REVELL'S 1/96 APOLLO SPACECRAFT AND OTHER MODELS WE BUILT A LONG TIME AGO

By Bill Engar

​2019 brought us the 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing.  Those of us who remember it also probably recall Revell's 1/96-scale Apollo spacecraft kit.  
 
If you are too young to remember the taste of Pillsbury's Space Food Sticks, you might have more interest in the recent Apollo kits released by Dragon Models.  If you miss those Tootsie Roll-like lunchbox favorites that were the ancestors of all energy bars sold today, then you may have built (or wanted) Revell's 1/96 Apollo in one of its forms.

The Revell kit was released in 1967.  Most builders will remember that it represents the early Block I configuration of the Apollo Command/Service Module (CSM).  The Apollo capsule's basic design was locked in place prior to NASA's selection of Lunar Orbit Rendezvous (LOR) as the best way to accomplish the Moon Landing before 1970.  Direct Descent mode would have negated the need for a docking port, which had to be added for LOR when a separate lunar lander was designated for Apollo.  Operations with the Lunar Module would require the Block II CSM configuration.

Dem Brudders really enjoyed Revell's space kits.  We were enthralled by the NASA missions, and Dick bought most of Revell's NASA subjects as they were released.

Brudder Dick built this model as a young teenager in 1967.  He painted it to match the box art!  It was molded in white plastic, so there wasn't a whole lot of painting needed.

After the tragic AS-204 (Apollo 1) fire in early 1967, NASA decided that the Block I spacecraft would never fly with a crew, and the Apollo CSM was redesigned.  Revell had been working on its 1/96 kit during this period using Block I information and its release occurred before the frenzied redesign of what became the Block II spacecraft.

Box art for the initial Revell Apollo Spacecraft kit (Smithsonian collection photo)

During manufacturing, the CM surface was covered with a bluish-green plastic which provided protection during assembly.  The SM radiators were also protected by aluminum covers not used during missions.  RCS quad nozzles and many other items were covered with red "Remove before Flight" materials to provide protection and cleanliness.

Perhaps Revell saw this red cover somewhere along the way when choosing colors for their 1/96 Apollo Spacecraft kit.  While this is a Block II CSM, this red cover was possibly in use during assembly of Block I units.  The cover would protect the SPS nozzle from damage in the factory, and was certainly not used during flight. 

As an aside note, the Apollo 7 Command Module used during the first Apollo manned/crewed flight, did not have docking port hardware, so it was a sort-of Block I/Block II hybrid.  There was a forward hatch, but no capability to connect to a Lunar Module (LM).  Apollo 8 had the docking ring although a capture probe was not included for the mission.  All subsequent Apollo missions had all docking hardware and it was used with the LM in the Apollo 9-17 missions and also for Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz.

The most noticeable differences on the Revell Apollo model are generally confined to the service module.  The radiators were completely redesigned for Block II.  At the forward end of the SM, the radiators almost resemble a white checkerboard pattern against the dull aluminum color of the SM exterior.  These, along with two larger radiators at the base, identify the Block II SM.

Dick's 1/96 Apollo CM from his 2019 build.  It's from a Heller kit, but the same modifications are needed to make a Block II version.  The Block I umbilical has been removed.  He's airbrushed an Alclad chrome finish over glossy black.  Do you think Dick's modeling skills have improved in 50 years?  If there's a downside, Bill is still impatiently waiting for him to finish the model.  He built his models a lot more quickly in 1967.

At the right, notice a new umbilical housing that Dick made from a piece of styrene sheet.  On the "real" Apollo spacecraft, it is attached to the Service Module as depicted and is quite blocky compared to the older version.  He's changed the radiators to Block II-style (they still have their masking tape).  He added a scimitar antenna and has painted the CSM body with a dull aluminum finish.

Dick made the decal himself.  He used Testors white decal paper and printed it with his own inkjet printer.  After, he sprayed on some Microscale/Superscale decal fixing solution so the image wouldn't run when the decal was dipped in water.  The stand is from a 1980's vintage Monogram snap-kit.

