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Quick Review Dragon 1/72 scale Saturn V Posted


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Dragon 1/72 scale quick review:

What can I say, it’s big! The box is just as big and it comes well packed and partly assembled as their other kits do in this range. I will break it down into the stages:

S-IC first stage

The paint work is not very crisp where the natural metal paint meets the black paint on the fairings. The F-1 Engines are a very tight fit and I would widen the holes a little before I put them on as they are a push fit. The stab fins are so tight I left mine off until I widen the slots as if you push them on you will never get them off again. The engines are a good starting point to detail them up and the thrust chambers are open. The fuel tank domes are in place but the top dome has a hole in it as it is moulded that way. The reason is the base has a metal rod that extends from the base through the center engine and up into the bottom of the first stage bottom fuel tank dome to support the rocket on its base. They moulded one dome and it has the hole it for the rod so the top one has it also. Paintwork and decals are ok only for a display piece but not for a serious model.

S-II second stage

This stage has the fuel tank domes in it also but the interstage is glued to the bottom of this stage so it not removable. The engines are there but show mould marks and are simplified at best. They do have open thrust chambers so all is not lost. Paint work is as I said before about the S-IC stage. My gripe with this stage is that it has some seams lines on each side where the stage was glued together and has not been sanded and finished off.

S-IVB third stage

This stage has the fuel tank domes and is reasonably well done. The engine again is simplified.

SLA adaptor

This piece is the same as what’s included in the Apollo 9 kit only now the instrument ring is moulded onto it. Now for the bad news. There is no LEM included in the kit at all. Inside the SLA is empty.

CSM

This is the plastic version from their unassembled kit. The CSM is not metal and the Boost Protective cover is glued onto the CM. It is not removable. There is no radar supplied on the CSM either.

Conclusion:

I am a little disappointed that the interstages do not separate and I was expecting a LEM to be included in the price. As a display piece for those that do not want a super accurate Saturn V it will look good on display to those that see it, just don’t take it down to your local chapter for the guys to see it. Then this is what this kit was made for, those that just want one to display. From looking at the model it was moulded as kit and you can see the breakdown for it. I could even write the instructions for it just by looking at mine. I hope it will be released as an unassembled kit. Trouble is do you buy one of the preassembled kits or wait and hope that they release it as an unassembled kit. I’ve taken the easy way out and bought one assembled. I will display it and if the unassembled kit comes out I will buy one and super detail it and finish it with a good paintjob. This one I will then strip down and rebuild it as a Skylab launch vehicle. It will be easy to disassemble it if that what you want to do and rebuild it. Don’t get me wrong this is a good three footer display piece and is very impressive.

If Dragon had spent a little more time on the construction of this kit and the paintwork it would be a great model from the box. I’m happy with mine and for $200 dollars it’s a good buy. Super detailers will be kept busy for years with this one. As it stands out of the box it is a better Saturn V than the old Revell 1/96 scale kit. Did I say it was big!!

Sorry for the quality of the photos as I used my phone so all could at least see today what I am writing about.

Note: Thier are no access hatches or umbilical connections anywhere on this model. It is if they never existed on the real Saturn V.

Photos: http://s1006.photobu...6/cunumdrum/SV/

Cheers

Edited by Cunumdrum61
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So is the kit worth getting?

I see in some of your photos the stringer details don't match either. Just as I saw on the 1/96th Revell Saturn V kit. Someone gave me notes on if someone planned a 1/72 Saturn V the types of styrene to get to replicate the stringers accurately.

Plastruct sheets to be used are:

S-IC, well the model is accurate there with the two bottom stringer patterns.

The top of the S-IC to the bottom of the S-2 should be 0.75x 0.75 strips. (I found the ET stringers of the Monogram stack kit is very close to accurate based on photos of the real Saturn V. I already made a rubber cast of the inter tank stringers of the ET rolled out flat to more match the larger diameter of the Saturn V.)

Top of the S-2 stringers are 0.45x 0.6mm strips.

Interstage of S-2 and S-IVB are 0.4x 0.75mm strips

Bottom of the S-IVB are 0.28x 0.45mm strips.

Top of the S-IVB are 0.35x 0.5mm strips.

This should help make the kit look realistic.

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Well, certainly makes the kit version more attractive from some aspects. I am confident a kit version will happen as they have gone display/kit on the Mercury Redstone allready. Honestly what I am really waiting for is to see if a 1/72 Saturn 1B eventuates.....:)

Thanks so much for the pictures and it would be interesting to see a Skylab version.

Cheers

Tony

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Many of the external fittings look incorrect or fictitious to me, which isn't surprising. The lack of a LM is annoying, unless you plan to build Apollo 4 through 8. For that matter, there will be detail changes (like the number of ullage motors on the S-IC/S-II interstage) between flights, so those would have to be addressed.

That aside, Cunumdrum, do you have any Saturn V drawings with which to compare the kit? I'm eager to find out how it measures up, dimensionally. And I'm not just talking lengths and diameters. I'd like to know if intertank sections are of the correct length.

Edited by MiG31
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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for taking the time to post some photos and give us your opinions Cunundrum61. It certainly is appreciated.

It's great that we're finally seeing new-tooled spacecraft models again. I have quite a few older kits stashed away and at this time I'm not biting on any new releases. My wife wants to see more output and less input - if you know what I mean. But I still like the fact that this avenue of the hobby is getting a little more attention.

After a long, long break from the hobby, I'm now working on the Revell Saturn V kit in earnest. Trouble is I've been idle for so long that I lost my hobby room (the missus turned it into a third spare bedroom... crazy, just crazy!). So I'm happily plugging away at the dining room table. We all know that this Revell classic has many short-comings, but in its day it truly was an impressive sight. And with New Ware's detailing set (and a lot of extra plastic plus some ingenuity) it'll turn into something special.

Pictures to follow later...

Edited by Randy Wise
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