The following are from my own experiences, YMMV and all the standard
disclaimers.


Video instructions:
It should be obvious, but if you have the disk space to copy the
entire instruction CD to the HD, you won't have to wait for a movie 
to load, listen to the whine of the CD, etc.  Okay, it wasn't obvious
to me until yesterday...


Gluing down the wraps, one more note:
The technique I described of using medium CA to glue down the wraps is
leaving, in places, a tiny fillet that really should be sanded off. 
Another good reason to master TVM's use of thin CA for that purpose,
since thin CA doesn't leave a fillet.  Memo to myself on the upper
stage wraps:  wipe off any excess CA more carefully, while pressing
the wrap into place.


Big couplers:
I made both of the large couplers rather a tight fit in the main tube.
 Better a tight fit than a loose one, I reasoned.  Not a very good
idea.  The coupler for the upper section should indeed be a reasonably
snug fit.  However, if the coupler that holds the nozzles is a really
tight fit, it will be difficult to remove the nozzle assembly.  Since
that assembly is just for display....  I'll have to sand mine a
little.

Another reason for a snug-not-tight fit:  the couplers will better fit
the centering rings, making it easier to center them properly when
gluing.


Cutting the wraps:
I found that by holding the knife at a very shallow angle, it follows
the indentation better than if held high.  You may find exactly the
opposite.  It's a personal kinda thing.

Nevertheless, in a few places the blade left the indentation.  I ended
up with wraps that had a less-than-perfect cut edge (uneven by perhaps
a half-millimeter in a few places).  I tried sanding the edge
carefully with 400 grit paper.  The wrap is too flexible to sand
easily.  Anyone else have a cure for uneven edges on the wraps? (those
of you who have the kit will understand why a straightedge is kind of
hard to use).  Anyone really worried about it?  Okay, so maybe I'm
being just a little anally retentive here... :-)

I started cutting with a brand new el-cheapo brand blade, and it
wasn't new enough.  (Memo to myself:  buy some good blades.  Or steal
a scalpel from one of the bio profs' labs at lunchtime.)

Go ahead and cut the long edges of the wraps, but leave the ends uncut
at first.  Or at least leave them a little long.  They have to be
trimmed to length anyway, and you don't want to trim them too short.


1st and 2nd stage Tunnel Covers:
The long balsa tunnel covers weren't perfectly straight but are very
slightly curved, maybe a sixteenth of an inch.  That's not much, but
you can run into a minor problem in  "Orienting the Vacuum Form Wraps
Part 2".  A curved tunnel cover may throw off the alignment of some of
the wraps just a bit.  Solution:  Draw a straight line on the tube
where the edge of the tunnel cover is to go, and use it for alignment.
 
Presumeably anyone building this kit has seen TVM's errata page at
www.apogeerockets.com/Saturn_errata.asp.  Considering that there are
ninety-odd pages and I-dunno-how-many movies in the instructions, he's
done a tremendously accurate job.

P'rfesser
...having never forgotten any of my own mistakes, I've gotten very
good at repeating them, over and over...