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SA-1 saturn/Apollo first flight,1/144,aka "cluster,s last stand"..Resin by martin,s models


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Hi,i know this has started before,but to be honest,i did not like the end result twice,so decided third time lucky?.Plus Photo bucket,s reshuffle has reshuffled all my pics,so a lot have been moved from where they should be,Sif your sitting comfortably ,i,ll begin again.

Hi again ,right im having a go at some resin models lately as ive been a bit bored with the mainstream offerings lately,this is the first of the saturn apollo rockets ,the end game man on the moon,so this is the first of about 24 different rockets before the moon rocket.most of the vehicles were the same with subtle variations,ie payload,testing water instead of fuel,different stages etc...testing different paint designs because of spiking on heat monitors etc the history is quite fascinating,Most of these were unmanned,.So this is saturn apollo 1,basically a redstone missile with a load of fuel tanks strapped to it.
Sa1-sa3 basically the same paint design,black and white alternate tanks on first stage then a small chequered pattern on the interstage,then a all white second stage,which was water filled to test the stability in flight,and ballast.first stage thrust was1.3 million lb,and i believe the flight lasted 8 mins 4 secs.
The kit is all resin,pretty simple,but effective its all down to sanding and painting so enjoy,theres more to come(did i hear stifiled groans)..have a look at the history,cheers Don...,i will post the pics again for your enjoyment....or not

the base of the cluster

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the cluster

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a bit of trimming to fit

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and a bit of fine tuning

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gets us somewhere near

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cluster top

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bit more sanding

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bit of cleaning up imbetween tanks

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there we have it ..it fits

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so next,we go for the Dummy upper stages..

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whats involved with the upper section

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cheers Don

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Hi,i,ll try again,a bit of an update....

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components for the dummy stages/and payload

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should look like ?

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hardest part is keeping the mating surfaces flat.

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flared skirts for base/engine shrouds

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fitting

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fixing upper section of cluster to payload section/and a bit of blending

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all nearly ready for fixing

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inner and outer engine bells

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thanks for looking again.....cheers Don

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Hi,lets carry on...

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engines

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giving a bit of cleaning

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crooked,

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tidy up around the fuel tanks

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bit of paint

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end result a bit like that

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marking up for chequer pattern on base

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putting a few decals on

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used decals for the clustered tanks

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Right straightened up and glued together ,looking somewhere near?

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Right that was as far as i got,the more i looked at it,the more i wanted to change it,so these pics are of it before the change?

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Right that was the attempt,next....i,ll start again,THANKS for looking,cheers Don

next post of pics,will be starting the new version....

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Hi,right here we go again,what a saga?

stripping off all previously applied paint,and decals?

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i put a hole in the base,for holding it whilst painting and for a future idea for a stand/base

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cheers Don

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HI, PHASE 2,begins,,,,,,

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got a bit of paint on,fill a few gaps,and repair damage caused when cleaning it up?

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i drilled a line of holes around the midsection to simulate the markings on the real one?

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few more coats of paint

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Decided not to use the supplied decals for the tanks,so started masking up for the black,

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making sure the tape is right in the clusters..

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ready for final coat

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end result

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under the tape

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just renewing line of depressions around the skirt

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Getting prepared for sticking some decals on,not trying to get it exact..just an approximation?

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just trying to put some demarcation on a plain white upper stage,

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starting to look a bit better?,,,

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not too bad now?

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main tank decals on

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looking a bit better,on its soon to be stand?

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smaller decals

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What do you think,better this time round,or not?

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getting ready for engines

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bit of reference

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cutting tripod leg for stand cover

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somewhere near

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Right thats it,im posting the next pics in the finished section,just finishing off the stand,thanks for looking,cheers Don

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Looking nice, Don.

How can you work with the distraction of paddling astronauts?

Watched a good programme last night on Discovery science, 'Moon Machines'

The story of the early Saturn V's.

The problems with resonance & how Apollo 6 just about staggered into orbit.

It was all so close to the edge! Very much suck it & see.

What a bunch of clever & very brave men.

All the best

Pete

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Looking nice, Don.

How can you work with the distraction of paddling astronauts?

Watched a good programme last night on Discovery science, 'Moon Machines'

The story of the early Saturn V's.

The problems with resonance & how Apollo 6 just about staggered into orbit.

It was all so close to the edge! Very much suck it & see.

What a bunch of clever & very brave men.

All the best

Pete

I didn't see the programme but I know all about the problems they had on Apollo 6. What impressed me was that once they had worked out what had caused them, they didn't bother with another unmanned test to make sure - they stuck three men on top of the next Saturn V (Apollo 8) and sent them around the Moon!

There's an excellent book about Apollo 8 - how and why they made the decision to send it to the Moon, why the crew read from the Bible from lunar orbit - fascinating stuff. It's called "Genesis" by Robert Zimmerman (no, not that one).

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Yes, I liked their reasoning The flexible pipe fractured in flight.

But in ground testing it's frozen solid & works fine.

Therefore, replace with a solid pipe & fly it.

And it worked!

Old school engineering!

But, as you say, they weren't at the top of the next shot.

The programme stressed thay had no choice, Apollo 8 WILL go around the moon.

I used to keep scrapbooks of cuttings about all this, as it was going on.

wonder what happened to them?

Pete

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Thanks gordon,pete, yes the history of these early learning launches is very intresting,you can see the progression very easy on these early flights,every launch,was one step nearer?

cheers Don

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