Wednesday, September 18, 2024

The Tsiolkovsky Moon Rocket

 Years ago Fantastic Plastic started started a new genre in their store of the classic rockets from the movies, etc...  A number of kits from the line were produced and he manages to release new ones.

But this one I picked up from CultTVMan from Adam Johnson and AJAmodels. From their info sheet: In 1935, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky  was asked by Boris Shumyatsky to assist in writing and designing a moon rocket for a film called "Cosmic Voyage." The films depicts ut's (fromIMDB):  

... 1946, the Soviet space program is undergoing turmoil. Professor Sedikh, who is planning to lead the first manned exploration to the moon, is denounced by his rival Professor Karin as being too old and too mentally unstable for the mission. Professor Sedikh, aided by his assistant Marina and a youth named Andryusha, disregard Prof. Karin's authority and make a successful landing on the moon. Although a few problems occur at the moon, including the discovery of a damaged oxygen tank and Professor Sedikh's becoming trapped under a fallen boulder, the expedition is a success and the cosmonauts return to Moscow.  

\Tsiolkovsky died during the film's production, marking it as his last achievement in life, and his goal of the promise of manned space travel.

The kit is made up of 6 gray resin parts, plus a number (they are still wrapped up) clear acetate pices to make a display stand. Decals are also included.

Starting the build I noticed the first problem. The fuselage parts are well done, but they are mismatched. They are both the same length, but if you line up end to end the 4 circular windows don't match. So the thing to do here is make sure the windows are circles and worry about sanding both ends of the ship later.



With the fuselage fully super glued. It was now time to tackle the seam-line along the length of the craft. To keep things neat I laid down two rows of Tamiya tape and then applied Tamiya Putty to the seam. 


That's all the time I had for this session. Check back when the 3 fins get installed. Thanks for looking. 


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