Brief:
Sheri's Hot Rockets Saturn 1B is a mid t' high power (38 mm engine mount), 1/48 scale model o' t' 1960's NASA launch vehicle, best known for launchin' Apollo capsules into Earth orbit. 

Construction:
T' kit that I purchased includes t' followin' parts:

• 1 main body tube, me bucko, 5.25" x 24"
• 1 38mm engine mount tube
• 3.125" Service Module body tube
• 8 half round body tubes
• 2 sheets white cardboard stock
• 1/8" fiberboard stock (for centerin' rings)
• 1 Styrene sheet 0.010" thick
• 1 Styrene sheet 0.030" thick
• 6 sheets corrugated styrene wraps
• 10 pieces 1mm x 1mm square styrene detail strips
• 1 cast resin Apollo Command module
• 1 cast resin LES rocket
• 5 pieces 3/32" round styrene tubing
• 1 Shock Cord eyelet w/ blind nut
• 1 Shock Cord eyelet with screw end
• 1 piece ½" x ½" x 4" long square balsa stock
• 1 piece 3/8" round by 6" long hardwood dowel
• 2 piece 3/16" round by 4" long hardwood dowel
• 2 piece 1/8" x 1/8" x 3" long square balsa stock
• 1 piece 3/16" x 3/8" x 18" long balsa stock
• 1 piece 3/16" x 3/8" x 4" long balsa stock
• 4 small wood screws
• ½" round by 6" long styrene tubing
• 2 launch lugs ¼"
• 1 set decals
• Full size construction drawing
• Instruction Manual
• Template Manual

Sheri's kits do nay include parachutes or shock cords--she recommends a 55-60" chute for t' lower portion and a 36" chute for t' upper portion.

I purchased me kit shortly after it was introduced. Ya scallywag! Sheri subsequently made some improvements, ya bilge rat, so I'll try t' reflect both me buildin' experience while pointin' out where changes have been made. Aye aye! Blimey! I had also purchased Sheri's Saturn V kit at t' same time as t' Saturn 1B. After I noticed on t' website that t' Saturn kits had been improved with more cast resin parts, matey, me hearties, I emailed Sheri askin' if I could purchase t' extra resin parts for t' Saturn 1B and Saturn V kits. Well, blow me down! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! Sheri be happy t' oblige. Begad! She'd upped t' price o' t' Saturn kits when she improved it, ya bilge rat, me hearties, so I paid t' difference betwixt t' current price and what I'd paid. T' additional parts for t' Saturn 1B were:

• 4 display engine nozzles
• 4 "Reaction Control Systems" (the maneuverin' rockets on t' command module)
• Escape tower parts (I didn't use these)
• Some detail parts for t' S-IVB stage
• New (improved) decals

T' kit uses t' same main body tube as her Little Joe II kit: big, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, heavy, shiver me timbers, 0.125" wall thickness, shiver me timbers, uncoated, and nay cut t' length. Fortunately, me hearties, me bucko, it's also very strong which proved fortuitous when I shipped t' finished model (details later). Ya scallywag! I described Sheri's Little Joe II kit as bein' "old school", matey, somethin' you had t' build nay just assemble. Well, ya bilge rat, me hearties, if t' LJ II was old school, t' as-purchased Saturn 1B kit be almost prehistoric. T' centerin' rings for t' engine mount and t' forward bulkhead consisted o' a piece 1/8" fiberboard, ya bilge rat, with appropriately sized circles "pre-drawn". Blimey! That's right, arrr, it was necessary t' cut out t' centerin' rings and forward bulkhead. I used a jig saw and was pleasantly surprised at how well they came out. Aye aye! Aye aye! Fortunately, this is one o' t' areas that Sheri chose t' improve, and t' current kit includes pre-cut plywood rings.

T' instructions for t' basic assembly o' t' rocket are reasonably good (34 pages) plus several more pages o' templates and patterns for makin' t' various parts and pieces. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! Blimey! T' instructions for addin' detail parts were weak--sometimes little more than "shape t' part from balsa stock per t' template", although anyone capable o' buildin' this rocket really doesn't need much more in t' way o' details.

