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-   -   BT-80 based Saturn V/ "Saturn I-F" (http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=9820)

luke strawwalker 08-11-2014 03:25 PM

5 Attachment(s)
Well, been incrementally getting a little more work done on the Saturns...

After doing the first one, and worrying over my "fu" with the "Zen of straightness" (as the Dr. Zooch Saturn IB kit instructions, from which these towers are derived, recommends for getting them straight on top of the capsule) I thought to myself "there's gotta be a better way..."

SO, after some thought, I came up with an idea... why not build a JIG to do the job?? So, I broke out some spare BT-50 tubing and my circle cutter tool and after a futile search for some matte board I bought last year to make centering rings, I settled on some regular corrugated cardboard. First I cut two 2-inch-long pieces of spare BT-50 for the jig-- one for the capsule nosecone to go in/on, and then the other to hold the centering rings to keep the tower rocket straight. Then I cut a ring of cardboard to fit inside the BT-50 jig. I drilled the hole by twisting a regular 1/4 inch drill bit by hand with very light pressure between my fingers to make the hole for the LES rocket motor dowel. Then I glued it in with white glue.
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Next, the finished tower with the plastic rod bracing is ready to install in the jig. The capsule is placed on the second piece of BT-50. At first I thought about using some wood skewers rubber banded to the jig tubes to hold everything straight, but this didn't work too well, so I rummaged through my tube scraps and found another piece of BT-50 that had been "mooshed" into an egg shape, which I'd been using for paint tests and stuff... so I marked it lengthwise and split it so the other two jig pieces of BT-50 would slide down inside it, once it was opened up just a little bit. The tower was inserted into the centering ring, and the capsule on the other piece of tubing, and then yellow wood glue applied to the tower legs, and then everything was slid together into the slit piece of tube, and everything rubber banded in place. Once dry and removed, the tower came out pretty much spot on...
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Here's some pics of the finished tower, with the capsule and tower put back on the 1" piece of BT-50 that serves as the Service Module on these rockets...

More later! OL JR :)

luke strawwalker 08-11-2014 03:28 PM

4 Attachment(s)
Here's some pics of the finished tower, with the capsule and tower put back on the 1" piece of BT-50 that serves as the Service Module on these rockets...

Later! OL JR

luke strawwalker 08-11-2014 03:32 PM

4 Attachment(s)
It's really amazing how much the tower starts to make a Saturn look like a Saturn...

Here's the Saturn V and Saturn I-F...

Later! OL JR


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