Launch Umbilical Tower LUT Craft Model for 1:72 Dragon Saturn V *Pls. Read!

Description

PLEASE NOTE:
This is for an
UN-BUILT
HEAVY PAPER
model craft kit.
Please read description...
1000s of satisfied builders...!
Rocket is not included
~~ Also available in 1:70 scale LUT ~~
Please Note:  This
paper
craft kit is produced by
Edu-Craft*Diversions
not Dragon
, but is for Dragon Saturn V 1:72 or any like scaled model.
It is an
UNBUILT
, heavy paper model kit of NASA's Apollo Saturn V Rocket
Launch
Umbilical
Tower
(LUT)
and Mobile Launcher Platform in 1:72 scale.
The rocket is not included.
It is designed for any 1/72 Saturn V model rocket.  It is approximately 79 inches tall.  LUT 1:70, is also available at Edu*Craft Diversion, online.
The rocket is not included.
This heavy PAPER (60 lb. test stock) model craft kit includes:
78 quantity 11"x17" color laser 60 lb. heavy paper parts sheets .
1 CD containing the 90 page Assembly Procedure Manual in PDF file.
Apollo Crawler Transporter is also available separately.
The Dragon Saturn V is not designed to mate to Edu*Craft Diversions' generic 1:72 LUT, so please expect the need for some adjusting of EduCraftDiversions.org's generic LUT 1:72, as it is designed true to NASA's actual Apollo Launch Umbilical Tower.  The Dragon 1:72 Saturn V will need to be secured to the LUT to avoid mishaps if bumped.  We would recommend using trace white-glue at the base (removable) and use of clear plastic bands (from common product packaging or other household sources) secured around the rocket mid-section and to the LUT.  The generic Edu-Craft*Diversions LUT is intended for static display, and not for playing.  One industrious modeller actually installed heavy duty magnets into the Launch Platform and rocket to secure it...
The heavy paper (60 lb.) is tested and deemed best for precision and other factors.  After gluing of required corrugated cardboard (not included) behind load bearing structures behind LUT and MLP skins (included),  it bears up well under all loads.    Suggestions for other scales are welcome.
It will require some configuration for fit to hold-downs and securing to pad for individual Saturn V model brands
.  The builder will need to work out a safe securing method in case the rocket is bumped, to avoid a topple.  The design reflects actual LUT construction and is not configured to the varied Saturn V model brands hold down techniques.  As designed, the hold down is achieved via resistance at Saturn V base from the 9 Swing-arms, 4 Hold-downs and 3 Service Masts and gravity.   This Vehicle securing seems good, if not inordinately bumped.  Further securing and otherwise McGyver-ing is strongly recommended.  One suggestion would be utilizing a clear, plastic band, secured around the upper part of Stage 2 to around the adjacent LUT Tower Core.  One material source suggestion would be an off the shelf clear plastic grocery food (salad) container... or doubled over clear packing tape.
Will require scissors, water based various color marking pens (for reverse exposed side and edges), cutting board, white glue, cardboard (or foamcore) for sub-support on some of the parts, etc (Not included).  But all color cover and graphics are included.
These are printed to order, so please add 1 week to expected delivery time.
Higher deatil than 1/96 LUT kit, with added details and has been redone to represent an accurate Apollo 11, launch day
Launch Umbilical Tower
.  The first 2 pictures show the Apollo 11  LUT 1/72 and the rest are of the 1/96  Saturn V 500F phase LUT.
Bare bones "kit" to reduce costs ... No commercial packaging... Comes rolled in a USPS Priority package.  The kit includes 78 parts sheets and 90 page instructions manual CD.  Lay the sheets flat at room temp under a load (books) for 48 hours or so.
The Crawler Transporter and Saturn 1B Skylab "Milkstool" Launch Pedestal kits in 1/72 are also available.
PLEASE NOTE
:   These are printed to order so please add 1 additional week of delivery time expectation.  The printing company sometimes experiences delays so delivery time will be adjusted accordingly.  Posting of items is made about once a week, so delivery time will be reflected accordingly, OK?  Shipping costs reflect required time and resources, not postage fees only.  Paypal is required unless arrangements are made prior to auction end.
COMBINED SHIPPING:
Please use the
SHOPPING CART
feature for multiple orders.
~ ~ ~ INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING ~ ~ ~
PLEASE READ:
Actual tracking and delivery confirmation is not offered for International Shipping, due to its cost which can double shipping amounts.  It is deemed cost prohibitive.  But, if actual tracking is preferred, it can be ordered at a substantially increased rate prior to purchasing.  PLEASE ADVISE BEFORE PURCHASING IF ACTUAL TRACKING IS DESIRED TO BE ORDERED for International Shipping.  Sometimes long delays are experienced due to customs and international posting in general, but a package has never been lost...  They have always arrived safe and sound, even if delayed by customs.  SO IF THERE IS A DELAY, YOUR PATIENCE IS SINCERELY REQUESTED...  However... If the package has not arrived after 4 weeks, please advise so the issue can be worked from this end.  Customs rules will be adhered to.
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Your questions and concerns are always welcome.  Please be sure to read the above description carefully.  This item is sold with money back guarantee on purchase price only.
FEEDBACK:  If feedback is desired, it'll gladly be given when it is requested after positive feedback has been left, due to eBay policies.
Be sure to stop by my other auctions. Lots of fun and interesting items! Have a great day!
