The Velociweiler Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 (edited) One of the most interesting and attractive ships from 2001 – A Space Oddysey was the Aries 1-B Moon Lander. Compact – functional and purposeful. Nonetheless for some reason seems almost the perfect generational evolution from the Apollo Lunar Module. As per most of the main ships from 2001, the Cabin windows retain the Apollo-like melancholy unseeing eye quite charismatically. The lonely journey of the ship in celluloid brought the audience to one of the most audacious and memorable series of model special effects sequences which had ever been filmed at that time. The Globe-like original has been kitted by a small number of manufacturers over the years, mainly in short-run resin. The Lunar kit in around 1\100 would date from around twenty years ago or so and was quite disappointing in shape and execution. Whilst I'm aware there have been other models available, I can't identify them, and I would be led to believe their availability was very limited indeed. There has also been a downloadable card model to be delivered to the modellers printer, should the interest be there, and if I can look it out, I'll append the link for that model later in this build article. The model for this build is the Stargazer Models Aries 1-B in resincast. A fair number of well-cast resin detail parts assemble to the two-part main hull to build a creditable replica of the original. The interior cabin can be fully detailed and there are also alternatives included to build the interior to favour the flight deck or passenger cabin, the landing gear can be assembled retracted or extended and a decal sheet helpfully provides additional interior and exterior detail. In keeping with the Orion Space Clipper, which is also available naturally in 1\144, the Aries in the film sequence is in the employment of the Pan Am fleet, and whilst the specific ship in the film does not feature external Pan Am markings, I've elected to build one with the Pan Am decals as provided by Stargazer. Hence 'Clipper New Zealand'. Pan Am fleet airframes are always named 'Clipper ***' - the Orion Shuttle would have had a 'Clipper' name for it, as would the Aries here, so on this occasion, for personal reasons, this ship will be as per the title name – and therefore it isn't 'specifically' the Aries from the film 2001. I'll be illuminating the interior passenger cabin and flight deck and adding some figures, and will probably modify some aspects of the kit, but that's just for a personal project, and in no way a denigration of the kit, which is as complete and authentic as anyone would wish it to be. In particular I've noticed in recent years, models produced by enthusiasts are so well researched, that there's little point going back to the original to check – on this occasion, you can trust that the work has already been done properly. Something I discuss with friends on the subject occasionally, are the subjects we all 'really, really want to build' but somehow never actually get round to it. I think we make the excuse for ourselves that we want to do it at a time where we can really go to town and make a good job of it. The Aries has been on my 'most wanted' list for over thirty years and although around five years ago, I made early preparations for a scratch-build, life intervened and again, it was consigned to the great model collection in the distant future. These days, every other model I have to build is from the 'really, really wanted' list, and I suppose it's about time too.... Edited February 20, 2012 by The Velociweiler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Velociweiler Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 (edited) Just some initial work. Mainly cleaning up some parts prior to painting and modification of a section of the lower assembly to accept the route for the illumination wiring. Here is the lower plate which helps support the undercarriage and mounts the powerplants. The Central tube is depicted as an elevator shaft and originally the kit part was solid resin with recessed detail rather like the dome of an umbrella. This part was glued securely into the circular plate and gradually drilled out with a cordless.This area on the studio original was heavily weathered to depict exhaust efflux burns, dust and scoring, so there was little point in going any further at this stage than priming first with black, then with Tamiya grey primer. The kit cabin interior provides the passenger seats and a well-depicted floor to which other fittings assemble. The lower row of peripheral horizontal ribs is seen here moulded to the upper dome part - the upper row of ribs is an integral part of the ceiling vac-form which I'll come to later. Whilst the instruction sheet recommends clearing out the resin from the passenger cabin transparent areas, in an odd coincidence, the kit breakdown resembles the Aurora ethos - that kit company usually for its Science Fiction kits comprising a 'lift-off' section. If the modeller wished to leave the resin in place in the cabin windows, and simply wished to lift the upper hemisphere off the lower part to see the interior, then the fit of parts is quite positive and snug. As it happens, whilst I'll be opening out these viewports, I'll still be leaving the two halves unglued to ensure permanent access to the lighting in case future repair might be needed. I've separated the effective build into three distinct assembly builds. 