AHPC 16: Cosmonaut crew for LUNAR

I recently posted my first 5 man NASA Crew for LUNAR, so today its time for the People's heroes from the CCCP!

Again these are 32mm models by Black Site Studios - the 2025 plastic releases not the resin/stl versions. Decals by District Miniatures.

I really enjoyed painting these models, all of which are subtly different, using the following paints:

• White undercoat
• Heavy drybrush Corax White
• Thinned light brown GW contrast paint
• Wraithbone drybrush
• Orange trim - Macharius Solar Orange
• Visors - Hoplite gold speed paint (Army Painter) with Reikland flesh wash

Image from 'For All Mankind'

Moon Basing- AK Lunar Desert basing material

• Drybrushes:
• medium sea grey (Vallejo Model Color 70.870),
• Astonomican Grey, 
• Corax White

Comrade Vasily redefines the "Tactical Rock", 

as well as the iconic phrase "We will Bury you!"

These suits depict the original Soviet suit, the Kretchet-94 designed to support the N1-L3 program including EVA activities up to 4 hrs in duration. It was the world's first semi-rigid space suit which included an aluminium alloy torso for micro-meteor protection, so in many ways it had advantages over NASA's A7L suit worn by APOLL 11-14 crews.

After the 1971 Soyuz-11 disaster, in which 3 cosomonauts died during a depressurisation emergency, it was superseded by the Sokol-KV2 design, which clearly took lessons from NASA.

Great 'pic' of a Soviet LK lander on the moon (from the movie Apollo 18)

AHPC 16: Lunar Supply lander

A quick break at home before my next trip - just enough time to complete this remote Lunar lander, to go with the Astronauts I posted last week.

Technically this is a remote (uncrewed) lander named the "KANGA-R.0.0" (love it!). It's perfect as an objective for games of LUNAR, where it will deliver key supplies (like air bottles and suit repair patches) to remote areas for the moon walkers to fight over. This is resin print and was a special release model by Black Site Studio for Adepticon 2025. 

Posted to AHPC 16 here:

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/02/from-paul-og-lunar-supply-lander-15.html

I also popped it on the BSS FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1K3HHtnkbs/

Painting Note: Gold foil is Green Stuff World's Gold Chrome Metal

Fabulous Moon from Earth orbit photo, taken from the ISS by German astronaut Alexander Gerst

A trip to the Space Coast

I've been lucky to go to Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) at Cape Canaveral a couple of times: 2008, 2014 (see here) and then again this week. Amongst all the fun theme parks around Orlando, I think of it as "Adult Disneyland" and it never disappoints.

Lets start with what I came for: ARTEMIS II. Stacked and racked and this was the day she was originally meant to launch. Always an aspirational date, it got pushed back to March (at time of writing) but fantastic to see here ready to go! Pic taken from the Gantry at Pad 39B, about 3miles/5km away (she was fuelled so we couldn't get any closer). That gravel path is the special road for the "crawler" that dragged her there

This is Crawler 2 - dedicated to ARTEMIS

The Crawler weighs in a 6 million pounds, and can drag 3 times it weight along the specifically constructed pathway at a speed of 1 to 1.5mph.  This is what the crawler looked like last week taking ARTEMIS II out to the pad (pic courtesy of National Geographic here

The two Crawlers have been in service for over 50 years!

https://www.nasa.gov/humans-in-space/exploration-ground-systems/the-crawlers/

This is the new SpaceX facility right next door at pad 39A, specifically built to support Starship launches at a rate of up to 40 per year. The structure of the 'Mechazilla' is clearly well advanced.

Pads 39A and B were made famous originally for their roles in the Apollo program. The nearby Saturn 5 display gives you a fabulous opportunity to walk under these monstrous and fantastic constructions. It is one of only 3 remaining.

The business end of the first stage - five R1 engines!

It's always amazing to stand right next to a real spacecraft and KSC has not one but two. 

Apollo 14 Command Module "Kittyhawk" was the third US crewed lunar landing mission over a 9 day period in Jan-Feb 1971. The LEM "Antares" landed in the Fra Mauro highlands while this spacecraft completed more than 30 lunar orbits before returning to Earth and landing

In Apollo 14's most famous event, Commander Alan Shepard (who was the first American in Space in FREEDOM-7) hit two golf balls with a makeshift six iron!

