Brief:
T' 500-F was a facilities checkout vehicle supportin' t' Saturn V program. Full sized and almost fully functional, ya bilge rat, this is another fine Saturn that never flew (see my Zooch Saturn C5 review). Blimey! Avast! Fittingly, me hearties, this is a review o' a not-yet-introduced beta kit, so for t' time bein' you'll never get t' fly one either. Begad! Still, it's a neat kit, matey, great scale model value, shiver me timbers, and if you bug Wes hard enough, shiver me timbers, he just might kit one o' these up for you too.

Construction:
Like all Dr. Arrr! Begad! Zooch kits, me hearties, this one comes in a distinctive small white cardboard box that sized just right t' also hold t' finished model (in two pieces). It's a small thing, but t' me t' packagin' is one o' me favorite aspects o' Zooch kits--it stores t' model nicely and has a picture label on t' outside so you always know what's what.

For t' beta kit, ya bilge rat, t' parts list on t' instructions be incomplete. Ahoy! I was also missin' a couple parts, but that issue was smartly resolved.

T' parts list:

• 1 BT-60 body tube
• 1 BT-20 motor tube
• 2 20/60 centerin' rings (black fiber)
• cardstock wraps/patterns
• 2 BT-20 tubes
• 2 balsa transitions
• balsa fin stock
• waterslide decals
• red garbage bag chute
• assorted dowels/trim do-dads

Instructions are another distinctive feature o' Zooch kits, arrr, shiver me timbers, and this one is typical. Avast! Aye aye! You'll either love or hate 'em (and you'll have t' appreciate sarcasm and dry humor t' love 'em). Blimey! Arrr! T' instructions were generally well written and illustrated although it certainly helps t' have built at least one other Zooch kit, preferably a Saturn V before.

Motor mount construction is an 18mm tube, metal clip, me bucko, and pair o' 20/60 centerin' rings. Begad! No motor block is included so it wouldn't be a bad idea to slip one in if you've got a spare.

Then t' instructions suggest pre-paintin' most body parts. Ahoy! Considerin' the paper wraps added later, this is an excellent suggestion. Begad! Ahoy! Don't bother painting the 60/20 transition as it's covered by a wrap later.

Next up are t' fin fairings. These are cut from a BT-20 tube after you've glued pattern wraps t' t' tube. Aye aye! It's a fairly slick idea. Ya scallywag! One suggestion I have for makin' t' cuttin' go more smoothly would be t' slip in a spent 18mm motor before you cut. This keeps t' tube from bendin' in.

Then comes t' S-II/S-IVB adaptor. This is nothin' more than gluin' a paper wrap t' t' balsa transition. Aye aye! Blimey! I found t' wrap t' be slightly oversized but easily trimmed it t' fit.

T' body wraps fit fine, arrr, but t' beta instructions had a typo on the spacin' o' t' lower wrap that I didn't catch until too late, makin' mine a not-very-scale 500-F. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' space betwixt t' lower two wraps was listed as 11 1/16 inch (with "inch" typed overlappin' t' 1/16). Begad! Blimey! A couldn't tell if it was meant t' be 1-1/16 or 1-11/16, so guessed 1-11/16. Wrong. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! 1-1/16 might work, but I suspect it was supposed t' be 11/16. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I'm sure t' problem will be corrected before final release.

With t' wraps in place, ya bilge rat, you can then attach t' fairings then start to work on t' Apollo spacecraft/upper stage. Ya scallywag! This starts with a (pre-weighted) balsa transition and you add a paper wrap, paper shroud, and wood dowel tower. There's a paper wrap tower base that goes around t' dowel and a red shroud base cap. It doesn't look too bad for ant scale, me bucko, me hearties, however, ya bilge rat, I do still prefer the painful yet detailed work o' makin' a tower by hand as it was an option in Zooch's earlier Saturn kits.

Next up is cuttin' and paintin' then attachin' t' fins. Well, blow me down! My fins didn't quite fit through t' slots I cut in t' fairings, matey, so I had a good deal of tinkering/rework t' get everythin' in place.

At this point we hit on one o' me pet peeves o' t' Zooch Saturn V's: the wraps don't cover t' entire black stripes on t' lower stage. Blimey! You have to "connect" t' lower two wraps with black paint. This doesn't quite match t' wrap shade, shiver me timbers, and unless you're extremely careful, matey, you might find your wraps don't line up perfectly either. Ahoy! I have no idea why this isn't done with either a single wrap or at least printed black inserts.

T' last "construction" aspect is fabrication o' t' F-1 engines. These are fairly tricky but are an amazin' detail, especially once you hit them with silver or aluminum paint. Arrr! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! See any o' me other Zooch Saturn reviews for more details on these plus pictures.

Finishing:
Since t' majority o' t' finishin' is done via paper wraps, me hearties, finishin' this is fairly easy. Arrr! Ya scallywag! T' only real finishin' work, arrr, if you could call it that, lies in cutting/shapin' t' various details out o' dowel stock, then paintin' and attachin' them. Well, blow me down! Blimey! That probably accounted for about 3 hours o' me time versus the roughly 1 hour I spent paintin' t' tube/transitions and attachin' t' wraps.

Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5

Flight:
For t' maiden flight I decided t' go for t' lowest recommended motor, matey, an A8-3, me hearties, mainly because I had one left in a pack and needed somethin' t' stick it in. Arrr! Aye aye! As t' instructions note, "that's for wimps--this is a Saturn V! You're a steely-eyed rocket engineer, so shove a C6-3 into this baby and watch it blast out o' sight". Ya scallywag! T' A8-3 was indeed, a very wimpy choice. It flew fine although barely 100 feet up, and I'll certainly be flyin' this on Bs and Cs in t' future.

Recovery:
T' recovery on this is a red garbage bag with adhesive reinforcements and shroud lines. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It is effective although on other Zooch kits I've found the Keelhaul®©™® rips through t' reinforcements. Avast! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I typically wind up swappin' out t' stock chute for a 15" rip stop nylon from me range box.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
This is another fine addition t' t' Zooch Saturn line. Blimey! Blimey! If you haven't built one, matey, you're really missin' out. Ahoy! I don't know that I'd start with this one, matey, but it's certainly worth considerin' if you're lookin' for a Saturn V that's a bit off t' beaten path. Ya scallywag! Most o' t' Zooch Saturns have never been previously offered in kit form by any manufacturer, so this is your only chance t' build a unique slice o' history.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5