# Pegasus Mars Mission (kitbash)



## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

What have I been doing for two months?
Trying to make this dern thing work! I think I've finally got it.

Ladies and Germs, I present the International Pegasus Mars Mission:

http://www.inpayne.com/temp/pegasus-mars-001.jpg
http://www.inpayne.com/temp/pegasus-mars-007.jpg
http://www.inpayne.com/temp/pegasus-mars-020.jpg
http://www.inpayne.com/temp/pegasus-mars-003.jpg

It is, of course, the Pegasus Models "Apollo 27" and "Area 51 UFO" kits bashed together.
http://www.inpayne.com/temp/apollo27.jpg
http://www.inpayne.com/temp/ufo51.jpg

The concept is that what you see is the lander, which serves as a base station for the 2-year stay on the surface of Mars. At the end of the mission, the base is abandoned, and the rocket uses it as a launch pad to return to the orbital Earth-return ship. Like so:

http://www.inpayne.com/temp/pegasus-mars-022.jpg
http://www.inpayne.com/temp/pegasus-mars-011.jpg

(Yeah, I've seen better special effects too).

Here's the rocket by itself:
http://www.inpayne.com/temp/pegasus-mars-013.jpg
http://www.inpayne.com/temp/pegasus-mars-024.jpg

Note the hatch at the base, which is a ridiculous place for one, but that never stopped a good '50s B-flick from putting it there. It mates with the entrance hatch to the base here:

http://www.inpayne.com/temp/pegasus-mars-012.jpg

The crew is N-gauge railroad guys. I dipped them in gap-filling CA to make them fatter and rounder, then painted the spacesuits on them. 
They're loading up experimental equipment on a remote-controlled cargo rover (a Thunderbirds rescue vehicle from a Japanese capsule toy. Remember the Fireflash episode?)

Here's a bottom detail of the lander:
http://www.inpayne.com/temp/pegasus-mars-023.jpg
I added a hatch with stairs and bannister, and drilled some windows and spotlight holes. There's an interior to the hatch well, I just forgot to photograph it. Lots of Mars-red/brown weathering down here. It's a dusty planet.

Lander Topside:
http://www.inpayne.com/temp/pegasus-mars-015.jpg
The UFO windows remain as windows, each one a skylight for one of the base's six main rooms. The big shiney panels are solar panels. I made silver decals on my Alps. Arranged around the rim are the logos of the project's 12 major contractors. Inboard are the logos of the international space angencies involved - NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, ESA, plus logos of two corporate sponsors, Nat Geo and the Smithsonian. And of course a Pegasus Base logo between each landing engine. The agency logos are repeated on the rocket's wings. The cone that the rocket sits in is from the old Monogram Saturn V, and yes, the comm antennas are from the PL Enterprise.

Lastly, heres the base in detail:
http://www.inpayne.com/temp/pegasus-mars-008.jpg
It's an 11" square of foamcore. I buttered a layer of white glue on it and sprinkled baby pwder all over it. After it dried, I primed it, then brushed off the talc, leaving a surprisingly good-looking dirt texture. For the larger fields of lighter rocks, a thicker layer of white glue, sprinkled with real gravel from my driveway. Painted with craft acrylics, with many layers of washes and dry brushings.

Enjoy!


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

Marvelous work, John! The design looks very practical. Great job! :thumbsup:

Sean


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

As usual, John, a great concept and a very imaginative kitbash. One nitpick: Aérospatiale ceased to exist in 2000. It was folded into the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS).


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## Lloyd Collins (Sep 25, 2004)

It is really a great melding of various space related kits, to conjure up your imaginative skills, in such a unique way, to create a semi-realistic view of a landing on Mars.


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## steve123 (Feb 9, 2009)

Your JU-JU is strong Tarzan!

I love it, and the thinking behind it! And the modeling is great!
Thanks for the pics. 

Steve


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## falcon49xxxx (Aug 4, 2008)

nice..........


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

That is so cool. I like the way the retro design of the merged kits meshes. And the ramp at the bottom of the saucer section reminds me of Forbidden Planet's saucer, not mention the Jupiter 2.

Great work!


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## Jodet (May 25, 2008)

John, you are a damn genius.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

scotpens said:


> As usual, John, a great concept and a very imaginative kitbash. One nitpick: Aérospatiale ceased to exist in 2000. It was folded into the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS).


Aw nuts, and I have an EADS logo on there too! :lol:
Well, let's pretend Aerospatiale branched off again in the near future.


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## The-Nightsky (May 10, 2005)

Slap a Disney logo on it and add some revolving rockets near the top that people could ride in and you'd have a cease and desist order!!!!
Seriously John!! Nice job. I love it! Only you could have done that. Where are the warp nacelles?


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Fantastic work, as always John! Very imaginative and also very 1950's in it's design! Retro stuff is just awesome.


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## AJ-1701 (May 10, 2008)

Thats just MAGIC...  Not to mention down right inspirational John P. :thumbsup:

Cheers and thanks heaps for sharing mate,

Alec. :wave:

BTW I agree with Griffworks on the retro thing :thumbsup:


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Tanks, kids. *blush* 

Re Retro: I definitely had the Cosmostrator in mind while I was working this thing out.


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

Excellent work, John!

Those really take me back. Ley and Von Braun would be proud!


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

I'm ordinarily not a big kit-bash fan (maybe because I'm not very good at it), but John's one of the few modelers I know who can make a kit-bashed model look "organic," as if it had been designed to look that way.

