Saturn 1B - Airfix 1/144
Discussion
Next project.
Being in "space mode" at the moment I thought I'd have a go at this one. This is the new release of the old 1971 kit which has been modified with a corrected upper stage fairing and corrected Command/Service Module.
The rest of the moulding remains unchanged. Considering the overall kit is 40 years old, it seems reasonabley crisp with no serious flash. There will be some seam lines and moulding pips etc to clean up but nothing too onerous.
I also have another one of these from the previous release (1993) which at that time was still based on the original uncorrected moulds. I may do the earlier version as one of the unmanned Saturn 1B launches. Apollo 5 looks like an interesting one to do as it contained a special fairing to carry the first ever Lunar Module and did not carry a Command/Service Module.
Being in "space mode" at the moment I thought I'd have a go at this one. This is the new release of the old 1971 kit which has been modified with a corrected upper stage fairing and corrected Command/Service Module.
The rest of the moulding remains unchanged. Considering the overall kit is 40 years old, it seems reasonabley crisp with no serious flash. There will be some seam lines and moulding pips etc to clean up but nothing too onerous.
I also have another one of these from the previous release (1993) which at that time was still based on the original uncorrected moulds. I may do the earlier version as one of the unmanned Saturn 1B launches. Apollo 5 looks like an interesting one to do as it contained a special fairing to carry the first ever Lunar Module and did not carry a Command/Service Module.
The last time I saw this I was about 10:
I'd forgotten all about it but seeing that photo takes me right back; I can reach out and touch it and be 10 again. I distinctly remember the little LM.
I also made the Saturn V and the larger Lunar Module with its little circle of Moon. Happy days.
I'd forgotten all about it but seeing that photo takes me right back; I can reach out and touch it and be 10 again. I distinctly remember the little LM.
I also made the Saturn V and the larger Lunar Module with its little circle of Moon. Happy days.
All are available again.
The Saturn V has also been made more accurate with a proper shaped Lunar Module adaptor and corrected Service Module. An alternative Skylab version of the Saturn V is also available.
The Lunar Module now comes packaged with the Airfix astronaut figure set (which includes a 1/72 Lunar Rover).
Up until very recently (i.e. a few months ago) Airfix's Lunar Module was by far and away the most accurate injection moulded model of the LM. However, the recent release of this kit by Dragon relegates it into 2nd place - but it is double the price (at least).
The Saturn V has also been made more accurate with a proper shaped Lunar Module adaptor and corrected Service Module. An alternative Skylab version of the Saturn V is also available.
The Lunar Module now comes packaged with the Airfix astronaut figure set (which includes a 1/72 Lunar Rover).
Up until very recently (i.e. a few months ago) Airfix's Lunar Module was by far and away the most accurate injection moulded model of the LM. However, the recent release of this kit by Dragon relegates it into 2nd place - but it is double the price (at least).
Found this picture which shows graphically the original incorrect LM adaptor and Command/Service Module and the new corrected version.
The other problem with the old Service Module was that the radiator pattern was based on the original Block 1 Service Module - which was never used on any manned spaceflights. Airfix were not alone in this. Virtually all the models issued by the main manufacturers in 1969/70 depicted the Block 1 Service Module rather than the correct Block II type.
The other problem with the old Service Module was that the radiator pattern was based on the original Block 1 Service Module - which was never used on any manned spaceflights. Airfix were not alone in this. Virtually all the models issued by the main manufacturers in 1969/70 depicted the Block 1 Service Module rather than the correct Block II type.
No progress pictures yet but it goes together amazingly well. No filler required AT ALL apart from one join line on the Launch Escape Tower where I ran a small line of thick superglue just to fill a very slight "groove".
I am aware that there are some detail ommissions in the model (some umbilical lines down the side of the booster, some feed lines into the rockets, a couple of camera housings etc) but these are all fairly tiny and obscure matters and I will decide later on whether I want to spend too much time researching where these items should be and putting them on the rocket.
Just loosely putting the "stack" together shows how big the Saturn 1B actually was, especially when placed beside the Shuttle.
I am aware that there are some detail ommissions in the model (some umbilical lines down the side of the booster, some feed lines into the rockets, a couple of camera housings etc) but these are all fairly tiny and obscure matters and I will decide later on whether I want to spend too much time researching where these items should be and putting them on the rocket.
Just loosely putting the "stack" together shows how big the Saturn 1B actually was, especially when placed beside the Shuttle.
For many years it was a very rare model. Airfix originally released it in 1971, during the "Apollo Era". It was withdrawn in the late 1970s when Airfix changed their release policy. Up to then their entire range had always been in constant production. In the late 70s they withdrew a lot of their range and released selected kits for limited periods - which is now the norm throughout the kit industry.
The Saturn B disappeared at that time and didn't get re-released until 1993. It was withdrawn again and didn't reappear, with modifications, last year.
The Saturn B disappeared at that time and didn't get re-released until 1993. It was withdrawn again and didn't reappear, with modifications, last year.
) to display it and its ilk?Haven't worked out its final destination yet. The good thing about these Airfix Saturn kits is that they can be broken down into their stages so they can be stored in a box somewhere.
Airfix did a good job with their revised Command and Service Module. The radiator pattern (the ribbed parts of the Service Modukle) are spot on for the Block II Service Modules as used on all the Apollo manned missions.
I dug out from the stash the Revell 1/100 Command/Service module kit to have a look at it and, even though the artwork on the box depicts a Block II Command/Service module, the kit is most definitely a Block I. The radiator pattern on the Service Module is totally different to that of the Block IIs. I have a mind to complete it as a Block I anyway in a tribute to Grissom, White and Chaffee, who died in the Apollo 1 pad fire of January 1967. Apollo 1 was a Block I mission. After the fire, a decision was made not to use any Block I Command/Service Modules for manned flights.
Airfix did a good job with their revised Command and Service Module. The radiator pattern (the ribbed parts of the Service Modukle) are spot on for the Block II Service Modules as used on all the Apollo manned missions.
I dug out from the stash the Revell 1/100 Command/Service module kit to have a look at it and, even though the artwork on the box depicts a Block II Command/Service module, the kit is most definitely a Block I. The radiator pattern on the Service Module is totally different to that of the Block IIs. I have a mind to complete it as a Block I anyway in a tribute to Grissom, White and Chaffee, who died in the Apollo 1 pad fire of January 1967. Apollo 1 was a Block I mission. After the fire, a decision was made not to use any Block I Command/Service Modules for manned flights.
After a number of modelling diversions (Spifire VIII, Constellation), I decided to get back to the Saturn IB build. I had put it on hold due to the lack of enthusiasm for al the masking that I knew would be required.
The upper stage isn't too bad but the first stage is a bit complicated, with various alternating patterns of black and white paint applied to the eight clustered fuel tanks that make up the stage. To make matters even more complicated, the black and white pattern cuts off at different points on the bottom segment of the booster and the fins depending on which segment you are looking at. It took me a while to work out exactly how the masking needed to be applied.
It seems the guys who were building the real thing got fed up with all this masking malarkey as well. After Apollo 7 (the mission I'm modelling), all later Saturn IBs had all white first stages.
The upper stage isn't too bad but the first stage is a bit complicated, with various alternating patterns of black and white paint applied to the eight clustered fuel tanks that make up the stage. To make matters even more complicated, the black and white pattern cuts off at different points on the bottom segment of the booster and the fins depending on which segment you are looking at. It took me a while to work out exactly how the masking needed to be applied.
It seems the guys who were building the real thing got fed up with all this masking malarkey as well. After Apollo 7 (the mission I'm modelling), all later Saturn IBs had all white first stages.
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