Dragon 1:48 Apollo 11 CSM

In my experience, Alcad II is awesome for natural metal finishes.  It's airbrushable out of the bottle, has a very realistic metalic look, and it's a very robust finish, it doesn't peel or flake like ModelMaster's Metalizer line.  If you need more advice, you might also want to check out the Natural Metal Finish Group Build, they were very helpful when I first started using Alcad.

Ghostrider114,

I was thinking Alclad might be the way to go, but thought I'd explore options before I commit. Thanks for getting back to me.

Larry

I'll second the Alclad. It takes a little practice to get it right, but then lots of modeling activity does.  Alclad takes an undercoat of gloss black.  Lots of options on paint type for the undercoat.  Then, airbrush a thin coat of Alclad over the undercoat.

Don, Ghostrider114,

Thanks for the info. I placed an order for Alclad Chrome last night. While I have your attention, any thoughts on SM colors? The SMS Apollo guide calls the color flat aluminum. Would that be a light gray? Or more like Model Masters Aluminum (a less "glossy silver")? Alclad Aluminum with a flat coat over it?

Thanks,
Larry

Good question!  Pictures taken in space are particularly hard to analyse- very high contrast range tends to screw up interpretation.  Yet you hardly ever see pictures of large space assemblies in any area with readily interpretted lighting.  This does make collecting of reference data harder than for most genre.  I have never done a thorough reference search for the CM, so can't really give you a good answer.  I'll take a quick search and see what I can find, but can't take a really exhaustive search at this time.

I would stick with the alcad, there are a number of different shades you could use for variety, or one thing you can try is to put the alcad over a light colored matte primer instead of the gloss black primer that you'd usually use for the high gloss finish.

here's a shot of Apollo 17's CSM that shows the difference in the finish.

Thanks for the responses, guys. I've started construction. The SM is mostly assembled; I'm just waiting on paint to arrive. I'm also working on the CM. I've decided to open up the windows. I'm looking for some idea of what size the window in the crew hatch should be and a pattern for the rendevous windows. I'll post some photos when there's something worth showing you.

Larry

Hello, all.

It has been awhile. Here's what happened. I opened up the rendevous windows and tried glazing them with a technique I used on my Starship Enterprise: I put scotch tape over the outside of the window and then filled from behind with clear casting resin. Turns out that casting resin apparently has a shelf life and mine stash had exceeded it. The resin never set up and eventually leaked out around the tape. It was a mess. So, I ordered another kit along with the New Ware detail set for this model. Long story short - messed up the windows on that one, too. Set the whole mess aside until a couple of days ago when I discovered that the resin on the first one had finally reached a non-gooey state and that it was possible to scrape it off. As you can see, I've now recovered the CM and detailed it with the photoetch from the New Ware set.

I do have a question, though. Has anyone else used the New Ware set to detail the Dragon SM? How do you use the resin parts for the cooling radiators? The instructions give the pattern for the installation, but it seems like they should be flush with the rest of the side. Thoughts?

Thanks all,
Larry

The outdoor exhibit SM down in Houston is largely dull silver, pale grey (like Ghost Grey Light), and white.  But, that's outdoors in about 200 days of full sunlight.

The one indoors at KSC at Cape Canaveral is, to put it simply, "metal colored."  Smooth aluminum, mill-finish aluminum; brushed, glossy, you name it.

The CM is definitely glossy.  Not quite chrome plated, but very much polished to a near mirror.

Detail photos are probably your best friend here.

KSC has the Apollo 11 CM on display.  That finish would be murder to recreate.  It's part charred, part pitted, part ablated.  A vague greyish hue frosted gunmetal closest to the heatshield, with specks and pits of "burnt iron" all over.

All,

After a number of mishaps, I've finally finished this model (and it only took me a bit less than 2 years to do it). It's not my best work, but it's done. Here are a couple of photos.

The New Ware detail set didn't leave many details unaccounted for, but I did add wires to the SM/SLA umbilical disconnect and I used MV Products lenses that I had on hand for the running lights.

Best to everyone,
Larry

All,

One last photo of my Apollo 11 CSM. Dragon's decal set seemed to be fairly complete, so I didn't feel the need for an aftermarket offering. I did create a decal of the red docking ring seals. I also noted the date of my first posting in this thread - I actually started this model a but under 3 years ago.

Best,
Larry

Outstanding

Larry> Looks great!  I think you and I build alike in the time it takes us to finish a model. 

Gary

Gorgeous! Very cool. Congrats...

Hey Larry that turned out nice.  The metallic finish looks good. Did you end up going with Alclad?

Ghostrider114

In my experience, Alcad II is awesome for natural metal finishes.  It's airbrushable out of the bottle, has a very realistic metalic look, and it's a very robust finish, it doesn't peel or flake like ModelMaster's Metalizer line.  If you need more advice, you might also want to check out the Natural Metal Finish Group Build, they were very helpful when I first started using Alcad.

 

The secret to Alclad  is a flawless gloss black undercoat.  I have used several different gloss blacks- it doesn't make much difference which- as long as it is near perfect.  Apply it very lightly, flow dialed back. 

I'd use Polished Aluminum for the CM, White or Airframe Aluminum for the SM.

All,

Thanks to everyone for the kind words on this build. I did end up going with Alclad for the most part. I used Chrome over a gloss black base for the CM and Semi-Matte Aluminum over flat gray for the SM. Certain other "metal" bits got Aluminum over gloss black. I used Testors Metalizers on the SPS extension, Burnt Metal close to the SM and Gunmetal at the end.

Best to all,
Larry