Revell 1/24 Gemini- complete 8/26

Thank you Eagle! it's really just paintwork, where i have deviated from the instructions quite a bit.  But otherswise it is strictly OOB.

Hey Stik!  I'm lovin the detail work you are doing.........I'm getting an urge to do mine now!

Great work!

Eagle90

Thanks for looking in and the feedback guys. It really is a good old kit OOB and can be made into an incredible build with some additional detailing.

Excellent work.  I am enjoying this build as it come together.

Looking very good. I like the way the equipment bay came out.

looks awesome.

Last night and this morning I applied the decals, which all went onto the capsule portion of the craft, including all those little red hash marks.

Upper portion

Right side

Left side

bottom portion

close ups of the hash marks, as you can see there are a few air bubble I need to deal with on the "shingles"

One other thing that I did was fill and sand smooth the attachment holes for the upper portion of the Equipment Section. Afterwards I had to repaint it

Then I airbrushed on a coat of Satin Clear to seal in the washes on the Retrograde and Equipment Sections interiors

Thanks cb! I started on the decals last night. Those will be done later this morning.

awesome! w00t!

Thank you Mike. I'm glad that you like it so far.

Well here is the latest work on my Gemini Spacecraft project

Now where was I? I hit a speed bump due to trying some new weathering techniques and had to go back and fix those up. And I have been doing bits and pieces of detail painting over the past week. Today it was time to get it all assembled.

I used oil paints to apply a pin wash on the Equipment and Retrograde Sections. . It worked good enough on the Retrograde section, but did not react well with the Floquil paint on the sidewalls of the Equipment section, my first time using that medium. Next time I know to use a dissimilar layer in between. So I touched up the paint there and then used Promodeler Wash to take care of that section.

Equipment Section

Retrograde Section

After getting that work fine tuned I added the equipment that goes in those sections

Equipment Section

Retrograde Section

I also applied the Promodeler Wash to the Astronaut figures

Then I applied their uniform decals- I still need to do a little more work on their faces and then add their helmet faceshields

And I have been working on the red edging and mettalic red detail work for the capsule itself, all based off of photos of Gemini 3. Today I finally glued the capsule exterior to the heat shield so now all that needs to be added are the hatch windows. Which I will do after the decals are on and the final Flat coat on the exterior.

then a test fit of the Adapter Section to the Crew Section

and a test fitting of the Astronauts

Keep looking, more to come soon...

Great pics!

Mike

Oh I just love those photos!!!! I can look at them for hours... simply stunning. Now I had read that tape was applied for thermal shielding over some of the plumbing, but that looks a little too much to be strictly for that purpose. Not to mention the pretty symmetrical appearance. No worries though,as mine is OOB and will be built smooth as the kit is molded. I have just been wiping up my Promodeler wash this evening and have all the Equipment Section goodies ready for installation tomorrow.

BTW, that link helped quite a bit as I was debating over the RCS rocket color for the metal rim part. I am gonna stick with the metallic red that I used. I am gonna try a darker brown for the ablative coating inside the nozzles.

here is the link to the hi-res pictures

http://tothemoon.ser.asu.edu/gallery/Gemini

click on Gemini VI-A link

hope this helps!

I don't know, Lew may have a point... I downloaded these really hi-res photos and at full size they really look like tape or paint. they don't cast a shadow.

pics - not the hi-res I have, but  you get the idea.

these pics are 4095x4069 in res, at full size the lines appear smooth.

Thanks for looking in on this. I have hit a couple of speed bumps in my finishing process, and have finally finished correcting them. So in a day or so I should have some more photos of progress posted. There will be some good stuff I think.

Lew, I would debate you about all the adapter sections having smooth exteriors. There are some pretty prominent ribs to be seen in some in space photos. But thanks for the heads up about the Yahoo Group. I may need to take a peek in over there.

Weird-Oh, I think this would be a great office model. It has a very eye catching look to it. I knew so little about Gemini before starting this project. I certainly like it much more now after all that I have learned. The Para glider version really is quite fascinating to me.

