1/350 Pegasus Models (von Braun) Moonlander

Here's my almost completed moonlander. This is a really excellent kit manufactured by Pegasus Models. The fit is really good and the molding ares superb. It's a little tricky to build and I ended up tossing out the kit's vertical support rods and replacing them with 0.060 styrene rod. LEDs are used to shine upwards and will also illuminate the inside of the crew compartment that will be located at the top of the tower. I used Mission Models paints throughout and was really pleased at how bright and intense they are. I'm not going to do much weathering or panel line washes as this thing was supposed to be assembled in orbit and because I want it to look like the original paintings of it by Chesley Bonestell. This beast was designed way before they had any idea of how to get to the moon. It stood 300 feet high and required a crew of 20+ individuals. It was supposed to use 18 descent engines and 12 steering engines to land. Ascent required removing most of the tanks (not exactly sure how they were going to do that) and then firing up those 30 engines. It's beast and probably would have required an expenditure in the hundreds of billions of dollars. The model is powered by one 9V battery and will rest on a moonscape ( that I have yet to build).

7 additional images. Click to enlarge.