1/32 Lunar Module - at long last

[Youngtiger1]

Wow, this is awesome. I just picked up the revell 1/32 Apollo Spacecraft and I was wondering how come there isn't a 1/32 Lunar Module to go with it. It is nice to see this will fill that giant gap ;)/>

Btw, may I ask how much it was?

Mike

[Apollokid]

Hi John, I'm building the LEM also using the parts available from Vincent. I am building Apollo 17. What LEM you building? Perhaps we can share ideas as we both build. I will be using the actual Kapton films to cover mine with. What do you plan on using? Once I finish the 32 scale LEM I'll start on the 1/16 scale version.I look forward to following your build.

Cheers,

Gene

[johnlove_mk_II]

That’s great news Vincent. I’m about to order the ascent stage parts you made available last week. Can’t wait to get the mid-section, it looks great!

Hi Mike - I haven’t really been paying too much attention, for obvious reasons, but I think I’m about $200 in so-far. It’s not cheap, but it's well worth it.

Hi Gene - I’m building the Eagle, LM-5. I figured that’s a good model to have in 1/32nd scale. As far as coverings, I’m still working on that. I’m looking at mylar from party balloons … but I did have the thought of using wide kapton tape over aluminum tape. I’ve got some 1mil tape now, and I can get the effect of 5 mil aluminized kapton with multiple layers of tape. I’m still experimenting and looking.

With Christmas getting closer I haven’t had a much time to work but I did manage to research and build the landing gear up-locks this weekend. The leads will be wrapped in kapton and from the pictures I’ve seen the actually cutter assembly is taped-up pretty well. Any inaccuracies will surely be covered, which is good. By the by, these guys are tiny … a small detail, I spent entirely too much time on.

[johnlove_mk_II]

Just ordered a bunch of mylar balloons from bargainballoons.com … the shipping was more than the actual balloons, but they had a variety of colors that should work well for the descent stage. I hope.

Here's the order, with a sampling of the colors … I got a whole bunch of different stuff.

I think the orange, gold and "Bittersweet orange" might be spot on.

[crackerjazz]

This is gonna be exciting! :) Looking forward to seeing the foil cladding in action. Also want to see more of the landing gear up-locks.

[Paul Mullins]

Try candylandcrafts.com for the foil coverings. I've got some and the dark gold appears to be a spot on match.

[habu2]

I found several shades of foil at a local craft shop, intended to be used for candy wrapping.

I've also had luck with using different colors of Sharpie markers on regular aluminum foil.

[Apollokid]

I found several shades of foil at a local craft shop, intended to be used for candy wrapping.

I've also had luck with using different colors of Sharpie markers on regular aluminum foil.

I have had similar results using Tamiya or Gunze clear yellow and orange sprayed over the foil. Using orange clear and building the coats up you can achieve various depths of color with them.

Cheers,

Gene.

[crackerjazz]

Hi habu2, did you have any problems with ink collecting more where the creases are? I'll have to look for orange Sharpie markers and give that a try - it does look like real kapton. Hi Gene -- silly question for you -- I've never tried spraying paint onto foil but did you use acrylic paint? Any issues with the paint peeling off or cracking when the foil is wrapped around parts?

[habu2]

Hi habu2, did you have any problems with ink collecting more where the creases are?

No problems, the Sharpie ink dries immediately. IIRC sometimes I had to apply a second 'coat' to hide the stroke marks.

Note I 'inked' the (flat) foil before wrinkling and applying it to the model, then did some touch-ups afterward. The Kapton "straps" on the LM legs were drawn on with Orange Sharpie over siver foil.

[Apollokid]

Hi habu2, did you have any problems with ink collecting more where the creases are? I'll have to look for orange Sharpie markers and give that a try - it does look like real kapton. Hi Gene -- silly question for you -- I've never tried spraying paint onto foil but did you use acrylic paint? Any issues with the paint peeling off or cracking when the foil is wrapped around parts?

