Multi Stage Saturn V

[lakeroadster]

Those fins at best will generate so little force at low speed as to induce only a slight roll at best just as it leaves the rod. That actually excited a scale points post I saw on Facebook. Love that NASA roll program call out after clearing the tower. I don't think that poster realized the fins were for stabilization.

Those tiny fins won't spin stabilize anything in my mindsim. So rod whip and tourqe issues effecting ignition and flight angle from such fins are the least of the problems faced by this lovely sports scale machine!

The Facebook peanut gallery posts were calling for clear fins on the upper stages. They just don't get it!

I've had Fried Crow, Baked Crow and Barbequed Crow. So who knows... the FB crowd may be right and I'll be raven about that next meal.

However she flies.... AoA, or straight and true, it'll be spectacular.

Thanks for posting your thoughts David.

 

[lakeroadster]

Previously I mentioned that Tango Papa was generous enough to created a 1/132 scale decal set, based on the Estes Apollo 30th Anniversary Model Rocket, Kit #2157, which was 1/100th scale.

The Estes instructions, available online, for that model has a nice diagram for decal placement. I've attached it below along with the instructions for painting the model.

I found it interesting that the instruction state to use flat white, then mask and paint the flat black, then spray a light coat of gloss clear where the decals go, apply the decals and then spray the rocket with flat clear. That's the procedure I have been using as of late, using all flat finishes except I use gloss clear for the last application.

​

 

[Daddyisabar]

Decals "stick" much better to gloss.

Posting the build on more sites will get you tough old crow on a stick. Roasted over a "failed AP propellant grain" camp fire!

 

[Daddyisabar]

I've had Fried Crow, Baked Crow and Barbequed Crow. So who knows... the FB crowd may be right and I'll be raven about that next meal.

However she flies.... AoA, or straight and true, it'll be spectacular.

Thanks for posting your thoughts David.

A mindsim is a terrible thing to waste.

 

[jqavins]

I've had Fried Crow, Baked Crow and Barbequed Crow. So who knows... the FB crowd may be right and I'll be raven about that next meal.

Ba-dum Tshhh.

Roasted over a "failed AP propellant grain" camp fire!

Mmm, yummy, yummy alumina and muriatic acid. I guess the acid will tenderize that tough old bird. (No, not you, I meant the crow.)

 

[BABAR]

After tearful experience with and SR-71 that I painted and decal-Ed, then clearcoated to PROTECT the decals and ended up with orange peel and ruined decals (sanded and repainted black, never got another decal set so she’s monochrome black now, still my wife’s favorite rocket . she first saw the SR-71 static display when we stayed in the Qs at Lackland, fell in love with it) I don’t mess with anything but Future after decals now.

easy to use and I am happy with the look. My hat is off to those who successfully manage clear coats, I don’t have the patience to let things “cure” long enough.

 

[Daddyisabar]

As for upper stage stability it will all come out in the wash...I mean the swing tests! Sheer good looks do not overcome science!

 

[Antares JS]

(...) I don’t have the patience to let things “cure” long enough.

 

[Daddyisabar]

The critical rocket scientists here, on Facebook and the entire information super highway just don't get it. Lakeroadster is like the Steadfast Tin Soldier in the Hans Christian Anderson story. The Saturn V is his paper Ballerina. It is a LOVE story. Science is the stove. Now the ending of the actual story is a bit of a Downer, all that melted metal in the ashes...

But this is the new soft reboot version. Lakeroadster wakes up before a 1X3X9 black monolith, holds out his hand and says "It's all so clear to me now." The pod bay doors are opened. The launch button is pushed and we are in for one wild ride beyond the infinite!

 

[Daddyisabar]

Ba-dum Tshhh.


Mmm, yummy, yummy alumina and muriatic acid. I guess the acid will tenderize that tough old bird. (No, not you, I meant the crow.)

If it goes land snake and given the looks of that escape tower, we could afterwards be feasting on skewered Prairie Dog with a Black Powder smoked flavoring.

 

[lakeroadster]

If it goes land snake and given the looks of that escape tower, we could afterwards be feasting on skewered Prairie Dog with a Black Powder smoked flavoring.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

 

[Daddyisabar]

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

I sure do like those ole tyme rockets. Why, they don't even have ta be bonified!

 

[lakeroadster]

Sunny and 43 F..... Stop! Primer time!

Rusto Don't Hurt 'em.​

Paints Still Wet,, You Can't Touch This.​

​

Dopey catch phrases aside... that 1st coat of primer is always so rewarding, all those various pieces visually become one.​

​

​

 

[lakeroadster]

Spacecraft 017 being mated to the Apollo 4 Saturn V launch vehicle. Check out how the lifting fixture is bolted to the LES tower attachment points on the boost protective cover.

