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Gus
11-02-2015, 12:40 PM
Saturn Press catalogs were produced irregularly over the years. According to Peter he produced a new catalog either when he ran out of old ones or when he had something new to include. Peter no longer has most of them nor does he recall how many different ones he produced or when he put them out.

So I thought I'd check here to see if folks can complete the list.

Here is what I know of so far:

1996 Summer
1996 Fall
1997 Spring
1998 Spring
2001 Spring


Thanks for your help,

Steve

the mole
11-02-2015, 02:32 PM
I didn't even know Peter put out a catalog. I'd like to see inside these catalogs also.

I wish Balsa Machining Service would make a new batch of Always Saturn V.
Some how I know that's not going to happen.

Gus
11-02-2015, 04:21 PM
I didn't even know Peter put out a catalog. I'd like to see inside these catalogs also.

I wish Balsa Machining Service would make a new batch of Always Saturn V.
Some how I know that's not going to happen.
Don't give up hope. I had dinner with Peter yesterday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his first book, Scale Model Rocketry: A Guide for the Historian-Craftsman. He plans to get in touch with Bill regarding possibly producing more kits. The real problem is that the price of balsa has risen substantially and it makes it difficult to produce some kits at reasonable prices. But don't give up hope.

the mole
11-02-2015, 04:46 PM
Thanks Gus for the info. Keeping finger crossed for the kits. :)

Gus
11-02-2015, 05:32 PM
Here's a low resolution PDF of one of the Saturn Press catalogs. All of the ones I've seen are fairly similar. Note that the image of Retro Rockets on the first page is not really in color. The color is simply an artifact of my scanner.

Enjoy,

Steve

the mole
11-02-2015, 07:58 PM
A book I missed out on was The Art of Scale Model Rocketry. If I'd had this catalog, that's one of the first things I would have ordered.
Something else I would like to see reprinted. I see them on ebay once in a while, but the price is through the roof.

Gus, next time you see Peter try to talk him into put this out again.
Now I will cross my fingers on my other hand for this to happen. :chuckle:

PeterAlway
11-03-2015, 06:20 PM
A book I missed out on was The Art of Scale Model Rocketry. If I'd had this catalog, that's one of the first things I would have ordered.
Something else I would like to see reprinted. I see them on ebay once in a while, but the price is through the roof.

Gus, next time you see Peter try to talk him into put this out again.
Now I will cross my fingers on my other hand for this to happen. :chuckle:

While I'd like to put "Art of Scale" back in print, there are tons of things in it that are completely out of date. I don't have the book handy, but I know that if references parts, kits, and supplies and companies that no longer exist. There is a whole section devoted to scale kits available at the time of publication in the 1990's, for instance. Even my favorite paints are gone, and I don't really know what I'd replace them with. To print the book again, I'd have to re-do all of that.

Plus there are a lot of important techniques that I'm just completely out-of-date with. I haven't been building, so I haven't been keeping my skills up to date. I know nothing about fiberglassing or 3-D printing. At this point, I'm not sure I'm even *qualified* to update the book to make it worthwhile. And I wouldn't find *joy* in putting that new edition together. If you consider how much work goes into those books for relatively small amounts of money, the joy of it is vital.

So for now, I think my efforts are most useful to the hobby rocketry community if I apply them to a new "Rockets of the World." And frankly, I am starting to get really geeked about RotW V. I've discovered dimensions, drawings, and even photographs of rockets from past centuries, which I hope will make an eye-opening chapter, I've found rockets from countries not represented in the original RotW, and I'm going in some new directions, including historically important obsolete missiles. And if I'm getting excited about the project, I might actually finish it in 2017.

mbauer
11-06-2015, 09:00 AM
So for now, I think my efforts are most useful to the hobby rocketry community if I apply them to a new "Rockets of the World." And frankly, I am starting to get really geeked about RotW V. I've discovered dimensions, drawings, and even photographs of rockets from past centuries, which I hope will make an eye-opening chapter, I've found rockets from countries not represented in the original RotW, and I'm going in some new directions, including historically important obsolete missiles. And if I'm getting excited about the project, I might actually finish it in 2017.

This is great news! Really impressed with the RTW IV.

Use your drawings to make several stomp rockets. No, I don't scan, but use your stationing to draw them in AutoCAD.

The hard part then is finding drawings that show rivits and bolt patterns...

Thank you taking the time to publish such great resources!

Mike