Moonraker Six

[The Velociweiler]

Traditionally, the earlier James Bond films would announce the title of the following Bond film during the closing titles. This went a little awry at the conclusion of 'The Spy Who Loved Me' when the next film was announced as 'For Your Eyes Only'. Well. In the intervening period, Cinema and TV went space-mad as Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica pushed the boundaries of entertainment, and the makers of the Bond series elected (probably sensibly) to opportunistically enjoin that little period.. 1979 therefore gave us 'Moonraker', which was the third of the Fleming books, and Roger Moore's fourth outing.

The close of the film has a small fleet of Drax Moonraker space shuttles ferrying the intended survivors of the human race to sit out armageddon in comfort, and Moonraker Six was the shuttle occupied by 007 and his CIA busom buddy Holly Goodhead to put a fairly literal spanner in the works. (If you've not seen it, I won't spoil it by telling you the ending. You'll just have to watch it to see if James Bond wins in the end, or whether the baddie gets to destroy the world. I'm not telling you...) I know there's lots of traditional joshing with regard to Roger Moore, but this particular film features what is probably 'Q's finest ever laugh.. ...'He appears to be attempting re-entry, sir'...

The shuttle forming the basis of the Drax airframe is fully your bog-standard Rockwell Space shuttle, booster and fuel tank assembly, only with appropriate Moonraker decal markings. Helpful on this occasion because it meant that those companies which had already released kits of that spacecraft (which actually hadn't yet gone into space in 1979) were in a good position to opportunistically release a model linked to the film. Airfix obliged in the UK and Europe with their 1\144 kit, and I think Revell released their own kit for the US and Canadian marked (although I don't think I've ever seen one).

Doyusha released their kit of the Space Shuttle around twenty years ago, albeit in the handy 1\288 scale, and the breakdown of the kit was very simple and efficient. A little later, they took the time to add a Moonraker decal sheet to the kit, and appeared in a suitably-liveried box in the mid-1990's with figures of Roger Moore, Lois Chiles and Richard Keil as 'Jaws' in 1\24.

I secured one of the Doyusha kits a year or so ago on ebay from France. The kit brand new came (even in 1996 when I first saw it on a shelf) with a distinctly inappropriately high price tag - £27.99 which was ridiculously high then, and it still comes with that price from some outlets where they are still available. If you just have to have one, then, well, it's up to you, but I wouldn't call that value for money... I got mine for about seven quid. Reason it was much cheaper was that the trio of 1\24 figures had been removed from the kit, and for some reason, the french seller didn't sell it under 'Moonraker', but had given it a french language translation – people searching under 'Moonraker' wouldn't have found it, and I only came across it by accident.

The kit itself, as I've already described is an efficient and simple breakdown, and having built one some years ago as a Nasa-marked ship, it goes together with no surprises or problems. This model for the GB will be built straight from the box with only the cabin window gaps filled as any form of modification. I've been away from modelling for some years due to matters at home and I've not bashed any plastic or wood for so long this model will be a good one to ease back in with.

The shape itself – well, it looks like a space shuttle, but the shape is just a wee bit square over the top of the fuselage, and if you wanted to be pedentic, it does look a little caricatured. I work on the basis that each and every kit on the planet is just fine in every aspect unless something blatant leaps out of the box shouting in your eyes that there's a problem or inaccuracy. I won't be taking a ruler to this kit – it may well be 1\285 with a fuel tank in 1\293 but it's not something I'd ever lose sleep over.

Time to get building...

[bootneck]

I have a couple of the Academy 1:288 Space Shuttle & Booster Rockets kits, do you know if they are from the same moulds as the Doyusha kit you have just reviewed?

If so then I may just do one of these, with an attempt to knock up some appropriate decals on the PC.

cheers

Mike

[The Velociweiler]

I have a couple of the Academy 1:288 Space Shuttle & Booster Rockets kits, do you know if they are from the same moulds as the Doyusha kit you have just reviewed?

If so then I may just do one of these, with an attempt to knock up some appropriate decals on the PC.

cheers

Mike

I think you're right. I do have the Academy kits both of the full-stack shuttle and the shuttle\747 combo somewhere and if you look at the bottom photo in my first submission, the slab vertical tailplanes for the 747 are immediately to the left of the upper moulding for the Shuttle. I know the trim colour for the Moonraker shuttles looks a little stark here, I'll get to that later in the GB.

[Jasonb13]

Great choice & a nice intro to your thread, I'll be watching this one!

J.

