Model Rocket Building Blog
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 1, Plans and PartsThis model was from Peter Alway's Home Page. I can't seem to find it now! If anybody has a link, let me know. The website had plenty of sport and scale plans including a Vostok, Saturn I and a Flying Rabbit that looks better than the old Estes Cloud Hopper. You can get Peter Alway's ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 2, Small DetailsWhile I wait for the BMS order to arrive, the small details are made. I found the PDF files for the Peter Alway Saturn IV. They aren't online, I have them on my hard drive. If anyone wants to build the Saturn IV, email me at oddlrockets@bellsouth.net Ask for the the Saturn IV PDFs. I'll send ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 3, Small DetailsThe four Antennas (Part U) are made from the discarded centers of the adapter rings. Whether die-cut or laser cut you'll want to square up the angled cuts on the outside. If your center piece is die-cut, there might be some buckling of the card stock on on side. Sand off the raised areas. This ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 4, Details and FinsThe Antenna Panels (Part T) are cut from thin cardboard. I doubled over some 110 lb. card stock to make it thicker. Glued stick was used. Two Antenna Panels were cut out and the edges smoothed. Six fins (Part K) were cut out of 3/32" balsa. I'd thought about using basswood but went ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 5, Parts and Tubes!I had already started making the small details (last picture below) and fins using parts I had on hand. After I received my order from BMS, here's the remaining parts needed. There are seven BT-5 tubes, six outer tank tubes cut to 6" long. The central vent tube is cut to 6 1/2" long. In total, ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 6, Engine MountThe engine mount should have been a standard assembly. The 20-60 centering rings were a little big around the BT-220 engine tube. In the past I've ran a line of white glue on the edge of the ring to make the diameter smaller. This time some copy paper was wrapped around the engine tube ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 7, Pre-Assembly PrimerThe six outside BT-5 tank tubes almost fit into the surrounding BT-60 tubes. Later on they will be glued 1/2" inside the BT-60s. The tubes were marked at the 1/2" mark. It's pretty easy to dry fit all the tubing together for primer spraying. When the tubes are dry assembled and sprayed ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 8, Painting Alternating Tank TubesIf you've ever built a Saturn 1B, painting those tank tubes is hard after assembly. This model has the alternating black and white tanks. I'll save some painting headaches and paint them before gluing it all together. Three of the six 6" long BT-5s were taped down to cardboard for ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 9, Gluing Alternating Tank TubesDown the center of the BT-5 tank cluster is a 6 1/2" long BT-5. The ejection charge will pass through this central tube. I dry fitted two tubes between the 5/60 rings for a friction fit. Both the 5/60 centering rings were glued in place with about 3/16" of the center tube extending on both ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 10, Shroud FittingThe 55/60 card stock adapter was fitted. Instead of two 55/60 rings I used three for some more support. The highest ring is right under the edge of the shroud. I didn't do a nested "Super Shroud" on this model. The shroud was too narrow at only about 5/8" high. White glue was run ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 11, DetailsWith a dry fit of the assemblies you can finally see how the model will look. The antenna panels were rounded before gluing onto the body tube. Two panels go on opposite sides centered between two fins. The quarter round antennas were glued about 1/4" from the sides of the panel plates. ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 12, DecalsOkay - With the TLP Pershing finished, It's back to the Peter Alway Saturn IV! Decals are needed and had to be drawn up. These are a little like the Saturn 1B, the UNITED STATES is vertical down the white Redstone engine tubes. Here's what I came up with. It all fits on a 1/4 sheet with ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 13, Planning The Lower Black MaskA coupler was used to join the upper and lower sections to spray the gloss white. Here's the model after spraying. The BT-5 tube center section was already sprayed and glued together. The rear mask was hard to figure out. If you've ever masked a Mercury Redstone you know what I mean. The ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 14, Black Paint MaskTo make sure the horizontal masks were correct, my straightedge was set into the root edge of the fin an a pencil line drawn. Look close and you can see the pencil lines. With the Scotch tape masks in place, On the left the black goes above the tape, on the right the black goes below. This was ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 15, Cleaning Up Mistakes, TipsMr. Clean Magic Erasers come in handy to remove paint over spray. These are also good for general rocket cleaning. Go light and easy with them, they can also remove the base paint color. The Magic Erasers can also dull a gloss finish. use with a light touch. I was