Pathfinder Paper Model

SpaceCanada · Post by **SpaceCanada** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 5:18 pm

Oooh, look what I found!

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

Now you can wake up to see Pathfinder every day. Or, display it in your garden.

Hotdog · Post by **Hotdog** » Thu Dec 22, 2011 7:42 pm

Not bad! All it lacks are some paper pigeons nesting in between the ET and SRB's.

SpaceCanada · Post by **SpaceCanada** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:20 am

Nothing says you cannot add your own cut-out paper pigeons.

I have links to paper models of loads of different spacecraft (satellites, ISS, Hubble, etc.) should anyone want them. You could make your own Rocket Park if you wanted to.

For now, I need to set aside some time to make the (Estes and Revell) Saturn V, Mercury Redstone, and Orbiter models collecting dust in my closet...

Hotdog · Post by **Hotdog** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:25 am

Vincent got the Estes Saturn V recently. There's a paper kit for the Launch Umbilical Tower that would be a cool add on for that. You can find it on Ebay.

Do you have the Estes Mercury Atlas? I built that kit just to display and it is fabulous!

SpaceCanada · Post by **SpaceCanada** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 12:19 pm

Yes, that's the one I have, and the same Saturn V Vincent just acquired. The orbiter is a Revell model. I bought them all for display... just haven't had time to build them. Guess what I plan on doing over Christmas break? Models!

celticcowboy · Post by **celticcowboy** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 12:54 pm

that website also has some very good links to other space paper models
very nice find

Hotdog · Post by **Hotdog** » Fri Dec 23, 2011 9:11 pm

Is your orbiter the 1:72 scale version? If you are a stickler for detail like me, you will want the correct decals and main engine nozzles.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-72-Monogram-a ... 4cfcf7da9c

http://realspacemodels.com/cgi-bin/chec ... rod72SSME+

I have built both the Revell and the Monogram kits and there are some inaccuracies you will have to deal with if you want to get them right! These inaccuracies are due to the fact that the tooling for those kits were made in 1978 and 1979, when the only finished orbiter to model from was Enterprise. The Monogram kit lacks the heat shield tiles, and the tiles on the Revell kit are oversized. The Monogram kit has holes for the RCS thrusters, but the Revell kit requires some drilling to get them right. The star tracker on the nose is in the incorrect place on the Revell kit and will require some fabrication and some drilling in order to show it accurately. If you plan to build the Revell kit with the landing gear deployed, the nose gear is too tall and the orbiter will sit level instead of angled. Some hacking will need to be done to get the nose gear length shortened so that the orbiter sits at the proper angle. The cockpit of the Revell kit is very generic so you can have all kinds of fun creating accurate instrument panel decals, scratch-building flight sticks, and cutting in a hole for access to the mid-deck. The payload bay and the SpaceLab that comes with the kit are generic as well and require a lot of work to make accurate. There are add-on payload bay replacement kits you can buy that can fix this problem as well.

Despite all of these inaccuracies, you can still create a pretty awesome orbiter model from these kits. Here are some links for inspiration.

http://www.astrazoic.com/Space-Shuttle-Discovery.html

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/lofi ... 47556.html

http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/G ... ng/00.shtm

http://hsfeatures.com/columbiadh_1.htm

Happy modeling! And when you're done, share some photos of the finished product!

SpaceCanada · Post by **SpaceCanada** » Tue Jan 03, 2012 10:31 am

Yes, the Revell orbiter model is 1:72 and, as picky as I have been with the model thus far, I won't be modifying it too much. But thanks for the links - I'll definitely check them out!

Over Christmas break we were able to build the Mercury-Redstone and most of the orbiter - it has a base coast of paint (airbrushed), 98% glued together (we opted to nix the landing gear and the antenna that prevents the payload bay doors from closing - who came up with that design?), and we just have to get the painted details and decals put on. I'll be using real photos for paint reference, not the model book, even though the STS-100 colouring in the book is better than most models I've seen.

Next up: Saturn V, Avro Arrow, and my husband has a Back to the Future Delorean - They will have to wait until next Christmas break. We can only handle so many paint and glue fumes at once...

Photos thus far:

Hotdog · Post by **Hotdog** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 9:07 am

Looking good so far! The Redstone looks excellent! Reminds me of the Jupiter-C I built some years ago, I believe it's the same scale. Keep up the good work!

street · Post by **street** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 2:42 pm

Hotdog wrote:Is your orbiter the 1:72 scale version? If you are a stickler for detail like me, you will want the correct decals and main engine nozzles.