[bootneck]

I think you're right. I do have the Academy kits both of the full-stack shuttle and the shuttle\747 combo somewhere and if you look at the bottom photo in my first submission, the slab vertical tailplanes for the 747 are immediately to the left of the upper moulding for the Shuttle. I know the trim colour for the Moonraker shuttles looks a little stark here, I'll get to that later in the GB.

Thanks very much (sorry, can't send salutations as I don't know your name), this is very helpfull.

I hadn't noticed the tailplanes and the connection struts on the kit until you mentioned it. Now I probably have enough bits to do a second SCA.

I'll be looking forward to seeing (and learning) how you do in the GB.

cheers

Mike

[The Velociweiler]

Well.

Both a little and a lot of progress. I can't claim to have been slaving over a hot file but with just a few bits joined, the model can be snagged together for a test.

The Fuel tank\booster assembly, whilst an efficient two-part mating set, suffers if handled carelessly (i) by being moulded in a fairly high-grade plastic which is extremely brittle which (ii) means that removal from the sprue is almost certainly going to damage the length of conduit which runs up the outside of both boosters, where the sprue gates attach to the parts on three points of the conduit.

The damage can of course be cleaned up fairly easily post-glueing but it's naturally a pain.

The open cabin windows were filled and the photo here shows them with a coat of milliput over some plastic waste glued over the openings. There was little point at this stage other than completing the main airframe assembly since there were no areas which would pose a problem for sanding and filling. The good-quality plastic takes to liquid cement like a thirsty greyhound supping from a muddy puddle (no, really! If in your minds eye you're seeing a greyhound supping from a muddy puddle it was exactly like that - strange but true...!! You really had to be there) and the photos show the constituent assemblies post-sanding, which was little more than an hours light filing and cleaning. Whilst if you really want, the gap between the booster and tank is just wide enough to file the seam, there seems hardly any point doing it, it can't be seen after assembly..

At this stage - just in case - the Shuttle interior is barren of any detail, but it's certainly big enough for a fabricated crew compartment should the modeller wish, and I suppose a small amount will be visible thru the open cabin windows.

At time of typing, the booster\tank assembly and display base have been given a coating of primer ready for final topcoat.

The decal sheet comprises a small selection of markings and stencils for the booster\tank assembly, and when I get to it, I'll give an opinion on the apparently stark main chevron colour.

[marty_hopkirk]

Traditionally, the earlier James Bond films would announce the title of the following Bond film during the closing titles. This went a little awry at the conclusion of 'The Spy Who Loved Me' when the next film was announced as 'For Your Eyes Only'. Well. In the intervening period, Cinema and TV went space-mad as Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica pushed the boundaries of entertainment, and the makers of the Bond series elected (probably sensibly) to opportunistically enjoin that little period.. 1979 therefore gave us 'Moonraker', which was the third of the Fleming books, and Roger Moore's fourth outing.

Not the first time it happened, in Connery's tenure as the spy, intial prints of Thunderball ended with "James Bond will return in On Her Majesty's Sceret Service" but pre-production took longer than anticipated and the programme slipped and the revised filming dates meant the 1967 European winter would have been missed and "You Only Live Twice" had to be dropped-in, as snowy mountains are an intrinsic part of 'OHMSS'. 'OHMSS' would have been a more fitting end for Connery to have finished on, but you can't have it all.

Good luck with the build.

Marty...

Edited December 21, 2011 by marty_hopkirk

[The Velociweiler]

'OHMSS' would have been a more fitting end for Connery to have finished on, but you can't have it all.

Didn't know that Marty but thanks for the comments. As it happens, I think OHMSS is one of the top three Bond films of all, and frankly I can't fault Lazenby's performance, I can't understand the antipathy to the film. Funnily enough, speaking for Connery in the way that he left the series, if he'd made the film that OHMSS became, I don't think he'd ever had escaped in the way he did. With Connery in THAT specific OHMSS it would have been the greatest in all the series without any serious contenders. Our bad luck probably reflects in his own career good luck.

[GordonD]

Not the first time it happened, in Connery's tenure as the spy, intial prints of Thunderball ended with "James Bond will return in On Her Majesty's Sceret Service" but pre-production took longer than anticipated and the programme slipped and the revised filming dates meant the 1967 European winter would have been missed and "You Only Live Twice" had to be dropped-in, as snowy mountains are an intrinsic part of 'OHMSS'. 'OHMSS' would have been a more fitting end for Connery to have finished on, but you can't have it all.

Not to mention that Bond and Blofeld met face to face in You Only Live Twice, yet Blofeld didn't recognise him when they met again in OHMSS. Of course both characters were played by different actors but I don't think that counts!

