Saturn V from Arkansas [Estes #2157]

Crawf56 said:

Upward, and the rocket is turning into the wind.

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This is one of the coolest hobby rocket photos EVER!!! Looks like the real deal...

Congratulations on a very nice build and successful maiden flight!

Thanks, guys. I will probably use a small piece of wire to repair the Tower Jet.

Fantastic work and flight. Very inspiring. What do you estimate as your apogee altitude?

Crawf56 said:

Thanks, guys. I will probably use a small piece of wire to repair the Tower Jet.

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Congrats on the excellent build and great first flight! Awesome pictures too! One minor nitpick....the proper name for the tower on top of the command module is the "Launch Escape System" or "LES", commonly called the "Escape Tower". You might have picked up the term "Tower Jet" from watching Apollo 13 or another movie when they jettison the tower as part of the normal launch sequence and the astronauts may be heard to call out "Tower Jett" as shorthand for "tower jettison". Easy to misinterpret.

Here's some great information on the whole system...really a very clever way to help protect the crew from potential disaster : https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/CSM15_Launch_Escape_Subsystem_pp137-146.pdf

dcastle said:

Congrats on the excellent build and great first flight! Awesome pictures too! One minor nitpick....the proper name for the tower on top of the command module is the "Launch Escape System" or "LES", commonly called the "Escape Tower". You might have picked up the term "Tower Jet" from watching Apollo 13 or another movie when they jettison the tower as part of the normal launch sequence and the astronauts may be heard to call out "Tower Jett" as shorthand for "tower jettison". Easy to misinterpret.

Here's some great information on the whole system...really a very clever way to help protect the crew from potential disaster : https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/CSM15_Launch_Escape_Subsystem_pp137-146.pdf

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Thanks, good info. I feel like such a newb.....

Yeah, I am a huge fan of the movie, "Apollo 13".

BBowmaster said:

Fantastic work and flight. Very inspiring. What do you estimate as your apogee altitude?

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I would estimate my altitude as 300 feet? And I admit that I am not a good judge. I need to get an altimeter.

I know that my Saturn V had plenty of time for the parachutes to deploy.

Crawf56 said:

Thanks, good info. I feel like such a newb.....

Yeah, I am a huge fan of the movie, "Apollo 13".

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Don't feel bad about it...I have no idea how old you are but some of us that grew up in the Apollo era and were space nuts then...and even went on after that....are intimately familiar with the jargon. Most people aren't and that's OK and some goofs are really easy to understand. I just think it's awesome that you have an interest and are involved in our hobby.

dcastle said:

Don't feel bad about it...I have no idea how old you are but some of us that grew up in the Apollo era and were space nuts then...and even went on after that....are intimately familiar with the jargon. Most people aren't and that's OK and some goofs are really easy to understand. I just think it's awesome that you have an interest and are involved in our hobby.

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I was born in 1966. My high school crush was the Space Shuttle, and a smart, beautiful blonde named "Margaret". Struck out with Margaret, but did do some work with NASA as a graduate student in engineering. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away......

Let the painting begin. Using Testor Flat Black enamel.

More paint. Brushing on, and using masking tape. Will need a little cleanup. Maybe.

Here is the brush I am using.

Here is what and how I am doing my masking. Just using plain old blue masking tape. In Estes defense, they recommend automotive masking tape.

There are also defined surfaces, which are relatively easy to paint along.

And here is what I got. Several 'bleed through' points where paint got under the masking tape. But won't be too obvious on the launch platform.

I also plan to do a little touch-up with silver paint on the fins.

Crawf56 said:

Here is what and how I am doing my masking. Just using plain old blue masking tape. In Estes defense, they recommend automotive masking tape.

There are also defined surfaces, which are relatively easy to paint along.

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FYI - the blue masking tape is not very good at defining the edges, thus the bleed-throughs.
BTDT on previous painting jobs. Not doing that again.

This product is much better: https://www.homedepot.com/p/FrogTap...inter-s-Tape-with-PaintBlock-240965/203081281
This is the best: https://www.hobbylobby.com/Crafts-H...Adhesives/Tamiya-Masking-Tape---18mm/p/146564

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Thanks, afadeev. More good info.

