Estes Saturn 1b

[McTschegsn]

Good Morning all,
now I've gotten myself up to tackle the Saturn 1b from Estes.




Unpacking revealed the usual quality of parts as well as detailed instructions and very well made plastic parts.




Due to an excellent construction video on Youtube (which was also the reason to start the kit) I decided to prime and paint the parts before assembly. It is easier to mask the parts individually than when assembled.








At the same time, I used a screw retainer instead of the intended motorhook. Either I can get there with my Aerotech 24/40 casing (I'm still researching the right motors) or I'll use the original motors. So the retainer was already in place and glued with 5-minute epoxy.

 

[Ez2cDave]

A bit of "inspiration" . . .

Dave F.

 

[McTschegsn]

Awesome pictures. Thank you. Im more and more going for the distinctive black and white tanks of SA-205. Changing decals should be easy

 

[Ez2cDave]

SA-205 was APOLLO 7, for reference . . .

I sent you a PM.

Dave F.

 

[McTschegsn]

Got that Dave. Thanks Well the I definitely go for Apollo seven since I really like the alternating colors

 

[McTschegsn]

And now grind, grind, grind. I use 320 grit here...

 

[McTschegsn]

Now we went a bit further and you can see a little progress. The wraps have been glued to the appropriate parts. I used spray adhesive from 3M (90).

It started with the smallest lower wrap. I find the fit to be quite useful. A little touch up and you shouldn't be able to see it anymore. The gap is also so that it will be blamed by one of the Fins:




The next step was to mark and adjust the two wraps on the upper rocket body. Roughly fixed with frog tape and aligned with the cable duct, which is a little notched and fits really well. In general, one has to say that the plastic parts are really high quality. Clean deep-drawn and very very thin:






Here I sprayed the area to be glued on both parts with Frogtape and paper (which is already removed) and the spray adhesive just aired off (5-10 minutes). Then the wrap is neatly wrapped around the corresponding part.




And because it's so beautiful (and of course I'm curious ) everything is loosely put together. The fit is so good that no tape is needed to fix anything:





It doesn't look that bad after all

 

[McTschegsn]

A quick update.
The parts are now all sanded and prepared for priming. Now just clear the paint booth and off you go.
For painting I will use Tamiya products here. These are light and economical (well covering)

 

[McTschegsn]

The parts got their primer last night.

All parts fixed:




and primed. I am happy.




The main work of painting the parts still comes
I'll paint everything first and then put it together. That makes masking easier, especially in the area of the fins.

 

[Huxter]

Looks great! I think everyone likes the black and white look better! At least, that's the most recognized version. I painted the parts separately too - I think it was a great choice!

 

[McTschegsn]

Thank you Huxter. I was thinking about buying the model again and doing tzhe all white tank scheme... Just because I can

As we say in germany: "The squirrel feeds itself with difficulty..." In this case,it feeds itself a bit black

The first parts are now colored. The painting of the service module in black is no accident, but silver gains a lot of depth when you put it on a black background.



The remaining parts are finely sanded and will probably be white today smile For the fine sanding, I use abrasive fleece in different "grains"

 

[McTschegsn]

At the weekend there were a few steps forward.

The first parts were already painted black, the command and service module then got a silver layer of paint after the black pre-painting. The underlying black gives silver a bit more depth:




and the white was not long in coming:




On the net I found wraps for the Saturn 1b in the right scale and since I always wanted to try it out anyway, I edited one of these wraps a bit (I had already painted silver, you should see that) and cut it to size and glued it on . Gives better than I thought and gives some structure to the command and service module.




The next step was to mask off the first black areas on the fin can and the upper stage of the Saturn. I worked the masking tape from Tamiya into the grooves with a skewer:




The display stand with the rocket motors is also finished. I colored the plate gray to get a little contrast to the engines. The first black areas already look good.






Now the taped areas on the tanks have been exposed for gluing to the main pipe:




glued in sequence:




and then tentatively put together with the other painted parts:






It can be seen. I'm thinking about just attaching the tower and the rescue rocket for the display and taking it off to fly. It's not glued yet.

 

[NJRick]

She looks beautiful!! You are doing an awesome job!

 

[Pem Tech]

At the weekend there were a few steps forward.

The first parts were already painted black, the command and service module then got a silver layer of paint after the black pre-painting. The underlying black gives silver a bit more depth:

View attachment 572361


and the white was not long in coming:

View attachment 572362


On the net I found wraps for the Saturn 1b in the right scale and since I always wanted to try it out anyway, I edited one of these wraps a bit (I had already painted silver, you should see that) and cut it to size and glued it on . Gives better than I thought and gives some structure to the command and service module.

View attachment 572363


The next step was to mask off the first black areas on the fin can and the upper stage of the Saturn. I worked the masking tape from Tamiya into the grooves with a skewer:

View attachment 572364


The display stand with the rocket motors is also finished. I colored the plate gray to get a little contrast to the engines. The first black areas already look good.

