Saturn V Moldin Oldies Parts

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Gary Byrum

Overstable By Design
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I've searched the forum and didn't find anything regarding how solid the fin/fairing parts are made. Are they hollow like the stock parts, or are they solid? Any info on how much weight they will add to the build would be greatly appreciated.
 
They are heavier than the stock parts, because they are made of thicker, denser plastic (thus, more durable).
 
They're not solid, they're hollow from the back but with thick walls. Even still they're very light.

Mine needed a bit of sanding against the body tube to make sure they fit tightly. Wrap a piece of sandpaper around the body with the sand side out, and make sure to keep the engine bell straight up and down as you sand, otherwise you'll sand the curvature into the part the wrong way and it won't fit the way it should.

The walls are thick enough to give a good surface area to glue.
 
Mine are not going to be solid either. Since I'll be casting my own, I now know a way to get the fins/fairings built up to any thickness I want them to be. It'll require a 2 piece mold but that's fine. As soon as my replacement fairings get here, I'll me prepping one of them for the casting. This ought to be sweet guys. I can't wait to get some pics to post. I've been working on the tower all evening prepping it to cast with the command module. SURE...I could have bought mine already made, but I wanted to figure out how to do my own. I do have another Saturn tucked away in case I decide to build it. And who knows....maybe someone else will want some made.
 
OK, so I'm just learning how to cast stuff and of course I had to start with something really complicated. Prepping the tower was a real PIA because you have to fill the void behind the struts. This was not an easy thing to accomplish. This is necessary because if I hadn't, the nose & tower would be permanently fixed in the mold. It also makes it possible to be a solid piece rather than like the original fragile piece. I still have some trash in the mold that needs to be removed because some areas of the cast are imperfect or incomplete. Here's a look at my 1st complete attempt. Hopefully the more I clean up the mold, the better my cast will look. BTW, this weighs in at 1.2 oz. Added weight I will need anyway since I'll be using an E-20 for first flight. The rest of the replacement parts arrived yesterday so I'll be prepping for the single construction of the fin & fairings cast today.
 

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Here is the fin and fairing casting. These turned out better than I thought they would. I made them hollow after all. That odd looking bump in the back view pic is where I allowed extra space for the resin to flow in. This will be removed along with the better part of the base. Right now it weighs 1 oz but that will change after I clean out the unnecessary plastic.

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Here is the fin and fairing casting. These turned out better than I thought they would. I made them hollow after all. That odd looking bump in the back view pic is where I allowed extra space for the resin to flow in. This will be removed along with the better part of the base. Right now it weighs 1 oz but that will change after I clean out the unnecessary plastic.

Wow! I'm really impressed.:cheers:
 
Wow! I'm really impressed.:cheers:

Thanks L. I'm going to try my hand at another command module and tower shortly. I read some techniques recently that will assist in filling those hard to fill areas that got missed in the last attempt. I got as much trash out as I could find so keeping fingers crossed.
 
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