1/35 Lunar Hopper

[frank2056]

This is based on Alex Schomburg's cover artwork for the November 1964 issue of Amazing Stories. The artwork for the cover story is of a completely different design:



Ignore the fact that the astronaut's face plate seems to be open. Nothing like fresh vacuum in your face while cruisin' the lunar plains! It took a while to figure out how this hopper is supposed to be controlled. I think the astronaut uses his feet (!) to swivel the engine port and starboard, and maybe in pitch. No idea how yaw would work. I had to make some guesses about the hidden structure, but here's the first 3D iteration:

Not a perfect match, but OK-ish:



I used a scaled drawing of a seated astronaut to get an idea of where the seat and controls should be placed. It's slightly different than the artwork.







I made some 1/35 diamond plate. It should be interesting to see if it prints:



It looks like I'll be able to fit 4-6 of these on my Saturn 8K's build plate, but the vehicle disappears inside a forest of supports.

[kerick]

Hey! He's got a bucket seat and a cup holder in front of the handlebar! 
I'd say that was a very good representation of that artwork.
Obviously the faceplate is up so you can see his mug. Just before he wheezes out his last breath.    Just like every movie astronaut and deep sea diver always has lights on inside the helmet. Makes it difficult at best to see outside the helmet but it looks good in the movie.

[NARSES2]

That looks good   

[Weaver]

Interesting. It looks like a variation on the North American Aviation MOBEV F1B "Flyer". If that's the case, then it was balance controlled: the pilot achieved pitch and roll by moving his body weight, while yaw was achieved by a pair of small thrusters. A similar device is included in the Airfix Astronauts set.

More info: http://www.astronautix.com/m/mobevf1b.html


Video of flight testing:

Hoppers in the Airfix 1/72nd Astronauts set (the "Flying Sofa" is probably the Bell LFV/MOBEV F2B):




Note that MOBEV was a wide-ranging NASA study covering rovers and flying vehicles and involving several different contractors (but mostly Bell). The designations were assigned by the program, so "F1B" meant a flyer (F) with a one-man crew (1) that could perform mission set B. The contractors would then produce a Bell F1B, a North American F1B etc...

[frank2056]

Harold, that video is a good find. I remember seeing the Airfix figures when it was re-released; I should have bought it.

This one is similar to the Schomburg cover. I don't know which one came first:

[Rick Lowe]

IIRC the standing flyer was also featured in a James Bond movie... Thunderball maybe?
*Or after a quick goggle is that the jetpack I'm thinking of?

The Top Secret one he launched from the US submarine.
That he knew about from 'A Russian Translation of the Training Manual... Sorry."

[Weaver]

IIRC the standing flyer was also featured in a James Bond movie... Thunderball maybe?
*Or after a quick goggle is that the jetpack I'm thinking of?

The Top Secret one he launched from the US submarine.
That he knew about from 'A Russian Translation of the Training Manual... Sorry."

The jetpack seen in Thunderball was actually flown by Bell engineer Wendell Moore who invented the whole concept.

[kerick]

This page has several flyer/hopper designs.

http://www.astronautix.com/l/lunarflyers.html

One looks similar to the pic I posted on the discussion page.

[frank2056]

I printed one hopper with all the parts combined and parts to build two hoppers. Unfortunately, the combined hopper didn't print well. I did get two good frames and enough fuel tanks to build one hopper. The print had a couple of issues - the tanks are solid, so a few peeled right off the plate and stuck to the film. This may have caused the combined parts hopper to fail as well. I also had some long and thin parts that either didn't print or were so delicate, I broke them off accidentally during handling.

Here are all the main hopper parts ready for assembly and paint. The diamond tread came out and so did the weight reduction under the plate. unfortunately, the part was very thin (less than 0.4mm in places) so some sections look like a gorilla jumped on them. The discoloration is due to the old resin that had been sitting in the vat for a few days - some of the pigments settled out. I stirred it up, but it didn't fully mix the pigment.:



Note the wire-wrap wire I used to replace the broken off resin pieces. The loop in front broke off during painting, as well:



Painted. "JY 25" is the month and year. I broke off the front loop antenna and replaced it with wire-wrap wire:





The rocket engine looks tilted because the central section is thin and slightly warped... but it's fine since directional control would have been achieved by tilting the engine (although it should have been by just tilting the nozzle). The two vanes below the nozzle are for yaw control:



I added some basic instrument dials and painted a print support pip that I didn't fully remove as a red start/stop button:




I have some hard rubber (or vinyl) astronauts that scale out to around 1/35. One of the seated guys fits perfectly:



Here, his buddy is waiting for a ride:



Overall, it was a fun project. The print didn't come out exactly as I wanted and the paint job has dust and cat hairs in it, but it looks OK from a distance. I may paint up one of the seated guys; I think the Badger primers will stick to this plastic. I may print a few other tanks and a new diamond plate platform (thicker this time) to make a second version.

[Rick Lowe]

Came out well, nice work! 

[NARSES2]

That has come out well 

[Old Wombat]

Blink! ... & there it is, in all its completed goodness! 

Frank, you complain about dust & cat hairs on all your paint jobs, but I have yet to see any evidence of either! 

Slick bit of work, my friend! Very slick!   

[jcf]

Nice. 

The astronaut figure is accurate,
no faceplate. 

[frank2056]

This always happens; I needed just ONE extra tank to finish the second hopper  so I changed the tank supports in the slicer, thickened the diamond plate floor and printed three extra hoppers, just in case. All the parts printed out. Now I have a pile of lander parts.

Jon - the lack of a faceplate just illustrates how brave this astronaut is - Boldness is All!

[Rick Lowe]

Now I have a pile of lander parts.

Extras and Spares are always useful.
Just not necessarily this year... don't ask, etc...