[Saturn V]

GIANT SATURN V ROCKET MODEL

The development of the Saturn V rocket was the result of the US government bringing Wernher von Braun, and about 700 German rocket engineers and technicians to the U.S. as a part of Operation Paperclip. The program was authorized by President Truman, and its primary purpose was to give the U.S. an advantage in the Cold War through the development of intermediate-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The Saturn V was launched 13 times without loss of crew or payload. As of today, it remains the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket ever to bring humans to the Moon. 

The present model is finely detailed with stages that separate, a removable Command and Service Module as well as a removable Lunar Module. The tiny NASA employee at the base provides a sense of scale. The metal plaque at the base indicates it was a model made at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center by the Graphic Engineering and Model Studies branch. Models were instrumental in planning, advancing, and communicating details of the space program. 

There have only been a few 1:48 scale Saturn V models on the market as very few are known to have been produced compared to the slightly less rare 1:100 scale and smaller examples.