Launch Umbilical Tower LUT Model for Estes,4D Vision 1:100 Saturn V, PLS READ!

Description

Please Note: This paper craft kit was made by
Edu-Craft*Diversions
not  Estes, but is for Estes, or any 1:100 scaled Saturn V Model.
ROCKET IS NOT INCLUDED
1000s of satisfied builders...!
This is a heavy paper
UNBUILT
craft
model
of NASA's Apollo Saturn V Rocket
Launch
Umbilical
Tower
(LUT)
with Mobile Launcher Platform in 1:100 scale.
The rocket is not included.
It is not built.
Intended for Estes, Daron
or any 1:100 scale model.   If you have a needed size not offered, please email
your desired scale.
APOLLO CRAWLER TRANSPORTER is also available
separately at Edu*Craft Diversions online...
The paper kit is intended for display only and cannot be used for launching.  It is an accurate, generic model and may need adapting to your Saturn V for securing to the Launch Platform.
SKILL LEVEL -  Advanced - not for children
NOTE
:  The rocket sits atop the launcher and is held in place by gravity, some tactile resistance from the 4  hold-downs (support mounts), and swingarm contact.  Unless it is bumped, it should stay safely mounted.   The kit is generic to any 1:100 scale Saturn V model.  If further securing of the rocket is desired, the builder (you) would be called upon
to implement a hold-down application specific to the model brand.
This heavy P
APER (60 lbs. test) model kit includes:
1 set of 38 quantity 11"x17" color laser 60 lbs. paper card stock parts sheets .
1 CD containing the 90 page Assembly Procedure Manual in PDF file.
The heavy paper (60 lbs.) is tested and deemed best for precision and other factors.  After glueing, laminating, folding and assembly, it bears up strongly.
Will require scissors, water based various color marking pens, cutting board, white glue, cardboard (or foamcore) for sub-support on some parts, etc (Not included).  The model shown uses cardboard.  But all color cover and graphics are included.  If spare parts are needed they will be provided at little or no cost.
The model accurately depicts the Apollo era Launch Umbilical Tower and Moblile Launcher Platform.   Minimal adaptation of the rocket base "hold-down" supports might be required, but is not anticipated
.
A vintage Saturn V model is shown, but is not included.  This will mate to the Estes and 4D Vision 1/100 models.
Bare bones "kit" to reduce costs to you... No packaging... Comes rolled in a USPS Priority package.  Includes 38 parts sheets and 90 page instructions manual CD.  Lay the sheets flat at room temp under a load (books) for 48 hours or so.
PLEASE NOTE:
These are printed to order so please add 1 additional week of delivery time expectation.  The printing company sometimes experiences delays  and 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 but other arrangements will be made if requested.
COMBINED SHIPPING:
Please use the Shopping Cart feature for multiple orders to attain combined shipping rates.
~ ~ ~ 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.  Our main point here is FUN... But, 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 seemingly late.  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.
Every effort is always made to insure your eBay experience to be FUN and complete customer satisfaction secured...
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 check out other D-conDave listings... Lots of fun and interesting items!
Thanks and have a pleasant day...
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
This is a verbatim re-scaling of the 1:96 kit.  Rendered by artist David R. Maier, it is printed on 60 lbs. card stock.  Please see the 144 and 96 auctions for additional detail pictures.
It occurs how silly the Saturn 5 model rocket looks, displayed without it's 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 wholly, 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 plastic model launch vehicle.
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.  It can be likened to being a less arduous build than the famed U.S.S. Constitution sailing vessel.... C'mon... show a little backbone, will ya?
The printing on the parts sheets is quite rugged, but if replacements are needed, they will be made available.  Anticipate full project support and simply email
.
No painting required, at all!  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.  Larger, load-bearing parts will have a cardboard, (not included) sub-support.  It ends up being sturdy.  Included is a 'desk wedge/bar" display sign depicting lunar moon rock.
This paper model kit comes professionally color laser printed on 38, 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.   I will say this, though... it is 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.  Even unpainted plastic parts add an undesirable translucence which again, is non-scale.  The printed parts read as opaque.
...
Are you GO or no-GO?
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.   One advantage to having parts with printed graphics is that no painting is required and lends much higher detail.  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...!  which really took the edge off... ).   But, once done... it's done!  It is designed to allow for a bit more of a simplified construction, if fewer parts are used at the builder's discretion, still capturing a sense of being a worthy platform for this grand piece of space equipment. So... one may skip or simplify many of the more intricate assemblies and still have an impressive piece.
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. So now ... a more recent addition to the history of exploration is added!
Expect to trim and fit a few parts, since no 2 towers will be precisely identical, due to variations in individual assembly. I would say there is more "trimming to fit" involved than a ship model... but less than a balsa wood B17 aircraft.  If you would like one built for you, just let me know. Probably cost prohibitive, due to time, etc... But, you never know.
The 144th and 96 scale towers are online...  The 1:96 Crawler Transporter (CT) paper model is now online.  The 144 CT is soon to be online.     Be sure to add to your eBay emailed search notification list and you'll receive a code 3 response.  Other Apollo kit ideas are also being considered
including 1/24 scale Apollo CSM/LM/Adapter spacecraft, as well as a 1:32 Lunar Module for Monogram's CSM.  Whatever suggestions you may have would be welcome and can be emailed.
You are looking at the first prototype, which has been slightly revised, but without any casually noticeable changes. Over 1000 hours of  painstaking engineering and rendering have gone into this unique piece.
Equitably priced... considering printing costs alone...  (Kinko's charges .50 per 11x17 color sheet and they don't even offer 12 x 18)  But, add to that... your completed Apollo Saturn V Launch Umbilical Tower model will be worth quite a pretty penny...  So if anyone gives you guff about how much time this is taking... They can be informed that the finished piece will be worth 100s and 100s and 100s and 100s... (and 100s).  To put it in 2001: a space odyssey terms...  I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill and think things over...
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.
~ ~ ~
DUE TO CURRENT INTERNATIONAL EVENTS, DELAYS W/ PRINTING IS EXPECTED, AFFECTING SUPPLY-CHAIN FOR MY PRINTING SERVICE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE DURING THIS TIME.