PART 1 of 3
Here is the build of a Revell (Monogram) Lunar Module 1/48 called “First Lunar Landing” 85-5087 together with extra detailing from New Ware http://mek.kosmo.cz/newware/ (NW068) as well as some scratch built detailing. It is not about techniques per se but more about the step by step guide to accurising a Lunar Module model.
The parts:

Sprue shot of the Revell/Monogram 1/48 Eagle Apollo Lunar Lander named "First Lunar Landing". This was obtained from Starship Modeler http://www.starshipmodeler.com/ in the states as it is unavailable in the UK. The Revell version available in the UK differs widely from the Monogram version.

References were taken from the Internet (see also http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/ftopic15606-0-0-asc-.php) and “Virtual LM” by Scott P. Sullivan published by Apogee Books.
To start with we have the Descent Stage.
The first resin part to add, which represents the doors for the ALSEP or Apollo Lunar Scientific Experiments Package. This aligns with the rectangular protrusion in quadrant 2.

Removing the excess resin from the Supercritical Helium Tank skin bump in quadrant 3. You should take care not to breathe in resin dust.

The Supercritical Helium Tank skin bump is positioned in quadrant 3. It is central from left to right but sits quite low (or aft).

More work on the ALSEP doors. The doors had a "roof" of aluminised kapton (a mylar like material). This is made from 10,000 plasticard to appear thin whilst having some strength. This could be made from foil alone but I felt it would be too weak to withstand any handling. The strip folded vertically up was scored and designed to just aid in positioning the roof during gluing and was then removed when the glue was dry.

Preparing the underside of quadrant 2 that was to be enclosed by the aluminised kapton roof.

The underside of the roof is also covered with foil. The foil was obtained from Neslte Heaven Belgian chocolate.


The addition of the ALSEP doors complete with roof. Note the additional strip of plasticard has been removed where the roof meets the side of the descent module.

The whole assembly and quadrant is covered in foil. Photographs of the real module show this foil is fairly wrinkle free and will be painted black later, with gold left on the underside of the roof.


Gold crinkled foil is added to the remaining faces of the descent stage. This was applied with superglue, although later on I used a contact adhesive from Revell that was easier to manage and didn’t give off strong fumes like superglue does when used in large quantities.


Applying gold foil strips to the stanchions and struts for the landing gear. I tried to leave joints and overlaps where it would be difficult to see them but on the whole the foil is thin enough for them to be barely visible. Silver foil here is actually self adhesive aluminium tape which is much thicker than normal kitchen foil and easier to apply. It does take some covering with paint though as it is easy to rub it off with excessive handling.

This shows the first photo etched part to be added, extra insulation around the forward strut. This was pre-wrapped around a 2mm diameter metal rod (actually a paint stirrer). The resulting tubes were then slid over the strut from the open end and secured with superglue.

Both struts completed. The joints of the insulation face outwards and down as per real photographic evidence. Note a small piece of aluminium tape wrapped around the centre of the crossed struts.


Black paint applied to the struts. The photo etched parts are completely covered whilst leaving the minute “rivets” on the joints as they do match the colour of the originals. The remaining struts are painted on the top only.

The remaining stanchions are “foiled” and added, with the top struts covered in aluminium tape and painted with three coats of flat black. Other braces are painted in polished aluminium and await fixing.

Addition of the photo etched plates to the top of the stanchions. According to sources these are white.

The legs have gold foil applied with a strip of aluminium foil tape down the front or outward facing part of the legs. This stops short of bottom the leg.

Clear orange paint is applied to the top and bottom of the panels behind the legs to give a dark orange/gold kapton look.



Scale of the stanchions and their photo etched parts, there is a small ladder shaped bracket just behind the silver part, gold/orange painted legs are in the background.

The stanchions are added with very small photo etched braces near the body of the descent module.

The aft part of the descent module has gold and silver foil added and the gold is painted with clear orange for the darker kapton thermal blanket.


The fore part of the descent module is foiled and painted. The holes where the egress platform will go have been kept clear but there is no need for this, as the resin egress platform does not need them. The legs are now in place as well.

The resin footpads have gold foil and aluminium paint applied and are fixed to the legs.

