Estes Saturn V #1969 Build - Let's share ideas and experiences...

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I'm nearing the end of the build, and I gotta say, wow, what a kit! I even made some mistakes (my cuts on the fairings and the cutaway bit at the bottom were a bit rough), but unless you look closely, you don't really even see them.

So, am I reading the instructions correctly, that the rocket is meant to come down in two pieces? Two chutes for the main body and one for the top section, hanging at an angle from the wire anchor?

Are most of you doing this, or are you keeping the rocket in one piece? I suppose it might be better to have the top come down separately if you have the LES glued on, which I think I will. I'm just curious how others might deviate from the instructions here.

Yup. Comes down in 2 parts. IMO ... The LES is too fragile to withstand any thing other than a PERFECT landing in soft grass. So ... My plan is to do lots of photography on the launcher WITH the "fake" engines & LES mounted, then remove them for actual flight.
 
Has anyone broken any of the vacuum molded plastic fins upon landing? Seems like they are AWFULLY fragile for the weight of the model ..............
 
Well, I've already added weight at the back end, so I probably need to add some at the front. I skipped the hook and thrust ring, and added a screw on retainer. Then, I thought I should add some gussets (not sure that's the right term) between the CR's for strength, so I can use some more powerful motors.

View attachment 375632

Now I'm wondering where the CG on this rocket should fall for a stock build with the recommended motors. Pretty sure a sim using Barrowman will only give part of the story CP-wise, since there are fairings and a launch tower with odd bits and pieces the sim doesn't necessarily know how to take into account.

I'll probably end up adding the extra nose weight.

Anybody know there the CG should end up on this bird (I'm gluing on the launch tower, if that makes a difference to your answer).

You really didn't need to go the whole length of the body tube. Probably just 1" pieces would have worked fine against the center rings.
 
Anyone have any tips or pictures of attaching fins and fairings? The way the instructions look the fairings hang over the bottom of the tube and the fin is flush with it?

Here is where mine have finished up on the 001969 kit
FinishedCowlingresize.jpg

FYI, my build thread is here: https://forum.ausrocketry.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=6278


Question: How far up from the base are we supposed to notch out the airframe between the cowlings?
 
To the edge of the lower wrap. See my post #22 for pictures.

You must be building a different version (2157?) The 1969 wraps are different on the bottom.

I cut a bit below where the stringers stop, even though it cut into the detail that is mid-way between the fairings
 
The pictures are of the 2157. I have a 1969 that I haven’t started yet, but looked over the instructions. I thought it was the same for that part.
 
I have the 1969 version and the fairings are glued in place flush with the bottom of the tube, but then you cut out the tube between the fairings so they now appear below the tube. I replaced my plastic fins with ply, have not broken one yet with 4 flights on her. But the fairings are very frail, I have since filled them with expandable foam. Helped lots.
 
Hello folks.

I was doing a test fit for the second and third stage transition prior to glue up, and it seems that cutting to the supplied shape on the card is not quite long enough. Anyone else have this issue? I can certainly use cad to work up a proper size one. However before I do, It would be good to know the accurate dimensions for the transition so that the Wrap will fit. I know upper and lower diameters, but does anyone (off the top of their head) know what the exact cone height should be for best fit?20190522_091950.jpg
 
I had some issue on the transition foundation wrap too but not nearly s bad as that. Are you on top of the shoulder tube segment or over it? I believe it is supposed to be more of a but joint with the tube than an overlap.
 
Hi Micheal,

Yep, it's butted and not overlapped. Even still, the upper edge is short by a good 1/8" for the BT80. I discovered Chris Michielssen's blog last night, and he mentions that this wrap is short compared to the old 2157 kit.

I've gotten the tube dimensions, and from inspecting the vacu-formed wrap last night, it looks like the conic edge for the foundation should be 2-11/32". This would allow for the vacu-formed part to have a little overlap at the bottom edge at 2-3/8". Hard to tell as they don't show how much excess beyond the flutes one is supposed leave when cutting.

A little time on cad, and I have a new pattern printed on 65# cardstock. I'll give it a test fit tomorrow morning before work, and if it fits, I'll post a .pdf here for others who may be having the same issue.

-Fritz
 
Yes, I had the same problem. I recommend cutting the transition, and also wraps, longer at first and trimming down to the required size. I might have even read that in the instructions somwhere.
Transitionresize.jpg
 
I just made a new wrap by placing the original on card stock, tracing it out, and adding 1/2". Then I just wrapped it in place, marked my cut lines, and glued a backer on one side of the cut. Now I have a piece that is hand fit and an overlap to glue to. Took like 3 minutes :)
 
Yes. I had the very same problem a few months ago. Being that I was going to be flying my rocket on a larger engine than the D engine or cluster C engines that we're proposed, I was cutting the shrouds out of a heavier stock than supplied and when I noticed that the shroud was going to come up short, I cut a longer shroud and overlapped it.

