Sheri's Saturn V.

Steven said:

View attachment 303321 View attachment 303322 View attachment 303324 I've now started with the brass photo etched and resin parts on the SM. You will notice a slight offset with the vertical brass piece and the resin radiator panel above it. This is shown in the drawings so I simply replicated the positions according to the drawings.

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Where did you get the photo etched parts from?

les said:

Where did you get the photo etched parts from?

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I don't remember who I got them from although they're from New Ware. Victory Models is one carrier and Cult Man's Hobby Shop is another. You can order directly from New Ware but it's rather a pain in the ass as they require you to email them first prior to using PayPal so they're not really the easiest or fastest method. Cult Man's is out of these parts yet Victory has them in stock now. Grab em' while you can.

Interesting that this was mentioned as I had to order another New Ware NW204 kit mainly for the SM parts as I lost the original pieces I had which was why I stopped working on this area. Victory Models just sent me an email stating they have shipped this product out and I just need to wait probably no more than a week. Then I'll continue on with the SM detail.

I have been making some changes in the initial plans and rethinking how I approach certain building aspects. The LES tower for one seems to be more work to smooth out than I care to involve myself with so I ordered a second that is actually POLISHED rather than the grainy surfaced one I presently have. I also ordered the large lower radiator panels from Shape Ways as well rather than scratch building them as I initially planed. These too are 'polished' rather than the grainy appearance. I don't know why they finish any of these products with the grainy feel to begin with as it will require filling and or sanding to get a smooth surface.
The IU and the SLA adapter I have which is grainy I'll just have to work with by filling and sanding what I can on it. No matter what you may think in the beginning of a certain project, more times than not for me in the endeavor of scale modeling I wind up shifting plans around and rethink my approach on particulars. It's easy to get in a slump when using a certain approach only to wind up less than satisfied with the original plans. Then POOF, you come up with a viable alternative.
So right now I'm just waiting for more of these parts and pieces to come in and I'll take it from there and get more done. That second to third stage interstage piece has been testing my patience big time though I'm roughly two thirds finished. It's that glaringly, repetitious laying down of individual stringers that's worn me down. For now I've just talked myself into laying down more stringers so that's a good sign. Thanks for listening and all your continued support as it has been a measurable part of my carrying through with this! :wink:

A few shots of some more work done on the SM: The panels themselves will still need some more glue as you can see around the edges.

Nice work, sir. I'm looking forward to the completed pics.

Tonimus said:

Nice work, sir. I'm looking forward to the completed pics.

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Thank you! There's more work such as more access panels and hatches to go as well as the lower radiator panels which Shapeways told me today are coming.

My favorite rocket of all time. Looking good.

ascastil said:

My favorite rocket of all time. Looking good.

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Thank you too and welcome here from TRF.

I believe I may remove the stringers from the second/third stage interstage as they appear to be too close to each other. I'll probably have to look at my David Weeks prints to get the exact number and placement. Apparently the pattern from Red Arrow Hobbies is incorrect. Another shoddy job of engineering. I'm not too happy with this guy.

Steven said:

I believe I may remove the stringers from the second/third stage interstage as they appear to be too close to each other. I'll probably have to look at my David Weeks prints to get the exact number and placement. Apparently the pattern from Red Arrow Hobbies is incorrect. Another shoddy job of engineering. I'm not too happy with this guy.

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Sorry your having so much trouble with your kit Steven, and added expense on a kit that is quite expensive (At least for me) to start with.
I'm sure all your efforts will show with great shine when you are completed.
I admire your persistence on quality and details of originality.

Woody's Workshop said:

Sorry your having so much trouble with your kit Steven, and added expense on a kit that is quite expensive (At least for me) to start with.
I'm sure all your efforts will show with great shine when you are completed.
I admire your persistence on quality and details of originality.

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Thank you Woody! :wink:

Well, after doing research on the web and trying to find a source that would show me an accurate count of the stringers on the interstage, I had forgotten about the David Weeks drawings I had. Guess what. Yup, the count was CORRECT all along. So I have to apologize for the comment made by myself on this particular area thinking that the pattern was wrong. Somehow it just looked like I had too many stringers on. I am wrong and the pattern is correct. Now after taking off 35 stringers I have to sand down the damaged area, order more stringers and get this interstage done with!
I believe I deserve it having bad mouthed the pattern when it was correct all along.

Here is a picture of the damaged area. I'll simply sand this down using various grades and start over again. Later on I'll be scratch building access panels and umbilical connections throughout the rocket.

I've been thinking about getting this out and doing more work on it. Just lost the ghost when I removed several stringers from the interstage. I've got to sand and scrape the residue off before applying new stringers. Still have to use epoxy and denatured alcohol on the SLA and IU as well as a new tower. The old one hadn't turned out like I wanted it to so I had hoped to get a smoother version with less grain in it and it looks questionable. I just won't use glass cloth on it this time around.

I've started scrapping and sanding away the damaged area on the third stage interstage. After which I'll begin gluing on MORE stringers to finish this part off. :eyeroll:

Glad to see you at it again Steven!
I'm sure you'll get there.

Before and after pictures of the interstage after scraping and sanding.

Wow, that cleaned up nicely.

awesome! Its a beautiful build Steven!

I have now gotten the stringers up to the point of where I had left off prior to removing roughly 34 of them before realizing my mistake. I have exactly 34 more to go and only THEN will this part be finished with the stringers.

FINALLY! :smile:

One of those looks a little off, I think you should start again.








(Just kidding, looks great! Onward!!!)

that looks fantastic!!

Have you made any more progress on this Steven?
I know you have put a lot of time and money in this thing already.
I looked at shape ways, and that stuff ain't cheap no matter how you look at it.

Woody's Workshop said:

Have you made any more progress on this Steven?
I know you have put a lot of time and money in this thing already.
I looked at shape ways, and that stuff ain't cheap no matter how you look at it.

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No it's not cheap. Probably have a grand into this including several bottles of CA, Plastruct sheeting and stringers, all the stuff from Oz Mods and Shape Ways, a case of primer and a case of white paint. I don't think I bought any black yet. Funny that you mention it as I am building the access panel for the aft interstage as I type this. I'll get some photos up soon enough.

There. I just got some photos up soon enough.

Nice clean up job...looks like a lot of work

Got my Centuri Skylab today as well. No creased or bent tubes!!