niart17 Posted March 11, 2019 Author Share Posted March 11, 2019 i got a little done over the weekend. I started working on the colors and coatings on the ascent stage. For the rear panels, I sprayed primer on a thin plastic birthday party banners you can buy at the dollar store. To get it attached with a somewhat appropriate "buckling" look I used Gator white glue and placed some small plastic rod strips in areas to raise the panels up. Once they dried I sprayed the whole stage with a paint I mixed to hopefully close to the greenish tanish metal color of the real thing. That was sprayed over stainless metalizer paint in hopes of giving it the correct amount of sheen. Here is the first panel where you can see a plastic rod in place for the second panel. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 (edited) When I did my Apollo 12 LM, 8 or 10 years ago, I used the Thick Aluminum 'foil' from a Frozen Lasagna pan ... there's no need for supporting it with a rod behind it ... on my later LMs, I just used styrene sheet, .010" and creased it and glued it down ... just as easy ... And for paint, I've used, and still use Bulkhead Grey. If you look at the photos taken on the Moon, the Ascent stage does not have a greenish tint. I'm sure that that colour description was from pix taken indoors at Grumman or something. I've got some Aluminum Sheet ( Printing Plates ) that oxidized to a nice Grey, no Greenishness or Tan ... just FYI Bill. And are ya gonna do the Surveyor too ... maybe in 3D?? Huh, are ya , huh? Pete ... and as an aside, this is the first time I uploaded directly from my Desktop ... works like a charm, but I can only insert one image ... darn it. Edited March 11, 2019 by K2Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted March 11, 2019 Author Share Posted March 11, 2019 (edited) Thanks for input Pete. I went with this material as it is stiff enough to not wrinkle too much, but also can be wrinkled if you want. I think it's pretty close to right look, at least for my needs. And the color is close to what you're showing. I think LM color is very very hard to nail down because of all the different exposure situations they were shot in. I don't know that there really is a wrong shade as long as it's close. Here's what I have so far. As for Surveyor?.....umm...I don't know man, that's tempting but I have VERY little knowledge of it's construction and appearance. IF I were to do it it would be 1/32 scale, since that's the scale I'm going to do the landed version of this LM. That's my next build I think. I almost have enough printed parts to get a good start on it. Stay tooned. Comments, critiques and suggestions welcome. Bill Edited March 11, 2019 by niart17 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted March 16, 2019 Author Share Posted March 16, 2019 Good morning space people. I had a couple of days off of work this week so I got some progress done on the LM. The ascent stage is mostly painted up and needs details and coatings added to it. I've also added another quad of foil and hope to get all of the sides done this weekend. I need to order some decals for this model as well as the CSM. I think I'll go with CultTVMan decals if I can find them. I have a set for the 1/72 models and they look great. I did try to get the lights to come on in the LM and it was a no go. It could be I'm not getting a good connection since the wires are REALLY REALLY thin so I'll keep trying. If they don't work it's not the end of the build. It was just candy coating anyway and not the main focus. Here is the front so far. Got a few nicks in the paint to deal with but overall happy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted March 16, 2019 Author Share Posted March 16, 2019 And the rear. As always, comments, critiques and suggestions are solicited. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ApolloMan Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Bill, this is looking good so far. I have just started my LM build and will be watching closely. I have saved up plenty of gold coloured foils from chocolates over the years for this build, plus bare metal foil. A great mate to us all here Pete, sent me some parts a while back to assist with it. I like how your creating the lifted panels and applying the foils. Keep it up, it's going to look great I'm sure Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 It must be really humid down there in Texas ... or your Vaping smoke is clouding up the image ... but from what I can see-e-e ... it's looking good. The "Red" foil looks too Red, but it may just be the camera. And yessirree, that aft panel krinkling looks spot on! Nicely done! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted March 20, 2019 Share Posted March 20, 2019 Your plastic birthday banner material looks really good in simulating the fragile paneling. And your foiling looks great! I always get hung up on those two aspects of LEM model-building. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted April 24, 2019 Author Share Posted April 24, 2019 (edited) Well, I'm still working on this, just not able to put a lot of time into it. I started working on the antanae mounting and cleaning up some of the smaller details. Still have a lot of foiling to do and such but it's getting there. Also you'll notice I have a new phone with a much better camera so it no longer looks as though I'm shooting pictures in a foggy underground cave somewhere in the amazon. And yes Pete, I agree the red looks too red...but unless I can find a better source, it's just gonna havetado. Bill Edited April 24, 2019 by niart17 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted April 24, 2019 Share Posted April 24, 2019 So THAT's what it looks like --- beautiful!!! It was hard to see through the fog earlier : ) Yes the picture quality is excellent! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted April 24, 2019 Author Share Posted April 24, 2019 Yeah, well considering the phone was maybe 8 years old and had a cracked lens cover...it didn't do too bad....ok...ok....it sucked. The bad thing is now I can't hide behind crappy photos. You guys can more easily see when it's just a crappy build. Oh well, all in the name of progress. LOL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted April 25, 2019 Share Posted April 25, 2019 12 hours ago, niart17 said: And yes Pete, I agree the red looks too red...but unless I can find a better source, it's just gonna havetado. Now, don't be too hasty. I've looked at Mr Meens superb model and he uses this dark Red colour too, so, I must be incorrect in my research. That said, if you aren't too happy with your foil colour, just paint it the colour you want!! Eezy-peezy! And your antenna mounting, is that the all bent paper clip wire sticking out of the top of the LM? I ... uh ... don't think that's right ......... kidding, just kidding This LM looks a little rough right now, but when all the do-dads and legs and stuff get installed, it'll look GREAT! Mark my words! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted August 5, 2019 Author Share Posted August 5, 2019 (edited) Slowly working on this. I may not make the deadline with the CSM as well so I may have to pull a 13 and make the LM my lifeboat to drag me across the finish line. But progress is being made. Not as nice as Pete's and Vincent's but it's in the shape of a LM. Edited August 5, 2019 by niart17 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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