1/87 ROCO Honest John and launcher.

[Ron Bell]

Ever since I first built the old Adams kit of the Honest John launcher, I have had a soft spot in my heart (head) for this vehicle. To my knowledge there isn't a small scale kit of it, but the Austrian company, ROCO, had one in their line. Now, ROCO miniatures are mainly made for the wargaming trade and are in true HO scale of 1/87, so they really don't go with most modern kits, which are in 1/72/6. But I wanted one so I found one on an internet auction site and bought it. Like most ROCO kits it's easy to disassemble and you wind up with about the same number of individual parts as a kit of that era in small scale. I did extensive clean up to remove mold seams and injection pin marks as well as adding the wire steps at the rear, the fender guides in the front and the hand wheels on the launcher mount. However, the cab needed serious work as the front wall was just that, a wall top to bottom with no detail or even a steering wheel. I cut out under the dash panel and extended the floor, added a transmission "hump" and a shift lever and steering wheel along with an instrument panel. I thinned the windscreen as it was way too thick and removed its overly large functioning mounts. The brace in the front that holds the launcher when it's lowered was too thick so I made a new one from rod stock. The final work was in adding the hydraulic cylinders that raise the launcher, which were completely omitted from the original. I painted the missile itself a different shade from the launcher to set it off and set off the warhead with a gloss finish, which I noted in several photos I found. Honest Johns eventually went on to be able to carry a nuclear warhead and were deployed to Europe and Korea and were used by several NATO countries as well. 

[Dick Montgomery]

Sorry to hear about the soft spot in your head....hope it heals quickly. Your effort on this project has resulted in a well done model!

[Mark Deliduka]

Ron, this is one stunning and amazing rendition of this vehicle. I have always wanted an Honest John in my collection too. I commend you sir on such a masterful job!