# 1950 Luna rocketship model build from: Destination moon



## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

A while back I wanted to try a easy build or something different. After building large scale models of submarine and star trek models thru the years. I wanted a different type of build. Looking over the internet The Luna rocketship caught my eye. A very sleek and aesthetic design looked just like what I was looking for. I received the model last week,and after I opened the box I was pleased to see a very nicely made model kit,simply to build and sleek looking. Perfect! When doing research on the internet on other peoples builds of the model.I found out that people talked about a third jackstand or leg that was stored in the hull. when landing this was then lowered down to providing more balance to the ship to keep it up right. Some people said it was a fixed leg that stayed down in flight,why others said it would retrack in the body. Looking at the plans that I saw on the web,it showed stored in the ships hull,then it would lower down for landings. This looked pretty cool to me, and to make this work in this model would be a fun challenge. Also other details that I could put on the model, looked like this would be a interesting build! I will post more pictures as I move along with this build.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

Sounds interesting and looking forward to the build.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Going to try and post a picture of the luna box,to see if can post it







.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Looks like it worked,great!


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Toke the plastic kit parts out of the box. There are just around 12 or so parts in the plastic bag. The parts are very nicely made with thick plastic. everything is clean and crisp. It looks like the kit would just snap together.Or you can glue the parts together,what ever you want to decide to do. It would be a very simple build to do. just snap together and paint! I wanted to detail the model out to give it a little more interest.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

The only plans that I found on the internet were these pretty nicely detailed set. Here the plans shows the third leg or a jack stand as they called it ,in the up stored position. And of course then the leg would be lowered down for the landing position.. Making a working operating leg that would go up or down would really add extra detail to the ship.Well







back to the drawing board as they say!


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## scooke123 (Apr 11, 2008)

Good luck with making the leg operable!


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

After coming up with different drawings that might work,for a working retracting leg.I finally just started to work on the hull,coming up with ideas that might work. After a couple of days working off and on this project,I finally come up with a working retracting 4th leg. Here is how it all started. First is a picture of the stock lower hull,showing the opening for the fixed leg.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

I measured the length of the stock 4th leg. This is how long the new slot would have to be to make room for the leg. By carefully measuring the slot to make sure the new cut out opening would be straight,I applied Tamya masking tape to outline the slot cut. A small drill bit was used to make close cuts together,then running the bit up and down to make a rough opening. Files were then used to clean up the slot.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

A new 4th leg was made by using plastruck plastic. The new leg was made to follow the hull curve when retracted in the stored position. The new leg was made a little taller to make a arm to attack a RC servo linkage,(which I don,t think I ever would do) Two small brass rods were added to provide pins that would travel up and down on the in







side rails.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

The inside rail (which I will show later) Her are pictures of the 4th lag traveling up and down the inside hull rail. When the leg reaches the top of the slot it swings flush with the hull. When you lower it it swings out and slides down the slot into the locking landing position. Her are a few pictures.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Leg going down the slot.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

lLeg


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Leg down.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Will send a few more pictures later.


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## daytime dave (Jan 14, 2017)

Pretty cool.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

One more shot.


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## scooke123 (Apr 11, 2008)

Good solution so far....


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Its been a busy weekend,thought that I would get the inside glide rails pictures posted yesterday but here they are now. I used plastruct small angles for the guides. the 4th gear slides under the plastic rails. Here it is in the lower landing position locked in place.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Now the gear is traveling half way up the rails.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

The leg is now reaching the in hull stored position, The first brass rod slides under the top rail,leaving the rear brass rod in the open area. The leg is now free to swing up into the hull for storage. a Rc servo could operate the landing leg with no problem.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Another picture.


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## mach7 (Mar 25, 2002)

Impressive mods on such a tiny kit!


