Sirius Saturn V - Build Thread

[Quaranta]

As much attention to detail this rocket requires coupled your tenacity, painting this bird is going to be a bear! Nice work man.

Thanks Gary.

Filling / fine sanding / prepping for paint is going to be time consuming. Luckily I have some obligations coming up that will force a built in "countdown hold", and let me recharge my batteries prior to the finishing work.

I'm sure it will require a lot of patience. Since I'm not aiming to a particular launch date,... I have the good fortune to not feel pressured to rush through any step.

Thanks again for the supportive comments.

Simon

[Gary Byrum]

Thanks Gary.

Filling / fine sanding / prepping for paint is going to be time consuming. Luckily I have some obligations coming up that will force a built in "countdown hold", and let me recharge my batteries prior to the finishing work.

I'm sure it will require a lot of patience. Since I'm not aiming to a particular launch date,... I have the good fortune to not feel pressured to rush through any step.

Thanks again for the supportive comments.

Simon

You bet Simon. I like to see an artist at work. This is not a build that can be rushed at all. I'm glad you are fortunate enough to take your time with it. Rushing something like this would be a waste.

[MartinVrstal]

I'm lovin this build thread.....I remember when Stones did his. Keep up the GREAT work.

[Quaranta]

I'm lovin this build thread.....I remember when Stones did his. Keep up the GREAT work.

Thanks.

S-II Reinforcement Wraps (2) trimmed / sanded and ready for bonding.

The LH2 (Liquid Hydrogen) Fill / Drain Fairing, shown again, will attach to the center section of the 3 paneled reinforcement.[/QUOTE]

[Glasspack]

Simon,

Your model is looking awesome so far.... I hope I can do half as good a job on my Estes Saturn 5 kit when I build it !!

Can you tell me what you are using for bondo to fill seams and tube lines and things. I am building my SA-14 Archer and my choice of filler sucks.....
Thank you

Paul
"Glasspack"

[Quaranta]

Simon,

Your model is looking awesome so far.... I hope I can do half as good a job on my Estes Saturn 5 kit when I build it !!

Can you tell me what you are using for bondo to fill seams and tube lines and things. I am building my SA-14 Archer and my choice of filler sucks.....
Thank you

Paul
"Glasspack"

Hi Paul,

I have used scrap styrene sheet to fill large gaps. then roughed up the surface and used 2 part auto bondo to smooth the surface

I also used 2 part bondo to create the fillet between the LM shroud and IU. This worked great as it didn't stick to the smooth edge go the LM shroud, so easy to clear up, but stuck great to scuffed edges and cardboard.

I like west colloidal silica and epoxy for gaps requiring strength.

Finally, I'm going to try Squadron Products White Putty for the light aesthetic fill work. So far I used it on the LM shroud seam and was happy with the result.

Best of luck and have fun with it!

Simon

[Quaranta]

The S-II Reinforcement Wraps (2) attached. I used thick CA. [These are the only wraps I used CA. I used 5 min or 30 min epoxy for the rest depending on size of the wrap and how much time I felt was needed to position]. These are nearly flat,... with only very small detail pyramids.

The LH2 (Liquid Hydrogen) Fill / Drain Fairing was previously filled with balsa / epoxy and was now attached with thick CA.

[Quaranta]

NEXT: Filling and sanding all the small seams etc in preparation for paint.

Here she is...

[Quaranta]

Primary assembly is now complete.

Before starting the time consuming and somewhat tedious process of filling, fine sanding, and prepping for paint I have some family obligations. This short "countdown hold" will let me recharge my batteries prior to the finishing work.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all those that have offered supportive comments along the way, as well as all those that have been watching.

I'll return to work on June 16. I hope you all join me for Chapter II: "Finishing and Paint", after this brief intermission.

[jsargevt]

And the crowd offers a hearty round of applause as the curtain drops on act 1.

Thanks it's been a great thread to watch!

[JAL3]

And the crowd offers a hearty round of applause as the curtain drops on act 1.

Thanks it's been a great thread to watch!

You got that right!

Its been inspiring.

[Quaranta]

Intermission over...

Before beginning ACT-II, I'd like to bore you all with few photo's of my family during the intermission. We took a summer trip to Italy / Greece / Turkey / and back to Italy...

[Quaranta]

More...

[Quaranta]

And more...

[Quaranta]

Still more,...

[Quaranta]

And hoping to return...

[Quaranta]

Now back to work.

