Challenger Tribute
Boy was this kit a "journey". I believe the molds were originally Monogram and came out in the late 70's, maybe earlier? All the "horrors" of this kit Illustrated on YouTube are TRUE! Terrible fit. I did a lot of masking and painting of details that just aren't molded. Went to the web for tons of reference photos.
The original decals were shot so I used after market; a combination of RealSpace Models and WarBird. The rings on the SRBs are drawn with acrylic pens. The large orange exterior tank was a tough one to paint. I experimented with several types and brands of orange. from reference photos, the orange foam covering varies in color and I wanted to replicate as close as I could.
The cockpit windows would not glue in properly and required a lot of putty and sanding. As there is no cabin detail in this kit, I simply painted them blue, and let the decals do the rest of the work.
I built Challenger as she and the Space Shuttle program have a special place in my heart. We lost her January 28, 1986. I was a senior in college.
Something happened to your photos.
Yes. Now they are up this evening. Not sure what happened.
Despite being a terrible fitting kit, the result is really amazing, Joe @jboyla
Well done.
That is really beautiful, Joe! Love the look of that fuel tank.
Very nice work on a challenging project and a superb result.
Great job, Joe!
Nice work, I have one of these kits for a rainy day. Thanks for sharing.
Rod