Attached are photos of my 1/96 scale Revell Apollo-Saturn V moon rocket. This model was engineered to allow it to be broken down to represent each phase of its moon journey. This “toy like” feature, along with the kit being modeled after an early static version, requires substantial modifications to produce one of the Apollo-Saturn V’s that went to the moon. Revell’s kit is made up of 188-plastic parts. Of this total only 53 were included as part of the finished product. The two main after-market sets used were New Ware’s Saturn Detail Set with Boiler Plate Cover and Saturn V Decals . This project would not have been possible (for me) without the “Detail Set”, which contained an incredible 82-resin and 134-photoetched parts. The most helpful information from New Ware was 7-pages of scale drawings showing very specific part location and painting information. This information saved me many hours of research and guesswork.
Because of the kit’s age, the molded parts were poor quality, thick, uneven and lacking detail. Throughout the entire project a good bit of sanding and cutting was required on every piece to get a clean appearance and good fit-up. Listed below are some of the more challenging details added during construction:
>The Apollo spacecraft was modified from the kit supplied Block I (earth orbit version) to a Block II (lunar docking version).
>The black striping requirements were very specific and very uniform over the entire model. A lot of time was spent verifying the correct location of each part, since each part became integral with the paint scheme. In applying the black striping, it was always critical to make the separation line between black and white as sharp as possible.
>Future floor polish was applied only to the sections where decals were placed. New Ware’s decals were excellent and went on without any problems. Testors Dullcote was then added to these areas to give the model a uniform finish. The small white serial number decals near the bottom of the first stage are the only way to identify that the model represents Apollo 17, the last moon mission.
>Realspace Models’ resin F-1 engines were used in place of the kit parts. These parts are represented with “batted-insulation”, which was on all of the Apollo-Saturn V moon rockets when they were launched.
Building this model was more difficult (and took longer) than I expected. However, the finished product is huge and an “eye-popper”!
I hope you enjoy the photos.
Phillip1