as careful as I could be ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 16, Cleaning Up Mistakes, TipsGoo Gone can also be used to pick up over spray, but it is more aggressive than the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. Again, go lightly. There is still some black paint around the detail pieces. A little Goo Gone was applied to a Q-Tip and the excess wiped off on a paper towel. Apply the Goo Gone ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 17, Upper Body Trim, Part AThe upper black squares were easy enough. I could have masked and black sprayed but went the easy route with my favorite trim material, the Contact Paper blackboard covering. To make the trim pieces for the shroud, another print was made on 110 lb. card stock. I needed it thicker so I ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 18, Upper Body Trim, Part BThe cut tape wouldn't fit tight under the small dowel details. I used my center punch to cut small relief areas to go around the base of the dowels. Here's how the vinyl looked after punching. There is only two small recesses along the top. The front and back views with the black vinyl ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 19, Paint FixesHow did this happen? This will have to be re-shot. I didn't want to shoot everything again, so there was some selective masking. The surrounding areas were outlined with masking tape to sand down the paint edges. The tape protected the surfaces around the bad mask. Light sanding with 400 ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 20, Paint FixesThere was some rough spots around the card stock details. I didn't want to re-spray the white. Because the model will end up sprayed with a dull coat, I can get away with some touch-ups. The final dull coat will hide any uneven paint surfaces. I push a snack bag into a mixing cup. Spray the ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 21, "Lander" DisksMr. Alway added some details into the nose cone to simulate a lander. Three center disks from a die-cut 5/20 centering ring is glued to the nose cone. The three disks are spaced 120 degrees around the base of the nose cone. I didn't have any disk centers. I traced around a BT-5 tube on some 110 ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 23, Decals Part BThe instructions say to: "Cut double grooves in the nose cone to represent recessed landing legs. Paint silver." It'd be pretty difficult to cut grooves into a thin plastic nose cone. You'd only have one chance to get it right. I had to come up with something different. I made a template and ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 22, Decals Part AThree UNITED STATES decals go down the white center tubes. This was one of the few times the decal center was right between the two words. Mark the tube center with a light pencil line Look down the tube from the rear to be sure it is straight. After it is in position, remove excess water ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 25, Decals Part DTwo small triangles go beneath the angled launch lug details. On the white side the triangle is black, on the black side it is white. The black decal was simply cut off an extra black decal block. The white triangle was cut from some extra self-adhesive vinyl I had in the spare parts box. Hang ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 24, Decals Part CThere are six round circle decals going around the top of the nose cone. Spacing and aligning these took some extra time. A paper strip was wrapped around the cone tip and the overlap marked. This length was divided into six sections. These marks were transferred onto some masking tape. The ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV Build, Part 26, Oops!Did you ever look at a finished model and think: "Something just isn't right?" That center section seemed long, and was! I cut both BT60 sections at 3 1/2" long. The bottom section is 3 1/2", the upper BT-60 should have been 2" long. Don't ask me why I did this. It didn't look right and ...[Read More]
Peter Alway Saturn IV, FinishedA standard Estes tri-fold shock cord mount was used. A long 1/8" thick shock cord was attached to a 15" Odd'l Rockets parachute. The picture above was taken before the middle section was shortened. If I remember correctly, this design won the Estes Design of the ...[Read More]
Alway Saturn IV Found!At the last R.O.C.K. launch on May 3, my new Peter Alway Saturn IV landed 50 feet up in a tree! Yesterday I walked over to the rocket eating trees. I looked up to see if it was still in the high branches. Before leaving I did a quick sweep of the ground. The Saturn IV body ...[Read More]
The BIG FIX, Alway Saturn IV, Part 1My Alway Saturn IV sat in a tree for a month after a B6-4 flight last May. At the June club launch I found it at the base of a tree. It was wet and the soaked body tubes were squishy. CLICK HERE to see the story. I let it dry out. While the tubes are showing their seams now, the model feels very ...[Read More]
The BIG FIX, Alway Saturn IV, Part 2When exposed to the elements, you can see how the BT-5 tubes re-shaped the BT-60 lower fin can tube. Wood glue was dripped down the sides where the tube cluster would make contact. More glue was added to the bottoms of the BT-5 tubes before it was slid together. Good thing I remembered there were ...[Read More]
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