As with t' LJ II, me bucko, t' main body tube and couplers must be cut t' length, and t' coupler needs t' be cut down t' t' appropriate slip-fit diameter. Avast! Avast! In addition, ya bilge rat, t' fin can is a little larger in diameter than t' main body tube, so it needs t' be cut and re-glued with an appropriately sized filler piece added in t' get t' correct diameter. Ya scallywag! As recommended, me bucko, ya bilge rat, I used a razor saw t' make all t' body tube cuts. Begad! T' razor saw cuts through t' thick body tube well enough but gettin' all t' cuts straight takes care and patience.

T' exposed fuel tanks o' t' first stage are made up o' half round body tubes (actually they are less than one half o' a body tube--closer t' a third). Well, matey, blow me down! T' half-round tubes are taped together with maskin' tape from t' inside. When you've jiggled t' assembly around enough t' get it symmetrical, t' top is glued t' a main body tube centerin' ring, ya bilge rat, then t' fin can is attached t' t' bottom usin' t' engine mount tube for alignment. Aye aye! It was tricky t' assemble t' eight half round tubes into an even symmetrical assembly, shiver me timbers, me bucko, me bucko, however, me primary complaint about t' half round tubes is that it's nay scale. Begad! Arrr! It's pointed out in t' instructions that usin' t' half round tubes saves weight, me bucko, which is needed as this is a heavy rocket, but t' half rounds are made from thick, me hearties, heavy tubes. Ahoy! Usin' complete thin wall tubes o' t' appropriate diameter would give t' proper scale appearance and wouldn't weigh any more than t' half rounds. Aye aye! T' fairin' betwixt t' fuel tubes and t' fin can is assembled from eight pieces o' t' 0.030" styrene sheet with each piece havin' t' be pretty much custom fit. Well, blow me down! Mine went together OK, but again, me bucko, care and patience, and lots o' green putty is required.

Like t' LJ II, t' fins are built up construction, me bucko, me bucko, usin' t' 0.030" thick styrene sheet. Avast, me proud beauty! I'm a little surprised how well this works. Blimey! Ahoy! T' fins are relatively easy t' construct, look good, shiver me timbers, and are impressively strong (like t' LJ II, I filled t' fins with foam, although I don't think it's really needed). Begad! Also like t' LJ II, corrugated styrene sheets are used as wraps t' simulate t' external stringers. Ahoy! This is an aspect o' Sheri's kits that I really like. It simply looks better than anythin' that can be done with vacuformed wraps. Arrr! There are three sets o' wraps for t' S-IVB stage plus eight pieces that go betwixt t' fins on t' first stage fin can.

T' cast resin Apollo capsule is nicely detailed, me bucko, but me example was nay well cast with a number o' small voids and other defects (it should be noted that t' capsule in t' Saturn V kit I purchased is much better, so perhaps I just got a bad one). However, me bucko, it's big, solid, and heavy (nearly 8 ounces) although t' instructions do say you can hollow it out without adversely affectin' t' stability. Ya scallywag! As noted above, matey, matey, Sheri provided me with cast resin parts for t' escape tower, arrr, but I didn't use them. I'd already built t' escape tower usin' t' styrene tubin' before t' cast parts arrived, matey, matey, but I don't think I would have used them regardless. Begad! I kind o' like buildin' t' escape towers although it is time consumin' (and I've built enough Apollo escape towers over t' years that I've gotten pretty good at it). Begad! Begad! On t' other hand, t' cast RCS modules for t' service module were greatly appreciated as were t' cast display nozzles and other detail parts.

An interestin' detail be t' use o' 1mm x 1mm square styrene strips t' add t' 'ribs' t' t' service module. Arrr! Avast! Gluin' all t' individual pieces and gettin' them aligned was tedious and time consuming, matey, but t' effect is striking.

