As a continuation to the lunar module model completed last January - and thanks to the encouraging comments in my last blog post - I have now pushed forward and finished its launch vehicle in 1/144 scale : the mighty Saturn V. By now those who take the trouble to read my blog will know that I have a penchant for space models and the Apollo Saturn V is one of those kits which I have wanted to build since childhood but never really found the time (and courage) to build. And as a kid I never had enough pocket money anyway! Some years back I was lucky enough to visit Kennedy Space Center in Florida where there is a specimen of this now-defunct rocket suspended from the ceiling of a massive hangar - I mean the sheer size of it beggars belief!
The kit is from Airfix and apart from some modifications to the colour scheme as suggested by the manufacturer, I have built it straight from the box. At 79cm tall it is not a small model and luckily I have just installed a new showcase in my man cave which can easily accomodate it. The next step is now to build the launch tower which is another large project and which will make the whole assembly go even higher. Following that I plan to build the crawler vehicle which was used to transport the rocket and tower from the Vertical Assembly Building to the launch pad. This will push the assembly higher still and once the three units are complete they should easily surpass the one meter mark. Eventually the plan is to mount the three components on a base to give it a small diorama feel, but that is a long way away.............
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The finished model
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Upper stage and service module detail
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Second stage detail
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First stage detail
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Top-down shot showing alternating black and white patterns - a true masking headache!
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Scale comparison to an old ipod. Note the three astronauts in 1/144 scale at the base on lower left. The sheer size of this vehicle in real life is overwhelming!
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Lunar module sitting on top of the upper stage. This little model is unfortunately entirely enclosed and is lost from sight once the rocket is assembled.
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The sheets making up the paper model of the assembly tower - a mass of levels and girders. The crawler transport model is still in the mail.
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What the assembled models should finally look like - an ambitious project that will take a loooooong time to finish!
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This rocket if HUGE.
ReplyDeleteYep! Sure is!
Delete....that’s what she said? 🙃
DeleteStill does. Every time 😜
DeleteAwesome! I grew up in the space race era, and models like this always impressed me.
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly my view too Dean. I suspect most of our generation look at these models with a particular fondness and a certain degree of nostalgia too.
DeleteLovely, in the final photo, the vehicles on the road give a real measure of scale. I take it this is pretty much a hollow tube of fuel, just to get into the upper atmosphere?
ReplyDeleteWould it be worth cutting a small irregular viewing hole in the side of the rocket, so that the Lunar Module can be seen ...... or is that taboo and too awful for words :-)
Correct Norm, most of the rocket was made up of liquid oxygen and hydrogen tanks. Each stage carried a set of both tanks and was discarded once emptied to lighten the weight as the vehicle climbed. As for cutting a viewing hole it's not a bad idea but for me I'd rather keep the model as faithful to the real-life version as much as possible.
DeleteI think it’d be cool to just to lift the piece off that covers the lunar module with a flourish whenever you catch someone admiring the rocket. 😀
DeleteCould add a drumroll too......
DeleteGorgeous looking enormous rocket!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thanks Iain!
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