BMS, Peter Alway Saturn V Model Profile Part 3

How the model hangs during descent with the Kevlar harness.









A closer view of the upper section.
Inside the Command Module are stacked pennies for nose weight.

The finished model.

I do recommend this BMS Saturn V.
It's larger than the Dr. Zooch Saturn and smaller than the Estes Saturn V.

While a B6 engine is recommended, it flys best with a C6.

Dr. Zooch Saturn V Build Step 6 Gluing the Engine Fairings

I did mark the edges of the fairings so the white card stock sides wouldn't show after gluing to the body.

Do this quickly and carefully, you don't want the marker ink to bleed onto the face of the fairings. I actually used a Sharpie that was a little dried out.

 

You are instructed to cut out the root edge of the fairing in Step 3.

I waited until I could compare it against the root edge of the finished fin.

The root edge of the fin doesn't really match up to the yellow "Cut Out" area indicated on the fairing.

The inset picture shows how I cut the recess to better match the tapered root edge.

When the fairing is glued, you only have to apply glue to the upper 2/3rds of the inside edge.

The lower third of the fairing overhangs the back end of the main airframe tube.

Primer TIP Idea

This is just an idea, it may not work for everybody- 

The red nozzle on the Duplicolor Filler Primer can be turned.
The picture shows it flipped 90 degrees to spray in a horizontal "line".

Normally you'd want it turned up (standing on the small end) for a wider sweeping spray coat.


With the red nozzle turned on it's side (as shown above) you can direct the primer in a line right down the body tube seams. While the picture shows the primer just on the seams, you should still do an overall coat on the body tube. Spraying in a fine line concentrating on the seams will fill them after sanding off the dried primer/filler.

This works best on larger diameter body tubes, BT-55 and up. On small tubes it's harder to spray on the tighter wrapped seams.

Before primer spraying, I still fill and sand the seams smooth using CWF.

Dr. Zooch Saturn V Build Step 6 Shaping the Engine Fairing

An earlier post talked about shaping the fairings for a better fit against the BT-60 main body tube.
After test fitting, I had to go back and do some more forming.

The instructions say to "use a 1/8" drill or some other solid round object to bend or round each fairing."

I used a sharpened dowel, it fit the conical end of the fairing better.
The BT-20 tube makes the fairing stiff, it takes some coaxing to get it right.

The inset picture shows the rounded side of a fairing.
Setting it next to the dowel shows the side arc.

The fairing on the right has been straightened.
 Get it as straight as you can.

For the best fit, wrap some 400 grit around a BT-60 tube and lightly sand the fairing.

You'll end up sanding the tip to about 1/2 the way down.
The sides of the fairing toward the wide end fit pretty well without much sanding.

Don't sand off the sharp point!
Sand a little and check the fit - repeat.

The fairing on the left hasn't been sanded.

The fairing on the right has been sanded, you can see the white edge all the way

around the fairing sides.

BMS, Peter Alway Saturn V Model Profile Part 2

The engine mount is installed.

Notice the engine bells are centered between the fin locations.









Sealed, painted and glued hydrogen lines and tunnels in place.










The finished lower end.

Dr. Zooch Saturn V Build Detail Prep

Sometimes when you pull pieces off the sticky side of a masking tape board, the paint and tape goo leave a uneven edge.

Sand down the flat bottom of the detail pieces and fin root edges with 400 grit on a block.



You'll get a better fit of the S-IV APMs if you contour the bottom to match the curve of the body tube.

I've wrapped some 400 grit around a scrap BT-50 and sanded the body tube curve into the bottom.

The instructions don't say what color to paint the S-IV APMs.
I'll follow the other Saturns I've built before and paint them silver.
Or, I should say aluminum. Aluminum on the engine bell assemblies, fins and the APMs.

The Zooch folks recommend Testors 1180 Steel paint. A trip to the hobby store and I only found it in small, brush on bottles. I can never get an even surface with brush on paints.
TIP: I compared the Testors Steel color nest to the Testors Aluminum.
The Steel color was just slightly lighter than the Aluminum. The difference was so slight, I'll go with the spray Aluminum.

The five engine bells and two S-IV APMs were stuck down on a board and sprayed with the aluminum paint.

Dr. Zooch Saturn V Build Step 8 Escape Tower Part 2

TIP: It's easier to cut out the center of a small shroud first, then cut the outside.
Leave as much stock on the outside of the shroud for something to hold onto.

After gluing the tab, the shroud was formed round over the end of a shaped dowel.

Set the shroud over the top of the dowel, then press down and turn until the shroud is round.







The small skirt shroud is slipped over the dowel and down onto the tower.

The Apollo Spacecraft end is finished.

Dr. Zooch Saturn V Build Step 8 Escape Tower Part 1

It's easier to score the fold lines before cutting out the tower.

