SYSTEM NOTICE

Auto translation by AI. Be sure, accuracy, nuances and authorial intent may not be fully reflected.

Models I'm Going to Build! [Episode 4] To Space

2025年9月15日 09:54

[Come on, everyone. Let's keep it cool]

In the Apollo program, which sent humanity to the moon for the first time, the most well-known words are likely Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong's: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

My personal favorite is, "Let's every body keep cool. Let's try to solve problem." This is what Flight Director Gene Kranz said to the staff at Mission Control when the accident occurred on Apollo 13.

In our daily model building, various crises occur, such as "I glued the left and right parts on the wrong sides!" or "The part I cut out has gone missing!" or "I dropped the finished kit on the floor!" and so on.
Even in those moments, I want to be a leader who can say to the little staff members in my heart, "Come on, everyone. Let's keep it cool."

So, this time, it's about "Space rockets I'm going to build."

"APOLLO COLOMBIA & EAGLE" Revell 1/96

This is a kit that includes the Apollo 11 Command Module and Lunar Module.

The kit I have on hand is the domestic version from when the American company Revell was in partnership with Takara.

This kit was absolutely necessary to recover from a tragedy that occurred during the filming of the Revell "APOLLO 11 SATURN V ROCKET" 1/96 scale kit.

It happened on a clear, breezy day some years ago. Thinking I wanted to photograph the rocket standing tall against the blue sky, I set up the completed Saturn V on the balcony of the second floor of my house as a shooting platform.
Just then, a gust of wind blew, and instead of taking off into space, the rocket crashed downstairs, fell apart in the garden, and the Command Module went missing. The shoot was canceled.
I managed to repair the broken first and second stages of the rocket, but I had no choice but to display it without the Command Module.

"Saturn V" standing lonely on the landing of my home staircase. As you can see, the Command Module is missing.

So, I acquired this kit, which is the same manufacturer and scale as the "Saturn V." As expected, it seems to be the same mold, so the time should come when the Saturn V, equipped with a new Command Module, will aim for the moon once again.

"Apollo Saturn Rocket + Lunar Module" Aoshima Non-scale

A kit containing the Apollo 11 Lunar Module and the Saturn V.
The box art of the Saturn V rising heavily against the backdrop of a huge, shining moon is just plain cool.

The powerful box art is clearly the work of Tatsuo Kajita, as seen by the signature in the bottom left. Compared to that, the kit itself is a bit of a letdown, perhaps because of its small scale. Nevertheless, I have nothing but gratitude for Aoshima for making the launch pad into a model.

Note that the first edition box of this kit seems to have had scale markings of 1/400 for the Saturn rocket and 1/96 for the Lunar Module, but there is no such notation on the version I have, so I have labeled it as non-scale.

There is a photo that seems to have served as a reference for the box art, and it is also very cool.

Apollo 17 waiting quietly for launch with a full moon rising above the launch pad. (Photo: NASA, Public Domain)

Although the size and position of the moon are different, I believe the box art was inspired by this photo.
Personally, I prefer the photo below, and I would like to light it up in such a subdued way.

Apollo 4 waiting quietly for launch with the moon in the background. (Photo: NASA, Public Domain)

"Thor and Jupiter IRBM" Revell 1/110

The Thor was an IRBM (Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile) operated by the U.S. Air Force, and the Jupiter was one operated by the U.S. Army during the Cold War.

This is a kit re-released by Revell itself as part of the HISTORY MAKES series.

The stars of this kit are, of course, the two IRBMs, but what I really wanted were the included fuel trucks and trailers.

This is because I have a diorama I want to build.
As I have introduced several times before, I once built the "Jupiter-C" from the same Revell kit in the same scale, and that was when I first challenged myself with full-scale lighting.

The Jupiter-C kit comes with worker figures and is originally designed as a diorama.

The Jupiter-C kit includes 7 figures, but I increased the crew to 14 by adding more from a spare kit. Other workers are also busy here and there on the launch pad.

It would surely be fun to expand this base area and arrange the fuel trucks and trailers from this kit around it to recreate the Cape Canaveral launch facility (if possible, I would like to motorize the launch pad so it can move along the rails).

Continued in [Episode 5]
Return to [Episode 3] Build Deep and Quietly Return to
[Episode 1] When You're Stuck Making Models