HASEGAWA SPACE SHUTTLE AND HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - SEEING THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE

Mat Irvine sees stars

Getting a new lease of life out of an existing kit is hardly unusual, and this is precisely what Hasegawa has done with its 1:200 scale Space Shuttle Orbiter kit, by adding what was the Shuttle’s largest single payload, the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). What is odd, given the number of Orbiter kits and the importance of this particular space observatory, is that no-one has done this before.

A multi-coloured kit, split usefully into related groups. The runner of grey components is newly produced for this kit.

Space-saving scale

The use of 1:200 scale is based on the simple fact that Hasegawa uses this scale for its airliner kits, rather like Airfix choosing 1:144 scale for its rockets and airliners. However, the scale does mean a small and somewhat simplified kit, but it’s none the less worthy for that, and has the advantage (given the recent article about displaying models) that it takes up minimal shelf space!

The two primary configurations on their respective stands.

You have two options - build the HST as a free flyer, perched on the same type of base that Hasegawa supplies for its cartoon-style Egg Planes, with the Orbiter separate. Or you can attach the HST to the Orbiter’s cargo bay cradle, as was the case during servicing missions. 

Which mission?

The HST was involved with six Shuttle missions, the first for launch, STS-31 (Discovery) in 1990. Then there were five Service Missions, somewhat confusingly numbered 1, 2, 3A, 3B and 4. However, only the last two are relevant here, as Hasegawa’s HST solar panel configuration matches only STS-109 (Columbia) in March 2002, or STS-125 (Atlantis) in May 2009, the final Service Mission. 

The decal photo-sheet is split into convenient sections.

Challenge of the tiles

The way in which the heat-resistant tiles on the Orbiters can be represented has long challenged modellers to get them looking correct. To this end, several manufacturers have made sets of decals that do much of the hard work. Most of these are these are no longer available, but as they used computerized designs, they were rather ‘too precise’. 

Tiles applied, looking extremely used. The big hole is for the stand!

Photo solution

But there is another solution - space model expert Keith McNeill has cleverly taken actual Orbiter images, and hence the correct tile pattern, (or perhaps to be more precise, ‘one of’ the correct tile patterns), and converted them into decal form. Keith will make them to order - check his website below - and in most of the common Orbiter scales, so you just need to choose. A set in 1:200 scale was used here, and they look very effective - mainly because they are photos of the real thing!

This configuration makes the sheer size of the HST apparent.

Thanks to Hobby Link Japan for the review kit.

Visit the Hubble Space Telescope here.

For Shuttle tile decals, email Keith McNeill via his website here.

TAMIYA REISSUES APOLLO 1:70 SCALE APOLLO 11

A MAT IRVINE REVIEW
The 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 has bought reissues of many original Apollo-era kits, and the latest is the first-ever reissue by Japan’s best-known model name, Tamiya.

In 1969, Tamiya issued three kits of the Apollo spacecraft. These consisted of a CSM Command/Service Module (kit number A-101), the LM Lunar Module (A-102), and a third kit (A-103) that featured these two combined. The bonus with A-103 was that you also got the SLA Spacecraft/Lunar Module Adaptor, which was a conical section that contained the LM during launch.

Tamiya’s 2009 reissue is of kit A-103, and you get two versions of the SLA - one in white plastic, one in clear. There are also two separate bases, one for the CSM-SLA, the other for the LM on the Moon, with two astronauts that came with the original LM kit, A-102.

However, what you don’t get this time around is one of those gimmicks that the Japanese kit industry delighted in, especially in earlier years - the CSM in kit A-103 was motorized, and you could fly it round the room! A small electric motor was tucked inside the Service Module, and a two-bladed propeller stuck out the back of the engine bell. You hung the spacecraft from the ceiling on a nylon line, and watched it circle around! Many of the action parts are still included in the box, but there is no motor, switch assembly or propeller.

A copy of the original plans are supplied in Japanese, but - if your Japanese is not up to scratch - you get a new English supplement that takes you through the various construction stages. This also explains the business of the original motorization, and the fact that it’s no longer in the kit.

Also included this time around is a sheet of gold foil, and a clear sheet for the small windows in both the CM and LM. Some parts are also still chrome plated, which may seem odd, but these are mostly for the LM legs and struts, a number of which were covered in silver foil, so the chrome could be left ‘as is’ to simulate this.

The kit is to the slightly odd 1:70 scale, as it comes from a time when many Tamiya kits were in metric, not imperial, scales. But of course, it is very close to 1:72, the same scale as the Airfix LM and a great deal else besides. Perhaps odder though, is that Tamiya has made so few factual, real-space kits. Besides this, the only other space item has been the 1:100 scale Space Shuttle Orbiter.

The photos show, top to bottom:
* Original 1969 boxes for the separately-issued Apollo craft.
* The new box with 40th anniversary label.
* Contents of the new box - the red parts are a somewhat odd shade for the LM pads and Descent Stage engine bell, but are the same as they were back in 1969.

Thanks to The Hobby Company, which supplied the review kit and which distributes Tamiya in the UK.

Visit THC here.

The kit is available from retail stores and suppliers online, including eModels here.