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as205

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Everything posted by as205

  1. Well, it's pretty well known that it is a bit too small, but for this build I may not do anything about it. The texture on the descent stage is over done and makes it harder to correct errors. Since I'm about to the paint and detail parts on the ascent stage, I guess I'll have to start thinking about what I want to do with the descent stage. Randy
  2. With the major modification of the Ascent Stage complete I glued the Ascent Stage together. I then spent some time filling and smoothing the modified under side of the Ascent Stage. The face is not glued in place. I’ll have to wait until the painting is done because of the windows in it. I was happy that all the pieces of the Ascent Stage fit together very well and will need little to no filler. Here is a photo that shows some of the panel lines. I haven't check but I'm sure that some of the facets are not at quite the right angle, but I'm not going to fix t
  3. Pete, I'm not sure what TangoPapa coats his decals with, but the ones I've used I didn't overcoat them with anything. However, if I'm working with old decals I'll apply a layer of Microscale Decal Film just in case. When I print my Alps decals I apply a layer of the Microscale Decal Film and they hold up quite well. I hope you can save the decals. Randy
  4. The Alclad chrome paint was not curing properly. It couldn’t be touched without leaving prints or damaging the paint surface. So I’m going to have to clean the Command Module up and re-spray it. Part of it may have been me. I painted it at 20psi and it is recommended to use 15psi. I also was painting it during a cold snap and the garage was much colder than it is when I usually paint. Hopefully, this next time it will cure properly. I will also be applying a clear gloss coat over it before trying to handle the model. Anyway, while I get ready to redo all that, I decided to start on
  5. While the paint was curing I started on the Steerable High Gain Antenna. I painted the PE dishes NATO Black. The mast was painted Vallejo Silver and the rest was left primer white. I took some 32 gauge wire and cut some to the length needed and bent them to run from the SM/SLA Electrical Umbilical Disconnect to the holes that I had previously drilled in the back of the Service Module. I painted them Tamiya Flat White. When they were dry I glued them on with some CA. You can also see that I painted the SPS engine curtain yellow. I also finis
  6. I took a bit of a detour before continuing on with the SM. I decided to go ahead and build the docking probe. It consists of four parts. In the photo below the parts are assembled from left to right. After assembling them you get a pretty nice representation of the Apollo docking probe. I dry fitted it to the Command Module to see how it looks. I’ll keep it around if I ever decide to display the CSM alone. I then went back to prepare for painting the CM and SM. Here I have already primed the CM and the SM nozzle and then sprayed
  7. Nice job Pete! It's always great to finish one of those builds that have been stalled for so long. Randy
  8. The last time I dropped a tiny part like that (about a couple of months ago) I had to resort to a vacuum with some nylon hosiery over the end to catch the part. I was amazed that the plastic eating carpet allowed it to return. I haven't noticed in your other posts, what do you use to apply the tiny amounts of glue to the tiny parts? This is really an unbelievable build!
  9. Good to see you back at it. My LM will probably have to wait until after the holidays before I get to it. The paint on the Dragon CSM is give me some fits right now. Randy
  10. Thanks habu2, I'm disappointed at the missed opportunity by Dragon. They had all the research available to them yet they still did some dumb things. But it is a much better starting point than the original Revel kits. Plus, it did give me a set of spacecraft in 1/72 scale, that was never available in injection molded form before. I do wish they were still in production. There are a couple of them that I didn't get, in particular the 1/48 CSM. Now they are only available at outrageously inflated prices. You are right though about the Saturn V. I've got one in the
  11. I glued the rear bulkhead to the Service Module. The rear bulkhead does not cover the full circle of the cylindrical SM. To fix that I glued on a strip of 0.040 x 0.010 strip stock to fill the gap and then sanded off any extra. Next I folded the SM/SLA Electrical Umbilical Disconnect PE part and glued it to the rear bulkhead. I also drilled three small holes into the rear bulkhead for some wires that will run from the Umbilical Disconnect to the base of the high gain antenna array. The wires will be painted white and added after SM is painted. I then moved t
  12. Beautiful work. The last LM I built was way back in '72 when I was a freshman in high school. (If you don't count the LEGO LM I built a couple of years ago.) Unfortunately I no longer have it. I have some remnants of it in a scrap/spares box. I hope mine can look half as good as yours when I tackle the Dragon LM in the near future. Randy
  13. Time to add the New-Ware details to the Service Module. I started with the PE parts for the RCS panels. You can see that I filled the recessed detail lines on the model. I had to fill them since their lines were slightly larger than the PE parts. The PE RCS panels look really good, but they are very thin and you need to take care when bending them to fit the curvature of the SM. In the above picture you can just make out the back of the PE flyaway panel. Here is the view from the front. Next I applied the rest of the PE parts to the fuel cell panel.
