1/350 Moonlander

[Rick Lowe]

Nice! 

[zenrat]

1/350 figures?

 

[NARSES2]

Stupendous   

[frank2056]

1/350 figures?

 

Yup. They're a mix of astronaut figures I found online that I scaled down to 1/350 and some that I designed myself. I think I have over 100 left over from my last print run.

[Rick Lowe]

Spares are good to have. 

[frank2056]

Finished! Despite its size, this was an absolutely fun model to build. All of the issues were self inflicted - mainly my rushing ahead and gluing some structural supports before getting all the other supports and structures lined up properly. Most of the parts will press together firmly and cleanly, so there's no need to rush and glue.

Very enjoyable build and highly recommended. Plus you get spares (many or a few, depending on the version built). The Paragrafix PE set was a joy to work with and you get spares there, too.





I used both dishes from the Paragrafix PE set - the open frame to communicate to the Earth, the other to communicate with relay satellites as they pass overhead, or with explorers on the surface:



The astronaut at the far right may be afraid of heights, because he's holding on to one of the support beams:



Let's play "find the supervisor" - closeup of the guys going down to the surface. The elevator is free swinging, so even the slightest breeze makes it rotate. I had to wait for the right moment to photograph it. In fact, I just noticed that it swung all the way around one of the beams - ignore that:



Lower cargo section with cargo foreman. There's another astronaut in the elevator:




"The Spaceship Handbook" gives a total height of the cargo ship at 160ft/48.8m with the landing gear and central leg retracted. This matches published data. With the landing gear and central leg extended, the ship would have been 210.8 ft/64.3m. In 1/350 scale, the landed ship should be 183.61mm tall. It was hard to measure properly, but the completed model measures between 250mm and 260mm tall - which (averaging) would make it around 1/250 scale.

I scaled one of the kit images to true 1/350 scale. pretty obvious difference:



Typical Pegasus; they have a very hard time designing kits to match the stated scale, even when the "real" vehicle's size is easy to find with minimal effort. The worst example is the space ship from "When Worlds Collide", which is listed as 1/350 but is closer to 1/500. No excuse here, either - the actual measurements were clearly displayed on the screen for 20-30 seconds.

I'm declaring this one as a larger, heavier cargo ship used to build bases and long duration stays near the lunar poles. That's why the Earth pointing antenna is aimed at to the horizon.

Thanks for all the helpful comments and for following along!

[Rick Lowe]

I'm declaring this one as a larger, heavier cargo ship used to build bases and long duration stays near the lunar poles. That's why the Earth pointing antenna is aimed at to the horizon.

As previously noted: "Kits' Second Rule Applies."

Nice job. 

(Maybe the Stray Astronaut is shaking the structure to see how sturdy it is... a wee bit late to think of that...    )

[Old Wombat]

Over sized is better in undersized! easier to come to some arrangement via Kit's 2nd Law (Any discrepancies can be rectified with a decent backstory - or words to that effect  ).


Fantastic result, Frank!   



PS: The supervisor is doing what all supervisors on a worksite do, standing around with his/her hands on his/her hips doing nothing. 

[zenrat]

Is that freight elevator cleared for passenger use?  Might have a safety violation here...
 


Excellent piece of building.  I am very impressed.   

[scautomoton]

This is fantastic. You just need a suitable moon-like base with a tiny flag on it now.

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Absolutely stunning - well done!

[buzzbomb]

Slendiferous   

[frank2056]

Thanks, everyone!

Years ago, I saw a Von Braun "Round the Moon" ship on Shapeways, years ago:



It was in 1/400 scale, so I asked the designer if he could rescale it to 1/350 and he did. I bought a copy and quickly realized how delicate it was. I managed to prep and paint it with only minor damage (the radio dish and the mercury boiler snapped off) but the white primer just didn't look right. Recently, I tried to remove the acrylic primer with denatured alcohol. The age of the print (6-7 years) or something else softened the plastic and barely touched the primer. I let it dry out and the print hardened again... but in the process, the frame never straightened out. I think they may have separated in some spots as well:



This is accurately scaled (you can see a ghostly astronaut right below it) - compared to the Pegasus kit, it's the length of the cargo module.

I guess the only option I have is to use the drawings in the "Spaceship Handbook" and CAD up a version. I'll make it so it's easier to paint and maybe not as delicate (the resin Shapeways used is much more brittle than modern hobbyist resins). That'll be a future project.

[Mossie]

Really fantastic work on it.  Despite the scale issues, it's an impressive size and looks great.

Might have to consider getting one of these.

[frank2056]

Despite the scale issue, the kit engineering is great, making it a very enjoyable build.