khill444444
02-10-2012, 10:34 AM
I am currently at the painting stage for the Sirius 1/64 Saturn V (the best rocket kit I have ever built), and I have a question to which I have found contradictory answers. All relate to the painting of the Instrument Unit (IU).
1. I am detailing it for Apollo 14, and have seen actual photos of the vehicle being rolled out that show not one but two white patches on the IU. Apparently, 11, 12, and 13 had only one white patch on the IU at one of the "Y" coordinates, but 14-17 had an additional white area halfway between this Y white area and the -Z area. FYI.
2. I have also seen photos and drawings of the IU actually being installed on the vehicle, and it appears that many of the parts on the IU that we are normally instructed to paint white are actually yellow. It looks to me as if these are actually yellow protective coverings that are removed before flight, and that the actual components are white. Does anyone have a definitive answer to this?
3. The umbilical connector on the IU is also normally painted white, but I have seen drawings of it being a bronze/copper color (which would make sense for electrical conductivity purposes). Anybody know which is "real"?
Normally, when doing a SV these questions do not come up. On smaller models the entire IU is painted black, but the Sirius version contains many raised details that do instruct you to paint them white. This creates an obvious PITA when you go to paint the rocket, but hey, this is a $369 rocket, and has incredible detail and instructions. So I wanted to get the thing as right as possible.
Why am I detailing it for Apollo 14? Well, I already have an Estes SV decaled for Apollo 11. And the Sirius kit comes with the SI stage serial number for Apollo 11 (SI-C6). So I am just going to cut out the "6" part of the decals and flip them over to "9" which was the booster used for Apollo 14. Plus, I like Al Shepard!
A further hint to those of your building detailed SVs.... the Sirius kit in its Apollo capsule/LES instructions says to paint the tip of the LES rocket either black OR silver (these colors actually changed across missions). I have seen the launch video of 14, and when the swing arm cap comes off the LES motor, the tip is MOST DEFINITELY silver.
Thanks.
Kevin.
1. I am detailing it for Apollo 14, and have seen actual photos of the vehicle being rolled out that show not one but two white patches on the IU. Apparently, 11, 12, and 13 had only one white patch on the IU at one of the "Y" coordinates, but 14-17 had an additional white area halfway between this Y white area and the -Z area. FYI.
2. I have also seen photos and drawings of the IU actually being installed on the vehicle, and it appears that many of the parts on the IU that we are normally instructed to paint white are actually yellow. It looks to me as if these are actually yellow protective coverings that are removed before flight, and that the actual components are white. Does anyone have a definitive answer to this?
3. The umbilical connector on the IU is also normally painted white, but I have seen drawings of it being a bronze/copper color (which would make sense for electrical conductivity purposes). Anybody know which is "real"?
Normally, when doing a SV these questions do not come up. On smaller models the entire IU is painted black, but the Sirius version contains many raised details that do instruct you to paint them white. This creates an obvious PITA when you go to paint the rocket, but hey, this is a $369 rocket, and has incredible detail and instructions. So I wanted to get the thing as right as possible.
Why am I detailing it for Apollo 14? Well, I already have an Estes SV decaled for Apollo 11. And the Sirius kit comes with the SI stage serial number for Apollo 11 (SI-C6). So I am just going to cut out the "6" part of the decals and flip them over to "9" which was the booster used for Apollo 14. Plus, I like Al Shepard!
A further hint to those of your building detailed SVs.... the Sirius kit in its Apollo capsule/LES instructions says to paint the tip of the LES rocket either black OR silver (these colors actually changed across missions). I have seen the launch video of 14, and when the swing arm cap comes off the LES motor, the tip is MOST DEFINITELY silver.
Thanks.
Kevin.