Space geek that I am (and I know you can relate to that!), when my husband and I went to the national IMPS show in Ohio year before last I saw several of the Lander models and I pointed out the inaccuracies. A member of the host club over heard me and asked me to meet with the judges before they judged those models. My husband was quite impressed, as I usually go to those shows and hang out in the 'widow's corner'.

airkale · Post by **airkale** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 9:37 pm

There are some really neat models of orbiters and Saturns. I have a Monogram Young Astronauts orbiter, an 1/144 Saturn V and an airfix saturn 1b.
Recently, I was in a shop in a neighboring city and found some neat stuff. Airfix recently came out with a skylab version of the saturn V. The shop also had a awesome launch tower made by Monogram at a stiff 140 bucks. I had never seen one before and it looked really detailed, but didn't come with any type of pad or crawler. So I opted not to buy. From what I can find out its a pretty rare model.

Let me know if you want pics.

Hotdog · Post by **Hotdog** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 10:38 am

Which launch tower? Apollo or Shuttle? The only plastic kit I know of is the 1/144 Revell Shuttle Launch Tower from the mid-80s, which I purchased back then for $50. It came with the crawler. You could buy it with or without the shuttle stack.

airkale · Post by **airkale** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 11:32 am

It was shuttle, not Apollo. This one didn't come with the pad I think. I remember being intrigued by the model even though the price was high. So I looked it up on the net at that time and found some information. Of course now that I am talking about it, I can't find the same model.

From what I remember it was the typical Revell box, level 2 with the green stripe on top of the box. I have seen some on ebay with a night picture of the pad, but this wasn't it.

I'm kinda curious now, especially with some of those kits selling for over $200 on ebay. Maybe the 140 bucks wasn't a bad price after all.

Hotdog, do you know of any 1/144 Apollo pads besides the resin kits?

Hotdog · Post by **Hotdog** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 4:10 pm

I believe the kit you are describing is the same kit I bought in the 80s. Revell made two versions of the 1/144 launch tower. One came with the shuttle stack, and showed the night shot of Columbia on the pad. The other one is the one you are describing, which was just the tower and did not include the shuttle. It had the stripe at the top of the box you described. And it did include the launch pad/crawler even though the photo on the box may have led you to believe otherwise. I bought mine in 1988 on clearance for $50.

The only other 1/144 Apollo tower kits are paper models. There's a really nice one on eBay for $30

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Launch-Umbilica ... 35b8ba88af

Hotdog · Post by **Hotdog** » Tue Jan 17, 2012 4:18 pm

Here's some other interesting links!

The Airfix version (badass!)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Space-Shuttle-L ... 0736708819

The old Revell kit with shuttle stack
http://www.ebay.com/itm/REVELL-Space-Sh ... 3a63d5cc75

The old Revell kit that I had
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1986-REVELL-SHU ... 3cb5c25070

airkale · Post by **airkale** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 9:16 am

I'm about 85% sure that the third link you listed is the one that was in the shop. Seems like the price tag might not be that stiff now that I have been comparing it to ebay!

I've seen all the paper towers that are on sale, however, I've never worked with paper. Have you had any luck with it?

Hotdog · Post by **Hotdog** » Wed Jan 18, 2012 6:30 pm

It's been awhile. It's very time consuming, since you have to cut out each piece with an exacto knife, and be very precise with that and with the folding. You also need a strong glue that dries fast. You will also look for inventive ways to hold pieces together so the glue will bond without you having to sit there holding them with your fingers. The plus side is, once you're done gluing everything, you're done! No painting, decals or finishing required.

airkale · Post by **airkale** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 1:15 pm

Ok well I broke down and bought it! Its going to be in my large collection of models to-build. Let you know when it arrives.

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Tue May 29, 2012 5:00 pm

I just picked up a 1/72 Gemini model today. Not a huge model but seems to have some nice detailing. Saw a couple other kits i would love to have but out of the budget for today. One was a 5 in one kit all to scale with eachother including the launch vehicles for Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. Also saw a nice combo LM/CSM apollo kit hope i can get both in the future. Pictures will be posted when i get the Gemini kit done.

Hotdog · Post by **Hotdog** » Tue May 29, 2012 7:00 pm

Are you talking about the AMT "Man In Space Rocket Collection?" I wouldn't waste my time with that kit. The rockets are so small, its almost impossible to paint and detail them. The micro decals require the skill of a surgeon to apply without messing up. I enjoy the challenges of model building, but to me the effort required to pull this one off exceeded the worth.

I purchased a Monogram 1/72 Gemini at Sprocket many moons ago. Not sure what ever happened to that model, I was a kid when I built it so I doubt I'd wanna display it now. I also had a 1/72 Mercury capsule that went nicely with it. I still have my Estes Mercury Atlas, a great looking kit!