Apollo-Soyuz ASTP - DRagon 1/72

From Apollo and Soyuz, to Gerry Anderson, Irwin Allen, Star Wars and Trek to Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica and those strange, doe-eyed Japanese school girls...to any model kits you can think of, that only exists in imagination.
Post Reply
User avatar
Eric Mc
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 4795
Joined: May 3rd, 2011, 8:27 am
Location: Farnborough, Hants

Apollo-Soyuz ASTP - DRagon 1/72

Post by Eric Mc »

Last year I built Dragon's nice little 1/72 Gemini spacecraft. Now that I have the time to get back to a model building project, I thought another Dragon space kit would be rewarding to tackle.

2015 was the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) - which took place in July 1975. It was a political mission as much as engineering, scientific or technological and had been dreamed up by President Richard Nixon as part of his "détente" programme with the Soviet Union. Originally, they had looked at the idea of a Soyuz docking with a Skylab space station or an Apollo docking with a Salyut. In the end, they went for a simpler option by having an Apollo and Soyuz dock with each other.

Ironically, by the time the mission flew, Nixon had resigned in disgrace and it was left to President Ford to garner any positive PR from the events.
It was the last ever mission using Apollo hardware. The next US manned spaceflight was the first Space Shuttle mission in April 1981.

A few months ago I purchased Dragon's 1/72 kit of the ASTP. Dragon has produced a whole raft of Apollo based kits. Almost all of them feature the same Command/Service Module - which is no surprise as this spacecraft was intrinsic to all of the manned Apollo flights.
As far as I am aware, it is the only mainstream injection moulded kit of the Block 2 Command/Service Module and it certainly looks accurate enough to me.

The Soyuz spacecraft that is included in the package is resin rather than polystyrene - which is an odd choice of material. However, as you can see from the pictures, it results in a very simple model. The one part of the Soyuz that I am not entirely happy with is the depiction of the solar panels. A blue coloured "sticker" is provided which is supposed to replicate the look of the solar cells but I think it is far too blue and garish and I plan to try an alternative less brash way of showing these panels. I haven't quite worked out how yet :)


Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
User avatar
iggie
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 23360
Joined: July 31st, 2013, 11:04 am
Location: North Somercotes, Lincolnshire
Contact:

Re: Apollo-Soyuz ASTP - DRagon 1/72

Post by iggie »

That looks a nice kit and an interesting part of space exploration history as well.
The solar panels look like a job for some fine silver decal lines over the appropriate blue on thin plastic card...?
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
User avatar
Eric Mc
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 4795
Joined: May 3rd, 2011, 8:27 am
Location: Farnborough, Hants

Re: Apollo-Soyuz ASTP - DRagon 1/72

Post by Eric Mc »

That's one solution. Looking at pictures of real Soyuz craft, the panels are more of a charcoal grey to me so I am pretty sure mine will be more grey-like than blue-like.
User avatar
SBO
The Bug Has Well And Truly Bitten
Posts: 285
Joined: October 9th, 2015, 3:04 pm

Re: Apollo-Soyuz ASTP - DRagon 1/72

Post by SBO »

When does this kit date from? It looks quite old, but the detail looks superb. Awaiting this one with interest!
My modelling Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mattscalemodels/
User avatar
Clashcityrocker
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 10781
Joined: May 1st, 2011, 12:31 am
Location: Adelaide. South Australia

Re: Apollo-Soyuz ASTP - DRagon 1/72

Post by Clashcityrocker »

Have I seen a build of this in Airfix Model World? Could be of some interest to you.

Nigel
User avatar
Eric Mc
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 4795
Joined: May 3rd, 2011, 8:27 am
Location: Farnborough, Hants

Re: Apollo-Soyuz ASTP - DRagon 1/72

Post by Eric Mc »

The kit dates from around 2011/12 I think so quite recent. It was indeed covered in Airfix Model World. I have that edition so will be using the article as a guide. The one aspect of the build in the Airfix magazine that I don't like is the shade of green used on the Soyuz. I think it looks a bit on the bright side. Pictures of the real Soyuz as used in the ASTP seems to show a much darker shade.

However, the article does point out a number of errors in the instructions and has lots of useful information on how the combined assembly needs to be strengthened to prevent the much heaver resin Soyuz and docking adaptor putting undue strain on the whole combination.

In Matt Irvine's review in AMW of the Dragon "Lunar Approach" kit he points out that the engine bell of the Service Module incorrectly shows two rings rather than one. Many kit manufacturers have got this wrong over the years. This has partially arisen because back in the 1960s NASA released drawings and diagrams showing two or sometimes even three rings.
Back then, this was a valid excuse for the kits being wrong. 40 years on from the end of the Apollo missions, Dragon has less of an excuse.
User avatar
Eric Mc
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 4795
Joined: May 3rd, 2011, 8:27 am
Location: Farnborough, Hants

Re: Apollo-Soyuz ASTP - DRagon 1/72

Post by Eric Mc »

Finished -

Image

Image

Image

Image

Even though it's a very modern kit (2012) it still had its issues - particularly with the instructions which not only were incomplete, in some areas showed a part that was not quite how it actually looked in the box. I relied very heavilly on an article in Airfix Model World magazine, especially regarding the assembly of the Soyuz.

Still, I'm quite proud of it and it's nice to have a representation of a unique moment in spaceflight history in my collection.
User avatar
MarkyM607
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 9153
Joined: January 5th, 2013, 1:16 pm
Location: Cambs

Re: Apollo-Soyuz ASTP - DRagon 1/72

Post by MarkyM607 »

Nice one, looks good. :grin:
Hoping to return to modelling sometime this year!! :lol:
Owner of Marky's Model Emporium since 2013!.
User avatar
iggie
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 23360
Joined: July 31st, 2013, 11:04 am
Location: North Somercotes, Lincolnshire
Contact:

Re: Apollo-Soyuz ASTP - DRagon 1/72

Post by iggie »

Exceptional work Eric, a very impressive build indeed
Best wishes

Jim
If you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing. If you use the airplane the next day, it's an outstanding landing
"Never put off till tomorrow, what you can do the day after tomorrow"
User avatar
Eric Mc
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 4795
Joined: May 3rd, 2011, 8:27 am
Location: Farnborough, Hants

Re: Apollo-Soyuz ASTP - DRagon 1/72

Post by Eric Mc »

Thank you all for your comments.
User avatar
gnomemeansgnome
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 5269
Joined: July 16th, 2013, 4:03 pm
Location: No Fun City

Re: Apollo-Soyuz ASTP - DRagon 1/72

Post by gnomemeansgnome »

Very cool.
Ego no habeo consilium.

ICBM = Insatiable Collector and Builder of Models
User avatar
IvanV22
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 1205
Joined: January 24th, 2012, 9:36 am
Location: Norway

Re: Apollo-Soyuz ASTP - DRagon 1/72

Post by IvanV22 »

Looked great!
Best from Ivan
User avatar
Eric Mc
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 4795
Joined: May 3rd, 2011, 8:27 am
Location: Farnborough, Hants

Re: Apollo-Soyuz ASTP - DRagon 1/72

Post by Eric Mc »

It really was the meeting of two very different technologies.
celt
Modelling Gent and Scholar
Posts: 3235
Joined: July 6th, 2014, 3:19 pm

Re: Apollo-Soyuz ASTP - DRagon 1/72

Post by celt »

Great model of an historic moment,well tidy.
Post Reply

Return to “Real Space, Sci-Fi and What-iffery”