K2Pete Posted February 24, 2020 Author Share Posted February 24, 2020 Not at all necessary crackerjazz ... I prefer the nice, smooth surface of the acrylic balls, but certainly didn't think I'd have to wait 4 frikkin months for 'em ... I hope I can get my build mojo back. I had hoped to get this done for HeritageCon, but that ain't lookin' good either ... I hope to attend ... but it may not work out for me ... Thanx again Joe! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Underdog Posted February 24, 2020 Share Posted February 24, 2020 On 12/7/2019 at 7:20 AM, K2Pete said: And to check the scale, I had to have a side-by-side. Now, all that's left to do is ... EVERYTHING! Thanx for looking in gents! Pete Pete, An ambitious looking project, but from what I've seen... you've got this! Not too many modelers have the skills and patience in doing a complete 'Scratch-build' and having it look so right. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Solo7 Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 (edited) On 2/18/2020 at 6:53 PM, K2Pete said: I am stilll-l-l waiting for these Acrylic balls to come in from Plastruct. This ... is ... un-bee-leev-able! ... it's been 12 weeks since I ordered them ... This may be a little off topic, but I called Plastruct last week because my order was also delayed. I talked to the women of a husband & wife team that had just purchased Plastruct and was in the process of relocating stock & manufacturing machines to Des Plaines, IL. In addition they also own Evergreen, so they have the market for hobby plastic material cornered. If you check they just launched a new website for Plastruct, sine the old one was not working very well with orders. Just give them a call you will get the stuff the next day like I did. Edited February 25, 2020 by Solo7 Spelling Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted February 25, 2020 Author Share Posted February 25, 2020 Thanx Underdog! And Thank YOU Solo7 ... this is good to know. I had sent Plastruct an email a month ago and received no response from them ... this will, sort of, explain it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ricardo Salamé Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 Believe or not a lot of what we think for big companies in this hobby, are just small operations maintain for one or two people, that struggle a lot to be competitive and offer a good service to his clients. A lot of them have hard time to make it even, some don’t survive because, shipping issues, government regulations or the lack of good providers. Hang in there Pete. Ricardo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 To resurrect this build ... the Acrylic spheres, which I had ordered in mid-November, arrived in late March ... close to 5 months. But as I was completing a different model, it mattered not. Anyhoo, I needed the spheres to make the fuel tanks hanging off the side of the Ascent Stage. I had to cut a 3/4" tube in half ... My apologies for the poor focus, but I wanna show the chamfer that I had to file into the tube for a better fit of the balls, which were also cut in half. My little jig to glue the hemispheres to the half tubes ... On the bottom of the Descent Stage are 3 fuel tanks which partially protrude and I'll use 2 tanks from the Revell Apollo Service Module's tanks. I'll cut 'em off, and fit 'em on, a little later. And, I'm still getting re-familiarized with this build but I think the major subassemblies are done, I can get onto the antennae and Reaction Control System ... ... but there's still a LOT of filing and puttying and sanding to go ... but it's looking good, so far! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
as205 Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 Very nice! Completely scratch built, too. The early LM concepts were always so smooth, nothing like the angular LM that actually flew. This model is really looking good. Randy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 Filigree work as always, Pete, which is made with much love. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hubble Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 hello Great job 😉 Nico Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 Thanx gentlemen! Manfred, you're correct ... much LOVE ... but much more ... frustration! ... but still good, clean FUN! Smoothing the transition from sphere to tube ... A quick coat of Flat White as primer and starting on the thrusters ... the hemispheres will go on the bottom of the Descent stage. Milliput was used to transition the cockpit ... it'll get sanded a bit later ... Millput sanded and now I'm filling the big gap with Tamiya filler ... and smoothed out with some Nail Polish remover ( diluted acetone ) with a Q-tip. Apologies for the poor focus ... this is showing how I made the thruster mounting cones. Styrene tubing in a drill running against a coarse file ... A screenshot from a Grumman LM documentary, to refresh your memories ... this image is squished vertically ... ... and dry fit with a Thruster assembly. Drilling those little spheres for the thruster bells was one ... large ... pain ... in ... the ...... neck! But this is getting closer and closer to paint. The subassemblies are done, now it's the smaller stuff ... Thanx for taking a peek gents! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 Hi Pete, ... Styrene tubing in a drill running against a coarse file ... One never stops learning! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted May 18, 2020 Author Share Posted May 18, 2020 One cone was styrene ( 4 tubes of varying diameters ) and the other was Milliput ... both turned out nicely! Shimming the fuel tanks using .005" styrene. They'll get trimmed and sanded later ... The footpads were cut off from necklace beads ... and as the last cut was made, my Dremel's drive shaft broke ...... I use a Dremel so rarely that I may not replace it. Starting the platform ... drilled out the holes and establishing the placement of the struts. With footpads and platform fitted ... With the platform done ... I needed to beef up the attaching edges of the aft section ... ... and using Mr Surfacer that's at least 10 years old, I filled some little divots in the Milliput patch ... With the platform done, the building is done, now it's the finishing ... filling ... sanding .. priming ... sanding ... but getting there! