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Al Sheperds-Freedom 7 -MR-7-Redstone 3 at 1/48 by Glencoe/Martins Models/Revel/new ware


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HI, just thought id post some pics of this build,the first manned flight,we are two steps away from john Glenns historic orbital flight on a different ride. these redstone,s were just a souped up V2,with just enough oompf to reach the edge of space,though these two manned flights MR7 and MR8 were really sub-orbital,astronaut wings were awarded,to the pilots.

So having already built the second ride liberty bell 7,the builds on here as well,and basically not to bore you,you can look at that one,and see the build of the redstone rocket,as its the same,only differences being the numbering,and a few panels,the difference,s are in the capsule this one being the first version,its got a couple of porthole type windows,and the pilots only view outside was using a perisope type device.

Which unfortunately,only gave al sheperd a blackened/grey image,because --------the filter had been left on,so he couldnt see the earth in colour through this? an unfortunate mistake?..another mistake? was, it was a few weeks later than the yuri Gargarin flight,but to be honest this flight was a sparkler compared to the russian flight,which was bigger,heavier, about three times?,and more powerful,as it attained orbit,wheras the US had to wait until the flight of Glenn to achieve this,though the ATLASE,S were available at the same time,but it was over caution,that allowed the Russians to grab the achievment of first man in orbit.

so heres some pics,of the build,but refer to the other build if you want pics of the booster build,sorry is that ok?

so the starting point glencoes explorer kit mated with the new ware conversion resin upper section...

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so slap a bit of paint on martins version of the Freedom 7 capsule,after sanding the top section and mating and the heat shield as well see other build..

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Thats the redstone collar for the capsule....

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This is John Glenns ride coming along as well?

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The hardest part of this build is the escape rocket tower truss ,its a nightmare,so i just broke it down into smaller bits,and it was,nt any easier?...The easiest option is to use the Revel one from the mercury kit,?

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drilling holes for the truss,and booster bells..

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This is the Redstone with the painted capsule onboard,you can just see the porthole ?

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painting the escape rocket and truss,before building,it turned out by the time i built it,i could of painted it later,just as well ?

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Redstone candlestick..

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putting a bit of detailing to the engine panels?

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the capsule heatshield needs the retro package fitting yet,but according to the pics ive seen its about this colour?

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retro package

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The nightmare truss,in resin..

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by this time i,d had enough,and broke it down to individual components,and awaited the miracle of superglue?

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A lot of hairpulling/scratching later,its a reasonable representation of the escape tower?

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a lickle bit of paint,helps things along?

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putting the engine bells on..

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and a bit more paint

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first bit of highlighting on the umbilicle points and porthole,s

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the periscope,which im leaving with no door on,so you can see it,?

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First bit of detailing done,some silver on the tower truss bottom where all the wiring came down?

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Almost done,so heres Freedom 7 with Liberty bell7

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so thats about it,some more paint and decals,and i,ll call it finished and then onto John Glenns flight?

the next pics will be in the finished section,with a bit of history,thanks for looking,any comments welcomed as always,i know it could be better,but ive not got the time or inclination,to spend on it yet,though in a few years,i,ll go back and start again?

cheers Don

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HI GORDON, the confusion is in the title,,this flight was planned and to use booster mr3,but because further developments were needed,it was cancelled,and booster mr3 was used on a test flight the mr-1a its replacement booster was the mr7 booster,which is where the confusion arises,its mission name is either of the stated, freedom 7-mr-7---or 3

cheers Don

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Ah, I've confused the flight with the booster designation. I didn't even know that the boosters were marked in the way shown on the model!

The extra flight was known as MR-BD (for Booster Development) and Von Braun insisted on it because there had been a few minor problems on the previous launch. Shepard never forgave him for that because if they hadn't gone ahead with it he would have been launched before Gagarin and would have been the first man in space (albeit on a suborbital mission).

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