These assembly photos really trip my trigger.

 

[lakeroadster]

CWF Day 02

Applying CWF to the external piping and the circumferential seam in the 1st stage, as well as a few other small areas that became obvious once the primer was sanded.

​

 

[Daddyisabar]

CWF Day 02

Applying CWF to the external piping and the circumferential seam in the 1st stage, as well as a few other small areas that became obvious once the primer was sanded.

View attachment 567113View attachment 567114View attachment 567115​

Good, good! Getting in touch with your inner child of smooth, glassy finishes!

 

[lakeroadster]

Sanding CWF and Primer Day 02

Sanded the CWF, applied some wood glue to a couple of areas to seal up some gaps and then shot some Rustoleum Primer Sealer in anticipation of the 1st coat of flat white.

 

[Daddyisabar]

Just like painting a car, the results come from prep and primer sanding!

 

[lakeroadster]

Flat White Paint

 

[lakeroadster]

Pulled a photo of each stage into CAD and scaled them to pull dimensions to lay out the roll pattern and decal placement.

​

 

[Daddyisabar]

NO RUNS, NO DRIPS, NO ERRORS! Johnny Bench rocks!

 

[Daddyisabar]

Golly, those fins are crooked! Lookin like the teeth of my low land kin folk a livin' down by the river.

 

[Daddyisabar]

Flat White Paint

View attachment 568086View attachment 568087View attachment 568088View attachment 568089View attachment 568090

Is the tree going to eat the rocket...or is the rocket going to eat the tree?

The life and times of mountain man Lakeroadster!

 

[lakeroadster]

Is the tree going to eat the rocket...or is the rocket going to eat the tree?

The life and times of mountain man Lakeroadster!

Pinyon Pine Trees... make great nose cones. They live together in harmony... waste knot, want knot, or something like that.

​

 

[Daddyisabar]

Pinyon Pine Trees... make great nose cones. They live together in harmony... waste knot, want knot, or something like that.

View attachment 568197View attachment 568198 View attachment 568199​

Locally sourced and sustainable, all renewable resources! A+ with the eviro crowd. But also an A+ from the multiple use, sustained yield crowd! How do you do it?

 

[lakeroadster]

Locally sourced and sustainable, all renewable resources! A+ with the eviro crowd. But also an A+ from the multiple use, sustained yield crowd! How do you do it?

By minimizing air intake and maximizing help from fury woodland creatures.

 

[sr205347d]

Late to this, but the use of "spin stabilization" in general concerns me. A little bit of rotation can null out the effects of asymmetric thrust, CG, or drag. On the other hand, too much can de-stabilize an otherwise stable rocket. See this thread:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/cause-of-rud-at-max-q.178481/
"Success is one possible outcome. Excitement is guaranteed." Elon Musk

 

[boatgeek]

Flat White Paint

View attachment 568086View attachment 568087View attachment 568088View attachment 568089View attachment 568090

Something about the shadows on the one that's against the sky made it look like the fin pointed right at the viewer is folded over. I did a couple of double takes looking at it.

 

[lakeroadster]

Late to this, but the use of "spin stabilization" in general concerns me. A little bit of rotation can null out the effects of asymmetric thrust, CG, or drag. On the other hand, too much can de-stabilize an otherwise stable rocket. See this thread:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/cause-of-rud-at-max-q.178481/
"Success is one possible outcome. Excitement is guaranteed." Elon Musk

Apples and oranges. You have to look at the complete design.

In comparison to the rocket in the link... the fins on this Saturn V are very small and the acceleration is much less. On my Saturn V, a 4 stage rocket, only the 1st stage has canted fins, which drops off at 300 ft.​

​

And the link you referred to, the mode of failure for the rocket has not been finalized. I tend to agree with the folks that think it was either an early pyro event due to confused electronics (you can see it in the exhaust trail) or, as was also stated, maybe those puffs in the exhaust trail are from a motor anomaly due to the propellant experiencing the rpm. Whatever the final outcome, those puffs were indeed prior to the rocket fuselage failure. You also have to look at the Length to Diameter ratio of the rocket. The rocket in the link had a much higher L/D ratio and thus will fail in torsion much quicker than my Saturn V iteration.​

But, I could be wrong. We'll see. That's what makes this rocket worthwhile, IMHO.

 

[sr205347d]

But, I could be wrong. We'll see. That's what makes this rocket worthwhile, IMHO.

Just make sure you have multiple cameras rolling so we can share in the excitement!