These small photo etched parts are added near the tiny braces. As they are fixed to the body the wrinkled foil can mean it is difficult to get them flat and perpendicular to the wall of the module.

The small brackets in place and preparations for further paint on the top of the module.


Close up of the footpad probe uplock mechanism (bottom) and the uplock strap (top).

The footpad probe uplock mechanism compared to photos of the real thing.


The ladder is shortened by one rung by moving the bottom rung up.

The descent engine is added. The landing radar heat shield photo etched part is folded into shape and placed in the ALSEP quadrant. It is painted white on the outboard side and has aluminium foil on the inboard side.


The ladder is painted polished aluminium and has the flag holder attached painted in steel. I believe the holder should be directly behind the ladder upright but due to the outriggers at the bottom of the leg this couldn’t be achieved, placing it higher did not look right (photo evidence shows it at the bottom) so it is placed at an angle as far back as possible. Note also aluminium foil tape which overlaps the second, fifth and eight rungs. Strips of orange tape are simulated with thin painted lines. Note also the experiment bay door to the left of the ladder. This is a piece of gold foil covered 10,000 plastic sheet with slightly rounded corners.

_________________
Regards 4D
IPMS Member
"Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast"

PART 2 of 3

So I now commenced on the Ascent Stage.
The LEM cockpit with a rectangular whole cut to accommodate the resin docking window. This was cut slightly smaller then carefully shaved until the window fitted snugly. The frame didn’t quite fit flush but I thought using filler would probably look messy so I left it as it was.


The docking window is painted black red and aluminium. Technically the glazing comes between the red and aluminium stripes, but I will fix it to the back for practical reasons. The glazing is transparent plastic sheet cut to size with a targeting grid scratched into it with a scalpel.



The docking window has the glazing in place and the targeting grid is now clearly visible.



The docking window from the back and the first of the photo etched main window frames in place. These fit perfectly.


A view of the window frame from the front and the egress hatch is removed.


Glazing is added to the triangular windows. The port (or LM pilot's) window has ruled lines scratched into it known as the "Landing Point Designator". The right glazing will be trimmed later when dry and is plain.

The window frame is painted polished aluminium, the closed photo etched door is in place and the docking light added with markings for the other docking light and the flood light position. The original plastic detail has been removed and sanded flat.

The forward lights all in place. Care should be taken not to allow excess superglue though the floodlight mesh as it will hide the detail.



I decided that, as the interior would be quite visible though the windows as a fair bit of light is let through, I would paint the interior black. At this stage I have not decided whether to add any astronaut(s) which probably will be visible even with a black interior.




A resin shape is added to the starboard side, later I felt this was placed just over a millimetre too low, but the effort to move it would damage both parts as they have been sanded to match. The starboard reaction control thrusters stem has also been added.




The reaction control thruster is made ready for its replacement resin nozzles.





Looking up, this shows the angles of the nozzles. Note they are not all at 90 degrees to one another.





A forward view of the RCT nozzles.



The middle section of the ascent module is constructed with its ascent engine. My early thoughts were that the ascent engine was polished aluminium but on closer inspection of photographs and my 3D LEM manual prove it to be white. This will be changed later.




Foil is added. Here there is an inaccuracy as the real thing has a kapton thermal blanket stretched over the rectangular opening with the ascent engine poking through it. I have decided not to pursue this.





The foil is painted to match the kapton blanket on the real LEM.




The forward and rear plates in place and a black wall for the interior.




Two resin pyramidal blocks are fixed in place to more accurately reflect the shape of the port side.




The first of many resin vents are placed. Thanks to New Ware for including so many, they are easily crushed or lost, plus on occasion I have had to reposition them and they don’t take kindly to being removed.






A small detail consisting of a photo etch and resin part for the back of the ascent module. The black mark is its position.






A couple of resin details on the upper surface above the windows.



Now the rear reaction control thrusters are added. Care should be taken to keep the correct angles for the nozzles.





The front section is not glued but this was to check all the nozzle angles were correct. The vents on the rear are not in the correct position and were repositioned later.




The top of the LEM together with the resin docking drogue are prepared.




A photo etched fluted plate is added to the underside of the rear section.




