First impressions of this kit are similar to many other Dragon kits I’ve built. The molding is solid and the detail is good. Also like several other Dragon kits I’ve built, the instructions are pretty terrible. I was very confused when I opened to box to find no painting or decal instructions whatsoever. After wasting more time than I care to admit looking into it, I realized the paint and decal instructions are printed on the underside of the box. Who does that?
But. time to get started. The first step is to build the CSM, which I am in the process of doing now. Building a cylinder with multiple pieces glued to a ring could have been much worse, but luckily all the pieces seem to align fairly well. I’ve got one small ridge I need to figure out how to sand down, but otherwise solid.
The reentry portion of the kit is one solid molded piece, so that makes it almost too easy.
No interior details, just the outside. There might be some aftermarket options, but I haven’t looked into it, going to build it in orbit, so it’s necessarily closed up
Not a ton to report on this build, been busy with other projects around the house, but I was able to finish the first part today.
It’s not all glued together yet so I can paint it easier, so ignore some of the obvious gaps between the command module and the rest of the craft.
I spent more time than I care to admit trying to figure out the proper orientation of the four reaction control structures, but this configuration appears correct based on reference documentation I found.
