Revell's 'Astronaut on the Moon'

as Apollo 17's Gene Cernan

Gallery Article by Pete Malaguti on Oct 16 2012

 

 

This figure depicts a moment on the astronaut's 3rd EVA. They desended a slope to look at a boulder that was so huge it had been spotted from orbit. The slope was quite steep and both men felt they might tumble down the hill at any moment. An exchange between the two astronauts went “ ...You want me to block the wheels? You got the brake on, I hope? ---You betcha! ... I don’t know if I can lean uphill enough! ... I can’t! ... Holey smoley! ..... boy are we on a slope!”

I started with the old Revell 'Astronaut on the Moon' kit and cut it up, disassembled it, and re-assembled it to be a pretty accurate figure. It's 10" tall ( 12 3/4" with the base) and I used a variety of materials: First Aid tape ( 2 types), Thin aluminum foil, Thick aluminum foil (from a frozen lasagna pan), a grocery bag, copper wire, blister pak plastic, straight pins and of course, styrene. 

The PLSS (Portable Life Support System) backpack ( PLSS lower, OPS upper) was cut apart and the two brackets attaching the upper OPS to lower PLSS was built. I then detailed the backpack. The snaps attaching the many flaps, were made with the heads of straight pins.

The Chest pack (RCS), the Camera and hose connections were all built from scratch too.

The helmet (LEVA) was heavily modified and accurized too. The Hoses, and the hose connectors, were made from scratch and attached to accurate positions on the torso. The stowage bag harness ( around and under the PLSS ) was made with First Aid tape for the belt and thin copper wire for the clasps. 

 

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The decals were homemade and printed on my inkjet.

There are two main ways to differentiate Astronaut Cernan, on this mission, from his fellow astronaut. 1, the red stripes on his suit. 2 the sample bag attached to his backpack should be on the model's left hand side. The reason being, when the two men got into the Rover for a short drive, the bags have to be on the outboard sides so there's room for the seated astronauts. So the other astronaut will have his bag on his right hand side. 

For reference, I poured over images on the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal and Apollo Archives websites, as well as viewing hours of footage off of the Apollo 17 DVD from Spacecraft Films. They're all superb references! 

If you'd like to see the step-by-step build, wherein all my various added details are illustrated, the online build is right here on ARC, here's the link ... http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=236193

I've also included a Revell photo of the kit built OOB and my version, just as a quick 'before and after' comparison.

Thanx alot Steve for maintaining this terrific site so that we can show our efforts to our fellow modelers, world wide.

Pete Malaguti

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Photos and text © by Pete Malaguti