Udon's LM @ 1/96

[Swampfox]

Originally Posted by Wad Cutter

Nando, can I ask what you are using for the gold foil. Also, Magnets? Thank you and beautiful model. Very nice. wc

If I can add my .02cents worth. I get all colors of foil from a restarant supply store in Denver. These foil sheets are used to wrap baked potatoes when placing on plates of food being served at local restaurants.

The supply places normally only sell the sheets, which come in several sizes, in boxes of 500, but look around the shelves or ask if there is a box of damaged stock sitting in the back somewhere and they might sell it by the sheet or the dozen.

Good luck in finding what you need.

SFX

[whulsey]

If you have a Party Plus store in your area they have various colors of foil for candy wrapping, baking, etc. Michael's carry some also.

[Wad Cutter]

Thank you for the info. wc

[nando]

Ok, after completion of the Gundam Sinanju model, i can restart the model of Lunar Module.
It's hard to pass from macro to micro, my hands and my eyes have to get accustomed again .
I stopped my build on the descent stage and now i have to fight with the challenge of the intricate structure of the landing gear. So i choose to start with the pad assembly with only five parts. But I wanted add the gold film for consistency with rest of the model and this adds more complications.

Here the first "prototype"




Here the Apollo 11's real thing for comparison



The prototype is approved and i can proceed with the other three.

Best, Nando

[Corvettenutts]

Nando,
Looking great! Glad to see you back in the saddle again!

Bill

[nando]

Hi to all.
After one year I'm back on this model.
I started it in november of 2013, stopped it in january 2014, start and stop in april 2014 and now starting again.
You cannot define me a modeler reliable and fast.
However I'm here working on the legs. My choice of using the golden film over a so small model was challenging till now. But hereafter becomes a true nightmare: so many small tubes, railing, etc.
I did need to find the right way to roll, to cover and fold, repeating many times each element as a prototype, and finally repeat the best procedure for each occurence of each element. But this is the beautiful side of our hobby.
I stopped with the prototype of the landing pad. Here the three remnant pads.




A test for the primary strut and then the four struts completed





The componets of the outriggers.




The secondary strut with the downlock assembly, the deployment truss.




And finally the cross-over strut assembly: to find the correct jig for assemble the three components was very hard.



here a drawing to find each single component in the landing gear structure.
( from "Apollo 11 - Lunar Surface Journal" )



Now i'm working on ladder, porch and the plume deflectors. Cutting the original paper parts gives a too thick result.
I'm tinking a way to reproduce them with some other material for to do a better rendering.

I hope I'm back soon.
Best, Nando

[Dlazarus6660]

Very nice build.
So why did you decide to build smaller than the original size? I built this at 1/32 size and I am building it at 1/24 scale, very slowly.

[nando]

Originally Posted by Dlazarus6660

Very nice build.
So why did you decide to build smaller than the original size? I built this at 1/32 size and I am building it at 1/24 scale, very slowly.

Thanks for appretiations. About the size, as i said in my first post, first of all because i am a masochist.

Then i need small models due the space issue: smaller the models are, more models i can store.

Finally because i love this little gems.

Some progress.
With the ladder i had to try many solutions, because the original one was too thick in my opinion.
I tryed some material (plastic wire, paper stripes, etc.) and at the end I choose the one made with paper strips and hardened with cyanoacrylic glue.




Then I did the the structure that support the flame deflectors carefully cutting the originals and using the cyanoacrylic glue to harden them.



Now I have all the elements ready to assemble.




Next the thrilling part: assemble all that tiny parts without damage them and to complete a decent model.
I'm always afraid at this point.

Best, Nando

[elliott]

With the way your models turn out, you shouldn't be afraid of anything Nando. You're one of the better modelers here. Looking forward to your progress reports.

[nando]

Thanks for the encouragement, but i stopped build models, this model in particular, for long time and restart a build, it isn't so easy for me. My hands aren't so steady as they was and my eyes are not as sharp as it once was. Cut out so tiny details it's very hard and i need more time and more commitment for to restore the dexterity.

Here some step ahed. I started with the outriggers.




And then I perfected the procedure of the assenbly of the primary and secondary strut on the first leg.



More to follow.
Best, Nando