More progress has been made on the SA-1 model. The final detail bits have been added. After going through more photos of the SA-1 vehicle, I noticed that the fuel tank on quadrant 1 does not have the same valve detail as on the other tanks. Instead of a recessed valve there is a raised detail where the on pad fuel fill and drain line attaches. I made this part with a stack of styrene strips with each strip getting smaller as they go up. This helped in shaping the part since it has tapers on both ends. The top appears to have a round shape so I sanded that in. The part then got attached over the original tank valve recess.
Next I moved on to the air scoops on the outboard engine fairings. I’ve been thinking of how I would model these parts since I began the build. I finally came up with an acceptable solution. I pulled out the Walthers piping sprue that I used earlier to create the turbo pump exhausts. I looked carefully at the ends of the runners that lead to some of the parts on the sprue. Some of the ends had a rounded profile and were close to the right diameter. I used a sharp #11 blade and cut off the hemispherical ends of the runners and then cut those in half. This left me with some 1/4 sphere shapes that were close the size needed. I then glued them in place on the fairings and used the #11 blade to shape them to more closely match the correct profile. They may still be slightly oversized but they look close, so I’m going to leave them at that.
Next I noticed that there were vent openings at the top of some of the fuel and LOX tanks. Not all of them just some of them. I found some drawings online that showed the plumbing of those vents. The drawing along with some photos allowed me to determine which tanks had the vent holes. I used a small drill bit in my pin vice and made the vents.
I then primed the upper dummy stages and the first stage. I’m sure it won’t be the last time I prime these parts. It seem that every time I think I’m done, I find some more pin holes that need to be filled. I also attached the engines and turbo pump exhausts to a paint stir stick and primed them as well.
The next thing will be to glue the upper stages to the first stage. Some more sanding and filling will be required at the join. But that is for next time. Thanks for looking.
Luhman-ations 