1/10 Ascent Stage LM-5 Eagle

[crackerjazz]

Hi, I want to share my current build and which I am planning to really devote time to

and hopefully complete. The plans I worked off of are the Vincent Meens blueprints

which I enlarged to 1/10 scale.

And here's where I'm at.

[Yuri61]

Great Start and excellent choice of subject. Vincent Meens LEM would have to be the best scratchbuilt LEM I have seen to date. I will be watching this with great interest.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Yuri61

[DaneBramage]

Sweet.

[K2Pete]

Ho-lee-schmitt! 1/10 scale??!!

And I completely agree with Yuri61, M. Meens LM is outstanding!

And, you may wanna hold off on your progress for a few months, only because a Group Build will be starting up and its subject matter will be Grumman Products. This ascent stage would fit right in! But if not, I'll be watching either way!

Now about this model.

Firstly, I love the LM and have done a few models of it in various scales, and will do a few more. :D

The materials you've used so far ... is that styrene? And what thickness are you using?

Will yours be including a full, detailed interior, too?

Keep up the great work! So far it looks terrific!

Pete

[crowe-t]

This looks great so far! Please keep the pictures coming.

[crackerjazz]

Thanks, guys! I'm using 0.75mm styrene for the skin and more rigid 1mm for bulkheads/main panels.

My original intention was just to hang something big from the ceiling depicting the ascent stage

either prior to rendezvous or after jettison. But the idea of an interior is inviting - just not

sure how to go about it - detachable crew compartment, maybe - it might be difficult.

Edited February 10, 2013 by crackerjazz

[Hotdog]

Very cool to see scratchbuilding in styrene at such a large scale! I will be watching and learning.

Hey, if you're gonna hang it from the ceiling, why not build a lightbulb into the engine nozzle and use it as a sort of space chandelier? Sort of like this Mercury capsule.

[Lunokhod 2]

Excellent model, I will follow closely your built. 1/10 will be quite impressive. Did you do some 3D printing with the RCS nozzle seen in the foreground.

[ralf]

Wow this one is big. I agree this will be very impressive if it's finished.

[janman]

This will be something great!

[crackerjazz]

Thanks for your comments, guys! Hi Lunokhod 2, I did draw the nozzle and had it test 3D-printed but the surface is rather coarse. I suppose I have to look for a 3D printing service with a higher-resolution printer. I still plan to have it machined in aluminum - one shop I spoke with couldn't open the 3D file so I have to scout around. I know I read somewhere they can take a 3D file and convert it to G-code(?) for machining (so that it need not be hand-lathed). I'm not very familiar with the process but RCS thrusters in shiny brushed aluminum certainly would make me a happy. They'd look more authentic even if more fragile as they won't spring back to shape when taste-tested by my cat.

[Lunokhod 2]

They'd look more authentic even if more fragile as they won't spring back to shape when taste-tested by my cat.

No worries mate, cats love spacecraft models

Which kind of 3d software are you using. Considering the 3D printing service today I must look into this new modelling way.

[spaceman]

Wow, what a nice Space Cat ... she's guarding the ISS.

Edited February 12, 2013 by spaceman

[crackerjazz]

Is that a "What Happens Next?" photo, Lunokhod2? So dangerously close... Seriously, that's a wonderfully tame cat you have there. :)/>/>/>/> And that's a most beautiful model, too!!! I'm using Solidworks - but for scale modeling, I'd recommend Rhino. Complex curves/surfaces are a cinch with Rhino. Not for me, of course - just from watching demonstrations.

For several nights now I have been wrapping my head around how to go about the hatch area. It's quite tricky. But today I got some help from Vincent about the hatch as I was about to put it on the same plane as the cheeks. Thanks, Vincent! I also cut up some parts using Mattias Malmer's flattened drawings - very useful, but I'll have to admit, at this point, I'm not really certain I'm doing things right. I'm sure I'll be cutting and just dry-fitting a lot for the coming days.

[crackerjazz]

Will try to have a buck made to vacuform the bell.

[habu2]

I did draw the nozzle and had it test 3D-printed but the surface is rather coarse. I suppose I have to look for a 3D printing service with a higher-resolution printer.

What printing material did you use? I'm still learning about this topic but evidently different materials yield different textures when printed. I used FD on my 1:48 nozzles.

[crackerjazz]

Hi, habu2, mine is in fine detail plastic. I believe yours is 'frosted detail' FD for finer detail? I can see they even have ultra-frosted detail plastic

for even finer details and less grain. I'll have to ask around, though if there is a printer capable of printing ultra smooth and shiny just like on a real

injection-molded kit part. I believe the current technology is not yet quite ripe for it. Even James Bond's pyro Aston Martin model from Skyfall

looks like it printed out grainy before sanding/painting:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2232252/The-secret-James-Bonds-priceless-Aston-Martin-DB-5-stunts-3D-printed-models-used-Skyfalls-dangerous-scenes.html

After so many attempts of trying to glue these together at 90 degrees I gave up and glued internal braces on.