The Block I CSM had a relatively sleek umbilical housing that transferred wiring and hoses around the heat shield between Command and Service modules.  Block I ships (including the Revell kit) have this umbilical conduit near the crew hatch. 

Dick completed his Apollo 11 CSM just in time for the 2019 IPMS/USA National Convention in Chattanooga, TN.  Dick built his model as a tribute to astronaut Michael Collins, who waited alone in the CM while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.  Collins became the world's most isolated man during this time with the closest humans thousands of miles distant.

For Block II, a much larger umbilical housing was moved to the other side, opposite the hatch.  This larger housing and altered position provided more room with better protection for electricity, fluidic, and pneumatic conduits.  Monogram's classic 1/32 CSM kit has this detail right.

Apollo Block I spacecraft used in unmanned flights had a white finish.  Note the early umbilical fairing, just visible at the lower left.  At the right is a scimitar antenna.

Apollo 11 orbiting the Moon.  The CM has a chrome-like finish thanks to its reflective mylar laminate.  The Service Module (SM) has a dull-aluminum finish.  Note the bulky umbilical opposite the hatch at the top of the photo.

Block I CSM's had scimitar antennae on the command module.  These are depicted on the Revell kit.  Moving them to the Service Module is probably the easiest correction that can be made by the modeler towards converting Revell's Block I to a Block II.
 
The toroidal tank-like affair at the nozzle-end of the SM is not accurate for either Block.  The 1975 release of the kit for Apollo Soyuz included a somewhat more accurate Block II version of this part.  More on the Soyuz release later.

One irritating bugaboo of the Revell kit is that the sort-of internal crew compartment has no openings for the square windows in the exterior heat shield part.  It's an easy matter to cut this piece down a bit so it still holds the instrument panel, but allows viewing of the CM interior.  
 
Speaking of the interior, there's really not a whole lot there except the instrument panel, some sort-of crew couches and one seated astronaut.  Another crewman is standing in a static pose to be inserted piloting the Lunar Module, and a third has a PLSS backpack as if on a lunar surface EVA.  It would have been nice to have the option for three seated astronauts for the Command Module.  It's good motivation to try out some mold making and resin casting skills if you want to duplicate the seated astronaut figure.  The suits on the standing astronauts aren't all that accurate, but this could be corrected with some putty around those corrugated joints depicted in the suits if one wishes.
 
Box art for the first issue of the 1/96 Revell Apollo spacecraft shows a red SPS nozzle.  This error probably originated with photos of the SM in manufacturing, when a red protective cover was in place over the nozzle.

Updated box art accompanied kits released during and subsequent to the Moon Landing missions.  New colors.  Same Block 1 details (Smithsonian Collection Photo).

If the SPS nozzle seems a bit oversized compared to the rest of the CSM stack, it's because this engine was designed prior to the selection of LOR mode.  It was intended to lift the Command Module and the direct-Ascent version of the Service Module off the lunar surface and escape lunar gravity for earth-return.  With this capacity, it was more than adequate to maneuver the CSM/LM spacecraft into Lunar orbit and return the CSM back to Earth.

You could get Apollo models for just one thin dime--but you had to read the fine print.  Both the CSM and LM were available through such schemes.

Another interesting bit of trivia regarding the Apollo Service Module SPS engine is its evolution from the second stage of the Vanguard rocket.  Project Vanguard is mostly known for the embarrassing explosion on the pad during the USA’s first attempt to launch a satellite in late 1957.   The Soviet Union had already orbited two much larger satellites, Sputniks 1 and 2 when the USA’s response, Vanguard TV-3, rose four feet, and crashed back on the launch pad in a fiery inferno seen on live Television.  However, the Aerojet AJ10 engine was well-enough engineered as Vanguard’s second stage motor that it was subsequently retained in tweaked versions for upper stages in the Atlas and Delta rocket programs, and also the Space Shuttle OMS.  It is planned for use in the Orion spacecraft thanks to its track record of reliability.
 
