Revell 1:144 Space Shuttle
Discussion
Someone gave my son this kit for his Birthday this year, and he decided to build it for a school project next week. I ‘helped’ with any scalpel based work, closely supervised spray painting and as usual gave unreasonably harsh criticism during construction.
It’s an old kit - I remember building it nearly 40 years ago, and it shows. Not obvious in the photos, but there are some pretty large gaps that are difficult/impossible to fill. We glued the bay doors shut, filled and sanded the gaps, then drew the shut lines on with a pencil. The tubular SRB and main tank aren’t that good a fit either. Engine detail is very basic.
What is much better than the original boxing is the decals. They are very cleverly done, such that most of the black area outlines are decals, and once applied you simply block in the rest with paint. Simple idea, but the result is superb, with virtually zero masking required. We used Windsor & Newton Matt varnish to give a beautiful, reflection-free high contrast finish.
Whatever the age of the kit and it’s shortcomings, the end result is impressive, and an experienced modeller could undoubtedly turn it into a show stopper. Especially if some resin engines were used, and the out of scale crawler was replaced by the card version from Educraft:
http://www.educraftdiversions.org/ProductDetails.a...
(One of these may well be on its way to us...there are some incredible super-detailed builds of it online).
Anyway, here are the pics:
It’s an old kit - I remember building it nearly 40 years ago, and it shows. Not obvious in the photos, but there are some pretty large gaps that are difficult/impossible to fill. We glued the bay doors shut, filled and sanded the gaps, then drew the shut lines on with a pencil. The tubular SRB and main tank aren’t that good a fit either. Engine detail is very basic.
What is much better than the original boxing is the decals. They are very cleverly done, such that most of the black area outlines are decals, and once applied you simply block in the rest with paint. Simple idea, but the result is superb, with virtually zero masking required. We used Windsor & Newton Matt varnish to give a beautiful, reflection-free high contrast finish.
Whatever the age of the kit and it’s shortcomings, the end result is impressive, and an experienced modeller could undoubtedly turn it into a show stopper. Especially if some resin engines were used, and the out of scale crawler was replaced by the card version from Educraft:
http://www.educraftdiversions.org/ProductDetails.a...
(One of these may well be on its way to us...there are some incredible super-detailed builds of it online).
Anyway, here are the pics:
Great result.
I built that kit back in 1981 (when the real Shuttle had just made its first flight).
It's not 100% accurate but it does look good if built right.
I have a couple of permutations of the kit in my stash (an orbiter on its own i.e. no tank or booster and the orbiter with 747)
The 1/144 Shuttle I built a few years ago was the Minicraft rendition which is probably the LEAST accurate of the 1/144 Shuttle kits.
I built that kit back in 1981 (when the real Shuttle had just made its first flight).
It's not 100% accurate but it does look good if built right.
I have a couple of permutations of the kit in my stash (an orbiter on its own i.e. no tank or booster and the orbiter with 747)
The 1/144 Shuttle I built a few years ago was the Minicraft rendition which is probably the LEAST accurate of the 1/144 Shuttle kits.
robemcdonald said:
Great effort.
Is there a decent space shuttle kit out there? I wouldn't mind trying to build one.
The Airfix version is supposed to be the most accurate in shape, and there’s the Minicraft one that looks visibly wrong around the nose.Is there a decent space shuttle kit out there? I wouldn't mind trying to build one.
I’d say overall this Revell one is possibly the best compromise, especially with the excellent decals. If you can use filler effectively, and can get some replacement engines it really would look great. Unlike a conventional aircraft, the orbiter itself has very few appendages to model, and at this scale what’s there are effectively represented by decals (door hinges, thrusters etc) .The heat resistant tiles are available as decals for some versions, although on balance I thing solid colours look better at this scale.
ETA if you just want the orbiter, Revell do a 1:72 version, and Tamiya a 1:100, both of which look good. Aftermarket details are available.
Edited by dr_gn on Saturday 21st October 22:50
dr_gn said:
ETA if you just want the orbiter, Revell do a 1:72 version, and Tamiya a 1:100, both of which look good. Aftermarket details are available.
Firstly great work by your son.Edited by dr_gn on Saturday 21st October 22:50
Looking for the 1:72 orbiter I wondered what it would look like compared to some other 1:72 aircraft like spitfires etc,
Then I found this comparison of 1:72 Star Wars and modern aircraft,
I know it’s nothing to do with your thread but thought someone else apart from me might like it.
If it’s just a size comparison, I found this with a P-51 to scale. It would be a fairly significant size to display at 1:72, and I think representing the TPS tiles would be a must.
Re. The Star Wars models, As an aside I don’t think the AT-AT walkers in the film had a set scale - it changes depending on which scenes you’re looking at.
Re. The Star Wars models, As an aside I don’t think the AT-AT walkers in the film had a set scale - it changes depending on which scenes you’re looking at.
robemcdonald said:
Great effort.
Is there a decent space shuttle kit out there? I wouldn't mind trying to build one.
Simple answer is that none of the available 1/144 kits are accurate. As Dr Gn states, the AIrfix one is considered the best with the Minicraft one being the worst. However, I was still pleased with how my Minicraft rendition turned out - as long as you don't look too closely at the nose.Is there a decent space shuttle kit out there? I wouldn't mind trying to build one.
The biggest issue with building Orbiters is how to replicate the heat protecting tiles and blankets. The best solution is to use decals and there have been a number of 1/144 tile sheets available over the years. I used a set from Cutting Edge but they have sadly ceased production and are no longer available.
There have been two 1/72 Shuttle kits, one from Revell and another from Monogram. Revell took over Monogram a number of years ago so I think the 1/72 Orbiter that you can still get is the Revell one. It certainly looks impressive when built and is the best bet if you really wanted to do a Shuttle with an open cargo bay on display.
IroningMan said:
Didn't Monogram also produce a 1/48 Shuttle? I seem to recall going through a 'bigger is better' phase which featured one, as well as a 1/48 B-29 from them.
1/48 would be huge, around a meter long, just for the orbiter. Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 24th October 11:18
El stovey said:
IroningMan said:
Didn't Monogram also produce a 1/48 Shuttle? I seem to recall going through a 'bigger is better' phase which featured one, as well as a 1/48 B-29 from them.
1/48 would be huge, around a meter long, just for the orbiter. Edited by El stovey on Tuesday 24th October 11:18
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