The NASA model building thread

[lvmmodels]

This is the latest project I am working on. A photo etch model kit of the LUT for the LC14 (Mercury-Atlas) to go with the Revell kit "Everything is GO".



More information at our website www.LVM-Studios.com

Leon

PS with permission of Chris

[Rocket Science]

This is the latest project I am working on. A photo etch model kit of the LUT for the LC14 (Mercury-Atlas) to go with the Revell kit "Everything is GO".



More information at our website www.LVM-Studios.com

Leon

PS with permission of Chris

I built that kit during its first release as a kid. Of course it didn’t look as nice as that… 

[mike robel]

Nearing completion.  The MEM is done except for glueing on a broken RCS Nozzle and deciding how to paint the Astronauts.  Have to obviously finish the base, but it essentially complete now.

The last shows it next to the Airfix 1/72 LM.

This model has been in  my head since 1998 and it has finally worked its way out.  I will probably do another with the lessons I have learned with this one.

[Dyna-Soar]

Delta IV medium and Falcon 9 cardmodels

[Bubbinski]

Nice work on the Atlas launch tower, MEM, and Delta/Falcon!

I'm looking forward to Dragon's 1/72 Apollo - Soyuz kit next month.  That will get a Soyuz in my little collection.

[clongton]

Delta IV medium and Falcon 9 cardmodels

Where'd you get the Falcon 9 card model?

[SpacexULA]

http://www.axmpaperspacescalemodels.com/SpaceX.html

Here ya go

[Soaring Habu]

I downloaded the model sheets for the MARSCenter/Fortezza Space Shuttle card model some time ago. I'm planning to make Discovery, with her current markings, and I'm thinking of taking the sheets to a print shop to have them printed A3 size, so that I can make the model really big.

Has anyone made this model before? Is it a good idea to have the model sheets printed A3 size, and if so, what type of paper should I use if I have the model sheets printed A3 size?

The model is described as 1:100 scale on the sheets.

[fatboy66]

This has got me thinking now . I saw the Revell space shuttle on sale at Hobby craft but didn't but it. I think that it one model that I would like to have a go at. The mercury project below is awsome.

[jgoldader]

I’ve finally finished a project I started last fall, the 1/72 Dragon Apollo CSM/LM done up as Apollo 13.  The spacecraft are shown just after the SM was jettisoned by the CM/LM combo, 4.5 hours before re-entry.  I’ve wanted to do this diorama for 30 years, since I saw a painting in a NASA booklet about Apollo 13 my 7th grade teacher gave to me.

I’ve attached a couple of photos here, there are more on my Photobucket site.

http://tinyurl.com/6nm8dpd
http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff38/jgoldader/Apollo%2013%201-72%20scale/

There were a few mods on the kit.  Obviously, the damaged SM Bay 4 had to be built up by hand.  I used every reference I could find, especially Mike Mackowski’s Space in Miniature book for the CSM, but also numerous refs from NASA, such as the Apollo 13 accident investigation report and even the analysis of the photographs of the SM taken by the astronauts, which I found on the NTRS.  The oxygen tanks are wooden beads, as are the ends of the hydrogen tank in Bay 4.  The fuel cells are just nested tubes with a few bits of very thin rod for wires. 

I detailed the top of the SM as well as I could, given the very few photos out there.  The structure below the CM was protected by what looks to be thick plastic sheet.  The cabling around the inside of the SM just below the CM was added as greeblies.  I couldn’t figure out how to get the triangular feed horn assemblies to attach to the SM HGA.  I added a crude sextant and telescope to the CM.  Most of the surfaces are covered with aluminum or chrome Bare Metal Foil.

The LM.  Ah, the LM.  My disappointment with the inaccuracies led me to shelve the kit for about 4 months.  They range from small (the vents are depicted as recessed rather than protruding) to major (the LM descent stage is too short and there are obvious errors in the shape of the ascent stage, especially in the facets near the bottom of the starboard side).  Of the many inaccuracies, I focused on fixing two: the height of the descent stage and the facets on the starboard side of the ascent stage.  I used a piece of sheet styrene as a spacer to lift the upper deck of the descent stage, then used Aves to build up the height of the sides of the descent stage.  The facets near the fuel tanks on the right-hand side of the ascent stage are wrong, so I cut out an area and rebuilt it with sheet styrene.  I added a heat shield for the landing radar.  I took the Apollo 13 LM foil pattern from Mike’s Space in Miniature book on the LM.  I took artistic license with the landing probes, as I could find no proper color reference, and I wanted some contrast, so I used gold foil instead of amber foil.

The decals were really tiny, but they look good.  I noticed the LM door markings don’t seem to have been provided, or at least they aren’t called out in the instructions on the back of the box.  Dragon seems to have spent more attention on the microscopic printing on the decals than on getting the basic shapes right, which is very disappointing.  I understand these weren’t intended to be museum-quality replicas, but it isn’t as if there aren’t dimensioned drawings out there: Dragon could have gotten them from David Weeks, who sells them through RealSpace Models.  What a sadly blown opportunity. 

All in all, I guess I’m pleased.  I wish the LM hadn’t been so much work.  The CSM was very nice.

Jeff

[manboy]

I'm building a palm-sized model in AutoCAD and I'm wondering if anyone has any positives experience with any 3D printer services?

[Downix]

I'm building palm-sized model in AutoCAD and I'm wondering if anyone has any positives experience with any 3D printer services?

