Revell: Apollo: Columbia & Eagle 1:96

[KSaarni]

Just cleaning up space for the moon project....

And the subejct is this:




Not really sure how to approach this build yet..
Especially as there are a number of end-options suggested in the instructions...
Pic 22, 23, 24 and 25



Internet is full of sprue pictures, so I just pick some details...

An overview of the stuff.... Even the metal foil is included!
Love old vintage plastic !




May I introduce you to the crew:

I think Neil is first, then Buzz and last but not least Michael in sitting position..



Decals are simple but still stylish!
Wonder what the font / lettertype is for "UNITED STATES", have always liked it... That is truly 60's in that font.
Would be nice to have installed on the computer...



And finally a close up of the famous ladders... as visible, pretty much flash a little bit everywhere...




But I am very excited of this build ! If Tirpitz will be a build to get more familiar with ships, this build I want to make a good one, that I can proudly put on my shelf in my room.

My family (including me who was back then 1 year old) still lived in US when Eagle landed on the moon. My father, as probably many millions of others, took a picture of the TV that send live from the mission. Or at least semi-live, not sure to be honest...

FIrst step is to start to study the instructions.... and collect reference material, something Bruce has already shared with me!

- Kari

[Stikpusher]

Snoopy and I will be watching this one most closely!

[KSaarni]

Great picture of both of you! :-)

- Kari

[BlackSheep214]

Looks like it’s gonna be a great build. Watching this one...
Nice pic with Snoopy, Stik!

[BorgR3mc0]

That is a lot of flash! But that is also to be expected with a kit of that vintage. How are you going to attach that foil?

[KSaarni]

Thanks Blacksheep & Borg!

Indeed, there is a lot of flash, not only that thin, almost transparent but also annoyingly thick flash...
Have not yet paid too much attention in the foil, so not sure yet.
But I wonder if the piece of foil is enough..
At least for me, knowing the first tryouts will go directly to the garbage can.....

* * *
TO THE BUILD

These are the pieces, that will be the starting point of this project...
The two parts for the engine nozzle of the Service Module.
A lot of flash



Also the inside of the nozzle is everything but smooth, regardless of which option you will build, the internals of this big engine nozzle will be visible!
Which means of course a lot of sanding excersises, especilly on the inside.


Before starting the sanding party, I decided to glue the two pieces first together and only then when the bond is strong, sand away location pins etc.

Testfitting indicated the fit will be good, even if a thin gap visible in the picture, which will be squuezed away when glued in place.
(Note the huge sprue gate)



As seen in the picture, the inside of the nozzle looks horrible, besides the location pins some other weird lumps here and there.. Some ejector pin marks also visible etc.. This will need a lot of sanding...
.

First sanding done, I actually had to use my Dremel carefully to smooth out the lumps and bumps here and there.
It does not look so smooth, but it is actually pretty fine. Of course it still needs some polishing and a layer of Mr Surfacer etc. But it starts to be done. Those lumps etc leave sort of "shadows" after them, but paint will hide them finally.


But as seen in the picture, still in the narrower end, you can see the locatorpins, which need to be sanded away. No help any longer with the Dremel, does not fit there, so this will be handwork..


And here the work has started....


After I am satisfied with the smoothness, the next steps will be

A) Smooth even more (outside as well)
B) First layer of Mr Surfacer (500 or 1000 or 1200)
C) Additional sanding / smoothing --> possibly still one more step of B)
D) Primer (will be Mig Ammos black One Shot Primer)
E) Final layers of color


BUT here comes the challenge:

Colors, what color inside and what outside?

I have been looking for reference pictures, but have not really found any, too excellent pictures of the engine nozzle for the Service Module, especially the inside.
Revells instructions say it should be Carmin Red (Revell nr 36).
Outside should be Anthracite Grey (Revell nr 9)

So, some research still before point E can be done...

Let's see what next

[Stikpusher]

Nice seam clean up work!
Here are some photos of the Apollo 18 craft on display at Kennedy Space center for your reference needs. I have more as you need them. As you can see the interior is not smooth but segmented. I took these photos last year on my visits there for reference of a few Apollo kits in my stash... with a modelers eye for colors and details of course...

[BlackSheep214]

Very nice reference pics!!!

[KSaarni]

Thanks Stik for the pics!

I have also seen that nozzle type, but when looking at NASAs diagrams, the nozzle looks different.
This example has a more smoother outside but looking at, mostly blueprints, they look more like Revells "idea" of the nozzle
Those 3 rings on the outside



Wonder if different Apollo missions service modules have slightly different nozzles ??



- Kari

[Stikpusher]

Thanks Blacksheep! I have the old Monogram 1/32 Apollo CSM kit in my stash, so I wanted good reference photos for when I build it one day.

I found one more detail shot of the main engine Bell in my photos