Interactive Model of the Saturn V Spacecraft

Space is one of the most interesting yet least known frontiers we as humans are aware of. Despite being right above us, so many of us are oblivious to what truly exists out there. This changed in 1967, when the Saturn 5 changed everything. Below is a scaled down model created entirely in Fusion of said spacecraft, complete with an interactive, embedded QR code on the bottom which tells you more about the amazing ship.

Online Modeling:

1. Computer/Laptop
2. Autodesk Fusion

Physical Construction:

1. 3D Printer (Bambu Lab A1 Lab Mini Printer)
2. Printer Filament

Simply put, the Saturn 5 is one of the best aeronautical engineering and design marvels to ever be constructed, so how amazing would it be to make a model for yourself (scaled down of course). The silhouette of the spacecraft will be the same as that in real life, but the mechanics of how it runs will be simplified heavily, as the final product will lean more on the toy/personal model side than actual rocket. But for the flight enthusiasts out there, I will show you how you can design a rocket to fit a Size E Rocket Motor, and in the end will fix it up to create the smaller toy.

The very first step in actually making a Saturn 5 model rocket is to create the main frame. To start up on that, we are going to work our way up from each chamber to the next. In other words, the build will be made in a modular manor, where each new segment is layered and built upon the last. The first segment is also the biggest, at a height of 360 mm. The outer diameter of the circle that we are going to extrude is 54 mm. However, before you make that extrusion, you need to make a smaller circle within that circle, with its own diameter of 29 mm, which is the desired size to fit around a Size E Rocket Motor really well. Once you have this ring shape, go ahead and extrude that outer most part by 360 mm, creating a hollow tube that is perfect for the first step.

With the first and main compartment done, we can now move onto the second one. The process that is used to make the shapes hereon out will be the same, where we extrude up with a tapered angle and on that resulting circular profile, then extrude up a new cylinder. As for compartment 2, follow these steps:

-‎ Extrude up another 55 mm circle on top of the compartment you just made by 30 mm up at a taper angle of -16 (The taper angle is the little circular wheel on an arc that you see.

-‎ On that funnel shape, simply type E (The shortcut for extrude) and click on the circular top profile. You will want to extrude up by 70 mm. Fun Fact, in Fusion, if an extrusion creates a closed shape like we see here, you don't need to make a new sketch, you can just extrude as is.

With those 2 easy steps out of the way, you have successfully finished the second compartment of the Saturn V. The rest of the "Compartment" steps all follow the same process just with different values.

On top of the 70 mm cylinder you just made, extrude the profile up 44 mm with a taper of -9. Then extrude the new profile up 28 mm.

On top of the 28 mm cylinder you just made, extrude the profile up 15 mm with a taper of -30.7 Then extrude the new, tiny profile up 50 mm.

Finally, on top of that skinny rod, extrude up once more by 4 mm and a taper angle of -25.

To make the 4 Fin and Thruster combos you will first start by flipping the rocket upside down and making the sketch on the bottom ring profile.

Once you have started the sketch, create a circle somewhere to the right of the rocket. For now, the size and location of the circle doesn't matter, as we will define/constrain everything in a bit. Look at the "Constrain" menu at the top and click on the first one in the subset, which should be the Horizontal/Vertical constrain (It looks like 2 lines on top of 2 horizontal lines with red dashes on them). From there, click the center of YOUR NEWLY DRAWN CIRCLE and the origin of the rocket. You should notice that the circle is now perfectly lined up horizontally (up and down) from the rocket. Next up we will use the 2nd constrain open, coincident (Which looks like 2 the bottom left corner of a square). Once you've selected the option, click the center of your circle again and the outer ring of the rocket, which will snap the circle to the rocket edge. Lastly, select the 3rd option, which is tangent, and select first your circle and then the inner circle, which will as the name suggests make the two circles tangent to one another.

Your sketch is now complete, so flip the object view around to appear as a top down view of your sketch. You will then extrude BOTH profiles (The rocket splits the circle up, so make sure you select both parts), by a factor of -45 (Make sure it's negative so it goes the right way. You will notice that the extrusion turns red because it things you are trying to make a cut. To fix this, look at the bottom of the menu and change "Cut" to "Join". Finally, make the taper angle -16.