This was a paint colour and panel line test. The colour was a little too dark but looks good for the hatch. The panel lines were made with a steel tipped paint pen and “dymo” tape as a guide. Alongside is a Nasa photo for comparison purposes.




The resin landing radar is painted and the outside covered in aluminium foil.




A section of foil is removed to aid adhesion of the landing radar. Otherwise with paint and foil trying to hold a major part onto the Lander there is bound to be trouble.




The landing radar is fixed and the gold foil beneath it is painted black. Care should be taken to orientate the radar correctly as it is asymmetrical.




The resin egress platform frame is positioned on the descent stage by temporarily placing the ascent stage.




The resin egress platform has the model handrails added. The forward overhanging parts of the handrail will be removed to be flush with the platform. The original plastic part is good enough to use here as long as the circular lugs for the handrails are removed.




A view of the egress platform frame and its position on the descent stage.




This is the MESA door release handle with a fuse wire cable added to the photo etched parts.




The egress platform is fitted and painted. Note the hand rails are shortened and the handle cable is fixed to the descent stage. Although most references had the platform aluminium, some pictures seem to show the rungs as gold. I decided that I would paint them gold later on.




A quick check that the ascent stage matches up to the platform.




The hatch is painted, including its labels, and the sides are covered in gold foil. The hatch also has a small semi-circle of foil added. A small vent hole is drilled in the hatchway roof and is painted black.




Photo etched "gills" are placed either side of the hatchway.




Thanks for looking.

_________________
Regards 4D
IPMS Member
"Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast"

This will be a most useful source of refernce when I eventualy get round to building the Airfix Lunar Module. I am looking forward to seeing the completed model.

Then wait no more gerry, its here http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/about19208.html, the build thread just takes time to put together. Part 3 to follow shortly.

_________________
Regards 4D
IPMS Member
"Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast"

PART 3 of 3

Silver foil is crumpled and shaped around the aft reaction control thrusters. Note the ascent engine is now painted satin white.



A small aerial is manufactured to match the one on the front of the model.



The front is masked off and painted grey/green, black and polished aluminium.



A small resin part is added on the port side. Note the aluminium foil on the panel in front of the aft port reaction control thruster and the port docking light.



The starboard side is painted and gold foil fixed underneath with appropriate overlaps.



Panel lines are added. A few strips of aluminium tape are simulated along with some visible kapton rivets or fixings.


The docking light is highlighted in red. Note the different bottom aft panel is one third polished aluminium. There is a slight difference in shape here to the real thing but it is not that noticeable. It can be corrected by removing the front of the panel to line up with where the black square starts and the resulting hole in the from panel filling or covering with plastic card. Also note that where the black square joins the grey/green there is no silver panel line as I couldn't see one on the real thing.



The Port side has now been painted and the panel and rivets added in silver. I have used a variety of techniques to get the lines, two strips of masking tape and paint, dymo tape on top of masking tape and a steel tipped paint pen (shown here), and a steel tipped paint pen directly where panels meet at an acute angle (easiest of all).



Note the green docking light this side. Further silver lines and dots are added as seen in photographs and fixing dots, although not seen here there are a series of fixings around the small rectangular resin part on top of the black panel above the docking light.



The lower back panels are finished with some fixing dots.



The back panel lines are extremely thin. Also the model top panel could do with being a little wider; it's not that noticeable so I have left is as is. This could be improved if individual foil panels (very slightly buckled) were added and painted.



The top panels are painted and fixing dots added. The larger silver circle is a spare docking light glued on face down.



The docking target is completed. The central rod is 0.75mm florist's wire and the bracing is 0.5mm florist's wire.



The front is finally added to complete the main ascent module structure. Some touching up at the joint is required at this stage



Applying fixing dots using "Dymo" tape as a straight edge.



The starboard fixings strips on the front and vent covers are painted.



The port fixings and vent covers are painted; there seem to be fewer fixings on this side both from reference material and photographic evidence.



Most of the "face" is now painted and the support strut is added.



More parts are added and painted. The umbilical connector at the bottom left (aluminium), a handle to the left of the hatch (aluminium), the hand rail supports (aluminium on the front and white on the top of the ascent module) and the hand rail to the right of the hatch (white).



