Moral High Ground....A Great Place to Emplace Artillery."

  • Member since
    August 2007
  • From: back country of SO-CAL, at the birth place of Naval Aviation
Posted by DUSTER on Sunday, January 12, 2014 11:04 AM

redleg12

RBaer - They were hard mounted, most in silos which the whole launch platform, as I did in the model, would rise up out of the ground. There was some experimentation with a transporter...here is an interesting transporter using an M520 Goer

http://ed-thelen.org/HerkTransporterModern-.jpg

 

Rounds Complete!!

Of course the army was able to move rounds (missiles) even whole Batteries, this was (mid 60 s) as part of our  shoot and scoot theory .

Re transporting: Technically   Nike herc was mobile;  in  Germany we had "mobile" launchers and "round ready transporters" .  for in battery movement .

 

for movement inside the launcher area (down range)

 For open road everything was put into their proper containers and shipped  using several 5 ton and 2.5 ton trucks  

Think of moving your house, possible but you don't like to do it too often.

Steve

Building the perfect model---just not quite yet  Confused

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