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Completed ISS Model?


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Hello!

I am looking for a completed model of the ISS for a science display we've got next month here in the UK.

I was looking at getting the Revell 1:144 model, which looks to be plenty detailed and about the size I want. Hard to find though! Before I buy it, I wanted to find out if:

  • It's feasible for a relative newbie like me to assemble it decently in a few days? I've made a few airfix kits in my time, but it seems this model is a particularly challenging one!
  • If there are any other kits on the market that might suit? I see a few other manufacturers make smaller and less detailed ones, but nothing like the Revell one in scale or detail...
  • If there's a place that I could perhaps buy ready-made or previously built ISS models?

Thank you!

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Well, the instructions are here: http://www.revell.de/fileadmin/import/images/bau/04841_%23BAU_INTERNATIONAL_SPACE_STATION_ISS_2014.PDF

This ought to give you an idea of what's involved, and whether your skills and available time are up to the job.

Considering the size of the finished article, I very much doubt you'd be able to get one ready-made sent through the post. Risk of breakage would be pretty high too.

Perhaps you could get some friends in on the act so you could work on various modules and what-have-you in parallel?

Best of luck!

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Hi Steve, thanks for the instructions. Nothing in there looks like it requires superhuman dexterity or an electron microscope, which is reassuring!

Yeah, making it transportable is our biggest concern. We'll have to see what it looks like when built, and see if there's some way we can pad it effectively to move it! I suspect we'll need to take a tube of glue with us...

Splitting the work is a good idea - there's only two of us but that's twice as fast as one! I think between us both we can get it done in a few days, if we put a few hours a day in. We've pinged the local model building club to see if we can get any advice or skills to help us make it well and robust!

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I once bought the slightly bigger Heller 1/125 scale kit of the ISS. Not sure if it has all of the modules though as I sold it on instead of building it! You can pick it up on eBay for about £60-£70.

See the Heller site at http://www.heller.fr/en/maquettes/luxury-boxes/323-mission-jules-verne-3279510529098.html for details of the kit.

Dave

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Hi Dave, thanks for the tip. We did have a look at the Heller model, but it's only about half the station (none of the ionic solar panels, for example). We're looking for a fairly faithful representation, so we opted against it...

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Looking at pictures of the assembled Revell ISS it doesn't represent how the ISS looks now either. It shows two pairs of solar panels at either end - the ISS now has three pairs at each end.

Good in box review here -

http://www.scalemodellingnow.com/hnaircraftkits-revell-international-space-station-iss

Edited by Eric Mc
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