Daeothar (finally) goes Lunar - Sidestepping to some astronauts

[Daeothar]

Thanks for the sympathies guys.

In the end, the damage was not too extensive. I drilled a small hole directly next to the magnets and used that to pry them loose with a small screwdriver (I tried it with an X-acto blade first, with predictable results ).

I then cleaned off the superglue from the magnets with a broken off X-acto blade I had on hand anyway and proceed a bit differently this time. I let the magnets align themselves on the ones on the descend stage and then press fitted them in the old holes.

This was supposed to be a test fit, but they went in so snug, I decided to leave them in. And instead of glueing them again, I simply covered them with very thin plasticard which I then sanded smooth with the surrounding plastic.

And that will hold them secure enough, as all the force exerted on them will be pull, and the plasticard will keep them neatly in place.

Problem solved, and the two stages connect perfectly now

Then I went to town on the detailing and embellishing the hull of the ascend stage. With good quality reference pictures, you'll find that this thing is all but smooth. There are undulating panels, unexpected rivets and other protrusions all over the hull.

So I did a virtual walkaround, adding small bits of plastic wherever they were required. And I must say, they really add visual interest to an otherwise pretty bland hull.

As stated earlier; there are some glaring mistakes in the geometry and shape of the hull, but nearing the bottom of the rabbithole, I've discovered that none of the landers 11 to 20 were identical. They all had slight differences between them and the last ones up there (15, 16 and 17) were extensively modified compared to the earliers ones (14 and below). These are called the extended versions. they had more fuel and supplies for a more extended stay, and they had more scientific instruments and of course the 15+ landers all carried a rover.

So as this is a lander in a what-if scenario (maybe something along the lines of an Apollo 32 mission?), there would be slight alterations to its hull when compared to Apollo 11 of course. Meaning I can live with the inaccuracies

One thing I came across is the scientific instruments stored in the descend stage. Those were in compartments that could be opened up to the outside (flipped down) once landed. This meant that the mylar foil needed to be pulled off the hull to gain access, which explains the really messy state of the descend stages of 15 to 17 in the pictures.

So now I also need to add one of those open compartments. Because I'm me

Luckily, I've found a modeler who did exactly that, with a Monogram kit. I'll be copying his efforts, with the added challenge of magnetizing the whole compartment, so I can also put a pristine lander on the table when I so desire. I've added a picture of his work down there, so that's not mine! (yet )

[carlos marighela]

I see the purchase of several bars of good quality chocolate will be in order to tackle the mylar foil.

The sacrifices people must make for their art.

[Daeothar]

Yeah; it's a hard life... 

I was told that the foil around Rolo chocolates is exactly the right shade of reddish gold, so obviously I'll take one for the team and check this out...

[carlos marighela]

Don't have a packet to hand but from memory I reckon that's very likely correct. Ferrero Rocher is a more goldy, blingy, gold.

I once attended a wedding in the long distant past where one of the young ladies present was attired in a dress best described as jumbo sized Crunchie wrapper.

[anevilgiraffe]

so where was the rover stored then? always wondered. I assume it was flat pack.

[Daeothar]

so where was the rover stored then? always wondered. I assume it was flat pack.

They were stored in one of the 4 quads. And quads were the flat areas between the landing struts on the descend stage. Apollo 11 'only' had some scientific equipment stored in one pallet (called a MESA) located on quad 3, but the later J-missions had all 4 quads packed with equipment and of course the rover.

It completely folded in on itself, with the wheels folding up and in like a transformer. Part of the drive and the batteries were stored on another pallet. All of these MESA's and the rover were initially covered in mylar foil (a thermal layer) , which was fastened with velcro. It would be removed by the astronauts when landed to gain access to the equipment.

Here's an original diagram of the descend stage showing the quads and a picture of the rover in its stored position before application of the mylar

[anevilgiraffe]

nice... just assumed that was all engine 

[mikedemana]

If you are ever in Ohio, you really should check out the Neil Armstrong Air & Space  Museum! I was just there last week and I'm sure you'd geek out like I did... 
https://www.armstrongmuseum.org/



Mike Demana

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Excellent

Yeah; it's a hard life... 

I was told that the foil around Rolo chocolates is exactly the right shade of reddish gold, so obviously I'll take one for the team and check this out...

Cool!

[zemjw]

I've been wanting to get my hands on this game for quite some time now. Ever since I read Alan Smale's excellent 'Hot Moon - Apollo Rising, book 1'.

The book is either free or very cheap on Amazon Audible at the moment - Amazon UK link.

I went to spend my Audible credit on it last night, and it offered to add it to my library free of charge. I guess that means it will disappear if/when I cancel my membership, but I'm okay with that.

It's 20 hours of listening , which should keep me occupied for a while.

[Daeothar]

Trust me; it's worth it

I'm eagerly awaiting book 2, which will become available on November 12...

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

Trust me; it's worth it

I'm eagerly awaiting book 2, which will become available on November 12...

Me too. Pre-order in already on the Kindle.

Fascinating info on the lander too, thanks.

[Daeothar]

Regrettably, real life has virtually stopped progress at the moment, but I just came across this, and I just had to share.

Way too advanced tech for this project, but really cool nonetheless:

https://youtu.be/LEpm1_j1dYM?si=9QE-LYZVSNsBfUaG

[Daeothar]

Real life has a way of interfering, just when you're in the zone, and of course this is what happened here. A step in the process that will take a bit more thought, experimentation and creativity results in a bit of a hang-up, then all kinds of things happen, such as birthdays, a (very) busy spell at work, other passtimes that require, well, time, and before you know it, you're 2 weeks further with no progress to show for it and a dwindling mojo.

So to combat this slow spell, I've decided to sidestep away from the lander for a bit and paint up the first faction, of two planned, to fight over the moon. And since I'm still knee deep in watching For All Mankind, I just had to go with the Americans.

Yesterday afternoon, with a couple of hours to spend, I took out the minis from the 2-player starter box and the Attack on Zvezda expansion and set to work. The starter set has 3 minis for the Americans and Russians each, and the Zvezda box adds two extra minis for each faction.

Interestingly, the starter box has minis cast in resin, while the expansion has 3D printed ones, and there is a definite difference in detail. The cast minis are much more crisp and have better, more defined and fine details. This will probably be less pronounced once they're painted uniformly, but it's very noticeable at this stage.

On the flip side; there was some mould slip on at least one of the starter minis, and quite a bit of cleanup. Not as bad as from some other brands, but it still kept me off the streets for at least an hour or so. There were only a few tiny bubbles to be found too, on the bottom of one backpack, which was easily repairable and would have been all but invisible on the table had I left that as is.

The printed minis are still of good quality, and I will happily field them. In fact, if I had been able to get the rules and tokens separately, I would gladly have bought the STL's and have printed them myself; they're perfectly serviceable.

As an aside; I have not encountered any blemishes, mouldlines, bubbles or cracks on the visors as some others have reported; they're all perfectly spherical and smooth in my batch.

So after cleaning them up, I started assembly. I only had to pin one part (a leg); the rest had moulded on/in nubs and holes, although those did require cleaning to properly fit, and one arm still left such a gap that I will need to go back in with some ProCreate to fill it up before painting.

I then glued them onto their bases and primed them in grey. No texture on the bases yet; I plan on doing those with a yet to be mixed (and partially sourced) ground cover, which will not be painted, but will have to be a perfect blend of grey sand, pebbles, grout and pigment powder. So that will be the very last step of the process.

Another busy week ahead, but I do hope to get some paints on these lads regardless

[mikedemana]

Off to a great start on those guys. Looking forward to seeing them painted...

Mike Demana