Scottrc, you photo would make a great horror movie!

Attack of the 150 foot Cat!

A puurrfect sunday afternoon movie!

Bakster, does the canopy finish the XS-1? Are you just waiting on your base?

And you said pardon the clutter!? Thats positivly neat! My bench on the other hand...

Not so much.

Gary, If your working on decals does that mean most of the build is done? Nice!

Checking in tonight.  Real life has kept me busy this week, so little progress to report.  You're doing great work on your own projects, and I am happy that it looks like you're getting close to being finished.

I did manage to get some decals prepared for printing, so I hope to do that tomorrow, along with some final work on the base.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Gary

Dang, that is a lot of decals. It sure adds to the piece though. Nice work.

I finished the retro pack decals!

That was a pain, but I think it looks good. The stripes really make it. 

The results:

It was just a few decals:

I still have some touch up paint on the retro pack. I'll try to get that done tomorrow and then seal it, after that it should be final assembaly. 

Primer was put on the V2, and a bad coat of black on the launch cradle. 

Wow, really looking great guys, superb job on the canopy, Scott, I'd live to see that monster launch. Mach glad you picked the V2 as well

I got some putty on the V2. 

Bakster that canopy looks great! I can't find the glitch you mention. The color looks perfect. Very well done!

I worked for over an hour today gettin the decals on one of the retro motor's. Each band is an individual decal and the all need to be a slightly different length.

I think I should let the decals dry well before I move on to the next pack. 

My old eyes can't take much more of this right now.

Okay--the canopy is demasked. It came out about as good as I can expect. Certainly, better than I feared. Cutting along the tape edge may have helped. I guess that I will never know.

One of the supplied masks didn't butt up to that left edge all that well. Maybe a sharpened toothpick and just pick at it? Unless you have some advice on how to fix that--I'll leave it alone. Unless a person has eagle eyes, it will probably never be seen.

Here is something interesting though. In my last update I had noted how the piece was lighter compared to the airframe and how I decided to hit it with another coat of color. Well, I did. Guess what? It still didn't match. So much so, that I triple checked to make sure I was using the correct paint sample. I sat there thinking on if I should try another coat of paint. Looking at it though, it seemed that it should be fine with what I applied. I started wondering if the flat coat on the airframe had altered the hue. That seemed like the only logical explanation. With that in mind--I finished out the canopy with a coat of flat. I set it aside to cure for a few days and checked it today. Well I'll be. It matches. That confirms that the Testors Dullcote shifted the hue from the orange I had, to a slighty more red. Who'd a thunk.

And that's that.

Hey Mach... I was secretly hoping you’d pick the V2. Looks cool.

Scott, your rocket is looking great! Give Mr Werner VonMeow a treat for me. I had to do a double take. He looks just like SammieCat that is visiting me for a spell.

modelcrazy

Just happen to be able to go to the NASM. Wow, been wanting to go there all my life. 

 

Holy cow everyone, there has been quite some progress since I finished my kits. I really believe that the skills being shown here are second to none. There is soo much going on I cannot limit my enjoyment to just one or two kits. 

Stunning work everyone!

Ben

Really cool work going on in the group build guys.

I'm still plugging along.  Got everything attached and now making adjustments and filling seams.  I hope to start painting soon.

Mr Werner VonMeow doing a photobomb inspection.  

Yes, I am. 

I hope to start the final decaling on the retro pack tomorrow. When I put the replacement decal on Monday it would not settle down. I had to keep hitting it with setting solution.

I started on the V2 today. Its a snap kit with only 12 parts. The engineering is actually very good. 

The plastic is not styrene, I think its ABS. I think Pegasus likes using that. I started using Testors black bottle, but I don't think it works on ABS so I switched tenex. 

I think I'll go with the olive drab, white, and black paint.

mach71

On the bad side, I'm away from family and my work bench

Yeah, you're an airline pilot correct?

modelcrazy

Just happen to be able to go to the NASM. Wow, been wanting to go there all my life. 

 

Work takes me away from home. Sometimes it works out well, and I get to visit a museum.