This module splashed own in the South Pacific and was recovered by the US Navy ship USS New Orleans

Alan Shepard's model A7-L EVA suit worn on Lunar surface moon during Apollo14

Also on up-close display is Space Shuttle Atlantis (OV-014) - the fourth and second last orbiter built - which completed 33 seperate occasions and spent a total of 307 days in space. She was the last shuttle to fly, completing mission STS-135 in July 2011.

There is just one surviving US Shuttle I haven't seen now - Endeavour, which is currently not on display

Of interest - the concept Mars Rover or Mars Rover Vehicle Navigator (MRVN)

Other fabulous artefacts on display include:

Training Lunar Rover

Jim Lovell's flight suit worn during the infamous Apollo 13 mission

The Lunar surface map collection carried by Apollo 11

I always enjoy seeing maps where humans have set foot on the moon. I hope to see this expand greatly in the next few decades, starting with ARTEMIS III

No trip to KSC is complete without going past the "VAB". The famous "Vehicle Assembly Building" is the largest single story building in the world. Built to assemble the Apollo Missions, repurposed for Shuttle, then the cancelled ARES program, and now used to stack ARTEMIS missions.

The Rocket Park - another great meander through but I'd done that recently in Huntsville (and WITH a rocket scientist!) so I didn't spend too much time there


And having seen ARTEMIS on the launch pad, we felt compelled to stop at the local brewery at Titusville "Playlinda" and enjoy a couple of their Artemis II IPAs to close out a great day :-)

 "I'll be back!"

AHPC 16: NASA Crew for LUNAR

After literally years of obsessing about this project in multiple scale, Black Site Studios release of plastic Astronauts and Cosmonauts had me scrambling for my credit card (visits to the Smithsonian Air & Space museum and the NASA Marshall rocket centre this year also helped!).  This year's painting challenge prompted me to finally get them onto the painting bench

Here are my first five NASA crew, mostly with a range of improvised and much deadlier (but temperamental in lunar conditions) equipment, battling with their Soviet counterparts!

AI background generated on ChatGPT

These boys with the "Right Stuff" are ready to defend their Apollo site and scientific equipments in the face of Communist aggression!

These are 32mm plastic figures by Black Site Studio, which I reviewed late last year:  

https://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2025/12/review-lunar-astronauts.html

I've broadly painted them as NASA Model A7L space suits (used for Apollo 11-14) and the decals add great splashes of colour. Decals by District Miniatures, including the original NASA "meatball" logo: 

https://districtminiatures.com/collections/black-site-studios-lunar-32mm

The original NASA "meatball' logo, designed in 1959

Comrade Cosmonauts of Roscosmos coming next!

"Moon Marines" artwork by Fána Smetana
Source: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/BXXxB9⁩

Submitted to AHPC16 "Toy Story" bonus round here:

https://analogue-hobbies-theme-rounds.blogspot.com/2026/02/toy-story-from-paul-og-astronauts-and.html

and they got voted in at a wonderful second place!

https://thepaintingchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-votes-are-in-for-toy-story.html

Review: LUNAR Astronauts

I pre-ordered this from Black Site Studios earlier this year. Its their first foray into plastic for their game LUNAR, with the previous models all being resin. I've been saving these for AHPC and as I'm now prepping them, I thought a review might be useful.

The box comes with two identical sprues. Each sprue has an Astronaut half and a Cosmonaut half (which keeps it clear whose bits are whose) and each with 5 models. So all up the box makes 10 Soviet and 10 American moon walkers in 32mm scale. 

Each model is comprised of a waist&legs bit, a torso with PLSS (personal life support system backpack) cast as a single piece for cosmonauts and separately for astronauts, a helmet or exposed head (makes for a quick game I guess!) and then a series of arms.

Sprue detail - Cosmonauts on the left side, NAAS on the right (BSS picture)

Arms are generally a pick what you like affair, but some are matched (eg labelled 11A and 11B) where they are naturally paired for two handed weapons. Shoulder attachment points are flush so its easy to attach a 3d printed alternative if desired. There are different equipment options for each side but notably weapons are in short supply so don't expect to build them all as rifle toting assault troops with just this box. 

