RoR Step-by-Step Review 20130129* Mercury-Gemini Capsule Set 1:48 Revell 85-1834 Kit Review It s October 7, 1958, and the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union is in full swing. The Space Race was at first just another facet of the Cold War. At 3:25 p.m. (6:30 a.m. in New York City), the Soviet Union took a giant leap ahead of the United States in that race. The American people and the American government were kicked out of their complacent we re better attitudes when they awoke to the beeping of Sputnik 1 as it orbited the Earth. The space race was definitely on and Russia had taken an early lead. All of the Mercury and Gemini space missions were just practice for President Kennedy s stated goal: To land a man on the moon before the end of the decade. NASA, scientists, aerospace engineers, computer and electronics engineers, and all the myriad support industries learned valuable lessons from each of these missions. These lessons allowed the U.S. to land a man on the moon in July 1969, successfully complete the Skylab missions in the 70 s, and excel with dozens of shuttle missions. If we hadn t taken all the baby steps with the Mercury and Gemini missions, the world would be a very different place today. For the modeler: In 2012, Revell reissued their 1:48 scale Mercury & Gemini Capsule Set model kit (kit number 1834). The box art of the kit I built reminded me heavily of the original kit Revell issued in 1964. The decal sheet provides authentic Mercury mission markings and generic Gemini ones. There are 142 parts molded in light gray plastic with a 12-page instruction booklet. Detailed information dealing with flash, sink and pin marks; accurate figure, interior and exterior color selections; landing gear considerations; capsule assembly for ease of construction; assembly sequence modifications to facilitate painting; window fabrication and installation; capsule weighting for proper display; handling fragile parts; display stand finishing; decal application; instruction errors; entry door installation; retro rocket housing considerations; cell and equipment finishing; equipment module color selection; support strut location; program historical information and considerations; are all fully examined in this 15 page, full-color Step-by-Step review.
Figure 000a) The box and parts as packaged in this kit. The box cover art is strongly reminiscent of the cover art of the 60 s and brought a feeling of nostalgia. The kit contains 142 parts on 4 sprues. Parts are molded in light gray. Mercury Capsule Of the two; this is the simpler, and quicker-to-assemble, capsule model. There are fewer pieces to clean, paint, and assemble. On the reverse side of the coin, though, is the fact that the Mercury was a smaller capsule than the Gemini and so it is with the model kit so all of the parts for the model are smaller and more delicate. In addition to the Mercury capsule itself, the model includes a replica of the escape tower and the retro rocket package. Here are my notes from the assembly of the Mercury: Step 1: Escape Tower Engines, Fuel Tank, and Tower Gantry Figure 3: Escape tower braces after removing from sprue. Note the large, thick nubs left on these delicate parts. Escape tower parts are extremely small and delicate. These tiny-diameter rods require extreme caution when removing them from the sprues. A very light touch is also required when cleaning the sprueattachment nubs from the rods
Figure 4: The escape tower braces removed from sprue and tacked down with numbered tapes in the photo. The individual pairs of rods that make up the bracing for the escape tower are different lengths. When I assembled my model, I removed all of the bracing rods (parts 15, 16, 17, and 18) from the sprues and tacked them down to my cutting mat with some masking tape. I used a black marker pen to number each patch of tape with the part number of the rod. Doing this allowed me to clean all of the brace rods at one time and then move on to assembly without getting the wrong part in the wrong place. The back side of part #5 (Escape Tower Fuel Tank Bottom Cap) had a large ejector pin nub which interfered with its fit to the escape rocket fuel tank (parts 1 & 2). Because this large, thick ejector nub was inside the hollow of part #5, I used a drill bit which was the same diameter as the nub. This let me remove the nub by drilling it without damaging the exterior of the Fuel Tank Bottom Cap. There was a fair amount of flash on the Bottom Cap but it was light and easy to remove. This is the last time I m going to mention the flash issue; almost every part of both capsules required flash removal. I ll only mention it if it was unusually large, or if I had to take special steps to clean it. Figure 5: Escape tower fuel tank and rocket engine exhausts sitting on a drill bit to allow the exhaust nozzles to dry in the correct positions. After assembling the Escape Tower engines and fuel tank, I drilled a hole in the center of the fuel tank top cap (part #3). I left the pin vise in the fuel tank and set it aside to wait for the glue to set on the rocket engine nozzles (parts 6 & 7). This helped to keep all three of the nozzles in their proper alignment while the cement set up.