The golds and silvers that adorned the Apollo command, service, and lunar modules were actually late revisions to moon hardware design.  In fact, press release drawings and photographs of Apollo mockup hardware from companies such as North American Aviation and Grumman depicted these moon ships as predominately white with black as late as 1967.

During the early 1960’s, conventional wisdom dictated that deep space hardware should be painted white to reflect the continuous, intense sunlight in that environment.  Near-Earth spacecraft such as the Mercury and Gemini capsules cycled through heat and cold with every 90-minute orbit, which created a different set of thermal conditions for those programs.

The Surveyor moon probes, however, were painted white to keep the insides from overheating.  It was assumed that this same engineering would be applied to Apollo.  The Apollo 4 mission, an unmanned test of the Saturn V booster, utilized a white test-version of the Lunar Module that stayed connected to the SIV-B third stage.

Excess weight became a serious problem during development of the Lunar Module.  In fact, it delayed the entire Apollo program enough that there was concern about meeting the 1969 deadline for the Moon Landing. 

The box art is here!  Circa July 20, 2019, the kit was only available via pre-order, at least in the USA!

The planned alloys treated with white high-temperature paint were determined to make the lander too heavy.  Lighter, less heat-resistant alloys were used instead, and layers of new materials, Mylar and Kapton Polyimide films covered these instead of paint.  The highly reflective material covered the Block II command modules as well as much of the Lunar Module.  Nothing but a bit of vacuum between the thin, metalized plastics and the inner LM shell was a much more effective insulator than any paint directly applied to the metal's surface.

The LM from the 1/48 Apollo Spacecraft Kit was released by itself--in living Black and White!

Apollo 11 LM.  A Rolo chewy chocolate/caramel candy roll (a Hershey product sold in the USA) comes with a sheet of gold foil that works beautifully to replicate the gold foil on a LM model.

A vintage Revell 1/48 LM model built by Dick.  Bill recalls that the LM from the Apollo Spacecraft set that Dem Brudders built circa 1970 was white and had a square base, but it was a long time ago and memories are sketchy!

Spacecraft in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey utilized the white and antiglare black paint schemes that were considered state-of-the-art space technology when the movie’s carefully researched design work was done in the mid 1960’s.  They probably owe their color treatment to the Surveyor program.  Since Apollo, however, most real space hardware uses at least some of the silver and gold Mylar material as protection from the sun’s harsh light.  These materials are widely used today in many aerospace and scientific applications.

Press models used to demonstrate Apollo operations to TV viewers were often depicted in white and antiglare black, as NASA assumed these would be the final colors for Apollo hardware.

Revell kit.  Heller plastic.  The model is definitely too big to be considered 1/100 scale (not a huge difference, but noticeable).  They are very similar, but not quite identical to Revell's 1/96 Apollo Spacecraft models.

By 1969, the Revell Apollo kit box art changed to reflect more mission-accurate colors even if kit details were unchanged from their early versions.

Revell's Apollo spacecraft model could be acquired for as little as a dime during the Apollo program--with strings attached, of course.  Many model kits had flyers inserted and magazine ads proclaimed that one could send a dime for a Revell Apollo model if the sender would agree to purchase a certain number of science program books.  Even with this enticement, Revell's 1/96 Apollo kit was not a blockbuster seller.  

However, the model had several other guises.  A spectacular 3-1/2 foot Saturn V/Apollo was released by Revell in 1969.  The 1/96 Apollo spacecraft was integrated into that kit with a new escape tower and rather stubby nose cap.  It was re-released in 1982 in Revell's History Makers series and has shown up a few times afterwards as a Revell-Germany kit during various Moon Landing anniversary years.

The Revell-Germany release of Heller's plastic for the CSM.  the box art definitely shows a Block-II configuration, but the plastic is Block I.

Heller models, built by Brudder Bill in the "Early Apollo" schemes.  Spacecraft in these colors mostly flew around network studio sets.  They were models, often used on-camera by "space correspondents" to show how Apollo maneuvers would be accomplished. 

