Ah, ok...

Got a quick question-- what are the cylindrical appendages and small finlike things on the back of the boosters on the 4 SRM Titan IV with the Apollo on top?? I haven't seen that before.

Later! OL JR

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On Titan III's and IVA's, those were the small red cylinders that you see most Titan III, sometimes the are white. The contain the steering fluid (hydrazine I think) for the SRBs. On the Titan IVB, they did away those in favor of the dual cylinders you see.

Ah, ok... should have thought of that... I knew about the big red or white "torpedo" tanks on the side of the boosters for steering fluid on Titan III, didn't realize they changed it on Titan IV...

Later! OL JR

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Ok... FINALLY getting back to work on the Saturn V...

After drawing all the detail locations on the main stage tubes using the wraps I previously made, now I turn my attentions to the nosecones and transitions that represent the Apollo capsules and SLA panel assemblies.

I'd already hardened them with ultra-thin pink bottle CA from Hobby Lobby a couple weeks or so ago. So, I took the 220 grit to them and sanded them down smooth. This eliminates the "grit" that the CA raises (balsa hairs and hardened dust) and gets them smooth enough for filler.

Now's the time to mask off the cone shoulders-- makes things a lot easier later on...

This time I tried something new-- ultra-lightweight spackle from Ace Hardware. I've used it before filling gaps on my nephew's 4H rockets (well, showing him how to do it) and it worked ok. I tried a new method this time. I wet a small paintbrush by dipping it in a bowl of water, knocking off the excess water, and brushing the top of the spackle to moisten it and mix in the water, and transferring it onto the brush. Then I brushed the thinned spackle onto the cones. I noticed that it doesn't go on quite as nice as the thinned Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler that I usually use, but it went on "ok"... sorta like cake icing... then I set them aside to dry.

Next I hit them with 220 grit sandpaper again to take the filler down to the level of the wood. It sands pretty good, but not as well as thinned CWF (carpenter's wood filler). Once I had the cones sanded down, I taped them to cardboard "handles" for priming...

Moved out onto the porch and gave them a couple or three good coats of primer. Now they're drying...

Later! OL JR

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With the cones primered and drying, I'm shifting gears to start some detailing...

First off is the S-II stage liquid hydrogen line fairings. There were five of these, four of which are evenly spaced between positions I, II, III, and IIII, with the fifth slightly off-center in Position II. The line fairings are right at 24 inches in diameter on the real vehicle. I bought two packages of different size bamboo skewers awhile back. The larger ones are about 0.156 in diameter, which at 1/152 scale, is just about 24 scale inches in diameter... PERFECT!

SO, referring to my handy NARTS Saturn V blueprints, I scaled out the size of the fairings, since they taper to an off-center cone on each end. They're actually a rather complex shape, as they actually have another "mini-fairing" on the left hand side of the individual fairings, but I'm going to just make them cylindrical and call it good. First we have to sand the bamboo skewer down smooth, as they are quite rough from the package.

Next, we need a 'reference line' the length of the skewer. I put two rulers on top of each other and traced the line onto the skewer, sorta like a miniature "door jamb" method. This is so we can get BOTH the off-center points in the same "plane" on the fairing. The pencil line isn't particularly durable on the bamboo, so I traced over it with Sharpie marker...


Next, I drew a scale representation of the fairing lengths on the edge of one of my worksheets... the fwd. tapered end is 0.461 inches at 1:152 scale, the center 'cylindrical' section is 1.033 inches, and the aft taper is 0.421 inch. Now I can handily transfer the measurements to the bamboo as I build each one...

Rolling it back and forth with the pencil inscribes "guide rings" on the bamboo for the tapers. I quickly learned to go over them with magic marker just to make the marks more durable. Also, put an arrow denoting "fwd" on the thing since the tapers are different lengths.

Next, using the hobby knife, whittle the bamboo down to the desired off-center conical shape. The point of the cone should be on the reference line and flat against the side of the fairing. I tried simply sanding them to shape, but the bamboo is HARD and doesn't sand easily-- whittling reduces about 80% of the work of making the tapered ends...

More to come! OL JR

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Next we sand the conical end down smooth. This is most easily done with a piece of 220 grit sandpaper held tightly down on the table, and sanding the pointed end while gently rolling it back and forth, accounting for the off-center point.

