Revell 1/144 Mir by Wally

[WallyInStittsville]

Good day gents,

I had just checked back in to ISM after months (years?) of inactivity, and it was great to see a non-fiction space GB. Coincidentally, this old Revell 1/144 Mir kit came up on the local buy/sell board so the timing was perfect.

I am just starting to research more about the Mir station, so no long history lesson in this post. Rather than cut/paste from the well-known sources I will just link them here:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mir
• https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4225/mir/mir.htm
• https://www.scalemates.com/kits/104103- ... tation-mir

The kit is extremely simple with just 33 parts in total over two sprues. Although there is a PE upgrade kit, I am going to keep things simple and build pretty much OOB. I have a bad habit of over-complicating things and overshooting my skill level, which typically leads to frustration and half-completed projects gathering dust! But hopefully this time by simplifying and having a fixed GB timeline, I can get this one done fairly quickly.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Awesome, another space build...and a Canadian to boot
Looking forward to seeing this progress
Welcome to the madhouse

[Stokesy44]

Oh the might of the maple leaf

Great subject for the SIG, could be epic

[Tomcat64]

Another fascinating subject and yet another kit I didn't know existed.

Looking forward to seeing this come together

[DBMiller]

Very nice! I'm curious to see how big this builds up. Good luck!

[DrSprue]

Oh great one to see. I got the 1/200th Mir by Revell/Monogram. Not sure but they seem to be the exact same molds except for the scale. I see different by only one year. Oh Ill be watching as well, good luck too!

[WallyInStittsville]

Whenever possible, I like to have a specific historical context for my models. After a bit of research, I’ve decided that I will display Mir as the station existed in November 1995 immediately following completion of the STS-74 mission.

Now for the obligatory Canadian content! STS-74 was the first space mission for celebrated Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. Using the Remote Manipulator System (Canadarm), Hadfield attached the Mir Docking Module to orbiter’s docking port. The next day, Atlantis docked to the Kristall segment of Mir. Following the mission, this docking module was left attached to the Kristall module as an extension of the docking port. On the one previous shuttle visit, the Kristall module needed to be relocated to the axial docking port on Mir (where the Soyuz would normally be docked) to maintain safe clearance from solar panels. So the permanent docking port greatly simplified future Atlantis supply missions

http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/missions/sts-074.asp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-74

I also notice that Revell has a companion 1/144 Atlantis orbiter kit of the same vintage. Although it’s unlikely I’ll have time to include this in the GB, it sounds like it may be a plan to track down this kit and couple it to Mir as it would have appeared on STS-74.

Here is a good reference schematic showing the completed station for identification of the individual modules.



Mir was still under construction in 1995 so my version will require a couple of modifications to the kit.

First, the Piroda Earth-sensing module was not installed until April 1996 so it will be excluded from the model. There is a bar in the kit to support the Kristall and Priroda modules and secure them to the Core. I will still use the support bar connected to the Kristall module, but cut off and patch the other end where Priroda would have been attached.





My overall plan of attack is to finish the solar panels and modules (Progress, Soyuz) independently. Final step will be to prep the Core module as much as possible before final assembly, so hopefully I will just have to touch up the main seam afterwards...any other advice is more than welcome!

[WallyInStittsville]

Many of the solar panels have ejector pin marks that I will try to sand out as best I can without ruining the panel lines...

[WallyInStittsville]

This kit was also released as a Snap-Tite, so the parts have these huge pins and sockets for...well...snapping tite, I guess. They are just a nuisance when trying to dry fit the two halves of each module, so I clipped off all of these large pins (left the small locator pins along the edges, of course)

[WallyInStittsville]

A bit of shaving, scraping and sanding required to get the Soyuz and Progress modules assembled to the point that I can work on the seams and fill that divot in the side of the Soyuz. I am loving my Ultimate Thinny Sticks -- first time trying them and so far I'm impressed!

[DrSprue]

Looking cool so far, and very interesting notes about the station too. It would be cool if you have the time to add in a STS-74 Shuttle-to-Mir ship nearby and show Chris Hadfield connecting the arm to Mir. (please dont listen to me, I just get so exited about these builds). BTW: How long is the bottom of the base? Im just trying to see the scales with your kit and mine. Thanks so much.

[gaz45]

Looking good there mate