Lego Saturn V - Bags 11 & 12

 It's finally finished almost 2 years after it arrived.  The main delay has been COVID-19, where we were not able to see the grandchildren for about a year.  

	Both the boys arrived to help, the younger one has felt a little left out of this build, I think.  We are happy to have him, but some of this is beyond his capability, and there were times when he started to get a little bored. This bag was started at 18:18 It was completed at 18:52, taking 34 minutes.
	The rocket is about complete here, just the command and service module and the lunar excursion module to complete in the next box. We can already see that keeping this protected is going to be a challenge.
	The final bag is full of some of Lego's smallest pieces. The bag was opened at 18:53. We just got straight on with it.
	The whole thing was finally finished at 19:23, exactly 30 minutes later.  This bag really was one that showed how quickly the older grandson can work.  His small fingers are nimble and his sense of how the construction goes is remarkable.
	I have stood next to a real one, both vertically and horizontally.  A picture of the vertical one and me is here (https://3cephas.blogspot.com/2020/01/lego-saturn-v-introduction.html).  The horizontal one was broken down into sections. If I were to break this model down, all the detail would be there, but I'm NOT going to.

 

All that remains is for me to get a case and mount it somewhere to be on permanent display.  I also have to go back through these blog entries and add up the time for construction.

Lego Saturn V - Bags 7, 8, 9, 10

	On 23 Nov 2021 at 16:54 we finally started another run at building the Saturn V.  My grandson has come to tea with us and left the rest of the family behind.  It is just him and me. That is, potentially, the most efficient approach, although I suspect if I left him to it that might be even quicker. Today we are building the second stage.
	The bag is finished at 17:30. 36 minutes. The instructions have been straight forward.  Now it is time to eat.
	On 23 Nov 2021 at 18:43 we begin bag 8, this bag will add to the outside of the second stage.  I begin sorting out the bag, and I am informed that there is not so much here, so just go for it!
	The bag is finished at 19:06 just 23 minutes later the bag is finished.  We are eager to get on.
	So at 19:06 on 23 Nov 2021 we start bag 9.  This may be the simplest bag of the construction so far.
	The contents of bag 9 are built by 19:17, just 11 minutes.  I admit that I am struggling to keep up.  Where there are 4 'duplicate' parts to make, he does 3 and waits for me to complete my one.   We find a small error as we try to clip the small black quarter-circular pieces on at the top.  It is soon resolved using the excess pieces from the previous bag.
	Bag 10 is opened at 19:17 on 23 Nov 2021.  Some of the fixings in bag 10 are new.  They are designed to reduce the diameter of the cylinder at the top (see next picture).  We find  another small error as we try to clip the last or the 'grilling' tiles into place.  One of the internal clips is horizontal instead of vertical.  Some disassembly is required.  His small finger get in quite easily and turn the piece through 90 degrees.  All is well.
	Bag 10 and stage 2 is completely built by 19:44. Just 27 minutes for the last bag and a total of 97 minutes for stage 2.  I know we had a long break, but I thought that a 9-year-old would struggle to concentrate for so long - he didn't - I would have at that age.  He was also singing and dancing after eating 3 large cookies (too much sugar), but it didn't affect his work.

Lego Saturn V - Bag 6

On Thursday 12 March 2020 we completed bag 5 of the Lego Saturn V.  Today, almost 1 year and 5 months later, we completed bag 6.  The bag 5 blog entry is here.  Hopefully this means we can begin to get the build done.  I watched 'Hidden Figures', a film about the beginning of the space race, and three incredible women, that started the process towards the building of the Saturn V, it just made me want to get going again.  I have walked into the spare room countless times itching to get the next bag underway, but have remained faithful to the original plan - to complete the build with my Grandson.  Today I had two helpers, as you will see in the pictures.

Here they are with bag 6.  This picture is the second attempt, so the smiles are a bit forced, they just want to get on with it.

