K2Pete

There's not much else to do on the LM is there ... just attach the Ascent Stage? This looks so-o-o good! Have you, in your research, determined why the Black sections on the Descent Stage were shaped they way they are? I'll assume they have to do with the exhaust from the RCS, but otherwise, I'm at a loss. Maybe shield the Descent Stage Fuel tanks? Thanx Vincent!

I've spent the last few days refitting a new forward tunnel / hatch and resized upper hatch. Here I had to cut off a few millimetres of the nose. I'll just slip the new 1" tube onto it. ... a couple of tries ... Had to do a lot of trimming and fitting and fussing ... dry fit to see how it'll look ... and filled the gaps with styrene bits after gluing After a quick filing of the styrene bits and a little Milliput epoxy putty to help with the bonding, I have new hatches. I'm gonna wait till the other items come in and then I can finish building and trimming and filing and sanding ... but so far, I'm pretty happy with this ... And to check the scale, I had to have a side-by-side. Now, all that's left to do is ... EVERYTHING! Thanx for looking in gents! Pete

Your skills are incredible! I'm going to have to build one more 1/48 LM just to try your method of attaching the foils. Tell me, when you cut your double sided tape in thin strips, do you place the tape on waxed paper or some kind of 'non-stick' surface? And I'm going to have to repaint the porches on my LMs too! Pete

Thanx Manfred! But you are the Master of Accuracy! It's a pleasure, as well as a learning experience, to watch your model come together! Ricardo, thanx! I agree that the forward tunnel is too long, by about 3 mm and I was prepared to just file it down. But the diameter is my concern. Currently the hatch is 3/4" in diameter and the only other tubing I have is 1" diameter, which may be too large. But I think I have a solution for attaching the larger tubing, if I feel it's more accurate, without removing the glued on tunnel / hatch. And I know about the thrusters, antennae and front porch ... those are details I'll wait to make after I get the Acrylic spheres. And thanx for the images of the LEM prototype ... I was not aware that the upper tunnel / hatch had a bevel on its aft side ... or is it broken or damaged? I'll take a closer look. Pete

Thanx dnl42! I glued the Ascent stage together and filled the bigger gaps with scraps of styrene And this is as far as I'm gonna go till the Plastruct Acrylic spheres come in. I'll use them to make the fuel tanks on the sides and bottom. The last time I ordered from Plastruct, it took over 4 months to get in my hands ... so, fingers crossed that it won't take THAT long! So I won't be doing any filling or sanding till the Fuel tanks get built and then I can do all those finishing tasks at the same time ... but I'm pretty happy with this so far ... But I just noticed ( how is it that I notice these things when the images are posted and NOT while I'm working on the darn thing ... ) that the forward hatch may be a tad too small ... hm-m-m ... Any way, till next time! Thanx for taking a peek! Pete

vielen Dank Ralf I saw your Saturn V and LUT on ninfinger's site ... it looks so-o-o good!

It's good to see you here Ricardo! And thank you! But no, this won't have an interior. I'd like it to look like the wooden prototype model. The windows will be either decals or painted on. I've spent days filling and sanding the Crew Cabin ... there must have been a couple of spots that didn't adhere well and it didn't want to sand flat, so I filled and sanded and Primed 4 or 6 times ... but by george, I think I've got it! I attached the landing gear but there are two gears that I was so excited to glue down, I forgot to include the shocks ... I'll have to figure out how to add 'em later ... I also glued on the Descent engine skirt. With new side panels, and supported on its own 5 legs ... the Ascent stage is just dry fit. I've been doing a lot of figuring and fiddling around with fit and needed to glue the Crew Cabin together ... I also wanted a new floor for the Crew Cabin ... so I cut one out of .020" styrene The Crew Cabin subassemblies. The aft portion is getting supports glued in ... There are some wild compound curves and I'm trying to work out how I'm gonna do 'em ... Milliput may be the solution. To add the missing shocks, I cut the struts, 3 of 'em, and slipped on the tubing and reglued. Easy-peezy and probably stronger too! The lower 'skirt' has to be carved and fitted ... The fit has to be adjusted to allow for wrapping around the curved Crew cabin and this takes a lot of back and forth. The gaps, however minimal, will still need either Tamiya Putty or Milliput ... and then filling and sanding ... Today I'll glue the Crew Cabin together and we'll go from there. I figure I'm about 40% done ... still a ways to go! But I'm loving this hands-on build. No 3D-staring-at-a-screen for me ... this is fun for me! Till next post! Pete

I asked Paul Fjeld about the porch and he states ... "LM-5 and before are that fiberglass "tannish". LM-6 and following are the grey aluminum." I wasn't certain at all about the colouration of the porch and finally reached out to Paul. Mr Fjeld knows the LM inside and out ... Thanx Paul! Now we all know!

Indeed! Manfred ... have you always built models to this incredible level of detail, or is this project a bit of a breakthrough for you? Is this attention to detail, and your enjoyment in building it, something you're just discovering about this hobby? The ET / Orbiter Aft attachment looks superb! I doubt the 3D modelers would have such a successful result! Pete

Holey Schmitt crackerjazz ... this is beyond SUPERB!! Your build skills, and your finishing skills are ... HOLEY KOW! I hope the judges at HeritageCon notice all these incredibly lovely details you're inserting! Pete

Thank you gents! And thanx CJ for the links. I have a few of those already and I also have what seems to be a few versions ... an original model which looks faded and worn as well as some newer versions. I'm gonna go with the older, original version. A screenshot of a Grumman documentary with the LM engineer, Tom Kelly. After gluing the 2 half spheres to the middle ring, I glued in a sheet of 0.010" styrene to level it up ... then lotsa filing and sanding The forward hatch is just a piece of 1" tubing The side wall proportions were off by about 1/8" so I made new side walls. I also started fitting a landing gear ... Cutting the allowance for the Crew Cabin ... ... checking the fit ... The legs are just dry fit in there ... and it's sitting on a footprint of the 1/48 LM. Starting on the Landing Gear legs ... but I ran out of 3/32" tubing so will have to wait till it comes in ... I have about 7 old broken down LM kits from ebay and one of 'em still had a Descent Stage engine nozzle ... so I used this for this model. I cut it to length and it's soaking in Brake Fluid to remove the old paint. I'm gonna have to wait till some Spheres come in from Plastruct ... I need 'em for the fuel tanks on the sides and underside ... the last time I ordered something from them it took about 18 weeks ... I hope it won't take THAT long this time. Thanx for taking a peek here! Pete

Ret, I got it off of ebay from a seller in Russia. It got here in excellent condition in about 3 weeks ... plus some PE for the kit too, from another site. And this morning I sent an email to Ark Model asking them to, if they revise this Large Decal sheet, to print the White Belly decals in Black, next time! We shall see ... but I wouldn't hold my breath!

I agree with you Adrian! I agree 100%!!

Oh ... Adrian ... those SSMEs are WONDERFUL!! Is all that metal glued? ... or do you solder / weld all the metal bits? These are magnificent results!! ... I'm going to look at them a little more ... Pete

I was preparing my request for a decal from Hotdog and noticed that the Belly decals ... are included on the sheet! But they're WHITE So I will assume that they expect the modeller to weather the Belly decals ourselves ... so that's what I'm gonna try to do ... but probably into the New Year. Till then Pete