ATLAS V

Paper Model Kit

ATLAS V
This paper rocket kit is a designed to help you build a 1:150 scale model of the Atlas V rocket with your
printer and basic tools. As with all paper model kits, your level of success will depend on your precision
and the time you take. It is recommended to let the glue fully dry in each step before the next. Please
take care not to cut yourself and do not leave children unattended with sharp tools.

Your Atlas V paper model kit will require:

• 8.5” x 11” cardstock prints of the 4 pages at the end of this document, (save paper and ink by only print-
ing the pattern pages 16-19 and view the instructions online)
• A cutting mat
• Scissors and/or an x-acto knife (children should not use x-acto or be left unattended with cutting tools
and anyone attempting this kit should take care to avoid injury from cuts)
• Glue (super glue or other adhesive is not necessary)
• A straight edge or ruler
• A sharpened pencil
Optional supplies:
• A few toothpicks for applying glue to small areas
• A small dish to hold a dollop of glue while building
• A long wooden dowel or chopstick to help you apply pressure to glued areas far into the rocket body
STEP 1
Mark the booster (A) for solid rocket
boosters before cutting

Atlas V uses up to five solid rocket boost-

ers (SRBs) for added performance. You will
mark the locations for the SRBs first.

Determine how many SRBs your model will

have. This example shows five. If you de-
cide to have none, skip to the next step.

The numbers show the location lines for

the quantity of SRBs you choose to use.
Use a ruler across the blue marks at the
top and bottom of the booster (A), to light-
ly draw the SRBs location lines, using the
blue arrow as a guide. Do not go past the
blue arrow with your marks or the pencil
will show on the final model.

STEP 2
Trim out the booster (A)

Trim out piece A. Apply glue to the white

strip on the side of the piece.

Gently curl the booster to make a tube and

hold the glue until it dries in place.

You can use a wooden dowel or chopstick

to put pressure on the inside of the tube
where your fingers may not reach.
STEP 3
Score and trim the fuel line (B & C)

With the open blade of your scissors or

an x-acto blade, you will lightly score the
dotted lines on part B and C. For an x-acto,
you will want to either use the back of the
blade or extremely light pressure to avoid
cutting the score lines. You may want to
practice this first on a blank area of the
cardstock. These will be fold lines.

With scoring done, trim out each piece.

STEP 4
Fold and attach the pieces

Fold along the scored edges on B and C to

start to form box shapes out of each piece.
flat side
Next, turn part C over to show the white
side, with a flat end, and apply glue to part
B on the part as shown.

With the end of part B glued, flip B over

and glue to part C, so just the tab sticks
to the center-folded section, see photo at
left. This will make a bend in the final part.

STEP 5
Fold and finish part B of the fuel line

Next, add glue to the white section of part

C and fold to make a long rectangular box.
Add glue to the same area on part B and
fold it over as well to match (see red areas glue
on right).

On Part B, fold the two scored areas on

the white tab and add glue to the smallest
folded area. Next, fold it into the backside
to make a flat ramp, as shown in the photo.
STEP 6
Finish the fuel line

On the back side of part C, apply glue to

the white triangles and fold the scored
areas to close the back side of the part.

You have finished the fuel line, set it aside

for now.

STEP 7
Make the cable raceway (D & E)

Score the dotted lines on part D and E

before trimming them out. These two parts
will attach to one another, as a top and
bottom to the cable raceway.

Fold the scored lines downward for each

part. Flip part E over and fit part E into part
D and glue the edges on the sides. The
two pieces will fit together to form one
piece with part E making the back side of
the finished piece.

STEP 8
Finish the cable raceway ends

Each end of the raceway will need to be

finished in the same way you finalized the
fuel line. Fold the scored white triangles
inward and add glue to them, then fold the
center down and glue the triangles to the
center flap, making a rounded end cap.

Do this to both ends to finish the

cable raceway.
 STEP 9
Attach the cable raceway to the booster

The backside of the booster, near the

seam, will have an area that matches the
cable raceway shape. Apply glue to the
back of the cable raceway and affix it to
this location on the booster. Be sure to
keep the cable raceway on the booster,
top to bottom as the glue dries.

Do not glue the fuel line in place yet.

STEP 10
Attach the bottom of the booster (F)

Trim out part F which will be the bottom

of your booster. Please note this part has
a very small black dot in one location that
will act as a locator when you add the heat
shield. Be careful not to trim this dot off.

Wrap this base around and make a cone of

part F, and set this piece aside.

STEP 11
Make the heatshield (G)

Trim out the heatshield (part G) and wrap it

around, gluing it into a cylinder. Next, glue
the rectangular ends and attach this heat
shield to the booster piece you just made
(F), lining up the seam of the heatshield
with the locator dot on part F.
 STEP 12
Attach the heatshield and base to the
booster

Apply glue to the triangles of the bottom

of the booster (part F), and rotate the
booster so that the seam to part F and
the seam to the booster align. With those
seams lined up, you’ll notice the gray
align F shape on the heatshield lines up with the
seam to lighter line on the booster (shown to the
booster
seam align left). You can reach into the bottom of the
heat shield to secure the glued triangles in
place when the alignment is correct.

STEP 13
Attach the fuel line

Add glue to the top half of the fuel line,

and align the top of the fuel line to the
dark gray shape on the booster, as shown
at the right. Once the top is in place, add
a small dot of glue to the bottom attach
point on the fuel line, to attach the angled
part to the gray area on the heatshield.

