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Lunar Module Dimensions - References?


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Hi folks,

 

I just found Real Space Modelling to be a nice way to combine hobby (model-building) and interest (space) and made the way into this remarkable forum.

I'm currently working on the Dragon "Lunar Landing" kit in 1/72. A first review of the kit and a check of my references revealed a lot of inaccuracies of the kit, the most obvious one seems to be the undersized descent stage.

I decided to scratch build the descent stage (yes, it's small in this scale), using the impressing 1/24 LM built by Vincent Meens and the Blueprints provided by him as a reference.

I'm almost done with the basic structure of the Descent Stage and some clues popped up that the basic dimensions of the stage may be wrong. I tried to compare the Blue Prints to other references available in the www, but that just confuses me any more.

 

For example, the outer dimensions given in NASA LM Handbook Vol.1 (Source: https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/alsj-LMdocs.html):

LM10HandbookVol1_Seite_019.jpg

The basic dimensions are

13' 10'' x 12' 3'' =  58,5 mm x 51,8 mm in 1/72 scale

 

The dimensions given in the Blueprints are 58,3 mm x 55,5 mm.

I used the dimension from the blueprints, as I think that these are a trust-able reference considering the effort Vincent Meens put into the scrachtbuild. My question is, does anyone of you have additional references regarding the LM dimensions? I just want to check if my efforts are so far correct or if I need to build the Descent Stage again.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

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Welcome to the Real Space forum Pilotace ... 

 

I've built a few LM's from 1/144 to 1/48 and I would defer to Vincent's dimensions.

I would also say that if I was you, I wouldn't even be thinking about rebuilding the Descent Stage because of a 0.2mm and a little over 3.0mm scale difference.

 

The dimensions you've posted are close enough for me. Every LM kit is inaccurate in some way or another and we all just do the best we can to make it look right.

However, I didn't buy the Dragon kit as even looking at the 3D drawings, before the kit was released, turned me off the kit. It was so-o-o inaccurate. 

 

Apologies for being no help at all!  :whistle:

Pete

 

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Pete, thank's for your reply!

 

I know it wasn't the smartest decision to rebuild the Descent Stage 😅 and maybe it will turn out to be a dead end and I have to bury this project. But I found it to be a good opportunity to improve my scratch building skills and I will try to finish it anyway. The diameter of the Descent Stage in the kit wasn't a big problem for me, but rather the overall height of the stage, which is just about 4mm too low....

 

You're right, there's no "perfect" LM kit and in the end my model will have it's flaws as well...but as said by you, we all just do the best we can to make it look right!😉

 

Thank's for your opinion to use Vincent's blueprints, they're the best reference I have.

 

Dan

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On 1/1/2019 at 5:33 PM, Pilotace said:

Hi folks,

 

I just found Real Space Modelling to be a nice way to combine hobby (model-building) and interest (space) and made the way into this remarkable forum.

I'm currently working on the Dragon "Lunar Landing" kit in 1/72. A first review of the kit and a check of my references revealed a lot of inaccuracies of the kit, the most obvious one seems to be the undersized descent stage.

I decided to scratch build the descent stage (yes, it's small in this scale), using the impressing 1/24 LM built by Vincent Meens and the Blueprints provided by him as a reference.

I'm almost done with the basic structure of the Descent Stage and some clues popped up that the basic dimensions of the stage may be wrong. I tried to compare the Blue Prints to other references available in the www, but that just confuses me any more.

 

For example, the outer dimensions given in NASA LM Handbook Vol.1 (Source: https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/alsj-LMdocs.html):

LM10HandbookVol1_Seite_019.jpg

The basic dimensions are

13' 10'' x 12' 3'' =  58,5 mm x 51,8 mm in 1/72 scale

 

The dimensions given in the Blueprints are 58,3 mm x 55,5 mm.

I used the dimension from the blueprints, as I think that these are a trust-able reference considering the effort Vincent Meens put into the scrachtbuild. My question is, does anyone of you have additional references regarding the LM dimensions? I just want to check if my efforts are so far correct or if I need to build the Descent Stage again.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Hello:

 

My advice is that you review this drawing 

http://www.realspacemodels.com/drawing-sets/148-apollo-spacecraft-set

 

http://www.realspacemodels.com/drawing-sets/148-lunar-module-supplement-set

 

Other good source of information is this booklet 

 

http://www.spaceinminiature.com/books/sim7.html

 

Regards 

 

Ricardo 

 

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