Revell's Gemini Twins:  Three is Company

By Bill Engar

Starting in the 1950’s, Revell had a line of rocket and missile kits that had mixed results as far as being good sellers.  With the manned spaceflight program of the era ramping up post-Sputnik, they decided to try a couple manned spacecraft models.  Perhaps a jaundiced approach thanks to the spotty sales results from the previous missile kits resulted in reworks of existing kits instead of all-new plastic.  Revell’s 1/110 Redstone missile kit had a new Mercury spacecraft added in 1961 to coincide with the suborbital flights.  This would have been a simple tooling conversion since the diminutive Mercury capsule in 1/110 scale is little bigger than a chip of plastic.

Brudder Dick's 1960's vintage Revell space models collection.  Clockwise from bottom left:  1/110 "Redstone Mercury Project," 1/48 Gemini, 1/48 Mercury, and 1/96 Apollo.  Center is the 1/24 Gemini.  At bottom right is a recently-built Heller 1/96 Apollo.

Brudder Dick had one of these kits, one of his early models, and I remember seeing some of them on the shelves of other kids in the neighborhood.  The simple Mercury-Redstone kit probably sold well enough that Revell opted to execute the same strategy on a more complex kit, the Atlas Missile with launcher.

Revell's unique 1/110 "Redstone Mercury" model box art depicts a newspaper front page.

The 1/110 Mercury Spacecraft carried over to this 1/110 Mercury-Atlas.  Atlantis Models has re-released this kit.

In 1962, Revell’s “Everything is Go” Mercury-Atlas kit debuted and was a good companion to its Redstone relative.  No doubt this one was a good seller on the heels of John Glenn’s orbital flight in “Friendship 7” via the Atlas booster.  As far as Revell was concerned, these two kits sufficed for modelers during the Mercury program.

Revell's 1/48 Mercury-Gemini combo-kit, H-1834 with a suggested retail price of USD$1.00, came out in 1964.  The Gemini is at left, Mercury at right.  While the sprue breakdown suggests that the kits could have been sold separately, they have always shared a box through the various re-releases.  This is the Young Astronauts release of 1987; note that the landing gear parts were blanked off--they aren't present!

Revell decided to risk tooling an all-new model kit to satisfy interest in the budding Manned Space program.  In 1964, the Gemini and Mercury spacecraft were released as a 2-model set.  By this time, Revell was known for providing intricate detailing in its model kits and the two spacecraft certainly solidified this reputation.  Even though both models were fairly small, they each had detailed cockpit interiors with instrument panels.  The Gemini spacecraft included nice detail in the retrograde and equipment modules and the Mercury spacecraft had a well-appointed escape tower and retropack.

This is the original 1964 box art.  Re-releases in 1996 and 2012 utilized this artwork.

In 1987, not long after the Revell-Monogram merger, the Mercury-Gemini set showed up in a Monogram box with a Young Astronauts theme.

Brudder Dick didn’t buy multiples of any model kits that I recall, but I know he had at least two examples of the Mercury/Gemini kit.  He portrayed Gemini in all its flight phases including a complete example with equipment and retrograde modules in place, and a post-flight version with the landing gear skids deployed.  One of Project Gemini’s objectives was controlled descent to a runway, but problems reliably deploying the so-called Rogallo wing led to cancellation of this recovery mode when the time needed to perfect this system was deemed unacceptable.

The box side from the 1987 Young Astronauts release.

Compared to a 1/48-scale aircraft model of the period, cabin detailing of the Mercury spacecraft is exceptional.

Revell was at the top of its game with intricate detail in 1964.  Note the depiction of braided cabling at the base of the Mercury escape tower legs.

Compare the Mercury instrument panel (top left) to any given 1/48 aircraft model from 1964.  The hatch has bolt-and-washer fastener detail visible.  Tile detailing was nicely done on the recovery compartment halves, at right.

Decal sheet to the Young Astronauts release has markings for each of the six Mercury missions.  

This is the astronaut figure for the Mercury spacecraft.

