Scratchbuilt 1/32 Model with Stand of Revell's 1:72 "Space Shuttle" Kit

By Gene Nollmann

The Subject

Before guns are fired and missiles launched, the author is fully aware that LargeScalePlanes.com does not condone science fiction modeling subjects, but in this case the "science fiction" is just the display stand for the 1:32 scale model of the 1/72 Revell "Space Shuttle" (©1979 - the one that had all the tile work in raised lines), a bona fide man-piloted aircraft. Granted, the display stand may have gotten carried away to the point of overpowering the display subject, but a convincing scale co-relative was necessary to protect the main subject model (didn´t want to get it confused with any dust or lint during a post-modeling clean-up operation or worse, like the 1/32 SPAD of Roden´s 1/72 SPAD last summer was abducted by a mosquito - it was cute, but not responsive or affectionate, the SPAD that is).

The Reference

The display stand represents the "Spaceship" built by three adolescents in the Joe Dante film "Explorers", a Paramount release in 1985. For me it is a contemporary (at that time) Huckleberry Finn adventure on a homebuilt river raft. The three boys in the film, Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, and Jason Presson, are the stars of this adventure. In storyline, each boy comes from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. Independently, they form paired friendships; in the course of the film, happenstance molds the three into the core of an adolescent "Apollo" crew complete with a mission in space, each bringing their special individual talents.

One hitch, they need an appropriate "space" vehicle. One of the trio, having considerable "street savvy" knows a junk yard where an old carnival "tilt-a-whirl" could be obtained and convinces the others it would make a great basis for their space vehicle. It is rolled under cover of night into a secluded ravine where they proceed to accrete various objects to close-up the vehicle. They all admire the rebellious Robert Mitchum and his jalopy loaded with "white lightning" in the movie "Thunder Road" and christen their creation the "Thunder Road". With their "space ship" built, the rest of the movie is pure fun, fantasy and adventure with a curious ending.

Scale Issues

The actual "Rockwell Space Shuttle" measures 1452" and in 1:72 should be 20.17" (Revell seems to have that right) and 1/32 of that would be 0.630". The "Thunder Road" hood ornament was constructed to measure .875" - close enough to be 1:32 (okay, it is a quarter inch too long, so something else got out of control besides the display stand!). Measure twice, cut once - or at least measure something before you paint! (Another lesson learned).

Construction

The "Thunder Road" hood ornament was scratched from Evergreen sprue. First the wing planform was fabricated followed by a square piece of sprue carved to the shape of the "Shuttle" nose. Vertical tail was formed from a wide piece of sprue. After assembly and shaping, all was painted Tamiya gloss white; along with the rest of the display stand it was given an airbrush misting of "dust" age (a generic mix of browns and grays in the thinner waste bottle). The "Thunder Road" "Shuttle" was attached as an automobile hood ornament to a trash can lid fabricated from aluminum. That completes the build description.

(A word might be in order regarding the display stand; it also was scratchbuilt with reference to the movie and some information on the Internet.)

(Typically a display stand might receive less than 1% of a construction review if anything at all - clearly I´ve overrun an acceptable norm.)

Conclusion

This was an enjoyable build, although a bit unorthodox. Before construction, space was cleared on my display shelf for the "Shuttle", but when all aspects were finished, the author realized that space for the "Thunder Road" display stand was not accounted for. Result, a whole new shelf had to be fabricated - or was that my subliminal intention after all? What to do with a half filled shelf ...

PS. Have a Great Large Scale April first!