  14. Pete, That looks great. Good save on the decals. I really enjoy viewing your models. Randy
  15. I've started on the Service Module main structure by cutting a hole for the PE flyaway umbilical panel from the New-Ware detail set. I used my X-acto knife handle to give the PE part a curve to help it match the curvature of the SM. I tried to reduce the thickness of the plastic in that area as well. Hopefully without weakening it too much. I needed to drill a hole for the model mount to go. Dragon has put a depression on the inside of one of the parts for this. I won’t be using their display stand but the hole is perfect for my mount as well. After drilling out the hole I p
  16. Very nice work as usual. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product. Randy
  17. I started on the Service Module by looking at the forward bulkhead where the Command Module will attach. The instructions indicate that you should drill out the holes where the CM braces will attach to the forward bulkhead. It seems simple enough. However if you carefully examine the part something strange begins to appear. Here is the forward bulkhead with what appears should be the top. The problem is the locating pegs for attaching it to the SM are on the wrong side. You also see something that apparently represents a tank dome. When you turn it over you
  18. Thanks, Pete. Yes, Tom does do pretty good work. I've bought several of his upgrade kits. BTW, I did some experiments on an old 1/96 scale CM and found that it was possible. With that knowledge I grabbed my Dragon CM and drilled out the roll thrusters. I think they turned out good enough. Now, it really is ready for a first coat of primer.
  19. I'm starting a new model build. This will be the Dragon Apollo 11 Lunar Approach in 1/72 scale. This will fill out my 1/72 scale US Manned spacecraft set. I've previously built the Horizon Models Mercury Spacecraft and the Dragon Gemini Spacecraft. I also have a 1/72 scale Space Shuttle Columbia that I built many many years ago. Here are the parts for the CSM. I'll be building the LM after the CSM is built. I'll also be using the New-Ware upgrade set to correct some of the faults and add some of the missing details for both the CSM and LM. I star
  20. Thanks guys. The parts scavenged from the Airfix Vostok kit and the 3D printed 2nd stage and Soyuz section really helped make the model look good. The addition of a few scratch build details always helps as well.
  21. Alexander, Thanks for that. It does build out nicely with a few mods here and there. The decals also really help. Randy
  22. Pete, Yep, I thought about that when I was about halfway through the retro adapter section. 🙄 I too have always thought that Gemini was a good looking spacecraft. Randy
  23. I ended up printing a new set of decals with narrower stripes. They may still be a bit too large at this scale but I'm reaching the limit of what I can print with these so they will have to do. Here I've started applying the decals to the retro adapter section. I made a circle about the same diameter as the front of the retro section and then put in 72 radial lines that extend past the diameter circle. This way I can place the part in the circle and then make tiny light pencil marks at the location where the stripe is supposed to go. If I had been smart I'd have not glued
  24. I got the decals printed. I did a few dry runs on plain paper to adjust the sizes of some of the decals. Some of the 1/48 scale decals for the Revel kit didn't quite match the Dragon kit after they were down scaled. But after a few attempts I decided that they should fit, so I printed them on decal paper. I had a little trouble with the white ribbon. It didn't quite stick properly on the double passes, but I think they will work anyway. Here I have the decals applied. The small decals on the nose are hard to see but they are there. A couple of passes with Mic
  25. As far as I can tell the Atlas series of models were the last announced kits. I've been hoping for a Gemini Titan from them since before COVID hit. Randy
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