Upcoming cardmodel of the SATURN V / Apollo 11 launching equipment

Thomas Pleiner

Thomas Pleiner

Member
Feb 7, 2004
37
0
16
Landshut (Bavaria) - Germany
www.mtp-studio.de
SATURN V / Apollo 11 launching equipment - Upcoming cardmodel 1/96

Dear fellow cardmodelers,

it seems to me that besides all other things you are interested in,
there is a strong interest in items related to US-space discovery activities.

Well, I would like to invite you to share the process of the design
of a 1/96 cardmodel of (let's say) "1969's Journey to the moon".

The upcoming masterpiece in card will contain:
• The Crawler
• The Launch Platform
• The Launchtower
• The Saturn V with highly detailed displayable interior
• Apollo 11 space vehicle plus LM with highly detailed displayable interior

The cardmodel design is accompanied by very close assistance of
the NASA.

You may get first impressions of "The Crawler" here:
http://www.mtp-studio.de/forum/thread.php?threadid=560

(To view a l l pictures you should register to Kartonmodell-Forum)

This cardmodel is a commercial project. It'll be available neither
as download nor for free.
The whole model (all components) will be printed on high-quality
cardboard of different thicknesses. In total, we talk of nearly 20,000
parts. But there's no need to worry about that - all parts are pre-cut
with a laser-beam at highest precision.

We will inform you in detail and in time when the first component
will be ready for shipment. Along with this will come information
about pricing and shipping details. Please understand that I'm not
able to answer related questions now.

Thank you for your attention and enjoy the various glances
at the design process of a cardmodel-milestone.

Best regards
Thomas Pleiner
 
C

cygielski

Member
Jan 31, 2004
42
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16
Chicago
Hmmm. You're creating a dream model set. However, I would ask you to reserve at least part of the print run without putting it through the laser cutter. I don't know about others, but cutting out the parts is part of the fun of building models for me.
 
Thomas Pleiner

Thomas Pleiner

Member
Feb 7, 2004
37
0
16
Landshut (Bavaria) - Germany
www.mtp-studio.de
cygielski said:
Hmmm. You're creating a dream model set. However, I would ask you to reserve at least part of the print run without putting it through the laser cutter. I don't know about others, but cutting out the parts is part of the fun of building models for me.
Click to expand...

Simon,

you are right, of course. But don't you think that cutting out f.e.
750 totally equal parts could be a bit boring? . . . just asking.

The idea was not to create a pure cardmodel but a model which
consists completely out of cardboard - what's a different approach.
One may say that we're creating a plasticmodel-kit made from
cardboard.
So this project also doesn't follow puristic cardmodel-"rules" - if there
are any . . .

Best regards and have nice week
Thomas
 
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Bengt F

Active Member
Nov 26, 2005
177
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36
Apollo Card Models Project - Laser-Cut

Hi Thomas!

I quite agree with Simon, the cutting of the pieces is very much part of the pleasure of building a model.
Furthermore, I always cut (as a general "rule") just slightly within all black contour lines so that they will not be visible on the finished model.

1/96th scale is pretty small, even for the Saturn V. You are not by any chance considering to produce it in 1/48th scale as well?
This would fit nicely with the very fine Mercury-Redstone and Little Joe models from CardInSpace. There are also other models in this scale, for example the beautiful and very detailed Lunar Module from U-DON´s Factory in Japan, Ton Noteboom´s and Jon Leslies models, and the upcoming Apollo models from Delta 7 Studios.
I sincerely hope that you might want to consider this - why not produce the kit in two scales, both 1/96 and 1/48 - then every modeller can choose their building scale. That would be very interesting, in my opinion.

Thanks Thomas, for sharing the ideas with this project with us. I am eagerly looking forward to it´s release. For example, there has not been any large model of the Saturn V launch platform and tower available. That would be a very welcome contribution. But of course, the whole 1969 Apollo 11 - Columbia/Eagle 'package' would also be very attractive, indeed.

Please keep us updated on the development at your convenience.

best regards,
Bengt Fredén, Stockholm (also a member of Kartonmodell-Forum and Kartonbau.de):wink:
 
S

SteveM

Member
Jan 17, 2004
44
0
16
Northboro, MA
cygielski said:
Hmmm. You're creating a dream model set. However, I would ask you to reserve at least part of the print run without putting it through the laser cutter. I don't know about others, but cutting out the parts is part of the fun of building models for me.
Click to expand...

Yes, cutting is part of the fun, but did you miss the part about "20 thousand pieces"? At that point I think I'd take a little laser assistance :)
 
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Bengt F

Active Member
Nov 26, 2005
177
0
36
20,000 Pieces

No SteveM,

I didn´t miss that part. However, I image that I would probably cut them out one by one.
Furtermore, I´d probably choose one of the models to start with, let´s say the Apollo Command and Service module, and then proceed later with another . . .

step by step,
Bengt:grin:
 
S

SteveM

Member
Jan 17, 2004
44
0
16
Northboro, MA
Bengt Fredén said:
No SteveM,

I didn´t miss that part. However, I image that I would probably cut them out one by one.
Furtermore, I´d probably choose one of the models to start with, let´s say the Apollo Command and Service module, and then proceed later with another . . .

step by step,
Bengt:grin:
Click to expand...

You're a better man than me then :D Actually, it is only the crawler that intimidates me, I think I too would like to cut the Saturn V and CSM on my own.
 
C

cygielski

Member
Jan 31, 2004
42
0
16
Chicago
Hey, I only asked Thomas to consider reserving PART of the print run from the laser cutter. The 20,000 parts are in fact for three models (I would guess much of that in the crawler drive system and launch pad tower), so that brings it down to a more manageable 6,000-7,000 per model. I know several people for whom that would be a pleasant challenge, not an insurmountable obstacle.
 