In 2011, Revell of Germany released a 1/96 LM and CSM, each in separate boxes.  These were actually early 1970’s Heller kits, which were close copies of the Revell 1/96 versions.  Heller referred to them as 1/100 scale when they were in fact 1/96.  Revell referred to them as 1/100 on their box art as well, even though they measure out closer to 1/96.  Since I'm also a model rocketry geek, I noticed the difference when comparing the plastic models to my 1/100 Estes Saturn V.  The 1/100 spacecraft at the top of that model is definitely smaller than either the Revell or Heller models.

​Unfortunately, as popularity of the Apollo program waned in the early 1970's, Revell's kit left their catalog.  It would have been great to see a 1/96 Skylab based on the Revell CSM, but alas, this did not happen.

Original box from the Revell 1975 Apollo-Soyuz kit

However, in 1975, Revell retooled the CSM for the Apollo-Soyuz mission.  The LEM disappeared, but in its place was a new Soyuz spacecraft and the ASTP docking adapter.  The rear bulkhead of the CSM received an update with a more correct radiator feature.  A new base with the Apollo-Soyuz emblem retained the same arm to mount the spacecraft that was used with the original lunar base.  A new box included a nice depiction of the mission and poorly-translated Russian text along with the usual descriptions of kit features in English.

This kit was in hobby stores in time for the mission and I recall excitedly purchasing and building it around the 4th of July in 1975.  Overall, the details were a little more accurate relatively than the original Apollo kit, but both the Soyuz and docking adapter have their issues to correct if the builder wants a mission-accurate model.  I'd strongly recommend the use of Mike Mackowski’s Space-In-Miniature book series if one wishes to know the specific modifications that need to be made to Revell's details.

Apollo CSM with the ASTP docking adapter.  Apollo and Soyuz were engineered with different life support system atmospheres (Apollo: 100% oxygen at 5 psi, Soyuz: oxygen/nitrogen at 14.7 psi).  The adapter functioned as an airlock in addition to allowing two spacecraft with completely different docking systems to join up.

CSM from the 1975 release of the Revell ASTP kit built by Brudder Bill a long time ago!  Most of the Block I details are still there!

This kit became a rare collector's item until Revell re-released it as part of their Selected Subjects Program in the late 1990's.  The box for the 1990’s release is a bit bigger than the original even though the box art is the same.  It was easier for Revell to use a standard size 1990's era box for the re-release, which is bigger than the original sized box, which hadn't been used in many years.  This is an easy way for the modeler-in-the-know to tell the difference at a glance between the two versions.
 
Likewise, the original Apollo 1/96 kit has seen re-releases here and there, usually coinciding with various Moon Landing anniversaries.

​Revell did a couple interesting scale-ups of their space kits.  Their 1/48 Gemini spacecraft (which was always paired with a Mercury capsule), was doubled in size to 1/24, and the 1/96 Apollo kit got the same treatment in the form of a spectacular 1/48 scale kit.  Where the Gemini kit largely had its parts doubled in size without a significant amount of detail added, Revell went way beyond with the Apollo upsize.  All internal surfaces of the Command Module got a nice detail treatment.  Two removable cone sections show parachute details and cover the forward hatch for launch mode.  

The SM is full-on Block I, with a more accurate radiator on the engine side.  While the 1/32 Monogram CSM went with clear sections to display internal components, Revell used a swing-out door to show off internal details such as tanks and fuel cells.

It's a fun-build.  Not a contest build.  When I do another one, the conical CM surface will be as shiny as I can get it.

​An escape tower, complete with optional-position canard stabilizer vanes and a LEM adapter with hinged quadrants were new additions.
 
Revell's 1/48 LM had simplified details.  Monogram also released a 1/48 LM a few years later, in about 1970.  Their kit depicts the blast deflectors to protect the descent stage from the thruster quads.  More on Monogram’s LM later.
 
Unlike the 1/96 kit, the Revell 1/48 LM can be built with folding landing legs.  This allows the LM to be placed in the SIV-B adapter with the CSM on top of it, or the LM can be displayed on its moon base with landing legs deployed.

