Semroc Saturn 1B arrives!

[CAS2047]

Also did some filling and sanding on tubes and additional painting as well.

I have to say that so far this kit is my favorite build ever. I probably will make many mistakes, and it may not come out perfect, but that just gives me a reason to fly this one and buy another one for the display case

 

[Stefan_Jones]

Has anyone out there used the flat balsa fins, and would be willing to let me have the fin-skins and balsa frame pieces?

I would pay shipping and a reasonable fee.

The set would be used to replace the ones on my original Estes 1b, which I am in the process of rebuilding.

Thanks,

Stefan

 

[n3tjm]

For those concidering 24mm... E9 is Not an recommended motor. Build a D mount, and use the RMS 24/40 to get you the E18 and F24. I plan to build mine with the cluster config. Have not ordered one yet, but I plan to =D.

 

[Carl]

Originally posted by Stefan_Jones
Has anyone out there used the flat balsa fins, and would be willing to let me have the fin-skins and balsa frame pieces?

I would pay shipping and a reasonable fee.

The set would be used to replace the ones on my original Estes 1b, which I am in the process of rebuilding.

Thanks,

Stefan

We will send you a set when we get back!

 

[dwmzmm]

Originally posted by Carl
We will send you a set when we get back!

Once again, Carl's a class act. Way to go!!

 

[terryg]

Ordered mine. I got to look over the preproduction kit and meet Carl at NARAM. I will probably build it with the 24 mm mount so I can launch it with reloads, but a flight with a cluster of 18 mm reloads is mighty tempting also.

 

[n3tjm]

You know, I don't think it would be to hard to convert it so you could use both 24mm or 4x 18mm Cluster =).

 

[vjp]

What's the finished weight of the Semroc Saturn 1B?

Oh, and to toss yet ANOTHER cluster idea into the ring, how 'bout 4 x 18mm center motors and 4 x 13mm outboards, holding A10-PT's...

 

[dwmzmm]

Originally posted by vjp
What's the finished weight of the Semroc Saturn 1B?

Oh, and to toss yet ANOTHER cluster idea into the ring, how 'bout 4 x 18mm center motors and 4 x 13mm outboards, holding A10-PT's...

Exactly how I intend to build my Estes 1/70 Saturn 1-B...

 

[vjp]

Originally posted by dwmzmm
Exactly how I intend to build my Estes 1/70 Saturn 1-B...

Cool, you know we will want video of that one!

I put 4 A10-PT's in the outboard boosters of my scratch-built Vostok, along with a central D12-3. The slo-motion video shows that the A10's kicked the Vostok off the pad so fast, the D12 wasn't even up to full thrust until about 10 feet up in the air! The little beasties do give quite a kick!

 

[dwmzmm]

Originally posted by vjp
Cool, you know we will want video of that one!

I put 4 A10-PT's in the outboard boosters of my scratch-built Vostok, along with a central D12-3. The slo-motion video shows that the A10's kicked the Vostok off the pad so fast, the D12 wasn't even up to full thrust until about 10 feet up in the air! The little beasties do give quite a kick!

I've already done that with my Estes Maxi-Brute STAR WARS
X-Wing fighter last year; entered as my entry for the Science
Fiction/Future Scale event at the Gulf Coast Regional meet at
JSC. Only glich was I used a D12-5 for the core/central motor,
as I thought the added thrust of the additional four A10-PT's
would give it a good kick off the ground. I did forgot about one
thing; drag. In reality, the five second delay proved too long
and the ejection charge went off with the X-Wing fairly close to
the ground, with the vainly reefing chutes attemptly to deploy
(but was too late). I have plenty of pics of this...

(Oh yeah, even with the damage sustained by the late ejection,
my model still won first place in the competition, helped by the
extra mission points using a five engine cluster.)

 

[terryg]

A lot a possibilties here! I won an air start board at the plaster blaster raffle, hmmm. A lot depends on where the CP is, the link to the rocksim file is broken (have emailed semroc about it). The use of A10's would really move it out (equivalent of a C40) and I have never had any fail to ignite on my nike herc. A friend has the original 2C engine version, which did not have the original clay nose weight with it when he built it. His guess was off and resulted in a real squirelly flight. I will have to egg him to finish the repairs (minor) and get an accurate CP so we can drag race.

 

[terryg]

The rocksim link is now fixed. Thanks, Carl!

 

[lamart72]

I added an interchangable engine mount to my scratch-built S1b.
I used parts from Fliskits EMK3-24-70 mount and added custom laser-cut centering rings I ordered from BMS.
The Fliskits engine mount uses a BT-69 inside a BT-70 that I mounted in place of the original 4 motor tube assembly. Just cut the fuel tank tubes to fit around the new BT-70.
It should be easy for an experienced builder to add this type of mount to the Semroc kit.

Here are a few pictures:

 

[lamart72]

This is glued inside the BT-69. The whole assembly then just slides into the BT-70. I used 2 estes engine mount clips mounted at 180 to each other to secure this to the BT-70.

