anj4de Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 Hello all Last week I got a 1/48 Sea King heli for cheap and also the "Old 66 " decals from Starfighter. This somehow made me check my dungan to get a quick overview about what I had on space models. I baught a lot of them years ago but not really got into them. I found, to my surprise, that I still have 4x 1/48 LEMs...one Revell, two Monograms I bought in the US in 87 and a more recent Dragon one, the one with the gold decent stage. Looking at that kit in more detail I am a bit dissapointed. It seems like Dragon stopped half way. Also the general shape is a bit different from the Monogram one, the decent stage seems a bit shorter. Now, can someone point me to reviews on that kit or even to a build report? Is that LEM accurat at all or am I better off taking a Monogram as a bases? thanks Uwe PS: Found lots of old goddies...2xMonogram CSM, Aifix Saturn 1B and 5, Big resin pack for the Saturn 5 but seems to be very "home made", Revell shuttle with tower, Gemini 1/24, 2x Wostok 1/24, ... have to create an inventory, some of the stuff has to go since I will never build it anyway... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 I've built a few LM's, Revell, Monogram, Airfix and the Monogram is the better one. It still needs a great deal of work to make it accurate. The Dragon one, when it was first released, was very poor. The Ascent and Descent stages were out of proportion to each other and it was so-o-o inaccurate that I paid no attention to it afterwards. Bearing in mind it was done in CAD , it looks like they did no research on it at all. Here on ARC, you can see some of my builds, here on the 1st page ... but I'm re-linking my images due to Photobucket's de-linking of 'em last year. This is the thread for the 1/48 Revell LM, with no foil 1/48 Revell Lunar Module without Foil This one contains the Revell LM but all dressed up 1/48 Apollo Spacecraft Stack Hope this helps Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
anj4de Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 Hello Pete Thanks for the replay...I was all over your threats last night already until 3AM! Great stuff but well bejong my abilities... So basically what you are saying is that the Dragon LEM is a 100% loss? That means I will concentrate on the Monogram version more. I may get an upgrade kit from New Ware for it. have to see if some of the Dragon parts might came in handy...like the foil covered legs or so... cheers Uwe If you want my Revell LEM...yours for the cost of shipping...:-) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 (edited) Thanx Uwe for the offer, but I have a few Revell LM's ... I am tempted by your offer though! Plus, I have 2 Monogram LM's in my stash ... I don't really know when I'm going to put these together, and I have all the LM's flown on Apollo already built. I just saw your comment on my Apollo Lunar Spacecraft build, and YES, I've done Mongram LMs too. In my first image on this thread, the top row of 3 LMs are all Monogram. Thanx again Uwe. Don't be a stranger to these Forums! Pete Edited February 3, 2018 by K2Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ApolloMan Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 (edited) Hey guys long time without posting, but I have been watching. I have an old 1/48 monogram LM waiting in a box for me and have made 3 over the last 25 yrs, I will get it out one day. I hope to recreate what you did Pete on your Apollo 12 build with serveyor. As I don't have a cabinet big enough, I was thinking maybe a coffee table, or even the ceiling 😜. I'll have to pick ya brain later on that. anj4de, I have plenty of references for the "Old 66" if you need them. A few years back I made the Apollo 13 recovery. It's in the ARC Space a Gallery 😊 Old 66 changed her skin and modex numbers many times over her short life. 66, 401, 740, 040, before being lost in 1975. Pete, I just bought 2 Space Helmet Models figures for another diorama, if you have heard of them they are on Face book. I'll post a thread on those for you guys. Yes they are pricey. But I'm no good at sculpting, and will be making a Apollo 13 training dio with them. lata Edited February 3, 2018 by ApolloMan Couldn't add link Quote Link to post Share on other sites