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Just got a few days to get back to the Luna project. I saw the model of the !/48 scale Luna rocketship by Masterpiece models that a gentleman built. Very nice build.I really like the size of the1/48 model, very impressive! If I had the room to display one, I to would get one, but I will have to stay with the 1/144 model. I did add some detail that was on the 1/48 scale model that I could see. According to masterpiece models the kit was taken from a mold from the movie prop. So I decided to add the two circles seen on the front of the ship. The lower cargo door up on the nose was cut out two make a working door that would open and close. A small drill bit was first used to start a hole in the middle of the door. A small file was then used to square up the hatch. I did make a small mold to copy the cargo door. Then a resin door was layed in the mold to build a new cargo door. The door was made to open and close by using a small hinge from a park flyer airplane. Here are a few pictures.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

The door opening.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

the new resin door.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

The door cleaned up.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

The model with the door open.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

The ladder going up the side of the ships body,would really add a lot of detail. I tried two ideas for this. The first was to use Plastruct n scale ladders to glue to the side of the hull. This would look good after a landing on a planet,but not in flight. The ladders steps were also retractable in the body during space travel. This is were I decided to engrave the steps inside the body,this way it would look like the ship just landed on a planet and the ladder was not yet activated for use. And in space travel it would look good. Anyway here are a few pictures of the first attempt to install the plastic ladder steps.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

The ladders were sanded down so the sides could be easier to removed later on.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

One side of the ladder was removed with a razor blade before it was layed on the body. Then glue was applied with a brush to just the steps alone. My big mistake was that I applied the ladders on top of primer,which did not bond to the plastic hull very well. If I would do this over I would sand the primer down to plastic so the glue would have a good strong bond to the plastic it self. Just a idea for any of you want to try this in the future.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Tape was put on the body to provide a straight edge for the ladders.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

The outside of the hand rail was removed,leaving just the steps in place.This would have worked great except I glued every thing to primer which caused some of the steps to come off. Big mistake!


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

After all that work I decided to make a template,to engrave the steps into







the body.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Some of the steps scribe into the body.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)




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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Lights were the next thing to be installed in the model.Of course this had to be done before the model was sealed up. To power the model I decided to run the wiring thru the rear fin. A dremel tool was used to make a small







channel in the fin to run the wiring thru. After this was done the wires were covered with Tamiya body filler. When this was dried,the seam was sanded smooth.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

A micro connector was soldered and glued in the rear of the fin. A led was pushed into the connector to make sure that there was power running thru the wiring. The led could be removed later on,and a special connector would be made to plug into the fin to power up the ship.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)




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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

A lighted cargo area was made to fit inside the top of the ship. This was test fitted before the two hull halves were glued together.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Here is a shot of the completed wiring installed.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

After the ship halves were glued together, Tamiya filler was applied to the main body seam. After this was dried and sanded,Tamiya white primer was sprayed on the model to fill any imperfections. Red auto scratch filler was also applied to fill in the seams. A hobby vise came in handy







to hold the model why I worked on it.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

The Luna ship has a very sleek look, with clean lines. The only detail is the two port holes and hatches. I wanted a little more detail to give the ship more interest. A light line was scribe around the upper part of the nose. to represent the parachute,s separation housing. below this scribe line four reaction control thrusters were made by using a micro drill bit to make the thrust holes







. This detail can only be seen close up,and not from a distance, to still provide a clean look to the ship. The last detail was a faint ring scribed around the hull.This was made above the cargo hatch to represent a emergency separation line,between the control room and cargo area. Again this line is very faint to see to not distract from the clean lines of the ship. After the detailing was done the ship was primed again with Tamiya primer.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

A closer view.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Ship on base .Please excuse my clutter work bench.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Ship in the up right position.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Model ready for paint.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Hi everyone! I have been gone for a while,and I did found a little time to post a few pictures. First I want to say I hope everyone is fine and safe! So far me and my family have been healthy. We just have to hang in there for a little longer. I got the model painted a few weeks







back. I wanted to do more for a display stand, but that will have to be a future project. Pictures are not the best and I will try to take better ones in the near future.


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

that is really cool.
I have enjoyed following along for this build.
KUDOs


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

One more picture from a different angle.


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)




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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Outstanding! I'm amazed at the retracting leg.


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## Phillip1 (Jul 24, 2009)

Subtoair,

The Luna looks good! You can tell you have out a lot of work into it. 

Phillip1


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## subtoair (Feb 19, 2012)

Thanks for the nice complements on my build guys! I ready wanted to make a nice diorama for the ship,hopefully this fall I can get to that.


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