Note that I haven't assembled any models yet, so can't comment on how well they all fit together or if Green stuff is needed for residual gap filling. 

GW style bases are included but I'm considering using clear, transparent bases to blend in better with the lunar (or Martian!) play mat. Also, no decals which is a missed opportunity. But overall a nice boxed set and the plastic will be easier to work with if I want to do conversions.

Thinking I’ll make up one full sprue for now (5 per side) and keep the other intact for when I understand what other weapon combos I might want for our games.

Here are some models that Blogger Mike has posted at his blog - I like the gritty effects he has achieved including gold plated helmet faceshields. You can find his blog and his LUNAR paint recipes here: 

https://medium.com/@wargamermike/lunar-black-site-studios-58c03c92a1de

Mike's great NASA Moon Walkers

This boxed set is available from Black Site Studios here:

https://blacksitestudio.com/products/lunar-multipart-plastic-astronauts

EDIT: BSS have been out of stock of decals for a long time. I've now found an alternative source here:

https://districtminiatures.com/collections/black-site-studios-lunar-32mm

Udvar-Hazy Aircraft Museum - Part 2

Following on (apologies for the delay) from Part 1 here:

https://tasmancave.blogspot.com/2025/09/udvar-hazy-aircaft-museum-part-1.html

The German WW2 collection had lovely Focke-Wulf Fw 190 F-8/R1 and a Me 163 B-1a Komet on display, but their V1 "buzz bomb" and BF109 G-6 were under restoration. 

Me163 Komet - I've only previously seen one at the Australian War Memorial

Then they had some unique artefacts, including:

Dornier Do 335 A-0 Pfeil (Arrow), a heavy fighter with an usual dual nose/tail propeller design in a push/pull configuration that gave it an impressive 800mph speed. This is the only surviving example.

Arado Ar 234 B-2 Blitz (Lightning) - the world's first turbo jet bomber, fielded by the Luftwaffe from Sep 1944. This design was used predominantly for aerial reconnaissance (though at least 2 missions were sent to destroy the famous Remagen Bridge after its capture) and as the last German aircraft to overfly the UK during hostilities, in April 1945.

Horten Ho229 v3

This 'flying wing' design was commenced in 1943. A single crewed, twin-engine fighter/bomber, it was one of the earliest jet aircraft and had a design speed of 1000mph, significantly outpacing Allied fighters.

A prototype flew in early 1945, 3 months before the war's end but was far from ready for production when Germany surrendered.This aircraft was captured by the advancing US Army in April 1945 and is the only remaining example in the world.

This was the first in a series of large 'flying wing' designs, some of which were included in the 'Amerika Bomber' projekt

But my favourite in the collection was the recently restored Heinkel He 219 A-2/R4 Uhu (Eagle Owl) - probably the best nightfighter (nachtjager) of WW2.

Thats the FW-190 on the left and the Arado Blitz off to the right

https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/heinkel-he-219-2r4-uhu-eagle-owl/nasm_A19600322000

This aircraft design made its combat debut in June 1943, sporting a pressurised cockpit with twin ejection seats (the first military aircraft go be fitted with them), Lichtenstein SN-2 advanced VHF-band intercept radar, and six Mauser MG 151/20 20 mm autocannons - two in the wing roots inboard of the engines and four more ventrally. Later versions (model A-7 onwards) were fitted with the iconic Sträge Musik which fired 2 x 30mm upwards at 65 degrees.

 

This aircraft is one of 3 captured by the US Army Air Force at the end of WW2 (Operation LUSTY) from the Luftwaffe's 1st Night Fighter Wing at Grove, Denmark, and is currently the only one on display in the world.

Amazing crew vision from the cockpit

Closeup of the nose mounted Lichtenstein radar:

And was it really my favourite? Well lets just say its the only one I made video footage for :-)

In comparison the WW1 section was small, though boasted 3 'string-bags' of fame:

Nieuport 28C.1  

Spad XVI

Halberstadt CL.IV

Definitely a"must see" spot when travelling through Washington DC!