Pat Flannery ) wrote:


: Invid Fan wrote:

: I picked one up when the first station segments were sent up. It's a
: bitch to put together, with unlabled parts and somewhat unclear
: directions. Or my model skills had just failed me
:
:

: I'd been building models for around 35 years before I built mine, and it
: kept me very busy, let me tell you.
: The detail on that main mechanical arm is really something, isn't it?
: http://www.imrcmodels.com/iss/images/iss46.jpg
: http://www.imrcmodels.com/iss/images/iss45.jpg
: (it's all articulated...and fragile)
: On the upside, it looks downright spectacular when finished.
: This particular upgrade from Realspace Models would add a very nice
: touch, but might be fragile:
: http://www.realspacemodels.com/html/iss_photoetch.html
: Wasn't that some of the oddest plastic you ever ran into? It's very high
: quality and tough, but it's not normal model kit plastic.
: I think it's what they make model trains out of. The whole kit gives the
: feeling of something designed for NASA publicity purposes. When I talked
: to the company over the phone, they mentioned grade schools assembling
: these as class projects to improve teamwork skills on the part of
: students (by the time this truly extraordinary woman was done talking,
: it sounded like the model would single-handedly eliminate poverty and
: crime in inner cities. "Buy This Kit....Save The World!")
: I get a sneaking suspicion that these kits were being sent to inner city
: schools free of charge as part of a NASA/aerospace industry publicity
: ploy. Let's hope the kids weren't driven to despair by the kit's complexity.

"Yes your honor, it was a model project back in grade school that made
quit school and use and sell drugs."

: Pat