Very nice. I have two versions of that kit: The original and the History Makers version. I might build the HM model and keep the other one intact; would love to have a Gemini hanging in my office along with some of the other models. It's my favorite spacecraft of the 60s.

Nice work Stick!  The adapter sections were all smooth.  Some missions flew with taped stripes on them as a means of thermal control.  If you're interested, we have a rather lively space modelers group over in Yahoo Groups.

Stik!  Stellar job dude!  Lovin the detail you are doing!

Eagle90

Nice job.  Keep it up!  This kit is on my distant build list so I am enjoying seeing you build it.

Thank you Mikie. I am doing what I can here with this.

Looking good!

Mike

BTW, if you plan on building a particular Gemini craft accurately, research it beforehand. The equipement sections varied considerably in payload and somewhat in configuration as well. The White colored Radar Rendevous Device that comes with the kit was only carried by Gemini 4. Other Geminis carried different items in that location. The cylindrical battery fuel cells were carried in varying configurations, as were some of the sphereical tanks in different amounts. Of course you can avoid this by getting an AM or scratch building a mylar cover for the rear opening. Also the exterior skin varied as well being ribbed or smooth.

Yes. If you look at the above photos, the walls of the equipment section look to be covered in a silver colored foil or mylar, and the top portion appears to be tan with gray framework and some portions in a bare goldish metal. The Gemini mock ups had this all in interior green, but photos of the actual operational craft show bare metallics before the bottom gold mylar cover is installed. Make all the notes that you need ;-)

so, you painted the floor of the bay radome tan and the walls silver... am I seeing right? I'm making notes for when I do my kit. LOL

I know what I'll be doing tomorrow midday... Vandenberg AFB will be launching a satellite into orbit, so weather permitting I should be able to see the launch once it gets high enough to be visible locally... Sweet!

http://www.americaspace.com/?page_id=11236

Thanks Viejo! I have come across many things that could use updating or correcting in this kit, but really, there is nothing to stop you from building a nice generic Gemini Spacecraft OOB as I am doing here. But teh more research that I do, the more I am learning about mission specific configurations of this craft.

EXCELLENT thread.  Goodonya, Stik.  I've got this kit in the stash (along with one from the 80's that I never finished).  I'll never be able to keep up with you guys on this board, but my chops are getting better, and I'm paying attention to the "pitfalls" you're coming across.

So during the week I built all the small sub assemblies for Steps 5 & 6, which are essentially the internal components that go inside the Equipment Stage. And I added the final external parts on Step 7, which is the nosecone radar antenna and the manuvering rocket nozzle housings on the Equipment Stage. After building those items, I did seam clean up, but I did not glue it all in place. Instead I superglued them on to toothpicks for handling during airbrushing. Then using the following photos that I found online as reference, I began my airbrushing session today.

Retrograde Section

Equipment Section

Retro Rocket

Retro Rockets and Manuevering Rockets (Testors Flat Steel). I still need to paint the nozzles and their attachment collars

Electronics:clockwise from upper right Electronics Package, Cooling Unit, Battery Power Cells, and Rendezvous Radar

Then we have the balls... Spaceballs that is. Oxidizers, Fuel, Reactant, Oxygen, and Pressure cells, along with the mounting framework for the Reactant Cells. The rest mount onto the top of the Equipment Stage (Model Master Oiled Steel and Dark Gull Gray)

Then based upon the above photos, and having read that the cover between the Retrograde Stage and the Equipment Stage was made from fiberglass, I opted to use MM Radome Tan, which is a standard US aerospace fiberglass color. And I gave the external portion of those Stages a base coat of Humbrol Matt White

Then I did a touch up coat of Humbrol Matt Black on the Capsule itself

More to come in the next few days...

Thank you CB. This really is a cool kit, with so much potential for the scratch builder or somebody who loves AM additions.

looking good!