The Falcon Heavy – AXM version paper model

The entire world witnessed the most exhilarating and dramatic launch that took place on Feb 6, 2018 with the Maiden Flight of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral. The launch was spectacular from the very beginning with tense moments during countdown, the spectacular separation of the side boosters and the fascinating and unbelievable synchronized landing of the side boosters back to the cape. It was a historic launch that made science fiction become a reality that day. A surprise for many was the payload inside the fairing; a Tesla Roadster with its driver, the Spaceman dummy.

The Falcon Heavy rocket consists of a Falcon 9 Full Thrust booster as being the Center Core with a Second Stage and the payload fairing carrying the payload.
Each side booster is a Falcon 9 booster without the Second Stage.
So, the Falcon Heavy consists of three First stages with 27 Merlin engines. The boosters are connected together with upper and lower attachement fittings.

The booster configuration for this First flight of the Falcon Heavy had the following boosters:

• Center Core No.33 (Block 3 converted for this mission)
• Right Side booster Core No. 23 (Block 2 converted for this mission)
• Left Side booster Core No. 25 (Block 2 converted for this mission)

 
To learn more about the differences in Falcon 9 Blocks, read my post here.

The 1:100 scale model I designed has a modification done on the second stage to become separate from the interstage. It has its Merlin Vacuum engine as well.
And there is also a stand-alone version of the Second Stage for diorama purposes.
All the boosters on the model can become separate if done delicately. But I advise not to play with it because of the small lower attachment parts that can break off.

The photos below show in detail the Falcon Heavy paper model. (Prototype model shown)

Front view

Back view

Front view showing the Upper attachments for side boosters.

Same area viewed from the back of the rocket.

Bottom portion of vehicle with engines viewed from the front. Notice the position of SpaceX logos on the boosters.

View from the back of the vehicle with no logos on Center Core.

A detailed view of the lower booster attachments.

A perspective view showing the 27 engines.

The 27 Merlin engines and detailed view of the lower booster attachments.

Here’s a side by side view of a Side Booster from its front and back. Each side booster is actually a Falcon 9 first stage that has a thinner raceway on the front and a thicker raceway on its back. That is the reason why each side booster looks different when in combination with the Center Core.

Close up view of the nosecone of a Side Booster showing the openings for the upper attachment struts. Notice that the Side boosters carry the expensive Titanium Grid Fins.

View showing the lower struts on each Side booster. In the real vehicle, these struts actually protrude from the Center Core.

Second Stage options on the model

This model kit contains the regular Second Stage/Interstage block that connects to the First Stage. But there is also the option to have the Second Stage be completely separate and includes its Merlin Vacuum engine.

Regular Second Stage/Interstage block and separate fairing.

Separate Second Stage with the rest of the parts.

Here is the Separate Second Stage with Merlin Vacuum engine and adapter for the fairing.

Here’s the Second Stage becoming separate from the Interstage section that holds the upper booster attachments.

The separate fairing fits the Second Stage adapter with no problem.

Merlin Vacuum engine options

The common Merlin Vacuum engine with its grey color.

The Merlin Vacuum engine in burning phase configuration to be used with the standalone version of the Second Stage.

Fairing payload – the Roadster

The Falcon Heavy carried Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster in midnight cherry red color. This little model is in the same 1:100 scale and comes with seats and the Starman dummy. Notice also on the dashboard the little tiny Roadster. Musk mentioned there is a little toy Roadster car on the dashboard.

Here is my first Roadster prototype with Mr Elon Musk figurine. This figurine is from designer Csaba Bai who made the Tesla-S model for a previous post. You can get his Tesla-S model and Musk figurine here.

At the beginning of my design it was not known that the cone adapter (PAF) was going to be covered with insulation. Here is the actual look of the PAF (Payload Attach Fitting) adapter for the Roadster to be connected to the Second Stage.

The 3 little white dots seen here on the PAF indicate the front of the Roadster. But this becomes irrelevant once it is covered with insulation.

The tiny toy car is seen on the dashboard.

The final configuration with the addition of the camera mounts on top of the PAF.

This is how the Roadster looks on top of the Second Stage riding in space.

Another view

Closeup view of Starman and the Tesla Roadster.

All these are the contents of the Falcon Heavy kit available at my website. At the time of this post there is no instruction manual yet. It will be released at a later date. In the mean time I have posted assembly photos on twitter as a guide to build the models. Follow me via Twitter.

The model is completely free to download but you can support my work with your donation via Paypal. Paypal Donation link is at my website’s homepage.
Thank you, and spread the word!

Download files:
Falcon Heavy 1:100 and Tesla Roadster 1:100 scale model

A future project will be the two Side boosters in landing configuration. Stay tuned!