1. Upper hemisphere, lighting and flight deck. 2. Lower hull, cabin interior, powerplants and undercarriage. 3. Display base. (Sourced elsewhere...) The flight deck enclosure is cast in two parts with the seats integral. Naturally this area can be seen from one angle only in the completed kit. The recommended alternatives are to have the two-depth enclosure if you can live with a more austere passenger cabin interior, or only the Flight commander section leaving out the hostesses' seating. The detail here is fairly well representative of the studio original and there are decals to place inside for the flight instruments (as there are also decals to place inside the passenger compartment). These assemble to the rear face of the upper hemisphere and there is some engraved detail to complete the interior. I've got some figures sourced for this section and that will be covered later in the build. For this, I want my cake and eat it. I intend to build the two sections of the Flight deck, but modify their sizes to allow for the full passenger interior to be furnished, which will mean that the very nice ceiling vacuum form will be discarded for this build - it's the one piece that won't compromise if you go down that route. I'll need to pare off around four to five mm of the effective depth of the parts and looking at them, I'm pretty sure it can be achieved without losing too much authenticity. Here are the parts... Edited January 7, 2012 by The Velociweiler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Nice choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Interesting kit, and good start! Cheers, Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Velociweiler Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 Little bit of progress. The base of the passenger cabin has been painted, the seats sprayed with the mustard-colour of Halford's 'filler primer'. The wiring from the lower hull will run up through the 'toilet enclosure' casting above the ceiling. In shot can be seen some Preiser 'N' gauge railway passenger figures who will suit the model ok (if maybe just a wee bit too small - but the cabin windows have a fairly limited view into the interior, very little of the interior really will be open to scrutiny even when lit. As I type, the flight-deck castings are in the process of being reduced in depth to facilitate the fit to the upper hemisphere casting. In the lower photo, the openings of the cabin windows can be seen having been out-dremelled and cleaned up. Each window has a fairly clear-cut outline to it which acts as a guide for the dremel reamer and scalpel blade very nicely. In the main, the hull mouldings are fairly thick resin - around four mm. Despite this, there are areas of deeper detail in the castings which reduce the resin thickness to a degree that the lighting I'll be mounting inside will shine thru' the material. Where this will happen, I'll be gluing in a patch of foil on the inner face to block the light and in general, the inner and outer model will be primed in black before proceeding to lighter colours. Hopefully this will ensure that there will be no rogue light sources bleeding through areas that should be opaque. Let's see... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 (edited) I like the idea of the old fella with his walking stick And flat hat going on a ride into space, you need to keep him... Edited January 9, 2012 by Neal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Velociweiler Posted January 9, 2012 Author Share Posted January 9, 2012 I like the idea of the old fella with his walking stick And flat hat going on a ride into space, you need to keep him... Walking stick? I thought it was a lightsabre... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Walking stick?I thought it was a lightsabre... Lightsabre & flat cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomasweir Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Looks an interesting kit and coming along nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Velociweiler Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 Managed to source some additional 1\144 figures for the model which will appear in a later photo. Fortuitously, these are from the 'cutaway' issue of the Revell Boeing 747 re-released some years ago. The kit comprises a useful sprue of cabin crew - several seated flight-deck personnel who are usefully adorned with peaked caps of the same style the Aries crew possessed for the film - and some standing Air Stewardesses. Surprising what the spares box will tell you sometimes... The flight deck castings and forward face of the flight deck have been given a coat of pale grey. The Stargazer kit instructions indicate 'light tan' and that may well have been the studio set colour - however, looking at the colours of the other sets of the Aries - the passenger cabin and kitchen area, the paler colours are strictly blue-grey - I would doubt Kubrick would have approved the use of a