Moonraker stack in 1/72 (Finished!)

Before I did the accent paintwork on the ET and SRBs (and before I glued those assemblies together), I did a fit check of the full stack on the pad to see if everything lined up and would work properly. At this point, it was beginning to look like a Moonraker stack. You can see the too dark coloring of the Tamiya Navy Insignia gray on the SRBs as I hadn't oversprayed them yet. The ET hadn't been accent painted yet either.



Accent paint work over the tank and SRBs was done mostly by masking off panel lines and airbrushing on off white mixtures (flat white tinted with a drop of flat aluminum). In some spots I did entire panels a different color, but mostly I would spray the edge of the mask and that was enough to trick the eye into thinking it was looking at two different colored panels. Once that was done, it was time to glue the stack together. I tried to get as much of the painting out of the way as possible since it would be a lot harder to mask and paint with a bigger assembly in the way. Once the glue was dry from the stack, I test fitted the orbiter to it again and these were my results:





So with the ET and SRBs essentially done except for decals and weathering, the largest part of the build is done and now I can concentrate on the orbiter again. This week will be spent tiling the orbiter and doing similar accent paint work on it. Then I can move onto decals, clearcoating, final weathering and it will be done.



Here you can see a couple spots I am particularly proud of. There is a red checkerboard pattern on the tank near where a conduit line runs on the actual shuttle. I cut pieces of Tamiya tape into 3mm squares and painted these areas with Model Master RLM 23 "Rot" (German red, which is slightly pink). I then misted some flat white over the top to fade the squares further. The modified LOX feedline can be seen as well in this shot. Both it and the ET nose cap were painted in Tamiya flat aluminum. You can also see orange tunnel rails running up the sides of the SRBs. I noticed these in Jon Allitt's (b26354's) screen caps, yet I couldn't see exactly where the orange terminated and the white began as shots of the top of the SRBs showed the rails being white instead of orange. So I compromised and did the change where the rails cross over a black and white checker pattern on the foreward most SRB propellant segment. It gives a nice color accent to the mostly white SRBs in my opinion, even if the debate is out on whether it is accurate or not. Eitherway I can live with it.

BTW, it seems we now have a scale reference to tell us how big the original Moonraker launch stack studio model potentially was. A friend of mine who looked over Jon's screen caps noticed the crane platform sitting in front of the stack is made up of what appears to be at least three Airfix/MPC Eagle transporter main spines modified and glued together into one unit. There are some other Eagle bits in the set as well. You can see it just above the nose in this closeup from one of the grabs.

moonraker reference grabs

I haven't done the math, but at a glance it appears the launch stack model is a bit bigger than 1/72. Of course, how wide it is exactly will depend on if Derek Meddings' team built the silo in a forced perspective or not with a slight outward taper to the walls as they get closer to the film camera.

It looks perfect. Great job!!!

Awesome! What else can I say?

Nicely done and 'Jaws Approved' : )

That looks pretty damn good and love the Richard Kiel sig...

And, you say, the 1/72 full stack is being re-issued?!? I can see another moonraker build in my future

JMChladek said:

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Now that the stack is being reissued this month, you can try your hand at it.

Really? That's good news!

The bar has been very much "upped" for Moonraker models since I did my first, plus with the Blu-Ray imagery about now. I look at my own model and cringe a bit! May have to try again!

That's a very beautiful model! Thanks for posting!

That's very sharp! Love the autograph by "Jaws" on the base.

Jay, WOW!!!!!!

What can I say that hasn't, but that is just AWESOME!!!

Nice work, the subtle paint and weathering is just fantastic!!! VERY, VERY NICE!

Now I'm going to have to go get that Stack kit and try this thanks to your inspiration!!

-Sean

Great job, Jay - love what you did on the wings

-Fred

JMChladek said:

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Yes, the kit is scheduled to come back out in the states late this month. It is going to sell for about $89.00 US, so expect it to cost a bit more to get it to NZ. But at least it will be available once more and for a price less than what typical sellers tend to charge for it on eBay.

$89 doesn't sound too bad compared to $349 for a vintage kit on ebay. I just asked CultTv (which is where I usually buy kits which are either not available or overpriced here) but it doesn't sound like they're planning on stocking it.

b26354 said:

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$89 doesn't sound too bad compared to $349 for a vintage kit on ebay. I just asked CultTv (which is where I usually buy kits which are either not available or overpriced here) but it doesn't sound like they're planning on stocking it.

Yeah, the model is a bit of a monster. Starship Modeler might carry it. HLJ.com also occassionally gets Revell USA kits in, but they typically get marked up somewhat for the Japanese market. I'll ask Steve (CultTVman) about it at WF to see if he might carry some, but the boxes for these things are HUGE and would likely cost more than a Fine Molds Falcon to ship.

Hobbylink Japan just listed the kit with a July release date US$142 plus shipping is probably still cheaper than it would be on the shelves at the LHS down here (assuming they even stocked it).

I'll also keep an eye on the UK stores - shipping is sometimes more economical from Europe than Japan.

