Vintage Classics with added Apollo

[LeonF]

Nice to see Space return to Airfix's range for 2019, albeit in the Vintage Classic line only and nothing new tooled.

 

Might be tempted by the Astronauts especially with the Lunar Rovers and the other rather more obscure pieces. Sadly the Saturn V is not really my cup of tea mostly because its a heck of a lot of gloss white even in 144. 

 

I do question the Moon Landing set though. The Lunar Module is not on seperate release so it's the only way to get one but at quite a price hike for the sole advantage of including a larger base, and the disadvantage of using very little of the included Astronaut set. 

 

Being that it's the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11 I feel its a missed opportunity. Of course new moulds would have been even better but not to sell the Lunar Module on its own is puzzling as there's no direct competition. Athough it's based on a mockup rather than a flight rated article it is a decentbbase for the experienced modeller, as well as having an impressively different look for those who are happy to build OOB. 

[Dad Paul B]

When I last built this backin the 1970s the display base was round and there were 2 astronauts included in the tooling. I am definitely planning to get this and always wanted the Saturn V. I suspect a spray can for the white will be the order of the day.

Just need to get some gold coloured foil.

[Kenneth ONeill]

Agreed about the LM; not only base and crew figures, but several of the science experiments were also included.

If a "more current" boxing leaves you a bunch of "spare parts", look on an enthusiast site such as the "Airfix Tribute Forums" for a PDF of an older set of instrucitons.

[Sailorman]

I used the gold foil from Rollo packets for my lunar module. 

I had built 1 Saturn V in 1969 and hadn't painted the white areas as I couldn't see how I could do it neatly.   Some 30 years ago I had built another and had used a spray can ..... but the colour has tended to yellow over time.

Satin white (Humbrol  130) goes on really nicely with an airbrush and I am getting very good results with it on my ships.  I'll use that on my next attempt.  (I have another 3 or 4 Saturn V's in my stash and another Skylab / Saturn V).

There are a number of good articles in Airfix Scale Model World.

• December 2010 - Saturn V
• October 2011 - The last of the Breed - Saturn V + Skylab
• January 2011 - The Eagle has Landed - Lunar Module

There was also an article in Scale Models some years back which included drawings showing which areas were covered by gold / black foil.  If anyone is interested I could look it up.

Patrick

[dabhand]

Just a note that the painting instructions fr the Saturn V and the Lunar Module can be made more 'authentic' through looking at photos of each specific Apollo mission as finishes did vary! 

[Kenneth ONeill]

Indeed; the black photo reference marks were different for every launch.

[David Jones1707820337]

 I probably shouldn't mention this here, but the all new-tool 1/48 LM from "another brand ending in -vell" looks to be an amazing kit.    The moulding is rough to simulate the foiling on the legs and descent stage, and the blast deflectors are (correctly) attached to the descent stage rather than hung off the RCS thruster quads.    I got it recently with paints/glue at £50.   Note there is an "old tool" in the same scale, which has more errors than you can count.

The Airfix 1/72 LM is correct from a distance, but as you get closer, the errors accumulate.   I've still got the 25th Anniversary LM and 40th Anniversary "One Small Step" sets, so look forward to adding another, although I hope it is boxed as "50th Anniversary"