 

[lamart72]

This shows the lower shroud test fit to the BT-70 with the engine mount in the background.





Lamar

 

[lamart72]

Here's the engine mount assembly inside the BT-70.

Lamar

 

[lamart72]

This shows the fuel tank tubes being fitted.

Lamar

 

[CAS2047]

Very cool Lamar. the Semroc kit references the fact that you can create an interchangable mount, but it's definitely outside the scope of my capabilities.

My build is finally starting to look like a rocket.

Got all the way through putting on wraps today.

Here it is after attaching the parachute tube.

 

[CAS2047]

Pre-wraps

 

[CAS2047]

wraps-on.

the picture doesn't do the wraps justice. they actually came out really well. flat, no bulges and placed correctly.

I now have to go back and put in glue fillets along the base of the LEM shround and the fairing shround. I am thinking about using a paintable caulk instead of glue though, since glue shrinks so much once applied. I have to think about that one for a while.

The next step is a decision point; built-up fins or balsa fins. I've already cut out the build up versions and am going to take a crack at them.

I have to say though that even the balsa fins look respectable, but Im going for it.

 

[dwmzmm]

Hey, are you able to prepaint those eight tubes before continuing
with the build (like the Centuri 1/100 scale Saturn 1-B)? I've
studied the Estes 1/70 1-B instructions to see how I could
incorporate the prepainting of those eight tubes and it looks
rather difficult to do. If the SEMROC 1-B instructions are in any
way similar to the Estes version, which step(s) would the prepainting take place? I would sure hate to try to do all that
painting after the assembly is completed...

 

[mikeyd]

Originally posted by lamart72
I added an interchangable engine mount to my scratch-built S1b.
I used parts from Fliskits EMK3-24-70 mount and added custom laser-cut centering rings I ordered from BMS.
The Fliskits engine mount uses a BT-69 inside a BT-70 that I mounted in place of the original 4 motor tube assembly. Just cut the fuel tank tubes to fit around the new BT-70.
It should be easy for an experienced builder to add this type of mount to the Semroc kit.

Here are a few pictures:

Lamar, do you happen to have the specs of what you ordered from BMS, I have all the tubes, from Kosroc's, and the vacuform parts, from Paul Graff, but was looking for a way of making the mount interchangeable. I like how yours turned out! I also noticed the fuel tube "Cradles" you used, were thes BMS as well? Anything you are willing to share would be appreciated!

 

[CAS2047]

Originally posted by dwmzmm
Hey, are you able to prepaint those eight tubes before continuing
with the build (like the Centuri 1/100 scale Saturn 1-B)? I've
studied the Estes 1/70 1-B instructions to see how I could
incorporate the prepainting of those eight tubes and it looks
rather difficult to do. If the SEMROC 1-B instructions are in any
way similar to the Estes version, which step(s) would the prepainting take place? I would sure hate to try to do all that
painting after the assembly is completed...

I did pre-paint them on my kit. I just didn't want to have to hand paint... I did four black and four white.

You can basically paint them any time before you actually attach them to the stuffer tube star couplers.

 

[lamart72]

Mikeyd,

I have the CAD drawings on my laptop at work. I will look for them tomorrow and send you a PM. I ordered the rings, tube cradles and other rings from BMS. The Fliskits engine mount is the only one I know of that uses the important BT-69 inner tube. If you noticed, I spaced out the engine mount tubes because I was going to add semi-scale-looking nozzles. The original Estes design has the four tubes touching each other. My intentions were to sell my own version of the kit a few years ago. I flew the first boiler plate model at a CMASS launch when I was living in NH. It flew great with 4 C6-5s to about 450' and to about 800' with an F21-4.

Lamar

 

[mikeyd]

Thanks Lamar!

 

[cmmeyers]

Originally posted by cas2047
wraps-on.

the picture doesn't do the wraps justice. they actually came out really well. flat, no bulges and placed correctly....

What type of glue/adhesive did you use on the wraps?

 

[CAS2047]

Originally posted by cmmeyers
What type of glue/adhesive did you use on the wraps?

Per the instructions I used regular white glue, a very thin layer accross each of the wraps. It worked great.

The five wraps weren't difficult, the fairing shroud was a little more complicated to set just right.

 

[paulk]

Originally posted by cas2047
Did some painting. Paiting is my weakness so I thought I would get ahead of the game and not have to do the detail work later. We'll see if this works out or not... I will have to mask off the black tanks and paint a white rectangle where the decals will go, but for me it's easier to do the masking than to try and paint the tanks after they are attached...

cas, just to clarify, did you paint the tanks before gluing them? I assume then you scratched off paint where they glue to the centering rings? Seems like the white rectangle could have been masked when first painting the black tubes? Thanks!

 

[CAS2047]

Originally posted by paulk
cas, just to clarify, did you paint the tanks before gluing them? I assume then you scratched off paint where they glue to the centering rings? Seems like the white rectangle could have been masked when first painting the black tubes? Thanks!

Yes I painted each tube seperately before attaching to the stuffer tube. I placed a small piece of tape over the two contact points on each tube and removed it before gluing.