If you can make it to DC, NASM is a must see, along with the Udvar-Hazy annex out at Dulles and about 100 other things. Another good thing about Washington DC is that most things are free. The only museums that cost money are the Newseum and the spy museum.

NASM is in the middle of a multi year renovation. The west wing and part of the east wing are closed to visitors. The Apollo gallery is closed. I hope it will stay and is just getting a refresh.

On the bad side, I'm away from family and my work bench.

Just happen to be able to go to the NASM. Wow, been wanting to go there all my life. 

Thanks for the X1 pics, Mach. Cool pics all around....

Mach71: Thanks!!! Awesome photos!!! 

I've got to get back up there before too long. 

Nothing new to report, I'm working. But I did find my self in DC today with a few hours off. I took these photo's at the NASM.

And a few for what could be my next build:

Or it might be something else.....

Bakster: The base is coming along great, nice work!

Gary: Nice job there on the CM and escape tower! 

Thanks Gary. And may I say wholeheartedly that your CM is looking awesome. Sweet work and I love that model!

Bakster> I'll keep the proverbial fingers crossed for your canopy!  Sounds like you've got it covered, so we'll hope for the best!    The landscape really looks the part.  The presentation will be awesome!

Progress Report:

A fresh touch-up around the base of the Command Module took care of the last of the blemishes between the heat shield and the capsule.  Window glass was re-installed with Aleene's Clear Gel and then the RCS nozzles were dotted with black paint using a toothpick.  Some details on the Launch Escape Tower were added by penciling in and then using an X-Acto knife to scribe the canards for the guidance system, along with a small, RCS port at the center of the canard doors.

The LES needs a bit of touch-up paint for the canards, plus I want to try and add some "boots" at the point where the LES legs attach to the CM (you can see one on the left leg in the first picture). Otherwise the CM / LES is ready for decals.  I need to get those ready and printed.  Can I finish this up this week?  We'll see!

Mission Director (GAF)

Today in Space History:

1966 April 15 - .

• NASA said to need a manned space flight goal other than "using Apollo hardware" - a Mars flyby or landing mission. - . Nation: USA. Related Persons: Gilruth, Mueller. Spacecraft: IMIS 1968, Von Braun Mars Expedition - 1969.

  NASA said to need a manned space flight goal other than "using Apollo hardware" - a Mars flyby or landing mission. MSC Director Robert R. Gilruth summarized Houston's position expressed during discussions with Associate Administrator for Manned Space Flight George E. Mueller two days earlier. Gilruth cited NASA s need for a manned space flight goal other than 'using Apollo hardware' (and suggested a Mars flyby or landing mission as an in-house focus for planning.) Also, he repeated his concern over the imbalance between AAP goals and resources, as well as the extent of engineering redesign and hardware modification that had been forced upon the project. Though expressing his and MSC's desire to contribute to and be a part of AAP, Gilruth voiced concern that 'the future of manned space flight . . . is in jeopardy because we do not have firm goals, and because the present approach appears to us to be technically unsound.'

1970 April 15 - .

• Apollo 13 swings behind the moon - . Nation: USA. Flight: Apollo 13.

  At 00:21:35 GMT Apollo 13 passed behind the moon, out of radio contact with earth. Flying high above the lunar surface, the crew reached a distance of 401,056 km from the center of the earth, an all-time altitude record. At 02:40:39 GMT the cold, exhausted, and ailing crew conducted a completely manual 4 minute 23 second burn of the LM descent engine to reduce the coast time back to earth and moved the landing point from the Indian Ocean to the South Pacific.
  

Work continues on the canopy. As Gam mentioned it is hard to match the color even with using the same paint sample. I checked it today and it looked lighter in comparison to the airframe. So, I gave it another heavy dose of color. So much for my trying to keep the paint layer thin. NOT. Hopefully, todays will be it for color. If not, I might just have to call it good and punt after adding the Dullcote. Then pray that pulling the masking doesn't fracture the edges.

Meanwhile--work continues on my desertscape. Using Sulptamold I fashioned a sort of dirt/sand berm. This will be my first attempt at landscape. So, it will be interesting. 

Excuse the clutter.

That is all for now.

Gamera

Those look great guys!!! 