With the thrusters done, we need to make the fins. Start a new sketch on the front plane, which intersects the red and blue axis. Click on your line command and to the right of the whole structure make a very general trapezoid shape, like the one you see in the attached images. We are now going to constrain and dimension the trapezoid. Select the coincident tool and constrain the bottom line of the trapezoid to the origin. Then click the dimension function (Or type D for the shortcut) and select the left most line, and make it 26 mm. Next line is the bottom line, dimension it again and make it 25 mm. Then define the right vertical line (Not the slanted one), and make it 6 mm. The next step, and it's a bit weird, it to click and drag the leftmost line to the origin, which is the distance between the trapezoid and the origin, and make it 27 mm.

The sketch is now done, and we have to extrude the shape. Make the distance 2 mm, and then change the operation to join once again. The last little thing you have to change is the direction from "One Side" to "Symmetric", and change the measurement from half length to whole length. The fin is now done.

The final step is to use the circular pattern to make the other 3. Click on the create pull down menu, go down to pattern and select circular. Change "Object Type" to "Features". Then, look down to the bottom right of the screen to your timeline, and select the two most recent extrusions (Blue squares), which represent your thruster and fin. Then click the Axis tab, flip the rocket over again to access the hole, and select the blue rod which acts as the complete center of the whole model. The last step is to change your quantity from 3 to 4.

Congratulations, your model is completely done! From here, you have a model than can appropriately fit a Size E Rocket Motor (Link to Help with Launching), but from here on out, know that I filled in the cylindrical hole in the bottom and scaled down the rocket to a height of 7 inches, which is much smaller and better for a toy.

While the actual model of the rocket is done, Fusion's default material and color is a basic grayish matte sort of thing. It would be a disservice to the legendary Saturn V if we left it looking like this, so it's time to color and decorate the rocket. This is the chance for you to get creative and personalize the rocket to your liking. I chose to stay close to the original and pay homage to its simplicity, so I attached a shiny metal coating to the fins, thrusters, first taper and topmost cylinder. To the rest of the model, I applied a nice clean white metal to everything. The final product is aesthetic and beautiful, but still sleek in its directness.

To finally start making the interactive portion of this Saturn V model, we will create an embed a QR Code of a video which explains and showcases some of the history of the rocket itself and its groundbreaking launch.

1. Original Video: https://youtu.be/ViNcBQ8cDA0?si=XO7ZTD0mw8BBnumj
2. QR Code Generator: https://www.qr-code-generator.com/?

To start, save the video you'd like to embed as a QR Code to your computer with the link to the website above (Make sure it is saved as a PNG). From there, insert the image as a canvas with the "Canvas" command, which will allow you to put a 2D image onto a flat face, which in this case will be the bottom of the rocket. Once you have the image inserted, orient, move and scale it to your liking, and finish it by marking it as done. Once you have this, start a new sketch on that same plane and begin tracing outside the black borders of the QR Code. We are doing this so that we can extrude the shape into the actual model of the rocket, making it apart of the rocket itself instead of a "sticker" so to say. It'll take some patience, but when all your shapes are traced, cut it into the rocket by only a few millimeters or so, and you are done. To contrast off the bright rocket bottom, you can choose to add a black metallic color like I did.

**Not accessible on phone**

And with the model completely done, we can now export it from fusion as a 3mf file (Which I attached below), put it onto a flash drive, and upload it to a 3D Printer. For more help with the process, you can Click Here.

When you have it completely printed though, everything is complete. In your hand you can hold a much smaller, yet faithful, rendition of on of the best marvels of engineering ever (Which us to learn more about the space and world above our heads). Of course the rocket is nice in it of itself, but when you flip it over and reveal the QR Code, you see how truly interactive and cool it is for collectors and hardcore space enthusiasts alike. All in all, this was a really fun way to promote and share more about this amazing spacecraft, and have something physical to show for it as well. Hopefully you enjoyed the work, and perhaps may have even been inspired to create or print something yourself. Thank you all!