AMT Man In Space (MIS) build - Saturn V

[Mike J. Idacavage]

Greetings, fellow space modelers! As I plan on doing all the launch systems in the MIS kit, I started the Saturn V as I ran into some built in hold time on the two launch vehices already being worked on. I expect to have all 5 kits in progress in the near future. This thread will cover the Saturn V. Let's start at the ground up. The base plate for the first stage has these strange little supprt tabs on the bottom. Their purpose is to align the bottom section with the bottom of the first stage. You can see the tabs in this photo:

I cut all 8 tabs off and sanded the area smooth. As this launch vehicle is pretty big, I was a little reluctant to have a single brass stand to support it when finished. I decided to add two seperate support rods using my usual aluminum tube in the first stage into which the brass support rod will fit when finished.

The required holes were drilled in the bottom plate and the tubes were epoxied into the first stage. Finally I glued the rest of the first stage together and did the putty route to eliminate the seams.

Have fun modeling! :wacko:

Mike

[Jay Chladek]

These models sure as heck are not shake and bake Tamiya stuff, are they? Love the work so far Mike!

[Mike J. Idacavage]

Well said, Jay! Like a lot of other modelers, I thought that the AMT MIS build would be a quick one, and could serve as a break from some other more fiddly builds that I am doing (all OT). Well, it ain't so! This has been one slow build so far. I am not even going the super detail/correction route, just wanted to do a lot of little things that would make this build stand out from the MIS out of box build.

Well, now that I am posting something, here's a little correction on the Saturn S-1C stage. The AMT kit has two fairings that go the length of the stage. Both sides need to be removed a short distance from the bottom. See this photo to get an idea as to how much is taken off.

I marked the part to be removed with a black marker. The removal is pretty easy to do. I snipped off the fairing even with the top of the corregations a little below the place where it should start. Then using a small round file, I replaced the corregations. It is not perfect, but does not look out of place when you paint this section.

Have fun modeling!

Mike

[Mike J. Idacavage]

Time for another addition to the Saturn V build. Sitting above the 1st stage is an interstage section.

The small raised sections on the side are the ullage rockets. The MIS Saturn V depicts the interstage section with 8 ullage rockets.This is only correct for the early unmanned Saturn V launches. Depending on which mission you want to depict, the correct amount of ulage rockets need to be removed. Here's a quick listing of which mission used which ullage rocket configuration:

8 Ullage rocket motors: (SA-500F,SA-501 (Apollo 4),SA-502 (Apollo 6)

4 Ullage rocket motors: (SA-503 - SA-509) (Apollo 8 – Apollo 14)

0 Ullage rocket motors: (SA-510+) (Apollo 15 – Skylab)

I plan on doing Apollo 11, so I needed to eliminate 4 rockets on the interstage. I selected alternating ullage rockets for removal and noted these in black marker in this photo.

Removal was pretty easy, I clipped the ullage rocket close to the top of the corregations, then used a small needle file to restore the corregations on the interstage.

Until next time........ :lol:

Mike

[Mike J. Idacavage]

I just got back from an extended business trip, so no modeling in my abode for the past week. I did have a photo that I took a few weeks ago for the Saturn V build that I could post. For those of you checking out my Saturn 1B thread, you would have noticed what I did for the LES and BPC. Well, as the kit parts are identical for both the Saturn 1B and Saturn V, I thought I would do the same for the Saturn V. Well, no such luck! After I assembled the escape system, I found the bottom of the rocket to be so miss molded, that it looked like it was built by someone in a small rowboat on the high seas! The parts were really warped and it formed a sine curve at the part right above the 4 small escape rocket nozzles. What I had to do was saw off the top of the LES right where the 4 small nozzles attach. You can see this in the photo:

I then was able to sand the bottom of the LES flat. This ended up reducing the diameter of the base such that the top of the framework did not sit well (too small an attachment area). I cut a small disk out of a sheet of plastic and glued/sanded this to the bottom to increase the area. I then glued the framework of the tower back to the top of the LES. Voila, one corrected LES! In the photo, you can see the completed LES from the Saturn 1B. Until next time...........

