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Author
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Topic: Large Gemini model: official use, or amateur?
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stsmithva
Member Posts: 2115
From: Fairfax, VA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 02-12-2025 02:56 PM
   
Here is a model of a Gemini spacecraft someone is offering for sale. It is 6 feet tall and about 4 feet wide, which would indicate a scale of 1:3. The interior has plastic astronauts and controls. It certainly could be something that an amateur put together, but has anyone ever heard of an official (NASA) 1:3 scale model made during the Gemini program? Perhaps just as a display, perhaps for some kind of planning/training? It seems pretty accurate for hobby work, especially the spacecraft shingles.  
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davidcwagner
Member Posts: 1092
From: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 02-12-2025 04:23 PM
Looks a lot like GT-3 crew, Grissom and Young.Great photo below. Thanks Rob. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 53989
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-12-2025 06:12 PM
It reminds me a bit of this model (also pictured with the "New Nine" and discussed here as a previous Photo of the Week), though there are clear differences: |
rgarner
Member Posts: 1486
From: London, United Kingdom
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 02-13-2025 04:31 AM
If this is hobby work, it is good work. I would be inclined to buy it (for the right price) and restore it. Restoration would be expensive, but with a decent amount of effort, it could look great by the end. |
Axman
Member Posts: 700
From: Derbyshire UK
Registered: Mar 2023
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posted 02-13-2025 05:49 AM
I believe a number of 1/3 Gemini models were built for use in testing the Rogallo Wing at Edwards AFB in 1964.Having said that, none of the photos of the wing testing I have seen exactly match the re-entry capsule model above. And anyway, a Rogallo Wing test model would not need an adaptor module (unless it was included to demonstrate stowage options)! |
rgarner
Member Posts: 1486
From: London, United Kingdom
Registered: Mar 2012
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posted 02-13-2025 06:27 AM
I'm inclined to believe that this was a display model of some sort, perhaps for a local museum or showroom. To build the capsule would require expertise in metalwork, but the astronauts would require a completely different set of skills that are not so readily available. This suggests it was built in a professional workshop, though I could be wrong. |
onesmallstep
Member Posts: 1502
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 02-13-2025 08:26 AM
Can't be one of the Rogallo wing TTVs (Tow Test Vehicles) used in evaluating an alternate recovery system; both models used were full size, weighted, and crewed. One TTV survives at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center and another in Scotland. |
space1
Member Posts: 955
From: Danville, Ohio
Registered: Dec 2002
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posted 02-13-2025 09:44 AM
I would say it is a museum display. It reminds me of similar displays that I have seen at a NASA visitor center in the past. |
mode1charlie
Member Posts: 1488
From: Honolulu, HI
Registered: Sep 2010
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posted 02-13-2025 02:48 PM
I have no information on this and so nothing of substance to add, but just to chime in that this is very cool and I hope someone out there takes this on as a project to restore it. |
MartinAir
Member Posts: 430
From:
Registered: Oct 2020
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posted 02-13-2025 03:33 PM
Appears identical to this model in the National Air and Space Museum's collection, donor unknown. |
GACspaceguy
Member Posts: 3152
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 02-13-2025 04:26 PM
quote:
Originally posted by mode1charlie:
I hope someone out there takes this on as a project to restore it.
We would love to do so. Who is selling it (unless someone is in line here to buy it)? |
Headshot
Member Posts: 1373
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 02-13-2025 07:02 PM
Perhaps the National Air and Space Museum should verify that they still have their version of this item in storage. |
micropooz
Member Posts: 1831
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 02-13-2025 08:04 PM
I remember as a kid back in '65 or '66 that there was a mail-in contest with the prize being a large sized Gemini mockup. This 10ish-year-old entered, thinking that my folks would just build a new room onto the house for it if I won. Needless to say, I didn't win. And after growing up, I realized that if I had won, my folks couldn't have built the room, but would likely have left the mockup in the backyard to rot just like this one...  |
stsmithva
Member Posts: 2115
From: Fairfax, VA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 02-13-2025 08:08 PM
quote:
Originally posted by GACspaceguy:
(unless someone is in line here to buy it)
I am in line to buy it. I have written with the seller, and have made arrangements for transportation. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 53989
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-13-2025 10:29 PM
quote:
Originally posted by micropooz:
...a mail-in contest with the prize being a large sized Gemini mockup.
Is this the contest you recall? Revell's 1967 1:1 Gemini sweepstakes.As noted in that topic, the capsule was donated to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) where it remains on display. |
GACspaceguy
Member Posts: 3152
From: Guyton, GA
Registered: Jan 2006
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posted 02-14-2025 04:42 AM
quote:
Originally posted by stsmithva:
I am in line to buy it.
So glad you are working to get it. These types of models should never get to this state of neglect with so many of us who would keep them in good shape. |
micropooz
Member Posts: 1831
From: Washington, DC, USA
Registered: Apr 2003
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posted 02-14-2025 06:17 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
Is this the contest you recall?
Robert, yes!!! That was the contest! I'm glad that it found a good home! I'd forgotten that it was a full-scale mockup - I just remembered "big". |
Headshot
Member Posts: 1373
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 02-14-2025 11:34 AM
Robert is correct, the re-entry module of that 1:1 Gemini is still on display at OMSI. We finally made it there last month. It is mostly geared for kids to sit in. The positioning and lack of horizontal hand rails precluded me from engaging my inner child and sitting in it myself. Well, that and two bad knees, 75 years, and body weight far beyond NASA specs. It was fun to see, though. Getting back to this 1:3 Gemini. If a cSer does purchase it, I would hope that we get regular reports about its restoration. It sounds like a fascinating project. |
onesmallstep
Member Posts: 1502
From: Staten Island, New York USA
Registered: Nov 2007
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posted 02-18-2025 09:59 AM
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum webpage for their Gemini model shows that it is in storage or on loan; doubt that they would allow it to remain out of their inventory or let it rot in the outdoors. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 1373
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 02-18-2025 12:11 PM
Rather than merely rely on a webpage, a physical search and visual confirmation would be far more reassuring. After all, if anyone knows how many of these 1:3 Gemini's were made, they have not yet come forward.Besides, if it were on loan, would they not know, and specify, to whom it was loaned? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 53989
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-18-2025 01:05 PM
According to the museum's staff, the Smithsonian's Gemini model is in storage. The one being offered for sale is a separate model. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 1373
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 02-18-2025 05:46 PM
Great! That's reassuring.So if they still have theirs, and one is sitting in someone's back yard, we know that there were at least two. |
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