Note that the figures to the 1/48 Gemini kit have a squatty appearance compared to the Mercury astronaut figure. 

Revell's 1/24 Gemini, released in 1965, was the most ambitious spacecraft model released at the time.  A significant item not depicted in this box art was the mylar "space blanket" covering that protected the equipment section from harsh solar radiation.  I believe the Gemini missions marked the first significant use of this material in spacecraft design.  The Gemini Program debuted many spaceflight innovations that are ubiquitous today.  This boxing is the 1993 SSP re-release.

This Revell kit was apparently popular enough that Revell decided to upsize the Gemini spacecraft by double as that program literally got off the ground.  A testament to the level of detail of the original kit is the fact that most of the parts were simply doubled in size without any enhancement.  The only exception was the ECS (Environmental Control Subsystem) Coolant Pump.  In the 1/48 kit, this part was a single “box;” in the new 1/24 version, this part became a two-part frame with detailed pump-plus-regulators module that went inside.

Revell's 1/24 Gemini kit of 1965.  Parts breakdown is very nearly identical to the 1/48 version with a few exceptions.

What about accuracy?  By the time Revell did the tooling on their Gemini kit, they had good relationships with many contractors who built aerospace hardware.  A McDonnel-Douglas Gemini mockup spacecraft was used as reference for the 1964 Revell 1/48 kit.  The model is very accurate to that mockup.  However, changes to actual flight hardware occurred and a few details such as window coves and thrusters are a little different between the Revell kit and flight hardware.  There are conversion kits available for the modeler who prefers building their Gemini to more closely reflect the Gemini’s actual flight configuration.  I’m usually good with an out-of-box build that shows the model as the original kit designers intended—for better or worse!

The 1/48 Gemini kit has separate doors for the landing gear.

The 1/24 Gemini kit, released after the smaller Gemini, has landing gear deleted.

The 1996 reissue of the 1/48 Gemini kit includes landing gear parts, shown here.  One strut went AWOL for its Alclad II aluminum overcoat.

Revell’s 1/24 model kit had doors that could be displayed open or closed and the nicely detailed astronaut figures could be removed from their seats.  Retrograde and equipment modules could be separated.  The model came with a nice stand.  Back in the day, the model was pretty fun to play with and I have to admit I found a few backyard creatures (a pair of very compliant mourning cloak butterflies come to mind) that would sit in the seats and put up with my pretending they were being launched on a NASA mission which ended with the butterflies doing a one-way EVA (they left the spacecraft themselves and did not return).

The Gemini ECS coolant pump is one piece in 1/48.

Three parts make up the Gemini ECS coolant rack in 1/24.  This is about the only area where Revell improved the detail of the 1/24 kit over the smaller 1/48 version.

In 1/24, the smiling astronaut figure came in two halves.

After the model’s initial release in 1965, it was not re-released for a while.  In 1982, it showed up as one of Revell’s History Makers in a fancy-looking box with a still-life photo composition and glossy paper for the instructions.  It was this release that I built after trying unsuccessfully for years to find a kit prior to this.  Perhaps the biggest bugaboo of the kit was the instructions’ insistence to paint the inner retrograde and equipment modules tan instead of dark green.

1/24 Gemini hatch doors.  These parts are a little 2D compared to the real thing but the interior padding detail is very cool.

The rivet-and-washer details on these doors is exquisite.  Revell really nailed Gemini's surface detailing, designed for the constant 90 minute heat-cool cycling of low earth orbit 

Later releases of the 1/48 Gemini need a plastic fill-in piece to repair the top edge of the window alcove.  Either a tooling error or mold damage occurred after the original release.

In addition to the high-grade paper for the instructions, the kit came with a nice period historical document about the Gemini spacecraft on the same bond.
 
In 1993 and again in the year 2000, the 1/24-scale model reappeared with the original vintage box art as a Revell SSP release.  In 2012, it was released as a Revell Germany Classics version with 5000 copies as a potentially collectible kit.  In 2014, the kit was again released as an SSP subject with enhanced decals.

