Dr. Zooch's Saturn V Skylab (AS-513)

Repost from YORF...

Hi everyone and Happy 4th of July!!!

I was sent overseas for two months and decided to take with me a few things to pass some of that free time at the hotel... among some tools, glue, and wood filler, I took a Dr. Zooch Skylab Saturn V. I got it a looong time a go and thought it would be cool to add it to the plastic models I took with me.

Did some search on TRF and YORF on this particular model and to my surprise, it is barely mention, and there are not build threats... So I am posting this.

Guys, it sucks when you go overseas and think you may find hobby supplies... NOT! Found only one decent hobby shop in Bogota, Colombia, and it only had a small selection of colors. I had to go to the local "ferreteria" (hardware store) to buy a cheap can of white spray paint and sand paper. I did not take any paints with me at it is not allowed in your carry-on or your check-in luggage. And with what I found I did the best I could...

Showing off my "working area" while at the hotel... getting the model ready for my building sessions... At this point I already had filled the spirals on the BT, built the MM, and applied filler to the NC and the transition. Also had already done the F1 bells....

Also these were the only colors I was able to get... Most of the colors were for my Starcraft Terran Marine, a Gundam GP01 ZephyranthesMobile Suit, and a Bandai X-Wing Fighter... only the Marine got finished. The parts for the other two were too small to handle without the help of my one set of glasses and my lighted magnifying glass.

Also worked on the fins as per instructions... If you were wondering why my "wood filler" bottle says "ESTO NO ES PEGA" (THIS IS NOT GLUE) it is because my daughter kept confusing it with my bottle of white clue and I had to write it the warning on the bottle... she messed up two of her school projects... poor kid! My daughter and I share our supply of glue, paper, colors, and so. She likes rocketry and has build a few herself... lets see if she later picks it up more seriously.

In case you were wondering how the Terran Marine ended, here are a few pictures... still need some work but I am happy with how it looks now. It is only 3 inches tall.

My F1 Engine Bells... these were not my best work as I had to make them with white glue... for some reason in Bogota they do not use yellow glue for wood, they use contact cement... Working with white glue to do the Funky Glue Putty was not easy and it took a few tries to figure out how many drops of glue I needed to simulate the engine turbine exhaust manifolds... I think it took about 15 drops for each!!!

I also felt that the bells needed to be securely glued to the bottom so I cut some toothpicks and added them to the bells as you see in the pictures. I drilled some holes on the bottom of the rocked and squeezed some glue through them. Once installed (one at a time) I tipped the rocket so the glue inside would flow to the area of the dowel. They are pretty sturdy now.

I painted the bells with the Tamiya Gun Metal first... I later was able to get the Flat Aluminum but did not painted them while there... Once I got back home I repainted part of them aluminum. The inside were first in red but once back home I painted the interior in aluminum then the skirt in Testor Gunmetal... they look better. These are almost bullet proof: they have two coats of crazy glue then about 5 coats of paint, not counting the kevlar wrap!

This is where I am right now with the Skylab. I like the profile of this rocket and I am considering building a "Skylab" section for my Estes Saturn V.

I printed an entire sheet black and used it to cut the black stripes for the first stage that the instructions call to be painted. This way the black is closely matched with the black of the wraps. On an afterthought, I should have used PowerPoint to designed this section with the proper mission number (AS-513) and include the position markers. They still look good in my opinion.

I also added the cable and LOX tunnels. Googled "Apollo Maniacs" and used their pictures to figure out where these tunnels were supposed to be. Great source of info for the Saturn V.

After looking at real pictures of the Saturn V Skylab I noticed two little details, one on the Skylab module and the other goes on the 2nd stage (the LOX Vent Fairing) and so I decided to recreate them. They will be installed after the paint is dried.

she looks awesome Rosko! Your F-1 engines look great to me!

She is done. Dressed up with decals and two coats of clear satin. The clear coat really brings out the details of this model. I am very happy with how this build turned out, lots of fun.

I did not install the parachute nor the LLs on purpose. They are tucked inside the rocket and the Skylab module section along with the leftover decals. I intend on making this a shelf queen. If I later decide to fly it I will install the parachute and LLs. All that is left is to give her a proper stand. I also kept the box with the instructions and any leftover patterns in case I later decide to place the model in storage. Enjoy the view.

beautiful job!

beautiful job!