Only a few minor problems on the final phases of construction.

The EVA handrails looked lousy after painting. It looks like the primer leached underneath the bottom side of the rails when I painted the second side (I’d laid them on a pice of folded-over blue low-tack masking tape, to keep them still while painting). Scrap those and rebuild: not a big deal, but certainly an annoyance.

Last night, I discovered that the engine block is in the wrong place for the motor I was going to use (and for any appropriate motor I have). And it looks like it’s just in the wrong place for anything! I can’t figure out which motor I used to position the engine block in the MMT. And I know I test-fit the thing after installing the engine retainer. A quick call to fellow LUNARtics provided some solutions, some brainstorming provided some others. In the end: I’ll just tape the motor in, which everyone tells me will work just fine, and I shouldn’t worry.

The new EVA handrails are installed. The Nomex^® blankets arrived at lunch yesterday, just as Gene promised (thanks, Gene!). The recover harness are made, and the parachutes, with their blankets, are installed. The launch escape tower is attached (some say I’m living dangerously with this). The nose weight (inside the CM, to move the CG far enough forward that the rocket will be stable) is installed. I added a pair of rail buttons (thanks, Dave!), just in case a) the launch rod is a tiny bit too big for the launch lugs, and b) so I can launch off the 8′ rail guide, instead of 6′ or so rod, if I want to use a lower thrust motor for a slower, more realistic lift-off (but let’s be honest: nothing is as slow and majestic in launch as a real Saturn V was!).

Tomorrow: launch!