STEP 14
Create the bottom of the heat shield (H)

Trim out part H, being sure to cut out the

pink portion of the piece. Fold the rect-
angles back and add glue, and set the
piece into the bottom of the heatshield.
Take care to place the two black circular
shapes, to match up with the white “U”
shapes on the side of the heatshield as
shown on the left.
STEP 15
Make the RD-180 engine nozzles (I & J)

Trim out part I and J on your pattern and

wrap each part around, gluing the ends in
order to make two cones. Next, add glue
to the small triangles at the base of the
heat shield. Push the engine nozzle cones
into each hole and even them out to each
other.

STEP 16
Make the Centaur interstage adapter (M)

Cut out part M, glue the end and wrap

to form a cylinder. Add glue to the tabs
and, while aligning the seams of both the
booster and the interstage, glue the inter-
stage into the top of the rocket booster.

STEP 17
Make the boattail (N)

Trim out part N, wrap and glue the ends

to form a slight cone. Next, add glue to
the triangles and attach the boattail to the
top of your interstage. Be sure to align the
seams to the back seams, so all the seams
are hidden on your final model.

STEP 18
Make the payload fairing (O)

Cut out part O, glue the end and wrap to

form a cylinder. Add glue to the tabs and,
while aligning the seams of the boattail
and the payload fairing, glue the bottom of
the payload fairing into the boattail.
 STEP 19
Finish the payload fairing (K & L)

Cut out parts K and L which will be the

nosecone on the payload fairing. Slight-
ly bend all the triangles back, then glue
the ends and wrap them into their shape
shown to the left.

Next, take the cone, part L, and add glue

to the triangles. Line up the seams from
both parts so they match up and drop the
tip of the cone into the wider side of part
K, to make a full nosecone. Center the top
of the nosecone (L) and press the triangles
down on the inside until they dry.

After the nosecone is dry, glue the trian-

gles of the nosecone into the top of the
payload fairing piece, as shown on the
right.

If you chose to add no SRBs, your

Atlas V 501 model is now complete and
you can skip to the model base. To include
SRBs, follow the next steps.

STEP 20
Trim out the SRBs from page 18

Each SRB will require one each of parts

P, Q, R and S. Cut out as many of each part
as you have selected for your rocket. This
example will show all five SRBs for our final
rocket.

Part Q requires the most patience and pre-

cision to trim. Cut out each section slowly,
and remove the black portion in the center
to leave a hole and four triangular points,
then fold them back. Be careful not to cut
yourself, as these parts are tricky and tiny.
STEP 21
Make the SRB nosecones (S)

Cut out part S and fold in half along the dot-

ted line. From the smallest/skinniest side,
add glue to one of the glue tabs and wrap
the cone shape around to meet and attach
to this tab. Let this dry completely before
repeating and attaching the second side.

Once both sides are glued, you’ll notice the

part is a bit oblong. Use a pencil eraser in
the end of the nosecone and round the end
for an easier fit into the SRB tank. When you
glue this part into the tank, you’ll want the
flat part of the nosecone to match the seam
of the tank.
STEP 22
Assemble the GEM-63 SRBs S

Nosecone (part S): see previous step.

SRB tank (part R): roll this around a pencil R
and glue the ends together to form a tube.
SRB Base (part Q): will be glued into the
bottom of the SRB tank to hold the engine.
Engine nozzle (part P): wrap around and
glue the end to make a cone.

Assemble the SRBs one at a time, making

sure the glue dries on each part before
proceeding.

Once each part is formed, glue the nose-

cone into the top of the SRB tank by adding
glue to the rectangles and sliding it into the
tank tube, flat side of the nosecone should Q
face the SRB tank seam. Then glue the base
(part Q) into the opposite side of the tank.

Add glue to the triangles in the hole of P

part Q, and attach the engine nozzle
(part P) by pushing it into the hole with the
glued triangles. Center the part before the R
glue dries.

Make as many SRBs as you need for your Q

model, up to 5 SRBs. P

STEP 23
Glue the SRBs to the rocket

Remember those lines you drew on the rocket

tank in step 1? You will now add glue to the top
half of the seamed side of each SRB (this hides the
seams) and stick them to the lines, one at a time,
letting each one dry and assuring they are straight
and lined up to each other. You’ll want to align the
bottom line of the SRB tank with the seam where
the heatshield meets the base of the booster.
COMPLETED
ATLAS V ROCKET
MODEL STAND
STEP 1
Make the base of the stand (T)

Trim out part T, as shown, and be sure to

score all fold lines in this stand model.
Score the lines by using the back side of
the x-acto knife or cutting very lightly so
the blade doesn’t go through the line). The
folds need to be crisp and 90 degrees to
provide a sturdy stand for the rocket.

Remove the black section marked “cut

out and remove.” The white portion of this
area can be scored and the corners cut to
allow each tab to fold down. See photos
on the right.

Add glue to corners of the box to make the

base for the stand. Allow glue to fully dry.
STEP 2
Make the support tower (W)

Trim out part W from the pattern, and

again, score all the fold lines for a clean
fold. Add glue to corners to make the
shape in the photo, a tall, thin box.

Insert the support tower (W) into the base

(T) and even the length with the side walls
of the base. This will ensure that the sup-
port tower is touching the ground or table
when it stands and will provide further
support. You can also add glue to the fold-
ed tabs to secure the base to the tower,
once you have the positioning correct.

STEP 3
Make the support arms (U & V)

Trim out parts U and V, scoring the fold

lines, then fold and glue together to make
small boxes.

Next, glue the support arms to the sides of

the support tower, at the very top, so that
the widest surface is attached to the tower.
See the photo for reference.

Let glue dry.

Add the rocket! The support arms should

fit nicely around the booster, just above
the SRBs.
ATLAS V
ROCKET
With Model Base