THE DESCENT STAGE, J SERIES

Although the general shape of the descent stage remains identical the J version had significant differences in comparison to the G and H versions. The main modfications came from the fact the LM transported on Quad 1 the Lunar Roving Vehicle that allowed atsronauts to travel up to 30 km on the lunar surface. For that purpose Quad 3 carried many equipments for the LRV as well as Quad 4 with its extended stay MESA. More subtle modifications were also needed like relocated aft batteries to correct the centre of gravity, relocated helium tanks and consequently helium vents or extended descent engine bell to increase the engine specific impulse and the weight to carry to the Moon.

This section will allow you to built any LM you want between Apollo 15 and Apollo 17. If you follow the various steps you will be able to order all individual parts as requested by the LM you choose. However in order to make things easier and also cheaper I combined many parts into one product which will allow you to save money mainly on handling fees. The combined parts are offered in Strong White and Flexible (in this case ordering the combined product or each part individualy is about the same in terms of price) and in Frosted Ultra Detail plastic (combining the parts for FUD makes a great difference since the handling fees is $5 per product, so basiccaly if you combine 9 different articles into one you save $40).

Descent Stage with  Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly (MESA) closed - Scale 1/32 - LM in flight or just after landing
	or
Descent Stage with  simple open MESA - Scale 1/32 - First steps on the Moon
LRV deployment scenario 1 - Scale 1/32 - LRV undeployed but MESA thermal blankets removed
LRV deployment scenario 2a - Scale 1/32 - Fully folded LRV deployed at 45°
LRV deployment scenario 2b - Scale 1/32 - Half folded LRV deployed at 45°
LRV deployment scenario 3 - Scale 1/32 - Half folded LRV deployed at 90°
LRV deployment scenario 4 - Scale 1/32 - Half folded LRV with back wheels on the ground
LRV deployment scenario 5 - Scale 1/32 - Unfolded LRV with back wheels on the ground
LRV deployment scenario 6 - Scale 1/32 - Unfolded LRV, half way to complete deployment
LRV deployment scenario 7 - Scale 1/32 - Fully deployed and released LRV For this scenario the LRV is proposed separately as it can be just deployed, just running or fully equipped, the White Strong and Flexible article does not contain the LRV batteries

The LRV has been just deployed as in scenario 7 above as the LRV is separate from the descent stage the LRV batteries that were provided for scenarii 1 to 6 need to be purchased here
The LRV is operational but not equiped yet Depending on the configuration you want you need to choose between parts for turning left, going straight ou turning right
	or or
The Apollo 15 LRV is fully operational and equiped Depending on the configuration you want you need to choose between parts for turning left, going straight ou turning right
	or  or
The Apollo 16 LRV is fully operational and equiped Depending on the configuration you want you need to choose between parts for turning left, going straight ou turning right
	or  or
The Apollo 17 LRV is fully operational and equiped Depending on the configuration you want you need to choose between parts for turning left, going straight ou turning right
	or  or  Scale 1/24                  Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24         or          Scale 1/24          or         Scale 1/24

Step 1 : The Descent Stage body - 1

Material :

• 1 mm / 0.04 in styrene sheet (for 1/32 and 1/24 scale)
• 0.38 mm / 0.015 in styrene sheet (for 1/24 scale)

  Scale 1/32

  • cruciform pattern in A4 format or Letter format (indications are in mm)
  • top and quadrant pattern in A4 format or Letter format (indications are in mm)

  Scale 1/24

  • cruciform pattern in A4 format or Letter format (indications are in mm)
  • top and quadrant pattern in A4 format or Letter format (indications are in mm)

Alternate Step 1 : The Descent Stage body - 1

Material :

Step 2 : The Descent Stage body - 2

Material :

Material :

• Yellow gold survival blanket
• Orange gold survival blanket
• Aluminium paper painted in mat black
• Aluminium paper painted in metallic red brick, here is an example for the color
• Adhesive aluminium paper
• Kapton tape, here is an example
• 2 mm double sided tape, here is an example
• 1 mm / 0.04 in styrene round rod for 1/32
• 1.5 mm / 0.06 in styrene round rod for 1/24
• Satin white and flat aluminium paint

  Scale 1/32

  • Coating pattern for the descent stage (Courtesy of Paul Fjeld)
  • Underside patterns in A4 format or Letter format (indications are in millimeters)

  Scale 1/24

  • Coating pattern for the descent stage (Courtesy of Paul Fjeld)
  • Underside patterns in A4 format or Letter format (indications are in millimeters)

  Important note : the coating pattern listed here was drawn by Paul Fjeld who was project manager on the restoration of LM-13, this comes from two web pages discussing the differencse between LMs (see http://home.earthlink.net/~pfjeld/lmdata/index.html), other good sources of information are :

  • Space in Miniature by Mike Makowski
  • David Weeks's drawings
  • The Apollo Image Gallery
  • My little space museum by Karl Dodenhoff, in particular its Project Apollo section.

