Scratch 1/70 sport sale Saturn 1B

[stantonjtroy]

Latest ( of many) builds since March. 1/70 Saturn 1B, Apollo 7. This one is Mostly scratch. LES, Capsule and RCS clusters are from Apogee. Service Module is thin wall fiberglass (extending down through the SLA). The finish is aluminum tape with general panel lines achieved through a waterslide decal wrap printed on clear and the RCS panel detail & radiator panels were printed on adhesive backed label paper, cut close and applied. SLA is full scratch from styrene sheet and cardstock. S4B is LOC tube adjusted down for proper scale diameter. All corrugations are Evergreen sheet. Long tunnels are balsa. Short tunnels, AMU's, Ullage Rockets, Retro Rockets & antennas are from Accur8. Main booster is made from traditional light cardboard tubes. Centering rings are all hand lain carbon fiber. Fins, Antenna Panels (not yet installed) & H1 Engine set (not yet installed) are from Accur8. Panel lines on the booster tanks are "Weld Line" water transfer decals from Archer, as are some of the random rivet details. I still have a couple more rivet and panel line details I need to add and the Antenna panels will go on after the paint work. Also still need to work up the Av bay as this will be duel deploy. 29mm mount with room enough for a Pro-X 6 grain case so I have a large number of power options. I'll post more pics when it's done.

 

[Crawf56]

Good stuff!

 

[Jay Chladek]

This is eye popping gorgeous!!!

 

[afadeev]

Nice work - will she fly?
Please take videos!

 

[mbeels]

So much great detail!

 

[stantonjtroy]

She will fly, just not sure when. Probably no until early spring. First flight will be on a high G. I want to rework the tower portion of the LES. Plan on swapping out the plastic struts for music wire. Should sand up to hard landings better. Work's been stalled. It's getting cold and, as yet, I have no heat in my shop. That and I'm working on my own kit line, Merc/Redstone, Merc/Atlas, Gemini/Titan, Litle Joe I & II, Saturn 1 SA-5 and Saturn 1B; All in 1/23 scale. Initial offerings will be Composite parts w/ cardboard tubes but the plan is to offer them in all composite as well. The Saturn's will be big (around 8' tall) and will only be available in composite. I've come up with a way to cast the booster tanks as a 1 piece shell around a central airframe tube. Just need to work up all of the tooling (in progress). The plan for all of these kits is to have all of the fine detail molded in as much as possible and all LES structures will be pre-fab right out of the box, eliminating that PIA operation. Nose cones/Capsules will be hollow cast resin filled with 10lb density foam. This should make the build skills needed fall in the realm of the average modeler. To that end I just acquired a desktop CNC Mill to do the accurate/repetitive work. The mill is set up I'm just learning the finer points of Fusion 360 to get the best results I can. Not a problem, just takes a little time to get through it. I hope to have the first offerings (Merc/Redstone) available by Easter (Beta testing should be done by late February- mid March), The rest will follow as quickly as I can push them through development (+- 5 months each in turn). I'll keep progress posted here as much as I can.

 

[mo2872]

1/23? Nice!!!!!

 

[stantonjtroy]

1/23? Nice!!!!!

Yea, It started with the Merc/Redstone. I wanted to build a solid Mid power model and at that scale, put it at a 3" airframe. I had seen the Sherri's offering and knew I could do at least as good if not better. Then I thought if I'm molding & casting the Mercury capsule I might as well extend my vision out to include Little Joe & Merc/Atlas. Then I thought no one was actually making a "Quality" historical American manned space program series in that scale and one thing led to another.
I've actually built and flown the Merc/Redstone prototype so the rest just seemed natural. The Saturn 1 SA-5 and the S1B have always been my favorite rockets. I crunched the numbers in that scale and it will be BIG (11.3" airframe), but doable. I considered a Saturn V in the same scale but that's too much. Maybe in the future as a limited production. Best to star small.

 

[Ez2cDave]

I want to rework the tower portion of the LES. Plan on swapping out the plastic struts for music wire.

A few detailed shots of the Escape Tower . . .

To put things in perspective, those 4 vertical support tubes ares 3.5" in diameter, while the other tubing is 2.5", in diameter.

The LES motor is 26", in diameter . . .

Dave F.

 

[Ez2cDave]

A few drawings . . .

Dave F.

 

[stantonjtroy]

A few detailed shots of the Escape Tower . . .

To put things in perspective, those 4 vertical support tubes ares 3.5" in diameter, while the other tubing is 2.5", in diameter.

The LES motor is 26", in diameter . . .

Dave F.

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Awesome reference. Thanks Dave.

 

[Ez2cDave]

Awesome reference. Thanks Dave.

Glad to help . . . I'll send you an "invoice" - LOL !

Let me know if you need anything specific, data-wise ?

Dave F.

 

[stantonjtroy]

Glad to help . . . I'll send you an "invoice" - LOL !

Let me know if you need anything specific, data-wise ?

Dave F.

Much appreciated and I certainly will.