1/72 Saturn V

[Bengalensis]

Time has finally come to dig into that big box of Dragon 1/72 Saturn V that I bought as soon as it was released, in early 2013 I think it was. It's been in the stash for much longer than I first planned (how unusual...) and it's quite a long time since I build Airfix 1/144 Saturn V, so it's not a moment to early now.

 

Here we have the box, and a lovely size of a box, isn't it.

 

 

There is quite a lot of plastic in the box for a start, but there was still room in the box... As I've had the kit in my stash for a while, and as I'm quite attracted to the subject and the whole Apollo era, I have spent some time filling up my box with additional stuff as I've learned some of the Dragon kit's shortcomings. This is what my box contains today, a bit more than Dragon put there in the first place:

 

 

I've added parts over time as I wanted to make a real project of this. I first got a set of batted F1-engines for the S1-C stage in resin from LVM Studios.

 

 

Soon after I bought the complete decal set from CultTVman, drawn by Rick Sternbach. They look quite impressive on the sheets.

 

 

More recently I also decided to add the various resin parts available from Martin's Models to help with some of the corrections I want to make.

 

 

There's also a range of 3D-printed parts available from two designers via Shapeways, and as I had already thrown all sanity away (I'm quite good at that, and it's actually a habit...) I decided to add these to my available choices as well.

 

 

And that leaves the original content in the Dragon box, of which not an insignificant amount will be replaced, or modified...

 

 

I plan to make a longer project of this, most likely spanning over the horrible winter that will approach later and once again make life difficult for a couple of months. It won't be the perfect Saturn V build, but I plan to make a number of corrections to lengths and details of the various segments of the vehicle, using research and advise that people with a lot more knowledge than me have published.

 

Most of all I plan to enjoy the build and twelve in the atmosphere of the era when the Saturn V did the job of putting these brave men on the path to the moon. I hope you will enjoy the build too and you're most welcome put in some advice and ideas as I progress with my build.

 

I think this Saturn V will be the mission of Apollo 11, for obvious reasons, but I'm not fully decided yet. Actually all the missions would deserve a good model...

[roma847]

Hello Jörgen, 

very interesting project, my Airfix 1/144 Saturn V is still in the cupboard and waiting for Apollo 11.  

 

 

[Bengalensis]

I will start with getting all the major parts prepared and corrected, and then assemble the stages, before turning to more details. First I glued all the tank halves together.

 

 

With that done I measured the length of all the parts to see what I have to modify, and then layed them all out in a row. These are the main parts I will use. All the grey sections have to be altered slightly in length. The bad thing is that most of them are too short.

 

The IU (Instrument Unit) and SLA (Spacecraft LM Adapter) on top I will probably build up from the clear kit parts with some 3D-printed details instead of the resin, as I think I want one quarter of SLA in clear to show the Lunar Module inside. On the other hand that might mean that I should also do a quarter of both interstages clear to show the engines of the S-II and S-IVb stages... The model will be possible to disassemble into the real sections though.

 

 

Here we have the S-IC RP-1 tank glued to the intertank structure. The RP-1 tank is apparently about 6 mm too short and the intertank structure 6,5 mm too long. They will pretty much even themselves out. My idea is to remove 6 mm of the stringers and smooth the seam, and then scribe a thin new seam 6 mm higher up.

 

 

The S-IVb LOX/LH2 tank is 8 mm short. I have a resin cylinder to replace it, but it seemed less work to correct the plastic than prepare the resin. I glued on a segment ring I will have no use for to add some material.

 

 

With the glue fully cured this was cut to length and sanded smooth. Not an insignificant amount of work, but no big problem.

 

 

The LOX tank for the S-IC stage is about 12 mm short. I'm trying the same method here, gluing a segment I won't use to get material to work with, cut back to correct length and sand smooth. This will be more work than the S-IVb tank and probably need some filler, but first the glue has to fully dry.

 

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Ooooh!  Fireworks! 

[TallBlondJohn]

On 09/09/2017 at 8:28 PM, Bengalensis said:

 

 

 

Pet human, this is my new toy. You have done well. I will enjoy it.

[Bengalensis]

I got quite a lot of work done on the tank walls today.

 

To shorten the S-IC intertank structure stringers I first masked with a 6 mm wide tape and then put a sturdy Dymo tape above. I figured this would give me a protecting edge to cut and sand against.

