Want to build a Space Shuttle

Hey Chris,

I am about 85% finished on the Revell Germany 1/144 Space Shuttle Discovery with Booster Rockets (Kit#04736) and just waiting for Revell Germany to send me a couple of replacement parts for some missing from my kit.  I have completed and assembled the mobile launch platform with the solid rocket boosters and the fuel tank mounted atop of the crawler.  Dimensions right now without the Shuttle is 8.5"D x 7.5"W x 17.5"H.  Once the Shuttle is completed and mounted to the launch assembly, it will not add to any height but may make the completed model a couple of inches deeper.

Hope that helps!

RODC

Hey, hello again!  Yes, that does help a great deal.  I was looking at that kit, and wondering how tall it is when completed.  I was hoping for one with the launch tower, but must admit, the crawler is cool too! 

I grew up in Florida (mostly) and saw numerous launches, 1 actually from the Cape.  There are alot of memories associated with the shuttle program for me.

Thanks again!

Chris

It is actually quite a nice kit exept for my missing parts from the Shuttle......grrrrr.  However, I cannot complain too much RoG usually has better quality kits than Revell.

I visited Florida on vacation in April 2009 and managed to squeeze in a visit to Canaveral.  One of the Shuttles was on the launch pad ready to go - albeit I was about 2 miles away - quite an impressive site.  She launched a few days after I returned to Newfoundland.

Man, I would love to be in the Canaveral area when one of those launch!

Buy the kit, I don't think you will be disappointed!  Once I get mine done, whenever that will be, I will post some pics!

RODC

Here's a pic of my Revell 1/144 I did about 3 years ago. It's about 15" long and the orbiter is about 9" long.

I'm only a novice builder and all these models have major faults but my favourites are the 1/72 Monograms. Although they're still a little inaccurate, they're the closest out there. It's about 19" long.

Least favourite is the Revell 1/72 orbiter. It's more of a toy ... raised tile lines and  poorly designed payload bay door hinges. 

And here's a pic of the Tamiya 1/100 Shuttle. It's about 14" long

Hope this helps.

Pete

Hey, thanks a ton Pete!  I did not even know Tamiya made a shuttle!  Does it come with anything (crawler, tower, etc?)

On the Revell 1/144, I like the custom base.  Do you have any pics of the underside?

Chris

Hi Chris

The Tamiya Shuttle is just the orbiter. It doesn't come with anything else. But it's pretty good. 

And I built the 1/144 shuttle kit about 3 years ago, it was my 3rd or 4th model ever ... so I didn't think to take photos of it. But the belly has tile decals from an out-of-business company called Cutting Edge. Their products were excellent ... too bad they're gone! And the custom base is just a plaque, from Michael's craft store, a couple of brass tubes soldered to a small sheet of brass, bent to a curve, to fit the External Tank's radius. The model rests on that. Nothing fancy.  

And on both shuttles, I used some painted aluminum foil and surgical tape cut into squares to represent the 'white' Thermal Protection System.

Pete

(near Niagara Falls)

Hi Chris,

Here are some pics of what I've completed so far with the Revell kit.  The first photo shows the crawler with booster rockets and fuel tank erected along with a 12" steel ruler for scale.  A couple of the other photos are just close-ups.  As can be seen, there is not a lot of detail with the crawler and another modeller whose skills are much better than mine could probably "gussie" up the crawler quite a bit.  The worst parts of the crawler are the support mounts for the Shuttle itself which is simply two blobs of plastic with no detail and the eight track units are pretty plane.

Hope this helps with your decision!

RODC

Yes, this has been very helpful!  I have my LHS placing an order for one of these kits.  As for sprucing up the crawler, I have a friend who is a far better scratch builder than I, and will enlish his help with that part of the project. 

Thanks again!

Chris

I purchased the 1/72 shuttle and boosters last time it was issued...I believe under the Revell name.

I presume it was the old Monogram kit but I've never seen the original Revell kit and don't recall seeing the Revell name on a shuttle and booster assembly while Mongram was a separate entity.

Was the Monogram kit the only version marketed WITH boosters?

I have a Monogram 1/72nd Shuttle Stack vintage 1988.  It came with landing gears and several

of the Shuttle payloads as well as the manipulator arm.  Completed it will be just over three feet tall.

It is completely lacking any of the heat resistant tile detail on the bottom of the orbiter.  The thing has been

in my stash since around 1989 when I bought it at a yard sale for $5.00...

Ray

I know this is an older thread and any help may be moot at this point, but since it's been ressurected...

I've built the revell 1/144 kit.  It turns out pretty well, but there are some gaps to be filled, particularly around the bay doors.  Personally, I feel the included crawler is a waste of both styrene and paint.  There are so many things wrong with it, it's not even worth assembling.

I went with a papercraft MLP from this guy  http://educraftdiversions.org/.  I haven't built it yet, but it looks amazing.  Someone else on this board built a launch tower (for an Apollo rocket kit) from the same guy and it is outstanding.

-Fred

Hay this is the same model kit that I'm working on, did you have any trouble putting it together?  The 1/144 Shuttle, Fuel tank and rocket busters.

The RoG kit is not too bad.  Some putty need on the fuel tank and some more on the crawler.  Fit on the doors is not great either.  This is one of these kits that seemed to have never ended.  I haven't touched it in months.  All is left is some gloss white and semi-gloss black on the shuttle itself and then decals.  I just grew tired of it I guess since there were others in my stash I wanted to get at.

Since I am so close to completion, I really need to get back at it...........I'll post some pics when I get it done......provided I finish before you do!

RODC

RODC,

I just came across this thread.  Have you done any more work on your Revell Shuttle stack?

I'm currently woking on one of these now.

Mike.

Mike,

What you see in the photos that I have posted in this thread is as far as I got with the kit.  The shuttle stack is complete and the shuttle assembled and primed but for some reason, I just have zero interest to finish paint and decals on the shuttle!  Call it modeler's block I guess