Looking GREAT! Wish I had "space" for those big models.
Looks like it's my turn to "huddled on the floor: Make it stop, make it stop!!! He's making us feel so inadequite!"

Cheers mate.

Thanks man. I appreciate it. I've got to repair one of the boosters as the thing didn't come off the base cleanly when I tried to pack it for the trip home after Wonderfest and one of the SRB struts broke as a result (a clean break though). The thing only took a merit there. At least I know many of you guys liked it.

As for space to store these big models... well I have to find a good spot for it now. I spent so many crazy nights working on it this past year I hadn't really fully thought about exactly where I am going to put it.

Well, for those of you that want to get the Monogram full stack shuttle kit (for building stock or as Moonraker), it is now back out and shipping to hobby shops. I picked one up locally this afternoon. Except for the box art and the new decal sheet (which isn't very useable for even a stock space shuttle model IMHO), it looks like the previous issues. The parts molds have held up well over the years.

BTW Jon, while CultTVman doesn't plan to carry it, Starship Modeler will and he will ship to New Zealand with no problems.

As for me, I have started work on an STS-1 Columbia stack. I hope to get it done for Nationals. But if I finish it a month early, I may be taking it with me to Florida as I'll be watching STS-135 lift off. You didn't think I was going to miss the final flight of the space shuttle, did you?

I ordered the re-released kit from http://www.omnimodels.com last week and it just showed up in New Zealand. Shipping was a bit expensive, but it's probably still cheaper than the LHS price (if they ever get around to stocking it).

Wow! Fantastic Moonraker Stack!
I just watched your 5 part Space Shuttle kit history on U-Tube as well as your video on this Moonraker build. I guess saying your a fan of the Shuttle is an understatement!

I have wanted to build a 1/72 Moonraker stack for years! I'll be referring to your build when I start mine! (If I can ever get decals)

Excellent job sir. Excellent!

I also am a fan of the shuttle program. From where I live in Florida we could go outside and watch if it was a night launch. I live about 70 miles away from the space coast so all you could see was the rocket plumes but it was still neat. Back in the 90's we went to KSC and took the tour and one of the Shuttles was on the pad. Back then I think the closest you could get was a mile or two away but it was cool to be there!

I never watched a close up Shuttle launch but in the early 70's we watched one of the last Appolo Saturn V launches. We also watched the Skylab/Saturn V and Saturn 1B launches. The Saturn 1B looked so small perched up on her milk stool!

Thanks again for posting your Moonraker!

You know, I have just re-read this for at least the sixth time (I'm a slow study ) and you have done all the research for us. It has been at least 10 years since I watched Moonraker and that was on VHS. I never would have guessed the the normally very dark gray almost black areas of the Shuttle were dark brown on Moonraker. You have also taken on the task of removing details to make the kit more like a model than a reality based Shuttle. Which of course the studio models were. I have seen other 1/72 and 1/144 Moonraker Shuttles on RPF and other sites on the web and you are the first that I have seen to do so. Most seem to build with the "what if it was real" approach. Now don't get me wrong. That approach looks fantastic to me also but I now have a different perspective to considder. Your approach is quite refreshing also. A lot of thinking to do before I start. You truley captured the look of the prop IMO. Kudos for your efforts!

After my Wife gave me a new Monogram 1/72 stack last Christmas I was just going to build a standard Columbia with the great aftermarket tile and marking sets. Now I know it must be Moonraker! Ah...inspiration is indeed a wonderfull thing...

I know, this is a bump. Reason I wanted to make a new posting is to make mention to other modelers intending to do Moonrakers that Tamiya has just issued a new color in their acrylic line calle Linoleum Deck Brown (XF-79). It is about the same tone as the Tamiya flat brown shade I used on my build, but it is a little lighter and might work well for doing the bottom tile areas. I am still pretty sure I got the coloring close on the launch stack models, but the orbiters for the space and station docking scenes seem to be a little lighter colored down there based on some pictures of the smaller studio models on display that I didn't have access to when I did my build. They also apparently have done it in spray can form as well (I prefer the airbrushed acrylics myself).

TowerHobbies.com | TAM81779 81779 Tamiya Acrylic Mini XF-79 Linoleum Deck Brown 1/3 oz

Other than that, the Moonraker has survived its year on display in my television room. I see it everytime I go in and I still marvel at the work done (did I really do that?)

BTW, if you've ever wanted to see what a Moonraker looked like next to an actual shuttle, here's some eye candy for you. I had to do some patch work to the STS-117 Atlantis stack for the museum (the orbiter popped off the ET again) during the late summer last year. So I brought it back into my VAB and did some repair and refurbishment work to it, beefing up some of the sub-assemblies a little bit. And when done, I took the opportunity to shoot some photos of the pair next to one another:







And I'll leave you with a photo I shot of STS-135 leaving the pad since we are nearly to the first anniversary of the last flight of the shuttle. My photo might not be as good as others taken that day, but this one is mine. As long as I live, the launches I had the rare honor of seeing up close I will never grow tired of remembering over and over again as long as I live.