ACT-II: Filling and Sanding. Prep for paint.

My intent is to show photo's of all the imperfections,... and how they were resolved. I want the model to look good / perfect and reasonable inspection,... but not under a microscope!

[Quaranta]

First up... I've decided to add the final detail moldings prior to paint. These attach to the S-I/S-II Interstage Wrap and the S-II reinforcement wrap. This will complicate masking during paint,... but allow any bonding imperfection to be filled prior to paint. I'd rather deal with a few extra pieces of masking tape,... than try to fill an imperfection after paint...

[Mushtang]

I hope you keep posting. I'm strictly a LPR guy so far but I LOVE the Saturn V and am really enjoying your work.

[samb]

Great holiday snaps ! Nice weather, no crowds, family, and monuments to Western civilization.

[Quaranta]

Great holiday snaps ! Nice weather, no crowds, family, and monuments to Western civilization.

Thanks. It was a fantastic trip.

I hope you keep posting. I'm strictly a LPR guy so far but I LOVE the Saturn V and am really enjoying your work.

Thanks. Will do. Will be getting going again soon. This week was rough catching up from a month away. Thanks for posting... good to get a little motivation!

[troj]

Nice intermission, great photos, but some guy kept popping up in them. Reminds me of a squirrel....

(I'm jealous of the trip, btw)

The build looks like it's coming along really nicely!

-Kevin

[jazzviper1]

Great buils thread.
But I have one question.
Shouldn't there be 8 ululage rocket fairings on the inter stage between the first and second stage?
All the Sat 5s I have seen have 8.

[RoyAtl]

Great buils thread.
But I have one question.
Shouldn't there be 8 ululage rocket fairings on the inter stage between the first and second stage?
All the Sat 5s I have seen have 8.

A common misperception. The only Saturn Vs that had eight ullage rockets were the Facilities management rocket SA-500F, and Apollo 4 and 6. After those two flights, engineers decided they didn't need as many and reduced the number to four for Apollos 8 through 14, and from 15 on, there were no ullage rockets installed.

Since the early model Saturn Vs (Estes, and Centuri on the flying side, and Revell, Monogram, and AMT on the static side) were all designed before Apollo 8, they all feature eight ullage rockets.

[Quaranta]

Sorry for the delay. After the month off, work was busy. Now have the energy and time to get on with the show...

During the break, I came to the conclusion, it would be easier to mask off most of the detail bits for paint, as opposed to getting a perfect fit after paint.

So I decided to attach:


(5) LH2 Feed Duct Fairings --- long complex tube
(1) LOX (Liquid Oxygen) Vent Fairing --- Diamond shaped
(1) LH2 Recirculation Line Fairing --- spear shaped

Now.

Prior to attach...

[Quaranta]

And attached...

[Quaranta]

The final 2 detail moldings will wait until after paint as they are very simple to attach, and are the only components that are other than black / white (they are silver).

Here they are prior to paint, and after paint waiting for attachment.

[Quaranta]

Now comes the tedious part of filling the seams between the molded components and the wraps.

I've decide to give Squadron Products White Putty a try. I dries fast, and sands easily. If nothing else,... I won't damage the wraps, vacuum formed, and molded parts.

In an attempt to control application,... I squeezed putty into a 5cc syringe. And then applied it in a relatively smooth bead alone the seams using an 18 huge blunt tip needle.

This worked really well. The syringe / needle keep the putty from drying out prior to application, and you get good control of the bead.

[Gary Byrum]

Now comes the tedious part of filling the seams between the molded components and the wraps.

I've decide to give Squadron Products White Putty a try. I dries fast, and sands easily. If nothing else,... I won't damage the wraps, vacuum formed, and molded parts.

In an attempt to control application,... I squeezed putty into a 5cc syringe. And then applied it in a relatively smooth bead alone the seams using an 18 huge blunt tip needle.

This worked really well. The syringe / needle keep the putty from drying out prior to application, and you get good control of the bead.

I thought of using a syringe with the Squadron also and opted to use a small eyedropper and homemade plunger which worked pretty good. Apparently the syringe works better than I thought. Can you clean it out and reuse it? If so, what with?

[Quaranta]

Lots of areas to address. I'm sure 2-3 coats will be required in some areas... Here some sample areas with the first coat of putty applied.

I used a small spruce strip (1/32 x 3/32) to remove excess material. One end left sure, the other rounded for a fillet effect.