Mike

[niart17]

wow, coming along nicely. not shake and bake at all.

i'd love to build a Saturn V, and i have the 1/96 revell kit, but i am going to wait til i can do it justice and replace the body with tubing and all that.

So, you may have said, but how tall is this kit when finished? would you recommend it?

I look forward to seeing some more, on all of the kits you're working on.

Bill

[Mike J. Idacavage]

Thanks for the compliment, Bill! I am glad to see that my posts are useful. I should have some more progress to report in the next week as I take advantage of a few days off. :unsure:

The Saturn V is now in the "paint shop" getting the last of the base white paint applied. It was dry enough for me to roughly stack the components together and get a height for the Saturn V. I measured it out to about 22 inches tall. It is a reasonable size. I would recomend this kit (MIS) for several reasons. First, it does build up pretty well even without all the modifications that I made if you want a quick, great looking desk model. Second, it is a great way to having all (most?) of the major US manned spacecraft together in comparative display. Lastly, the Saturn V is a reasonable size when it is finished. I also like doing the MIS kit as it is giving me some pointers when I tackle the larger scale launch vehicles.

Have fun modeling!

Mike

wow, coming along nicely. not shake and bake at all.

i'd love to build a Saturn V, and i have the 1/96 revell kit, but i am going to wait til i can do it justice and replace the body with tubing and all that.

So, you may have said, but how tall is this kit when finished? would you recommend it?

I look forward to seeing some more, on all of the kits you're working on.

Bill

[Mike J. Idacavage]

With an hour left to go until midnight, I thought I would post my last entry for 2007 in this GB. :D While doing the major paint steps (white/black/metal) on the rocket itself, I did some work on the F1 engines. Most Saturn V kits that I have seen built up show bare, metallic looking engines. For the actual launch Saturn Vs, the F1 engines were covered with a silver looking batten system (metal insulation blankets). To build a launch vehicle, this look should be duplicated. First, I spayed the engine bells with Alclad Steel. I then achieved the batten look by taking some thin household aluminum foil, coating one side with Microscale foil adhesive, and then loosely covering the engine bell.

Here's a close up look at a completed F1 engine:

When you compare this to a photo of a batten covered F1, it looks like a pretty good representation.

To all my friends on ARC, best wishes for a great 2008! :)

Mike

[Mike J. Idacavage]

Well, I have some progress to report on the Saturn V. I just stripped off the masking after getting the launch vehicle's major color areas painted. In fact, the paint is still a bit wet in a few areas when I shot these photos today. I screwed up a little when masking and I incorrectly allowed some of the external pipes on the second stage to be painted black. They should all be white. Sooooo, I did some carefull scraping and sanding, and then masked the pipes off and repainted them. I still need to touch up quite a few areas with a brush where the masking was not too clean. I could not resist temporary stacking the different stages together and getting a few photos. Don't worry if things are not straight at this stage!

After painting the vehicle gloss white, I masked off the different areas and painted them gloss black. I was uncertain about cleanly masking off the second stage where it slopes in so I used the Tango Papa decals here. They worked well, and it is difficult to easily see what was painted and what was decaled. I did not use the Tango Papa black stripe decals at the other areas as I was not sure how they would easily go over the different bumps & lumps and the curved section of the first stage skirt. I used Alclad stainless steel for the metalic sections at the bottom. Until next time..............

Have fun modeling!

Mike

[Mike J. Idacavage]

Well, life and work managed to rear it's ugly head, so my modeling time has been greatly reduced in the past 2 months. Unfortuneatly, this has slowed my progress in this GB to a crawl. As I have a few hours at home today before my next trip out tomorrow, I thought I would give at least a small update on my progress. I did complete the decaling on the Saturn V, or so I thought. Looking at the Saturn after I finished, I was not happy with the finish on most of the small fins on the first stage, with the presenvce of some stains and a pebbly texture to boot. I decided to not force this build to meet a deadline, and I carefully sanded the fins that were poor. Here's a shot of the fins being masked off again for a coat of Alclad. Hopefully, I can shoot the Alclad later today.