Step 2: Interior, Astronaut, Capsule Walls, Heat Shield, and Retro Rocket Package I tried to reproduce many of these colors in my build from the example of the interior of the actual Friendship 7 capsule on display at the Air and Space Museum. The paint call-out letters for this model are representative of many of the models issued in the early 60 s. You get one, or occasionally two, call-outs no matter what details are molded into the plastic. When it came time to paint the interior and associated control panels, I painted them the light gray called for by the instructions. I did some browsing on the internet looking for color pictures of the interior of the Mercury capsule while I waited for the gray paint to dry. The instrument panel surface appeared to be a light tan color and I used Apple Barrel acrylic paint Beachcomber Beige (part #20663) to reproduce this tan color. I used basic dry-brushing techniques with different colors to highlight the instrument panel and various controls to add a bit of color to the inside of the capsule. A few touches of silver, red, yellow, and black go a long way toward visually enhancing the cabin interior. Figure 7: Note the large dimple in the intersection of the sprue arms. There is a part number partially obliterated by this dimple. I learned that some parts of this kit have the numbers stamped on the inside of the part itself. Part #24 (Instrument Panel Support Back) is one such example of this. Part #25 (Instrument Panel Support Front) had the part number stamped onto the intersection joint of the sprue. A dimple in the plastic made the number nearly impossible to read until I got out my lighted magnifier. I needed to use filler putty to fill the seam between parts 24 and 25. Figure 8: This large ejector pin nub interferes with the fit of the support column. I used a file to remove it so the support column would fit correctly. Part #26 (Instrument Panel) has a large ejector pin nub right in the center of the backside. This nub interferes with the fit of the support column and it has got to be removed. Because of the size of the nub, and its location between the alignment ridges on the back of the instrument panel, it took a while to remove it with a file. I couldn t use a knife or rotary tool for the removal without damaging the alignment of the support column.
Figure 9: Mercury capsule door before (L) and after (R) ejector pin nub removal. The capsule door edges had relatively large areas of flash on them. In some places it was difficult to tell what was flash and what was the actual edge of the door. I used a sanding stick to slowly remove the flash until the door edge was straight and true. The backside of the door had 4 large ejector pin nubs. If you glue the door into place on the model, you ll never see the nubs, but I elected to make the door removable to see the inside of the capsule. So, those nubs had to go. Figure 10: Astronaut figure seated in his chair. The paint call-out for the astronaut figure specifies the figure be painted silver. However, a brief search of the Internet shows that the spacesuit and boots are silver while the helmet is white with silver edges to the visor. The centerline oxygen hose for the spacesuit is olive drab and the seatbelt straps on the figure s shoulders, legs, and waist are white. Before you all rush to your e-mail programs to send me gales of laughter, I have never been able to master faces. They always come out looking like an animé figure that got hit by a bus.
Figure 11: Retro rocket exhaust nozzles were much smaller than I expected and were pretty well hidden on the sprue. The retro rocket exhaust nozzles (part #35) are much smaller than indicated by the instruction booklet. I had to locate them by the part number on the sprue; they were so small they just didn t have much resemblance to nozzles and I couldn t locate them visually. The capsule walls (part #27, 28, & 30) are a 3-part assembly. The instruction booklet specifies the walls be assembled one at a time onto the heat shield/cabin floor assembly. Trying to align the three wall sections turned into a juggling exhibition for me. I elected to assemble the three cabin walls off of the heat shield/floor assembly. After the glue had dried, I installed the instrument panel and instrument panel support column into the capsule shell. Then I installed the capsule shell onto the heat shield/floor assembly. Doing it this way worked much better for me. The capsule exteriors were painted with Model Master Gunmetal (#1795) and the heat shields were painted with Testor s enamel Silver (#1146). Figure 11a: The capsule window is cut from the piece of clear acetate film included with the model kit. The instructions have a window template on page 6 as a part of step 2. Rather than risk the loss of the only window template I had by cutting the template out of the instructions, I made a copy of it with my scanner/printer. Then I used the copy of the template to cut out the window. (This turned out to be a good way to do it since my new kitten decided to investigate all the neat toys on my building table and I had to cut another window for the Mercury capsule.) I used Testor s Window Maker and Cement to attach the newly cut window into the capsule.