anj4de Posted February 4, 2018 Author Share Posted February 4, 2018 Hi again... For my 1/48 "old 66" I first have to order the old style LG covers/swimmers...since I have the initial Hasegawa SH-3 which is a later version. My heli will most likely be either Apollo 8 or 10. I like the larger 66 better then the smaller one of Apollo 12 and 13. My decal set does not even have 13 on it... The story of the heli is very sad...the Smithonian should have put it's hands on it right after Apollo 11 in my opinion. Now it's resting at the bottom os the sea waiting to be picked up by some super rich guy...but we have seen that before, Liberty Bell 7 came back and so did some of the F1 engines, so why not "old 66" one day. Dove a bit deeper into the LEM project...I cut the pieces of the accent stage of the Dragon kit and glued is sort of togther (can seperate the parts again) The general shape is there but it looks different from the Monogram one. Now I wonder which one is in general more correct. The Dragon one has the front hatch sitting a lot lower resulting in the whole hatch opening/tunnel to be a lot bigger then on Monogram. The whole accent stage is a couple on mm higher as well, that's why the Dragon one looks a bit streched. Since I have no plan dawings I do not know which one is better. The photos I have, even the big ones from LEM-2, are difficult to interprete since the color sceme and the mixed black/gold apperance sucks away details. It's a bit like studying a WWII dazzle pattern camo ship by just using pics. The decent stage is about 2mm lower then Monogram's. Combined with the higher accent stage it creates an unfamiliar look...as far as I can tell. Once I know which way to go I plan on ordering the detail set from Tom (New Ware) and use LM-9 as my master. It seems to be the most genuine one left...LM-2 is dressd up as LM-5 and the others are put together from bits and pieces. It's a pity non of the remaining -J mission LMs did get finished or survived. cheers Uwe Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 There is a modeller in France, Vincent Meens, who has scratch built a LM as LM-5 ... his site is full of great information, and incredible amount of details too. Plus, he has designed a LM in 1/32 in 3D. You might just spend 3 or 4 days looking through the site! ...... I know I did Here is a link to just one page, it has basic dimension on it so you can compare proportions between your Dragon and Monogram kits ... http://spacemodels.nuxit.net This looks like it may be a link to his home page ... if so, then click on "Model Building Information" ... then 6th one down the list, "LM 3D 1/32, 1/24" ...... but Uwe, be sure to take a long look at his build of the 1/24 LM ... it is Superb! This link will take you to his 3D page for a J Mission Descent Stage. http://spacemodels.nuxit.net/1-32 LM/Descent stage J.htm I hope this helps Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
anj4de Posted February 4, 2018 Author Share Posted February 4, 2018 Morning Pete I just found that page this morning...it's "the dog's bollocks" as the Brits would say. And having all docs in 1/24 and made for A4 format (Europe) I can print them to 50% and then get 1/48 drawings! I am sure it will take several days to study all the material on hand now! I will also check with Vincent to see if some of the 3D parts cane be shrunk to 1/48. I am really curious what kist we will see starting this year and hopefully in 2019...but I have rather little hope that a mayor manufactorer will come up with top notch "new tool" stuff. Just imgaine Tamiya doing a CSM/LEM combo in 32scale in the quality of their Corsair kits...well we can dream, can't we :-) thanks a lot Uwe Quote Link to post Share on other sites
anj4de Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 Hello again After going through Vincent's page I am for now hooked on a LEM! I broke out the previously started one of the two Monogram ones I have and dumped the parts in Drano! That took all the paint off. I have now started to correct the decent stage. Due to the limitations of injection molding in the 1970ties (the kit is from 1970) the decent stage main body is a bit conical, so smaller at the tope then at the bottom. I have now started to correct that...a lot of work. I have also ordered Tom's fantastic detail up kit. I hope it will be here by the end of the week. What happend to the 48scale build threat that crackerjazz was going to open in Nov.15? The progress pics he put into the 32scale threat (that is also unfinished) were quite nice. I would really like to see the stories go on. I am debating now to dump the Dragon kit...or to scrounge it for usable parts. The maneuvering thruster cones are rather nice and some of the antennas. It's really a pity Dragon fracked up soo royally! :-( cheers Uwe PS: If I just had the cash for Vincent's 32 scale model...has anybody added up all the prices yet? Way over 1000 EUR I think.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 2 hours ago, anj4de said: PS: If I just had the cash for Vincent's 32 scale model...has anybody added up all the prices yet? Way over 1000 EUR I think.... Not to detract from Vincent's wonderful work, but there is a paper LM in 1/32 available. http://www.educraftdiversions.org/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=LM-5-32 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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