Great work.


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

Jodet said:


> John, you are a damn genius.


I concur. Not only are John's kitbashes extremely imaginative, but they're brilliantly executed. :thumbsup:

One comment with regards to "At the end of the mission, the base is abandoned...". I sincerely hope we will one day have the technology and the conscientiousness to go back to the moon and "pack out our trash".


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Carson Dyle said:


> I'm ordinarily not a big kit-bash fan (maybe because I'm not very good at it), but John's one of the few modelers I know who can make a kit-bashed model look "organic," as if it had been designed to look that way.
> 
> Great work.


Thanks! And yet it still always surprises me when it works out that way.


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## starduster (Feb 12, 2006)

Very well done an extremely well thought out design with models that are available, when I made my mars exploration vehicle I used two kids ray guns for the two part mars vehicle, yea these mars vehicles do require the use of our imagination that's for sure. what did you use for the mars surface ? Karl


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

Zombie_61 said:


> . . .One comment with regards to "At the end of the mission, the base is abandoned...". I sincerely hope we will one day have the technology and the conscientiousness to go back to the moon and "pack out our trash".


What for? The moon's surface area is 38 million square kilometers, or roughly the combined area of Africa and Australia. In all that vastness, we've left behind a few tiny specks of hardware that can't be seen from Earth even with the most powerful telescopes. 

The moon has no life, no atmosphere to pollute, no water to contaminate, no ecological balance to screw up. As Sam Kinison might have said:

"The moon is _*DEAD!!!*_ It's freakin' _*DEAD!!!!!!"*_

Besides, the equipment left by the Apollo missions will serve to remind future generations of those first tiny steps we took away from our little blue planet. With no erosion, decay or oxidation on the moon, that stuff should stay in pristine condition for millennia to come. As well it should!


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Same pictures, new presentation for my website:
http://www.inpayne.com/models/pegasusmars1.html


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

starduster said:


> what did you use for the mars surface ? Karl


Read the last paragraph in the first post. :wave:


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## ClubTepes (Jul 31, 2002)

John P said:


> Aw nuts, and I have an EADS logo on there too! :lol:
> Well, let's pretend Aerospatiale branched off again in the near future.


Or that this was secretly launched before they folded.


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## ClubTepes (Jul 31, 2002)

scotpens said:


> What for? The moon's surface area is 38 million square kilometers, or roughly the combined area of Africa and Australia. In all that vastness, we've left behind a few tiny specks of hardware that can't be seen from Earth even with the most powerful telescopes.
> 
> The moon has no life, no atmosphere to pollute, no water to contaminate, no ecological balance to screw up. As Sam Kinison might have said:
> 
> ...


Obviously not a hiker.
Perhaps when we have the technology to strip-mine the moon and it IS visible from earth we can look up in pride and say 'see what we can accomplish'.


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## Steve244 (Jul 22, 2001)

John P said:


> What have I been doing for two months?
> Trying to make this dern thing work! I think I've finally got it.


too many subcontractors is the problem.

Excellent!

and I like the low budget effects!

The mars dust is a nice touch.


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## bigdaddydaveh (Jul 20, 2007)

John, that is very, very nice indeed. I wondered what you've been up to lately. Now we know! Kudos on another awesome bash.


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

ClubTepes said:


> Obviously not a hiker.


Well, I haven't done much hiking on the moon lately.


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## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

Fabulous work again John...I've been sat looking at my Apollo kit thinking there was something missing and never thought it was actually missing another kit!


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## Magesblood (May 12, 2008)

Now alls you need are a squad of war machines lurking over the next ridge.


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## scotpens (Sep 6, 2003)

Magesblood said:


> Now alls you need are a squad of war machines lurking over the next ridge.


And some big shirtless Egyptian-looking dude.


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## Dr. Brad (Oct 5, 1999)

Great work, John. Very cool! And nice work on the base!


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Thanks, the base was a lot of fun! Lots of experimenting. And I'm sure the neighbors were wondering why I was scooping up a cupfull of gravel from my driveway. :lol:


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## zysurge (Sep 6, 2002)

Brilliant, John! Looks like it was meant to fit together like that.

Eric


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

The original concept in my mind had the rocket looking much more like it was a part of the saucer, with a very smooth joining of the two. Didn't work out that way in practice, though. But I'm not too unhappy with the way it came out.


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## Tim H. (Jun 23, 2009)

Nah, the abandoned base will become the first Mars condo development, or a McDonald's. It's a really nice kit bash, John, looks like it was intended to be that way all along. What was the "spark" in your head that connected these two already very nice models together as a totally different project?


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## Fozzie (May 25, 2009)

This is really inspiring...great imagination at work here. And, technically, that is easily the best executed Mars surface I have ever seen. That really blew me away! Great job all around!!!! :thumbsup:


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

Really Great work, John.

Ya know, a little more garish on the paint scheme and this could fit right in with the Thunderbirds universe. (and I mean this as a compliment)


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Tim H. said:


> What was the "spark" in your head that connected these two already very nice models together as a totally different project?


I don't know if I could eplain it! I just looked at the two kits and thought, hey, it might be interesting if they went together like this.... The original thought was for a one-piece Project Orion-style interstellar ship, with the saucer base acting as the nuclear shield. It developed from there into what came out.



Lou Dalmaso said:


> Really Great work, John.
> 
> Ya know, a little more garish on the paint scheme and this could fit right in with the Thunderbirds universe. (and I mean this as a compliment)


:lol: And I take it as one!


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