The built-up fin design might be better for keeping the weight of the tail section down. Have
you read about Drew's 1/100 Saturn 1-B flight from this past weekend (thread in The Rocketry Forum)? I think he used solid resin type fins and, even with added noseweight,
has some problems with his model pinwheeling shortly after launch. You may recall that
Centuri's Saturn 1-B used hollowed vacuformed plastic fins...

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Dave, NAR # 21853 SR.

It is a faithful recreation of the original, except the ribs are laser-cut and fit with much less sanding. The exterior is the same high gloss .010" cover stock that is used on the shrouds of the Mars Lander and Point. They do go together much easier than I thought they would. We also supply eight laser-cut 1/8" light balsa fins for those that don't want to build the paper and balsa rib fins.

It has been a battle to avoid changing anything that would take away from the positive experience of recreating the Gene Street et al interpretation of the Saturn 1B. If one desires to make a true scale of the SA-207 Saturn 1B, there are many better ways of doing it and this kit is at best a starting point. If you want to relive the path taken after (allegedly) Gene Street grabbed a handful of BT-50's and asked if they could be the starting point for a Saturn 1B, this should be a fun kit. Some of the "mistakes" are easy to "fix" but they are left in as a tribute to Gene Street. Vern said Gene passed away about five years ago. I had hoped to meet him and tell him how much I admired his work as Chief Illustrator at Estes. His drawings in the early days still provide inspiration to me about how model rockets are supposed to be drawn.

I asked Vern if it was true that the K-29 Saturn 1B was designed by Gene. Vern said it was a team effort, but Gene "had a mightly big hand in it!" Gene Street is another model rocket pioneer that I would like to be remembered.

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Carl McLawhorn
NAR#4717 L2
semroc.com

Ahhh, perfect! It's the cutting and fitting that had me skeered.

With luck I'll fly my Saturn next summer . . . 33 1/2 years after I bought it!

Anyone spotted this in the wild yet? http://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts...ts.asp?SKU=KS-1

The Saturn 1B is my all time fav real life rocket.

I can't wait to get my hands on a kit and if the quality is anything like the Mars Lander then I'm in 7th heaven

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Leo

My rocket fleet and more @ Leo's Leisure Site and on YouTube - My latest project: ALTDuino

Ah......now that's what I've been saving my gift certificate for

Don
NAR 53455

Carl, I, like everyone else here, am looking forward to building this kit. I thrive on kits like this,
like your Mars Lander, something other than 3 fins and a nosecone.

wick

I *was* saving mine for the Saturn 1B and the Little Joe II but I got tempted by some other kits while I was waiting and now it's all spent.

Guess I'll have to shell out real money when they are available.

I planned on saving my Semroc gift certs for when the Saturn 1B and LJII came out but I spent them on Hustler, Aero Dart, Taurus, Explorer, and Lil' Hustler kits !
I'll have to shell out real cash too !

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When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

Great. The very week I order a 1B from elsewhere, this happens.
Oh well.

So lemmesee, I wonder how many dollars worth of stuff will I have to order to see "Saturn 1B" pop up as a choice in the free gift spot of the Semroc online order form?