1/144 International Space Station

I'm not exactly 100% sure, but those white plates with the black dots have something to do with a range finder on approaching and departing spacecraft, or the shuttles manipulator arm , as well as the station's arm.

The white circles/black dots you're wondering about are targets for the Space Vision System (SVS). It has virtual reality software that helps the astronauts use the manipulator arm in areas that can't be seen from the orbiter's cabin.

As far as decals go, I'm not aware of any, but that doesn't mean they don't exist. One possibility might be to take the images from the card-model ISS here and copy them onto decal paper: http://www.marscenter.it/eng/modellismo.htm

Hope that helps.

I just joined this site, I did not know about this forum until today. I have been a member of the space modelers group on yahoo for a long time, as well as collectSPACE.com.

I am currently building my second Intermountain kit, and I actually removed the decals that come with the kit (pre applied). The decals on the ISS are very small and barely noticible; especially NASA's (There is a meatball on Unity, Destiny and Quest). And the only russian decal I know of is on Pirs.

If you wish to apply these small logos to make it extra realistic, considering getting a hold of the 1/288 STS-Start ISS kit from Russia. It comes with a full decal set, and they are about the right size for the 1/144 kit :-)

And as for the SVS circles, you will have to either paint them on, or create your own decals if you have a laser printer and decal paper.

Hope that helps! I like your idea for the foil.

-Ben

www.LaunchPhotography.com

QUOTE: Originally posted by Ben Cooper I am currently building my second Intermountain kit, and I actually removed the decals that come with the kit (pre applied). The decals on the ISS are very small and barely noticible; especially NASA's (There is a meatball on Unity, Destiny and Quest). And the only russian decal I know of is on Pirs.

Ben I curious why your building your 2nd Intermountain Kit? I recently purchased the museum model and was disappointed in the detail. Do you think it's possible to merge the Revell and Intermountain kits for better detail.

Their ISS kit is by far the most accurate, even if it does suffer in some aspects. Particularly in the surface detail. But the modules, truss and panels are pretty accurate. Realspacemodels.com has replacement solar panel booms that are metal and not solid (like the plastic rods in the kit).

Revell's kit is pretty bad. The open truss, some odd modules, and thick plastic solar panels.

What sort of components are you thinking of merging?

Ben my question was just general in nature with no specific areas in mind. I thought with you building two ISS's that perhaps you were improving the detail. I have built model ships in the past which have considerable detail with the rigging and all and when I opened this kit I was disappointed in the detail even though I had researched available models at the time. I did procure the additional kit for detail enhancement and that may make for a more realistic model when finished. I've had this kit for several years and had lost interest when the last Shuttle disaster occurred. With NASA back on line It's rekindled my desire to have a model to show our grand children and friends. I also have the 1/144 Revell Shuttle model w/ full stack and launch pad. It's detail is also very limited, however I have found enough photo's on the internet to make improvements to enhance this ship. I thought both would make a nice display and plan to mount the shuttle to the ISS to show viewers actual space deployment and relative size. Any suggestions or improvements would be greatly appreciate.

Nope, I was building the two separate. I built one when it came out in 1998, complete version, only to take it apart later on to make the current version. That ruined parts of it, and my paint job then was a little sloppy. So, I decided to get a new one and incorporate RSM's truss work. The new one looks good.

I understand what you mean, having worked with ships. The space kit world has not been too kind to us in terms of detail and accuracy, so this was a step up compared to most space kits (if not 100% accurate itself).

The best advice is to do just that, get photos and work with them. Here is the best resource for ISS photos:

www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery

Click on past Expedition and Shuttle missions. If you want more detail, try getting realspacemodels.com modules and solar array trusses.

There is not much you can do with the kit as is, in my opinion. Just paint the modules the right color (the US modules, which are the cylinders, should be silver or aluminum); the Russian modules are fairly well painted but still a bit off from the actual tan and white scheme. I also detailed my modules by painting the various portholes, docking ports and antennas the right color.

The backbone truss that holds the arrays should be kept white but it has some areas that can also be painted silver. Check out the photos. The central truss, that sits on the Destiny module, should have a silver back (the long, smooth rectangle).

I hope this helps. I don't have the model in front of me at the moment, but when I return home next week I can look some more.