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Author Topic:   Mystery Apollo lunar module model
David Carey
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Posts: 782
From:
Registered: Mar 2009

posted 10-30-2019 05:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for David Carey   Click Here to Email David Carey     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Looking for any assistance on identifying year, maker, etc. for this metal (silver/silver-plated?) Apollo lunar module model with a Bakelite base. About 6-3/4" tall from bottom to top of dish.

Hasn't been cleaned up from as-discovered condition and needs a little TLC but I've never seen and couldn't find anything like it. Hoping you model experts can help fill in the details.

From a career NASA Public Affairs Officer (M/G/A+Shuttle) estate. Thank you.

Rick Mulheirn
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Posts: 4167
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 10-31-2019 04:08 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Rick Mulheirn   Click Here to Email Rick Mulheirn     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
No clue whatsoever as to who made it. Looks like a "Gift Shop" decortors piece to me. Interesting none the less.

crash
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Posts: 318
From: West Sussex, England
Registered: Jan 2011

posted 10-31-2019 06:09 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for crash   Click Here to Email crash     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Looking at in close-up, the engravings and the rough build make me think it comes from India or elsewhere in Asia.

I'm intrigued as to what the bent rod does and the fact the ascent section seems to detach or has shifted somehow. What's inside?

PeterO
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Posts: 399
From: North Carolina
Registered: Mar 2002

posted 10-31-2019 08:27 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for PeterO   Click Here to Email PeterO     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by crash:
I'm intrigued as to what the bent rod does...
The bent rod (sticking out of the surface) could be the frame for the solar wind experiment.

crash
Member

Posts: 318
From: West Sussex, England
Registered: Jan 2011

posted 10-31-2019 09:38 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for crash   Click Here to Email crash     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Peter, that might be giving it a better detail rating than it should get. It looks like the rod moves in that hole and you can also see another hole at the side.

hidaleeho
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Posts: 57
From: Denver, Colorado, USA
Registered: Dec 2011

posted 10-31-2019 10:12 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for hidaleeho   Click Here to Email hidaleeho     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I think the wire sticking up is a nail. Looks like there are several that attach the surface to the base.

bwhite1976
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Posts: 281
From: Belleville, IL
Registered: Jun 2011

posted 10-31-2019 11:16 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for bwhite1976   Click Here to Email bwhite1976     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Based on that second picture I might offer that the base may be that of a mantel clock or one of those clocks with a glass bubble on top. There are several screw holes on the top of the base that that have been filled but appear to be visible. Also, is there access to the inside of the base?

It reminds me of a piece of folk art.

Ross Sackett
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Posts: 18
From: Santa Fe, NM
Registered: Aug 2015

posted 10-31-2019 01:30 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Ross Sackett   Click Here to Email Ross Sackett     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Google image search says it is a vintage manual Singer sewing machine.

Solarplexus
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Posts: 107
From: Norway
Registered: Jan 2014

posted 10-31-2019 04:51 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Solarplexus     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Must have been made by a bored Emmet Brown in 1885.

David Carey
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Posts: 782
From:
Registered: Mar 2009

posted 10-31-2019 05:23 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for David Carey   Click Here to Email David Carey     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Thanks all for opinions.

I tend to agree all roads point to a tourist item from Asia.

Somehow India feels more right than points east. Jibes with the PAO's NASA travels throughout Asia including India and Bangladesh on the Apollo 11 Giant Leap tour.

An interesting mix of careful handiwork and elements that are, well, less so.

Buel
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Posts: 649
From: UK
Registered: Mar 2012

posted 10-31-2019 06:02 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Buel   Click Here to Email Buel     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Interested as to which PAO?

David Carey
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Posts: 782
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Registered: Mar 2009

posted 10-31-2019 07:00 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for David Carey   Click Here to Email David Carey     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
William Der Bing.

Involved in much more over the years (with NASA from 1961 to 1986) but the Apollo 11 tour would have certainly put him in both the Near and Far East when such a souvenir might have been quite popular.

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