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

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.
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 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 $2.50 per 11×17 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.
~ ~ ~