Thomas Pleiner

Thomas Pleiner

Member
Feb 7, 2004
37
0
16
Landshut (Bavaria) - Germany
www.mtp-studio.de
Bengt, Steve, et al.,

thank you all for your kind words.
To make tings a little more transparent for you:

The whole project is developed and designed by: http://www.microartwork.com

My personal envolvement is giving some support in
• Modeldesign concepts
• production facilities
• LaserCut technology
• Marketing in the cardmodel-market

Other modelmaker markets are handled by microartwork
itself.

The first structure of the project that'll be published
is the "crawler".

Referring alternative scales, you should contact microartwork
themselves. Either via their own webpage or via Kartonmodell-Forum.
Maybe he's also member of cardmodels.net - but I'm not certain.

Hopefully I was able to clear a few things up.

Best regards
Thomas Pleiner
 
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Bengt F

Active Member
Nov 26, 2005
177
0
36
Crawler

OK, Thomas,

I thought this was something new - I have seen that crawler project before.
Btw, isn´t there somebody over at Kartonbau.de who has constructed a huge LUT launch tower and pad - the one that tipped over? Perhaps it was the Space Shuttle tower. I´ll check it out again . . .

Yes, SteveM,

I agree that the crawler looks like a formidable challenge, parts-wise.

Re. scales:
As far as really detailed card models of spacecraft are concerned, 1/48 scale seems to have become something of a 'standard'. There are of course lots of fine 1/96 models around (I am building Erik te Groen´s excellent Mercury/Redstone, with a cut-out launch tower, at the moment) but for detailed interiors (Apollo Command Module, LEM, etc) 1/48 scale is the preferred alternative.
This means that the completed Saturn V will be 2 m and 40 cm high, which for me poses no problem - there´s is 30 cm of space left to the ceiling, which probably gives enough room at the bottom for the LUT and crawler . . .

Re. laser-cut parts:
What do laser-cut parts look like? Does the laser cutter trace the contour lines exactly? Are they attached to the sheets or are they separate?

best regards,
Bengt:roll:
 
Thomas Pleiner

Thomas Pleiner

Member
Feb 7, 2004
37
0
16
Landshut (Bavaria) - Germany
www.mtp-studio.de
Bengt Fredén said:
OK, Thomas,

I thought this was something new - I have seen that crawler project before.
Re. laser-cut parts:

What do laser-cut parts look like? Does the laser cutter trace the contour lines exactly? Are they attached to the sheets or are they separate?
Click to expand...

Hi Bengt,

it was agreed with microartwork that progresses with this project
will be presented on kartonmodell-forum first.
The homepage of microartwork wasn't updated for a long time - sorry.

Presently Microartwork is moving fast. What had caused some delays
in 2005 was the complete switch in software-applications used by Microartwork.
I'm quite certain that we will be able to launch the crawler late 2006.

About LaserCutting: The kit itself is traditionally offset-printed on card-
board. Then all parts are cutted out with the laser beam, leaving some
areas around the parts . . . see enclosed visualized sample . . .
Alle red lines are defining "cutting", all blue lines are defining "scoring" - the
latter is achieved by the engraving capabilities of the laser-device.

Best regards
Thomas
 

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  • LASER-CUT-SAMPLE.jpg
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Bengt F

Active Member
Nov 26, 2005
177
0
36
Hi Thomas,

This is an interesting technique, indeed!
However, I imagine that some parts might need some scalpel or scissors 'trimming' afterwards, to get rid of unwanted contour lines, as the laser cutter then leaves some space OUTSIDE of the parts?

Are the cut-out parts attached to the sheets by very thin 'threads' of paper? If that is the case, those will have to be 'trimmed' or cut off.

And, if the parts are already 'pre-scored', I suppose this rules out the possibility of back-side scoring (to prevent the paper surface from 'breaking')?

best regards,
Bengt :roll:
 
airbob

airbob

Member
Nov 21, 2005
143
0
16
Clarksville, Tennessee
www.clarksvegas.com
Thomas,
I agree as a card model "purist" that the cutting is an integrel part of the whole card-model assembly process...though the laser cutting is, indeed a "streamlining" part of the process...it just does not seem to yeild the same satisfaction with the completed project...if all these parts are "pre-cut"...is it possible to offer an "pre-cut" and an "uncut" version?
 
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Bengt F

Active Member
Nov 26, 2005
177
0
36
'Un-cut' Version of Apollo Model Set?

airbob,

That´s an idea. If this is not too much of a problem for Microartworks, I think that many 'purist' card modellers might want to choose such an option. And, just as a thought; if such a version would be slighly less expensive than the 'full', pre-cut, pre-scored version, I imagine that this might also be an attractive option to some modellers.

It means of course keeping track of TWO different versions of all the available models in the 'set', which can result in some kind of 'stock' or logistical problem. It all depends on how well Microartworks adheres to the needs of their presumed customers.

It´s not a bad idea at all - what do you think about it, Thomas?

Bengt :wink:
 
K

keith

Member
Jul 31, 2003
19
0
16
Maybe a personalised cd version? so you couldn't sell copies. Batch pdf creation using watermarks maybe.
Thing about selling kits is that parts can go missing, which isn't too much of a problem, but what if you make a mistake and totally mess a part up. On a model with that many parts your bound to mess alot of parts up over the duration of the build.

Very nice model.

Q. will the saturn V have all the internal tanks as well? and can you buy it seperately?
 
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