Bag 6 adds the engines to the bottom of stage 1 of the rocket.

We started at 18:41.

As usual, the eldest grandson sorted all the pieces out into colours and shapes, and we worked through the pages of the assembly guide. The eldest was way ahead, when there were 4 things to assemble before attachment, he did 2, I did 1 and the eldest then helped the youngest to do his, when he needed help.

As always, there were some fiddly pieces, and some pieces that relied on a little trial and error.  What I wasn't expecting was the prediction.  Before I had turned the page, he had visualized what we were doing and already knew where it would go.  We (as in I) just had to check the book to see that the assembly was correct.

We finished at 19:21.

We are all looking forward to getting this done now we are able to meet up again.

Lego Saturn V - Bag 5

Last Thursday, we had a chance to complete another bag, so we took it.  Then it seemed that we would be getting back on track next week, but now that seems less likely.  Today we have the social isolation requirements for COVID-19.  I am no longer sure when we will get the next bag underway.  

	Bag 5 completes the outside of the first stage of the Saturn V.  Look at last time's completion picture (here) to see the gaps we filled in. It is a small bag with lots of small pieces and contains a smaller bag with smaller pieces.  Again it has lots of repeat pieces to build and then attach to the main structure. We started bag 5 at 19:11
	After some very fiddly bits, where small hands had a great advantage, we clipped the panels we had made into the main structure.  On the way we noticed and corrected a small mistake in one of the previous builds.  My grandson knew how to get the pieces apart without causing a complete breakup. We finished bag 5 at 19:28, a total of 17 minutes. Unfortuneately there was no time for bag -6

This is progressing like a real engineering project - delays caused by outside events we have no control over, and small construction faults having to be fixed along the way.

Looking forward to the next time, whenever that is ....

Lego Saturn V - Bag 4

At last we get to build the contents of bag 4, so much has happened that I had almost forgotten about it (not really, I couldn't wait, neither could my grandson).  After bag 4 was applied there did not seem to be a great deal of difference to the base of the Saturn V.  This time though it seemed that one bag was enough.  My grandson informed me that he didn't want to do another bag after dinner.

Start	End
I retrieved bag 4 from the big box, it was unsurprisingly the second to last bag I found, despite carefully putting them back in the big box in reverse number order.  I didn't bother with that again! This picture was taken at 16:54	While assembling parts I noticed and corrected a small mistake before we added anything to the main build.  This build was a little trickier than the last three, with attention having to be paid to which way round axels were put into the bricks that supported them. The completion picture was taken at 17:35

Working to the same plan as last time, and sharing the workload, bag 4 took 2 of us 41 minutes.  Again the youngster was quicker and more accurate than the old man - such is life!

Lego Saturn V - Bags 1 to 3

Around 6:15pm on Friday 17th January my grandson and I disappeared into the spare room where a table had been set up ready for the build. He is a Lego expert.  That means I have to be very careful his enthusiasm doesn't overrun the project, and I have to take a step back and listen to his instructions.
"First, Granddad, I lay out all the pieces sorted by colour."
"Then we're ready for the build, so I will take a picture"
It's not just the build I'm interested in, but the process, and the time I invest.

Bag 1 - 18:29 to 19:02
The build proceeded well, the instructions were clear, and there were only a few minor mistakes that I needed to be picked up on.

That was it for week 1.

Bag 2 - 18:24 - 18:37
The build required 4 sections to be made and attached to the rocket already built.  The labour was divided so the time taken reduced.  Attaching them to the already built part of the rocket was the only thing that might have caused an issue.  That was my job, my build, my risk.  He was having none of it, a very wise grandson.

Bag 3 - 18:43 - 18:59
This build also required 4 pieces to be assembled and attached to the existing build.  Again, the labour was divided.  There were some minor checks made to ensure that pieces were correctly aligned, but otherwise it was completely straight forward.  I have the job of adding the pieces to main build, and for these pieces care and accuracy was required.  Now I begin to understand the 14+ age recommendation.