T' instructions do nay go into much detail regardin' addin' t' external scale details t' t' model. You need t' refer t' t' full size construction drawin' t' see where everythin' goes, t' instructions notin' "You can add as much detail as you feel". With t' large scale, an impressive amount o' detail would be possible if you're so inclined (I wasn't).

Finishing:
As I discovered while buildin' t' Little Joe II, matey, shiver me timbers, gettin' a good finish with t' rough surfaced body tubes be tricky, arrr, so I tried somethin' different that worked reasonably well. Begad! Prior t' startin' t' assembly, me bucko, I took some Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish, thinned it very slightly with water, and with me fingers, rubbed it into all t' exposed body tube surfaces. After it dried, I sanded it down with 180 grit and then 300 grit sandpaper. Ya scallywag! Arrr! T' result was a surface nay unlike a normal, ya bilge rat, me hearties, coated body tube.

T' large size o' this rocket becomes smartly apparent when you start preppin' and painting. Ahoy! There is simply a lot o' area t' finish. Combined with t' fairly complex Saturn 1B paint scheme, me hearties, it made finishin' and paintin' t' rocket a major undertaking. Avast! Blimey! Maskin' around t' fuel tubes t' get t' alternatin' black/white color scheme was particularly tricky, but thar are limited options since t' use o' t' half round tubes effectively eliminates paintin' t' fuel tubes prior t' assembly. Ya scallywag! Begad! As purchased, ya bilge rat, me bucko, t' decals in me kit were mediocre as they were printed on transparent self-adhesive vinyl. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! Fortunately this is another area that has been improved. T' kit now includes a set o' very nice waterslide decals from Space Model Systems which are a dramatic improvement. Begad! My model is detailed for t' Apollo 7 flight (SA-205), which is probably t' flight that most people would want t' duplicate, arrr, matey, but if you want t' duplicate a different flight t' decals include all t' Apollo/Saturn 1B flights.

As originally purchased, I'd rate this kit as a 2 or perhaps 2 ½. Begad! Begad! However, most o' t' shortcomings have already been addressed (pre-cut centerin' rings, high quality waterslide decals, cast resin detail pieces and display nozzles) so I'd rate t' current kit as about a 4. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! My primary remainin' complaint bein' t' less than scale appearance o' t' half round fuel tubes. Sheri did raise t' price by $10 when she upgraded t' kit, shiver me timbers, but in me opinion t' improvements are more than worth t' nominal extra cost.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight and Recovery:
For recovery, me bucko, I added two 36" parachutes attached t' t' booster by 10 feet o' nylon strap shock cord. Begad! For t' upper section with t' Apollo capsule, I used a single 36" parachute, attached by about six feet o' heavy Keelhaul®©™. Aye aye! I also rigged up a harness t' hold t' capsule and escape tower horizontal, me hearties, usin' a snap swivel t' attach t' a screw eye that I'd embedded into capsule. Arrr! T' kit does nay include any motor retention, matey, so I added an Aero Pack engine retainer, ya bilge rat, me new favorite way o' retainin' large engines).

Due t' t' lack o' high power launch sites locally, arrr, I elected t' make t' Saturn's first flight at NARAM 50, which involved shippin' it cross country. Well, blow me down! Unfortunately, matey, while t' other four boxes o' rockets and equipment arrived in good shape, ya bilge rat, t' box containin' t' Saturn suffered severely. All eight fins where broken off along with several detail pieces, shiver me timbers, however that thick heavy body tube turned out t' be an advantage. Sufferin' minimal damage (in contrast, me hearties, a nice one-of-a-kind Nike Ajax model in t' same box be destroyed--literally broken in half!) After I got through swearing, shiver me timbers, I took some CA and repaired t' damage, ya bilge rat, after a little touch up paint, matey, me hearties, it didn't look bad.

