Shuttle launch gantry

[indydog]

I picked up a 1/144 Revell Shuttle Launch Tower kit today (the one without the Shuttle, I intend to use it with my Acadamy Shuttle Stack) and I was wondering if anyone knows where I can find detail photos of the gantry. The Revell kit, while nice, just cries out for detailing.

Also, any source for PE for the gantry...railings and what not?

TIA,

Mark

[Randy Wise]

Be forewarned Mark, although it builds-up into an impressive display, the model is woefully out-of-scale. In 1/144 scale the overall height of the tower itself should be almst 29 inches, however in fact it's actually 24 1/4 inches. You may find this out when you cehck your references. Yet, I still think it makes a nice companion to the the Shuttle Stack.

Peace,

Randy

[Justin Davenport]

Another site to look at is the KSC Web Site - that site's images are focused on launch activities, rollouts, and landings. The Images site at JSC is good also but much of its imagery deals with inflight activities and earlier missions.

Where'd you pick up that shuttle tower kit???? I'd love to pick one up myself. Speaking of PE, I don't know if New Ware (Czech Republic) has any for that kit but they're the only ones that come to mind right off the bat.

Justin

Edited May 23, 2005 by Justin Davenport

[indydog]

Where'd you pick up that shuttle tower kit????

That's the beauty of it Justin....Went to the Region 4 Convention Saturday and one of the vendors had it for sale. Partly started (the main tower, not to badly done though) and I gave it a quick look to make sure all the parts were there. (looks like they are) Picked it up for a pultry $35!

Life is Good! B)

[indydog]

Don't know if any of you guys have seen this, but it is unbelieveable!

Shuttle Launch Complex

[Justin Davenport]

Holy Cripes! This guy is going to win an award if he chooses to take it to Nationals. I don't think I could top that.

Justin

[Karaya-1]

But...but...but....what I want to know is.....

Where's my 96th scale Saturn V launch pad & service tower?????

To go with my 4 foot Saturn V????

*ARGH!!!*

-Kevin

{96th scale VAB, anyone? }

Edited May 27, 2005 by Karaya-1

[William G]

How about a 1/72nd Scale Mate/De-Mate Rig with a 1/72nd 747 as well as the 1/72nd Shuttle???

[ipms33206]

You can get a 1/72 vacuform 747 from a place out of England. But you will have to scratch the support system on the fuselage. Not to mention the vacuform plastic would never hold the heavy shuttle kits so massive renforcements will be necessary inside the 747 fuselage. But it would be a very impressive build!

[indydog]

How about a 1/72nd Scale Mate/De-Mate Rig with a 1/72nd 747 as well as the 1/72nd Shuttle???

Some one already has, don't know the name of the builder. This was at our 2003 Regional:

[Randy Wise]

But...but...but....what I want to know is.....

Where's my 96th scale Saturn V launch pad & service tower?????

To go with my 4 foot Saturn V????

*ARGH!!!*

-Kevin

{96th scale VAB, anyone? }

Here's the link.

http://24.73.239.154:8081/lcm/ML.html

[Karaya-1]

Wow, Randy -

So I, too, can have Complex 39 in my backyard - for a MERE One Thousand Dollars! B)

Then I'll still need to scratch-build a crawlerway & VAB. *Evil grin*

Might have to buy the empty lot next door.

-Kevin

[TomcatFanatic123]

I didn't even know Revell made a shuttle launch gantry kit :huh: . I want one!!!! Is it still available? I know they made the one that had the gantry and the shuttle stack in the same kit, but I think that one's OOP, unfortunately. If anybody has any suggestions on how I could get my hands on one, please do share ;) .

Edited June 4, 2005 by TomcatFanatic123

[indydog]

James,

The kit was produced in, I believe, 1986 and has never been repopped. I was hopeing that after the Columbia accident it would be but no joy.

It was first released as a combo with the shuttle stack, the later release deleted the shuttle.

The kits turn up on Ebay once-in-a-while but prices can climb to $150+ for a mint kit. I found this on Ebay just today.

Rumor has it that Real Space is working on a 1/144 launch complex, but I would guess that it would easily price out at $100+. Real Space models are VERY nice however.

[Jay Chladek]

The gantries were offered most recently circa 1990 or so from Revell of Germany. There was an attempt to get it repopped by Revell as part of an exclusive with a distributor called Texas Hobby about 8 years ago. But the holdup was that not all the tooling could be found for it and the tooling that did get found is sitting in different countries in the EU anyway. In otherwords, its not likely to happen anytime soon, if ever.

It does build up okay, but it really does need a lot of work to make shine. Part of the reason for its underscale nature might be that it was set up to work with the already undersized MLP/Crawler in the Revell shuttle kit. So for starters you will need to build a more accurately sized Mobile Launch Platform and work from there. As for references, pick an era and stick with it. The shuttle launch complexes were constantly evolving creatures from day one and they don't look quite the same today as they did back in say 1981 or so (for one thing, they no longer have that large crane arm on top). Granted the basic shapes are there, but a lot more stuff has been added since then. In something like this though, you probably have to approach detailing it like one would approach doing an AMT/Ertl Star Destroyer. Add stuff that looks right without getting too anal on if it is accurate or not (at least the small stuff).

As for sources of stuff to add, I highly recommend sources that deal in N guage train accessories (close enough to 1/144) and perhaps getting a Plastruct catalog to find other nice bits that can be added since they specialize in stuff for architectural models.

Edited June 7, 2005 by Jay Chladek