Estes Saturn V wrap positioning question

Well, I know I'm going to embarrass myself with this one but… I'm building Estes' new Saturn V. I have put the bottom wrap on the main body tube. Now I'm ready to put the Intertank wrap on. I'm not exactly sure where to position it relative to the line I drew around the body tube in step 1B. The line I'm referring to is the one located 8 7/16" from the bottom of the tube.

Which edge (top or bottom) of the Intertank wrap lines up with the line? It doesn't say in the directions and it's not immediately obvious to me by looking at the artwork on the box.

As long as we're on the topic, how about the wrap after that? That's the Interstage wrap. It looks to me that the top of that wrap lines up with the line I drew on the main body tube at 18 3/8" Is that correct?

I haven't had any problems with the build so far so I thought I better ask before I glue the wrap on.

-Paul

Paul,

The top of my Saturn V is painted and completed while the bottom is masked and ready to paint. I lined the top of the mid intertank wrap and the top of the upper inter stage wrap with the lines drawn in step 1B at 8 7/16" and 18 3/8". The top of the wraps go on the lines.

One thing I would add to the attaching of these wraps. The instructions led me to believe the seam on the wraps should be placed on the single reference line drawn in step 1A. However, when I trimmed the wraps to get the perfect fit around the body tube and attached them with the seams aligned with that line, the tunnel covers attached in step 15 did not line up exactly when I got to that step. :eyepop: This required some minor mods to get them to look straight. It turned out fine, but I can see the error. :grin:

Use the reference line as an initial guide, then fine tune the wrap placement by lining up the vacuum formed tunnel covers and corrugations to get the exact alignment.

Hope this helps,

Cary

pjanders said:

Well, I know I'm going to embarrass myself with this one but… I'm building Estes' new Saturn V. I have put the bottom wrap on the main body tube. Now I'm ready to put the Intertank wrap on. I'm not exactly sure where to position it relative to the line I drew around the body tube in step 1B. The line I'm referring to is the one located 8 7/16" from the bottom of the tube.

Which edge (top or bottom) of the Intertank wrap lines up with the line? It doesn't say in the directions and it's not immediately obvious to me by looking at the artwork on the box.

As long as we're on the topic, how about the wrap after that? That's the Interstage wrap. It looks to me that the top of that wrap lines up with the line I drew on the main body tube at 18 3/8" Is that correct?

Click to expand...

The top edge of the wrap aligns with the 8 7/16" mark, leaving 2.75" between it and the lower wrap (between which the USA decals are placed)

Yes, the next wrap's top aligns with the 18 3/8", leaving approx 5.125" (measuring with a tape measure without my glasses on!).

Chris' blog (https://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/2011/05/estes-saturn-v-build-part-15-wraps.html) and the next few entries, covers the wraps fairly well.

I'm just wondering...Are you going to launch your Saturn V? or just a display piece?

PhlAsh said:

Chris' blog (https://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/2011/05/estes-saturn-v-build-part-15-wraps.html) and the next few entries, covers the wraps fairly well.

Click to expand...

Hey, you beat me to it!
Here's the link to the entire Saturn build, it's in reverse order though, finish to start -
https://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/search/label/Saturn V

To all—
Thanks for all the help! Armed with this knowledge I'm ready to continue attaching the wraps. The first one went really well and the confidence level is high for the remainder of the wraps. In the meantime, I have been working on the fairing and fin placement. I can tell that will be a tricky step.

To answer some questions you have asked me:

Am I going to launch? I haven't decided. I bought two kits at the same time just in case I made a non-recoverable error on one of them. So far that hasn't happened yet. One of these kits will be a display model. Just not sure which one yet.

The Chris Michielssen blog: I happened across Chris's blog when I first started my build. I should have mentioned that in my original post. He did a fantastic job documenting his build. It looks like he did at least as much work on the blog as he did on the kit. I tried to leave him a thank you note but I don't have a Google account. Chris, if you're reading this, thanks for your efforts. You made my build much easier. Especially the part about the centering rings. Estes needs to make those a little bigger.

Once again, thanks to everyone for the assistance.

-Paul

After a major land-shark, I had to rebuild everything above the BT101. Estes sent some (but not all) of the wraps, the wood and both BTs. I 3dModelled the big transition (see elsewhere on the forum). I made wax negatives of the 2 RCSs that survived and cast 2 new ones in epoxy. I printed new decals for the CM. Once re-assembled, I flew it (just once, so far) on an Aerotech E28-7. That's the motor I recommend - the flight was perfect.

PhlAsh said:

After a major land-shark, I had to rebuild everything above the BT101. Estes sent some (but not all) of the wraps, the wood and both BTs. I 3dModelled the big transition (see elsewhere on the forum). I made wax negatives of the 2 RCSs that survived and cast 2 new ones in epoxy. I printed new decals for the CM. Once re-assembled, I flew it (just once, so far) on an Aerotech E28-7. That's the motor I recommend - the flight was perfect.

Click to expand...

E28-7? That seems a little long...

[POW]Eagle159;255198 said:

E28-7? That seems a little long...

Click to expand...

Yeah... it was a nail-biter, but it simmed out okay so I went for it. Deployment was almost as picture-perfect as the flight.

I doubt anyone would cast fault on using a delay-drilling tool.