 

 

The extra ring glued to LOX tank top was then cut to length and the necessary filler sanded smooth.

 

 

After a bit of cutting and sanding work and some filler I had a 6 mm longer RP-1tank and 6 mm shorter intertank structure.

 

 

The S-II LOX/LH2 tank is about 6 mm short, but the new resin aft skirt includes a longer bit of tank section. I figured I would adjust the length of that resin piece to give me what I want. There will be a lot of filler and sanding, but the tank wall seems are in need of that anyway.

 

 

All the resin parts require a good deal of cleaning, filling and adjustment. This one was fairly easy.

 

 

The S-II LOX/LH2 tank wall seams done.

 

 

The two pieces joined and seem filled. The fit was less than perfect and it will take a bit of work.

 

 

I couldn't resist stacking up the S-IC parts; thrust structure/aft skirt, RP-1tank, intertank structure, LOX tank and forward skirt.

 

[bootneck]

Hi Jorgen,

 

If you want to get a little bit of extra detail then check out the plans HERE.  You can download them in Hi-Res by using the link at the bottom of the page.  There is also detailed information on other systems and missiles at that site and well worth a look around.

 

Mike

[Bengalensis]

A bit more progress. The bottom seam of the elongated S-II tank is finally done after a few rounds of filler and sanding. With that all the major tank bodies are done.

 

 

I then turned my attention to the S-IC forward skirt resin part, it needed some clean up and filling. The exterior is done here.

 

 

The interior needed more work. Quite a lot of air bubbles needed filling and excess resin from mould bubbles removed. While the filler was curing I started work on the LOX-dome that will go inside the forward skirt.

 

 

An hour or two of therapeutic fine sanding work later the inside was also ready for primer. I will probably have to paint the inside and the dome before gluing them in place to avoid spraying paint down into a hole, something that never really works for me.

 

[RichO]

A lot of prep work to do here, but things look great so far.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Just curious here ... and maybe i missed it. But i am curious as to how tall this Saturn will be when complete ? Including the very long probe structure they had mounted on top of the capsules nose ? 

Edited September 15, 2017 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[Bengalensis]

@RichO It does indeed need a lot of preparation to come together. I hope it will be worth it in the end.

 

@Corsairfoxfouruncle It should finish at a total height of almost 154 cm if everything works out. We'll see how close to that I will arrive.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

If you fancy putting it to alternative use (some scratchbuilding will be required):  https://www.dropbox.com/s/d4q0shfrj9rf0wx/Project Orion.pdf?dl=0

[Gimme Shelter]

fantastic - another large Mighty Saturn V on the forums production line - loving every micronic element of this build from the onset - resin, 3d yummies (bet they cost you a packet and dont pretend to your Mrs they were cheap), batted engines - yes, yes, yes - this is on my radar B I G  time..

 

super dooper, 

[Eric Mc]

On ‎15‎/‎09‎/‎2017 at 18:35, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Just curious here ... and maybe i missed it. But i am curious as to how tall this Saturn will be when complete ? Including the very long probe structure they had mounted on top of the capsules nose ? 

The "probe structure" attached to the Command Module is the Launch Escape Tower - which was a powerful solid fuelled rocket used to yank the capsule off the top of the rocket if the Saturn V started to misbehave during launch. Luckily, it never had to be used on any Apollo mission, although it came close during the Apollo 12 launch when the Saturn V was struck by lightning.

 

The Launch Escape Tower was jettisoned at about 4 minutes into the flight as by that point the entire rocket had climbed to an adequate height (about 50 miles) so that the Command Module could separate and parachute to safety without assistance from the escape system.

 

The Dragon Saturn V is a very impressive model when it is completed (I've seen it displayed at a few shows) but it does seem to have a number of accuracy issues which is a pity considering that it's a fairly recent moulding.

[Gimme Shelter]

On ‎23‎/‎09‎/‎2017 at 10:27 AM, Eric Mc said:

The "probe structure" attached to the Command Module is the Launch Escape Tower - which was a powerful solid fuelled rocket used to yank the capsule off the top of the rocket if the Saturn V started to misbehave during launch. Luckily, it never had to be used on any Apollo mission, although it came close during the Apollo 12 launch when the Saturn V was struck by lightning.

 

The Launch Escape Tower was jettisoned at about 4 minutes into the flight as by that point the entire rocket had climbed to an adequate height (about 50 miles) so that the Command Module could separate and parachute to safety without assistance from the escape system.

