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Jupiter 2 with Launch Gantry and Base

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Jupiter 2 with Launch Gantry and Base
This 1/24th scale Jupiter 2 model from Moebius was constructed and finished as a museum quality showpiece. Absolutely no detail was overlooked in the painting and finishing process on this model. The Paragrafix brand photo etch and decal set plus the Aztec Dummy painting masks were utilized in the construction process. The Moebius Model's Jupiter 2 Lighting Kit was installed, plus an additional 27 LEDs were installed where needed, in order to light every possible control panel. This required upgrading the 1 amp Moebius DC converter to a more powerful 2.6 amp unit, since it also had to power the 3 spotlights in the base which light the ship from below. I decided from the beginning that the model was going to be built with the landing gear in the retracted "launch" position, because I had planned to design my own custom display base and launch gantry to resemble the gantry seen only in episode one. The base and gantry took about 3 months to build, from the initial designs to final completion. The launch gantry alone consists of over 150 individual laser cut parts! I also decided to add a soundboard from Starling Technologies, which blends in perfectly with the fusion core lighting effect, for the optimal viewer experience! The soundboard operates from a separate power switch and is battery operated, so that it can be turned on and off independent of the lighting. I moved the fusion core control switch to the right side panel on the base for ease of operation (red button). Since the ship is getting ready to launch, it only made sense to add the crew to the freezing tubes! A dual-port umbilical "cable" plugs into the base and the bottom of the hull, and is hidden by the rear launch gantry leg. Convenient "On/Off" switches were added to the front of the base on either side of the laser etched "Lost In Space/The Jupiter 2". Happy modeling Lost In Space fans!

Photo Credits

David Holderbaum