Figure 11b: Before gluing the capsule heat shield/cabin floor assembly onto the capsule shell, I added about an ounce of weight to the back end of the capsule just behind the pilot s seat. This extra weight makes sure the capsule will remain in its proper nose up orientation when mounted on its stand. Figure 11c: The three retro rocket straps (part #34) are exceptionally delicate and small. Cleaning the flash off of them without cutting off the wrong bit of plastic is especially challenging. The parts are too delicate and small to use a sanding stick or a file my only choice was to use a #11 hobby knife with a new blade. Note - Retro Rocket straps intentionally left unattached. They will hold a battery & switch for a light inside.
Step 3: Display Base and Decals Figure 12: Ejector pin nubs on the inner surface of the vertical support arm for the display base. The display base for the Gemini was just like this. The display base consists of a base platform, a vertical support arm, and a swivel-type gimbal socket and pin. The support arm molded to look like an aluminum I-beam has several large ejector pin nubs. Because of the location of these nubs, I used my hobby knife to clean most of the excess plastic from the part and then finished the cleanup using my rotary tool with a sanding disk chucked into it. I used the lowest speed my rotary tool could produce and the lightest of touches to make sure I didn t melt the plastic or damage the support arm beyond repair. Figure 13: These are the decals applied to the Mercury Capsule. The original Mercury space capsule had a corrugated sheet metal skin. The louver-like corrugations in the exterior skin gave the small ship the greatest strength while keeping the weight as low as possible. The model capsule reproduces this corrugated skin accurately as far as I can tell. However, the multiple dimples create a problem for decaling and setting solution is definitely called for here. The decals were thin and went on easily; the setting solution made them settle right down. A quick coat of clear either semi-gloss or flat will keep the decals looking good for years to come.
Gemini Capsule Step 1: Instrument Panel, Crew Compartment, and Astronaut Figures I finished these parts just as I did with the Mercury capsule. Since this model represents the early Gemini capsules, I finished the astronaut figures with the same colors I used on the Mercury astronaut. Later Gemini missions used an improved spacesuit which had slightly different colors. The improved suits were more comfortable and allowed for greater freedom of movement a necessity for performing spacewalks outside the capsule. This capsule model has more control surfaces inside the cabin than the Mercury capsule had. An overhead support arm as well as a lower control console (which held the ship s control stick) gives you the chance to practice your dry-brushing skills. Look to the Internet for pictures of the actual Gemini capsule to get an idea of the colors used in constructing the ship. Step 2: Capsule Sides, Landing Gear Doors, and Nose Cone Figure 14: Landing gear doors don't have a great fit. Not possible to fill seams because of details like rivets & corrugated skin. As I said earlier, in the introduction of this article, the model Gemini capsule features two landing gear doors from which skids are deployed for landing. At the time this model was made, the actual Gemini missions hadn t flown yet, and Revell used NASA artist s concept drawings in the design of the model. The real Gemini never had landing gear; it returned to Earth by splashing down into the ocean. I elected to build my model of the Gemini with the doors closed. To get the doors to fit flush into the shell of the model required a lot of sanding with sanding sticks to bevel the edges. Even though the parts are molded with a stepped groove around the edges of the doors, they just don t fit into their slots properly without the sanding. Figure 15: Forward adapter ring assembly. Note the locator tab and the ridge molded into the bottom of the inside surface. The instructions show the forward adapter ring (part #111 & 112) with a ridge around the inside and pointed down. This is wrong, as I found out in Step 3 when I tried to fit the Electronics Adapter Channel to the adapter ring and capsule shell. The adapter channel fits into a D- hole with the bulk of the angled adapter pointed down. Installing the Forward Adapter Ring as the instructions specify orients the D-hole in the opposite direction. The best solution is to install the adapter ring as the instructions specify, but drill the D-hole out a bit larger to allow the Electronics Adapter Channel to fit properly.