Bamboo will sand down to a needle-like point, so periodically round this off a bit to avoid skewering yourself (or the sandpaper). A few passes over/around the tip will take it down nicely. It doesn't take too long to make the tip quite smooth and properly shaped...

Next we'll cut the bamboo to the proper length for the fairing... roll the bamboo a few times with the hobby knife blade to cut the outside grain of the bamboo-- this will make for a cleaner cut. You CAN cut all the way through it by rolling back and forth repeatedly under pressure, but the hardness of the bamboo makes this a LOT of work and takes a long time. We just need to cut the outer grain a bit so the bamboo doesn't 'split' when we cut it.

It goes a LOT faster cutting it with a razor saw, after you've cut through the outer layer a bit to prevent splitting... bamboo is hard and it takes a bit to cut through it.

Once you're finished cutting it off, true the end up a bit on the paper and you're ready to start carving the other end of the fairing...

Later! OL JR

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Using the hobby knife, whittle the other end down to the proper contour...

Once you've got the basic shape, we'll refine it by sanding to smooth everything out...

Roll it as you sand it, and be sure you change the angle as you roll it to account for the off-center tip...

Once you're finished sanding, it should be just about perfectly shaped...

Later! OL JR

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Once you have the first one, ensure that it's the right size and shape, and trim it to fit the model. I find that the step up where it goes over the corrugated paper leaves an ugly and weak gap under the fairing where it attaches to the tube. So I trimmed and sanded a 'step' into the back part of it to lay flat on both the corrugated paper and the tube.

When you start doing the others, compare them all to the first one and make sure they all match for size, shape, and length.

Transfer the marks from the "step" in the first one to the second and subsequent fairings... that way they all sit the same on the tube fore/aft.

Using a rocking motion with the hobby knife, cut into the fairing a bit to make a clean cut up to the "step".

Shave the fairing underside down on the back part of the fairing, that will sit on top of the corrugated paper. This will allow for the additional thickness of the corrugated paper on the tube.

The hobby knife can only do so much-- the bamboo tends to carve "by the grain" and leave a slightly irregular surface. A few passes with a hobby file will take it down smooth as silk and ensure it's level all the way from the aft tip to the step...

Later! OL JR

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Next we need to flatten the front half a little bit, so it sits flat on the tube instead of rocking and rolling when we try to glue it down-- this will make for a stronger joint that will look better, since the fairings are not actually cylindrical but a "rounded box" shape merely to cover the liquid hydrogen lines where they come out of the periphery of the LH2 tank and "go around the outside" of the liquid oxygen tank underneath it, before the lines disappear back into the stage along the thrust structure to the J-2 engines.

A little touch-up sanding ensures a good tight fit. We don't want to sand down anywhere near as much as on the step side, just enough to keep the fairings flat and level when glued on the rocket.

Test fitting ensures a good, gap free joint.

Once all five fairings have been finished, line them up and make sure they're all the same length, as close as possible anyway. Pick three that are as close as possible to each other and use them on Position II, where the three fairings in close proximity to each other will make any differences particularly noticeable. The "oddballs" can go on the other side of the rocket where they're "by their lonesome"...

On photos of the real S-II stage, you can see that there is actually some tapered insulation that sticks up above the surface of the stage, onto which the fairings are mounted. There is also a "ring" of this smooth insulation just above the corrugated aft skirt of the stage, and each fairing also has a smaller block of this tapered insulation on the right side of the fairing (for some sort of mini-fairing/bump). The center fairing on position II also has a pretty good sized block of tapered insulation on the left hand side of it, on the position II centerline, for a LOX or LH2 umbilical or vent connection. I cut printer paper to size with a hobby knife and straightedge and glued it in the proper locations on the stage where the fairings will go. This will give a slight "3-D" effect to show where the tapered insulation actually is on the stage when painted (I hope). It looks a little rough now but it'll look a lot better painted (as will the fairings). (no, they're not curved-- it's the camera's perspective...)

Later! OL JR

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LH2 fairings all installed on the S-II... haven't filleted them yet. Probably just a touch of Titebond Moulding and Trim Glue should be all that's needed.

Here's the pics... enjoy!

Next back to finishing the balsa cones/transitions...

later! OL JR

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