Sunday, March 22, 2015

Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 9, Gluing Alternating Tank Tubes


Down the center of the BT-5 tank cluster is a 6 1/2" long BT-5. The ejection charge will pass through this central tube.
I dry fitted two tubes between the 5/60 rings for a friction fit.

Both the 5/60 centering rings were glued in place with about 3/16" of the center tube extending on both sides.
Note on the tube the pencil lines down the middle for glue and the small tic marks on the outside for alignment.



Be sure the first tubes are running straight and vertical or all the other tubes will end up crooked!

After the rings dried, the six alternating black and white tank tubes were glued in place around the central tube.

On his instructions, Peter Alway says you can cut a notch at the tops and bottoms of the BT-5 tank tubes for a better fit in the surrounding BT-60 tube segments.
It is a tight fit but I found some sanding allowed the BT-5s to compress and easily fit into the larger tubes. On the left, the sanded area is marked with pencil.


Here's how the assemblies slid together. No glue yet!
I did already glue the four basswood inter stage rockets on the upper BT-60 segment.

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