Airfix Apollo-Saturn I B + Edu-Craft LUT + milk stool 1/144

[ralf]

Hello Everyone,

today I want to start my biggest project yet. It's a combination of the updated Airfix Saturn Ib and the Edu-Craft launch umbilical tower with the milk stool. For those unfamiliar with the topic here is a picture of the real thing from the early 70s.

I've already build the Airfix Saturn Ib in the early 90s as well as the Saturn V from Monogram in 1/144. But since then my modelling abilities have (hopefully) developed a bit so that I could do this more justice. While the Saturn V in it's various kits are quite popular even today the Saturn Ib is a bit forgotten. It flew 5 times manned, first with Apollo 7 and then in the Skylab program and finally on the Apollo Soyuz mission in 1975. For the post moon landing missions Nasa used the same launch pad as for the Saturn V. The problem was that the smaller Saturn Ib was too short for the access arms and the white room. So they engineers had to build a construction to lift the Saturn Ib to the height of the Saturn V. This construction was called milk stool. And this is also the configuration I want for my build since it is something different. For the now unavailable very expensive exception of a short run LUT there is only the cardstock option now to build one. For this project I will use the Edu-Craft kit which will be the basis for further details. The overall appearance looks very good when finished from some distance but there is much room for improvement on the details. So I will use this a a template and add styrene parts for further details. I also have to say that I wouldn't have started this build if there wasn't Manfreds inspiring shuttle launch pad thread. This gives me the inspiration and the some ideas on how to build this thing and maybe improve a bit or two on this kit. I will probably not go into that kind of detail level as Manfred but I try to improve the kit as far as I am able to and patient enough.

Here are now the components of the project ahead. The Airfix kit which has the right kind of Apollo Service Module and the paper kit (see my other Apollo Soyuz thread for this problematic). In the first step I will construct a support frame for the launch pad itself since it has to take the weight of the Saturn model and the milk stool. Therefore I will use some cardboard with a high wood percentage to give strength to the construction. Before I started I've collected a wealth of information about the Apollo LUT and fortunately some of the original engineering plans are available online which will serve as references. In the first step I've taken care of the measurments and cut out the paper templates.

Since the details are only printed I want to add the 3rd dimension details by adding Evergreen profiles and tubes. Fortunatly the original launch pad was not as detailed as the later shuttle versions.

Since the kits cardstock is not too stable we need to construct a supporting structure to add stability to the launchpad. I therefore used a material called woodcardstock (don't know the exact English name). It's a material which has high content of wood fibres and it's therefore very sturdy. But it's also very light and easy to cut.

It's already very big in 1:144 scale. Originally I wanted to use my 1:96 scale Revell Saturn V but I found it was too big for any display cabinet. So I've changed my mind and switched to the smaller scale. Now it will fit in the well known IKEA Detolf display case. The launch tower will be about a meter high. And hopfully look then very impressive. It will probably take a loog time to finish this... Here it's the support structure with the top part. I will use spray adhesive to glue it later on.

the next steps are constructing the additional support structure inside and the priming of the structure.

Thanks for looking...

Cheers Ralf

Edited November 16, 2012 by ralf

[niart17]

WOW! this is going to be a nice project. Very ambitious (it's all Manfred's fault, I blame him! ). It looks like you have all the resources gathered and off to a good start. Can't wait to see it progress.

"I just want to say Good luck, we're all counting on you."

Bill

[ralf]

Well if Manfred hadn' start his build thread I wouldn't probably started this one. But I think I can learn much from his build. Even when I am not going do all things the same way.

I've been busy with constructing the structural support of the launch pad. It's now almost finished and the glue is drying. The only problem so far is that the kit has the same sized blast exhaust hole sides (don't know how this is called correctly). I've made a little stept to and adjusted the underlying construction and it looks ok now. Since no one is able to look under the launch pad I don't want to go overboard on this. There are also no real pictures of the underside. I therefore painted it in the same grey blueish colour as the pad itself. Here are some pictures from the building process.

This are the support beams that give the structural strength to the pad.

Here with the outside still not glued for further corrections.

Testfitting the top of the launch pad. I need to clean my bench by the way....

