1:144 International Space Station (ISS)

[Mike]

1:144 International Space Station (ISS)

Revell of Germany

The ISS has been in orbit around now for quite some time, being constructed from parts and modules brought up from mother Earth as a gradual process by the Space Shuttle, European Space Agency, and our former Cold War adversaries.

The kit comes in a large box with nicely painted inspirational art work of the ISS hovering over the planet on the lid. Some very good colour images around the edge show the completed model on its display stand. Thankfully, the kit is a traditional top opener, probably due to the weight and size of the components. This is no small model - even when unbuilt! The box is as large as that of the 1:32 Tornado.

Upon opening the box, we are faced with a white cardboard box containing two identical sprues of silver plastic; a bag containing the very large display stand with moulded ‘Earth’ upper hemisphere and a sprue of white plastic; a VERY large bag containing 2 silver sprues and one white, and another large bag containing 3 sprues of medium-dark blue plastic. Another smaller bag is nestling in the box too, and this contains various long and short polished aluminium tubes, both square and circular, for supporting the various assemblies which make up the ISS.

In total, the kit comprises 183 parts, as well as a surprisingly small decal sheet providing the logos from the individual countries which supplied the ISS modules. The A4 instruction manual is quite a tome. It is a 24 page epic, with the usual black and white drawn instructional steps, clearly presented, and containing 59 stages!

The ISS, as stated, comprises of different modules all interlocked, with a network of large solar panelled plates in between that provide power, light and heating for the assembled sections. It is a very impressive sight and once build should make for a rather attractive display, especially when you see the dimensions: 74.5cm long x 50.0cm width and an incredible 40.6cm depth. You will need some serious shelf space to display this kit.

Looking at the sprues, this model was originally produced in 2000, and stated as Revell AG (Germany). The reason I mention this is that I was a little unsure of the kits pedigree, having seen it described in an old internet article as ‘Revell-Monogram’.

It is very difficult to assess this kit in the normal way, due to the unusual construction of the ISS. With this in mind, my review of the overall parts breakdown will be one of general observation.

Perusing the total of 9 sprues, a small quantity of flash is visible, and this is more often than not on the silver sprues. I have seen this before with silver plastic and could well be something to do with the qualities of the plastic. Having said that, all of these parts are well moulded, albeit with the detail being a little softer than the other coloured sprues. There are a number of ejector pin marks too, some of which will require filling, but as some of the more awkward ones are ‘positive’ marks, they will simply need sanding down or cutting off to remove totally.

With regard to ‘panel line’ detail, it’s very difficult to ascertain what would be correct or incorrect, but what there is either very finely engraved or raised where appropriate. There is no issue in my eyes with any of this particular detail. As said, the rendering of both types of panel line is very fine in most cases.

Moving onto the white sprues, the quality of these is perhaps a little sharper. There are 2 white sprues within this kit, and they seem to comprise parts for the gaggle of individual modules that are docked with the ISS. Moulding and detail is very good, and even includes some Astronauts (or Cosmonauts, if you are Russian), although they are somewhat stocky, and look like they're wearing old TV sets on their heads. Scaling out at 2m tall, they are also a little oversized, although should suffice for the casual builder.

The blue sprues contain the extended solar "wings" and other associated parts. These parts seem to be mostly flash free, and with a few ejector pin marks on some surfaces. With the size of these parts, this really couldn’t have been avoided, and they aren’t too bad, so shouldn’t take long to remove.

The display stand is a large slab of black plastic measuring about 20cm x 30cm, with positioned holes in which to mount the aforementioned polished aluminium mounting rods. The detail on the ‘Earth’ element is very delicate and will require careful painting and some patience to complete properly.

The decal sheet is small, but beautifully printed in perfect register in Italy. Revell seem to have a very good working formula here, whether that company is Cartograf or not. Some of the international Space Agency logos are designed to adorn the base.

The 24 page A4 instruction manual, is very clear to follow and everything is well illustrated and should present no problems in construction. Yes, 59 stages!

Conclusion

This is actually a very nice model kit which is realistically priced due to the content, and if time is taken to properly remove the many joint lines which this model inevitably has, and provided it is painted sympathetically, will produce an amazing and imposing looking replica. The photos on the box side are testimony to that, so use those as your finishing reference, in conjunction with your internet references. Recommended.

Review sample courtesy of

[bootneck]

Hi Mike,

thanks for the informative review, I'm really tempted to get this now.

Can you advise me whether the kit does actually measure up at 1/144? The reason I ask is that it could be a nice dioram to have the Revell Shuttle docked with it.

Thanks

Mike

[Mike]

Hi Mike,

thanks for the informative review, I'm really tempted to get this now.

Can you advise me whether the kit does actually measure up at 1/144? The reason I ask is that it could be a nice dioram to have the Revell Shuttle docked with it.

Thanks

Mike

No worries. As you can imagine, it'd be difficult for me to measure the completed model accurately without completing it first, so if you can find the dimensions of some major components, I'll measure them for you to the best of my ability and let you know

[jenko]

You forgot to mention it was "out of this world"............

I'll get my

Dick

[crookedmouth]

I would LOVE to see a WIP on this one...

[marty_hopkirk]

I would LOVE to see a WIP on this one...

Build it yourself, then.

Marty...

[Derbyeomanry]

You can see the real one again tonight if the skys clear. Travelling from SSW clears the horizon at 23:20:18 and should be visible a couple of minutes later.

[Skii]

I see sprue C has the emergency crew vehicle included too - very cool !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_Return_Vehicle

[bootneck]

Hi Mike,

I managed to pick one up at the IPMS Avon show today so am very happy.

It will have to go into storage for a while though as I am currently busy with scratchbuilding a correct sized 1/144 MLP and Crawler; these are for my Airfix Saturn and Revell Shuttle kits.

cheers

Mike

[Skii]

I would LOVE to see a WIP on this one...

hmmmm....

[Madam I'm Adam]

I've got the previous release up in the attic...I still want to built it, maybe a winter project (i'm a slow builder) so a build up would be interesting... but what is really good is finding that there are some other space builders out there

Cheers

Adam

[Madam I'm Adam]

www.heavens-above.com has loads of info on viewing space objects

Edited August 27, 2010 by Madam I'm Adam

[Basosz]

Mike, a very belated thanks for the review!

Got mine from the UPS man today. I've wanted one ever since I first read this review last year. That it's a big kit was obvious from the start but holy Hannah did I utterly fail to realise just how seriously massive big! Just the box is a bloody monster. I wonder if Anigrand will do a 1:72, 48th or even a 32nd... now THAT would be impressive