Folks

I was reading again the description of the launch of Apollo 6 in Charles Murray's book "Apollo: The Race to the Moon". It describes a sequence of events following the failure of two of the five engines on the second stage, which ended up with the spacecraft reaching orbit "thrusting backwards."

I've tried to put the events together in my mind, but I can never quite get it to gel. Can someone explain what happened, or point me to a web-site which explains it in a bit more detail, please?

Also, I'm just about to start assembling the Airfix Saturn V model kit, and I'd like to get the colours as accurate as I can. But the photos at Apolloarchive don't clearly show some sections of the booster and spacecraft.

In particular, can someone confirm the colours of the following objects:

Top of the propellant tanks of the three stages (yellow? red?);

Inside of the skin of the stages and the interstage (yellow?);

Inside and outside of the engine bells on all stages, the SM and the LM (silvery? black metal?);

Base of the heatshield on the CM (pale yellow?);

Inside of the Boost Protective Cover (no idea!).

Thanks for any help!

From what I remember, this is a light creamy color of yellow. Data from KSC Saturn V exhibit.

Same color as the top of the fuel tanks. (I want to say one part insignia white, two parts yellow.)

Flat Black all stages

I've never seen one prior reentry.

Hope this helps. Try the Kennedy Space Center, Florida to see if they have disassembled booster pictures from their exhibit.

__________________
...what's so wrong with a little overkill?

Top of the propellant tanks of the three stages (yellow? red?);

Bulldozer yellow. Be careful using the assembly photographs as references. Many modelers use

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/ap11-69-HC-339.jpg
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/ap11-69-HC-340.jpg

as authority for painting the visible tank surfaces dark green or black. Be aware that assembly photographs show tooling and protective layers which appear integral, but which are actually removed prior to flight.

Inside of the skin of the stages and the interstage (yellow?);

Bulldozer yellow.

Inside and outside of the engine bells on all stages, the SM and the LM (silvery? black metal?);

Inconel is the substance. Not flat black. Try flat dark gray, and then brush the outside with powdered graphite.

Base of the heatshield on the CM (pale yellow?);

Pale yellow or tan. Think carpenter's glue.

Inside of the Boost Protective Cover (no idea!).

White, I think.

__________________
"Facts are stubborn things." --John Adams
Clavius Moon Base

Here are a couple links to Saturn modelbuilder sites, both of which have lots of links to reference material...

http://www.apollosaturn.com/modeling/modelman.htm
http://www.ricksternbach.com/SatV/Saturn_V_Clinic.html

http://www.thebest.net/jduncan/lm13jf/lm137.jpg

Hm. Scatter from a smudged window.

__________________
"Facts are stubborn things." --John Adams
Clavius Moon Base