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
It occurs how silly the Saturn 5 scale rockets look, displayed without their Launch Umbilical Tower.  In reality... the Saturn V rocket existed on its Mobile Launcher Platform for the entirety of its tenure on the planet... having been constructed upon it.  Indeed, it existed in flight as one unit, for a matter of only 3 or so minutes on its flight to the Moon. You can get away with Gemini, Mercury, even Constellation... But, this rocket's just
got
to have a tower next to it.
So, here it is! An excellent display accouterment for your model launch vehicle.
Interesting to note that the Revell model, still in production, is actually based on early NASA Saturn V designs and the 500-F test vehicle, which was never intended to fly.  It is now housed at Kennedy Space Center's museum.
Assembling this piece might seem daunting, but it is really only a matter of
just
starting
... Then going step by step through the Procedures Plan.  Oh, maybe have a stack or 2 of your favorite dvds running in the background.
The printing on the parts sheets is quite rugged, but if you need replacements, they will be made available.  The pictures accurately depict the finished model.  But, if a mistake occurs... Anticipate full project support and simply email
.
No painting required.  All the intricate graphics detailing is already done.  Just coloring of exposed white paper surfaces and edges with your water based (preferred) color marking pens (not included).
The strength of the paper is more than adequate, especially in load bearing parts, which will be folded and glue-laminated, creating a type of "ply-paper" strength.  The engineering design of the actual L.U.T. also comes into play.  Also, larger parts will have a cardboard or other, (which you provide) sub-support.  It ends up being sturdy.  Included in the kit, is a desk wedge-bar display sign depicting an actual lunar Moon rock slice.
This paper model kit comes professionally color laser printed on 78, 11" x 17" card-stock sheets.  The 90 page instruction manual is patterned after the official Apollo program Flight Plan (just for fun) and is on a CD.  A trip to Kinko's will provide you with a hard copy... black & white or color.
The parts graphics capture a lovely, weathered, flight used LUT, which is how it looked for the majority of its service.  It is as complete and accurate as the medium will allow for.  It is, though, quite more accurate than the one seen in Tom Hank's Apollo 13 movie, excellent dvd as it is.
The detailed photographic images on the model add a trompe l'oeil 3D effect.  In many ways, it is more realistic than plastic, resin or photo-etched brass parts can possibly achieve.  As it turns out, there is just something about a plastic model, as fine as it may be, which the viewer thinks, "That's a really detailed plastic model."  But when you take actual photographs of the real item and use them for your color cover, the brain doesn't quite know what to think.  It's seeing the real thing...  With plastic or brass etched kits in general, you've perhaps got a precision form, but it's covered with a layer of non-scale glomular paint, which has always lessened the viewing effect of the model.  With printed on imagery, you have a higher scale precision in many respects.
There is one word you
will
hear as your friends enter the room and see the impressive piece you're building. And that word is, "Wow."  The paper idea lent itself quite nicely to the actual LUT construction, since it was essentially made from flat metal stock, and the card-stock finishes with a higher crispness in edges and precision feel in many of the parts.   No painting required...  This gives it a level of artistic expertise in its texture not commonly available, creating a fine faux effect to many of the surfaces.
It will take some doing, (sometimes arduous).... and a bit of overall "MacGyver-ing" to craft this stately addition to your den or party room's decor.  (I view the more painstaking phases as being a sort of astronaut  psychological training test as in the movie The Right Stuff...).   The builder may omit many of the details, simplifying the build, yes still creating platform for the rocket display.
I liken the construction of this
Apollo Launch Umbilical Tower Model Kit
in card stock, to that of building say, the larger sea vessel models such as The Constitution Sail Ship or Academy 350 Titanic with rigging and brass etched add-ons.
Expect to trim and fit a few parts, since no 2 towers will be precisely identical, due to variations in individual builds. I would say there is more "trimming to fit" involved than a ship model... but less than a balsa wood B17 aircraft.
Equitably priced... considering printing costs alone...  (Kinko's charges .50 per 11x17 60 lbs. color sheet)
SIDE NOTES
The LUT and Command Module (CM) represents the only flight used piece of hardware that survived the Apollo program, the only endeavor in history which succeeded in landing a human on another satellite.
S
adly... the actual, original Launch Towers were only recently destroyed because of lead paint environmental concerns. There was a most illuminated and concerted effort to save LUT #1 and erect a monument to human kind's singular successful venture to another satellite, but, though a superbly gallant effort was made to save it, unbelievably, this unique piece of space flight history is now gone forever. Can you imagine if the USS Arizona wreck or mighty Memphis Belle had been scrapped?  ...Or the Mayflower had been saved?  Since the only part of the Apollo mission to return to the Earth was the space capsule itself, the LUT represented the only other piece of actual, direct, flight used hardware which survived. The most ultimate of historical artifact losses.  But... nice to know that parts of the original launch system were incorporated into the STS Space Shuttle's... the Colby Crane, many of the tower sections and launcher platform base can be discerned in the current pad array.  Perhaps they will be used in NASA's new Moon Shot program, Constellation.
As we embark on the next chapter of manned space flight... This is sure to be an impressive... and valuable homage to one moment of pure, inspired human endeavor in exploration... space or otherwise.
Be sure to write all of our U.S. leaders regarding the passing of U.S. Manned Space Vision...  With less than one half of one percent share of the national budget... there really can be no argument against the sole standard bearer of Freedom no longer leading in Space... Sadly, less freedom minded governments do realize the crucial aspects of this vision and strive in their uninterrupted endeavors.  Russia, China and India rise above the self absorption which now dominates the U.S. mindset.
~ ~ ~