Flis kits Saturn 1b build thread

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NJRick

Saturn 1b nut
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I have been watching Max Q's awesome Saturn 1b build in the scratch built section and his build has inspired me to take a shot at the Flis Kits Saturn 1b. I am attaching a link to MaxQ's build....its just awesome to watch a master at work and I highly recommend seeing what he is doing there. https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?134141-Saturn-1B-1-23-Upscale

If I am reading the directions correctly, this kit should stand a whopping 9 inches tall. Lets call it the exact opposite of Max Q's build which looks to be on the order of 6 feet tall. You can never have too many Saturn 1bs as I always say. This looks to be an awesome little kit and I think it deserves a build thread on it's own. I just hope I can do this kit justice. As always, any tips or suggestions are always welcomed over here!

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this looks like a whole lot of fun in that little bag! Kit comes with some really nifty decals that look to be of great quality! I have built a few Zooch 1bs (OK...so maybe I have built more than a few...) where the Zooch kits has you roll the first stage tanks out of card stock this little baby has some small tubes to recreate the S-1b stage. This looks like it will be fun!

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but something tells me I am going to need this magnifying glass for the build..LOL!!

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I bought one when they first come out. Haven't built it. The tower keeps me putting it off.
 
yeah....looks like the tower is going to be pretty small....I am really reading these instructions thoroughly....this is a small kit with an insane amount of detail in it!! going to be a fun build!


I bought one when they first come out. Haven't built it. The tower keeps me putting it off.
 
I have been watching Max Q's awesome Saturn 1b build in the scratch built section and his build has inspired me to take a shot at the Flis Kits Saturn 1b. I am attaching a link to MaxQ's build....its just awesome to watch a master at work and I highly recommend seeing what he is doing there. https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?134141-Saturn-1B-1-23-Upscale

If I am reading the directions correctly, this kit should stand a whopping 9 inches tall. Lets call it the exact opposite of Max Q's build which looks to be on the order of 6 feet tall. You can never have too many Saturn 1bs as I always say. This looks to be an awesome little kit and I think it deserves a build thread on it's own. I just hope I can do this kit justice. As always, any tips or suggestions are always welcomed over here!

View attachment 298299

Hey man...they're all good!
I have the Semroc Saturn 1B, - I'll build that after I get the bigger one done. Should look good next to each other. LOL. :smile:

I actually think very small scale requires a lot of skill and dexterity, and much more finesse.
 
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I tell you what...this is a cool little kit. I am amazed at the detail you can build in to this kit. There are 47 steps on the instructions. There will some things that I have never tried before such as papering fins and stuff so I think I will learn as I go on this build. After the Semroc 1b I think you take a stab at this kit!


Hey man...they're all good!
I have the Semroc Saturn 1B, - I'll build that after I get the bigger one done. Should look good next to each other. LOL. :smile:

I actually think very small scale requires a lot of skill and dexterity, and much more finesse.
 
Are you going for the Skill Level Five Plus on this one? Are you going to crank the volume control to 11? I have heard of a couple guys opening the kit and deciding to go the skill level three or four route after fully contemplating the 1B challenge.
 
Nice to see a build thread on this little Saturn 1B. I haven't seen too many on this kit. I have noticed this kit is out of stock everywhere so at the end of June, I sent an email to ask Jim when he would have the Saturn 1B back in stock? Enclose is the email he sent me.

From: James Flis <[email protected]>
To:
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2016, 6:10 PM
Subject: RE: Saturn 1B

Frank,

It will eventually... The problem is the nose cone. The vendor that cut that cone for me went out of business and I have yet to find another vendor able to make it...

Keep watch, though! The Saturn 1B and Adfecta are both in the same situation. Also, if I can get the Saturn 1B cone back into production, then I will be releasing the Saturn V (same scale) not long after... :)

Jim

Can't wait to see the Saturn V. Hope to get the nose cone problem resolved.
 
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Daddy...my goal is to put as much detail on her as I can....skill level 5 calls for soldering the tower and since I don't have a solder gun that makes it easy to go to skill level 4 and build the tower out of plastic rods...that seems like enough challenge for me! Its an awesome little kit though! I might need the help of the Hauptmann Kitty to fly her though...does he fly Saturn vehicles also?


Are you going for the Skill Level Five Plus on this one? Are you going to crank the volume control to 11? I have heard of a couple guys opening the kit and deciding to go the skill level three or four route after fully contemplating the 1B challenge.
 
OK..I hope I don't mess it up! A Saturn V in the same scale would be extremely cool!

I spent the day with my son at the National sports card trading show in Atlantic City NJ so I was not able to do anything with her yet. (amazing to look at a Micky Mantle rookie card and then realize the the price tag says $50,000.....I almost spit out my tongue. Apparently somebody purchased Babe Ruth's last contract from 1934 yesterday at this show....it only cost $475,000) Heck with that...I will take a $25 Flis Kits Saturn 1b any day of the week!

Nice to see a build thread on this little Saturn 1B. I haven't seen too many on this kit. I have noticed this kit is out of stock everywhere so at the end of June, I sent an email to ask Jim when he would have the Saturn 1B back in stock? Enclose is the email he sent me.

From: James Flis <[email protected]>
To:
Sent: Monday, June 27, 2016, 6:10 PM
Subject: RE: Saturn 1B

Frank,

It will eventually... The problem is the nose cone. The vendor that cut that cone for me went out of business and I have yet to find another vendor able to make it...