different colour. He was a stickler for uniformity and symmetry. Red light will wash this flight deck in any case, so whether tan or grey will be academic - what will be seen will be red. I have built lighting rigs in models before but I've always found it to be a bit of a chore - not difficult, but a bit tedious. A few years ago I found a site on ebay in the USA where someone was selling off large numbers of penlite - powered christmas tree LED sets. Either in yellow, red, green, white, blue, purple etc. They worked out to about £1.50 per set and I bought fifteen of them. Whilst they've got twenty lights on each run, they can be cut down accordingly to a more limited number as per the model requirements and of course they're cheap, so there's no real problem with cutting them down to even just one or two lights for a single model. So the power source (three 'AA' batteries) can be seated compact within a suitable base, with a single wiring run into the model, the run customised for the interior of what you're doing. As can be seen from the photo, the light from the LEDs is pretty intense, so the run should light the areas I need here quite well... As per my intro of a few days ago, I once got around half-way thru' building an Aries as was released by the American company 'Lunar' around 1990'ish. The kit was not good and the work it needed to bring it up to standard would have been in excess of the work a scratchbuild would have justified, so I passed it on to a friend. What I did learn from that model was with regard to the flight deck. I also illuminate the interior of that model but I added tinted red transparencies to the upper hemisphere to simulate the red lighting of the original. It just looked terrible. The studio original, and therefore the model, is a very sterile pale grey colour, with a degree of weathering. The red-eye effect of a model sat on the shelf when unlit looked unnervingly wrong - hopefully the red lighting here will prove a better solution. We'll see.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Shumsky Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Very interesting choice and a great start - I'll be following with interest! Cheers, Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Velociweiler Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 Lost inspiration for this one for a while for no good reason but with the GB coming to an end, I'm more than half way thru' now. The interior of the cabin and the flight deck have been trimmed down to fit the appearance I wanted to give and the figures for the cabin and flight deck have been painted. The co-pilot figure with the arm reaching for a control came from the old Revell Super Constellation kit, so luckily I managed to find two different figures in the right scale wearing peaked caps. That's a piece of black dust under the pilot's nose - not a Hitler 'tash..! The passenger cabin interior is now complete with the central elevator tube and two toilet cabins in place. A moulded ring at the top of the elevator tube was removed since I need to reduce the effective height of some parts for the whole model to fit together properly in the manner I'm planning. If I were just to use the single-section flight deck it wouldn't be necessary. The wiring for the lighting runs up thru' a hole drilled vertically through one of the toilet cabin castings. The detailed control panels comprised on the decal sheet were - for this model - simply cut from the sheet and glued into place. After my experience with the Moonraker Shuttle decals I just wasn't in the mood to use waterslide decals in their proper manner. Not having a go at the decal sheet for this kit in any respect - it's doubtless fine - but there didn't seem to be any point to using the decals in the traditional manner - and using them cut and into place looked just fine and was satisfyingly simple. They slotted into their respective places without complaint and look just fine. When the two flight deck sections are finally joined I'll be modifying them to allow a bit more light from the rig to permeate into the cabin. Using the details in the resincast pieces for the lighting almost certainly won't permit sufficient light into this area to illuminate it properly so I've got a bit of a cheat in mind to permit some extra. You'll see what I've done in a couple of days. Hopefully it'll work.. Some of the horizontals in the flight deck have been lined with a gaudy pink colour to accentuate the red-lighting highlights artificially - That ought to add to the effect. Looking at the film sequence, it shows that the flight deck has a single dark carpet roughly eighteen inches wide between the two rows of seats - the kit instructions advise to paint the cabin floor fully a dark colour. I doubt it will be seen in the completed kit, but we'll see. The flight deck assembles directly forward into the upper hemisphere and completes a fairly neat and well-fitting enclosure. I've cut out a replacement ceiling to replace that supplied in the kit and that replacement part will be seen in subsequent photos. Barring some work with regard to the lighting, the interior is essentially complete now and I've cleaned off the undercarriage legs for work on them in the next couple of days. I'm looking forward to getting this one finished now. Getting a bit more organised at home and using my time better to concentrate on the model. Not before time...!