My first build in a while, this project came along because it's one I always longed to do but for one reason or another, never happened. Revell re-released it recently and Lisa surprised me with it... so let's get at it!
To some the details do not matter; and that's ok, but for me I wanted to make the Gemini as much like the vehicle used in Mission 9A as I could, primarily because the events of that mission always fascinated me.
The primary descrepencies with the Revell kit is the astronaut figures are way over scale, no ejection seats (probably so the over scale figures would fit), mis shaped/positioned service module thrusters, and no thermal blanket covering the back of the service module.
Gemini 9A also carried the first experimental self-contained rocket pack, the USAF Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU.... some refer to it as the MMU), which was attached to hard points in the center of the thermal blanket.
Pilot Gene Cernan was suppose to disconnect and strap into this device, then maneuver independent of the ship. He was unable to accomplish this due to the stress, fatigue, and overheating of trying to work in the weightless enviroment. His face shield fogged over which blinded him, and in the struggle, he ripped the outer layer of his space suit, which he later said was like "trying to move in a rusty suit of armor"!
Mission control kept encouraging him to try harder, but Commander Tom Stafford over rode NASA and ordered Cernan back into the cockpit. It was a genuine struggle for him to get back inside, then to close the hatch, but with Stafford's help, after an extended period of time, he was safe and the ship re-pressurized.
Had Stafford not stepped in, Cernan would likely have been stuck outside; Stafford later confessed that he would not have cut him loose and would have come back into the atmosphere with the hatch opened... which would have destroyed the vehicle.
Anyway, that's the background on why this build is Gemini 9A, so feel welcome to follow along the processes I used to accomplish it. All alterations were done using old school scratch building.