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted May 18, 2020 Share Posted May 18, 2020 You're certainly getting there, Pete. Very cool to see her standing on those tube landing gears. Hey, let me know what dremel shaft part that is that broke and maybe I can go and hunt one down for you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted May 22, 2020 Author Share Posted May 22, 2020 Gee whiz CJ, thanx so-o-o much ... I don't know how much you'll be able to assist as it's a 30 year old Dremel but ... it's the Flexible Coupling ... It doesn't seem to be so flexible does it? It's item #5 on the Parts List. Anyway, filling some more gaps with 0.05" styrene sheet and I'll trim and file and then Prime it ... First sanding after priming it ... And added a few shims to the Descent stage too ... trim, file, sand, re-prime ... but it's getting there! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 22, 2020 Share Posted May 22, 2020 (edited) Hi Pete, filling small gaps with thin styrene sheets seems to be a specialty of yours, an interesting approach. Edited May 22, 2020 by spaceman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted May 31, 2020 Author Share Posted May 31, 2020 I used to use lots of putty but after seeing this solution somewhere online, this works better ... for me. I'm just now watching the Dragon docking with the ISS ... dang, these images are so-o-o incredible! After gluing the Ascent to the Descent stage the seam at the front needed to be patched. I used some scrap sheets of styrene after seeing gaps ... Filled the glued seam with a length of 0.020" styrene rod ... ... then filled and sanded ... a few times. The side window was made from a sphere cut in half and sanded then attached. The entire assembly got primed too ... it's looking good! Then a couple light coats of White ... The thrusters weren't attached because I have still a lot of fiddling to go. The Windows are next. I think I'll go with airbrushing and not decals. Because of all the compound curves on the 'face', the decal material won't conform ... so I need to determine the size and shape of the windows. This is a test fit ... And this seems to work nicely. The sheet is a printout of the decals ... just on paper for now. The windows went through quite a few subtle iterations ... This is in the final stretch ... I hope! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 31, 2020 Share Posted May 31, 2020 Pete, I am amazed what you made of it, first class! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted August 12, 2022 Author Share Posted August 12, 2022 Well ... it's been over 2 years of having this unfinished project staring at me ... so, I finally had the attitude adjustment I needed to git 'er dunn. For these 2 years I wondered how on earth I was going to get the windows done. I though decals would be the obvious answer but ... I wondered how much the decals would distort when putting them on ... and that was my roadblock. Masking off and Spraying the windows on, would be too time consuming. Now, what you see here is Tamiya tape which has been on the model for over 2 years, and another mental roadblock was 'what if there's adhesive residue under all this and I'll ruin the paint while cleaning it off?' Well none of that happened, so ... a couple weeks ago, that's what I decided to do ... Mask off and Spray on. One other stumbling block was my decal film. I needed some more and finally ordered a few sheets from Bare Metal Foil. Now, I used the White film and here's how it looks. I tried to remove it and re-do with Clear film, but this wouldn't come off, so, I'm leaving it on. And after a lot of touch ups and double checking, I put on all the thrusters and antennae and called her DONE! I'll get a few other beauty shots of this Prototype with a LM that went through its evolutionary design process in the next posting. There's quite a few little divots and slight imperfections, but I'm quite happy with this. I have my 'Final LM', Apollo 10, to finish and my LM collection will be complete. Till next time Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted August 13, 2022 Author Share Posted August 13, 2022 I thought I had taken pix of the masking and the first result ... which I kind of expected. The Tamiya tape, which had been on for over 2 years, with just regular Masking Tape over it as a guide for cutting ... This build-up on the edges was not acceptable so I sanded down these raised edges ... carefully. After sanding down those edges, Black lines showed up which was where the Primer and Paint had lifted off when I removed the Tamiya tape ... but I touched those edges up and re-masked the windows and resprayed. After repainting, applying decals, I sprayed on a coat of Future to seal the decals, added the antennae and thrusters, and I called it DON! And here's one with a finished LM ... this one's Apollo 16's. And that'll do it for this model ... thanx for taking a peek gents! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crackerjazz Posted August 13, 2022 Share Posted August 13, 2022 Beautiful work, Pete!👌 Looks just like the NASA model! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted August 13, 2022 Author Share Posted August 13, 2022 Thanx CJ! Here's a screen shot from a Grumman movie circa 1989, with the Designer, Tom Kelly, and both LEM models ... which was prolly my inspiration! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted August 14, 2022 Share Posted August 14, 2022 Great job as always with this Oldie, Pete! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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