For a better reference line, I drew pencil lines beyond the edges of the tower folds.






The tower didn't have a glue tab, I added one to the side.
It might be easier to have a glue tab instead of just butting up the edges with glue.

I folded the sides over the back side of a single edge razor blade.

When I felt the tower was square, glue was applied to the tab.

While the glue dried, it was held together with smooth jawed tweezers.

TIP: It takes very little glue to join shroud tabs. It takes very little glue whenever you are gluing together any card stock pieces.

Dr. Zooch Saturn V Build Step 7 Apollo Spacecraft Part 2

The instructions say to "Use a large amount of glue inside the BPC when attaching it to the adapter . . .  it will harden and form a solid nose cone."

I didn't want to take the chance of the card stock shrinking up so I coated the inside of the shroud applying white glue with a Q-Tip.
I kept the glue away from the edges that will get glued again later. I just coated the middle areas of the inside wall.

The edges of the wide end were lightly sanded to take off any high spots and sand the edge at an angle.

When the shroud is glued on, the thinner angled edge is easier to "feather in" shown in the next picture.




A small line of glue was applied to the disk edge.
The shroud was slid down the dowel and onto the glue.

While the card stock edge was wet a clean sharpened dowel was rolled over the joint, molding the edges together.

Dr. Zooch Saturn V Build Step 7 Apollo Spacecraft Part 1

My service module wrap was a little tall. I wanted to fill the gap.

A disk was cut from some scrap mat board. A hole was punched for the LES dowel with the rotary punch.

The disk was sized (sanded) and glued into the recess.

The LES dowel was already primed, sanded and painted white.

It was glued into the hole in the mat disk and drilled top of the Apollo adapter.

The disk is slightly raised over the top of the wrap edge.
This will act like a "shelf" giving the BPC shroud a better gluing surface.

After gluing the BPC shroud together, it was a little tight over the LES dowel.
No wonder, the paint increased the outside diameter of the dowel.

The small hole was opened up slightly by pushing the shroud over a sharpened dowel.

Any flare at the top of the shroud won't be seen, the tower wrap covers up the top.

Top Ten List for 2012

Here's this years Top 10 list of some favorite posts from the blog.
These posts can be builds, products and even major disappointments.

Counting down from 10:

(Click on the names for a direct link)

10.  Most disappointing - The SPACE X self adhesive body wrap! Sheesh!

9.   THOR AGENA B - A great classic build.

8.   AVI NIKE TOMAHAWK  - One of those Bucket List builds, I'll finish it in 2013.

7.   Cheap NIGHT LAUNCH LIGHTS! These were available over Halloween, do a Google search under finger lights.

6.   Cheap BRAIDED KEVLAR! A Best Buy from the Kevlar Store.

5.   SCAVENGER Build and E9-6 Cato. Nose cone made from a Dollar Store Valentine's Day champagne flute.

4.   STEVE BRADLEY ROCKET FINISHES - Amazing paint!

3.   Dr. Zooch SATURN V - I know, it's still being built. A must have for any builder / flyer.

2.   V2 RECOVERY - Big surprise for me. The local R.O.C.K. guys got it out of the high tree!

Insert drum roll here:

And the #1 favorite blog item is:

1.   Dr. Zooch SLS!

A beautiful builder's kit and great flyer!
The Saturn V decor takes a little more time, but is well worth the effort.

Total flights for 2012 was 131, less than half of my 285 launches in 2011.

20 models were built and finished in 2012.

Where am I going to store al this stuff! Good thing I'm single.

You can visit the 2011 Top Ten and 2010 Top Ten lists. Click on the names!

Dr. Zooch Saturn V Build Step 7 Apollo Spacecraft Wraps

I've already primed, sanded and painted the LES dowel.
For no real reason, I decided to glue on the Boost Protective Cover wrap first.

Much like the adapter wrap in Step 4, the fit was a little off. The instructions tell you there will be a little sanding needed for the low end to match up.

While holding the wrap in place, a pencil line was drawn around the low end.
With 220 grit on a block, the balsa and some of the painted area was sanded down.

To square up the rough edge, I used the end of a motor mount tube.

The tube was slit for a tighter fit.
It was held tight around the body tube and the edge turned against the white paint lip.

This pressed back the balsa and paint giving a sharp straight edge for the wrap to butt up against.

Even with the extra prep, the wrap was still a little tall.
I may make a disk out of card stock so the service module has something to glue onto.

You could just trim and sand the wrap flat with the top, but I don't want it short or lose any of the wrap detail.

Whew! We Made It -

I'm sure this one has been all over Facebook. But it was too good to pass up.

I don't do Facebook. I never understood why people post pictures showing a plate of food from a restaurant in Hoboken.
I only post the important things - like, too many pictures of a rocket being built.