View attachment 572365

View attachment 572366


Now the taped areas on the tanks have been exposed for gluing to the main pipe:

View attachment 572368


glued in sequence:

View attachment 572369


and then tentatively put together with the other painted parts:

View attachment 572370

View attachment 572371


It can be seen. I'm thinking about just attaching the tower and the rescue rocket for the display and taking it off to fly. It's not glued yet.

You make it look so easy!

 

[Rob Campbell]

Nice collection of EDFs hanging on the wall. I also have a HET F-20 and E-Flite Viper. Both are great flyers.

 

[McTschegsn]

Thank you @Pem Tech Believe me: masking is not my favourite job when building models ^^

@Rob Campbell the F-20 is not mine but I once had one. Im mortly not into foamies but the Viper is a real nice flier I must admit

 

[Rob Campbell]

Thank you @Pem Tech Believe me: masking is not my favourite job when building models ^^

@Rob Campbell the F-20 is not mine but I once had one. Im mortly not into foamies but the Viper is a real nice flier I must admit

The Viper locks in like a pattern ship. The 90mm Viper is even better.

 

[McTschegsn]

An end to the masking orgy is in sight
I was able to use the day yesterday to finish the rocket, at least for the paintwork, except for the fins.
The silver accents and yellow antennae are all airbrushed. The color application is just nicer with it.






Then I attached the fin can and aligned and glued the rocket parts. I knotted the Kevlar shock cord around the center tube and fed it through the top frame. I kinda prefer that to the Estes solution with the glued-on rubber.




And this is how it looks to date:






Anyone who finds errors (that actually happened) is welcome to keep them I'll be smarter next time
Next, the bracket for the parachute is attached to the CSM, the fins are painted and glued on and then the rocket can be completed and the decals attached. Then another layer of clear coat, add weight and look forward to the first flight. Speaking of weighing: Can anyone tell me how heavy the grains for the Aerotech 24/40 casing are?

 

[Tommie D]

Can anyone tell me how heavy the grains for the Aerotech 24/40 casing are?

Depends on which motor. F12 is 30.3 grams and a F39 is 22.7 grams, D9 is 10.1 grams and the D15 is 8.9 grams. E11 is 25.0 grams and the E28 is 18.4 grams .

Beautiful work !

 

[McTschegsn]

Thank you Tommie. That helps
I started applying the decals today. The first page is done and will dry before I can start the second page tomorrow.





The self-printed SA-205 decal is apparently a bit crooked, I'll take my time to take a look and do it again if necessary.

 

[NJRick]

Awesome!

 

[Rocketjoe]

Can you get a link to the rap you used? I would love to put that on my own 1B.

 

[Saluki]

Here is the only other drawn I have that can be used for the service module.
I did these drawings back in 2014 to clone a 1/100 Saturn 1b. The build thread is here.

Ye Olde Rocket Forum - Wrapping a 1/100 Saturn 1B​

Ye Olde Rocket Forum is for the discussion of old model rockets.
www.oldrocketforum.

 

[McTschegsn]

Thats exactly where I got that wrap... Funny sidequote: I tried to register with the Forum but was banned right away. Tried to contact the administrators but no reaction. Would be nice if they told me what exactly I did wrong :S

 

[hcmbanjo]

Beautiful clean work!
That service module wrap really depth to the plain silver paint.

 

[Pem Tech]

Just a bit off topic, but relevant, How does the Estes kit compare to Apogee?
Edit: I have had both kits for YEARS and need to build them. Thinking of going with Apogee.

 

[Blast it Tom!]

Beautiful build so far- very inspiring!

 

[James Duffy]

Just a bit off topic, but relevant, How does the Estes kit compare to Apogee?
Edit: I have had both kits for YEARS and need to build them. Thinking of going with Apogee.

The Apogee and current Estes Saturn 1B kits are very, very similar, with the only significant differences being the overall size and the construction of the LM adapter. Other than that you could probably mix up the assembly instructions and still have a successful build.

James

 

[AfterBurners]

Thank you Tommie. That helps
I started applying the decals today. The first page is done and will dry before I can start the second page tomorrow.

View attachment 573520 View attachment 573521

View attachment 573522

The self-printed SA-205 decal is apparently a bit crooked, I'll take my time to take a look and do it again if necessary.

Beautiful work!! Love the attention to detail.

 

[Tommie D]

Thats exactly where I got that wrap... Funny sidequote: I tried to register with the Forum but was banned right away. Tried to contact the administrators but no reaction. Would be nice if they told me what exactly I did wrong :S

You most likely use a free email account like yahoo or similar, It says something about it when you register. I had the same problem until I changed my email to the one I have with my service provider.