AMT Man In Space (MIS) Build - Gemini Titan

[Mike J. Idacavage]

Howdy, fellow modelers! As I now have all 5 kits in progress on my work bench, I thought I would do the same here in the GB. This thread will cover the 1/200 Gemini Titan kit. It turns out that this one has a few small challenges to make it interesting. I'll start at the usual place.

As with all the other rockets in the MIS kit, you need to plan out how you will display this when done. The GT is a bit trickier than the others due to the engine configuartion. I used my usual brass rod and aluminum tube configuration and solved the placement question by adding the internal tube resting against the inner wall of the Titan. This way the support stand will be positioned behind the engine latice work when finished. Hopefully, you can see the placement in this photo:

The next challenge with this kit is that the Gemini is too small a diameter for the Titan booster. I'll show that in my next post along with how I will (actually hope!) take care of that problem. Until next time, have fun modeling!

Mike

[Mike J. Idacavage]

It's been awhile since I posted any progress on the Gemini Titan, so I thought I would give an update. The GT looks pretty simple, but there are a few catches which slowed me down (more motivational than technical! :D ). After I glued the main parts together, I stacked them to check fit. I noticed that the Gemini adapter is small in diameter than the top of the Titan booster. You can see this in the following photo. I ran a black marker around the top edge of the Titan to highlight the difference in size.

As I was not particularly thrilled about reducing the diameter of the Titan, I decided to build up the Gemini equipment adapter section using putty. I used Apoxie putty, but any two part epoxy putty such as Milliput would work. This job was made a bit easier as there are small raised sections on the equipment adapter that correspond to the correct diameter. These represent the small attitude rockets on the spacecraft. All one needs to due is lay a layer of putty that is flush with the small gray sections, and sand away! In this photo you can see one of the gray sections that I was talking about. Here it is attached to the top of the Titan and after some rough sanding.

I thought I was almost done, but no such luck! I placed the manned section of the Gemini on top of the stack, and found out that there is a pretty big gap between the spacecraft and the retro rocket adapter.

Bummer! Time to break out the putty again as there should be a smooth, even transition betwen these two pieces. Guess what I'll be doing over the next few days!

Have a great holiday everyone!

Mike

[Mike J. Idacavage]

While I am tied up with a lot of painting/masking/sanding with the other MIS launch systems, I thought I would show a little something that I just completed for the Gemini Titan. Before I started this kit, I was a little nervous as to how I would duplicate the complex rocket engine structure at the base of the Titan. This is by far the most prominent engine feature for the 5 rockets in the kit. After diving into it, I found it was quite easy to make this look decent, though not perfectly accurate. After cleaning up the individual pieces, I assembled the main parts minus the engine bells without attaching it permanently to the booster. Here's hat it looks like:

After a bit of sanding and Mr. Surfacer, I painted the main structure in Alclad Stainless Steel and the egg shape chambers in flat white. I also painted the engine bells in a slightly darker Alclad color (steel, I beleive). When glued together and a little dark wash added, the structure looks pretty good. Note that I cut the main "rod" between the engine nozzle down and saned the surface flat. I then addded a small black dot decal from the spare parts box to represent a hollow tube. To be accurate, there should be two of these slightly smaller and off center, but I decided that much detail was not worth the time in light of getting this build finished! :)

Here's the completed Titan engine system:

have fun modeling!

Mike

[Mike J. Idacavage]

Well, I have not given up on my MIS set! Now that the GB is finished, the sense of urgency is not quite the same. However, I do want to complete my MIS group and the Gemini Titan still remains to be completed. Since the end of the GB, I have been completing the launch vehicle in preperation for the paint step. Here's the painting sequence I used: Mr. Surfacer primer/MM Flat white/MM gloss white (3 coats)/ mix of MM Gunmetal with a few drops of MM Artic Blue Metallic added/mix of Alclad mix of aircraft aluminum and steel shades. Of course, the appropriate masking was done as required! Here's what it looks like now:

Here's a close up of the pointy end of this launch system. I still need to clean this up prior to decaling. With the magnification of the camera, this is another case where it looks a lot better to the eye.

