Revell Apollo 11 Astronaut on the Moon (03702) 1:8

[Mike]

Apollo 11 Astronaut on the Moon (03702)

1:8 Revell

 

 

On the 20th July 1969, a man by the name of Neil Armstrong stepped off the ladder of his flimsy spacecraft and onto the Moon's dusty surface, uttering the words that would become famous "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind".  His name and this quote, plus the likeness of the Saturn V rocket that got them there, and the Apollo 11 spacecraft that consisted of the Command Module (CM), Service Module (SM) and Lunar Module (LM or LEM if you add "excursion" into the mix) also became amongst the most recognised images of their time.  Leaving many footprints in the dusty regolith of the Sea of Tranquility where they landed, they soon clambered back onboard and blasted off for home, paving the way for another six missions, only one of which didn't quite make it but became almost equally famous because of their accident and subsequent return to earth that was fraught with danger.  Maybe they should have skipped the name Apollo 13?

 

 

The Kit

Following the 50th year since we walked on the Moon theme, we have more from Revell on the subject, which again is a new edition of a previously released kit from the same era as the Apollo 11 CM & SM that we reviewed recently here.  The kit arrives in an end-opening box, with four sprues in white styrene inside, some of which have been cut to fit the new box.  There is also a yellow tinted clear part for the visor, a small sheet of decals and the instruction booklet, which is printed in Revell's new colour style.  As it's a special edition, there is also a pack of four thumb-pots of Revell paint, a small tube of Contacta semi-liquid glue, and a paintbrush, which as always with these sets has had its hair parted by the bag.

 

The kit is clearly a product of its day, but has good detail throughout and a simple method of construction.  The completed model stands at 258mm tall, a little over 2m in scale, out of which you must take the bulk of the suit, helmet and base to account for the difference between Neil's 1.8m height and that of the model.  I'd say that scales out pretty well.  The astronaut's face is moulded into the helmet area, with the yellow tinted visor added after paint, but here there is a slight deviation that stands out to the average Joe. The bottom edge of the visor is a little flattened when compared with those famous photos of Neil after touch down, so if it bothers you, you'll need a little putty to make that more to your liking.  The suit is a pretty detailed rendition of the one that Neil wore, with some slight differences from the real thing such as the central panel on his chest and the lack of umbilical ports on the left of the chest plate.  There are also some straps hanging around that are missing for obvious reasons, and the umbilicals that attach to the backpack should have insulating sleeves on them that give them a crinkled, faceted look.  All of this can be fixed if you're minded, or you can just enjoy the model for what it is and build it to the best of your ability.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the head and torso, which are split vertically front to back, with the astronaut's head moulded into the helmet, as mentioned.  It's a generic face that's a very nice sculpt, but clearly not Neil Armstrong, and bears more of a resemblance to a face from a Captain Scarlet puppet.  Whether that was for copyright reasons, I guess we'll never know.  The legs and arms are next, with the former split the same way, and the latter split to give maximum detail to the gauntlets.  The backpack is similarly split front and back, attaching to the torso with a central pin and two realistic-looking strap-ends, with a good amount of surface detail.  On the front is another much smaller pack that resembles a claymore mine in shape, but has more to do with environment regulation.  The fixed video camera glues into a slot on the front of the pack, and at this stage you are also instructed to install the visor into the helmet.  If you've been brave and adjusted the shape of the lower edge, you'll need to reduce the glazed part to match.  These things are gold-plated to protect the wearer from excessive sunlight exposure, as there is no atmosphere to speak of on the moon, so the light is undiminished by atmospheric backscatter.  This has been mimicked by the clear yellow tint, but you could experiment with gold leaf of gold chrome paint if you feel the need.  To complete the figure, the two umbilicals (umbilicii?) are routed from the backpack to the chest and chest pack, with the aforementioned caveat of them requiring insulating sleeves.

 

The base consists of a chunk of the moon's surface with a depression for the lander's leg, and another flat-spot for the figure's left foot, then a raised flat area with that famous phrase engraved on it for posterity.  You get a portion of the lander's leg, which has a section of the ladder added to the front, and the big dished foot at the bottom.  This portion of the lander was covered in a golden mylar layer for insulation too, so treat yourself to some Cadbury's Bournville or other confection with a golden inner wrapper, and have a go at making it look suitably wrinkly if you feel up to the challenge.  The completed figure is attached with one foot on the base, the other in the dished top of the landing pad, with two flat tabs ensuring a good join.

 

Markings

The majority of Neil's suit is white, with grey used mainly on his gloves and overshoes that protect his boots from damage, which incidentally debunks another of the deniers' arguments about the tread pattern on their boots being different.  I digress.  The moon is very dusty, so after even a few steps the suits got covered in an incredibly fine grey dust that was hard to shift.  Check your references, and enjoy replicating some of it.

 

There was a #2 Revell paintbrush included in the pack, but as the bristles were bent over, I decided not to photograph it.  Ok, I forgot!

 

The decal sheet is small and consists of a couple of American flags, two NASA meatball logos for the backpack and his chest, and a stencil for the water reservoir at the bottom of the backpack.  There's no name tag for the suit, but that's hidden away under the chest pack, so hardly an issue.  Decals are printed for Revell by Zanetti, in good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

This is a fun model that will give a lot of pleasure to a lot of folks if they approach it with the right attitude.  If you treat it as a blast from the past, or a desktop model you'll have fun building it, but if you want something accurate, there are some alterations you can make and still have fun.  Considering the age of the moulds there are some really nice cloth effects, with creases, seams and so forth giving a realistic landscape for you to paint over and weather. 

 

A fitting tribute to the late, great Mr Armstrong, may he rest in peace.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

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