I am FINALLY working on something

[Jay Chladek]

Man, that 1/72 shuttle build I did late last year burned me out bigtime. I would sit down to try and work on something and just get stuck on what to build. I didn't want to get involved in a big project and I wanted to get something done before resuming work on a 1/144 Revell shuttle stack. The Apex Sputnik model wasn't cutting it due to the freaky seams on it as I didn't want to get too bogged down in having to do a lot of seam cleanup on a build.

So, as I go crazy trying to decide whether or not I wanted to work on an Academy 1/48 P-38E kit, I spied the Glencoe 1/48 Jupiter C launch vehicle for the Explorer One satellite sitting in my stash. I had two of them stored away as one day I planned to combine them into a Mercury Redstone booster for a Revell capsule. Still, I had fancied doing one of these kits up stock, just to see how good it was. So I pulled it off the shelf and examined it.

I decided it would fit the bill nicely for this. For starters, January 31 was the 50th anniversary of Explorer 1's launch. Secondly, the kit dates back to that period. Third, it was nice and big. Fourth, it has a low parts count and finally, even though it is an old kit, it is a pretty accurate one given its age. So I would be able to do a more or less out of the box build and meet my ultimate criteria for a model right now, which is get it done fast (preferably within a week). And as an added bonus, it is right up the alley for this GB.

I will be shooting some pictures later this week, but so far so good. Last night I got the major sub-assemblies done on the rocket. Given this kit's age, the molds have held up well, but the parts were prone to warping and needed some major coaxing to get into the right shape. It just takes some patience to do it and a few rubber bands and clamps to hold things in shape while the glue dries. But once things are in place, the fit of the kit is pretty good for how old it is.

When I am done, I will resume work on my 1/144 Revell shuttle stack. This will be an OOB build, with the only alterations maybe being the addition of a deep scribe line for the separation point between stage one and two on the booster. I might also do a little graphics work add some markings to the model (those that I can't do easily with paint), although the decals in the kit look pretty good as is.

As it stands right now, I am doing the tedious bits of seam cleanup on the main rocket body. I am trying to preserve as much of the original raised detail as possible, although some of it may get obliterated in the process. We shall see. At least the paintjob is nice and simple, so if I mask it right, I might be able to rattle can it with some Tamiya sprays. I will keep you guys posted.

BTW, as I work on this, it occurred to me that the same boosters used to successfully launch the first satellites for both the USSR and the USA were also used to launch the first humans into orbit as well. Granted Explorer used a Jupiter C, but it is a derivative of the Redstone booster and that was used to fly Alan Shepherd into his sub-orbital flight. Weird how that works out. It might be the same for China as well, although I think they had a smaller booster to fly their first satellite before they built the Long March CZ-2 class boosters used for the majority of their satellite launches and their manned Shenzou launches.

[Mike J. Idacavage]

Jay:

I am looking forward to seeing your photos and following this kit review. As long as this kit has been around, I don't recall ever seeing any kit reviews on it. Like yourself and many others who dwell in the Real Space world, I have a few copies of this kit in my stash for a future build.

Have fun modeling!

Mike