Kudos to the the cartoonist! I'd give name credit but can't read the type.

Dr. Zooch Saturn V Build Step 5 Wraps Part 2

When rolling on wrap D, slide the adapter in place to be sure it is in line.
Just be careful not to glue the adapter into the main body!

This is my second Zooch Saturn V build. On this build, the large adapter wrap had a bit of a ledge over the BT-60 tube. Not a big deal just a little thick.


Here I'm gluing on the "F" wrap.
A clean dowel is used to roll it on.

I tend to line up the edge on the pencil line and lightly roll the wrap around.
I'll go back and roll the dowel over the wrap from the center to the seam edge.

This helps get rid of any air bubbles or loose edges.

On the F wrap, I set it a little high onto the edge of the balsa adapter.
The printed edge of the wrap helped define the edge and color separation at the adapter shoulder.

It's easy to get the wraps flipped upside down.

Before setting down a wrap, double check its top and bottom against the instruction sheet, especially when gluing on the B and D wraps.
There are small squares and hatches that should indicate the top and bottom of the wraps.






Now the model is shaping up and looking like the Saturn V.

Launch! Soccer Field December 20, 2012

7:30 a.m., No wind, cool and clear skies!

First up, the Quest ES-1 ESCORT  with a Quest A6-4.

Arrow straight vertical boost to an estimated 250' with no roll.
At ejection, the chute was out but didn't open up. (I did air it out before launch.)
One rudder fin broken off on landing, clean break at the root edge, an easy repair.

Here's a new one - a variation of the Quest cobalt, the ORANGE.

1" taller than the Quest Cobalt, it was launched with another loud A6-4 engine.
Quest says it'll go 300' on their A6.
The extra inch of body tube lets you pack a small party balloon parachute.

Stable with a slight veer to the North West.
No damage after recovery under a full 12" parachute.

In this B6-4 field, this is a new favorite -
Custom Rockets NOMAD launched with an Estes B6-4.

Very stable with full 12" black garbage bag recovery.

The Quest STRIKER finished off the morning with an Estes B6-4.
325' estimated altitude.

This model launches like a Big Bertha. A little slower and easy to follow from ignition to landing.
This time the 14" Quest parachute easily opened.

On a side note, I caught this one, I try to catch them all if I can.
After I had the rocket, I went after the four pieces of crepe paper wadding.
All four were wadding pieces were caught after I saw they weren't smoldering.
If somebody were videotaping it, the tape would have ended up on YouTube.
I probably looked like an idiot. Or, a bad juggler.

Also flown:
The Centuri SATELLITE 62 SL with an Estes 1/2A3-4t.
Not stable! I could watch the flight path this time and it spiraled off to the west.
Maybe those antenna legs should have remained at 8" long, like in the initial kit release.
A loud ejection POP and no damage on recovery.

Dr. Zooch Saturn V Build Step 5 Wraps Part 1

Here's where the Dr. Zooch models start to really look like something - the card stock wraps.

This picture better shows how the wrap edges cover up the painted edges.

Lightly sand down any raised paint edges, but don't sand high enough into the areas that will be seen with the wrap in place.

After the first wrap is in place, (be sure to place the engine hook between a black/white area on the wrap between two fairings)
Draw a pencil line down the body using an angle.

I drew the line only at the wrap locations, not on the white painted areas.

Dr. Zooch Saturn V Build Details Prime & Paint

Yep, there are more detail pieces than you'll need for this build. That was a LONG month on the ship, I had a lot of spare time.
If I ever build another Zooch Saturn, much of the detail piece work will be ready!

All the detail parts were set down on masking tape with the sticky side up.

All were gang sprayed with primer filler, sanded then painted white.
The fins will then be painted aluminum or the recommended Testors 1180 Steel.

Dr. Zooch Saturn V Build Step 4 Adapter Wrap

The instructions have you form and glue the adapter together and glue S-IVB tube before test fitting the wrap.

The S-II / S-IVB adapter wrap was cut out and a test fit was done before gluing anything together.

The wide end of the wrap didn't meet up, the small end fit seemed to be fine.

A block with 220 grit was used to take the wide end down a bit.
You can see the balsa starting to show through the white paint on the wide end.

Earlier, the adapter didn't get the grain filled or hit with primer. But, the white paint may have swelled the balsa some.
Not a big deal, the block kept the side angle straight.

After gluing on the wrap, the fit is okay, still a hair wide at the bottom end.

Note the S-IVB tube isn't glued on yet. It was slid on to test the fit of the wrap.

And, the other side of the wrap.

The fit should be good, but any problem areas will be covered up by wraps D and E shown in step 5.
Earlier I masked off the tubes where all the remaining wraps would be glued on.
The masked areas are slightly narrower than the wraps. When the wraps are applied they'll cover up the open areas.