Introduction
Having been born in the 1950's, I was lucky enough to grow up watching NASA's incredible
growth and accomplishments of the 1960's and 1970's. Luckily, the model makers kept us
supplied with kits to quench our thirst for kits depicting our reach for the stars. Over the
course of ten years, I probably constructed every "real hardware" kit that was produced.
However, I had a particular love for the Saturn V and the oft forgotten workhorse, the Saturn
1b. I would like to have a dollar for each Saturn or Apollo model that I built between 1968
and 1975. I could then afford to pay for my hobby as it exists today.
After a 20 year sabbatical from building model kits, my friend, Barry Davidoff whetted my
appetite once again by introducing me to resin "garage kits". It wasn't long after this
reintroduction that I started seeking out my old loves, the Saturn V, Saturn 1b and Apollo
spacecraft. I built the 25th anniversary 1/96 Saturn V once again. After its completion, I
realized how inaccurate this model truly was and vowed that, one day, I would build a more
accurate beast.
Enter RealSpace
Models, New Ware Models and
Rick Sternbach.
Glenn Johnson of RealSpace Models has produced two wonderful resin kits to correct mistakes
in the model kits for two scales of the Saturn V/1b. In 1/144 [Revell and Airfix] he has
corrected the CM/SM/SLA pieces, bringing them to the correct shape and scale. In 1/96 [Revell-Germany
and US], he has produced an accurate Block II CM/SM along with the missing boost protect
cover. Glenn also carries 1/48 scale technical drawings of Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab and
their launch vehicles, all of which were drawn by master modeler David Weeks. Perfect for the
detail minded modeler. RealSpace Models is located in Florida.
Tomas Kladiva of New Ware has produced a 1/96 "upgrade" kit which supplies the missing
detailing from the Revell-Germany Saturn V in both resin and photoetched brass. Tomas also has
decal sheets available which provide for markings not included with the original kit and also
corrects some of the sizes and fonts of the Revell provided decals. New Ware is located in the
Czech Republic.
Rick Sternbach has designed the "Ultimate Saturn Decal Sheet" in various scales. However,
it was Rick's "Saturn
V Clinic" that pushed me over the edge to rebuild the Saturn V from (almost) scratch. I
have followed Rick's Clinic to scratch build my Saturn. Rick is located in California.
