1/144 Apollo Saturn V

M

MartG

Guest
Well I've kind of started on my pair of Airfix Saturn V kits ( 1 to be built as standard, the 2nd as Skylab ) - looking at them I got to thinking that they could do with the 1st stage engines being replaced with ones with the insulation fitted as on the flight items. While there are reasonable replacement engines available in 1/96, the only 1/144 ones didn't look particularly accurate to me ( and the engine bells aren't hollow ), so I've made my first foray into resin casting.

My efforts used a modified Airfix F-1 engine as the master, from which I made a two part silicone rubber mould - two part so I could make the engine bell hollow as per the original kit engines. I also made a new aft heatshield for the engines to attach to, as the kit item has ribs which aren't there on the real thing.

The kit of parts

As test fitted, after painting

Now to have a look at the 2nd stage thrust structure - the best I can say of the kit item is that it isn't as bad as the Monogram one ! The kit one has the engines too far apart, and doesn't show the fuel pipes or electronics boxes

Raw casting above left, painted and with kit engines fitted above right - also has a heat shield ( brown ) cut from plasticard.

Also, when Airfix fixed the SM to the correct diameter, they didn't do anything with the CM, which means it doesn't fit the Boost cover anymore ( and looks very undersized ). They also persisted with the original SPS engine nozzle, which is the wrong shape. So, a couple of castings to fix those problems - the new CM fits the revised BPC and the nozzle is now the right shape.

http://thumbsnap.com/s/rhkb0Dmb.jpg[/img]|http://thumbsnap.com/v/rhkb0Dmb.jpg"]

Now to have a look at the 3rd stage.....:thinking:

BTW If anyone is interested in any of these sets just drop me a line
 
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M

MartG

Guest
Latest bit of resin casting - 1/144 Saturn S-IVB stage thrust structure

Amazing how much a lump of resin and a few BBs can do to improve a kit - mine on the left, Airfix kit item on the right

http://thumbsnap.com/s/DziwfnGN.jpg[/img]|http://thumbsnap.com/v/DziwfnGN.jpg"]

The raw casting

http://thumbsnap.com/s/EkVKOxrO.jpg[/img]|http://thumbsnap.com/v/EkVKOxrO.jpg"]

And trial fitted into the stage - note that this one is a Saturn V one, with 8 helium spheres - the S-IVB-200 used on the Saturn 1B only had one as the stage wasn't required to restart in flight.

http://thumbsnap.com/s/qWEEKmde.jpg[/img]|http://thumbsnap.com/v/qWEEKmde.jpg"]
 
M

Miller

Guest
Hello, I am interested in your Saturn V detail kit in 1/144th scale. can you advise on how I can Purchase one?

Thank you.
 
F

Fenlander

Guest
Hi Martin. You are putting a lot of extra work into that old kit and making a real good job of it. Well done, I am sure you will get some interest.
 

tr1ckey66

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Paul
Hi martin, I'm looking forward to seeing this finished as you seem to be putting a great deal of effort into it. Nice resin castings too. I've done the odd bit of resin casting and I know it's not the easiest of things to get right.

Keep up the good work

Paul
 
M

MartG

Guest
Thanks for the positive comments guys ! I'll post up some more pics soon.

By the way, my latest work is a resin Saturn 1B in 1/96 scale - I'll post some pics of that too later today

\ said:
Hello, I am interested in your Saturn V detail kit in 1/144th scale. can you advise on how I can Purchase one?Thank you.
PM sent
 
O

Otakar

Guest
Hello All

I am new here and this is my first post. I have just recently got into space modeling. I have built a Revell 1:96 Saturn V back in 1979 when I was ten years old. I am now into the process of building four rockets at once. The "Real Space" Mercury Redstone is not much of a kit and I won't even talk about. The "Apex/Eastern Express" Vostok is a bit more work and I will talk about in another thread. NOW the Airfix Saturn IB and the Airfiix/Revell kit bash Saturn V I would like to discuss here. I Love the Airfix kits because of the additional detail not available from Revell, with the exception of one major detail (actually it comes up in a few places) That is the "bump" in the ribbed areas on all the seams. That is the reason I got a few inexpensive eBay Revell kits to use the tubes from. But now I figured out on how to fix the problem on the original Airfix part. The first try was not 100% perfect but definitely passable. I also ordered all he goodies in the preceding pictures from Your wonderful UK supplier. Let me know what you think of my fix. The next attempt will be better and I will post a better picture.

Otto

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