I just completed the 1:100 Estes Saturn V limited edition and it looks SPECTACULAR

[Darren Nolan]

Hello fellow rocketeers,
This is my first post here...I’ve been stalking the forums for a while gathering tips and tricks which I used to build my Saturn V. Honestly I’m so proud of it. I’m hesitant to launch it in case I damage it, but then again if I wanted a static model I’d just buy a Revill kit or something. I’m going to launch her today!

 

[mg444]

Very nice! Be sure to let us know how the launch goes.

 

[samb]

Welcome to the party Darren. No hanger queens allowed ! .
That’s some nice dramatic photography.

 

[BABAR]

Reeeaaallly nice job!

Please take a few more beauty shots with a nice background (maybe a colored sheet, or take some pictures on the pad with the sky in the background.). I hope you get many flights with soft landings, but sometimes meconium happens.

 

[neil_w]

Beautiful work. Good luck with your flight!

 

[NJRick]

beautiful!

 

[IluvRocketry14]

As much as i love the look of these kits. I have never liked them because they are always too under powered. I've seen too many saturn V's go up about 30 feet and nose dive or are ungodly unstable. If i was going to build one, i would sack the 24mm and see if it's possible to modify it to a 29mm.

 

[Homer_S]

I'm working up to repairing mine... one launch and the lower 2/3rds nosed in right before the 'chutes opened. Top was perfect though! I have to replace the top 6-8" of the body tube and the uppermost 2nd stage wrap. I suppose I could get started on some other rocket with the rest of the wraps... Already contacted Estes if that wrap was available by itself... no go. Hard to know if it was under-powered, more likely it lost too much speed due to friction on the launch rod from my internal launch lug. I should have enclosed where it went through the recovery zone.

Homer

 

[CalebJ]

I'm looking forward to hearing how yours launches. Just bought a kit on eBay last night, though I realized after the fact it's not the 50th anniversary version as advertised. Will sort that out when it arrives. Definitely leaning towards converting to a 29mm setup after reading so many reports of low apogee and hitting the ground before ejection.

 

[KILTED COWBOY]

As much as i love the look of these kits. I have never liked them because they are always too under powered. I've seen too many saturn V's go up about 30 feet and nose dive or are ungodly unstable. If i was going to build one, i would sack the 24mm and see if it's possible to modify it to a 29mm.

I have been building mine for the past 8 months.
I am using the Boyce Aerospace fin can with five cluster motors.
Hope that gets it off the ground.
To the OP, nice job! I hope my paint comes out as nice as yours.

 

[IluvRocketry14]

I have been building mine for the past 8 months.
I am using the Boyce Aerospace fin can with five cluster motors.
Hope that gets it off the ground.
To the OP, nice job! I hope my paint comes out as nice as yours.

Oh that's awesome dude! Great, i see too many people attempt to fly these on d's lol

 

[hprocketeer]

Beautiful job on the Saturn V. Looking forward to pictures from launch day.

 

[afadeev]

As much as i love the look of these kits.

The do look lovely.
Kudos to the OP - nice build.
Now go fly it!

I have never liked them because they are always too under powered. I've seen too many saturn V's go up about 30 feet and nose dive or are ungodly unstable.

Under-powered has nothing to do with the kit, and everything to do with the motor you stick into the business end of the rocket.
It could be argued that Estes's recommendations (E12/E30) are borderline, but then again, my finished 29mm (heavier) Saturn V weights in at 492g. It sims to 384 ft on E30 (vs. Estes's estimate of 350 ft - go figure) and 629 ft on F39 (re-loadable AT 24 mm motor).
Actual F39 altitude was 571 ft, so reasonably close to the sim.
I did not have alt3 onboard for the E30 flight.
I did not dare to fly it on E12.

If i was going to build one, i would sack the 24mm and see if it's possible to modify it to a 29mm.

Yep, BTDT.
I like having more motor choices with a 29mm MMT, though it still flies well on 24mm motors.
Now, an H155-DM will kick it to 1700 ft with flair and excitement.
An I205 to 2300 ft with a 40.7G kick. I would almost need a track for that flight, assuming it does not re-kit at launch!


a

 

[IluvRocketry14]

The do look lovely.
Kudos to the OP - nice build.
Now go fly it!



Under-powered has nothing to do with the kit, and everything to do with the motor you stick into the business end of the rocket.
It could be argued that Estes's recommendations (E12/E30) are borderline, but then again, my finished 29mm (heavier) Saturn V weights in at 492g. It sims to 384 ft on E30 (vs. Estes's estimate of 350 ft - go figure) and 629 ft on F39 (re-loadable AT 24 mm motor).
Actual F39 altitude was 571 ft, so reasonably close to the sim.
I did not have alt3 onboard for the E30 flight.
I did not dare to fly it on E12.




Yep, BTDT.
I like having more motor choices with a 29mm MMT, though it still flies well on 24mm motors.
Now, an H155-DM will kick it to 1700 ft with flair and excitement.
An I205 to 2300 ft with a 40.7G kick. I would almost need a track for that flight, assuming it does not re-kit at launch!


a

Do you have any videos of them flying well on a 24mm? I'd love to see that and i may buy one of these

 

[afadeev]

Do you have any videos of them flying well on a 24mm? I'd love to see that and i may buy one of these

Not on me. It was a "demo" flight for a bunch of scouts, and I didn't have enough hands to launch the rockets, herd the kids, and video all at the same time.
There are a bunch of them on youtube.com, with many have detailed description of the motors in the comments section.