The rendezvous radar is removed from the front of mounting and a resin filler piece is added to give the right shape. It is sanded to match.



The rendezvous radar is made up of resin and photo etched parts. Here the dish has a central column added and is painted before the addition of four 0.5mm thick pieces of wire.



The finished dish compared to the kit original. Note the white strip near the top of the central column. This simulates a gap. In the original there is a gap between the top (Hyperbolic Secondary Reflector) and the bottom (4-Point Feed Horn) of the column. Also this column is more a rounded square shape in reality.



The rendezvous radar mounting is added. There is a small white strip at the bottom (containing gyros) which is masked here ready for black paint to be applied.



The S-band steerable antenna is built from resin parts but uses the kit’s mounting rods. This can be fixed in all manner of attitudes (hence the name steerable). I have attempted to show the position shortly after landing, but different shots of the craft show it in different positions.



The antenna is fixed to it mounting which is covered in silver foil and has orange kapton tape added.  The Eagle probably has messier tape than this but the photos I looked at did not show the tape that well.



This is the start of the EVA antenna and is all scratch built. A ring of 0.5 mm wire is made about 4 mm in diameter by wrapping it around a suitable rod and gluing the join.



More strips of 0.5 mm are joined to 0.75 mm wire at the same point, equally around the wire if possible, eight in all.



The ring is attached at the bottom (about 0.7 mm from the joints) and the whole lot painted aluminium.



The EVA antennae (25 mm long) is fixed to a small photo etched mounting and fixed to the LEM. Also note the silver box to the right of the antenna. This was the mounting for it when it was folded away during flight.



New scratch built mountings of 0.75 mm wire covered in foil were used for the VHF antennas. The kits mounts did not fix in the right place and consisted of only two struts instead of three. The holes for the kit fixings had to be filled and new holes drilled for the new struts.



The rear VHF mounts complete with kapton tape. This tape was not as dark as that on the S-band antenna mounts.



The S-band steerable antenna is mounted along with the rendezvous radar at the front.



The four plume deflectors are bent into a curve. This was done with a large paintbrush which tapered. The large curve was added to the bottom and a narrower curve to the top. The frames from the kit are painted aluminium and added to the deflectors.



The VHF antennas are added to the mountings and the docking target is put in place. Care has to now be taken with the delicate antennas in place.



The Ascent and Descent Stages are finally mated. The egress platform has the rungs painted gold, and the two decals are added to the Descent Stage.



The first of the plume deflectors is added. These do not fit as peer the kit instructions due to the extra parts on the Ascent Stage so each has to be carefully attached to the stage trying to get the top of the deflector behind and level with the bottom thruster nozzle.



Each Strut has to be held in place whist it sets.



Strips of foil are added to cover joints as in the real craft. They are to be painted black or gold accordingly.



The finished article...









Thanks for reading this, I hope it is useful.

_________________
Regards 4D
IPMS Member
"Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast"

very nice, fantastic build.

Sir,
You are steely-eyed missle man!

What a fantastic build!  Superb!

I have the Airfix LEM to build when I have time.  I won't be able to make the changes you have made, but I will definitely be referring to your build for help!

Thank you so much for posting this!  I am in awe!

Alan

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Cheers! Alan
*****
'If you aren't living on the edge, you're taking up too much room'.

http://tangfastico.blogspot.com

Thanks for the complilments Alan.  :oops:

The post is here to help people cut down on some of the research but there are still things wrong with this rendering.

The guys on this site produce some brilliant stuff so I have to make do with attention to detail to take the eye away from my modelling technique.

I look forward to your stuff appearing as well.

Cheers.

_________________
Regards 4D
IPMS Member
"Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast"

I have at last constructed a base for the Eagle...
Purchase of a frame and draw up a plan with the major rocks, lunar surface sensing probes and the jettison bag.

Placing the module on polyfiller had a problem in that it was sinking, so the module was supported “marionette” like with cotton.

The base sets, I also fashioned a couple of the more distinctive rocks using Fimo. They still appear too rounded and they should be very sharp and angular (no erosion other than meteor strikes on the moon).

A lick of primer and some masking.

Addition of Ash Waste by GaleForce nine Hobby Scenics.

