Estes Semi-Scale Saturn V, Kit #K-39, Part 18, The "Tower"

I'd recommend embossing fold lines before cutting out the tower.

I used the tip of a non serrated butter knife and straightedge to "line" the folds.

Form the tower into a box shape.

Make the folds sharp.

It takes very little glue to adhere the glue tab.

Hold the joint firm with tweezers as the glue dries.

The tower is slide down over the escape motor body.

Next up - the structural skirt.

Estes Semi-Scale Saturn V, Kit #K-39, Part 17, The Escape Motor

The escape motor is a 1/8" diameter launch lug.

The extended tip is cut at the mid point, marked here with pencil. The cut is made with a razor saw.

Slide and glue the launch lug over the lower half.

The tip is glued in the upper end.

Note I previously filled and painted the nose cone white. I figured it would be easier than filling the grain afterwards.

Here's the assembly - 

The nose cone and escape motor got a final shot of gloss white before the tower and structural skirt (next steps) are glued over the lug.

Estes Semi-Scale Saturn V, Kit #K-39, Part 16, Tunnels, Feed Lines & Ullage Motors

After shaping one end, 

The shorter ullage motor pieces were cut to length using a single edge razor blade.

The Ullage motors are tapered on the front only. The backs are left square.

The longer feed line fairings are tapered on both ends. 

Eight ullage motors and eight feed line fairings!

The pieces are small - Store them until needed in a zip lock bag.

Also cut two 5" lengths for the system tunnels and taper both ends.

Estes Semi-Scale Saturn V, Kit #K-39, Part 15, Tunnels, Feed Lines & Ullage Motors

Here's the mid section of my Dr. Zooch Saturn V build.

You can see the half dowel feed lines and ullage motors.

The older Estes kit also includes most of these details.

Three 1/12" diameter dowels are included. 

All are warped, one much worse than the others.

The straighter dowels will be used for the longer 5" tunnels. The badly warped dowel will be cut up for the short ullage motors and feed  line fairings. 

 

You'll find it easier to shape the tips before cutting the dowels to length. You have something to hold onto while the ends are tapered.

Shape the profile while viewing the flattened back of the dowel.

Turn the dowel over and round off the end in a teardrop shape.

Estes Semi-Scale Saturn V, Kit #K-39, Part 14, Planning Ahead, Peel & Stick Fins

The instructions say to attach the wraps before painting the model. The lower body requires masking which could lift the wraps when removing the tape.

I'll paint the over body white, mask and paint the lower black stripes, then add the printed wraps.

Peel and stick fins are cut out and placed on both sides of the clear fins.

These self-adhesive fins have faded over the years.

I scanned and redrew the fin stickers.

Extras will be printed.

Estes Semi-Scale Saturn V, Kit #K-39, Part 13, Filling The Upper Body

The balsa shoulder on the nose cone wasn't sharp.

CWF was brushed on just over the shoulder lip. While the filler is still wet, push it into the body tube and turn. 

This raises a bead of filler around the shoulder lip. Remove the nose cone.

After the filler dries, the sides are sanded with 400 grit on a block.

When this nose cone was machined, it had a slight dip in the sides.

On the left, the pencil lines show where the balsa was high. I had to apply more filler to the center low areas.

That horizontal pencil line below the command module is a reference line for sanding a straight line around the body.

The nose cone required a third pass of CWF to fill a few small  low areas that still showed under a bright light.

Estes Semi-Scale Saturn V, Kit #K-39, Part 12, Fitting The Fairings

Try as I might, I couldn't get those glue tabs fully under the former sides.

Usually, I can figure it out and get a decent fit by the fourth try. I ended up with a mediocre fit on the sides of all four fairings.

While the glue is drying, 

Try to get a straight line down the sides of the fairings. The sides will want to round out.

I used my sharpened dowel to press and form a straight line. You can only do this while the glue is still wet.

The gap at the root edge was filled with some CWF pushed in with a single edge razor blade.

Light 400 grit sanding followed.

This was shot with filler/primer. The filler/primer showed the raised fibers in the sanded cardstock. More light sanding removed the raised fibers.

After all the filling and sanding,

Some CA glue was wiped on the inside and rear edge to stiffen up the fairings.