This is a heavy rocket. Aye aye! Mine tips t' scales at 4lbs 4oz with parachutes and close t' 5 lbs flight prepped, so I decided t' use a 29mm H RMS motor. Arrr! My first choice was t' use an AeroTech H128W-S, me bucko, but I couldn't get anyone at NARAM t' sell me one so I ended up usin' an H238T-S. Aye aye! I'd seriously considered nay flyin' it after Walt Cunningham, one o' t' Apollo 7 astronauts, me bucko, me bucko, shiver me timbers, autographed t' S-IVB stage. Aye aye! Plus, for some reason it took three tries before t' RMS went together right (it also didn't help that I had a 24mm RMS cato earlier in t' day for unknown reasons destroyin' a beautiful Q-Modelin' Bullpup). Avast! By t' time t' countdown hit zero I be almost sweatin' bullets. Ahoy! T' sudden kick o' t' H238 got t' Saturn off t' pad in a big hurry--no slow, arrr, majestic liftoff here, just a roar and it was gone. Ahoy! It flew near arrow straight t' an estimated 500 ft with ejection very near apogee and t' chutes deployed nicely. Ya scallywag! T' rocket did suffer some damage at touchdown. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! It was obvious durin' t' descent that t' harness t' hold t' escape tower horizontal had failed (the snap swivel broke) so naturally t' escape tower broke off when it landed nose first, and in a bit o' bad luck, arrr, t' lower section clipped t' edge o' a rock wall as it touched down, arrr, me bucko, snappin' off two fins. Begad! Arrr! I suspect t' H128W would have been better, as with t' H238T everythin' simply happened too suddenly t' really look good, ya bilge rat, but t' rocket flew beautifully. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! I'd give it a full five stars. Avast, me proud beauty! A different attachment for t' horizontal harness is in order, but had t' lower section missed that rock wall, I'm sure it would have been recovered undamaged.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
After gettin' back home, I decided t' properly repair t' shippin' and flight damage then repaint t' entire first stage. Aye aye! (I didn't want t' repaint t' second stage, matey, t' retain Walt Cunningham's signature.) This required some new decals and once again Sheri be quite willin' t' accommodate me request. Blimey! Alas, I made a troublin' discovery while repaintin' t' first stage. Well, blow me down! I've long used Krylon spray paint t' paint me rockets. It was readily available, shiver me timbers, inexpensive, ya bilge rat, me hearties, and most importantly user friendly. Begad! T' key word here bein' "was". Blimey! Apparently, Krylon has reformulated their paint and in doin' so has lost some user friendliness. Begad! I painted t' first stage gloss white usin' a can o' t' newer reformulated Krylon then mask off and sprayed t' black usin' a can o' old Krylon. Blimey! Well, blow me down! This immediately resulted in t' dreaded crinkle, ya bilge rat, a problem I'd never before experienced when sprayin' Krylon over Krylon. Begad! Avast! Long story short, I ended up havin' t' completely sand down and start over again. Arrr! It seems t' new Krylon can be sprayed over new or old Krylon, but old Krylon cannot be sprayed over new Krylon. Begad! So if you use Krylon spray paint, beware that t' reformulated Krylon has a different label (notable by more restrictive re-coatin' instructions) and a different semi-conical cap.

As I noted before, me hearties, I be less than thrilled with t' Saturn 1B kit that I originally purchased, but t' Sheri's credit she apparently listens t' her customers and t' worst shortcomings o' t' original kit have been fully addressed in t' current kit. So while thar are a few items I'd still like t' see changed (full round fuel tubes for t' booster and coated body tubes all around), overall I give this 4 stars. Blimey! If you like big, this one certainly qualifies at 55 inches tall it's t' largest Saturn 1B currently on t' market. Ahoy! With its Walt Cunningham autograph, this Saturn 1B has become too valuable t' fly, which is a bit o' a shame. I've been thinkin' about perhaps buildin' another t' fly and even lookin' into obtainin' appropriately sized body tubes t' replace t' fuel tubes with full round tubes. But that'll wait, first I need t' finish Sheri's Saturn V kit that is currently under construction (I'm hopin' t' fly it at LDRS 28).

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5