I have used Tamiya and Gunze both acrylics. I wrinkle the foil first and then sometimes touch up once it's installed.

HTH

Cheers,

Gene

[Apollokid]

Habu, on the rough textured printed parts try using Future on them to seal in the rough texture. I was experimenting with it the other day on the descent engine bell and it worked really well. The other engine bell I have applied five coats of Tamiya fine primer and then a light sanding with wet & dry sandpaper.

HTH

Gene

Edited December 27, 2014 by Apollokid

[johnlove_mk_II]

Got the balloons last night and only had a few minutes to take a look at them this morning. The two orange flavors seem almost Identical as far as color … but a really good match for the 2 mil Kapton. The gold balloons are spot on for the 1/2 mil … and as it turns out, the red is a little more orange than it looks in the pictures on the site. I think it may just work for the 5 mil Kapton. I’ll get some comparison picts tonight so you guys can see.

Thats an interesting idea to paint and marker the regular foils. That’s surely something to store away in the ol’ noodle for later.

[Space Tiger Hobbes]

I've used Mr. Hobby Surfacer 500 to smooth WSF, WSFP, FD, and FUD 3D parts. Seems like a lot of paints in the stores that say 'primer' may provide a good substrate for a final coat, but they're just as thin as regular paint and don't fill very quickly. But it's not cheap.

BTW, wasn't there a picture from some Japanese hobby show a year or 2 ago that showed a 1/32 injection plastic LM? What happened to it?

Edited January 2, 2015 by Space Tiger Hobbes

[johnlove_mk_II]

So here’s what I think I’m going to go with for the descent stage blankets. On the left is actual Kapton (1/2, 2 and 5 mil) laid on some adhesive foil trim from Mono-coat, and on the right are the balloons and candy foil from my collection, taped to a piece of styrene. It’s a reasonably close match.

Edited January 5, 2015 by johnlove_mk_II

[crackerjazz]

Waiting with bated breath, John :) Hobbes, how did you use Mr. Surfacer 500? Did you have to sand it afterwards?

[Apollokid]

So here’s what I think I’m going to go with for the descent stage blankets. On the left is actual Kapton (1/2, 2 and 5 mil) laid on some adhesive foil trim from Mono-coat, and on the right are the balloons and candy foil from my collection, taped to a piece of styrene. It’s a reasonably close match.

John, looks a close match. I'm just starting my LM-12 now and working on the descent section.I will be using real Kapton on mine.I sprayed Mr surfacer 500 thinned on the engine bell the other day and then a light wet sanding and all traces of the lines are gone. This method seems to work the best. As soon as i have something interesting to show I will post in my own build thread. I look froward to seeing more of your build.

Cheers,

Gene.

[johnlove_mk_II]

It’s been a busy few weeks and now I’m looking to buckle down and get going again this week. One of the biggest problems I’ve been having is getting some airbrush time. I didn’t have a spray booth so I was spraying outside … a little bit of a bother, especial since the temperature has been close to zero for the last few weeks.

So went to Home Depot and came home with the parts to cobble together a little spray booth. Total cost, around 25 bucks.

Hi Gene - I may yet use the Kapton I have ... I'll just need to add the aluminized backing. I like the Idea of using the “real” stuff … the only issue I can see is the 5 mil is super stiff at that scale.

Oh, and I’ve purchased a bottle of the Mister Dissolved putty that I'm planning to use on the descent nozzle. Brush it on, let it dry ... and sand, sand, sand. Hope it works.

[johnlove_mk_II]

So this was my actually first time painting the Shapeways FUD. I used the Bestine de-waxing method. The parts went white, as expected, and actually sanded pretty well after the Bestine submersion. I then used Tamiya fine primer, then a few coats of Tamiya acrylic. Everything seems to be sticking well.

Also, the blankets are going on. Lots of false starts and ripped up kapton, but I think I’ve found the right path. It’s a little more difficult to get the waves and wrinkles than you’d think.

