Revell 1/24 Gemini Spacecraft complete 8/26

[stikpusher]

Well it is not quite a plane, although if one of the design iterations had been implemented, this craft would have actually been flown by the Astronauts in Earths atmostphere after re entry to a proper landing rather than a splashdown.

 

 

 

I am building this for a another website as a review this kit, most kindly provided to us by Revell. Since this is a build review, no after market parts or scratch built add ons will be done on this project. The only modifications that I plan to make are in painting as the color call outs in the instructions and image searches of the real deal do not match up.

http://www.spamodeler.com/forum/index.php

So here we go with my build of this kit. The color call outs seem to be based off of a NASA illustration and off of early/pre operational Gemini mock ups and equipment. So the first thing that I did was to go thru various image searches and find photos of actual mission equipment. So I went thru the instruction sheet and annotated my own color call outs for use during construction. One thing that I do like about the instruction sheet is that it goes back to the old Revell tradition from back in the day where the parts are identified by name so that this kit can be educational during the learning process, naming this lever or that box.

Then I began cutting parts off of the sprues and gluing them together. The plastic itself is a tad on the soft side and not brittle at all so far. Mold seam and attachment stub clean up was quite easy with my needle files.

center console with control stick and release handle installed

overheard center console with lever installed

rear bulkhead attached to heat shield

and I have the front instrument panel and cabin sidewalls removed from the sprues but will not glue them in place until after painting is done in the next few days

with the sidewalls placed on the rear bulkhead

and finally the two Astronaut figures. I will not add their clear face shields until after painting

I know that painting all this will take longer than building it did 

Edited August 27, 2014 by stikpusher

[marauderdriver]

OH the memories,  Not only building about 5 of these kits 45 years ago, but of watching the GEMINI's launching with Walter Cronkite and CBS News

 

LOVE IT

 

watch'in you

 

jack

[Guest Peterpools]

Never built the kit but same as jack the memories. It seems only like yesterday the project Mercury and then Apollo were the headlines of the day. TV was black and white and well, the rest was history.

Peter

[stikpusher]

Well I was just a infant/toddler when Gemini was in teh headlines, but I do remember Apollo quite well... Thaks for looking in on this guys. Stay tuned, I will have some good progress updates on my days off starting on Thursday.

[stikpusher]

Gemini is like the Korean War, sandwiched between two other events of more profound importance in manned space flight. Yet without Gemini, Apollo could never have happened. 

 

Well today I finally had some time to get in some un interrupted work at the bench here. So I started with the very mundane. Filling the seams on the Astronaut figures. Squadron white putty is seen here doing that task. I will let it dry overnite and sand it up tomorrow

 

 

Now as I said previously the instruction sheet color call outs appear to based off of a NASA illustrution and not off any of the preserved actual Gemini Spacecraft. So I am using this walk around of the National Air & Space Museum as my primary reference source.

 

http://www.cybermodeler.com/space/gemini/gemini_walk1.shtml

 

Now based upon those photos, I am gonna go with Light Gull Gray on the interior base color with the ejections seats (YES, Gemini had actual ejection seats rather than an escape tower type system as on Mercury and Apollo) in Dark Gull Gray.

 

the rear bulkhead and sidewalls

 

 

 

 

inner faces of the crew hatches

 

 

center console, instrument panel, and overhead console

 

 

and finally, just in case, I also got the areas of the nose cone, inner capsule surfaces, etc, that just might be visible when the capsule is all put together and the hatches are opened. And with that work went the last of my Gunze Aqueous semi gloss Light Gull Gray, which is sadly no longer available at any shops here in the USA

 

 

Tomorrow I will do detail painting, washes, etc. and get the Instrument panel decals on hopefully.

[stikpusher]

You shall sir. Stay tuned for later on today. I found another site with some great refernce photos as well right here

 

http://historicspacecraft.com/Gemini_Capsules.html

[stikpusher]

So yesterday and today I have been working on detail painting and washes in the cockpit. 

