Bad Lunar Models

[The Bad Astronomer]

I like building models (I have one of the lander which I really need to build), but a reader just sent me a link to one that has some, um, interesting illustrations and comments. I leave the reviews to you.

Apollo Capsule and Command Module

[mcclir]

GILLIGAN!!!!! :P

[Glom]

Yes. On the te CSM isn't too bad, although it lacks a few details. The LM however has a dippy HGA and no docking drogue. The metal rods that are used to link the two can upset the overall effect as well.

[Jason Thompson]

So, the command module stayed in Earth orbit, and the LM can be docked with the command module via its engine bell, eh? Interesting...

[R.A.F.]

From the website...

They can be snapped together in either position...

That's just kinda wacky.
It took me a good 5 minutes to stop laughing.

[Tuckerfan]

Heh, I can beat that, BA. Here's the plans to the LM I'm attempting to build. First thing I want you to do when you click on the link, is to see who came up with the plans, then see if you can spot the errors in the plans (don't feel bad if you can't, I didn't spot them either until I started working on the rassin' frassin' thing).

[Chip]

I like building models...

Hi Phil,
I too freely admit my total geeky youth (and occasional adulthood) as a model builder. With me it was WWI, 1920s/30s, WWII and jet planes. I then moved beyond the plastic kits and started scratch building the weird rare planes, all in the same scale of 1/72. With spacecraft, I built the Revel kit of the Apollo 11, and as a kid, had the Atlas and various other rocket kits (which were usually basically just half tubes glued together.)
I think Airfix had an Apollo 11 kit too, and a Gemini capsule complete with seated astronauts. There is a company that actually makes kits of various satellites and space probes. I'll try to find out what it is. :wink:

[Wingnut Ninja]

This is where thinking "outside the box" turns ugly.

[Starbuck]

Does anyone else get the vague sense that the mis-matched CSM-LM image is somehow... dirty?

[ignorant_ape]

ok ! i admit i am confused

i know or atleast think i know whats ` wrong ` namely :

1 one of the configurations mates the lunar descender motor with the command module dock ring

2 that bit of the lunar module was left on the surface and only the ` top section ` re docked to allow all 3 astronauts to return home

so barring an accident before descent - there is no way to produce that second docking config - even ignoring the fact the descent engine is in the wa

as an aside - where is that ` bit of the LM ` now was it jettisoned in lunar orbit ? is it still there ?

but to quit the rambling - suspecting some hoax element i looked around the site and asWWII warbirds is one of my secret fetishes i looked at thier representations of a random selection and found no errors

so why is the appollo page so wrong ? has an one written to the company - i would but would rather let someone more articulate speak

YRS - APE

[Andreas]

but to quit the rambling - suspecting some hoax element i looked around the site and asWWII warbirds is one of my secret fetishes i looked at thier representations of a random selection and found no errors

Is that your final answer?

Seriously, they feature one of my favorite pet peeves right there - calling the V-1 a rocket. It's a plane with jet propulsion. They also call it "un-guided", which is rather inaccurate.

Other random observations - they claim the Bf-109 had automatic flaps, it really had automatic slats.

[kucharek]

Does anyone else get the vague sense that the mis-matched CSM-LM image is somehow... dirty?

Yeah, it has something of PC blown out of proportions - not to say that the whole idea of PC is pretty silly.

Harald

[Chip]

I like building models...

Scroll down on this page to see some nifty kits:

http://scikits.com/Catalog.html (Includes a kit of the HST!)

:wink:

P.S. They're made of paper! (Cosmic Origami?)

[scotsman]

OK I'll admit as well, longtime model maker, not space related oddly , but I do have bucket load of modelling links , try

http://www.realspacemodels.com/

superb models, and excellent plans/references for those tacking the CSM/LM stack

One fo these days I'll start seriously on the 1/32 LM I've got in storage !