Another lick of paint and washes and addition of rocks and the sensor probes.

Finally the Fimo jettison bag is added.

And the finished article.

_________________
Regards 4D
IPMS Member
"Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast"

What a fantastic build. I have one od the original airfix kits in my stash, but I doubt I can top your build. Well done

_________________
Regards Colin

Airfix CLub Member 597106
A Paradox? An Oxymoron? Can't decide? Then it's a Paradoxymoron.
Profile http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/about21053.html

Thanks Colin, I've been watching your 1/24 Mosquito build so I know you would make a good job whatever you build!

_________________
Regards 4D
IPMS Member
"Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast"

Ayup Neil...

ANOTHER Beauty...

Lovely Model mate.

That is one beautiful build and if you don't mind I am going to use it as a building guide for doing mine.  I watched the Apollo 16 launch from a location on SR3 about a half mile from the VAB and followed all the Apollo missions completely.  I can still remember the afternoon in July 1969 when they landed, I was glued to the TV.  This is really going to help and I think I have been putting off my build because I hoped for something like this.  Again, fabulous build and a fantastic model for display.

Bob Koenn
Merritt Island, FL

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Those who would forsake essential freedoms for a temporary security deserve neither freedom not security.

Thanks for the comments Bob. I hope my posts are of some use to you. As to you actually witnessing a launch... I'm green with envy. Looking forward to any pictures you post.

_________________
Regards 4D
IPMS Member
"Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast"

Great Build, I have a Revell version in my stash, gives me inspiration to get started on it.....hope mine comes out as good but then it probably will not be anywhere as fine as your example....but this thread certainly helps understand some of the finer details and will probably serve as a very useful guide when I build mine....

I have looked at the add on kit,its quite expensive but it indicates that it may not fit the Revell version correctly so do you think I would be better building oob version, could be risky to buy the addon and have difficulty using it......

_________________
Regards

Birderman
London,UK

Certainly looks a lot more plausible than NASAs attempt.....That one was held together with tape!  :lol:

All the best
Sgt.S
PS - I notice you didn't bother with a blast crater under your LM either.....That's the spirit!  :wink:

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The Monkeys Are Going To The Stars!

Braille Scale Monthly Competition

I seem to recall making that kit once..but it sure didn't come out looking like that!

Beautiful job, fine example of the model maker's art.

I bought the European Revell version which is what you have I believe. I wanted to make it as accurate as possible and therefore bought the resin/ photo etched parts. After studying the instructions supplied by New Ware it became obvious these were not for the same base kit as some parts were not as described. For instance there are no plume deflectors in the Revell kit so you can’t use the frames in the kit. I did think about making them myself (I had previously done this with a 1/96 version see http://airfixtributeforum.myfastforum.org/ftopic14146-0-asc-0.php) but I found that in the states Revell had released a previous Monogram tooling which is what the New Ware additions was based on. The Monogram tooling is far superior to the European Revell tooling for accuracy. Apart from the plume deflectors the legs are accurate (not the landing pads though) and some of the radar/ antennae etc have better brackets.
My personal view was to order the Monogram from the states. I will build the Revell version someday but not to the same standard as this thread. I think any kit with reasonable foil and painting will still look good.

_________________
Regards 4D
IPMS Member
"Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast"

As far as I can tell from books, photos and films there is no “blast crater”. The surface of the moon where the Eagle landed is basically rock covered in a fine layer of dust the constancy of talcum powder. The engine exhaust simply blew the dust away which can be seen on the landing footage. The engine did not burn for long in the final position, as when one of the three landing probes touched the surface Neil Armstrong cut the engine and the LM dropped the last few feet and drifted to the left. That’s why the landing probes are all bent to the right of the craft. It certainly left no scorch marks.  There is a prominent dip in the surface where the sample bag fell though which I have tried to represent as well as a largish rock to the rear of the LM.

One day I’ll convince you NASA did land on the moon Sarge...Satan may have taken delivery of a brand new pair of ice skates by then though!  :lol:

_________________
Regards 4D
IPMS Member
"Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast"

That is fantastic work...It will come in very useful when I get round to building mine, Thanks so much.

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"Such Power exists?"