1/96 Apollo Saturn 1B

[MartG]

Well, I've been busy with the silicone rubber ( ooh errr ) and resin again - here's my 'kit of parts' for a 1/96 Saturn 1B



It's taken me nearly 3 months to get this far - now to build the thing

[dr_gn]

Looking good - which bits did you cast? All of them?

[Eric Mc]

I'll make do with the 1/144 Airfix one in my stash.

[MartG]

dr_gn said:

which bits did you cast? All of them?

Yep - I made silicone rubber moulds for all the parts and cast them in polyurethane resin.

Planning on making a few extra and selling them to recoup some of the costs ( I spent over £140 on silicone rubber alone ! ) - already put one up on ebay.

[dr_gn]

MartG said:

dr_gn said:

which bits did you cast? All of them?

Yep - I made silicone rubber moulds for all the parts and cast them in polyurethane resin.

Planning on making a few extra and selling them to recoup some of the costs ( I spent over £140 on silicone rubber alone ! ) - already put one up on ebay.

Sorry to be a bit thick, but how did you make the masters? was it wood or metal, or a modification of another kit?

[MartG]

Some master parts are modified from other kits, others are scratchbuilt from plasticard and other materials e.g. the 1st stage fuel tanks were made from steel tubing

[dr_gn]

MartG said:

Some master parts are modified from other kits, others are scratchbuilt from plasticard and other materials e.g. the 1st stage fuel tanks were made from steel tubing

I'm impressed. Looking forward to the build log.

[MartG]

Construction work today.....

A couple of hours sanding of the parts ( did you know you don't feel anything until you've sanded all the way through your thumbnail ? )

1at stage thrust structure and tank section glued together, and fuel/lox tank tops painted prior to fitting the spider beam and fairing to the top of it ( and I found myself singing 'spider beam, spider beam' to the tune of the Simpsons 'Spider Pig' song ).

Ullage motors glued to interstage, and interstage interior painted. 2nd stage top and bottom halves glued together, engine bell glued on, and painting begun. SLA interior painted.

Generally going together very easily so far



Oh, I cheated with the Apollo CSM - it's one I prepared earlier

[dr_gn]

MartG said:

Construction work today.....

A couple of hours sanding of the parts ( did you know you don't feel anything until you've sanded all the way through your thumbnail ? )

1at stage thrust structure and tank section glued together, and fuel/lox tank tops painted prior to fitting the spider beam and fairing to the top of it ( and I found myself singing 'spider beam, spider beam' to the tune of the Simpsons 'Spider Pig' song ).

Ullage motors glued to interstage, and interstage interior painted. 2nd stage top and bottom halves glued together, engine bell glued on, and painting begun. SLA interior painted.

Generally going together very easily so far



Oh, I cheated with the Apollo CSM - it's one I prepared earlier

Looks very good. Is that metal foil on the Command Module?

[MartG]

It's Bare Metal foil - self adhesive so very easy to apply

[MartG]

Currently undergoing painting

[dr_gn]

Looking good. How are you masking the first stage black/white interface?

[MartG]

dr_gn said:

Looking good. How are you masking the first stage black/white interface?

The part where the 'UNITED STATES' marking go was masked with Scotchtape, the rest was done ( very carefully ) by hand.

Stacked, with a RealSpace Models 1/144 version for comparison. Just needs a coat of clear varnish once the decals have fully dried.

[Eric Mc]

What painting guide did you use? The S1Bs often carried slight variations in the markings depending on the mission.

[dr_gn]

MartG said:

dr_gn said:

Looking good. How are you masking the first stage black/white interface?

The part where the 'UNITED STATES' marking go was masked with Scotchtape, the rest was done ( very carefully ) by hand.

Stacked, with a RealSpace Models 1/144 version for comparison. Just needs a coat of clear varnish once the decals have fully dried.

Sorry, by first stage, I meant the bit on the left with the fins. The interface looks a bit wavy, not like the bits on the right, which are sharp.

[MartG]

Eric Mc said:

What painting guide did you use? The S1Bs often carried slight variations in the markings depending on the mission.

I've a set of David Weeks' 1/48 scale drawings, which include a painting guide ( which is also included with the RealSpace kit )

[Eric Mc]

MartG said:

Eric Mc said:

What painting guide did you use? The S1Bs often carried slight variations in the markings depending on the mission.

I've a set of David Weeks' 1/48 scale drawings, which include a painting guide ( which is also included with the RealSpace kit )

Thanks.

I know the pattern of black stripes showed subtle variations on each flight.

Which flights do your models depict?

[MartG]

Eric Mc said:

Which flights do your models depict?

The 1/96 one represents AS-205 Apollo 7 ( hence the white markings on the SM , which I need to touch up a little ), while the 1/144 one represents AS-206 Skylab 2

[Eric Mc]

Thanks.

The Saturn 1B is the forgotten workhorse of the Apollo era. If only they had something of a similar calibre today.

[MartG]

Eric Mc said:

Thanks.

The Saturn 1B is the forgotten workhorse of the Apollo era. If only they had something of a similar calibre today.

Agreed, would be especially useful with a Centaur upper stage added - over 3 tonnes to GEO