1993's 1/24 re-release used the same instructions artwork as the 1982 version except it didn't use the glossy bond paper.

The equipment module has only the suggestion of OAMS roll-thrusters molded at four locations inside the adapter.  Two separate parts depict rear-facing thrusters the craft used to change orbit.

The OAMS lateral translation thruster bodies molded into the front of the retrograde module are very nicely done with twin fuel line detail indicating their hypergolic design.

The Gemini program seems to be forgotten in the history of NASA’s human spaceflight like a middle child.  It accomplished many important space tasks that could never be done with Project Mercury hardware such as rendezvous, docking, and EVA.  There is simply no way the Apollo program would have been successful without the invaluable experience gained during the Gemini flights.
 
While the Gemini spacecraft is generally seen as an evolution of the Mercury spacecraft, also built by McDonnell/McDonnell-Douglas, it was actually designed after the Apollo spacecraft and is considered a newer design.  It’s been variously compared to a fighter plane.  If Apollo was a Winnebago motor home designed for a far-flung wilderness journey, the Gemini was a Corvette, made for rocketing all around earth orbit (with the help of an optional "427 big block motor" in the form of an Agena booster, of course, to get to nearly 900 miles altitude).

The side of the box for the 1993 re-release had these scrap-views showing the detailed instrument panel and depicted how the different modules could be separated in the completed model.

The original one-man Mercury spacecraft was only designed to contain a single occupant in space for about a day with only the ability to change orientation.  This means you could only change what you were looking at; the spacecraft was stuck in the trajectory or orbit to which it was delivered by the Redstone or Atlas rocket.  The only substantial maneuvering capability was a set of one-shot rockets that allowed it to leave orbit and return to earth.

Revell's Gemini is very similar to this McDonnell mockup (at right in the photo).  The only difference is in the thickness of the hatch doors.  Note coloration as well; depicted here, Gemini is gray, not black.  Flight hardware was dark metallic-gray.

The Gemini spacecraft had far more capabilities than its Mercury counterpart.  Compared to what could be done during the Gemini missions, Mercury was little removed from going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.  It could go into space, and it could come back--and that was it!

This minimal configuration matched the booster rockets available at the time; an Atlas booster would barely orbit the “man in the can.”  The larger Titan rocket, still in development as project Mercury matured, was capable of orbiting a 2-man version of the Mercury capsule, referred to one time as Mercury II, and the added weight of multidirectional thrusters to provide maneuvering capability still fit within the lifting abilities of the Titan for a low earth orbit delivery.  An Agena upper stage, put into orbit by an Atlas rocket, doubled as a rendezvous/docking target.   Its rocket engine, substantially larger than any thrusters on the Gemini, could be used to push the docked Gemini to a much higher orbit than that delivered by the Titan booster.

WHAT COLOR WERE THE SPACESUITS?  The early versions of Revell's Gemini kits would have you paint your Gemini astronauts with silver suits.  Yet later instructions say to paint them white.  The early G3C suits seen  in many photos from training and simulations were silver with an aluminized top cover similar to that used for the Mercury program.  G3C, G4C, and G5C suits used for the actual flights had a white nylon top cover.  The photo at right shows John Young and Gus Grissom waiting for departure during Gemini 3 on March 23, 1965--the first Gemini mission to carry astronauts.

Gemini’s extensive thruster suite allowed it to change orbit which meant it could rendezvous with other spacecraft originally in different orbits.
 
With later versions of the docked Agena, Gemini could rocket to a much higher orbit; Gemini 11 was able to fly to over 850 miles above the earth (the Space Shuttle couldn’t come close to that with 350 miles being the highest it could fly, required by Hubble Space Telescope maintenance).

