May 11, 2021

A Modelers Moon

Originally published September 22, 2011
image screenshot of Apollo 15 landing site from Lunar Landscapes by Roar Skartlien

Dramatic landscapes can be had with an artist's touch. Here Roar Skartlien shows how to make a model of the lunar landing sites (or any area that has been topographically mapped) into a realistic model of the Moon's surface. He uses styrofome sheets 1cm thick cut into the shapes of the contours of a projected and traced out topographic map to layer up the lunar mountains, and then carves out the valleys and craters, like this one of Apollo 15's Hadley Rille landing site. He then covers it with gap filler putty, sands and paints to an accurate and realistic recreation of the Moon surface. Lit by a bright lamp the countours and lighting match the shadows seen and photographed by Apollo crews. In one of the images (Tranquility base model) his cat appears out of the darkness like a Cheshire cat on the Moon. I have a cat that looks just the same! If you are art inclined, you can make your own piece of lunar real estate and perhaps even use it to make a sci-fi film about the Moon. Fantastic results out of relatively simple materials!

Maurice Collins

Technical Details
To learn how it is done, see this page.

Related Links
Roar's Website: Lunar Landscapes: Topographic Models of the Moon

For related LPOD's on Lunar models, here, and here.

Rükl plate 22

Yesterday's LPOD: Before And Way After

Tomorrow's LPOD: Ray Day

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