[darkhunter]

I always thought the LM was below the CM in the stack, with shrouding around it. Don't remember ever seeing a configuration with the LM's engine bell mated to the front of the CM....

[Moose]

My fiancée brought up an interesting possibility: while it is inaccurate to display the LM docked to the CSM by it's engine bell, she suggested that they may have chosen to display it mounted that way to display the topside of the LM.

So I guess the question is: was the BA induced by ignorance or by marketing? (Insert obvious "same thing" joke here, if you're of a mind.)

[Zamzara]

Maybe the pic on the left is an 'undocumented feature' through which they could cook dinner faster

[Swift]

One of them remained in the module, maintaining it in earth orbit and providing communication with Mission Command back on Earth.

That's still my favorite bit. Was that an undocumented feature too?

[Madcat]

My personal favorite was in those plans Tuckerfan posted.... poor thing has a reactor and a heat shield. Come to think of it, the LM would have been really neat that way...

[Krosis]

OK I'll admit as well, longtime model maker, not space related oddly , but I do have bucket load of modelling links , try

http://www.realspacemodels.com/

woah!

the mother lode.. Thanks scotsman!

I'm into scale model rocketry myself.. these resin kits would most likely be too heavy to do a PMC (Plastic Model Conversion) into a flying model.. (did that with a 1/144 scale Saturn V on an Estes D motor) but they would be excellent for making casts of parts in a lighter plastic.

Someday I'll build my flying large scale flying LEM (complete with clear plastic fins built into the landing leg structure) That'll be a scratch build most likely.

-cheers

[kucharek]

OK I'll admit as well, longtime model maker, not space related oddly , but I do have bucket load of modelling links , try

http://www.realspacemodels.com/

woah!

the mother lode.. Thanks scotsman!

I'm into scale model rocketry myself.. these resin kits would most likely be too heavy to do a PMC (Plastic Model Conversion) into a flying model.. (did that with a 1/144 scale Saturn V on an Estes D motor) but they would be excellent for making casts of parts in a lighter plastic.

Someday I'll build my flying large scale flying LEM (complete with clear plastic fins built into the landing leg structure) That'll be a scratch build most likely.

-cheers

Look here for a 1:96 paper saturn V. On the bottom of the page is a link to some guy's Saturn he converted into a flying model.

Harald

[Krosis]

hey thanks for the link!

I've got an Estes Saturn V in progress now.. it's designed for a single D motor.. and I'm modifying it for at least an E..

-cheers

[scotsman]

Hi guys , glad I was able to help with the link,

One of these days I'll shell out for te LM pland from Realspace, and start seriusly on my 32nd scale LM, its a "garage", (ie rough!) kit from the UK, which needs a Lot of finessing, but since it cost me £100, ($170) some years ago, I'm not in any real hurry to start it!

A few years back FineScale modeller , the premier US modelling mag ran an artice about a gentelman who builds space models, and greatest atchievement was a 1/48th Saturn 5 stack, and launch tower, 12 feet fo so , he was going to fly it, no really, but changed his mind at the last minute!

[Krosis]

I've seen a Saturn V model that large flown on a cluster of High Power motors.. 2-3 K's.. maybe they were I's.. can't remember.. anyway.. most impressive.

I saw an article in a High Power Rocketry Mag about a guy (and his team) that built and flew a 1/25 scale V2.. on an O motor.. whew..

-cheers

[Nowhere Man]

Look here for a 1:96 paper saturn V. On the bottom of the page is a link to some guy's Saturn he converted into a flying model.

Oh, great. Like I don't have enough pending projects already. I have most of the SciKits models, as well as plastic Saturn V, Shuttle, and Hubble models, all waiting for me to get enough round tuits. Not to mention finding display space in a small house that's already lined with books. If I ever get to retire, I'll have plenty to keep me occupied.

Check out the other models they have. One is a bunch of JPEGs of the Gulf Oil LM model. I remember that from my kid-hood.

Fred