Get the kit now, while it's still available, and figure out what to do with the MMT diameter later!

 

[SpaceX76]

good luck

 

[Cl(VII)]

Hello fellow rocketeers,
This is my first post here...I’ve been stalking the forums for a while gathering tips and tricks which I used to build my Saturn V. Honestly I’m so proud of it. I’m hesitant to launch it in case I damage it, but then again if I wanted a static model I’d just buy a Revill kit or something. I’m going to launch her today!

OK, how did it go?

Also, welcome and very nice work.

 

[JPalmer621]

I fly mine on Aerotech E 20s or 30s flies straight

 

[David Schwantz]

Mine flies29mm AT G74-6W. Great flights, about 800', pops chutes right at apogee. Weighsss 22 OZ.

 

[Bat-mite]

Well done! Mine looked like crap, flew once, broke, and went in the trash.

 

[KILTED COWBOY]

I am have a hard time keeping the paint to quit bleeding through the mask.
Using high quality Tamiya tape and burnishing down the edges, still runs.
I do not have a air gun, using rattle cans.
Sanded and re coated all in white again. Going to try something different. maybe buy one of those paint pens and use that at the edges then spray the rest. It is driving me insane.

 

[SecondRow]

I am have a hard time keeping the paint to quit bleeding through the mask.
Using high quality Tamiya tape and burnishing down the edges, still runs.
I do not have a air gun, using rattle cans.
Sanded and re coated all in white again. Going to try something different. maybe buy one of those paint pens and use that at the edges then spray the rest. It is driving me insane.

Have you tried spraying the edges of the tape very lightly with the base coat (white in this case) after you burnish? Any paint that leaks through the tape will be the same color as the base. You’ll find that the paint then seals the tape from the black. Wait 5-10 minutes for the base color to dry, then spray the black. I get cleaner lines that way.

 

[KILTED COWBOY]

Thanks for your hint, may try that.
Still may experiment with those paint pens, but I do like your idea. May try both in a small area and see which turns out the best.
Unless anyone else has any ideas. I have spent so much time on this build with the Boyce 5 engine cluster, I hate for a crappy paint job to mess it up.

 

[Darren Nolan]

Hey guys,
I just posted an update as a new thread on the LPR forum on how the launch went. It went...extremely badly, like my rocket died. See the thread for details and feel free to chime in if you have any thoughts:
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threa...s-a-catastrophic-failure.157538/#post-1962169

 

[samb]

Thanks for your hint, may try that.
Still may experiment with those paint pens, but I do like your idea. May try both in a small area and see which turns out the best.
Unless anyone else has any ideas. I have spent so much time on this build with the Boyce 5 engine cluster, I hate for a crappy paint job to mess it up.

Your sweating this too much Cowboy. Burnish the tape edges, spray the base color (wont fill gaps just seals the edge), wait, spray the second color, remove the mask before the paint dries completely. My last masking effort on a Squirrel Works Arapaho E had a few places that bled through despite all that. Maybe I was rushing IDK, shoot me ! Let it dry, carefully scrape with a single edge razor, touch up with brush or paint pen. Git'er done !

 

[Darren Nolan]

Thanks for your hint, may try that.
Still may experiment with those paint pens, but I do like your idea. May try both in a small area and see which turns out the best.
Unless anyone else has any ideas. I have spent so much time on this build with the Boyce 5 engine cluster, I hate for a crappy paint job to mess it up.

Your sweating this too much Cowboy. Burnish the tape edges, spray the base color (wont fill gaps just seals the edge), wait, spray the second color, remove the mask before the paint dries completely. My last masking effort on a Squirrel Works Arapaho E had a few places that bled through despite all that. Maybe I was rushing IDK, shoot me ! Let it dry, carefully scrape with a single edge razor, touch up with brush or paint pen. Git'er done !

This is how to paint the rocket and avoid bleeding. Go to about 34 minutes where he talks about painting and watch the whole process. It works.

 

[KILTED COWBOY]

This is how to paint the rocket and avoid bleeding. Go to about 34 minutes where he talks about painting and watch the whole process. It works.

Thanks for the video all the painting tips are great

 

[Jay Chladek]

As much as i love the look of these kits. I have never liked them because they are always too under powered. I've seen too many saturn V's go up about 30 feet and nose dive or are ungodly unstable. If i was going to build one, i would sack the 24mm and see if it's possible to modify it to a 29mm.

I flew mine on the recommended composite 24mm Estes E30 motor and it flew like a dream. The takeoff was fast, but the recovery was solid. She did not nose dive and estimated altitude was about 300 feet. So she will fly as advertised.

I shot a video, but the camera was fixed on the pad. I didn't try to track the rocket as I was spending more time trying to chase and catch parts as necessary. So all you see is a very fast ascent and the rest is a radio program of hearing the ejection charge going off and me chasing it (with a cheer when it lands).

 

[William Dieckmann]

I am have a hard time keeping the paint to quit bleeding through the mask.
Using high quality Tamiya tape and burnishing down the edges, still runs.
I do not have a air gun, using rattle cans.
Sanded and re coated all in white again. Going to try something different. maybe buy one of those paint pens and use that at the edges then spray the rest. It is driving me insane.

Try liquid mask i find it works great brush it on let it dry cut where you want to paint i use is along with tape

 

[weaverjsnw]

Very nice! Be sure to let us know how the launch goes.

I just launched mine on a d12-3. Got it on slow mo.