Verne and Verity, pt. IV

The process of getting all parts together is on its way. The capsule and its flotation collar are glued to the water surface, the dinghies are yet unglued and awaiting their final placement. The Sea King is finished. It really was a joy to build. Very easy and well-fitting parts. There were some small things I changes, like the wheels in 'up' position and leaving out the wheel bay itself.
I still have to find a way how I am going to attach the helicopter to the diorama. I have ideas but I must work those out.
Here is a shot I made with my phonecam. (and more after the break, of course.)

The flotation collar is made from a pile of cut-out circles which I sanded inside out to a ring. The dinghy is made more or less the same way. The little orange triangles originally were functioning as a device to keep the collar in its place. An iron wound string ran through them around the capsule's hull.

The balloons on the top were used in case the capsule entered the sea upside down. The balloons would inflate and flip the CM over right away. I made them from beads. I painted them orange and later did the white surfaces.

There is a little frogman standing on the collar in the hatch opening. He was there to help the astronauts out of their seats and to let them don anti-contamination suits. The first few Apollo moon missions had very strict quarantine regulations. All frogmen also were equipped with breathing apparatuses to avoid contamination. Later in in the program NASA decided the quarantine wasn't necessary any more.

Top view of the capsule and the two dinghies. There will be an extra layer of transparent acrylic paste to make the waves a little choppier. 

Here is the finished helicopter. The two smaller wheel pods annex floaters were completely edge glued. The rotors were made out of thick black card and were attached to a thin brass rod to make them able to rotate.
And here are moving images which proof the rotors of the Sea King really work:

Hopefully next time more finished stuff. This is what you'll have to do it with for the moment.
Thanks for passing by!
--PK