I made it through all that sanding and hit a big brick wall. We've had > 90% humidity for nearly two weeks and the air conditioning has been down in the man cave. I couldn't paint outside or inside. I just got the air back up and running so hopefully I can shoot the first coat of white on the #2001 Saturn tomorrow. I've got to pull out the old drop cloths and high tech paint booth (aka great big cardboard box) and set it up first. I was hoping to have it done by the 16th (Apollo 11 launch date), but now I'll be very lucky to have it done by the 20th.

Isn't our lovely humidity levels here in the south wonderful? It's a down right pain in the you know where. That's a shame too re: the launch anniversary date. It's been 20 years since I last launched a Saturn V on the anniversary date, which was the last of the three we did at KSC (20th, 25th, and 30th in '89, '94, and '99 respectively).

My Saturn V is retired and I don't have a replacement built. I don't even currently have a flying field since my old junior high school field was taken over by the replacement school which is just being completed and is much larger, spanning K thru 8th grade. What little is left of the flying field has been reconfigured as a small rain water rention pond.

Maybe you can make do with some 'representative' model and fly it as a 'salute'. For years we did an annual Challenger commemorative launch at 11:38 on January 28th with the launch of my old Centuri Orion.

Earl

I finally resigned myself to the fact that my #2157 Saturn V build was not going to get finished in time for the Saturday Apollo 11 Commemorative Launch with SCORE in Pueblo, Colorado. I have been looking forward to this Apollo 11 anniversary for a long time, and figured I’d have my Estes 1:100 Saturn 1B done, the 1:100 Saturn V done, and I even have an Estes 1:100 Little Joe II I thought I’d get built. If possible, I thought maybe I’d get my 1:35 Estes Little Joe II done, and either my Semroc or Apogee 1:70 Saturn IB done. Less you think I’m overly ambitious, I had decided that the Dr. Zooch Saturn SA-5 would not make the list of rockets to get built and take to the launch. :chuckle:

Well, I at least predicted correctly on the Zooch rocket. We’ve had a lot of family issues/events taking priority this year. Getting my in-laws into assisted living was difficult, but the other time-consuming family event was amazing. We welcomed our 4th grand daughter into the world! Mom had a rough pregnancy, and my wife and I spent a lot of time helping out (and she needed it, since she has a pretty wild two year old) but all went smoothly and our daughter and her baby are doing great. We just got back from another trip to Denver to see them.

So ... I’m hopeful I’ll get to see some beautifully built Saturns fly on Saturday, and I’ll be content to fly my backup plan vehicle, the Estes 1:200 Saturn V.

I could dust off my Centuri Saturn V or 1B, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I built them when I was a kid, hand painted the roll patterns, etc. and considering how much I put into them, and their ages, they look too good and mean too much to me.

I'm going to try to finish the #2001, but I doubt I'll make it. I have a couple Little Joe II's, a MR, and a SPEV that looks NASAish. Maybe a Citation Patriot. I don't know. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. It may rain it out anyway. This has to be the wettest 1st half of July I've ever experienced.

I definitely understand on the retired model aspect. After its KSC flight in '89 for the Apollo 11 anniversary there, I retired my Saturn V and I would never think of flying it again. Same with my very simple Centuri Screaming Eagle from 1976. That was my first rocket and I flew the devil out of, but it has been retired a looong time. Too many memories behind it to think of loosing it. But, I have built a couple other Screaming Eagles over the years to fly in tis place. And while I have a scad of Saturn V kits, I just never have gotten around to building a replacement vehicle as of yet. Got a Centuri Saturn 1b in painting, but that just ain't the same as a Saturn V, as I know you know.

As I said above, I don't even have a flying field, so I'll just have to observe the anniversary in silent memory of those who made it all happen and in memory of a couple of very dear people who were here for the last big anniversary but who, very, very sadly, are not here for this one.


Earl

Got everything primed last night. White base coat has just been applied. I've got to hurry up and get out of this room because it's so humid that I can't ventilate. :eek:

The Saturn is sitting on an eBay "sold as parts" Pro 2001. I replaced the electrolytic caps and busted LEDs the other night to get it working again. That brings the total number of vintage scanner rescue/refurbs to nine. I've just found a Canadian JIL SX-200 to do next. I've never seen one before.

With in-service this week and covering shifts at the FD for illness and guard camp, I didn't finish the Saturn in time. I have, however started taping it off for the roll patterns today. I'd almost rather be sanding. :p

The #2001 instructions say to put the interstage separation lines "3/64 inch to the right of the locator areas for the retro-rocket fairings (parts C)". There's a couple of mistakes there. It should be the ullage rocket fairings, and the lines should be to the left of them. The color separations should line up with the tip of four of the LH2 line fairings and the 1st stage fins and also 1/2 way between the fins.

Doing it this way was quite uneven, with some sections of the roll pattern 1 33/64" and others 1 9/16". 3/64" doesn't sound like much but I could easily see it once it was taped up. I played around with it and got it a little closer, but it won't line up perfectly with the 1st stage if I center things up down there. Part of the issue is the wraps having a bit of a gap (a little too small), but the embossed mounting points of the LH2 and ullage fairings aren't perfectly spaced either.

This build isn't supposed to be a hanger queen. It's to be flown in various configurations in small fields and to be photographed in flight, not to be viewed up close and personal. However, the variations in roll patterns are bugging the crap out of me. I got them close and have already shot the tape sealing white base coat, so there's no changing it now. We'll see how it turns out. Maybe I'll remember this when/if I build one of the #2157 or #1969 kits. I'll need to line up the shrouds based on locations of fairings and fins rather than the edges of the wraps themselves, assuming they fit well enough.

I still have a boxed #2001. I’ll keep it and build it one of these days.

I started a #2157 (30th anniversary model from 1999) last December, just never got it completed for the 50th Anniversary Launch. And with all the issues re: lining things up, it’s a good thing I have three of them. Hopefully by the time I build #3, I’ll have learned about all the idiosyncrasies and I’ll have one suitable for being my pristine hangar queen. And if not, I’ll get a #1969 ...

Well, I never got around to finishing the paint on the #2001 Saturn. I got the white base coat done and the masking on the 2nd and 3rd stage roll patterns. I didn't have any silver on hand to do the fins, and life intervened before I got around to picking up some paint. Then I got out of the mood.

Fast forward to July 2020 and I'm doing a very, very, very boring online seminar. I needed something to occupy my time so I looked up the mole's (Frank's) 75% Centuri Flying Saucer. Photo is extremely shoddy, but it gets the point across.

Link to his build thread: https://oldrocketforum.com/showthre...i+flying+saucer

I used salvaged parts removed from old damaged school rockets so the tubes, lugs, etc. are filthy. I pretty much stuck to Frank's directions and used cereal box cardboard and label paper.

This is the first complete build I've done in a few years. I just can't get excited about paint prep anymore, so this little rocket fit the bill with no filling, sanding, or painting needed.