And a front shot. After spending quite a considerable amount of time with the NASA image database there are several things that I need to take care of. The first thing that has to go is the yellow marking around the blast hole. At the time of the late Syklab launches this area was then grey. So I need to respay that area. It's also a bit raised so I am thinking about that problem too. Since I want to use styrene profiles for the extra details I also needed to seal the paper with some kind of varnish to prevent damage. I therefore used some acrylic UV resistand varnish to seal the surface and I hope that it also prevent the paper from fading.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers Ralf

Edited November 16, 2012 by ralf

[spaceman]

Hi Ralf,

wow, what a nice surprise, your project makes me curious. It's a great pleasure that you have drawn so much courage and inspiration from my Launch pad project that you are starting like the fire brigade.

It will be very interesting to see how you'll make the combination of D. Maiers paper kit and Airfix kit. And you'll see, the desire at scratch building of the details will inspire you even more and more. And what so far is to see looks promising already.

I wish you also good luck, finally it's all my fault, as Bill says. Yeah, yeah, yeah ...

Keep on the nice build!

[crowe-t]

Hi Ralf,

This project looks great so far! A very ambitious undertaking. It almost looks like Manfred's project which is a very good thing. We are all learning from Manfred's skills. Manfred's project also inspired me to add some more details to my current Revell 1/144 Shuttle stack build.

I'll be following this one very close.

Thanks for sharing.

Mike.

Edited November 16, 2012 by crowe-t

[ralf]

Now comes the next update in my Apollo LUT build... I've finished the supporting structure and glued it in place. It's now quite sturdy and should hold the weight of the rocket and the towers easily. There were some problems since the instructions didn't mention the size for the support structure so this was quite some guesswork as well as try and error. In the end it turned out ok. I've now start with all those little details on the launch pad itself. The first thing I've added were the Saturn V rocket support hold downs.

I've also added some kind of band around the blast area. This isn't printed on the paper and I think it's a bit too wide but of course I found some decent pictures of that area after the glue was hard. Well I think later it will not be too obvious.

Since I've finished the support structure and the holddown supports I moved on to the side panels. When looked from the distance the launch pad looks already very nice but on closer inspection you can see the 2D printing and that spoils that effect. To conquer this I will add plastic profiles and pipes and other stuff to the pad to give it a bit of extra dimension. Similar to Manfreds build I use for the side panels 1,5x1,5 Evergreen styrene profiles. To match the color of the paper kit I've mixed plain white, grey and blue acrylic paint from the DIY store (Lukas Acryl-Paint)until it looked greyish blue and brushed it on. This paint dries relatively quickly and doesn't leave brush marks when properly thinned.

I then cut the styrene strips to size and glued them onto the side of the pad. For this I used ZAP A GAP Medium super glue.

For the blast exhaust chamber I used 1,0x1,0 mm strips. I also painted the inside of the blast chamber in the grey-bluish color since I didn't like the look of the paper kit walls. I will later weather them with oil color and some washes to give an faded dirtied look. After looking at the reference pictures those areas seems to be dirty and grubby.

I am still undecided if I should proceed with the additional details or begin with the LUT itself. I will probably do this parallel since cutting all this paper seems a bit boring and tedious. I am also thinking about reenforcing the structure of the paper kit to get the whole thing more sturdy.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers Ralf

Edited December 4, 2012 by ralf

[spaceman]

Hi Ralf,

this looks much better than the last time, you give too much trouble and take care of many details.

If you now continue with the details of the MLP, which is also some time consuming from my experience.

If you start now parallel with the Tower, you need plenty of space in any case.

Since the tower is to be stable, you should install already reinforcements. What suggested since David Maier?

Advance but only a few questions:

How high is the tower, and from how much parts does it consist, and how big is the cross section? :

BTW, have a look at Mohammeds (maly) nice project

1/144th STS-134-Pad 39A , who's building the Shuttle Launch Tower from David Maier's Paper Kit. He has reinforced the tower by foam running the length of the Tower Core.

And he also has built an Apollo LUT.

[ralf]

Hi Manfred,

well the until now I was following you build more or less. And I have to say that this worked really well. Thankfully for me the Apollo pad doesn't seem to have that much added stuff on the sides. So I will get away with less details than you. I am also not sure on the level of scratchbuilding that I should put into the whole kit. I will probably add what I can or what I think is reasonable. The idea is that if I split this and and working on the paper kit parts I will add some variety to the tasks I am doning and that keeps me motivated.

David Maier also suggests to add the smaller parts later so they don't break off in the handling process.