 

Cabin doors/hatches

 

 

Overhead & center consoles and Instrument Panel

 

 

cockpit rear bulkhead, ejection seats, and sidewalls

 

 

and finally, the Astronaut figures. The instructions would have you paint them in one of the earlier type suits used for Mercury and pre flight publicity photos. But the actual Gemini flights were flown in a white suits of a few types that eveolved during the course of the program

 

 

I am still working on them, but looking at the decal sheet, the decals have the nametapes for the Gemini 3 crew, Grissom and Young, so now I have to fine tune my (needs improvement) face painting skills for those two gentlemen...

 

 

Stay tuned for more...

[stikpusher]

Ok, so I have not been overly motivated to be at the bench much this past week or so, but I have been doing little bits of progress here and there along the way. So here we go...

Step 2 is cockpit work so I glued the sidewalls to the rear bulkhead

and added the decals to the center console and instrument panels

now here is where there is a problem with the kit. The decals do not match the molded detail properly. Espcially the side parts of the front instrument panel- those would be best cut into 3rds on either side of the artificial horizon istrument and then placed accordingly. Also all the raised switches played a bit of havoc with the main decals, in spite of multiple dousings of Solvaset.

for those of you who plan to build this kit, cut up the IP decals into smaller sections and apply them in those portions. Combined with washes and highlight work painting the IP and center console really have serious potential. Live and learn.

here are a couple views of the cockpit with the consoles in place but no exterior- I think it looks pretty good with what the kit provides, and some basic painting techniques.

I also have done some more face work on the Astronaut figures. I still need to do some washes and highlights on the faces and suits, before I add the decals and face visors, but they are coming along well enough

and the last portion of Step 2 has you build the capsule exterior

and then I finally began to add some paint- again, I am no following the kit call outs as they are inaccurate. I used Humbrol Matt Black for a primer coat on the capsule exterior

[stikpusher]

Step 3 begins with adding the nose section to the Capsule, which I painted up at the same time as the crew portion

then you are next directed to build the retro rockets and their mounting assembly (I have not glued them in place until after they are painted

Then we are on to Step 4 and building the exterior of the Retrograde Section

and gluing the Retro Rocket mount assembly into place

Then of course I had to do some test fit shots with the Cabin Section placed onto the Retrograde Section

more coming in a few days...

[stikpusher]

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...

[stikpusher]

Todays update... it does not look like much, due mostly to it being lots of little detail painting work... interrupted by a few long errands and outings...

 

The retro  and after maneuvering rockets... I still need to paint the ablative coating color inside the nozzles

 

Cooling unit, Communications equipment, Radar Rendevous Target Device, Power Cells, and Fuel/Oxydizer/Water Tanks on mount. I still need to finish painting the wiring

 

Interior of the Equipment Section, I still need to paint the framwork brackets and wiring/plumbing

 

Crew section with a coat of Gloss Black and starting to do Red detail work painting

 

More to come in the next few days...

[marauderdriver]

Really Looking Good Sir!

 

  I love these kits and happy Revell is re-releasing them.  I have the 48 scale Mercury and Gemini and looking for the Apollo in this scale too. 

 

   Thanks for the head-up on the IP decals, I can see where they would work but need to be cut up.

 

   Also nice to see a tribute to "Gus" Grissom in "Molly Brown".

 

 Thanks For the Memories

 

Jack

[stikpusher]

Thanks for looking in and our kind words Marauder. I love these kits as well! I have several of the Apollo kits in my stash, but need a Mercury. For their time they really were pretty well detailed inside and out. I agree about it being a nice tribute to Gus Grissom, John Young, and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" (tell me that Gus did not have a great sense of humor), but to build an accurate representation of their Gemini 3 craft, some updates and changes would need to be made to this kit. Researching into this project has shown me that this kit is more of a generic Gemini with details from various Geminis and their mock ups cobbled together. No worries though, it is a fun build and has re awakened my love for the space program.

[Out2gtcha]

Neat!

 

I think this is really quite an interesting model to watch come together.  

[stikpusher]

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

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/t671/stikpusherII/Gemini/100_0872_zps5b0c814c.jpg

and a test fitting of the Astronauts

http://i1319.photobucket.com/albums/t671/stikpusherII/Gemini/100_0874_zps3831ddc4.jpg

 

Keep looking, more to come soon...