1/144 Skylab

Modeling Subjects Space
1

Hi, everybody:

I’m thinking I’d like to scratchbuild/kitbash a 1/144 Skylab. I have the Airfix 1/144 Saturn V from which I could use the Apollo CSM & the stage that was used as Skylab’s main body. Can anyone point me in the right direction to get plans & possibly detail parts to do this project? I can scratchbuild, no problem, but I need good scale plans to work from. Any ideas & advice would be greatly appreciated.

Happy modeling!

Thanks,

Pete

2

Pete:

Check Realspacemodels.com under “drawings.” They’ve got a set of David Weeks’ very fine Skylab drawings available for purchase.

Cheers

3

Strange Revell/Monogram never released a Skylab kit. Doesn’t seem it would have taken much to modify one of their Saturn 5 kits.

Also strange I’ve never seen a hobbyist publish a scratch bulid using one one the Saturn 5’s. I’m thinking something along the lines of the Mercury Redstone where you can use the Revell 1/48 Mercury/Gemini kit and 2 Glencoe Jupiter C’s.

It was basicly just a S4B stage with a docking adapter and solar array.

Sadly I witnessed the country move on after Apollo 11 with the attitude of “OK, we’ve conquered space now lets do something else”. Skylab was a victim of this lack of interest.

4

FYI & FWIW Real Space Models just release a 1:144 kit of Skylab -

www.realspacemodels.com/…/skylab.html

As far as scratchbuilding, Mike Mackowski of Spaceinminiature.com built one in 1:96 -

www.spaceinminiature.com/…/skylab.html

He had it on display at one of the Phoenix IPMS Nationals, was a very nice job.

5

Pete,

I picked up the Realspace Models Skylab at the 2012 Nats. I was planning on doing a kit review, so I’ll post some photos of what’s in the box. I’ll shoot some piccies tonight.

The instructions leave a lot of questions, and it is hard to decipher where and how some small parts are attached. I’m not a real space groupie, so my only knowlege about Skylab are based on fuzzy memories dating back to elementary school. I tried our friend Google, but didn’t get a whole lot of useful photos.

The kit itself will require some deft assembly skills, as the “X” shaped PE solar array is big, heavy, and delicate. Maybe this thing will need to be soldered for strength? That is one skill I will need to learn.

Personally, I am also surprised that nobody has kitted a plastic Skylab kit. I was hoping DML would do one, but their space kits are kind of toy-like.

6

Nice build by Mike M. I just wish he had more details how to do the build

7

Okay, here are some photos of the Realspace Models kit. Sorry, I’m still having trouble with Flickr or something. I keep getting a “something-something-could not be parsed…” error message.

Photo of built-up model on box:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ntizumi/7854511680/

Parts:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ntizumi/7854509984/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ntizumi/7854509720/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ntizumi/7854510342/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ntizumi/7854510656/

Personally, I felt the kit was a bit pricey for what you get. I got mine for $125, but I noticed that the website price is $150. Ouch.

8

Oookay, I finally figured out how to post images again. I’m really slow on the uptake, so please forgive my stupidity. Anyway, here are the piccies of Realspace Models’ Skylab.

The box top photo of the completed model:

Resin parts:

PE frets, gold foil, and brass wire:

And finally, the teeny decal sheet:

Note that this kit represents the damaged solar panel configuration like the real Skylab. An intact version is supposedly in the works. i will probably spring for the Skylab drawings mentioned above, to assist in locating parts and possibly addng details. I noticed an Airfix Skylab booster at my LHS, but since I built the Apollo Saturn V, I have no desire to go through that ordeal again.