Even after a half-century, these photos still rank among the most spectacular ever taken in space--and this rendezvous almost didn't happen.  The original rendezvous target for Gemini 6, the unmanned Agena GATV-5002, failed to reach orbit.  Gemini 6, renamed Gemini 6A, was postponed nearly two months to coincide with Gemini 7.  While there was no docking, the two spacecraft rendezvoused and flew in close formation for over four hours.  Rendezvous was easy enough that plenty of maneuvering fuel was left over for Gemini 6A to fly around long-duration Gemini 7, positioning the spacecraft to obtain these photos.  Astronauts Schirra and Stafford in Gemini 6A were both Naval Academy graduates and put the "BEAT ARMY" sign in the window to remind Army West Point grad Frank Borman of the rivalry between the two academies.  Gemini 7 commander Borman was definitely in the minority as his Gemini 7 copilot, Jim Lovell, was also a Navy academy alum.  

Gemini 7 as seen from Gemini 6A.  As it turned out, Gemini's environmental control system was over-engineered.  Part of its role was maintaining temperature in the equipment section, which is covered in back by the mylar "space blanket".  To be sure the system cycled sufficiently, black tape was placed on the adapter to reduce slightly the reflective qualities of the white paint on the adapter.  Later missions with EVA's used black velcro for the stripes, which was almost useless according to astronauts who tested it as a mobility aid.  Grab-handles were much more useful.

Agena was originally designed as part of a cancelled military reconnaissance satellite but the unit proved itself as a versatile piece of space hardware, particularly as an upper rocket booster stage.   In the Gemini program, it acted as a rendezvous and docking target.  The XLR81-BA-13 engine was designed to be restarted in space up to fifteen times, another important mission component that needed to be tested for the upcoming Apollo program.  The Agena-D target vehicle version has a docking adapter, the bowl-like structure at right in the photo.  It was designed to grip the forward end of the Gemini spacecraft in a hard-dock.

Clear parts for the 1/24 Gemini kit.  At top are spacecraft windows; below are astronaut helmet faceplates.

Revell Gemini's fuel cells.  Accuracy Alert:  the first-ever use of fuel cells during manned spaceflight was Gemini 5.  Oxygen and hydrogen reacts in a fuel cell to create electrictity.

Gemini fuel cell.  Another convenient byproduct of this non-combustion reaction is water that can be used for drinking by the crew as well as for spacecraft cooling purposes.

The Gemini spacecraft was versatile as well.  It could have gone to the moon with some extra hardware.  More than one concept had it actually capable of landing on the moon.  “Blue Gemini” would have had the hardware part of an effective on-orbit manned space station intended to spy on the Soviet Union and a recently unearthed version with “Negation Missiles” that would be capable of seeking and destroying presumably malevolent satellites.

Skylab was the result of the "Apollo Applications Program."  However, the Gemini crew hatch became the EVA hatch on Skylab.  The photo is of the flight hardware EVA airlock

This vintage NASA artwork shows the relative sizes between Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft with boosters included.

North American Aviation, prime contractor for the Apollo Program was only too happy to be sure that the Gemini program concluded with Gemini XII and the cancellation of project MOL.  One piece of Gemini hardware did play an important role in the Apollo program however – the crew hatch was utilized by Skylab as the EVA hatch.  Its trapezoidal shape and conical curvature are rather inconsistent with the cylindrical plane of the airlock module it was adapted into.  No doubt it was a tight squeeze for Skylab astronauts the same as it was for Gemini spacewalkers.  But Skylab was all about adapting existing hardware and the Gemini hatch was apparently the best fit for the application.

Now is a good time to mention an excellent resource for building any version of Revell's Gemini spacecraft kit--or just about any other NASA spacecraft.  spaceinminiature.com has a number of fantastic references at prices way below what you'd expect to pay for what you get.  Mike Mackowski, a McDonnell Douglas engineer, used his connections there to obtain excellent information on the Gemini program long before there was an Internet.  His Space in Miniature (SIM) series has really evolved as a must-have library set for any serious real space model enthusiast.  We've taken photos of a number of his models at various IPMS shows and would like to share a few with you at this time.  We'd like to express our gratitude to Mike for his significant contributions to the spacemodeling community and the work he's done for IPMS/USA.

