johnbuck Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 (edited) Well, greetings one and all. What a time it has been since I last posted ( Dec 2nd 2015 apparently ) for reasons I will not bore you with other than saying 'me elf'. There continues to be some remarkable building skills displayed on the forum and so have much to catch up on. A birthday press'ey last month was the Pegasus Moonlander. I have had a collection of the 1953 Collier books ( a compilation of space articles in the American Collier Magazine of 1952 ) for many years and 'Man on the Moon' so grabbed my attention as a child, the final thing that turned me into a 'real space nut I guess ). It has been on my list as a scratch-build for ever it seems and now, to my surprise and delight, Pegasus have produced this very well engineered and accurate model but you have to ignore the scale of 1/350 on the box....not sure how they arrived at this........ Rather handily for the modellers who want to have a go at this, the Horizons journal of the AIAA https://arc.aiaa.org/loi/aiaaj had produced in 2012 the whole Collier series in HD. ( the original mags are very collectible and thus can be expensive ). The model clearly is 3D'd off Freeman's diagram of the 'cargo and passenger moon ships' rather than Chesley Bonstells's wonderful paintings. However, whilst going mainly with the Freeman diagrams as the kit does, I will also dip into Bonestell's paintings for yet further detail....may even try lighting it....that would be something new for me ..... Understand from Paul at ParaGrafix that he will be producing an PE set for this kit in about 6-8 weeks. Plenty of work to do on it before then though. There is an 'in box' review on Tube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX8GdLOeUmo I do wish he had kept his camera still. And here is a build link i found: https://brexitmodeller.com/forums/topic/1080-pegasus-models-moonlander-completed/ Looks fun and just crying out for extra scratch-built detail and PE. Perhaps this topic should be in the in the Sci-Fi section but I am not sure. What do you think ? Much of it was so prescient. Wernher von Braun's, and others, study of the problems to be solved in a journey to the moon were firmly based on the then known current state physics, engineering and technology....... Quote from the book's dust jacket : "Man on the Moon is not science fiction. It is based on fact......" ( actually IMHO I have always thought of science fiction as being based on fact, those facts being 'extended' ?. This distinguishes it from science fantasy methinks, thus my uncertainty ). All the best to everyone...hope I can stay with the forum more consistently this time round......but these posts may be somewhat intermittent....that is in the lap of the gods....and work......and 'me elf'. Cheers JohnB ps. Never understood why von Braun ( and often others ) is referred to as a 'scientist'.....he was an engineer. pps. And we must not forget that man went to the moon in feet and inches as does this Moonlander !! Edited June 28, 2017 by johnbuck title was not really clear & deleted tag Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted June 27, 2017 Share Posted June 27, 2017 Well ... well ... well ... welcome back Johnbuck! It is great to see you posting again! This kit, I just visited the brexitmodeler link you provided, is something I've not heard of! And WOW, it looks terrific! Tell me, is it about a foot tall? I would suggest that you keep it on this forum ... the similarity to the 'recent' NASA proposal to return to the moon, it's Altair landing vehicle, seems to be derived from this Pegasus model. And the kit looks great. I may have to get one too! I'm looking forward to following this build John ... however intermittently you post! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnbuck Posted June 28, 2017 Author Share Posted June 28, 2017 Hi Pete, Many thanks for your welcome back....it's good to be back. When I said 'prescient' in my post I did in fact have the Altair landing vehicle in mind beside other elements..... If you can get to read the mags on the AIAA website you will find the similarities between the missions are quite striking in places. The Altair LL would make an interesting scratch-build methinks..... but I am getting ahead of my self as always....... I very much like your scratch-built LDEF and the shuttle mods you are making. Quite superlative work as always.... and those tile decals of Hotdogs'.......wow.....something to bear in mind for the future. Have you any ideas as to how you might display it ? LDEF being deployed perhaps.... Now to do some catch up on more of these posts. Cheers JohnB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted June 28, 2017 Share Posted June 28, 2017 John, good to see you back! I wanted to grab one of those kits, too, but there's this other kit I'm saving up for (which hopefully wouldn't end up in my stash --- the modelers' adage "Too many models, too little time" just rings so true to me). I did watch the video review --- the parts look fantastic and the price is reasonable. I haven't seen too many builds of it so I'm looking forward to yours! Just don't you go away again! : ) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnbuck Posted June 29, 2017 Author Share Posted June 29, 2017 Hi crackerjazz, Well now I am just catching up with your posts.....goodness me.....superb scratch building on all that you are doing and your CAD !! Are there any limits to your talents ? Wonderful, wonderful stuff..... I understand precisely what you mean re your comments about one's stash. I have kits here, unbuilt since the 1960's and I still keep buying occasionally or last month, being bought : + a number just tacked together to get an idea of what they might look like. However it it still the scratch building I enjoy the most or serious kit-bashing. Do not know if you have ever tried a figure bust but a serendipitous link in relation to going over my Vostok sphere build resulted in another birthday present : http://2dreamers.cz/en/space-adventurer-1.php I had not heard of the company : but now having Major Gagarin awaiting painting I can attest to the first class quality of the sculpt, its casting and an excellent likeness. So that is Christmas settled from my son and daughter......Alexey and Valentina methinks. I digress..... I think Moonlander is going to involve a lot of holes...alot..... Will definitely re-define what the instructions call 'the chassis' and the personal sphere support frame + the venting systems on the tanks. Think I will probably pipe up the engines as well (only 30 !) as I espy V2 type fuel pumps. It is going to be fun........... Now back to your posts...... Cheers JohnB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnbuck Posted July 6, 2017 Author Share Posted July 6, 2017 Thanks Vern ....all sortedt : Have made an initial start The first item to replace is the engines mounting truss as I wanted to get the piercings shown in the Bonstell painting and the Collier drawings. ( to reduce weight in getting the materials to orbit ). Went with the Freeman drawings on this one as 8 piercings are shown against the 7 on the painting on the centre sections. A somewhat tedious process but worth it I think. Am making making the truss sides about 15/1000 oversize to accommodate cleanup. Don't think I have punched/drilled so many holes. Must remember to stagger the piercings on the opposite side on each truss element to maintain structural integrity / good engineering practice. The outer truss assembly does not have piercings on the upper part to accommodate landing leg fixings and and the 12 outer steerable engine mounts presumably to accommodate the additional variable forces. Cheers johnB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 Wow, I thought the kit had it all --- I'm keenly following your build, John! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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