Apollo Astronaut on the Moon

[Tapcho]

I wouldn't worry about the blue to me it looks just fine. The blue was bluer on earth and got greyer on the moon.

[kenlwest]

Thanks for the picture Tapcho! I have this one, but yours is higher resolution! It is amazing just how scarce the pictures are of the first Apollo suits.

Progress:

I have been working on the lower legs (shins and knees), and I discovered that I needed to make a few changes to the boots.

Picture 1: I changed the color to the correct shade of blue - note the purplish part; this is from the first iteration.

Picture 2: A comparison of the blue vs gray versions - I wanted to see what gray looked like..

Pictures 3 and 4: Both of these boots are left hand (foot)... but I spaced them apart at a normal stance distance. The right leg is designed to be slightly forward of the left. I am trying to keep from giving in to the temptation of mirroring and ending up with a symmetrical model. The left parts will be different from the right parts - as would be the case in real life. Also note that the blue boot has been shortened at the top and canted inboard.

Ken

[kenlwest]

I just got an early Christmas present! Billy Leliveld will be test-building the astronaut! If you are a "frequent-flyer" over in the Aviation department, you know the drill. I design 'em, and Billy builds 'em; 6000 miles away.

I think the collaboration will be an important step in this project, as it is designed and built very differently than the aircraft we are used to doing. When Billy runs into issues or difficulties, he will let me know so I can improve the model. I want to be sure that I am not the only person who can build it!

Ken

[Tapcho]

Ken, her's couple of more links to details of Apollo suits (hope they're new to you):
Historic Spacecraft - Space Suit Photos
Buzz Aldrin's Apollo 11 Suit
I used them while building my astronaut (from plastic and a lot of scratch built parts becaus the Revell version is what it is). Boots look great but I'd go with the blue tone. Just my to cents.

Tappi

[kenlwest]

The boots are finished!!!

Here are some pictures.... Note the snaps on the upper straps. Just a small detail.

Ken

[kenlwest]

OOPS! Here are the pictures!

[Tapcho]

Fine boots Ken. The straps and snaps look just right. I'm very curious about your approach with the suit and my hopes are high that you maintain the articulate manner shown with the boots. In the beginning you promised something totally different and so far this has ben promising. Best of holidays and mery Christmas to you.

Tappi

[milenio3]

This is amazing, Ken!!

Amazing, and incredible!

[2Kamser]

then it's true what they say - shoes/boots really does have soles
this promising to be another Ken/Billy model you just gotta have, even if you never build it
you Ken and Billy are real artists at this "profession"

[nando]

Fantastic work, Ken, as usual.

May be that You could be interested by this article on the New York Times.
There is also a X-Ray photo of Your boot, or is it the real one?

I wish you a Merry Christmas

Nando