# lunar dioramas



## bert model maker

Has anyone made any REAL SPACE diromas ? such as a lunar landing depicting one of the apollo moon missions ? :wave:


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## drewid142

Check out the detail links on this one!
http://www.ninfinger.org/~sven/models/html_pix/ipmsstep.html

Here’s a site that is dedicated to it
http://www.tranquillity-base.com/

There's lots more on the ninfinger site but they are just good (and not so good) builds of the Tranquility base kit.


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## beck

very interesting stuff . thanks for the links .
hb


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## Brent Gair

My LM diorama appeared in the FSM Reader Gallery about 6 years ago. Can't remember the issue number but it had the F-14 Bombcat on the cover (late '98 maybe). I had a picture posted but it got lost in a website screw up some months ago.

I used the Monogram 1/48 LM but I made my own lunar surface with some Polyfilla, grey paint and cigarette ashes. Of course, it's hard to get cigarette ashes these days (people can't smoke anywhere ).

Nice little kit. The subject has great potential for a big kit...even at 1/24 it would be a managable size. If I really had a deep understanding of the subject, I'd be tempted to do a G.I. Joe size (1/6) scratchbuild.


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## Mad Marcus

I have used the dust from a charcoal grill. just let it air out for a month to get rid of the "smokey" smell.


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## bert model maker

i am thinking about using some gray concrete mortar powder, it has some small bb sized granules in it and looks very close to lunar gray.


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## flyingfrets

Hey Bert!

Knowing you're a real space buff (like me :thumbsup: ) you have *GOT* to check this out:

www.eaglelander3d.com

Unfortunately my CPU & graphics card can't run the graphics the way they should be (first rate audio 'cause of my studio software but I'll upgrade the graphics when I get the new computer in the spring), but I've run it on my nephew's Vaio & it's unbelievable!

Take it easy,
'Frets


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## bert model maker

thanks frets for the link !!!! i will check it out first thing in the morning
Bert


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## roadrner

Great link! :thumbsup: rr


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## Eagle

Not quite 'real' but lunar all the same...  

www.eagleimagery.co.uk/project/moonbasealpha.asp :thumbsup:


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## bert model maker

that looks perfect !!!!!!


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## Eagle

It may _look_ perfect but it's a bitch to move around - it's made from concrete!!!  

===============================

*www.eagleimagery.co.uk/project/alleagles.asp*


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## John P

Brent Gair said:


> My LM diorama appeared in the FSM Reader Gallery about 6 years ago. Can't remember the issue number but it had the F-14 Bombcat on the cover (late '98 maybe). I had a picture posted but it got lost in a website screw up some months ago.
> 
> I used the Monogram 1/48 LM but I made my own lunar surface with some Polyfilla, grey paint and cigarette ashes. Of course, it's hard to get cigarette ashes these days (people can't smoke anywhere ).
> 
> Nice little kit. The subject has great potential for a big kit...even at 1/24 it would be a managable size. If I really had a deep understanding of the subject, I'd be tempted to do a G.I. Joe size (1/6) scratchbuild.


 Captain Cardboard is discsussing the possibility of a 1/12 scale LM over on the Atomic City boards. If his recently released 1/12 Mercury is successful, he'd like to follow up with a 1/12 Gemini, 1/24 Apollo CSM, _possibley _a 1/12 Apoloo CM, and a 1/12 LM.

http://p197.ezboard.com/fatomiccityfrm47.showMessage?topicID=1.topic

.


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## Brent Gair

Hmmm...some very interesting future projects there.

Ya' know, from a scratchbuilding point of view, a big Lunar Module is starting to look like a darn good idea. I like real space but a lot of things simply aren't practical for one-of-a-kind modeling. For example, the skin on the Mercury and Gemini isn't practical (possible but not practical) for the average scratchbuilder. That makes them good injection molded models because mass production can justify the pattern work.

On the other hand, the LM is largely a series of flat facets. The descent stage could even be called "simple"...of course, that's if you don't count the lankding gear! But I can see this as possible. I'm a old time ship modeler with a lot of experience covering wooden frames. Just in the last year I've added a welder, metal lathe and started working with fiberglass covered foam.

As ALWAYS, the stumbling block is documentation. I'll have to check and see what's available in the way of workable plans and drawings for the LM.