Bags 2 and 3 were simple so we decided to do them in one sitting.  We will make these decisions about each bag as we go.

Lego Saturn V - Introduction

I was given one of these for Christmas.  I hear it takes about 18 hours to put it together and that you can get a glass case to put it in so that it is nicely displayed.

This is therefore my new project for 2020, I hope to spend some time on it on Thursdays when I don't have home group to prepare.  Of course, I'm not entirely alone doing the construction because my grandson has asked to help.  The box says 14+, he is 7, but he already does 10+ kits, so I will have the help I need.

When we visited the Huntsville Space Center in 2012, I was fortunate enough to stand next to one (a shell, probably).  The stats are amazing, it is still the biggest, most powerful rocket ever launched.

Saturn V Stats Height 363.0 ft (110.6 m) Diameter 33.0 ft (10.1 m) Mass 6,540,000 lb (2,970,000 kg)

In the box there are 12 bags of Lego, each carefully numbered.  There is an instruction book (not booklet!), that I will have to follow VERY carefully.  For Thanksgiving, we visited Karen and Robert in Alabama, while there I helped their son with a 3+ kit, and even with that there were some mistakes.  Meaning dis-assembly and re-build. I doubt I will complete it inside the 18 hours, but then it's not about how long it takes... For today, though, just a peek inside the box.  Next update in two weeks (I hope).

American Christmas: Huntsville

We drove the three and a half hours to Huntsville and easily located the NASA Visitor Center – The U.S. Space & Rocket Center.  At the entrance there is a Saturn 5.  This rocket is THE rocket.  There are no others of such importance. It marks out the space programme so clearly.  It is enormous.   I stand and look, eventually I take a picture.  We have arrived quite late, having stopped for lunch at Cracker Barrel in Cullman.  The food is very good, and the portions are large.  We bought a few souvenirs to take home.  Then we travelled onto the space centre.  I’m back to the Saturn 5, I could stand there looking at it all day, but there is an exhibition to see.  The story of the moon race is laid out, but there are also many pieces of military equipment on display.  I hadn’t realised how tightly integrated the ballistic missile program and the space program were, I suppose it is not the sort of thing you think about as a child. In 1969, I was 13 years old and totally engulfed in the optimism of the 1960s, and especially the space program.  I was nowhere near as optimistic as von Braun, though, he thought we would get to Mars by 1970.  There is a hall dedicated to the Saturn 5, a life-size model stretches almost the length of the hall, and its stages are separated, so you can see the whole detail of the rocket.  The story of the moon landings project and the building of the rocket motors go down one side, and the other has exhibits about the astronaut’s lives in space.  At the end of the hall is a Lunar Module and a Lunar Rover.  It is great for children, with loads of things to try, and great for those who lived through it, but for the other adults in the party it is just a small part of history.  We have little time and I also want to see the shuttle (Pathfinder).
Some things are missing from the exhibition, or I missed them.  There is nothing about the astronauts that died in developing the space program (except for the shuttle challenger, and then it is limited to the technical investigation). There is very little about the Gemini programme, which is a shame.
There was one major disappointment, as a non-citizen, I am not allowed on through bus tour. The phrase on the website about credentials is meaningless, so I called them. NO FOREIGNERS.
After leaving the space center with a few souvenirs, we drove to Gadston, where we would stay for the night.  First we stopped at a restaurant called Top of the River. We went there to try catfish, there was way too much food, after the blow-out at Cracker Barrel. The catfish was served as gougons, which meant that the covering had to be removed to taste the fish. It tastes like cod, but does not flake, and is not chewy. Very full, we drove to the Marriot hotel, where we struggled to get a room. The woman on the desk said she could not use the coupon for both rooms, but could give us a better deal on the second room. We ended up with the coupon price - bizarre. The room was great, and the bed very comfortable, but the experience was further ruined by not being able to access the internet.

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