Keep watch, though! The Saturn 1B and Adfecta are both in the same situation. Also, if I can get the Saturn 1B cone back into production, then I will be releasing the Saturn V (same scale) not long after... :)

Jim

Can't wait to see the Saturn V. Hope to get the nose cone problem resolved.
 
thanks Kevin...this kit looks to be a challenge...but I think I can do it. Right now I am pouring over the plans here and trying to think through the steps before I start cutting etc.... One of the things I will have to do it paint the roll patterns on her...I have some ideas for that I think. The Zooch 1b provides a wrap for the roll patterns. I have always loved the white tank 1bs so I am going to build this one with the white tanks. If I ever get my hands on another, I will build SA-205 Apollo 7 with the black fuel tanks. In looking over this kit I have already decided I am buying another. This thing is impressive! I think my experience building 1/72 scale plastic airplanes might come in handy here...lol... I have also just purchased some styrene rods in 0.010 size....I already have the 0.20 size...both sizes will be used to build the tower.


Ah cool. Looking forward to seeing how this comes along!!!
 
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Daddy...my goal is to put as much detail on her as I can....skill level 5 calls for soldering the tower and since I don't have a solder gun that makes it easy to go to skill level 4 and build the tower out of plastic rods...that seems like enough challenge for me! Its an awesome little kit though! I might need the help of the Hauptmann Kitty to fly her though...does he fly Saturn vehicles also?

The Hauptmann always has the right stuff to fly the hot ships!
 
OK...lets start the Fliskits Saturn 1b!

The first step is locate the BT-5 engine tube, the engine block and one centering ring. The kit comes with 3 centering rings...use the black un-notched ring that is provided. Then mark a 1/4 in line on an engine casing....this will be used to position the engine block. Push the engine block into the BT-5 engine tube and push the block up until the 1/4 inch mark is reached. I the added a bead of glue around the block by using the end of a paint brush to glue it in place.

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next, draw a vertical line the length of the tube. This will be a guide for the placement of the first fuel tank, then draw a line 1/4 in from the bottom of the BT-5 tube and glue the centering ring being careful to glue the top of the centering ring on the line.

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The next step is to carefully cut a portion of the supplied tanks so that they will fit around the centering tube. I want to clean these up before I start trimming so I decided to put the first coats of filler on not only the tanks, but the thrust structure and the CSM and SLA.

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will sand these nice and smooth and then start to cut these tanks and then mount them.
 
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The tanks took about 5 coats of filler..I think they are as good as they are going to get. They have persistent spirals but I think I have them under control...the next step has you cut out the tank marking guide and tape it around a fuel tank.

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carefully mark the lines on the fuel tank. This portion will be cut away to allow the tanks to fit correctly around the center main body tube.


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once the tanks are marked its simply a process of taking a fresh blade and gently scoring on the marked line repeatedly until you cut through the cardboard. You don't want to stab it but simply let the blade do the work. The instructions give a great suggestion of using a 3/16 dowel to insert into the tank to assist in cutting. I just happened to have a spare plastic tube that fit perfectly. I have one cut tank at this point. I will cut the remaining tanks tomorrow and then try to paint them if I have time. I want to paint them prior to mounting them on the center tank.

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OK....trimming all 8 thanks is pretty straight forward. Just take your time. Mine turned out OK I think. They are in the paint shop at this time drying. I am going with one of the Skylab versions that will have the all white tanks. Once these are dry I will assemble the S-1b first stage. My S-IVb stage is also drying as is the thrust structure (or base of the first stage.) I have to mask out the roll pattern on the thrust structure and then we will assemble the stage. I thought it would be easier to paint the individual components before assembly. Once these are painted and dried, we will then have some fun adding some extra detail to this little rocket that even the instructions don't mention!

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tanks were finally painted and allowed to dry. The instructions tell you to glue the first tank along the vertical mark..

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its then a process of gluing each tank around the circumference ....of course my last tank didn't fit that great so I am sure I did something wrong...but I think once the S-1Vb stage is attached and the thrust structure are glued in place it should be OK...

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thanks Aerostadt....that is the next step. I am measuring out the roll pattern for what I call the thrust structure...the base of the first stage where the fins attach. I am going to paint that pattern. For the roll pattern on the S-IVb stage I am going to use black decal ...it will be much easier to attach than masking out and painting. I am going with an all white tank version on this build and the roll pattern on the second stage was a bit different than on Apollo 7 (black tank version). (I have a new Fliskits Saturn 1b supposed to be delivered tomorrow...that will be a black tank version...I just can't build just one Saturn 1b!)

attached first is a picture of SA-208 (Skylab 4) and then SA-205 (Wally Schirra's Apollo 7) the roll band on the second stage was changed on the later up-rated Saturn 1b's that were used for Skylab and ASTP. On the later 1b's the H-1 engines were up-rated from 200,000lbs of thrust to 205,000 lb thrust.

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Looking good, NJ. When do you make some of the tanks black?
 
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OK....the Forum is fighting me tonight with login issues and stuff! this will be my third time trying to post these..lol...but here are some pictures of the painted roll bands..I am hoping that this lines up with the tanks...I want to make sure this dries completely before I play with it...so far I think it will be OK...

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