Delta III kit resources
By adding a LOX/Hydrogen upper stage to the venerable
Delta II launcher, McDonnell Douglas hoped to build a launcher for heavier
payloads, while still retaining the Delta's low cost and high reliability.
So far, the first two commercial launches have ended in failure, with a
third (dummy payload) successful. Despite the troubles, the commercial
prospects of this launcher remain high.
The kit stands 11" tall and includes 25 resin parts,
one styrene part, a stand (one resin and two aluminum parts), decals, and
instructions. Payload fairing and second stage are detatchable.
$35
The completed Delta III model.
I've learned my lesson about building kits before
the first flight. I based my kit on early
artwork, and a number of things changed on the way to the launch pad.
To start with, I had
ribs on the intertank structure...the final design didn't. I
missed modeling the steerable nozzles
and the second-stage truss structure. And of course the paint
scheme changed completely,
about the time Boeing bought McDonnell Douglas.
The new kit corrects these deficiencies, has the
correct color scheme, and fewer parts,
making the job of alignment (and stand attachment!) much easier.
The old kit also had a
number of deficiencies I didn't like; it had poor molding, and actual
scratches, on the fairing;
the lower fairing, stolen from the H-II model, had a big nub that needed
filing off; the
outer part of the second stage was too small, making a BIG job to build
it up right; and
the second stage was a bear to get aligned properly.
I NEEDED to fix the Delta III model. It took
a long time -- much longer than I expected,
but it's done.
The decals are still of the Orion launch. If
you'd like me to model a launch with, say, a
happier ending, please let me know...then e-mail me some good pics
of the mission decals!
Links:From the official Boeing site:
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/delta/delta3/delta3.htm
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/delta/delta3/images/d3_orion3th.jpg
http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/gallery/images/space/delta3_orion3_01.htm
http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/delta/delta3/delta3_orion/book0.html
Ninfinger's Quick Look review of the OLD version of the kit (Sven "Ninfinger" Knudson is an independent reviewer).