Figure 16: D-Hole orientation is upside down. Drill this hole out a bit to allow the Electronics Adapter Channel (part #115) to fit correctly. I assembled the three-part capsule shell for the Gemini just as I did for the Mercury capsule. I glued the three sides together and after the glue had set, I installed the capsule shell onto the heat shield/cabin floor assembly. Step 3: Capsule Entrance Doors and Nose Gear Skid Figure 16a: The capsule entry doors have upper and lower nibs on the corners. These nibs serve as hinges to allow the doors to open and close. Getting the doors installed without breaking the nibs off is a bit tricky but it can be done by first inserting the lower hinge nib and then bending the upper part of each door just slightly to insert the upper nib. As with the Mercury capsule model, this part of the instruction booklet has a printed window template. I copied and printed another copy of the template using my multi-function printer. That way I didn t take a chance on losing the original. Figure 16b: The forward landing gear skid and support arms are assembled in this step. Since I wasn t modeling these fictional landing gear, I skipped this part of the build completely.
Step 4: Retro Rocket Housing and Retro Engines Figure 17: Gemini retro rocket housing showing capsule support tabs. The Retro Rocket Housing (part #131) has a cross-shaped support at the top of the housing. This support arm needs to be removed. The challenge to removing this support arm is in its proximity to the capsule support tabs. These tabs, by the way, are filled with flash and they re very small and very delicate (Figure 17). As I was removing the support arm and cleaning the flash from the tabs, I managed to accidently break one of the loops from the support tab. I glued the broken piece back on and then finished cleaning the tabs. The retro rocket engines and exhaust bells are assembled in this step. It s worth noting, however, that these parts will never be seen after they re installed. The capsule s heat shield sits at the top of the housing assembly, and the Equipment Module Housing which is completely closed at the top end glues to the bottom of the Retro Rocket Housing. The Retro Rocket Housing is completely enclosed at the top and bottom and all your pretty painting and assembly work will remain unseen if you permanently glue the capsule heat shield to the housing (as I did). Permanently gluing these parts together does give the best strength and appearance. An alternate solution you could use is to obtain some Fugitive Glue at your local craft store, or perhaps at a shipping store like U-Line or Mail Boxes Etcetera. Fugitive Glue is that sticky stuff used to hold your new credit card to the mailing insert and it s also used to hold mailing labels to the cover of your magazine subscriptions. Other names for it are credit card glue, booger glue, cold melt glue, or low tack adhesive.
Step 5: Equipment Module Housing Figure 17b: This is the bottom-most housing that contains all of the capsule s fuel cells, oxygen cells, electronics equipment, and all the other bits and bobs needed to allow two people to survive their trip to space. I assembled each of the round fuel/oxygen cells on their sprues and painted them on the sprue. Doing this served two purposes: it allowed me to increase the spacing of the parts on the sprue for easier painting; and, it allowed me to paint each part without getting more paint on me than on the part. These parts are all small and there s no other way to paint them short of drilling a hole in them for a toothpick or putting a dab of super glue on them to hold a bit of sprue. Why bother to do all that, when they re already attached to a sprue? Figure 19: Equipment module housing details picked out. The Equipment Module Housing isn t numbered on the exploded view diagram, but it is shown in the parts index at the front of the booklet as part number 141. The instruction book has a paint call-out for the inside of the housing, but not for the exterior. The housing should be white on the outside and olive drab on the inside.
