SpacecraftGuy

Finished all the panels that I'm going to "correct". And the first layer of putty. That's a Lot of putty. Still have to frame in the corrugated panel on the bottom of the aft section. But for now, I think I'm going back to work on the first LM, as pictured in the earlier posts. Here's a photo of the ascent stage docked with the CSM, which is currently in it's third layer of sanded primer, and awaiting a final layer of primer, one of these tries.

Couldn't find the documents for these other references, so I just scanned my printouts. These are the main areas of change for "accuratising" my old Revells into more detailed early stages of the LM's lineage.

Here are some of the references I've been using. They are almost all of the drawings I can find in the several thousand pages of NASA documents I've managed to download over the years. The images all look like the LM, but if you're desperate enough to look really closely, you'll find small differences between these illustrations and the things that actually went to the moon. And you can also see how close Revell came to matching the early versions. Revell did cheat in a feww places. Perhaps to simplify molding, the four upper outer corner panels on the Revell kit are slightly rounded, rather t

It's been a while since last worked on my old Apollo. May and June are the months I've set aside this year to focus on the thing, yet another attempt to get something finished before another Apollo 11 anniversary comes and goes. I've been trying to smooth the one SM that I reassembed from small and large pieces of the one I'd started to convert into a SIM bay version about 30 years ago. Trying to smooth it that silver paint will look half-decent on it is proving to be a whole lot of hours of filling/sanding/priming/sanding, repeated endlessly. Nowhere near ready yet. Needing to sw

Just plain beautiful!

I know I've written this before, but what a beautiful piece of work this is. The whole thing. Right down to the very base. I've saved the first two pages as pdf's so that someday, if I ever get started again on my own 1/24, I'll always be able to look at your work for inspiration and ideas. Thanks!

You know, if you're not already, by the time this is finished, you will be the world's leading authority on the LRV. I wonder what Neil Armstrong would have thought about your project. I wonder if he might have actually had a story. But even if he did, he probably wouldn't talk about it. Truly beautiful work!

I'm calling them done. The bumps for the conduit mounts and on the conduits themselves were partliculary problematic to get to conform to the model (maybe better decal paper might have worked easier?), and I ended up using nearly two bottles of MicroSol by the time I was done. At last count I placed 277 individual bits of decal on each model. I don't care if they are actually, truly done. I'm still calling them done. Finished. At last. Have to admit, it can be built up into a really nice little model. Today I mailed the one with the black base off to my brother-in-law for his birth

Realized that I still hadn't installed the conduits that run down the main core of the SLS. Probably possible to match paint colors, but there are a lot of mounts and clamps that run all along each pipe, so I thik I'll try to decal them instead. Of course, this way there are a whole lot of decals to apply, too. Anyway, I think I'm finished drafting the decals, and I've attached the artwork below. The twinned line that runs down the core is incorrect on the model, correct on the box art, but I just have no interest in scratching something more accurate at this stage. Didn't at the beginning, ei

I love watching your builds. Your research and attention to and recreation of the smallest details is just astounding. Even with all the photos of how you do it, I still don't know how you can actually do what you do.

Put the model aside for now while I shifted over to January/February trying to finish my X-plane and lifting body queue. And totally forgot about updating the SLS progress here. Didn't quite finish before Christmas. I still have to decal or paint the conduits and touchup a little gap in decal segments about halfway down the core. Then a couple clear topcoats to seal everything. Not much of a build thread, as all it consists of is put the model together, paint it white, and add decals. Tho' it has been a challenge nonetheless. Almost there, so better refocus and get it finished. Th

Looks very nice indeed! I hope the details (much better than the 1/200 AMT kit) shown on the graphics show up on the model. Not sure I want the paints, but they may come in handy on other projects? If you have extra 1/144 Shuttle fuel tanks lying around (and what space modeller doesn't?) might be an easy conversion to the tall SLS. Wait... that would mean I'd need two of these kits??

Very, very fine model! I'm working on the Horozon kit right now. It's detail is super crisp and fine, recessed panel lines and zillions of tiny rivets. Ironically, on the real Redstone, all of these were raised, making the old Revell and Glencoe actually more accurate than the state of the art kit. But at 1/72, should any of these details even be visible? I decided not, and filled them all in. After months of second guessing myself, I've started rescribing and twirling a #80 bit. Which is actually still bigger than the original superfine rivets. One layer of primer should fill them in back to

I don't know if that's a bad price or not. https://www.ebay.com/itm/375492923007?_skw=launch+platform&itmmeta=01JG87SJW4TF09TADXS07TMR9V&hash=item576d1f4e7f:g:uIwAAOSwFrFk91f1 Tho' bigger than the Revell offering, somehow it kind of looks a bit undersized to me? This seems related: https://www.ebay.com/itm/375365851927?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D264183%26meid%3Daaffe29cf242454b8fa0f429293059f1%26pid%3D101224%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D375492923007%26itm%3D375365851927%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2332490%26

Have not used their site, or any pay per view site, but there are tons of information available free on the 'net. They just take some, or sometimes, a lot of searching. If you haven't yet got Mike Mackowski's SIMs on the shuttle, they are a great (essential) place to start. They are not quite free, but they are worth every penny. He has a shuttle reference and a shuttle payload reference, as well as other information in a free reference section at his site: https://www.spaceinminiature.com His SIM booklets also have lists of references that are well worth searching out. Some of the l