1/48 Scale Gemini Spacecraft - Comments welcome

How about some constructive criticism?
What kind of adhesive didja use on the windows ... they look glazed over.
Nice job on those decal stripes! They're a bit of a pain aren't they?

And the hatches scream for more detail! :-o

On the thrusters, I've found an effective way to get a nice sharp outline is to simply scrape the edge of the thruster with a wide sharp edge or knife, just enough to scrape off the black paint around the edge.

And on the end of the experiment in the adapter section, it looks like you've used a piece of rolled up foil or paper. Use a small length of tubing, styrene or aluminum. It'll look more award winning! ;-)

Another solution for the red stripes around the hatch edge and interior edge of the hatch opening, I used painted aluminum foil. Brushed some Foil Adhesive on the back side, cut it into strips and glued 'em on ... eezsy-peezy.

Please don't take these suggestions the wrong way ... But I did one of these and would've loved to have had someone tell me their tricks in producing a nice lookin' model! ;-)

Pete

I never mind getting good critism for the reasons you cited in your post.

My plan was to use a piece of tubing but try as I might I couldn't find any around the shop of the right size (although I think I just remembered where I have some small clear tubing!!!!)  I'll take a crack at scraping the thrusters, that's a good idea that I hadn't thought of.  Most of the pain on the stripes is that they are individual decals.  It would have been a lot easier if they had been in sections on the sheet instead of individual.  The hatches have no detail at all as molded.  I got bored adding details from the photos.  The last three contest mine were the only real space entries so I tend to move onto the next aircraft model sooner rather than later when building real space.  I know it's a bad habit but if no one else is going to enter the contest I figure time spent on a 1/48 single-engine prop will be more worth the effort.

I tried to use red decal stripes around the hatches but they wouldn't conform properly to the edges.  I like your idea of the foil and will give that a try on the 1/24 scale version that's sitting on my shelf.

I was happy to find out that although I put the wrong nose onto the model (I thought I was building Gemini 7) the Gemini 6 capsule had the Gemini 8 nose (the one I used) along with the thermal stripes (which are not on Gemini 8 and later) so my screw up is avoided.

Thanks again for the ideas.  I wish more people in the forum would take the time to provide comments.  Most folks seem to get their hackles up if you point out places where they could improve. I tend to photograph in macro so people can really see the ding.  The actual model is only about 5" long and much of our discussion is not so readily apparent to the naked (and most of the time untrained eye)

I forgot.  The windows are Elmer's glue.  My MicroClear was worn out and I didn't have an acetate thin enough to use instead.  I'll try and pull them out and replace with 0.010 clear sheet when I pick some up.

The Gemini took a third place in Ft. Worth this past weekend after I replaced the windows with Future. (see tips and techniques for more info)

Very nice build and congrats on the win.

Thank you.