Saturn V - 1/48

[STE4LTH]

Hey Guys,

I am new to these forums and from what I have seen there are many great people here who are dedicated and helpful when it comes to Paper Modelling. I have built a couple of paper models including AXM's Space Shuttle and Stack, and also the Hubble Space Telescope.

My next challenge I'm looking forward to is building the Saturn V Rocket in a quite large, 1/48 scale. Greelt'ss model is what brought this rocket to my attention, those F-1 Engines look fantastic! But I just have a few questions about the build. I understand he hasn't completed the model only finishing the first stage. So I'm thinking of combining Greelt's with Ton's 1/48 found on LHV Gift Shop.
So I had a look at the stages from Ton's that I will use and they all seem a little complicated, some of the pages don't look like the whole part doesn't even fit and there aren't any instructions for a few of them. I could work it out, but its very confusing. Then I saw on PE2TR's website for Ton, the Saturn V model and it seems a lot more simple, everything is laid out perfectly with instructions. However, it seems like a 1/96 scale, can anyone confirm this?
Its much smaller than Tons on LHV Gift Shop.

So that's my issue, should I scale up the one on PE2TR by a factor of 2 so that it can match Greelt's? Or go with the one on LHV Gift Shop?

I am really looking forward to building this fantastic rocket just need some guidance to start off,

Cheers Everyone,

Mitch

[Paper Kosmonaut]

Hi Mitch, welcome to the forum.
First I hope your house is big enough to contain an 1/48 Saturn V. It will be a monstrously large model! (-;

About the model parts: Ton's Saturn V model is very well designed but in a more or less basic and straightforward style. It looks absolutely impressive when built as a whole, either in 1/96 or 1/48. But when you would combine Greelt's S-IC with Tons Saturn parts, the stack might suffer a little because of the significant difference in detail, style and general design of the parts. Also there is the smaller issue of fitting them together, which might be a little troublesome.
To make your Saturn look good, I'd either make Ton's one as a complete stack or you will have to do some serious scratch building to give the stack an homogeneous look.
I also have downloaded the big parts pieces of ton's Saturn a long time ago and it indeed is a little confusing to see what is which and where it has to go. I guess Ton split parts up and enlarged them (hence the red "X2" writing here and there) and you have to combine them to get the full parts. I guess he did it like this to keep it all on regularly sized A4 sized paper. When printed it might look a lot better and understandable. Personally, I just would upscale the smaller version, enlarge it and print it on A3 paper or whatever the US equivalent of that might be. Same effect.
The upscaling of parts or kits can relatively simple be done by printing the parts in a larger scale. There is a nice chart here.

Indeed, Greelt only finished the S-IC and the J2 engines for the second and third stage. But with a little searching you might be able to find the PDF's to Frederic Bouchar's S-II, which is based on Greelt's design, using his J2 engines and of the same quality of detailing. These also do not appear to fit together like a glove so here too is some tinkering needed. But in general looks they really fit together.
The rest (SIVb and Apollo spacecraft) can be built from for example Ton's models but you still will need to do extra work on them to make them look more similar to the Greelt / Bouchar parts of the stack.

Good luck with the build and keep us posted!

[STE4LTH]

Thanks so much! Yeah I understand its going to be a massive build. Thanks for sending me the other link also, I'll do some more research on it. It will be a massive project to undertake and I think I'll build Greelts, with Frederic's, and then upscale Tons on his website for the Apollo structure. Ill make a test build of how well Greelts and Frederic's goes together to see what scaling needs to be done. Ill do the same with Frederic's and tons parts. I'm looking forward to getting into this and I'll keep you posted on my progress.

- Mitch

[Mark Petersen]

I've started down this path a couple of times. The design is outstanding although I did have someissues with printer scaling. But now that I think about it, it may of been a matter of printing to fit due to A4 to US Letter. So pay careful attention to your print settings. One thing I found usefull for building the bodies of the Thrust Structure, 1st Stage Tankage and Interstage is the need to use extra parts during the build process in order to ensure the highest level of presicion you can achieve. The design deserves it. Look here for some of the solutions I tried. Now if only "life" hadn't gotten in the way.
Laminating Curved Surfaces????????

[STE4LTH]

Yeah I see what you mean Mark, this is going to be a big model and it certainly looks like it will need some extra parts. Thanks for the help! Did you manage to complete the whole rocket?

[KieferRhys]

One thing that I would suggest is that you build one of the F-1 engines first, just to test your patience, and if you find it a breeze, then give some thought to using the upgraded engine design on the site at Index of /f1_detail01

[Mark Petersen]

Agree about the F-1. One of them is a real bear. But five of them and then six J-2's. It is strictkly my opinion but building multiples of the engines requires some thought as to the build process and the possible use of assembly jigs. They need not be overly elaborate but it would make the job easier. Quite possibly the hardest part of the Greet Saturn V is the Interstage Section. The internal bracing with all of those lightening holes are enough to make you cross eyed

[Paper Kosmonaut]

Gotta join the club here. Those F-1 and J-2 engines are complete models on their own.
And quite large. But wow, the end result is fantastic. Be sure to use my add-on for the inside of the F-1 engine (you can find it at Jon Leslie's site, scroll a little bit down)

Although I currently have a bit of a lethargic period concerning my model stuff, I too am working on a big project myself involving the Saturn V. Having built Greelt's F-1 in 1/48, I have started on building them all five in 1/96. And next will be the entire Saturn but built with an opened hull for a look inside the fuel tanks and interstage sections. I guess it will take me the rest of this year.

[STE4LTH]

That's going to be a very big project! Can't wait to see all of your final results!!
Well a bit of an update, the past couple of days I've been building the F-1. I've finished it, but you're right, it's a model on its own and to think I need another 4 of these and J-2s is a mammoth task. But I've been thinking instead of doing it all at once, I'll start on the first stage, finish that, do a rocket, next stage, do a rocket. That way it splits it up and stops it from becoming so repetitive.

I going to test build Fredericks and Greelts, parts where they meet and see what scaling needs to be done. Then I'll use Tons other parts and I'm going to redesign them, adding more detail and using reference photos. Does anyone know any good sites for dimensions and pictures of the Saturn V?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

- Mitch

[Paper Kosmonaut]

Hi Mitch,
A good starting point might be this site. It contains a lot of usable info on size, shapes and details.
At the Apollo Archive they also have imagery and details to show.
And although it is plastic, you can always get some ideas and construction methods from it, this is a Danish site on building a Saturn V.

Also, try NASA's unfortunately hard to browse photo archives. They *do* have a lot of imagery but man, they really should stop messing with it so often. I remember a couple of years back, it was much easier to find and search on NASA's site.

For the rest, just ask. There are those among us who have gathered busloads of photos and facts in the past years. We like to share it with the others, so just ask and chances are there will be someone with an answer.

That will get you going for a while I hope.