Flis kits Saturn 1b build thread

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I then rolled the tape across the top of the capsule. This will be the starting point for the BPC...

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the BPC looks to be organized into separate sections

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then cutting tiny pieces of tape...I tried to recreate this neat little detail...

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I kinda like it....what do you guys think?

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next up is the SM....it looks to me that the SM details change per mission....the white panels on the Apollo 7 SM are different than the ones on the Skylab missions....here are a couple of pictures I have found on my https://retrospaceimages.com/

these are some pictures from Pete Conrad's SA-206 and Al Bean's SA-207

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and just for the heck of it...I am attaching an image of the Skylab Saturn V superimposed next to the Saturn 1b on the LUT...gives you and idea of just how huge the Saturn V was. These are just awesome vehicles

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Jim Flis has said that if he can get the nose cone (Apollo CSM and SLA ) back into production he is going to make a Saturn V in this scale...that will be a VERY cool kit I think!!
 
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I both admire the skill and question the sanity of people who try to add details like that on a model this small. Well done!
 
thanks grandcross...but I think you are right...send help! I think I am going to try to make the RCS thrusters out of plastic for this little kit...lol..I have lost my mind

I both admire the skill and question the sanity of people who try to add details like that on a model this small. Well done!
 
I want to add some extra detail to the SM....now..Slauki's awesome wraps give you a wrap for the SM but I was trying a more 3D effect, so I trimmed out parts of his wrap for use.

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what I first did was use some 1/64 chrome pinstripe tape to divide the SM into 4 sections by using the Mk1 eyeball, using soem tape at the top and the bottom of the SM to clean up the paint seams

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I then glued portions of Saluki's wraps into place

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the bottom lengths of the wraps are radiator panels I believe ...I wanted to try to recreate that radiator look so I trimmed small lengths of white 1/64 tape and tried to lay them in place on the panel

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I am going to try to make the RCS thrusters out of bits of plastic strip and rodding...but before I do that I am going to do a little detail work on the SLA...at least that the plan! thanks for following the build and for all of the positive comments! Its much appreciated! This is a neat little kit and I highly recommend it to everyone and especially to those Saturn 1b lovers out there!
 
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I wanted to add the SLA panels....I used the Line-O-Tap black 1/64 pinstripe tape and again relying upon the Mk 1 eyeball, started by laying the base of the SLA panels on the kit and then slowly rotated the model laying the tape into place.

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then I cut lengths of tape that ran from the base of the SLA panel to the base of the SM and laid them in place as straight as I could. I try to line these up as best as I can by looking at the top of the CSM and looking down and trying to line the panels up as best as I can.

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I think it adds a nice little touch to the kit!

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I will add a coat of Krylon Krystal Clear when done over here and that will seal all of this pinstripe into place.
Next up are the RCS quads!:y:
 
OK..I wanted to try to make some RCS quads for the CSM...the kit actually provides a neat solution which is very small quads that you cut out and build up with additional paper to give you that 3 dimension look.

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I wanted to try to make them out of plastic rod and strips...so here is my attempt....first I took some strip and trimmed it down using the paper RCS quads as a guide....these strips are to be the main body of the RCS quads

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I then took some rods that are 0.020 size and glued over-sized lengths to the RCS body

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I tried three different glues with these and I am suggesting you use a CA. I tried my plastic model glue and its too strong for the small rods....everything was stringy. I also tried white glue and that would be OK..but a smaller amount of CA holds better than the white glue.

I glued an over sized rod to each side of the RCS body

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then, using a sharp blade...gently trim the strips down to size...here are my four RCS quads...I am going to paint these tonight

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here are some pictures of where I am at this point...short one quad

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I kind of like it..I think its worth the effort...really not difficult...just take your time and a little patience and it comes out pretty nice.

thanks for following!
 
OK....its now time to move onto the dreaded LES tower.....the tower lattice work itself should stand a tad under 1/2 inch tall...and will be made out of tiny pieces of plastic rod. (should be about 40 pieces I think when all said and done...each side will have 9 cross members )... This picture gives you and idea of the size of this tower.

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the tower is made out of 0.020 rod and the cross members will be made out of 0.010 rod.

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the instructions provide a template for tower construction. As suggested I have placed a sheet of wax paper over the template. It is then a series of cutting small strips of plastic and gluing them into place on the template, starting with the side members that are taped to the wax paper above the template. we will glue the cross members to these and then slowly build up the tower.

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the instructions have you build the tower from the bottom up and that is where I am at this point. The upper part of the tower lattice work actually is angled inwards and attached to a ring. The kit provides this ring. To obtain the correct angle of the upper part of the tower, the instructions call for you to fabricate a piece of balsa or card stock that is 0.030 thick. I went on line and this converts to about .8 of a millimeter. I glued three sheets of card stock together for this...I think its close enough in size.