Now it's on to the clean up and then decaling! Methinks I see the light at the end of the tunnel..... :)

Have fun modeling!

Mike

[Jay Chladek]

Well, I have not given up on my MIS set! Now that the GB is finished, the sense of urgency is not quite the same. However, I do want to complete my MIS group and the Gemini Titan still remains to be completed. Since the end of the GB, I have been completing the launch vehicle in preperation for the paint step. Here's the painting sequence I used: Mr. Surfacer primer/MM Flat white/MM gloss white (3 coats)/ mix of MM Gunmetal with a few drops of MM Artic Blue Metallic added/mix of Alclad mix of aircraft aluminum and steel shades. Of course, the appropriate masking was done as required! Here's what it looks like now:

Here's a close up of the pointy end of this launch system. I still need to clean this up prior to decaling. With the magnification of the camera, this is another case where it looks a lot better to the eye.

Now it's on to the clean up and then decaling! Methinks I see the light at the end of the tunnel..... :)

Have fun modeling!

Mike

Never say die Mike! Keep going ole buddy!

[Mike J. Idacavage]

Ta Da!!!! I have FINALLY completed the 5 rocket MIS kit. I finished up the Gemioni Titan earlier today. The five individual kits were a bit more work than I had thought originally, but they do look great together. I'll shoot some photos of the finished assembly when I complete the Hasegawa Space Shuttle to go with the MIS set.

Anyway, here's how the GT looks now. I Used the Tango Papa decals for most of the components, along with red and white Scalemaster stripes. I also added an American flag from my spare decal box as the TP flag did not have a layer of white. When I applied this decal. it all but dissapeared! I needed to cut the Tango Papa decals into quarter sections as I had a few fold up on themselves when I tried to apply larger sections. All in all, I am happy with the way the GT looks. It is not super accurate, but at this scale/size????

Have fun modeling! Now it's off to complete the Hasegawa Shuttle to go with this set..............

Mike

[GVoakes]

Now that's what I call perseverance!

Nice looking GT, Mike! Of all the spacecraft flown, I've always thought that flying on Gemini would have been the best!

Grant

[K2Pete]

What a NICE job, Mike!

I won this kit from you guys in the Group Build and I can't believe you've got so much detail in such a tiny model.

You've done a terrific job and set a very high standard, laddie!

And I'm gonna look up Tango Papa to see what decals they supplied you.

Thanx for the pix Mike. The in-progress and finals. From a rank beginner (me) they're valuable to see how you approach a build.

Pete

[Jay Chladek]

Oh my! Very pretty looking Titan. Are the black lines on the Gemini instrument section done with a fine line black pen? Nice work on it!

[Mike J. Idacavage]

Thanks Grant! I am not sure which launch vehicle I would prefer, they would be all great in my book!

Mike

Now that's what I call perseverance!

Nice looking GT, Mike! Of all the spacecraft flown, I've always thought that flying on Gemini would have been the best!

Grant

[Mike J. Idacavage]

Pete:

Thanks! For the record, you sure are not qualified to be a rank beginner! Your work is fantastic, and is something I am trying to achieve. Glad to read that my lessons learned will be of help. When finished, the group of 5 models really does look good together. You'll have fun building the MIS kit. Feel free to send any questions my way as you do your build, and I may be able to at least tell you how I approached the modeling problem.

Mike

What a NICE job, Mike!

I won this kit from you guys in the Group Build and I can't believe you've got so much detail in such a tiny model.

You've done a terrific job and set a very high standard, laddie!

And I'm gonna look up Tango Papa to see what decals they supplied you.

Thanx for the pix Mike. The in-progress and finals. From a rank beginner (me) they're valuable to see how you approach a build.

Pete

[Mike J. Idacavage]

Thanks my friend! I cheated when doing the adapter stripes and used the Tango papa decals. I cut them into small sections to keep everything in line. It's a slow process, but it worked!

Mike

Oh my! Very pretty looking Titan. Are the black lines on the Gemini instrument section done with a fine line black pen? Nice work on it!