Cold War Space Race: CCCP goes Lunar with Soyuz and US NASA Saturn 1B - CoW Game Prep 2026 (WD)

This is a blast from the past and down Airfix memory lane I go. The lunar lander (The Eagle) which was part of the Saturn 1B (IIRC) was hidden in an unassembled, primed and "brown washed" state for such a long time. All it took was for possible inclusion in my Conference of Wargamers (CoW) game 2026, "The Earth Prepared" to jolt it towards the painting tray (see below, not sure about the hole in the roof, but I think that is where it attached to the orbiter Columbia - I quite like how it has come out): 

The big boys rockets - the diminutive Soyuz in comparison to one of the 'smaller' American rockets, the Saturn 1B (see below, a stretch goal for the game is to get the Saturn V, currently hiding in the loft, assembled and painted too): 

Note the little Yuri on the launch pad, a tiny dot towards the front of the CCCP (LHS) launch pad.

The Space Race continues Saturn 1B

Half-term comes and school projects seem to fill up the calendar! If you can't beat them join them and it's as good as excuse as any to build that Nasa rocket [Saturn 1B Apollo 7] that has been lurking in the loft for several years (see below, assembly in progress):

The final beast is quite impressive (see below). It was the first manned Apollo space mission in 1968. The hardest part about the build was putting the long decals on the sides. I had a nightmare with one of the USA decals that go on halfway up the rocket. I thought I would be asking Airfix for another set as the darn thing tangled around itself (the worst decal nightmare I have been in bar those situations when the decals just disintegrate) but long served modelling patience and micro surgery in a bowl of water recovered the situation. Standing tall she it hoping to have a walk on part in my eldest sons "Solar System" video (see below):    

I did not fuss too much with the modelling aspects of the project as it is basically a tube to be viewed from a distance, so no real "sanding" the joints etc. for a perfect finish. I was slightly taken aback by the amount of white paint she needed. The final white is a satin, but the undercoat was matte. She pretty much took up two thirds of a tube of Vallejo Game Colour White and a third/half tin of Airfix Acrylic Satin.

She was my training day before I go for her bigger sister the Saturn V, but first I will go to Russia with love and try my hands on a Vostok ;)