 

The Dragon Saturn V is a very impressive model when it is completed (I've seen it displayed at a few shows) but it does seem to have a number of accuracy issues which is a pity considering that it's a fairly recent moulding.

fancy having a crack at building my Revell 1/96 scale Sat V Eric?

[Will Vale]

Look great so far Jörgen, I'm sure with your attention to detail this will turn out to be another masterpiece.

 

(And it might act as a gateway drug for some sci-fi modelling? I really liked your Last Exile racer.)

 

All the best,

 

Will

[71chally]

Fascinating build.  I must admit that I hadn't realised how much Dragon got wrong with this, seems like a lot of correcting is needed.

[Bengalensis]

Thanks for all the comments. I've been a bit distracted in my 1/1 scale workshop as usual, and hit some problem on this workbench as well, but a little more progress at least.

 

@Gimme Shelter Hehe, no, it's not the cheapest modelling project I've started, but mutual support  and open cards both ways has worked well for many years together with my dear lady, so I'm lucky that I can just carry any(?) stuff through the door.

 

@71chally@Eric Mc Yes, there is a surprising amount of inaccuracies and lack of details for a new tooling. It will certainly look like an impressive Saturn V if built OOB, but it is a bit disappointing.

 

@Will Vale Thanks for your encouragement Will, it's good to be back on the bench with a WIP-thread, even if it won't be the fastest I've done. I do have a couple of 1/72 Star Wars models I would like to build before too long, so yes, there may well be some Sci-Fi again. Looking forward to it.

 

I have done a bit of work on the top of the S-IC tank to ensure its round and that the resin LOX-dome and forward skirt will fit well.

 

 

After also adding a bit of plastic in two places on the LOX-dome edge I was quite comfortable with the result. With some paint and the vent pipes added I think it will pass.

 

 

Then I started with the S-IC/SII interstage, and hit more difficult problems. The resin part is conical in shape and much too small in diameter at the bottom. I think the mould may have given up, but I have already informed Martin and showed him this problem a few days ago, and he would look into it, so we'll see what happens.

 

 

This is the Dragon part, fitting well and correct in length, but lacking a lot of detail and only half the number of stringers.

 

 

My spare plan, if the resin fails, will be to use the Dragon part and then replicate all the work Martin did to create his master part using Evergreen strips, but with a bit of luck I may not have to. There is plenty of other work to do, so I'll wait a bit with this to see what Martin comes up with.

 

 

In the mean time I will either climb upwards and start looking at the SII aft skirt, or go downwards and work on S-IC aft skirt and thrust structure, another area I expect problems and work with...

[Gimme Shelter]

like you say, up or down, there will be a problem in either direction you take.

 

still enjoying watching how you tackle this big lady, stage by stage, I see you have a very large scale challenge ahead of you... but that's what's modelling is all about

 

Keep calm and Saturn on

[Kevin Aris]

love the build, and my favourite scale size

[Caerbannog]

Awesome project. I remember too well how excited I was when the Dargon kit was announced... and how dissapointed after the first reviews :-(

Good to see it build here with all those after market goodies. Also nice to see some Martins parts used.

Will follow with interest.

René

 

[Bengalensis]

I haven't done much on the work bench for a good while now, the S-IC/SII interstage and S-IC aft skirt problems put me off a bit. It took a little time, but just before christmas Martin kindly sent me a replacement S-IC/SII interstage. It was a bit better in quality, but only slightly less conical, still too small at the bottom, so unfortunately I couldn't get it to fit either.

 

After some hesitation I then fell back to my spare plan and used the resin as a template and recreated all the work using the Dragon part, lots of Evergreen strips and a good deal of patience. The last pieces were added tonight and I'm quite happy with the result.

 

 

 

So here it's stacking up.  Next will be the S-IC aft skirt and thrust structure, another very problematic area. The Dragon parts are just out of question in my project, and the replacement resin parts have issues that are not easy to fix, if possible. We'll see where that ends...

 

[Gimme Shelter]

wow - this is really coming on - superb attention to finite detail - you certainly know your Saturns

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Wow.....All that redundant resin! 

 

At first glance I thought you were fitting a new flue, but now that I can see what you've actually been doing.....

 

This is turning into quite the project isn't it?   

[noeyedears]

excellent bit o' scratch work with the strip. very neat. ive never seen one of these built to this standard so ill be keeping an eye on it for sure.