posted 11-08-2009 07:15 AM               

The excitement here is the product to recreate the lunar surface, it is amazing. It's by far the best product I have used, and it really captures the look and texture.

posted 12-04-2009 10:34 PM               

First a little background. About nine years ago I acquired Florian Noller's amazing Apollo 15 presentation of moon dust sampled from David Scott's temporary stowage bag. It really is an incredible to own actual moon dust collected from an Apollo mission. I was fortunate enough to have Dave Scott sign this item at last years Astronaut Autograph and Memorabilia Show.

Among the Apollo missions 15 is one of my favorites. In particular I am fascinated by the story of the finding of the "Genesis Rock." It is a thrilling story and an important achievement in deciphering the geologic history of the moon. I'm sure each of you has seen the HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon." and remember how exciting this event was portrayed - "We got what we came for".

I thought it would be great to have a display of a rover model to go with my moon dust. I was initially drawn to the Code 3 model since it is known for incredible details - see an example here. Unfortunately these models are out of production and have become quite expensive (~$300 or more) to get on the secondary market such as eBay. I settled on less expensive option - the MiniChamps model which I was able to get for about $80 from "The Motor Pool" - currently on sale for $69.99. There are better pictures available at Nick Proach's web site.

The problem with both the Code 3 and MiniChamps rovers is that are not as detailed as I would like and even have inaccuracies in how they are painted. This led me to decide on getting a custom model built by Stephen Nichols.

As shown in this file, the model is incredible! To show just how accurate it is I combined images of the actual rover (image AS15-88-11901HR.jpg from Apollo Archives along with images of the Code 3 and MiniChamps models - images from above-referenced web sites.

Stephen has an incredible eye for detail and accuracy and makes the model look "real" - right down to the dirty seats and floorboards. By comparison the two commercial models are way too clean and have many details missing or not painted due to the time required.

In addition to getting an incredible rover I have the bonus of James Irwin being included in an action pose - about to get equipment from the rover. This posing is similar to that designated as AS15-86-11603HR.jpg from the Apollo Archives - see attached composite.

And to top it all off I have a recreation of Dave Scott about to collect the "Genesis Rock." There are few images of this actual event - the best available being AS15-90-12228HR.jpg from the Apollo Archives. Stephen did an amazing job in posing David Scott, creating a Gnomon from scratch, and having a miniature "Genesis Rock" - which is actual Anorthosite covered by a lunar soil simulant.