It came out really good, that I felt really proud of myself. For someone like me, it was quite a feat :)/> As I waited for the glue to dry I also

wedged in some barbecue sticks to push those panels straight against the sidewalls of the hatch shield area just as Grumman did (just kidding).

The photos don't show it that well but the lower part of those side panels angle inwards very slightly as indicated in Vincent Meens' blueprints

and is not in a continuous straight line from top to bottom.

It's hard to photograph a relatively bigger model without barreling (is that the term?) so I had to step away and zoom in on the model, hence

this grainier but at least perspective-free shot. Long way to go, but slowly but surely is better (really means I can't go any faster) :)/>

Edited February 16, 2013 by crackerjazz

[K2Pete]

It came out really good, that I felt really proud of myself. For someone like me, it was quite a feat :)/>

This is looking great! The way you're working at this, with your early attention to details, this promises to be a very unique and gorgeous model!

And thanx for the link to the 3D printed Aston Martin, I didn't know about that!

Pete

[crackerjazz]

Hi, Pete, thank you for your kind words. :)/>/> I was browsing Collectspace this morning and saw a collection of truly amazing models so lavishly detailed. When I looked at who created them, I was surprised to discover that it was you. I didn't know that you were the famous Pete who built that cutaway Lunar Module. All your models are simply fantastic and so packed with oodles of amazing detail they should be displayed in a museum. And just how you complete your models within so short a period is simply incomprehensible. My hat is off to you, sir.

The vast talent displayed here by everyone is so overwhelming. I am still reeling from being blown away by everyone's space builds. By the way, you mentioned there would be a group build coming of Grumman products - I would have loved to join that but, alas, I am a very slow builder and would probably be left so far behind. This model, for example, I am targetting to finish before 2019 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing.

(Edit): Now it looks more like the 100th anniversary.

Edited June 22, 2013 by crackerjazz

[K2Pete]

Thanx very much crackerjazz! ... :wub: such a nice thing to hear! But I've written it before, and I'll write it again, I'm just learning the ins and outs of this hobby, and it's a blast! ... and now with cheap 3D parts available, there's still more to learn!

... and if I may 'toot-my-own-horn' a bit, the LM cutaway made the cover of the recent IPMS USA Journal, along with an article inside. But I haven't seen it yet, as it hasn't arrived in my mailbox.

I've also got a couple of WIPs going here on ARC, but lost my 'mojo' a few months ago ... but projects like yours are instilling the urge, and I can feel it coming back.

And you're absolutely correct when you say "The vast talent displayed here by everyone is so overwhelming. I am still reeling from being blown away by everyone's space builds." IMHO this is the best site out there for Real Space builds!

And we all work at our own comfortable speed ... I'll be patiently waiting while you continue this huge build ... and hope I'm still around in 2019 to see it done

Thanx again

Pete

[niart17]

This is simply amazing! The scale and detail that is going in to this will really make it a stand out model! I've often considered scratch building a large scale LEM but once I started really studying the shape of the ascent stage, I put that thought out of my mind. Seeing this might make it something I'd be willing to try some day! Keep up the great work!

Bill

[crackerjazz]

Hi Pete, I'll make sure I get a copy of that! :) And I'm glad I inspired you to keep building. (Sometimes all I do is inspire. I've got a huge stash of unfinished projects :( ) But one thing is certain - do not let that talent of yours go to waste! And of course you'll be around in 2019. Sounds far off but it's really just 6 years away and 6 years is nothing. I have another project that's been in the works for 3 years, it's about I'd say 5% done and I'm still wrapping my head about how to proceed, can you believe that.

Lunokhod2, can I use your ISS photo for my laptop wallpaper? It's actually suitable for framing. You should make postcards of it, too. One funny story - a good number of summers back I wanted to see if cats can really recognize the faces of other cats and distinguish pictures from real living cats. So I cut up the face of the cat from a cat food box. I don't really remember if that was Whiskas or some other brand (I don't see it anymore) but it was a big orange face of a cat with nice googly eyes. My cat was in the backyard with a few other cats, huddled in their regular cat conference. I opened the back door a bit and slowly pushed out the cutout cat face. They all froze and all heads snapped towards the cardboard cat face, craning their necks to see who that cat is! So they couldn't tell cardboard cat faces from real ones? At least from 15 feet away I guess. They couldn't smell the cardboard and it was all front view : )

Hi Bill, thank you for your kind comments :)

Edited February 17, 2013 by crackerjazz

[crackerjazz]

Some panels join at crazy angles.

[Youngtiger1]

Wow CJ, you are doing good and of course, the big the better ;)/> Also, thanks for nice and clean photographs. I know I'll be saving this thread :)/>

Mike

[K2Pete]

Now, be careful, the positioning of the crosshairs for the lights and the antenna may be off just a bit ... you may wanna double-check 'em before you drill out any holes. ;)

Pete