Material :

• 0.75mm / 0.03 for 1/32 in, 1 mm / 0.04 in for 1/24 styrene round rod
• 1 mm / 0.04 in for 1/32, 1.5 mm / 0.06 in for 1/24 styrene round rod
• Grey, white and flat aluminium paint

Step 5a : Extended landing gears

Material :

• 1 yellow gold survival blanket
• Thin mat black paper
• Thick mat black paper
• Aluminium paper painted in metallic red brick, here is an example for the color
• Kapton tape, here is an example
• 2 mm double sided tape, here is an example
• Flat aluminium paint

  Scale 1/32

  • Landing gear Coating pattern

  Scale 1/24

  • Coating pattern

Step 5b : Folded landing gears

This is an alternative build if you want to show the LM either inside the SIVB stage or docked with the CSM enroute to the Moon.

• 1 yellow gold survival blanket
• Thin mat black paper
• Thick mat black paper
• Aluminium paper painted in metallic red brick, here is an example for the color
• Kapton tape, here is an example
• 2 mm double sided tape, here is an example
• Flat aluminium paint

  Scale 1/32

  • Landing gear Coating pattern

  Scale 1/24

  • Coating pattern

Step 6 : Quad 1

Material :

Step 7 : Quad 2

Material :

Step 8 : Quad 3

Material :

Quad 3 supported two pallets, the left one that was removed and placed onto the aft platform of the lunar rover and the right one contained instruments for the LRV. This last pallet was also removed and left on the lunar surface on Apollo 15 and 17 but was kept attached to Quad 3 on Apollo 16. Depending on the scenario you want to depict the shapeways parts will be different. The following table gives you an overview of the various scenarios.

Material :

Quad 4 supported the Extended Stay Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly (MESA). Three scenarios are proposed, the closed MESA, the open MESA with the thermal coating still in place (during the first step on the Moon) and the open MESA with the possibility to show details.
 

The following pictures show the construction of the extended stay MESA. Please note the difference between Apollo 15 & 16 and Apollo17. During Apollo 17 there was no TV transmission prior to fully deploying the Rover which means there was no support in the MESA for the TV camera to film the astronauts descending the ladder. For the same reason there was no tripod for the TV camera.

Actually the camera was used from the MESA only during Apollo 15. During Apollo 16 there was a malfunction of the S band high gain antenna drive preventing to transmit TV pictures. The astronauts used the omnidirectionnal S band antennas which were only good for voice and telemetry data.

Note that the assembly below proposes to have a complete MESA either for Apollo 15 & 16 or Apollo 17. Depending which part of the mission you want to depict some elements can be removed from the MESA e.g. Sample container that can be put on the table or LCRU and EVA pallets that found their ways onto the rover.

Step 10 : Egress platform and Plume deflectors

Material

Step 11 : The Lunar Rover

The J mission lunar modules carried on Quad 1 the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), a small electric car that allowed a giant leap in lunar exploration. From the few 100 meters explored around the lunar module during the Apollo 11, 12 and 14 missions the astronaut of the J missions drove more than 30 km on the surface of the Moon. The LRV is proposed in various configurations either during the deployment sequence or a fully roving vehicle before the assembly of the various elements such as the high gain antenna, the LRV pallet or the TV camera. The first table below shows the construction of the LRV for the various configurations while the next table shows the 10 possible scenarios that can be modeled.

LRV configuration click on the image for instructions	Shapeways parts
Fully folded LRV for Scenarii 1 & 2	Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24 Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24
Half deployed LRV for Scenarii 2, 3 & 4	Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24             Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24             Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24
Fully deployed LRV for Scenarii 5, 6 & 7	Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24             Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24             Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32                       Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24                       Scale 1/24
Operating LRV for Scenario 7	Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24   Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24           Scale 1/32         or         Scale 1/32                               Scale 1/32       or        Scale  1/32 Scale 1/24         or         Scale 1/24                               Scale 1/24       or        Scale  1/24           Scale 1/32          or           Scale 1/32           or          Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24          or           Scale 1/24           or          Scale 1/24           Scale 1/32          or           Scale 1/32           or          Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24          or           Scale 1/24           or          Scale 1/24
Fully operating LRV for Scenario 7	Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24   Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24           Scale 1/32         or         Scale 1/32                               Scale 1/32       or        Scale  1/32 Scale 1/24         or         Scale 1/24                               Scale 1/24       or        Scale  1/24           Scale 1/32          or           Scale 1/32           or          Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24          or           Scale 1/24           or          Scale 1/24           Scale 1/32          or           Scale 1/32           or          Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24          or           Scale 1/24           or          Scale 1/24   Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                Scale 1/32                               Scale 1/32          or          Scale 1/32          &          Scale  1/32 Scale 1/24                               Scale 1/24          or          Scale 1/24          &          Scale  1/24 Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32                    Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24                    Scale 1/24             Scale 1/32               or             Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24               or             Scale 1/24                         Scale 1/32                           Scale 1/32                           Scale 1/32                           Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24                           Scale 1/24                           Scale 1/24                           Scale 1/24                         Scale 1/32            or            Scale 1/32            or            Scale 1/32            or            Scale 1/32 Scale 1/24            or            Scale 1/24            or            Scale 1/24            or            Scale 1/24

Step 12 : Fixing the LRV onto the descent stage

Following construction of the lunar rover several scenarios are possible either with the LRV being deployed or the operating LRV. You will need first to build the LRV and then to finish assembling parts in Quad 1 as shown below.