[bootneck]

.....the Shuttle interior is barren of any detail

If your looking for some details for the payload bay (bit of scratchbuilding) then check out Space Paper Models - Shuttle Payloads Look in the lower left side for 'Free Payloads'

Here is the page for STS-26 (Discovery 1988) with the TDRS-C satellite. The card sheet includes the bay interior which could be used for the Moonraker orbiter kit. Here is the instruction manual to build the Satellite

The plans are to 1:144 scale but it shouldn't be difficult to print them out in 1:288 scale.

There's plenty of other space stuff on those pages.

HTH

Mike

[The Velociweiler]

If your looking for some details for the payload bay (bit of scratchbuilding) then check out Space Paper Models - Shuttle Payloads Look in the lower left side for 'Free Payloads'

Here is the page for STS-26 (Discovery 1988) with the TDRS-C satellite. The card sheet includes the bay interior which could be used for the Moonraker orbiter kit. Here is the instruction manual to build the Satellite

The plans are to 1:144 scale but it shouldn't be difficult to print them out in 1:288 scale.

There's plenty of other space stuff on those pages.

HTH

Mike

That's quite extensive - didn't know anything about that. Thanks for letting us know. When I do a 1\144 one I've always wanted to do something different to the bog-standard European module.

Best Regards,

Dave C.

[The Velociweiler]

All the main bits are currently in the garage in various stages of aerosol coat. The booster\fuel tank assembly has a coat of gloss appliance white over the top now (guess who has a fully stocked Halfords seventy five yards down the road...) and the decals for that assembly will be going on tomorrow.

The airframe orbiter had been undercoated with matt black. No photos - sorry. If you can imagine a very small model space shuttle painted matt black, you're just about there. Well done. Feel proud of yourself. I'm proud of you. The underside has been given a coat of Plasti-cote 'Nut Brown' which matches the dark tan of the original studio replicas quite well. In this, the Doyusha kit instructions are misleading. Doyusha would have the modeller paint the entire underside and lower nose side areas in matt black (classic Nasa scheme) - Airfix got it right, so beware...

To top that off, the base (which resembles, in a sort of conceptual form, the launch platform) has been given a couple of coats of primer grey, which will take a degree of weathering from this point. My previous Nasa Doyusha shuttle of fifteen years ago or so was given a dignified coat of satin black on this base - for some reason it just didn't look right. Grey should be better. The same primer colour now coats the engine bells and thruster bells. Really, despite the limited scale, the less said about these parts the better. They look like an afterthought and do not resemble the real things other than they have the thin and the thick ends round the right way. They're about a scale five feet thick and are pure tapered cones, entirely lacking any attempt at a parabolic curve in any way, albeit with raised concentric ribs around the body. There won't be a picture of them. Life's too short...

I looked out the film on DVD in my collection a couple of weeks ago in preparation for this build. Many people I know assume I have all the films in a collection but I never have had, never will. Some of them are just downright bad (I won't name them because to do so would doubtless tread on somebody else's favourite, but, well... there you have it...) but I've always thought Moonraker had certain merits - nice theme song by Shirley Bassey for example (written, I understand, for Kate Bush, who turned it down. Shame...) and when I got to the later sequence I was given several surprises. One of which was just how well, in special effects terms, the launch sequences were shot. Looked still quite authentic to my eye.

The other was the colour of the chevrons for the Moonraker markings themselves.

For some reason my memory was telling me that the colour of these was a similar dark tan to the underside of the originals, and that the colour selection compiler for the sheet had put the evening cleaner in charge. I thought they were far too orange, to the point of dayglo. Well, no. I was wrong. My TV image is telling me that the sheet colour - whilst still arguably a bit too stark - was more or less ok. Maybe, to be pedantic, a bit more washed out - even with a bit of pink aspect, but certainly the kit sheet has proved better than my memory, so they will go on as is. Or is that 'as are'...?

[marty_hopkirk]

Didn't know that Marty but thanks for the comments. As it happens, I think OHMSS is one of the top three Bond films of all. With Connery in THAT specific OHMSS it would have been the greatest in all the series without any serious contenders. Our bad luck probably reflects in his own career good luck.

I agree on both counts.

OHMSS would have had no equal in the series had Connery taken the part.

Marty...

[marty_hopkirk]

I looked out the film on DVD in my collection a couple of weeks ago in preparation for this build. Many people I know assume I have all the films in a collection but I never have had, never will. Some of them are just downright bad (I won't name them because to do so would doubtless tread on somebody else's favourite, but, well... there you have it...) but I've always thought Moonraker had certain merits - nice theme song by Shirley Bassey for example (written, I understand, for Kate Bush, who turned it down. Shame...) and when I got to the later sequence I was given several surprises. One of which was just how well, in special effects terms, the launch sequences were shot. Looked still quite authentic to my eye.

