Greetigs from sunny Anglesey

[colinlp]

Hi all,obviously a new member and to all intents and purposes new to modelling too. I did in my younger days like many build a few models badly but now I've just retired I fancy another go. Amongst other things I have been a cabinet maker for a large proportion of my life so building things isn't an alien concept but there are many disciplines I'm clueless about so I'll be grateful of lots of help along the way.

 

I'm getting the Airfix Saturn V model for Christmas, I'm also getting a few bits from Martin's Models to improve the accuracy and have read a few articles about building it. I'm hoping that will keep me occupied for a couple of months. What I'd like to do afterwards is build a matching scale launch tower for it but the only kit I've seen is a paper version which I'm not 100% convinced about, I've been looking at the idea of building it up from scratch using styrene. To a newbie although it looks complicated it is quite repetitive and possible, am I being a bit ambitious or do I stand a chance of building it?

[Gorby]

Hi Colin, welcome to BM and welcome back to the fold.

 

42 minutes ago, colinlp said:

I did in my younger days like many build a few models badly but now I've just retired I fancy another go.

That would describe quite a lot of us here, including me. I'm also a cabinet maker (but only a self-taught amateur).

Although I've always been a wingy thing nut, I had the Airfix Saturn V when I were a lad. Very brave if you do intend to do the tower it looks ridiculously complicate.

It's not a tower, but this might be of interest:

 

[Gorby]

Just found this fascinating walk-around as well:

 

[colinlp]

Thanks Gorby, I think I've seen both those, both very useful, I only found the walk around last night, probably the best Saturn V resource I've seen by a long shot.

 

Another cabinet maker, bleedin everywhere they are! Must say I loved my time as a professional maker but my elbows and shoulders are giving up now, got to build some brilliant stuff, sadly not much for myself, only a headboard and a chest of drawers of any real quality.

 

The tower doesn't seem to be that complicated at heart, basically a lift tower surrounded by 4 braced columns with floors eqi spaced up its height. So the basic tower should be easy enough with many identical parts that could be jigged up for. The bit that concerns me the most from the eyes of a beginner would be painting the floors grey, the steelwork (styrenework?) red and the lift shaft green, the floors are at 42mm centres and with those braces it would be very difficult to mask for airbrushing.

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Hello colinlp Welcome to Britmodeller and Welcome back to Modeling. Im from America myself, and we all get pulled back to this hobby. You actually might find some of the things you’ve done as a cabinet maker might come in handy with modeling. Particularly skills and patience. I hope to see your Saturn V soon. 

 

Dennis

[colinlp]

30 minutes ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Hello colinlp Welcome to Britmodeller and Welcome back to Modeling. Im from America myself, and we all get pulled back to this hobby. You actually might find some of the things you’ve done as a cabinet maker might come in handy with modeling. Particularly skills and patience. I hope to see your Saturn V soon. 

 

Dennis

Thanks Dennis, I hope some of my previous experience will help, I did get to fiddle with tiny parts occasionally. I think if I had a real choice I would really like to create a miniature railway and build the houses etc but we don't have the room for that so looking back to my childhood in the early 60s I was fascinated with the space race and followed it avidly so this seems to be the realistic alternative and to be honest will probably create more challenges than a railway which will provide greater stimulation over the years which I think most of us need in our retirement.

 

I've had a good look through the models made on this forum and they are, well, for want of a better phrase, "very realistic"; which I suppose is the whole point and something to aim for

[Mike]

aboard Colin I built the Saturn V as a kid, and have a bigger Revell kit somewhere in the workshop (who knows where) that I'm hoping to build one day... one day

[AntPhillips]

Welcome from a very sunny (today at least) South Wales, I love Anglesey, visited a couple of times as a kid and spent my honeymoon there a few years ago.

[colinlp]

1 hour ago, Mike said:

aboard Colin I built the Saturn V as a kid, and have a bigger Revell kit somewhere in the workshop (who knows where) that I'm hoping to build one day... one day

Thanks Mike, I think I might have built one as a kid too, I have half a memory of one, the only model I can actually remember building clearly was a big green Bentley which I must have made a half decent job of because my parents kept it on display for ages in the house whereas the rest weren't allowed out of my bedroom unless they were going to the bin

[colinlp]

1 hour ago, AntPhillips said:

Welcome from a very sunny (today at least) South Wales, I love Anglesey, visited a couple of times as a kid and spent my honeymoon there a few years ago.

Good to here it's sunny down in the de too. Funny isn't it, Wales isn't a big country but we rarely venture up or down the A480. I think I have only been to south Wales a couple of times myself

[Mike]

3 hours ago, colinlp said:

the only model I can actually remember building clearly was a big green Bentley which I must have made a half decent job of because my parents kept it on display for ages in the house

I always lusted after the 1:12 Bentley Blower but never managed to cadge one sadly

[Niknak]

Hi Colinlp, welcome to britmodeller, most people who build models return to modelling if thay stop. Look forward to seeing your saturn soon I build it as a kid many moons ago and my little sister tried to see if it could fly. Didn't fly well. 

[colinlp]

9 hours ago, Niknak said:

Hi Colinlp, welcome to britmodeller, most people who build models return to modelling if thay stop. Look forward to seeing your saturn soon I build it as a kid many moons ago and my little sister tried to see if it could fly. Didn't fly well. 

Ha, no I suspect that's what probably happened to mine too

[colinlp]

9 hours ago, Mike said:

I always lusted after the 1:12 Bentley Blower but never managed to cadge one sadly

Yes that's it I couldn't remember but you jogged my memory, a 4 1/2 litre supercharged it said on the box. It was pre coloured green so I didn't paint it but still looked good, it would be nice to see what someone skilled could make of it now with modern airbrushes etc, it would be a spectacular model. Funnily enough a lecturer at Bangor technical college (as was) had one, he used to come in in it occasionally. I was an apprentice at the time, I actually started out life as a welder so that's what I was doing there at the time. He was an avid restorer of classic cars and was restoring the former land speed record car "Babs" which crashed at Pendine sands and killed its driver. He got our group to rebuild the nose cone of the car (with a lot of help from the lecturer)

[Mike]

I'd love to get involved with restoring something, but my health really isn't conducive to all the physical stuff these days