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## Trek Ace

John P said:


> ..._possibley _a 1/12 Apoloo CM,...


 Wasn't that the Desi Arnaz version? :lol:


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## John P

.....


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## StarshipClass

John P said:


> Captain Cardboard is discsussing the possibility of a 1/12 scale LM over on the Atomic City boards. If his recently released 1/12 Mercury is successful, he'd like to follow up with a 1/12 Gemini, 1/24 Apollo CSM, _possibley _a 1/12 Apoloo CM, and a 1/12 LM.


Oh, please let it be! :hat:


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## StarshipClass

Eagle said:


> Not quite 'real' but lunar all the same...
> 
> www.eagleimagery.co.uk/project/moonbasealpha.asp :thumbsup:



Absolutely gorgeous lunarscape and Eagle! :thumbsup: Stunning work!


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## PhilipMarlowe

Wow, a 1/12 CSM? That's going to be a good sized model, the Monogram _1/32_ CSM is pretty darn big!

Would be a lot of fun to super-detail though!


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## Brent Gair

Realistically, I can't imagine a commercially made 1/12 LM. It would probably be the most expensive kit ever made. I think those dimensions would put it close to 20" high with the legs spreading out a couple feet+.

You also have the scale effect problem of trying to support a model that big...since the prototype has legs engineered for 1/6 gravity. On smaller models, solid plastic is fine but at 1/12 scale you'd probably need metal gear. 

Of course, those challenges can all be met. It's not physically impossible. But think how much that Mercury capsule costs. Now imagine a model that uses four times more plastic plus some metal parts.

Then again, I've been wrong on more than one occassion .


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## flyingfrets

Maybe a dozen or so years ago, FSM ran an article on a 1/8 scale scratchbuilt LM.

The ascent & descent stages were seperable, the ascent stage was fully lit (including fiber optics in the controls and displays) and detailed to match the particular LM it depicted (I think it was Apollo 17's LM "Challenger").

Yes Brent, you are right, at that scale it's an engineering nightmare to get the legs to actually support the model. If I remember right, his solution was to have a support jig that ran into the descent stage engine bell. Since the later "J" mission LMs had larger engine bells to accomodate the heavier payloads, it wasn't all that noticable.

I believe he also built a small remote control patterened after one of the LM control panels to run the lights and sound. I think it ended up in a museum somewhere, but either way, it was one impressive model!


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## Brent Gair

I've still got that old FSM article! Incredible piece of work.

As a scratchbuild, I think the idea is quite practical. You can use techniques that aren't practical for mass production. For example, when I look at the descent stage, I envision a primary structure made from foam and covered with a veneer of thin styrene sheet. I've done that on some ship models to keep the superstructure light. I would imagine the ascent stage as a combination of wood and foam with much of the outerskin formed by the same plastic...pehaps some portions in fiberglass covered foam (like the My Favorite Martian ship I'm building).

Scratchbuilding allows you to separate the structural component from the cosmetic component. Using my MFM model as an example again, the underlying foam doesn't have to look good, it just has to provide a basic shape. And the thin fiberglass skin doesn't have to carry a structural load, it just has to be smooth enough for paint. So I have a 25" long model that weighs about 1.5 lbs.

When you injection mold things, the cosmetic skin and the structural strength have to molded into the same parts. At 1/12 scale, an injection molded LM would probably use more plastic than the PL C57D.

But I don't want to discount the possibility of a commercial kit altogether. This might be a good use of vacuforming. The ascent stage in particular could be made very light that way. It's just a bit tough to imagine a viable commercial kit in the sense that most modelers would expect.


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## the Dabbler

As too "lunar dust', etc., somehow I came in possession of a box of powdered pumice. Seems it's me it's a great idea for lunar landscapes. Just a thought.


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## crazy mike

Home Despot has any colored grout you want. Lots of greys .


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## bert model maker

yep. all kinds of different textures with and without small rocks (pepples)


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## bert model maker

I just noticed in the middle picture that the 2 moonwalkers under the right hand of the big astronaut are Jim Irwin and Pete Conrad, both now deceased the moonwalker on the far left is Al Bean so it looks like the big astronaut is watching over Jim and Pete now.


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