Jeddahbill Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 (edited) Greetings! Just completed, this is the resin and photo etch Space Station V kit from Fantastic Plastic. The WIP can be seen here: One of the many impressive designs featured in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick, I believe this is the only kit in any scale of Space Station V currently available. It is easily one of the most challenging kits I have ever encountered. In general the kit is a well designed mixture of resin and photo etch, but perhaps overly complex in a few areas and lacking detail in some places. Unfortunately my kit suffered from some poorly formed resin parts which required scratch building of replacement parts. I added LED lighting to the docking bays in the hub sections which required carefully drilling holes to accommodate wiring and a brass tube. The station rim parts are solid resin and I could not think of a way to hollow them out for lighting. No stand is included in the kit, so I made a display base that will support the finished model on the brass tube with a 9 volt battery contained inside the base with a switch. The Orion is mounted on a length of music wire attached to the base. No decals included with the kit so I managed to find some very small spare Pan Am markings for the space clipper and a variety of other spare decals to detail the inside of both docking bays. Various small styrene bits and several small photo etch items from the spares bin were used to enhance the kit details The completed model measures about 8.5 inches in diameter and the scale is described as being either 1/1400, 1/2100 or 1/2800 depending upon the interpretation of the filming model and accordingly three scaled Orion space clippers are included. I decided upon the 1/1400 scale as that was the only Orion that was usable in my kit - the other two were very poorly formed and beyond repair. Many thanks for having a look. Questions and comments are always welcome. Bill Edited October 30, 2022 by Jeddahbill 43 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddahbill Posted October 30, 2022 Author Share Posted October 30, 2022 More images . . . 45 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddahbill Posted October 30, 2022 Author Share Posted October 30, 2022 (edited) Forgot to mention that all the above photos were taken indoors without flash using my ancient Canon S200 held steady on a stack of books with a piece of black felt cloth for a background. Apologies for the poor quality on some of the images! Many thanks, Bill Edited October 30, 2022 by Jeddahbill 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 That looks amazing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voozet Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 It looks great. A color-changing central led is a great idea. As for photos: it's not easy to shoot a white object against a black background, so in my opinion you did it very well too. You've created the illusion of space. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 Wow that looks fabulous! Great work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamiltonian Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 That's a great result. Love the illuminated docking ports. Is the Orion III photoshopped in, or does it have some kind of separate stand? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remus389 Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 Wow, Werner von Braun must have liked this. 👍 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberto Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 Wow. Beautiful! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddahbill Posted October 30, 2022 Author Share Posted October 30, 2022 5 hours ago, Hamiltonian said: That's a great result. Love the illuminated docking ports. Is the Orion III photoshopped in, or does it have some kind of separate stand? Many thanks! Separate stand - the Orion space clipper is glued to a length of piano wire painted black that can be inserted into a small tube mounted to the display base. It can be easily removed or positioned as desired. These images better illustrate how the Orion is displayed and how the photos were taken with my primitive setup. Bill 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddahbill Posted October 30, 2022 Author Share Posted October 30, 2022 7 hours ago, voozet said: It looks great. A color-changing central led is a great idea. As for photos: it's not easy to shoot a white object against a black background, so in my opinion you did it very well too. You've created the illusion of space. Thanks for having a look and commenting. I used two white SMD LED lights, one for each docking bay. One has a red lens and both have have thin semi transparent clear plastic covers to help diffuse the light. Photographing this model was indeed tricky, especially with my primitive photo setup. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 It looks huge in the pictures, and then the books show the true size. Simply fabulous pictures and models. Still one of my favourite films. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddahbill Posted October 30, 2022 Author Share Posted October 30, 2022 Thanks! I would have liked a larger scale. Some of the build was very fiddly with many tiny parts. Detailing the inside of the docking bays was frustrating due to the tiny enclosed space. Maybe Moebius will come out with a larger injection kit of the space station. Bill 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 54 minutes ago, Jeddahbill said: Maybe Moebius will come out with a larger injection kit of the space station. Fingers are crossed all over the planet! But then, The real one is almost 22 years late already. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddahbill Posted October 30, 2022 Author Share Posted October 30, 2022 For decades it was just the old Aurora moonbus, space clipper, and some resin garage kits. A bleak time for 2001 kits. Then Moebius emerged with several reissues and new injection kits within a relatively short time period. Some rumors of more to come - Clavius astronaut, TMA-1, satellites, and maybe space station . . . . . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted October 31, 2022 Share Posted October 31, 2022 Don't forget the Airfix Orion shuttle. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddahbill Posted November 1, 2022 Author Share Posted November 1, 2022 13 hours ago, Eric Mc said: Don't forget the Airfix Orion shuttle. Yes! How could I forget! I think Airfix may have been out before Aurora. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted November 1, 2022 Share Posted November 1, 2022 OMG those books are enormous... oh er... hang on... Beautifully photographed, I know full well how hard it is to photograph white things against a dark background! This is an excellent depiction of the Space Station, love it! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddahbill Posted November 5, 2022 Author Share Posted November 5, 2022 On 11/1/2022 at 8:19 AM, Kallisti said: OMG those books are enormous... oh er... hang on... Beautifully photographed, I know full well how hard it is to photograph white things against a dark background! This is an excellent depiction of the Space Station, love it! Thanks! Yes, this was difficult to photograph. Less than half of the images were usable. An investment in better photo equipment would certainly make things easier and yield better results. Bill 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Excellent model marvelous photography. It looks like a still from the film and I can't give it higher praise than that. Well done 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Did you add the stars on the background physically (salt grains?) or are they Photoshopped in? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddahbill Posted November 21, 2022 Author Share Posted November 21, 2022 6 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said: Excellent model marvelous photography. It looks like a still from the film and I can't give it higher praise than that. Well done Many thanks! 4 hours ago, Bertie McBoatface said: Did you add the stars on the background physically (salt grains?) or are they Photoshopped in? Nothing photoshopped. The "stars" are reflections from the black backdrop. The material is some kind of synthetic blend that catches tiny pinpoints of light depending on the viewing angle. Looks best in low, indirect light. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bertie McBoatface Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 1 minute ago, Jeddahbill said: Many thanks! Nothing photoshopped. The "stars" are reflections from the black backdrop. The material is some kind of synthetic blend that catches tiny pinpoints of light depending on the viewing angle. Looks best in low, indirect light. Bill Serendipity then. 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bianfuxia Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 This is fantastic. Viewing on my phone at least, it looks as real as if I was literally watching that scene from the movie! Sounds like it was a difficult kit too, so I think you've done an incredible job. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddahbill Posted November 21, 2022 Author Share Posted November 21, 2022 Thanks very much for the kind words! Certainly not an easy build, it was a struggle at times. Perhaps one of the major styrene manufacturers will come out with a larger scale kit, this one is just 8.5 inches in diameter. Bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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