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I am going to take my time on these assemblies as you build one side of the tower at a time. While these are gluing I have the LES tower out getting a coat of primer

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wish me luck!! I think I am going to need it!!!
 
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I can't even imagine the swear words I'd be making up if I ever attempted to build this kit. That's just insane.
 
honestly Falcons....it doesn't seem that small when you are building it! Its not until afterwards and you look at the booster and realize its 5 inches tall...or the Apollo CSM is less than 3 inches tall...the size of your thumb... Its an impressive kit. There was a LOT of work that went into the design of this kit by Jim Flis. Amazing amount of detail that you can add....its engineered to allow you to build at different skill levels: scale fins vs strap on fins (provided), paper tower vs tower built of plastic rod like I am doing or even harder to make the tower by soldering wire!

I can't even imagine the swear words I'd be making up if I ever attempted to build this kit. That's just insane.
 
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Rick you have simply amazing skills! Seeing that small detail work blows my mind! I thought building smt boards were tough, but they are the size of Legos compared to what you've done here. I'm am extremely impressed!!! Wish I had a 10th of your skill!
 
thank you very much! I really appreciate the kind words! Truthfully, I am having a lot of fun building her....

honestly, this is an impressive kit....you can tell the amount of work you put into this. The instructions are just spot on and well thought out.

I sure hope you can get the Apollo CSM back into production because a Saturn V based on this scale would be extremely cool!

Scary good. I am loving this thread!
 
Kevin...thank you very much but trust me...you are way beyond me! I have really enjoyed your builds and that includes your daughter cool kit! What a great idea for her paint scheme!

honestly, I am going to take another shot at this one when I wrap it up..I am going to make Wally Schirra's Apollo 7 (black tank version) there are things here I know I can improve on. Its really a neat kit of just an extremely cool rocket. The 1b is my all time favorite rocket. Just mean and nasty looking...But this kit is really impressive! Its my first Flis kit model rocket! Of course, I have already bought two more of these little babies....you can never have enough Saturn 1bs ya know.

thank you again for the kind words!

Rick you have simply amazing skills! Seeing that small detail work blows my mind! I thought building smt boards were tough, but they are the size of Legos compared to what you've done here. I'm am extremely impressed!!! Wish I had a 10th of your skill!
 
Cool kit info: this is the most accurately scaled Saturn 1B out there, and (as far as I know) the only one out there that will fly on scale fins)
 
ok....I have assembled my first side of the tower....this is an exercise in patience...lol...actually its not that bad.....I think I am going to try to assemble two towers...one with the 0.020 rod and 0.010 cross members and then one using all 0.020 rods....the smaller rod is extremely fine and it takes a steady hand to lower it into place. I think the larger rod may sacrifice some scale accuracy but might be easier to work with...I have a ton of the 0.020 rod up here so that is what I am thinking right now..just to see what it looks like. What am finding more than anything is that even with my good tweezers, the 0.010 rod just flicks off and its gone...it is so fine that the tweezers really have to work to hold onto them. Fortunately, I bought extra 0.010 rod just in case!!

the instructions are very helpful here...once the 0.020 rods are taped to the template...its a process of measuring out the proper length of the 0.010 rod on the template....then gluing them into place. This picture shows my second side of the tower under construction

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on the upper section, there are four cross members that angle to the inside of the tower when it is assembled. The instructions direct you to make a template so that these cross members will set at the proper inward angle.

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here is my first section

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I came back and tried to add a touch of CA on the joints and I think I was too heavy in doing that...so I am going to use this section as a test...I am working on another section as I type this.
 
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OK...sorry for my delay up here..busy week at work and I went up to visit my son in college and catch a football game yesterday. I decided that I am going to make my towers out of the 0.020 rod...its just much easier to work with and I don't think it gives up too much in scale. I have one side completed and will wrap up the second side of the tower shortly. You can see that the small tool that is used to build the one portion of the upper side members is used in the second pic...just take your time here and a good pair of tweezers is essential!

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OK....going to start that second side over....the instructions ask you to assemble the tower over some wax paper and what happened was that I applied too much CA and some of the paper peeled off with the tower when I went to remove it from the paper. I tried to gently move my knife blade between the tower and the paper but there was too much glue. I could not get all of the paper off and it left something like a fuzz on some of the struts which would have been very noticeable when I went to paint.

that is where I am right now with the build. Its a cool little kit but my eyes need a break tonight!! I will start work on the other side tomorrow.
 
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