I stained and clear coated the base. I feel so so about it. I must have got wood glue on some of the frame because the stain wouldn’t take to certain areas. Another lesson learned. But–I am moving on.
I coated the interior of the frame with wood glue so as to seal the wood from the water putty I’ll be using. My concern being that the water will warp the wood. The glue I am using claims that it is waterproof, we shall will see.
Also worked on:
I painted the hatch gasket.
I am experimenting with crackle paint for the desert lake bed.
Bakster: Well, you can always make a second base and hold on to this one in case it doesn’t work out. I’ve been using the wooden plaques from the art store, I make a half-dozen or so at a time.
Bakster> It looks pretty good to me. I understand it’s going to be a dry lake bed so I’m sure a few rough spots are not going to be a problem. You might try putting tape or something around the outside of the frame to help hold it in place before applying the putty.
Gam, I thought of doing it over too. I have another frame that I could use right out of the gate. But, it’s a lot of dang work to start over. It was a ton of sanding with these frames, add making the mitered forms, and all the rest. It was over a weeks work for me with working a little bit every day. For the one splotchy area, I can’t justify it. We well see how the water putty goes. If bad luck strikes, I might be forced to do it over.
I plan to tape the frame protecting it from the putty mixture whilst pouring and leveling, then pull it up before it sets. It will be a mess. Not sure how this will go with not having done it before but I found a build where someone has. I am sort of following their lead. Fingers crossed. I will probably pour it this week.
It just occurred to me that I could paint a solid color over the frame. Maybe a black? Or a brown? Then put a clear over it? Would that make it worse? Not sure.
Bakster> Well, paint can cover a host of errors, so painting the frame might be an option if the spots are too noticeable. See what you think after pouring the putty.
Project Report:
I’ve gotten the LM pretty well along. I gave a touch-up spray of white to the upper stage, then masked both lower and upper stages to finish up the black thermal areas. I’m detailing the antenna on the LM and the hi gain antenna for the Service Module. Those should be done tomorrow. I’m also painting the legs silver, though the idea of covering them with aluminum foil is still being debated. Depends on how the silver paint looks. Notice I’m having to paint the legs in sections as I don’t want to leave finger prints. Also, the LM “porch” has been glued on along with the descent nozzle.
The LM and SM are getting close to being ready for the RCS nozzles to be glued on. The Instrument Unit is still awaiting some connection panels.
One thing about the Service Module. I’ve found that there was only one SM that was painted “white” for a flight. That was Apollo 6 which used the Service Module from Apollo 1. The rest were left unpainted, except for the radiator panels, which explains that metallic gray color that stands out from the rest of the Saturn rockets.
What at first seemed to be a success, very much needed by the L1 program, ended in failure. The Proton booster lifted off in 18 m/s winds, -3 deg C temperatures, and into very low clouds - it disappeared from view at only 150 m altitude. Aircraft at 9, 10, and 11 km altitude reported the cloud deck topped 8300 m, with 1.5 to 2.0 km visibility. The spacecraft was successfully launched into a 330,000 km apogee orbit 180 degrees away from the moon. On reentry, the guidance system failed, and the planned double skip maneuver to bring the descent module to a landing in the Soviet Union was not possible. Ustinov had ordered the self-destruct package to be armed and the capsule blew up 12 km above the Gulf of Guinea. Kamanin disagreed strongly with this decision; the spacecraft could have still been recovered in the secondary area by Soviet naval vessels after a 20 G reentry. The decision was made to recover the spacecraft in the future whenever possible.
Officially: Solar Orbit (Heliocentric). Study of remote regions of circumterrestrial space, development of new on-board systems and units of space stations.
2019 March 2 - Launch of Falcon 9 rocket with Dragon capsule (unmanned) at 2:49 a.m. EST (0549 GMT) from the Kennedy Space Center. Demo-1 to rendezvous with ISS Sunday, March 3 at about 6 a.m. EST (11 a.m. GMT).
That is such a cool model, Gary. I showed your project to my brother and his comment was, “Oh man, that is cool. That is the one I’d like to get.” He remembered the kit whilst growing up, seeing the kit, and wanting it. I agree.
That is interesting about the service module panel. I remember seeing that.
I checked on prices before the GB started and realized that if I were going to complete it I would have to scratch-build some major parts. I’ve managed to cobble things together, but even so I’m missing some of the internals on the Service Module. Nothing that will be noticed, but would be nice to have. Odd, as I’m sure I had two of these things at one time, and extra CM/SM sets from other kits.
Still, I’m hopeful that Revell will release a new boxing of this and other kits this year in time for the moon-landing anniversary.
I am beginning to think the same demon that menaced the test pilots is trying to sabotage my X-1 build. Disaster struck with my very first decal, the tail number. The decal stuck down so fast I had no time to position it. I tried working more fluid underneath it and this eventually led to the decal folding over onto itself. I tried soaking it in water and working it apart, and no dang way. These are the most unforgiving decals I have ever worked with. I nearly messed up the emblem too. I think I have figured out how to deal with these now, but man–don’t make a mistake. Or you are screwed. Once they stick to themself, forget about it.
So… now what. I tried looking for aftermarket decals and I didn’t have any luck. I found some, but not 1:48 scale. Admittedly, I am not the best at searching for stuff like this. I might resort to using another decal set included with the sheet. It has the same tail number, just a different font for a different flight. I hate to go that route, but I am not sure how else to proceed. The other option is that I have one good decal that could be scanned onto decal film. I don’t have a good printer, nor the necessary stuff and experience. I am not willing to invest the time and expence for 1 decal.
Bakster> Bummer about the decal! If you don’t come up with something soon, I have to make some decals for the Apollo model and running off a set of tail numbers shouldn’t be a problem. I can’t guarantee how well they would work, but they would be free!
Only thing is, I don’t know what they would look like and what size they need to be. You would need to get a really good photo of your last decal and kinda give me a height measurement as precisely as you can (unless I can find the information online).
Perhaps someone else has a set, or another solution. Might delay your completion by a couple of weeks or three, however.
Hey Gary-- I could mail you the remaining decal. Then you could scan it, or whatever you’d need to do. I appreciate your offer and I might take you up on it. Let’s see if another solution presents itself and go from there.
You’re welcome! Since they are standard military style letters, I wonder if there might be another set somewhere you could cobble the numbers together from. Never can tell.
If all else fails, I’ll certainly give printing a set a try.
None that I know of. I’ve used Microsol successfully many times. It has wrinkled the decals on application, but they’ve always flattened out. You may have to do more than one application.
Oh, sorry about the decal issue. It sucks when 1 decal holds you up. Microsol works great for me however it just won’t effect some manufactures. The thinner the better. It sounds like looking for some generic decals may be your ticket.