[crackerjazz]

Looking great, John! Bestine method -- gotta look that up. And that paintbooth is exactly what I need as well -- is it doing a good job, so far? I've been stinking up the whole house with tamiya primer lately.

[johnlove_mk_II]

It's doing a reasonable job but some smells persist. I think I need patch a few leaks here and there and that would help matters considerably.

It's funny, where I have my desk, there's no real window opening to take feed the hose through. I was sitting there thinking of where I could set this thing up, maybe the spare bedroom ... then I heard the mailman sliding the mail through the mail slot. The MAIL-SLOT! It's like 4 feet from my desk. Perfect!

[niart17]

... then I heard the mailman sliding the mail through the mail slot. The MAIL-SLOT! It's like 4 feet from my desk. Perfect!

Brilliant! Of course be careful in case the mail man comes while you're painting. I'm pretty sure gassing a federal employee could be some kind of a crime or something.

Bill

[johnlove_mk_II]

Kapton color/anal retentiveness

So I've got actual Kapton samples from Dupont which is really cool. They're not aluminized so I've been using chrome Monokote trim to "aluminize" it. It works really well, and looks pretty convincing. With that being said there are scale "wrinkle" problems which have been a bear to try to figure out. For the 1/2 mil thickness I've gone with the yellow gold Mylar balloons as it gives a closer "scale-wrinkle" effect.

The 2 mil with the Monokote looked a little too yellow … well, turns out the sample is actually 1 mil! Dang. So I'm looking for a source for the 2 mil. I did put in another sample request with Dupont, but who knows if they'll send it out. Meanwhile I'm still searching.

See, yellow.

The 5 mil looks great, but is really stiff. I found that if ball it up, you know like wadding up a piece of paper, actually looks reasonable. For the other smaller areas of 5 mil, like on the outriggers and legs, I'll use the Mylar balloons. The color is close for the small bits, but it really noticeably off when it's used in the larger areas. At any rate, it will be far easier to apply to tight corners and such.

5 mil and monokote

Sticking stuff to stuff

The other problem I've encountered is getting double sided tape to stick to the "white strong flexible" parts. The normal Scotch double sided tape doesn't work at all. The surface is just to powdery and nylony … I found some stuff at Hobby Lobby called "this to that" from American Crafts that works really well. Also, the adhesive foil tape, that you find at Home Depot, sticks directly to WSF too, so the descent stage heat shield should go on with no problems, which is good.

Broken parts, dang.

If any of you decide to build one of these don't drop the out-rigger parts … they'll snap in twain faster than you can say "heck" or "crap" … or any other four letter exclamation you can conjure. They do glue back together with no problems. (Of the four I've broken three.)

dang.

New Parts

Here are the remainder of the descent stage parts.

Main Struts

Braces and up-locks

Edited January 23, 2015 by johnlove_mk_II

[K2Pete]

I can't get over the lovely details in these parts! But are they really THAT fragile that just dropping 'em snaps 'em??

Wrapping a LM is always a pain ... but with the Extra-stiff Kapton, as opposed to chocolate bar wrappers, I can understand how it's a little more tedious. I try to get the 'kapton' to look loose, but I've seen too many LM's where the insulation is glued straight onto the flat faces of the Descent stage.

Yours is gonna look nice John. But at 1/32 you're gonna hafta be a little more patient. Vincent's 1/24 had the larger size to work around, and get the Kapton to work for him.

Stick with it lad, it's great to watch this come together!

Pete

[Apollokid]

I had the same problem with the outriggers breaking. I'm using 2mm wide Kapton tape to hold the foil down which sticks to the white surfaces really well. The .5mil is really difficult to work with and I'm glad I'm building a J mission LM.There's less of it on the legs. It all a matter or perseverance to get the Kapton to look right on the model.Don't rush it and it'll all work out right.

Cheers, Geno