Mike Mackowski's 1/48 Gemini VII uses a resin conversion set from Realspacemodels.com.

HYPOTHETICAL GEMINI

The Gemini spacecraft was versatile and its capabilities allowed missions beyond low earth orbital operations such as rendezvous and docking.  At the IPMS/USA National conventions in 2018 and 2019, Mike Mackowski displayed his hypothetical Gemini models based on engineering concepts.  Revell's Gemini kits are perfect starting points for the modeler to build their own versions of "what if" Gemini concepts.

Mike Mackowski brought this collection of award-winning, mostly 1/48 Gemini spacecraft models to the 2018 IPMS/USA national convention in Phoenix, AZ.  A handful were previous award winners; It was fun to see these models as a collection in the display-only area.

This concept, based on the 1/72 DML kit, could have been a lander for a NASA mission to Mars.  The wings are reminiscent of the cancelled Dyna Soar spacecraft.

It appears that Mike built this Gemini Lander right out of the box with the included landing gear (the Rogallo wing is scratchbuilt).  This is how Gemini would have landed if the Rogallo wing program had not been cancelled.  Perhaps a ram-air parachute would have worked better than the inflatable Rogallo structure but the ram-air concept was in its infancy at the time.

Using Gemini hardware to build an emergency lunar rescue spacecraft was studied.  McDonnell actually built a concept model, but Mike improved on it with his own version which has additional detailing.

An obfuscating name couldn't hide the fact that MOL (Manned Orbiting Laboratory) was to be a crewed spy satellite, pure and simple.  Unmanned satellites such as Hexagon could perform the same mission for less money.  Portions of this space station were actually built.  Had it been finished, it would have resembled this model.  The mirror underneath allows the viewer to see the spy camera.

This concept utilized research gained from another McDonnell program, ASSET.  The stub-wings would have allowed limited cross-range maneuvering during reentry.  The Space Shuttle utilized this concept.

These pictures are only a sampling of the information you'll find in Mike Mackowski's SIM #9-- Building Gemini.  SIM #9 includes many how-tos and you'll learn Mike's secrets for executing his amazing Gemini models.

Gemini-on-Steroids:  "Big Gemini" or "Big-G" was a McDonnell Douglas concept pitched to NASA as a general-purpose spacecraft that could have performed many roles eventually covered by the Space Shuttle--at a lower price!  During Space Shuttle design cost-cutting, when that system went from fully reusable to the eventual partially reusable system that became the STS, Big G was considered as a lower-cost option.  It might have mated to a Saturn 1B, Titan III, or downsized version of the Saturn V known as Saturn INT-20.  Efficient thruster quads are similar to Apollo.  Note that Mike Mackowski's model includes an umbilical housing between recovery module and equipment module that resembles that used in Block-II Apollo.  Advanced versions of Big G could have carried 12 astronauts!

Here's artwork for the Gemini-on-Mars concept built by Mike Mackowski.

This "Mystery Gemini" has the capability for major orbital changes.  The three cylinders visible in the open pallet panel house "negation missiles."  Its mission is probably "rendezvous and destroy."

GO FLASHING WITH GEMINI - ONLY TEN CENTS

Imagine your friends' expressions as you streak across the skies!

The true cost of Boy's Life Magazine:  Pee Wee Harris couldn't be everywhere.  Ads like these and enticements to build your own hovercraft, hypnotize your friends, and throw your voice filled the pages of Boys' Life.  

Perhaps these ads were more remembered for the cards found in some Revell kits of the late 1960's featuring an Apollo CSM or LEM.  For just a thin dime, you could have your own Revell 1/48 Gemini if you didn't have a paper route or a parent who'd spring for the dollar bill that the kit cost in a store.

Your Roosevelt would net you one 1/48 Revell Gemini-Mercury kit in the mail.  Yes, the Mercury capsule was included, almost as an afterthought according to the advertisement.  Remember, Mercury was old news in 1964.