One thing that did work on this vehicle was the use of the Tango Papa decals for the CSM. I carefully cut theses in multiple segments and added them one by one. Here's how it now looks. I'll still need to add some detail painting along with the small rocket nozzles on the SM.

Finally, here's how the Saturn V looks now before I redo the fins and also prior to an overal semi-mate clear coat. For this shot, I just loosely stacked the components, so they might not be matched correctly.

Have fun modeling!

Mike

[Mike J. Idacavage]

One more finished and this looks like the last one before the end of the GB. I completed the Saturn V earlier today. It was defininitely a challenge to photograph well. Here's a series of shots of the completed model:

Here's a close up of the CSM. Using pencils to add some dimension does work out OK, and with a lot less hassle than adding sructure at this scale.

Finally, here's a comparison with the Mercury Redstone in the same scale. You also get a decent look at the F1 engines with their batten coverings. Enjoy!

Have fun modeling!

Mike

[GVoakes]

Looking good, Mike! I really like the way you did the F1 engines!

I hope to see the other (just the Gemini-Titan left, I believe) finished soon, even if not as part of the GB. Also, don't forget to post pics in the completed GB Gallery.

Grant

[K2Pete]

Ni-i-i-ce job Mike!

After all these years, I still can't get over the relative sizes of those launch vehicles!

I really enjoy looking at built models where there's a definite attention to detail. And it's a real pleasure looking at yours!!

Do you enter your models into shows, Mike?

And what kind of lights / setup, do you use for photographing your models?

Good job!

Pete

[mkimages]

So far so good, Mike. The big Saturn looks just great, and especially impressive next to the little Redstone. I can't wait to see the full grouping all together when you finish.

[Mike J. Idacavage]

Thanks Grant! I plan on adding the photos of the completed Gemini to the closed GB when I finish it. I actually have made headway, and the final gloss white coat is curing as I write this. All I need to do is shoot the capsule color and the metal sections of the rocket and decal the sucker. I head out on an almost 2 week business trip tomorow, so it will be later in April before I can resume the work. Thanks for coordinating this cool GB! (also thanks to you also, Jay!)

Have fun modeling!

Mike

Looking good, Mike! I really like the way you did the F1 engines!

I hope to see the other (just the Gemini-Titan left, I believe) finished soon, even if not as part of the GB. Also, don't forget to post pics in the completed GB Gallery.

Grant

[Mike J. Idacavage]

Hi Pete! Thanks for the compliments, I am also very impressed with your work. I do enter models in shows when I can. I got started in the adult phase of this hobby when I went to a few shows and some modelers went out of their way to help this poor newbie. While my main objective is not to win (OK, that would be nice! ), I like to show off the models to other modelers and get a great conversation going. I am hoping to take this MIS build to the IPMS/USA Nats in August.

I have a pretty simple set up for photographing models. I use my modeling bench, and add some light blue boards as background. I picked these up at my local Michael's craft store. For lights, I have 2 light fixtures that I have added 100 watt bulbs to. I picked the bulbs up at a camera store and they are used for photography. The camera that I used for the shots in this GB is an older Nikon digital camera. It's not a SLR type, but would be considered pretty basic now. I have a good Nikon (D70), but my older camera is easy to use on a moments notice. All in all, nothing too complicated for my set up!

Mike

Ni-i-i-ce job Mike!

After all these years, I still can't get over the relative sizes of those launch vehicles!

I really enjoy looking at built models where there's a definite attention to detail. And it's a real pleasure looking at yours!!

Do you enter your models into shows, Mike?

And what kind of lights / setup, do you use for photographing your models?

Good job!

Pete