Best of luck with your kit!
 

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I have the 1969 version and the fairings are glued in place flush with the bottom of the tube, but then you cut out the tube between the fairings so they now appear below the tube. I replaced my plastic fins with ply, have not broken one yet with 4 flights on her. But the fairings are very frail, I have since filled them with expandable foam. Helped lots.

Using the expandable foam sounds like a great idea. Thanks!
 
Just be careful of the foam, it will want to come out of any gap that there is. But it did make them stronger. If I do another I think I will fill with foam before they are glued in place, then just carve out the slot for the fin.

Looks like yours is 29mm also. I fly mine with a AT F-67 4W. See the whole flight and pops the chutes right at the top.
 
Do you recall the product that you used for the foam? I over built every section of my original K36 kit with the intention of flying her on an Aerotech J motor, but might go with what you used instead for the first flight. We have a regional launch next month down here in South Florida and they were asking for folks to launch Apollo rockets in honor of the 50th anniversary.
 
Thanks David, Bonefish, and Over the Top. Had a feeling it was that simple, but when the transition came up short, I wasn't initially sure if it was because the new pattern simply ended short, or if it was because it was mistakenly scaled. If the second was the case, then the upper and lower radius would be wrong on the Estes card.

At any rate, since the new pattern I made was already done, I simply used it to check. Sure enough..But, in the off chance that any one wants to use it to know the minimum they have to lengthen the Estes pattern to fit, I've attached the pdf anyhow.
20190524_082212.jpg
 

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Will anyone be cutting away spill holes in the parachutes?
 
Hi Fritz,

When I decided to build my original kit from the 60's it was my first time coming back to the hobby since I took a hiatus 40+years ago. With that said, I was taking things extremely slow, sometimes with a day or so between steps. I really didn't want to rush and mistakingly glue things to the wrong tube or have a messy result because I rushed things. When it came time to cut the shrouds, I bought heavier card stock from my local hobby shop and intentionally cut it a little longer. When it came up short I thought I measured things incorrectly. However sure enough, it was shorter on the one that came with the kit. All I did was cut a longer one, and made sure to fill the gap later with some epoxy. Thanks again for sharing.

All the best,
Norman
 
ARGH!!!!

WHAT DID I DO???

Finished building the 1969 kit. Have the base coat down and starting to mask. I was trying to go by the dimensions in the directions but things seem wrong.

Somehow I have the Inter tank wrap wrong vertically. And not just by a bit, Basically, I placed it with the bottom on the line instead of the top. What to do? I doubt I can get it off without damaging either the wrap or the body tube. Suggestions?

Very disappointed in myself. And I am supposed to put on a display June 8 that I wanted the Saturn V for the 50th year anniversary.
Time to buy the 1:200 RTF version so I at least have something
 
ARGH!!!!

WHAT DID I DO???

That's not good. Hope you figure out a way out of it.


Question: What color is everyone painting the CM on this? White, like the Skylab version, or shiny metallic like the majority of the Apollo missions? I am adding some more detail to the SM as I think it is a little lacking in details IMHO. Thoughts on this please?
 
That's not good. Hope you figure out a way out of it.


Question: What color is everyone painting the CM on this? White, like the Skylab version, or shiny metallic like the majority of the Apollo missions? I am adding some more detail to the SM as I think it is a little lacking in details IMHO. Thoughts on this please?

Is this enough detail? Apollo 15 CSM.
Apollo_CSM_lunar_orbit.jpg
 
ARGH!!!!

WHAT DID I DO???

Finished building the 1969 kit. Have the base coat down and starting to mask. I was trying to go by the dimensions in the directions but things seem wrong.

Somehow I have the Inter tank wrap wrong vertically. And not just by a bit, Basically, I placed it with the bottom on the line instead of the top. What to do? I doubt I can get it off without damaging either the wrap or the body tube. Suggestions?

Very disappointed in myself. And I am supposed to put on a display June 8 that I wanted the Saturn V for the 50th year anniversary.
Time to buy the 1:200 RTF version so I at least have something

Can you post a photo? Someone might be able to help.
 
For those of you that might not have heard, Chris Michielssen (hcmbanjo) has started a #1969 build a couple of weeks ago on his blog:
https://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/2019/05/estes-saturn-v-1969-build-part-1-parts.html
Chris is a master modeler who has been hired by Estes to do some of their showcase model builds.
He is currently up to part #15, installing the wraps.
LOTS of tips, tricks, and gotcha heads ups to look out for.
Highly recommended.
 

Post pictures, please. If I understand, the wrap is positioned too far forward by an amount equal to its length? And you’ve installed the stuffer tube and glued the wood dowels already? What did you use to glue the wrap on?
 
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