posted 07-01-2014 09:36 AM               

By now you've probably seen those Metal Earth foldable models in toy stores and at checkout stands all over the place. They're this generation's flat-packed foam gliders, but as you can see from this incredibly intricate Apollo Lunar Lander model, they require far more patience and skill to assemble.

posted 07-09-2014 11:53 PM            

The kit requires above average skill with small, delicate photoetch/metal kits. All parts are attached and secured to each other using tiny tabs and slots in the parts, so in theory doing a straight build, no glue or soldering is needed.

It's in an odd scale, probably about 1/110 to 1/115. It's significantly smaller in scale than any of the various plastic kits. I haven't put mine together yet but judging from the parts and amount of detail, it will look exactly like the digital illustrations.

posted 07-23-2014 11:53 PM            

My goal was to build it quickly, more as an experiment and an evening's fun than anything else. For my build up, I foiled the Descent Stage and painted the patterns on the Ascent Stage flat black with a brush as well as the two antenna dishes flat white. Because of the way the Descent Stage body goes together (top, left and right side of the body, two pieces for the bottom) I didn't even need glue to secure the foil to the parts, just bent the excess over backsides of the parts and putting the parts together holds the foil in place.

Everything is held together by very tiny tabs and you really need to think through the assembly beforehand or you will get stuck trying to bend a few tabs in areas not even small tweezers will get to. The wordless instructions are good for identifying parts but you have to guess at times how certain parts form into a complex shape. The hardest part is rolling the little thrusters into cones – basically I used tiny medical forceps and tediously wrapped and formed each thruster around a pen tip.

I didn't do any part modifications aside from using thin rod for the main landing gear legs as the photoetch leg parts are flat pieces and way too short.

posted 08-14-2018 09:25 PM               

• Apollo Saturn V with Gantry
  
• Apollo CSM with LEM

posted 12-15-2018 09:00 AM               

Metal Earth model kits celebrate Apollo history and Starliner's future

A scale model company is celebrating the past and future of U.S. spacecraft with the latest additions to its popular Metal Earth line.

Fascinations, which produces 3D models that come packaged as flat sheets of steel parts, recently introduced two Metal Earth kits that commemorate the July 2019 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and a model of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner capsule that is slated to begin flying astronauts to and from the International Space Station around the same time next year.

posted 04-29-2020 11:47 AM               

• Discovery
  
• Atlantis

posted 11-27-2020 04:16 PM               

Three Sheet Model with a challenging difficulty level. Once assembled, dimensions are 7.75 L x 5.76 W x 4.53 H inches.

posted 05-14-2021 10:06 AM               

Three sheet model with 92 pieces. Once assembled, dimensions are 3.54 W x 4.13 L x 6.7 H inches (9 W x 10.49 L x 17.02 H cm).

Shuttle nameplates included: Atlantis, Discovery, Endeavour and Enterprise.

posted 05-14-2021 10:15 AM               

Four and a a half (4.5) sheet model with a challenging difficulty level. Once assembled, the rover's dimensions are 4.92 L x 3.54 W x 2.95 H inches (12.5 L x 8.99 W x 7.49 H cm). The helicopter is 1.02 L x 1.3 W x 0.79 H inches (2.59 L x 3.3 W x 2 H cm).

posted 05-18-2023 10:27 AM               

Two and three quarter (2.75) sheet model with a difficulty level of 4 out of 10. Once assembled, the telescope's dimensions are 4.13 inches long by 2.75 inches wide by 2.75 inches high (10.5 L x 7 W x 7 H cm).

posted 01-23-2024 10:03 AM               

Two and a half sheet model with a difficulty level of 7 out of 10. Once assembled, the astronaut's dimensions are 3 inches long by 3 inches wide by 5.3 inches high (7.7 L x 7.7 W x 13.5 H cm).

posted 09-11-2024 09:30 PM               

Three and a half sheet model with a difficulty level of 7 out of 10. Once assembled, the Space Launch System's dimensions are 3.3 inches long by 2.88 inches wide by 7.4 inches high (8.4 x 7.3 x 18.8 cm).