You'd also be signed up in the Science Program!  Monthly, you'd receive a new "Science Adventure Science Kit," basically a magazine with lick-and-stick pictures.  The monthly cost was a dollar (coincidentally the retail price of the Mercury-Gemini model kit).  It wasn't quite like a record club; there was no stated minimum number of books you had to buy and they promised "you may cancel at any time."

At the bottom of the form, a parent's signature was required if you were under age 14.  Of course none of us could forge a parent's signature in those days.  That was virtually impossible. We just knew they could somehow tell if you tried, and they could also tell if you were actually younger than 14.  Asking Mom or Dad for their John Hancock on such a document would result in a furled brow and lecture about how "There's always a catch!"

WIN THIS FULL-SIZE GEMINI SPACECRAFT

​As the Gemini program was winding down later in 1966, I remember one of my friends breathlessly telling me that Revell was giving away a real Gemini spacecraft in a contest.  I was skeptical until he showed me an advertisement in his older brother’s Boys' Life magazine.  Sure enough, you could win an actual Gemini spacecraft—or at least a prototype, as the text stated.  This sounded like the coolest thing ever. 

Immediately, my imagination ran wild.  If I could win this prize, somebody might eventually give away a Titan rocket in a similar contest, and I could win one of those too.  We had a pretty tight relationship with our local Sinclair service station; they were usually good for a smile and a free green plastic dinosaur with a fillup.  I figured they could perhaps special-order a few tankers of hypergolic fuel needed for the Titan.  I reckoned it shouldn’t be too hard to sneak the expense on my dad’s gas card since I knew where he kept his wallet.​

​A field behind the house had a tall climbing-tree that would make the perfect gantry.  I was aware that a full-size Titan launching from there would probably make a mess of the yard and house but knew from vast experience that it was always easier to apologize than ask permission.  Going into space would be worth it even if I got grounded for a few weeks afterward.
 
I was aware that “prototype” meant early version and figured just getting to space would be cool enough; I wouldn’t need to do an EVA, docking, or anything like that since winning a space suit and Agena would certainly be a stretch.  It wasn't like I needed to practice to go to the moon, or anything.
 
I think we entered the contest by cutting an end panel off a Revel kit box and mailing it to the company.  I recall dashing to the mailbox every day for a while anticipating the letter from Revell announcing we had won the Gemini Spacecraft.
 
13-year-old Robbie Hanshew of Portland, Oregon won the contest.
 
Once I learned about the fine print in the contest advertisement, my enthusiasm waned.  Initially, the statement, “How will it feel to present your spacecraft to your city park or museum?” didn’t sink in and I think it was older brother Dick who said you weren’t really winning the Gemini, you had to choose a museum where it would go on public display.  If you were lucky, maybe they’d let you in after hours to sit in it.  I definitely wanted the thing in my own backyard.

This magazine advertisement was hard to miss in late 1966-1967.

In actuality, things even went further downhill from there.  Apparently, McDonnell Douglas got cold feet on the deal and almost pulled out until they saw the public excitement and publicity the Revell advertisements generated.  Instead of being delivered in a “’Flying Guppy’ Aero Spacelines plane, only the re-entry module was shipped to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry via rail.  The equipment/retrograde modules seen and mentioned in the ad were missing!  The article delivered was a mockup, not a flight-capable prototype.
 
If there was a silver lining to the contest, the grand-prize winner received a complete collection of every Revell model sold and a Vox “Serenader” electric guitar.  29 additional guitars were given away to second prize winners.  600 Third Prize winners would receive a six-pack of Revell aircraft and ship model kits.  Fourth prize was a hundred 1/24 Gemini kits. 
 
Another upside is that the “wildest, way-out prize ever awarded in any contest” Gemini spacecraft can still be seen at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.  The general public has been allowed to try it on for size for over fifty years.  Maybe one of these days, I can win a trip to Portland to get my turn.

Revell's 1982 History Makers box

Revell Germany Classics box, 2012

In 2014, Revell kicked up the blue!

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