Apollo: Saturn V

Apollo: Saturn V

And so it begins

First Stage: S-IC

With the deadline of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing looming at the beginning of the year, I needed to make a difficult decision about this overall project.  I still had three kits to complete before July 20: the Atomic City 1/12 Mercury capsule, the 1/32 CSM, and the 1/96 Saturn V (with the detail kit).  I also still had the 10" Apollo Astronaut on the Moon on the workbench, awaiting painting and final assembly. I quickly realized there was no way I would be able to finish all three, to my satisfaction, within that time span, so I had to remove kits from the schedule.  I decided to focus on the Apollo astronaut figure and the Saturn V.  These two kits would likely eat up my remaining modeling time until July.  I'm a little late in getting an update to this process and the project, so I'll just begin with bringing the build of the Saturn V up to date here. I will update the Apollo astronaut build in a separate post.

Background research

I went with the straight forward approach and started at the bottom of the stack: the S-IC.  I'm using Stages to Saturn (Bilstein, University Press of Florida) for background on the build as I go.  Not very useful for visual details, but excellent at providing rationale and explanations of the various components and stages of the vehicle.  I did not invest in the after-market F-1 replacements available, so I'm stuck with the kit F-1s.  Not greatly detailed, but passable.

A Side Note
 My guiding build philosophy for this project (and most of my display projects) is the idea of illusion.  Scale models can run the gamut from basic and inaccurate to super-detailed and near-perfect replica. On the one end of the spectrum (basic), the illusion of the model representing the actual object is nearly nonexistent; it is difficult for the viewer to believe that the model represents the subject.  On the other end, the replica really provides not just illusion, but actual representation of the subject, albeit (usually) smaller.  I strive to hit something in between the extremes, but as close to the replica state as I can get with a standard audience.  Experts on a subject will always see flaws or mistakes in a scale model, but the farther the viewer is away from expertise on the subject, the more realistic or representational the model will seem.  I want to give the viewer the experience of believing they are seeing the actual subject, but smaller.  Pretty subjective, I know, but after all, this is art.

The F-1s in place

The kit F-1s went along with only one minor issue.  The resin replacement for the base platform for the stage from New Ware had only recesses for the cylindrical mount of the F-1 engine, which was too long for the shallow recess.  Rather than trim the mount down, I drilled out the recess all the way through the plate.  This gave the engines a sturdier mounting.

The base platform resin piece also needed a little massaging to fit snugly into the kit bottom tank body piece.  My Dremel has come in very handy on several occasions on this build.

The first photo etch details

Next, it was time for my first foray into photo etch detail parts for any kit.  The kit fairings are replaced by resin parts in the detail set, and these pieces are enhanced by photo etch parts for the air scoops and inside structural framing.  Breathing too hard on those internal struts would cause them to bend, so that was exciting.  The fit for the air scoops was quite a challenge for a first timer.  They have an odd non-symmetric fold to produce the angle required to channel the air flow.  Somehow, I managed a decent job.

The fairings await their turn

I set all four completed fairings aside while I constructed the tank body with the sheet wraps.  The cable tunneling, used in the kit to connect the rolled wrap ends together, required a lot of material to be removed.  The remainder of these kit parts are covered in photo etch detail sheets to provide the correct surface detail.  These tunnels came out very poorly; I am quite disappointed in my impatience to get these done, because they really look incomplete and haphazard.  Maybe on the next one.

I expected the set of photo etch details at the top of this stage to be quite difficult, due to delicate nature of the pieces and the manner in which they were to be joined.  However, they came looking great.  These pieces required modifications to the kit part corrugations, or ribs, around the outside the kit part.

You can also note in this picture my decision to turn the kit wraps inside-out, putting the pre-printed flags, lettering, and roll pattern on the inside of the model.  The flags and the "USA" are slightly incorrect on the model, so it seemed a better option to put this on the inside to allow the primer I'll be using to cover the surface without the bleed-through of the kit printing.

Some final details, and the S-IC stage build is complete.  It simply awaits the mounting of the fairings and a primer coat.

The stack begins

Monogram First Lunar Landing 1/48

Since I was so far behind on this project, I decided I needed to revise the scope of the project.  Originally, I had intended to do quite a bit of detailing to each kit (after the Man in Space set) as some exercise to get to the really big detail kits, the Saturn V 1:96 and the Mercury capsule 1:12.  The Saturn V kit had the New Ware detail set to help out with this, but I intended to scratch build a lot of the detailing for the Mercury capsule.  As life intervened and procrastination took its toll, it became obvious that I was not going to be able to complete the project as envisioned.

First Lunar Landing

I decided to take two steps to salvage something of the original goal of completing the kits by the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing.  First, I needed to reduce the number of kits in the project, so I have removed the Mercury capsule from the schedule.  There is too much detail that I want to do on that kit, and I will not be able to give it the necessary attention before the anniversary.  Also, I will not be building the 1/32 Apollo CSM.  Just not enough time to get it all done. Secondly, I am limiting my detailing to the Saturn V and a few changes to the Revell Apollo Astronaut.  These two kits are important to the anniversary, and I have the plans for what to accomplish on the detailing of these two kits.  The only remaining kit to assemble, then, the Monogram First Lunar Landing, would be assembled "out of the box."

Descent stage foil

I started with the descent stage, as per the instructions.  Here is a photo of the application of the foil on the bottom (left).



I then completed the entire descent stage (right).

Test fitting the ascent stage

Then, a quick test fit of the ascent stage, before priming.

The final step was painting.  I used a mix of Vallejo Natural Steel with Stonewall Grey to achieve a more scale-appropriate sheen on the bare metal parts.

Almost complete

Finished, with astronauts

AMT Man in Space 1/200, Part 3

Well, I have ignored updating this blog for a long time.  There was quite a bit of activity on the project during the interim.  And there was a lot of inactivity, too, unfortunately.  So, to help right the ship, I'll just post some updated photos of the kits in progress/completed.  First up, the Man in Space set.

Saturn V before priming

Here is the Saturn V complete, minus the escape tower, before priming.  Note the Saturn IB in the background, also pre-priming.

Gemini Titan, sans decals

 The Gemini Titan, mounted next to the completed Mercury kits (and the Saturn IB in the background).  Note the flat gray for the metallic areas on the Titan, as well as the Atlas.  I opted to go for the illusion of the bare metal color, as metallic paints on this scale tend to destroy the scale appearance.

Gemini Titan and the Mercurys

The completed Gemini Titan looks good with the decals.

Saturn IB completed

Saturn IB before decals

Here we have the Saturn IB, before decals and escape tower (on the left), and completed (on the right).

And the queen of the set, the Saturn V, complete.

Saturn V