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Nice work! Progressing nicely! Cheers, Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Velociweiler Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 The knuckle joints of the articulated undercarriage joins needed to be drilled out - if you follow some sensible tips in the kit instruction sheet it does give some valuable help in achieving success. The pin shanks from drawing pins were cut off and used as the pivots to insert within the holes. The articulated landing gear is secured to two points for each set - one of them essentially has the pivot 'trapped' between two adjaecent powerplant casings which makes for a wee bit of tricky and deft juggling. These parts were sprayed with Halfords grey plastic primer, given a fairly heavy wash of revell black mixed with white spirit, and when fully dry, the parts were then given a judicious dry brushing of mid-grey and a final sweep of white - the parts are very well detailed and will bear the attention. When the powerplant casings are finally glued in, the upper pivots were left loose at this stage - if the undercarriage is fully fixed in, the plate assembly bearing them will not be easy to fit into the lower hull hemisphere. Here it is placed in loosely to show how it looks. The main hull casting has been given a coat of Tamiya pale grey primer which will actually be the topcoat for the model. The kit instructions specify 'white' for the vessel, but having looked earnestly at the studio original off and on for years, a pale grey will be more appropriate with highlights and drybrushing with white and white\paler grey pastel weathering powders. ('Weathering' hardly being the appropriate term for the effects in space, of course...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Interesting build, always liked this vehicle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 That's looking good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Velociweiler Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Funny thing about a modular build like this you only get to see the details as you go along - only quite late do you realise you're more or less on top of completion. The Flight deck interior has been completed (albeit photo'd badly, I couldn't get a decent shot for some reason). A clear sprue to channel light into the cabin interior has been added to the flooring between the pilots and a red lens sits on top. The red light should assist the cabin lighting and won't seem too obtrusive. That assembly has now been added to the inside of the upper hemisphere and potential for any gaps has been precluded by judicious use of milliput around all joins there. The newly fabricated ceiling for the passenger cabin area has been fixed above the seating - the gaps for the lighting seen cut out here. These openings will be covered with a thin sheet of white paper to diffuse the lighting, but the lights are sufficiently intense to give a decent amount of light to the area. The panelling needed both hemisphere halves together to ensure that there was an even coverage around the body - done separately would have risked the two halves looking quite mismatched. The two parts clip quite securely together without problem even in the absence of glue so that assisted the process. It's not easy to photo a fairly featureless grey ball but here it is in the early stages of marking up. Then to the heavier staining with washes of black, some Tamiya 'smoke' streaks and a few touches with Tamiya weathering pastels. ...and there I took advantage of the opportunity to show the landing gear shields loosely held in place to show how near the model is to completion. The weathering still will go through a couple of additional stages of highlighting and subduing some of the darker areas to lighten them marginally. But you get the idea now. Display stand should be done by the end of the week.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Velociweiler Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 Whilst the lid is placed on for photography only, the model in structural terms is now complete. I'll be working at the interior lighting later this evening and then the display stand which will incorporate the battery pack later on. Being that the model is to be displayed 'in flight' the landing pads could be displayed toed downwards - if the model is to be displayed on its landing gear, the parts are sturdy enough to bear the weight but you'll have to be careful in ensuring that the legs meet the ground properly with pads flat and all undercarriage legs at the same angle. That would be a wee bit of a juggling act that luckily I don't have to consider. But it is something which will need bearing in mind for the modeller who will be building the Aries on a landing pad. Transparent acetate from some food packaging was fitted over each window enclosure - both passenger compartment and flight deck, and I was a bit surprised at just how easy and quick that particular bit of the model was. Not long now, as they say... