SpacecraftGuy

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

I've never been comfortable posting in-progress projects, as somehow there seldom is anything actually finished to show. But as one of these is a Christmas gift, there Has To Be a finish date somewhere around Christmas. The postal strike and courier services not accepting non-essential packages means nothing will be delivered until mid-January anyway, so that gives me a nice excuse. So, one model about 80% decalled, and the other after about 6 hours, maybe 4 on the two SRBs so far, is beginning. Stupidly time consuming, all these fiddly little bits, trying to line then up all plum

Finally got decalling models, starting with this guy. I've got two of them, one as a test to see if I can do this, and once I've done it sucessfully, the other as a gift. The hardest part of this so far has just been getting a clean, smooth, glossy white paint layer down. Complicated by discovering half way through that there is no more Tamiya white sprays left in Canada. (Good news there is that since Canada banned Tamiya sprays, the EU followed suit, so Tamiya is reformulating and will probably be back in May or so.) The decals (at least on the not great decal paper I'm using, ar

Good news for Canada! I heard at the local hobby shop that the EU has followed Canada's lead by banning Tamiya cans. As Canada is a nothing in the international market, the EU's ban has forced Tamiya to replace the problematic chemical in their propellent, and we should be getting Tamiya spray cans back in (realistically) May or so. In the meantime, your suggestions to Tamiya alternatives have led me to a couple products that I like at least as much, or even more. Tamiya gloss whites are still awful, spray or airbrush, except for use as thin white tinted gloss coats over their exc

Thanks! The Mr. White Surfacer 1000 is a fine alternative to the Tamiya. I have yet to spray Tamiya over it but I have high hopes they'll be compatable. I have used Alclads for metallics and candys and it is beautiful, beautiful stuff to work with. As soon as I run out of Tamiya spray cans, I probably switch to your recommended acrylic sprays. The biggest problem I have right now with spray cans is that I have to use them indoors (-17C out there right now), and my paint booth sucks all the dust and cat fur off of my sleeves into the path of the spray, and onto the model. I've compensated for t

Brilliant! Our two local hobby shops don't stock it but there's a specialty airbrush store in my end of town that does. I'll get down there today. Can't wait to try it. Thanks so much!