Jeddahbill

Very nice improvement on the kit radiator panel! Bill

Watching this with interest! I very much appreciate your images and descriptions - makes for an excellent WIP. Bill

Welcome Sam! A very long time ago (1982) I graduated from UCI. My wife and I owned a property in Woodbridge "Inside the Loop" before the prices skyrocketed. During those days the Marine Corps base in Tustin was still operating helicopters and Orange County Airport was much smaller with very limited commercial jet activity. Always interesting to be driving on the 405 while aircraft passed very low overhead on final to the airport. Bill

Very nice! I especially like the Saudia one. Bill

Thanks Mike! Very interested to see your MOL build. Looks like a good start, please be sure to post progress photos. At one time I had a crazy idea of scratch building a 1/48 scale version with interior. Maybe not so crazy . . . Regards, Bill

Wonderful work on this old kit! Bill

Beautiful ! Superb photography ! Bill

These composite photos are beautiful! Really captures the look of Space Station V in orbit around Earth. Your build of this challenging kit inspired me to overcome my reluctance and take the plunge! Looking forward to a larger scale styrene kit - perhaps Moebius is listening? A real step into madness would be a large scale scratch built SSV - tempting . . . . Bill

Congratulations on the completion of this fine build! Certainly a long and arduous journey, but you managed to produce a real gem. In particular I like the subtle panel shading - so many builds of XD-1 have starkly contrasting panels that just don't look right to my eye. Discovery remains a truly iconic spacecraft and continues to captivate the imagination. Great job and many thanks for the excellent WIP photos and narrative - I really enjoyed following this build. Bill

This looks really good!

Good point on the landing gear, I forgot to mention this earlier. A kit this size should include these parts as an option to the display stand. I realize landing gear were never seen on the filming model, but I still believe they should be included. Many thanks Randolph for mentioning this item. Regards, Bill The Aries 1B, EVA Pod and Discovery XD-1 kits from Moebius are really much better than the Orion. I have decided to place the Orion into storage for now. Perhaps some of the problems with the kit will be corrected with aftermarket items. Regards, Bill

Very nice scratch building work! Bill

Really superb work on this old kit. Looks great! bill

Excellent work! A real gem in 1/48 scale! Bill

Hello Gordon, The kit unfortunately has some glaring issues which are very disappointing considering it is a new tool and the abundance of information currently available on the filming model. My overall impression is that Moebius squandered the opportunity to produce a truly excellent kit. Specific flaws include: There are two prominent raised strips on the fuselage just behind the hatch where the leading edge of the wing meets the fuselage. These do not appear on the filming model. Several years ago I added these strips to my build of the 1/48 scale Atomic City Orion so as to hide a very nasty seam in the resin parts. I believe that Alfred Wong copied these from my build when he mastered the 1/72 Orion for Larson Designs. Moebius then copied the strips from my build and/or the Larson Designs kit. Removing these strips is not an easy task. Engine exhaust area is smooth in the kit. This area should have narrow strips or channels as seen on the studio models. Almost all of the raised panels are far too thick. Parts seam along top of fuselage is just horrible. Panels between the passenger windows lack detail visible on filming models. Clear parts are poorly formed, very much like bottle glass. There appears to be a wide gap between the assembled passenger cabin and the inside of the fuselage which results in an noticeable void when looking through the windows. Instructions are sloppy and confusing with elements copied from the smaller Orion kit, especially section on decals. Perhaps the fuselage contour is too rounded? The filming model appears to flatten a bit more at the top. I am not certain, but the studio model photos seem to show a different fuselage profile shape. Maybe not very noticeable, but it would be nearly impossible to correct on the kit. I expected better from Moebius. Far too many issues for the price of the kit. Regards, Bill

Well done! I was concerned the kit stands were not stable enough to securely support the completed model. Clearly this was not a valid concern as you have shown with your build. I ended up modifying the stand parts by adding threaded tubes and fastening them to my display base. Probably not necessary, but the completed model is very secure on the stands. Bill

This is superb! Excellent work, a beautiful build. cheers, Bill

Looking very nice! Does the completed model sit well on the kit stands? Good luck in finding a place for display, maybe a wall mount? Bill

Beautiful work! Finish and weathering looks fantastic! Bill

Thanks for having a look and commenting. I first saw the Moonship in a painting by Chesley Bonestell, such an unusual and fascinating design! Bill Many thanks! Perhaps you are thinking of the Lindberg / Glencoe Lunar Lander kits included in "Creating Space" by Mat Irvine. Similar design to the von Braun Moonship. As far as I know there is no styrene kit of the 1952 Moonship by Werhner von Braun. There are some 3D designs available, so it is probably possible to create a resin kit with a 3D printer. Bill

Excellent work! In particular the panel shading is nicely done with a realistic subtle appearance. Bill

I have decided to place the Space Clipper kit in storage for now until I can decide how to proceed. A closer look at the parts and how they fit revealed many issues, some requiring much work to correct. Also, I want to see what the aftermarket companies will offer for this kit. Disappointed with Moebius on this kit. Bill

Good work on the tedious spine modules, lots of small parts! How did you like the Aztek Dummy mask set? I have been tempted to try one. but the cost steered me back to Tamiya tape. Bill

Thank you for posting this - much appreciated!

That was the most difficult part of the entire build. I destroyed two perfectly good table tennis balls in the process - finally managed to get it right on the third attempt. In the process I learned how very difficult it can be to accurately locate and align points on the surface of a sphere!