And, here we go: LES Tower glued back on, and a slightly below average paint job. But ok for me.

The LES Tower was completely intact; almost like the glue didn't hold? Trying again with CA.

Decals in process.

afadeev said:

FYI - the blue masking tape is not very good at defining the edges, thus the bleed-throughs.

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The Estes instructions I have suggest giving a coat of base color, after applying masking tape and allowing to dry before the final color coat, to avoid the edges bleeding.

Someone mentioned that the centering rings were a little on the small side and pulled the outer tube in a little when the glue dried. I applied a thin strip of ordinary A4 80gsm paper around the perimeter of the CRs, tacking it in place with CA. When the assembly was glued in it felt less sloppy and the yellow glue did not distort the main BT. I also punched, using a regular hole punch, some extra holes in the CRs to allow for the launch rail to be internal, thus not requiring lugs. I will do a build thread when I get some time.

Putting on small decals.....

Estes added some corrected decals, because they are wrong on main decal sheet. Classy.

And more little decals....man, I hope that "B" is not as crooked as looks in the pic.

A note on the decals, and a reminder: This kit was NOT purchased new. It is (approximately) a 2010-ish kit, that was bought off ebay, and has spent (at least) 2 years in my basement.

The decals were NOT in a protective package; just open in the box. So, I did not expect them to be in the best of shape.

The instructions say the decals take 15-30 seconds to soak, before they can be removed from the paper backing. For these old decals, they had to soak a minimum of 2 minutes (and it was more like 5 minutes) before they would loosen from the paper.

I made it work, but if I had this to do over, I might buy a new set of decals from Estes.

Crawf56 said:

I was born in 1966. My high school crush was the Space Shuttle, and a smart, beautiful blonde named "Margaret". Struck out with Margaret, but did do some work with NASA as a graduate student in engineering. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away......

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5 years younger than me but of similar vintage. Once upon a time engineer here too (AE) but took a different path post college and grad school that was intended to be temporary but led to a permanent career in the financial world. Rocketry keeps me involved in my real interest.

Crawf56 said:

A note on the decals, and a reminder: This kit was NOT purchased new. It is (approximately) a 2010-ish kit, that was bought off ebay, and has spent (at least) 2 years in my basement.

The decals were NOT in a protective package; just open in the box. So, I did not expect them to be in the best of shape.

The instructions say the decals take 15-30 seconds to soak, before they can be removed from the paper backing. For these old decals, they had to soak a minimum of 2 minutes (and it was more like 5 minutes) before they would loosen from the paper.

I made it work, but if I had this to do over, I might buy a new set of decals from Estes.

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Here's a trick to keep in mind for future builds. If you are going to use a flat finish and want the decals to look "painted on", paint the rocket with gloss or at least semi-gloss paints first. Then apply the decals (I use the various setting solutions to get them to lie down nice). After all is done and dry, if you are really going to do a flat finish, then hit it (gently and gradually) with a flat clear finish. The edges of the decals will be nearly invisible and will look like part of the paint job.

One downside. I've noticed that some flat finishes do tend to yellow over years of storage; I have an Estes Jupiter-C model that I did this way that turned out great but it's definitely looking a bit on the yellowish side these days. It's probably about 15 years old more or less. A lot of my other models from that time frame that were gloss clear coated, especially using Future floor finish (or whatever the current brand name is) look like they were painted yesterday.

Thanks, dcastle. All I did was apply the decals, and then lightly add Testors Dullcoat spray paint (enamel).

Then I remembered that I need to build the display rocket nozzles.

Moving along on the Engine Stand.

I am using old 30 minute epoxy, and I have all five Nozzles gluing at the same time to the Bulkhead. This was done to try and keep everything relatively level.

Estes recommends gluing the Supply Tubes to each Nozzle, then gluing the Nozzle/Tube assemblies to the Bulkhead. I felt it would be easier to glue the Supply Tubes afterword; and lets me use up more old epoxy.

[I consider epoxy to be good for about a year, after opening. So the 'old' 30 minute epoxy is about 2 years old. Ok for an engine stand; not ok for major structural parts.]

And adding the spacer. Using duck decoy weights I got at Walmart, some time ago.

And my display nozzles are done.

A little bit of trim painting, and will be done.