Figure 18a: The installation location for the Support Strut (part #142) for the Fuel Cell Supply Piping (part #139) is pretty ambiguous on the instructions. Estimating where to install it, I got it just a bit too far to the left; a better way to install it would be to install the Fuel Cell Piping and Fuel Cells (parts #135 139) in their proper locations and then install the Support Strut. I had to break mine loose from the wall of the housing and then reinstall it in the correct location. After it was installed properly, I then touched up the O.D. green on the inside wall of the Equipment Module Housing. Step 6: Final Assembly and Decals Figure 19a: Equipment module housing details picked out. After all the parts were installed and the three major subsections (capsule, retro rocket housing, and equipment module housing) were assembled, I used my smallest brush and a variety of paint colors to pick out the little details inside the equipment module. When I went to install the maneuvering thruster rockets (part #158, 4 pieces), I discovered that my model didn t have them. None of the leftover sprues even had the numbers for them (I always keep the empty sprues until the model I m working on is completed). Figure 20a: The display base went together just as it did with the Mercury capsule model. Also, as with the Mercury, the instruction booklet calls for the display bases to be painted silver; however, I painted mine gloss black. I just thought it looked better. Figure 20b: I didn t have to install a weight in the bottom of the Gemini model because the length and weight of the retro rocket housing and equipment module housing ensured it had the correct nose up attitude on the display stand. If you decide to display the capsule by itself with the landing gear down (as shown on the right, you ll probably need to glue some weights into the bottom of the capsule. I always use lead fishing weights for my models because lead is a dense and therefore heavy material. It adds lots of weight for the amount of space it takes up in a model.
Figure 20: Decals for the Gemini--like the Mercury-- definitely need setting solutions in order to settle down. As with the Mercury model, you ll definitely need setting solution to get the decals to settle down onto the corrugated surface of the Gemini capsule. The markings for the Gemini don t include any of the mission markings like the Mercury did simply because this model was issued before the actual Gemini spacecraft ever flew any of its missions. So the only decals for the Gemini are just the standard United States markings that NASA used in the 60 s. Summary While these model spacecraft were quite simple to build, the amount of flash, mold lines, and ejector pin nibs and nubs made sure I had lots of clean-up fun. Some of the parts that had to be cleaned were small and delicate, and I did break a couple of parts while cleaning them. Nothing was broken beyond my ability to repair, though. While Revell suggests that the skill level for these capsules is a 2, I think that because of the delicacy of the parts, and the amount of cleaning they require, the skill level would more appropriate as a 3. This was an enjoyable project and I wouldn t hesitate to recommend it as a parent/child project. It s a great way to teach the younger generation about the beginnings of the United States space technology and how so much of the NASA technology has filtered down to us. From technology as complicated as our modern day computers to something as simple as Velcro; much of our modern conveniences come directly from our space program. Figure 18: Major parts of the Gemini capsule are; 1.) Equipment Module Housing, 2.) Retro Rocket Housing, 3.) Crew Capsule, and 4.) Electronics Adapter Channel.
Additional History: In 2012, Revell reissued their 1:48 scale Mercury & Gemini Capsule Set model kit (kit number 1834). The box art of the kit I built reminded me heavily of the original kit Revell issued in 1964; even the conceptualized landing gear on the Gemini space capsule was a throwback to the 60 s. This kit very definitely retained all of the charm and most of the challenges of the kits that were issued in the 60 s. The main challenge of this kit was the large quantity of flash, ejector pin marks, and the mold release lines on the parts. Patience is a definite must when building this kit; many of the parts are small and delicate and cleaning the flash from them requires a very delicate touch. I think Revell was underestimating the skill level required for this kit when they recommended it as a Skill Level 2. Because of the amount of flash on the smaller and more delicate parts, I think it should be a Skill Level 3. There are 142 parts molded in light gray plastic attached to 4 sprues (Figure 2), a decal sheet, and a strip of clear acetate plastic measuring 1-9/16 x 6 for use as capsule windows. The decal sheet allows you to model any of the seven original Mercury capsules (Friendship 7, Freedom 7, etc.), however, the decals for the Gemini capsule are generic U.S. markings. These generic Gemini marking decals and the conceptualized Gemini landing gear were included in the original 1964 model kit because Revell issued it from NASA artist renderings before the Gemini missions ever lifted off. They weren t allowed access to plans, blueprints, or schematics of the Gemini capsule because those items were classified at the time. The 12-page instruction booklet printing is clear and sharp and the assembly steps proceed in a logical sequence. Assembly drawings are large and easy to read (a real plus for us old guys with squinty eyes) and there are only a couple of errors. The best part of the instruction booklet is the 2-page list of parts at the beginning. All parts for the models are listed in numerical order and give the actual name of each part. This increases the kit s value as a teaching aid for the younger folks especially those who are space crazy (like I was in the 60 s). The parts themselves come on four light gray sprues and most of the parts require careful cleaning.