Service Arm #7 - S-IVb FWD
- Mischa
- LUT model
The 45th anniversary of the moon landing pulled me to Rhino again, and at the request of a LUT hobbyist I took the S-IVb Forward Service Arm - the swing arm #7 - into my sights
It turned out that the swing arm is very complicated - it supplies 3 units, namely the upper part of the third stage, the Instrument Unit, and during the lunar landing missions also the Lunar Module, which is why it was reworked a lot and I wanted to throw the towel more than once due to lack of references. So instead of a planned week's work, it took almost eight.
Service Arm #7 - S-IVb FWD
And here it is. The cable men among you are finally getting something to do. This part is a true chameleon. Apart from the movable extension platform, which is common to all arms from #1 - #8, the thing has two more fold-out platforms - one at the top for the LEM umbilical, accessible via the chicken ladder, and another swallow's nest in the front of the picture at the bottom left, which is only poorly hung up on two hinges and squeaks suspiciously already at a glance. The view from there must have been breathtaking.
My pictorial material was a bit confusing in the beginning, because the extra platforms were alternately extended and retracted, until I got behind this well-kept secret. Of course you can build the two extra platforms in retracted or extended position, but I have renounced the mobility with a heavy heart. No, I did not count the parts.
For the real comparison we bring our LUT into the open - fortunately the weather is well controllable in the renderer. So it is a wonderful morning in Florida in December ...
Service Arm #7 - S-IVb FWD, comparison with the real thing.
... exactly said the 18th of December, at 9:42 a.m. (note the shadow cast). As you can see, the extra platforms are retracted on the original. It's Apollo 13 by the way, which is why I a second white prong on the instrument unit for the rendering; Apollo 11 had only one, it's just visible tangentially to the left.
Service Arm #7 - S-IVb FWD
Cape Canaveral in the early morning sun. There have been some changes on the model also on the Saturn V, I did it without the protection condom, because the rendering world is very weatherproof as I said.
Service Arm #7 - S-IVb FWD
Mr. Kolschitzky. There is a loose cable next to the red hose. Climb down, and have a look, yes?