Spacexula is the man to talk to.

[SpacexULA]

I'm building palm-sized model in AutoCAD and I'm wondering if anyone has any positives experience with any 3D printer services?

You share it on thingiverse and I will print it for you free of charge, you just pay shipping.

[Prober]

I'm building palm-sized model in AutoCAD and I'm wondering if anyone has any positives experience with any 3D printer services?

You share it on thingiverse and I will print it for you free of charge, you just pay shipping.

Manboy I can tell you that SpacexULA will honor this post, he is very honest about 3D printing and its promotion.

I would ask that you post the files in Step or IGES format. 

Go for it.

[Dyna-Soar]

Jupiter and Athena rockets

[dhanners]

It has been ages since I've built anything and posted photos of it, but here goes....

Watching SpaceX's recent success, I decided I'd get back into card modeling with AXM's great Dragon, in 1/96th. He offers the model in 1/144th and 1/100th, but since most of my other models are in 1/96th or 1/48th, I scaled it up to 1/96th.

I undertook the model because I thought it would be the perfect model for getting back into the hobby -- easy shapes, a low parts count, and Alfonso's models always seem well-designed. I thought it would be an easy night's work.

Then I started thinking, "Hmmm.... I could add a part or two here and there and spruce up the detail." Over 100 additional parts later (that's an approximation; I lost count) here is the model. I added detail from front to back, mostly to catch that 3D detail you see on the actual vehicle.

I winged (and simplified) the interior of the unpressurized trunk because I've only seen one or two photos of the flight article and they weren't that good. But I added some gold Mylar and then put stringers on top of it.

I cut the solar arrays into individual panels and added hinge details. I may re-do the arrays because I'm not crazy with how they turned out.

[clongton]

That's really nice!
Do you have a link to the website?

[dhanners]

That's really nice!
Do you have a link to the website?

Thanks for the kind words. Alfonso's website is http://www.axmpaperspacescalemodels.com/index.html

[Gene DiGennaro]

I’ve finally finished a project I started last fall, the 1/72 Dragon Apollo CSM/LM done up as Apollo 13.  The spacecraft are shown just after the SM was jettisoned by the CM/LM combo, 4.5 hours before re-entry.  I’ve wanted to do this diorama for 30 years, since I saw a painting in a NASA booklet about Apollo 13 my 7th grade teacher gave to me.

I’ve attached a couple of photos here, there are more on my Photobucket site.

http://tinyurl.com/6nm8dpd
http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff38/jgoldader/Apollo%2013%201-72%20scale/

There were a few mods on the kit.  Obviously, the damaged SM Bay 4 had to be built up by hand.  I used every reference I could find, especially Mike Mackowski’s Space in Miniature book for the CSM, but also numerous refs from NASA, such as the Apollo 13 accident investigation report and even the analysis of the photographs of the SM taken by the astronauts, which I found on the NTRS.  The oxygen tanks are wooden beads, as are the ends of the hydrogen tank in Bay 4.  The fuel cells are just nested tubes with a few bits of very thin rod for wires. 

I detailed the top of the SM as well as I could, given the very few photos out there.  The structure below the CM was protected by what looks to be thick plastic sheet.  The cabling around the inside of the SM just below the CM was added as greeblies.  I couldn’t figure out how to get the triangular feed horn assemblies to attach to the SM HGA.  I added a crude sextant and telescope to the CM.  Most of the surfaces are covered with aluminum or chrome Bare Metal Foil.

The LM.  Ah, the LM.  My disappointment with the inaccuracies led me to shelve the kit for about 4 months.  They range from small (the vents are depicted as recessed rather than protruding) to major (the LM descent stage is too short and there are obvious errors in the shape of the ascent stage, especially in the facets near the bottom of the starboard side).  Of the many inaccuracies, I focused on fixing two: the height of the descent stage and the facets on the starboard side of the ascent stage.  I used a piece of sheet styrene as a spacer to lift the upper deck of the descent stage, then used Aves to build up the height of the sides of the descent stage.  The facets near the fuel tanks on the right-hand side of the ascent stage are wrong, so I cut out an area and rebuilt it with sheet styrene.  I added a heat shield for the landing radar.  I took the Apollo 13 LM foil pattern from Mike’s Space in Miniature book on the LM.  I took artistic license with the landing probes, as I could find no proper color reference, and I wanted some contrast, so I used gold foil instead of amber foil.

The decals were really tiny, but they look good.  I noticed the LM door markings don’t seem to have been provided, or at least they aren’t called out in the instructions on the back of the box.  Dragon seems to have spent more attention on the microscopic printing on the decals than on getting the basic shapes right, which is very disappointing.  I understand these weren’t intended to be museum-quality replicas, but it isn’t as if there aren’t dimensioned drawings out there: Dragon could have gotten them from David Weeks, who sells them through RealSpace Models.  What a sadly blown opportunity. 

All in all, I guess I’m pleased.  I wish the LM hadn’t been so much work.  The CSM was very nice.

Jeff

So given the choice between the 1/72 Dragon LM or the ancient 1/72 Airfix LM, which one is a better model in terms of overall shape?

[Prober]

If you have some detailed models you have made and wish to share them.

Please review this video:




The other half is to take pics from spacecraft etc,and tranform these into 3D models.  These are listed in this thread:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=29206.0