Hubble Space Telescope 1/48 scale

**Sakrison** · #1 10-03-2012, 05:09 PM

The kit is a free download from HubbleSite - Hand-held Hubble.

This is not a beginner's kit and the instructions, while thorough, have hand-drawn illustrations that can sometimes caused a bit of head-scratching and few miss-steps that required rebuilding some parts. But the parts sheets are crisp and colorful and the parts went together well (not counting my mistakes), with very few fit problems.

The kit provides a black liner for the upper shroud (the narrow part).
I lined the inside of the lower shroud with black construction paper, so you can't see any stray light when you look down the barrel.

I also designed and built the simple display stand.

The joints between the solar panels and their mounting arms are weak butt joints. Two days after I assembled them, they are already failing just moving the model around. I want to reinforce them with wire, which might mean rebuilding the panel assemblies. I'll report on my success. (Note the optimism.)

Overall, this is a very nice, well-designed kit with an adequate amount of detail. I enjoyed building it and it looks good on my shelf. The finished model is about 14" tall (without the stand) and 9" wide across the solar panels.

Cheers,
--David

**mldixon** · #2 10-03-2012, 05:17 PM

Nice build, I also did this one and was very impressed with the details, I agree it is complicated enough to confuse, not sure what happened to mine. I think it went to a school science fair and never made it home. Glad you posted yours...

**Sakrison** · #3 10-03-2012, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sakrison

The joints between the solar panels and their mounting arms are weak butt joints. Two days after I assembled them, they are already failing just moving the model around. I want to reinforce them with wire, which might mean rebuilding the panel assemblies. I'll report on my success. (Note the optimism.)

Success! Five minutes, a couple of pieces of piano wire, and some superglue, and the joints are much stronger. Not toddler-proof, mind you, but strong enough.

**Bionic Modeler** · #4 10-03-2012, 06:28 PM

I had the same problem and have had to glue them back on several times. But it is a great model. I was impressed with how it comes apart. When I show it to people they are amazed just looking at it all together then when I take it apart to show the teleescope inside it blows their minds.

**Retired_for_now** · #5 10-06-2012, 08:48 PM

Well done, David. Long-term durability issues I've found with the intermediate (less detailed model) are the solar panels (some very fine wire inside lengthwise to prevent curling, a lot more structure to attach the panels to the struts) and the sun shield (double up on the hinge - small hands like to see these things open and close...).
Yogi

**eatcrow2** · #6 10-07-2012, 06:25 AM

Excellent!!! Love the attention to detailing...

**Rascacielos** · #7 03-01-2016, 05:50 PM

Can you see the constellations with that incredible replica???

**richkat** · #8 03-01-2016, 06:05 PM

Your build looks great!
This was the first paper model I ever built, my stepson and I found it and together we built both the simple one and the detailed one. Didn't even know of paper models till we found this one......and now......hooked.......Rich