2013 release of the big 1/48 Apollo Spacecraft.  It's a big box!  Changes to the plastic included deletion of the square bases.  A "sky" base (complete with little clouds!) was intended to display the entire stack.  A "moon" base could display the LM by itself.

Revell 1/48 scale parts (kit under construction).  The moon base is different than that included with the original release.

Perhaps the key feature of this kit is that all flight modes of the Apollo Spacecraft including escape rocket jettison, LM extraction in Earth orbit, landing, Lunar orbit rendezvous, and recovery can be depicted.  As a kid in the 1960's, this was absolutely the coolest thing ever and this model was one of my favorite possessions.  It has seen periodic re-releases by Revell including the 1982 History Makers, 1994 by Revell of Germany, and the 2013 Buzz Aldrin Rocket Hero edition.

Let's take another detour to talk briefly about the 1/32 scale Monogram CSM kit.  Here's another 1970 kit from Monogram that more accurately portrays the Apollo Block II Command/Service Modules--with a major exception, that gold-colored Command Module!  My guess as to why they made this error is that they probably used a photo of the Command Module in earth orbit during Apollo 9.  Reflections of the Earth's brown deserts could have been interpreted as a gold color for the Command Module.  The gold-chrome on the model is spectacular, but so wrong!  The Block II CM's for all Moon-bound Apollo missions (including Apollo 7) had a chrome-silver appearance thanks to the highly reflective SILVER (metalized mylar) tape stuck to the outside.  Gold tape was NEVER applied to Command Module exteriors.

Is it gold, or is it silver?  Research for Monogram's 1/32 CSM kit probably took place prior to the actual Moon Landing and likely used this Apollo 9 photo. 

Were you a Young Astronaut in 1986?  Instead of a gold CM surface over Earth, we have a gold CM surface over the moon.  The image in this release is the same on the 1970 box top.  Look at the Apollo 11 photo earlier in the article.  Appearance of the CM in that photo is definitely more silver.

Subsequent releases of the big 1/32 scale CSM continued to use the 1970 box art painting and included the incorrect gold-covered command module.  Fortunately, this is a very simple correction for the builder.

The highly reflective "space blanket" tape protected the CM from harsh sunlight during the mission, and would have helped protect the upper part of the module during reentry to an extent.   Photos of post-recovery Apollo Command Modules show a gold-ish color of tape that has been scorched.  It's the same thing that happens when you make toast.  These post-recovery photos no doubt perpetuated the misconception that the tape covering the CM was gold before the flights.  And, of course, gold "foil" was used all over the LM.

Apollo 11 during recovery.  Compare this to the photo of the CM on the ship.  It illustrates how iffy it can be to use photographs to determine colors for a model kit.

Apollo 11 on the USS Hornet (CV-12).

Apollo 11 as a museum piece.  It appears that all tape has been removed.  Preserving history?

The Skylab missions were an interesting exception to block II Command Module color schemes, with more than one half of the CM bright silver and a lesser part over the hatch area half white.  Again, it was the need to protect the Command Module for a long-term Earth orbital environment instead of deep space.

Monogram's 1970 box art returns for the most recent release of the 1/48 LM with moon base.  I "borrowed" this image from a certain gargantuan online retailer that shall remain nameless here.  Dem Brudders are now shilling for them--keep reading.

For the 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing, Revell decided to dust off the Monogram version of its 1/48 Lunar Module.  The merger of Revell and Monogram in 1986 combined the tooling libraries, and gave Revell-Monogram a choice when re-releasing a subject that both companies had produced separately prior to the union.
 
The Monogram 1/48 LM kit was similar to the original Revell Lunar Module, but its initial release was just after the first Moon Landing.  It benefits from greater accuracy than the Revell version.  It’s very easy to tell the difference between the two kits.  The Monogram version has the “shadow base” with a shadow of the LEM engraved into the plastic.   The modeler can replicate photos showing the LM on the moon casting a stark shadow by painting the recessed portions black.

