Question on the Estes 1:200 Saturn V

I have followed the thread on this rocket mostly covering what engine to use/not use.
Just ordered one and was wondering if anyone has added any detailing to the kit or is it
fine right out of the box?
I will be building the Big Estes Saturn this fall but thought this would be fun to fly and display

I flew mine right out of the box on 7/20. You do need to attach the recovery device and the plastic fins before launch. The launch would have been perfect if I hadn't chose to fly it on the wrong motor. I had some C6-5 motors at home and didn't feel like running out for the proper motor. The delay was WAY too long and the chute didn't deploy until it was about 30 feet above the pavement pointing down. Thankfully the chute was good enough to save it even at that height and the model suffered no damage. I'm confident that if I had followed the motor recommendations that the model would have flown perfectly right out of the box.

Thanks JCRL, but my question is not how to put it together out of the box, or engine type.
I was wondering if anyone has enhanced the detailing on the rocket to make it more realistic.
Or if it is awesome as it comes.

My apologies. I think that's it's pretty awesome out of the box. It's all thin walled plastic and has a good amount of detailing. It could certainly benefit from some additional detail, especially the nose, but it's good for the money IMO. The display base with the engine bells is a nice touch. It looks good enough (even after the launch I described) that I brought it to work to display on my desk.

IMO, if you plan on exclusive use of Estes BP C6-3 motors, adding more weight from extra details could push the already marginal weight too high. From my flights I’d say a bit of extra weight wouldn’t have a detrimental effect if you’re going to use Q-JET D motors. But if you’re going to stick with Estes 18mm BP motors I’d only add painted or decal detailing. I haven’t read enough about how it performs after a conversion to 24mm motors to have an opinion.

Like JCRL stated, it’s a nice looking model, worthy of display status. If you have good eyes (or a magnifier you can use) and a steady hand building a replacement LES tower/motor would be a nice touch. Some added piping wouldn’t be out of the question though to stay even close to scale you’d probably want to use wire rather than styrene rod.

Thanks, guess i will wait till it gets here in a few days to see what it looks like.

It is quite nice out of the box for a model of that size. If it's strictly going to be a display model I could see adding a couple of things but if you're going to fly it I don't think anything finer is going to be noticeable from the pad. I'll second the recommendation to watch the weight if you do add anything. Best of luck, let us know what you think!

Russ

I've flown mine twice now on Quest D16-6s. I wouldn't change anything about this kit except to include a 2nd finset. Clear styrene worries me.
Pics are viewable on the other 1/200th SatV thread and the New River Valley Rocketry (NRVR) Facebook group has a video of it going up.

PhlAsh said:

I've flown mine twice now on Quest D16-6s. I wouldn't change anything about this kit except to include a 2nd finset. Clear styrene worries me.
Pics are viewable on the other 1/200th SatV thread and the New River Valley Rocketry (NRVR) Facebook group has a video of it going up.

Click to expand...

I kind of liked the QJet D16-4 with mine, it seems to like the shorter delay. Same with the QJet C12-4, which is my go to motor if the breeze kicks up. I’ll have to watch your video on the NRVR page.

If you go with C6-3, flying it in relatively calm winds and with soft grassy recovery field will increase your chances of having a display model AFTER the flight!

The tower is one piece of plastic with raised ridges for the truss structure. I thought it would look a little better if the negative space in between the struts was dark, so I took a fine tip Sharpie and filled in those triangles on the flat background areas. This is tricky to do, and I could have done a better job if I just printed my own water slide decals. Then I could have even used a color gradient to give some dark shading that shifts to a sky blue color. Anyway, that is the one minor detail that I think could have been improved upon. I posted a picture in another thread, not sure if I can find it now.

For example, the Zooch Saturn V has a printed image of the tower struts on a single cardstock paper wrap. That is what inspired this.

I am sure this could be improved upon better than my attempt.

Estes Saturn V 1:200