Gary: Glad you had a good time at the show. Nice to see lots of open space there, too many around here they try to squeeze too many people in too small venues. 

Yes, the venue is the City Meeting Center in Anniston.  It is rather a medium sized show.  Not so many professional vendors as just people selling their stuff.  I wish I had gotten more pictures of the show, but I'm fumble-fingered when it comes to this camera phone.

Got some more painting on the CM as touch-up today.  I think it's ready now, and I'll re-install the windows I knocked out and start some detailing today.  I should have a report this evening on progress.

Gary

Those look great guys!!! 

Gary: Glad you had a good time at the show. Nice to see lots of open space there, too many around here they try to squeeze too many people in too small venues. 

Mach71> Yes, I can see some misalignment on the stripes on the retro-rocket.  Guess these things are normal, but I know it'll come out in the end.  Everythings looking good.

Progress Report:

Weather did manage to cooperate a bit today, though it sounds as if it will turn nasty later tonight.  I got a good coat of paint on, thought it needs a bit of touch-up for the black around the windows.  I also need to reinstall the window glass as I managed to knock it out while removing masking.  Oh, well.  I think the major paint work is done!

Now we turn our attention to final details on the Launch Escape Tower; snugging up the nose cone on the CM so it is not as loose; micro-bending some of the folding doors so they fit a little tighter; finalizing the base; and finally printing out some decals.  I hope to be finished this week!

Today in Space History:

"Houston, we've had a problem."

1970 April 13 -

• Apollo 13 - . Call Sign: Odyssey. Crew: Haise, Lovell, Swigert. Backup Crew: Duke, Mattingly, Young. Support Crew: Brand, Kerwin, Lousma. Payload: Apollo CSM 109 / Apollo LM 7 / ALSEP / S-IVB-508. Mass: 28,790 kg (63,470 lb). Nation: USA. Related Persons: Brand, Duke, Haise, Kerwin, Lousma, Lovell, Mattingly, Swigert, Young. Agency: NASA Houston. Program: Apollo. Class: Moon. Type: Manned lunar spacecraft. Flight: Apollo 13. Spacecraft: Apollo CSM. Duration: 5.95 days. Decay Date: 1970-04-17 . USAF Sat Cat: 4371 . COSPAR: 1970-029A. Apogee: 186 km (115 mi). Perigee: 184 km (114 mi). Inclination: 32.50 deg. Period: 88.31 min.

  Apollo 13 (AS-508) was launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, KSC, at 2:13 p.m. EST April 11, with astronauts James A. Lovell, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr., and Fred W. Haise, Jr., aboard.

  At 10:08 p.m. EST April 13, the crew reported an undervoltage alarm on the CSM main bus B, rapid loss of pressure in SM oxygen tank No. 2, and dropping current in fuel cells 1 and 3 to a zero reading. The loss of oxygen and primary power in the service module required an immediate abort of the mission. The astronauts powered up the LM, powered down the CSM, and used the LM systems for power and life support. The first maneuver following the abort decision was made with the descent propulsion system to place the spacecraft back in a free-return trajectory around the moon. After the spacecraft swung around the moon, another maneuver reduced the coast time back to earth and moved the landing point from the Indian Ocean to the South Pacific.

• Apollo 13 LM - . Call Sign: Aquarius. Payload: Apollo LM 7. Mass: 15,192 kg (33,492 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA Houston. Program: Apollo. Class: Moon. Type: Manned lunar spacecraft. Flight: Apollo 13. Spacecraft: Apollo LM. Duration: 5.95 days. Decay Date: 1970-04-17 . USAF Sat Cat: 4371 . COSPAR: 1970-029x. Apogee: 186 km (115 mi). Perigee: 184 km (114 mi). Inclination: 32.50 deg. Period: 88.31 min.

No photo's, but you can see that one of my retro pack motors has the decal all wonky.

I managed to get it off, not as easy as I thought! Most came off with a piece of tape, but a few radials would not budge! I had to sand and repaint the top of that motor. 

I'm off to work today, I hope to get the decals finished on Monday.

Gary,

Good deal that the sanding is done! Thats my least favorite task.

I hope the weather holds.

BTW, Thanks for the model show photos.