bootneck Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Hi folks, This is my mad "what shall I build for next year's anniversary of the first moon landing" project. The (stupid idea at my age) plan will be to construct a launch tower (LUT) and platform (MLP) for an Airfix 1:144 scale Saturn V kit. This is just a placeholder at the moment, as there will be weeks of research, scaling diagrams and making drawings before I reach the stage of cutting any plastic. Caveat: I don't expect this build to be anywhere near the standards of Manfred's Shuttle or RichO's Crawler, but I do intend to have fun attempting something. Mike 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mekon Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 I have an LUT kit, maybe the only one that escaped from Vista Replicas; only issue is no isrutctions to date and unlikely there ever will be. Have a few hundred pages of diagrams I got off John Duncan(?) many years ago. Am in the prcess of boxing up for moving house but will be able to get some copies to you around July/August if you still need them? Have around 1100 photographs of LUT and original plans I can put on a disc and post though now. Ken 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonD Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted March 10, 2018 Author Share Posted March 10, 2018 1 hour ago, mekon said: I have an LUT kit, maybe the only one that escaped from Vista Replicas; only issue is no isrutctions to date and unlikely there ever will be. Have a few hundred pages of diagrams I got off John Duncan(?) many years ago. Am in the prcess of boxing up for moving house but will be able to get some copies to you around July/August if you still need them? Have around 1100 photographs of LUT and original plans I can put on a disc and post though now. Ken Hi Ken, I am going to need all the help I can get on this so I appreciate your post. I shall pm you for further details. Best Wishes Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinlp Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 I'm in the process of building a 144 scale MLP and LUT Ken may I trouble you for a copy too. I asked for help with pictures in another thread a few months ago but it fell on deaf ears. I'll PM you if that's OK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 May I take a seat ? I grew up with an Uncle that was so engrossed in the Space race that it wore of on me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted March 11, 2018 Author Share Posted March 11, 2018 You are very welcome; however you may want to take up knitting, or something like that, while you wait. I'll be a while working out dimensions and placements and converting them to 1:144 scale. I have about 16 months to complete this build, in time for the 50 Anniversary, and had to reserve this spot otherwise I would likely forget! Mike 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelman182 Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 Got one of these in my stash and I decided I wanted a LUT for display, so I bought the EduCraft Card Model (available here: http://www.educraftdiversions.org/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=1%3A144-LUT). It's not as detailed as building a plastic/metal/whatever replica, but it comes with great instructions on DVD and lots of reference pics. Happy to help with any questions - just PM me. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted March 11, 2018 Author Share Posted March 11, 2018 Hi Kev, I have that card model set as well, plus the Shuttle launcher set, and they are beautifully designed and printed sets. You are right though, nothing better than a bit of hacking and slashing of plastic, plus weeks of researching first, to get that feelgood satisfaction from a build. cheers Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 Thanks Mike for your nice words, your plan sounds like a nice melody in my ears, so I will stay tuned and hope you will surprise all of us. BTW, I don't know if you know the LUT Guru Mischa Klement (www.microartwork.com), who developed a great paper kit of the Apollo/Saturn V/Crawler Transporter (1/96). He is also nearing completion of a kit of the Apollo/Saturn V/LUT (1/96). Source: NASA Here you can follow his project, http://www.kartonbau.de/forum/apollo-saturn-v-lut-1-96-das-konstruktionsbüro/board1-grundlagen/t23444-f64/ unfortunately only in German, and you have to register before, but it's worth it, if only because of the great photos and references. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimme Shelter Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 oh wow - this will be a great topic to follow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted March 12, 2018 Author Share Posted March 12, 2018 14 hours ago, roma847 said: BTW, I don't know if you know the LUT Guru Mischa Klement (www.microartwork.com), who developed a great paper kit of the Apollo/Saturn V/Crawler Transporter (1/96). Here you can follow his project, http://www.kartonbau.de/forum/apollo-saturn-v-lut-1-96-das-konstruktionsbüro/board1-grundlagen/t23444-f64/ Hello Manfred, yes, I have followed Mischa's work on Yahoo Groups and he has been a great inspiration for my interest in the Apollo/Saturn LUT. Thank you for the link to kartnbau, I have registered today and hope to get access soon. I suppose the start point for my 1:144 build will be the MLP and here is the base drawing (Level and followed by Level A etc.) that I shall start with. Thanks to Kev (Modelman182) for the plans. There will be lots of numbers to crunch, to resize to 1:144 from the plans, therefore there may be protracted periods of what appears to be no activity. I will be working on this in the background though. Mike 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 Hi Mike, take your time and spare your nerves, you will still need lots