Not surprsing as Derek Meddings of Thunderbirds fame and the driving force behind the special effects of most the Anderson series up to UFO, was responsible for the SFX on Moonraker.

Marty...

[The Velociweiler]

...so Dave. When you decided to build a Moonraker Space Shuttle model, did it even occur to you to type in 'Moonraker Space Shuttle' in Google to see if anything interesting turned up?

'Yes, of course I did. It was the very first thing.'

Did you really?

...'Definitely, it would have been silly not to, I mean. Why wouldn't I?'...

You didn't bother, did you?

...'Umm. No. It didn't actually enter my tiny mind and only thought about it a couple of nights ago. Sorry...'...

http://www.jbot.ca/space/moonraker.shtml

....just goes to show, dunnit?....

[The Velociweiler]

The main colour topcoats are now finished and ready for decals. Whilst the pics I've got here are fairly washed out by flash glare, I'm going to be diffusing the flash from this point on so the images will be a bit clearer.

Finished the display base...

No point going to town on it too heavily because it's not supposed to be an assembly of its own right - it's not supposed to detract the eye from the actual display subject so just a bit of dusting from Tamiya's weathering pigments is fine here.

Here the nut-brown colouring can be seen to advantage. For the price of the model as per the shop-shelf retail, that Doyusha got the basic colouring so badly wrong is both lazy and shoddy. No excuse on that score.

The model will be decalled-up after I've had the furry creatures out for a walk and later this evening I'll get to paint the trim and ancillary details. To finish off, the white on both the orbiter and the fuel\booster assembly will recieve some subtle shading and panelling and the model should be just about there by tomorrow evening.

[The Velociweiler]

Decals.

Model has glossy coat. Humbrol decal fix at the ready.

The smaller Doyusha decals - stripes and stencils - are of the type that will be familiar to some modellers. After requisite soaking, careful handling with tweezers and being offered up to the plastic, you discover that the decals have been designed, at the sub-atomic breakdown, to resist being applied to the plastic parts. A microphone on an unusually sentitive setting will record the shreiking and spitting emanated by the tiny decal as it is offered closer to the completed model, rather like the Boy Damien's distress when his parents tried to get him into the church in the Omen film.

Worse still, the striping, to wrap round the boosters or to delineate the lower edge of the clamshell bay doors helpfully separate into smaller broken parts only at the point of handling, and also similarly are specifically designed to refuse to attach to the model. As an experiment I held some fragments up to see if I could get them to stick to thin air, with some success, as the decal hovered without support some feet above the carpet for some minutes. I tried applying them to the teflon coating of a non-stick frying pan at which point they stuck down permanently and immovably. But stick to the bit of the model which was their sole purpose for existence - they will not.

Now. As I've indicated earlier, Doyusha's earlier release of this kit - in its NASA form - was a pleasure to build with no vices of any kind. The decals with that kit were entirely trouble free... They CAN get it right. With regard to this Moonraker issue, the specific reason for the builder to be in possession of the model is for the decal sheet itself. You might imagine that would be one area that Doyusha had decided to put an extra degree of effort into, in particular in consideration with regard to the price sitting on the shelf. Neither is it an excuse that the model could be around fifteen years old and the decal sheet suffered accordingly. The decal sheet here resided in a sealed plastic bag up until use. I've frequently utilised decals in excess of thirty or forty years old elsewhere.

To top that off, whilst the larger decals go on without too much trouble, the tail markings are the wrong shape to fit where they should, and a gap appears around the marking if it is located as per the studio original. A more generous dark border will need to be painted around the leading and trailing edge of the model to hide this gap, and it looks poor. That will be seen in the photos of the finished piece.

Here's the thing. If you can't use this model profitably for building, because the decal sheet - the reason for the model in the first place - is so badly flawed, then there are only two reasons you'd want this model.

1. As a bona fide Collectors Piece, with the permitted official merchandise logos.

2. If you urgently needed the figures that were released in this boxing.

...because, as has become apparent during the building, there are alternatives to this particular model, and I'd recommend any of them before I'd recommend anyone buy this model - it's too expensive and not worth the hassle. (and with regard to 'expense', I've given a check to see what they're selling for on ebay right now - it seems my earlier quoted price is very decidedly on the conservative side these days..)

I didn't set out to be negative about this model. Not me at all, but this was unexpected and unwelcome. Just a few more hours of touching up and I can move on to the 2001 tennis ball with legs.

[Luis Alfonso]

Hi There!!!!

I have found one of the Academy kits and your wonderful build will be very useful to me with allthe tips and hints you did here.

Thank you very much for sharing,

Cheers,