Mark,

You're right. Everything else goes together without a hitch..... :)

Now, don't read any more posts! :D

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you... Well, until I have to paint one of the rockets, or mask one of the rockets, or...

Tell ya what - I'll think happy thoughts instead :p :p

John

That's my Centuri 1/100 scale Saturn 1-B, bought & built back in 1971.

Well, I'm not THAT far back, but still, it's time to come up with a new plan. Finish the build now, and then do most of the painting later, when the weather is more cooperative. But in addition to being rather wet lately, it is now starting to be too cold in the evenings after work in this part of the country to paint outdoors. I am just hoping that the daytime highs keep getting at least into the 60's this week, so that I can run home and apply some coats during my lunch hour.

Mark \\.

Maybe you should move down to Houston?! :D Our post-Ike weather has been fantastic,
highs in the low to mid 80's, with low humidity, few or no clouds and very little (or no) wind
with crystal clear blue skies.

Got some of the painting started; did the balsa surfaces of the fins and the retro - rocket
housings. Needed to get these before I do the white spray on which should come any day
now. Also painted each of the antenna panels gloss white, as these will go on after the
white spray on is completed.

Does anyone have any photo proofs that the antennas on the antenna panels is really
yellow on the SA-205? I have a hunch that the yellow is really protective covers over the
antennas that were removed shortly before launch, but that's still has to be determined.

Yeah, sure, you guys in Texas have the better weather NOW... ;) :D

I fully acknowledge the fact that you face serious threats every year during hurricane season, though. Yet, in most years, you enjoy a greatly extended season for painting, launching, etc., including just about all winter.

Living at lower latitudes does give most of you in this group the advantage of a longer season (and yes, even Cincinnati enjoys an advantage, too...).

When storms (including tropical storm remnants) reach this part of the continent, they tend to hang around awhile, especially in the fall. Rather than moving through in a matter of hours, they will stick around for as much as a week. This tends to play havoc with anything (like painting models on a deadline) that is dependent on good weather.

I do think that I will finish the project in time, but it is going to be close.

Mark \\.

Saturn1B
 

I painted my tanks separately, and did the whole thing in subassemblies. Nothing is glued together yet except the capsule. I'm planning on lining up the seams for all wraps like the instructions.
I'm having a difficult time figuring out the correct masking of the base ring, are we splitting the ring in half for the black????
Apogee's instructions( and Alway's book) have the color demarcation about 1/3 of the tube length.
The Apogee fins are a LOT smaller then Semroc'
Thoughts???
Mark T

The Apogee fins are scale, and require either 2 degree cant plus some nose weight, or straight mount plus a bunch of nose weight to be stable. The Estes/Semroc kits do not require nose weight, as they went with larger non-scale fins. Since this is a display model, not a flying one, you could get away with scale fins, but that would be all scratch. The fins we've got might be larger, but with the built-up method of balsa ribs, they look pretty darned nice when done.

On the masking, if you're referring to the BT101 aft tube to which the fins mount, I think the Semroc spec's have the "upper" demarcation about 3/4" below the seam where the fluted shroud joins the BT-101 fin can, but that looks a bit high to me. I shot for the line being the midpoint of the corrugated wrap (wrap #2).

Paint demarcation line
 

So , I'm looking at my 1B now, there's 2 wraps, one smooth at the top, corrugated on the bottom.
Your saying that the black line goes halfway down the corrugation???
Mark