of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted March 13, 2018 Author Share Posted March 13, 2018 Thank you Manfred, I shall bear that in mind each time I'm tempted to test how far it will fly! A little bit of work has been done on the plan for Level B (the base of the MLP and reference plan for the rest of the build). The original drawing, shown in post #12 above, is out of shape both in height and width and cannot be used to overlay any plastic onto for assembly. The document has probably stretched, shrunk and been degraded by copies of copies being made. As such, I am having to work to just the written measurements and only using the outlines as a visual reference. A big problem is that much of the text has been degraded, through this copy-of-a-copy etc., and some of the numbers and symbols have become virtually unreadable. A question mark will appear where I haven't identified the lettering, number or symbol that should be there. This is my progress so far: In order to ensure all levels match up, as I build upwards, I shall need a solid reference point on the schematics for eack level. Having checked most of these plans, there appears to be only one item that I can use as a reference to keep everything in line; that is the elevator shaft. This is marked in red at the centre-left of the above image; it still needs fine-tuning at the moment, and I shall keep that showing on all the levels throughout the design and build. To help as a reference, this side elevation schematic below shows the platform levels that need drawings to be done. The drawing I am currently working on above is Level B and is marked at the bottom of this schematic. This shows how much pre-work needs doing in order for the plastic to be cut to the right sizes. Thanks for looking. Mike 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kagou Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 (edited) Hi guys Whaôoo !!!!! Very nice project . Since LVM project stopped , I considered now an integral scratch build like you with working base an Educraft paper kit . I will follow with great interest your work and hope manufacturers don't forget 50th anniversary of AS 506 !!!! Best regards Pierre Edited March 16, 2018 by Kagou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Hi Pierre, the current state you can read in my LUT-Thread. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troffa Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 Wow, this is going to be some project! Best of luck, and in those times when all seems lost, and the challenge too great- remember JFK's words: "We choose to go to the Moon! We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too" Bon Chance Booty! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonD Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 5 hours ago, Troffa said: "We choose to go to the Moon! We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too" That speech always makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinlp Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 It's quite a project, I'm close to finishing the MLP. Currently I'm battling with the tail service masts, on round 2. I scrapped the first set as they looked awful, I tried to build them totally from styrene but either they were too flimsy or too chunky depending on what round section I used. So this time I've used brass and they're starting to look OK. Left to do before painting are pipe brackets, the removable handrails (using 0.5mm brass wire) and the stairwell cover. Looking forward to making a start on the LUT mid spring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 As you say Bootneck - this is silly, silly, stuff from someone of our age. 🤔 And that’s just one reason to love it! 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tzulscha Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bootneck Posted April 10, 2018 Author Share Posted April 10, 2018 Yep, It's taking me ages just to make up some drawings and I haven't even cut any plastic yet! That's mainly why this is just a placeholder, until I get enough data together to start building. There's no shortage of info and drawings out there, it is just that much of it is re-copies of copies of years old-drawings. Some of the data has obviously be photocopied and scanned using low resolution devices, probably all that was available all those years ago, but this means that the drawings are slightly skewed in places and defiinition of detail, such as dimensions and text, can be distorted and difficult to read. Much of my current time on this is taken up by working out what the dimensions are and straightening up lines and junction points etc. cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saturnapollo Posted April 10, 2018 Share Posted April 10, 2018 (edited) I built one for the 25th anniversary, but I cheated by using two shuttle launch tower kits. And as we all know the shuttle launch tower is underscale, so it ended up narrower than it should and I needed to add a couple of extra levels to get the right height. So hardly a high fideility or accurate attempt! That was difficult enough so all the best with a total scratchbuild. I need to come up with something for the 50th as well! Keith Edited April 10, 2018 by saturnapollo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted April 17, 2018 Share Posted April 17, 2018 Hi Keith, I have seen your awesome photos of your LUT. Who does not know it, will not notice your cool trick too, especially since one anyway thinks that these are original photos. Simply outstanding and absolutely impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 Hi Mike, what's going on with your project, the 50th anniversary is not far away ... Come on my friend, the show must go on ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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