Modelers tend to love or hate this feature that seems to be the most distinguishing characteristic of the kit.  Also included is a TV camera and several experiments with two astronaut figures.   The combination makes possible a diorama of the first Moon Landing, although positions of the experiments on the base are much closer to the LEM than in reality, again a concession that divides modelers’ opinions of the base feature.  Finescale Modeler has had some good articles over the years on how to enhance this model kit with more accurate detailing for those modelers so inclined.

Monogram's 1/48 LM parts from the 1993 (25th Anniversary) issue.  It is assumed that the latest version will look like this.  The notch in the sprue on the left is intended to fit over the LM descent stage (very top right of photo) when the sprues are stacked.  Everything fits in the box better this way.  Very clever!

The famous (or infamous?) shadow Moon Base to the Monogram 1/24 LM kit.  This modeler wishes that Monogram would have made their LM kit in bigger 1/32 scale.  It would have matched their spectacular 1/32 CSM kit.  A 1/32 Command-Service Module docked with a 1/32 Lunar Module would have been a amazing model!

Monogram’s LM model has the aforementioned quad thruster shields on the descent stage.  They’re missing on the Revell version.  The landing gear doesn’t fold like it does on the Revell kit, but details are more like the real thing.
 
As of writing, Revell of Germany’s 1/48 LEM kit (Monogram version) has been released, but initial stocks quickly sold out at many online retailers prior to July 20, 2019 -- UPDATE:  I've seen this kit at Hobby Lobby (big USA craft store chain).  So you can buy it with one of their 40%-off coupons!

On the left is the gold self-adhesive material that came with the 1993 1/48 LM kit (Monogram plastic).  It won't replicate a crinkly finish very well, and the color is a bit pale.  On the right is a gold foil from a delicious Rolo chocolate-covered caramel candy roll.  To preserve a crinkly-foil appearance prior to putting it on your LM model, you could spread a thin layer of epoxy on the back...

On the back of the gold sticker are these patterns.  Again, it is unknown if this very nice item is included in the 50th Anniversary release.

Box art has been seen online for a 50th Anniversary re-release of the 1/96 Apollo Spacecraft kit, and some online retailers appear to be taking pre-orders, so hopefully, that one will show up soon.  Too bad a plentiful supply of these kits wasn’t available prior to the anniversary date.  I’d reckon they’d have sold more kits that way before modelers’ attention drifts to other things (did you see the Top Gun Maverick movie trailer yet?).
 
While waiting for the classic Revell 1/96 Apollo Spacecraft kit to show up, buy some Tang and mix up a drink.  If you watched the Moon Landing on TV, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.  Until then, Happy Modeling!

Let's enjoy a few more photos from missions other than Apollo 11 as we finish up!

Apollo 15 at the moon.  "J-Missions" included a Service Module with a scientific package.  Note that the SPS engine only has one "band" around the nozzle, whereas the Revell 1/96 and 1/48 model kits have two extras that shouldn't be there.  Get out your X-Acto knife.  Also note two shades of black even though the nozzle wasn't made by Ford.

This is Apollo 10, which was a "dress-rehearsal" for the Moon Landing.  The LM on that flight was purposefully short-fueled to prevent the crew from "accidentally" landing.

Apollos 9 and 10 are the "forgotten missions."  The Apollo 9 Lunar Module had a unique decor.  Someday we'll do a page on it--when I finish the model.

a Skylab CSM that has been in orbit a while.  Note how the harsh solar radiation has toasted the paint, particularly on the insignia, which started out as white paint, probably with limited or no high-temp/high UV tolerance.

JULY 2020 UPDATE:  

The Apollo Program missions continued into the early 1970's, so we can still commemorate a half-century since the missions occurred.   One year after the 50th Anniversary of the first Moon Landing, the model kits celebrating this event are readily available!

(SPONSOR LINKS)

Scroll down just a bit to see what else we've got going on here at DemBrudders.com!  You'll want to kick up your feet and stay awhile.