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Velociweiler Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 Aaannny...way... Cramming the lights into the upper hemispere wasn't difficult space-wise - but just needed a bit of time and judicious forcing. Got the individual LED's fixed down with a spot of superglue and then flooded the area with a blob of araldite to ensure it sits down permanently. I managed to comfortably seat six LED's before the space available was realistically used up. The lid eventually clamped down with a join using both superglue and araldite and that's the assembly bit done fully. The display base comprises the base of an old trophy found in the garage, with a cutout to fit the battery pack for the lighting. The opening for that will be covered by a dome representing bits of the surface of planet earth. It needs some modification, but essentially it comes from the Nichimo issue of the 1\48 Hawker Hunter - fits the bill (for what I want) quite nicely. The stem which will hold the model comes from the Glencoe Space Station kit. That stem provides oodles of room to run the electrics up to the finished model from the power pack. Nearly there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Kewl. Looking forward to seeing her all lit up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Looking good! Very nice work! Cheers, Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Velociweiler Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 Cheers for all the comments so far gents. Display stand is currently drying from a first coat of paint. Here is the stand post-mod with the stem joined to the base. The wiring will run from under the dome thru' the stem via a switch (cutout for which you see here) and will join to the model via the jackplug mount. That clicks nicely into the underside plug as can be seen in an earlier photo of the underside. Seems to be coming together nicely now. Should be finished by the end of the weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Velociweiler Posted February 20, 2012 Author Share Posted February 20, 2012 (edited) Got a base coat of a coffee'n'creme colour for the dome base. It's representative of the older globes and atlases which were printed in odd colours. ...then smothered the whole thing in burnt umber oils.... ...and then wiped it all off again... ...to give it an aged effect. A dark coloured varnish, drybrushed with copper first, a lighter drybrush with gold and a very light scuff with silver.. Then soldered up the leads ... ..added a couple of extras to the base... ...and.... ...finished at last, and safe in a display case. The lighting works ok, but I'll photograph it later in the evening to show the lights working. The 'Pan Am' badge came from a seller on the internet, and the brass effect ring came from the display base for the periodical which appeared about three years ago to build one of those tower brass 'Solar System' rigs. Part one came with the plated base engraved with segments to show the signs of the Zodiac (...y'know... 'Aries' an' all that...) and that plate came with the thinner rotating outer ring which circumnavigates the Nichimo domed base. The model itself is good. Very highly recommended. I think this is the first time I've ever used every single part a resincast kit has provided, and each part is a good and useable representative of the screen original. As provided, the two cockpit sections together are very deep and unless you're lighting the flight deck, the rear half won't be seen. So if you're wondering which configuration to install to complete an interior, then use only the front half and complete the whole passenger cabin interior. However, my compromise interior (with the exception of the ceiling replacement) looks ok when illuminated, and by no means out of keeping with what is seen on screen. As a postscript to this build, in recent days I've re-started an Aurora 1\144 Orion Shuttle that I was working on some years ago. I had actually completed that model in structural terms and also added an interior for the passenger cabin and flight deck also. Using some details flagged up on this website I was able to correct a few flaws in the Aurora original and as I type, it's under its final coat of matt varnish, so in the coming day or so I'll add a couple of phots of the Orion and Aries together. Thanks for reading and the comments all. Edit:- Just some pics with the lights on. The flight deck red lighting 'blushes' the interior quite well, and the passenger cabin lighting turned out far brighter and more effective than I'd have imagined. It was certainly worth the effort. I've added the Aurora Orion here too since I managed to finish both models on the same day, and it's nice to see them both together. Edited February 21, 2012 by The Velociweiler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Excellent build! Lovely model and the base looks great! Cheers, Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 Yep, this is looking excellent, really nice display of it. Keeping the standards of this GB right up there! Great work... J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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