Well you are right there is a space aspect but that isn't my main concern. I will stash the parts in boxes to keep them seperated and in order. My main concern is the structural stability of the parts especially the LUT itself and the milkstool. David Maier suggests (probably the same as in your MLP) a cardboard subsupport in the tower core. I will probably use also a core reenforcement. Either from balsa wood or foam. One of my concern are the girders and how to reenforce them so that they don't get saggy. Maybe I will glue some thin sheet or thick paper into them to add to the strength. What I don't want is a wobbly look and it shouldn't be too obvious that this is a paper kit.

Which cross section do you mean? The whole pad is 29x34 cm in diameter, the LUT levels are 9,4x9,4 cm in diameter. The overall hight is a over a meter high. Sorry I don't have the exact size and I don't find them in the instructions.

Edited December 5, 2012 by ralf

[spaceman]

Okay Ralf,

I've meant the LUT level cross section. Tell me, how is the tower built, as a framework or a closed square cover, or both, and how much parts in a row is the tower if it has a height of approx. 1 m, 1, 2, 3 ore more?

I take like Balsa to strengthen, which is light, yet stable, and can be ideal to handle with tools.

[ralf]

Hello Manfred,

since a drawing is sometimes a better explanation I made a small compilation of the drawings from David Maiers instructions.

The LUT has an closed inner core made from paper. I've got a solid balsa wood profile here that I will use for this purpose. D. Maier suggests a cardboard sub-support but I think a solid core may be better suited. The individual decks are made from paper. Unfortunately the kit contains only the upper sides but has the underside as a template that you can print out yourself. I would have prefered if the undersides were also in the kit. I am thinking about reenforcing the individual decks with thin plastic sheet and gluing the paper parts onto that. This would lead to more stability. Not sure if that is needed. For my taste the paper from the kit could be a bit thicker since I found it quite flimsy.

And here is a shot of the structure of the tower and how it goes together. I hope this answers your question how the tower is build.

If I counted correctly the tower has 18 parts in a row. I am also thinking about using plastic profiles for additional strenght for the girders.

Regards

Ralf

[spaceman]

Hi Ralf,

thanks for the drawings, now I have a better idea of the construction of the tower. And I have to say that looks like a lot of work, but this is also a nice challenge and very interesting too.

The milk stool would I instead of your try to scratch-build with plastic profiles. I think only made of paper that will be very difficult and probably not very stable. And I'm not sure whether it then would you like. :(

I'm very curious to see how it goes.

[ralf]

Hello Everyone,

After some more research and a bit of exchange with Manfred I've continued on my LUT build. I had some thought about the next steps in my build and how to tackle the paper kit. I came to the conclusion that I don't want to go too deep into the details like Manfred but I will try to enhance the kit details as much as it possible with the appropriate amount of time and effort. This is a bit of a balance but I think it will show in the end. I will certainly replace any structural parts with plastic since I think it doesn't look too good with paper alone.

After spending some time in my local art supply store I bought a lot of different stuff to get a foundation to replace the paper parts. I then mounted the elevator shaft onto thick cardboard to give it additional strenght.

The internal shaft is made from two parts. This will ease the handling a bit since the tower is quite high and a bit unhandy. I then cut out the individual platforms and since the paper alone is too flimsy mounted them onto ticker cardboard.

Since the backside of the platforms are blank paper I had two options. The manual suggested to paint the backside black or to print out a backside template. I didn't like the first option and decided to use the second. Since the different platforms are in different sizes the template didn't fit. So I had to work a bit to make it fit.

In an acute attack of morbus manfredis :)/>/> I decided to add several structural elements like pipes and other stuff to the elevator shaft. I therefore added thin rods and the switchboxes (or whatever they are) with plastic parts.

I have the slight feeling that this decision will slow down the building process quite a bit but I hope in the end it will be worth it. In the moment I plan to add the stairs on the side and the pipes to add a bit of a third dimension. I also decided to do all the supporting structures and girders with plastic rather than paper since I think this will improve the look and stability of the tower.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers Ralf

[spaceman]

Hi Ralf,

finally, we can see the progress on your LUT construction, which looks already great so far. I think this is a good decision that you are reinforcing some parts so that the stability is guaranteed.

I also believe that's a good idea printing out a backside templates, it looks much more better.

Tell me about morbus manfredis, it must probably be a contagious disease, or? Really bad, but the beginning looks already promising.

Keep on with the nice build.

[maly149]

Hey!! Nice job on your LUT. The DM kit is very good, even though its old, and the textures are a bit bad. 3+ years and I'm still not done with mine. Here is a link to my build. LINK Be aware, this was started when I was inexperienced, so bear with the mistakes. Good luck!