Steven Vasko’s Discovery

This model kit is the Federation Models 1/72 scale “Discovery One” model kit, which measures a whopping 57 inches in length when assembled.

I scratch-built a Bridge/Circuit Breaker Room, complete with Bridge seating and 1/72 scale figures of Poole and Bowman, and installed it behind the Command Module window, which I glazed with clear styrene. This assembly is lit by a bank of White LEDs powered by two 9V batteries, with the slide power switch for the LEDs located on the bottom of the Command Module.

I found construction of the Fuel Pod Clusters very difficult even with the use of the kit-supplied alignment jig, as many Pods ended up at odd angles to each other as they lined up along the length of the styrene tube/quarter-inch steel rod core of the Fuel Pod Boom section. This caused me to remove many pods from their brackets and re-align them along the length of the Boom section. Taking a cue from a paper-back photo-survey of filming miniatures from “2010” (available at this website’s Hobbyshop) I detailed the recesses of the Pod Clusters with straight and bent lengths of styrene rod of various diameters because I felt these areas needed additional detail.

More details were added to the front of the Reactor Housing and bent lengths of styrene rod were fitted in the back of the Housing to replicate piping on the original filming miniature. Three tiny decals were placed on the top and the starboard side of the Reactor Housing to dress it up. The model-from the front of the Fuel Pod Boom section on back-was first spray-painted Flat White, after which various shades of gray were brush painted on select details, after which the assembly was further oversprayed lightly in Flat White and then drybrushed in White acrylic. The result is the bulk of the model painted Flat White with various details picked out in subtle shades of Gray.

The Command Module, it’s aft “Collar” and Escape Rocket Housing was first spray-painted Flat White, after which various shades of Gray were sprayed on in both vertical and horizontal bands on the surface of this assembly with the help of masking. The entire unit was then lightly oversprayed in Flat White, after which the Module’s window “ledge” was masked off and sprayed Flat Black. Pastel weathering of the Pod Bay Doors and the Rear Exhaust Ports and surrounding areas was then applied and sealed in Dullcote.

The Command Module “meatball” was first photo-copied from Shane Johnson’s “Discovery” plans, then the copy was colored and scanned into a computer printer system, which printed out the resulting reduced copy which was cut out and glued onto the model. The two Monolith bases were drilled out from the bottom, and brass rods cut to length were glued and inserted into resulting holes for reinforcement. The Lunar Groundwork foundations for the stands were “bulked-up” from below and fitted with aluminum picture frame sections acquired from an art supply mail-order firm. The bottoms of the assembled base units were then covered with self-adhesive “Kelly Green” craft felt.

Steven Vasko