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Earlier today, I was prowling through my astronomy webpage and somebody posted pictures of two NASA booster recovery ships, the Freedom Star and the Liberty Star. I was wondering if anybody ever made a kit of either of these (say, 1/350 scale or bigger) as I thought those were cool-looking ships--for one thing, they were white rather than the gray of most modern military ships, and for another, they were just something a bit different!
"Whaddya mean 'Who's flying the plane?!' Nobody's flying the plane!"
Image off of Wikimedia.
No kits in any scale, You will have to scratch it if you really want one. There isn't really a good donor kit that I can think of which would be a starting point for a kit mingle
Jim, I have an artical on these boats from the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.
I'll search around and send you a copy if you'd like. Or you could contact the Society for a copy maybe.
I did not know NASA had a navy. Sweet.
mfsob I did not know NASA had a navy. Sweet.
The Air Force does too. Both NASA and the AF have ships that track via radar and telemetry satellites and missile/booster tests over the ocean. Some of these ships are pretty good size ones, bigger than the booster recovery ones, and they have big dish antennas on them that give them a unique look.
Don Stauffer in Minnesota
Bit of a long shot but what about modifying the Calypso repop?
Totally different hull shapes, but it would do for the "just build it/looks good to me" crowd.
Tracy White Researcher@Large
I almost forgot I posted this question a couple of weeks ago! I'm only on this website once every couple of weeks or so and I don't usually spend a lot of time in the "Ships" forum.
Anyway, thanks for your replies! I didn't think there would be kits of those ships, and scratchbuilding, at the slow rate of my builds (it took me nine years to build a 1/24-scale tornado chase vehicle) would take me about twenty or thirty years! Considering that I'm the "big 5-oh," well, you do the math...
You could start with the 1/350 or 1/200 SMIT HOUSTON or SMIT NEDERLAND to do those ships.The look would be right AND the KNUCKLE on the bow area isn,t that hard to emulate. Give it a thought ,and before you give up and go 100% scratch look them over. TANKER-builder
How about starting with the Lindberg minesweeper? \
http://www.lindberg-models.com/water_model70830.html
Just a thought.
You have never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3!
According to Wiki the two ships are 176 feet long. Also, it looks like they tow the booster abeam, so it could be a pretty neat waterline model!
Take a look at his YouTube video. it shows an actual recovery of the boosters and shows the ships in good detail. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbtulv0mnlU
For a donor kit, the 1/200 Smit Rotterdam might be a closer fit for the hull. As it's an ocean going tug. The stacks for one would need replacement.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Heller-Scale-1-200-Smit-Rotterdam-London-Tug-Boat-HLR620-80620-NIB-/190674284102?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2c6512ae46
Mike T.
Beware the hobby that eats. - Ben Franklin
Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out. - Ben Franklin
The U.S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. - Ben Franklin
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