Mercury Atlas - Friendship 7LV

1/144 Scale

New Ware Space Ship Series

Reviewed by Rodger Kelly

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New Ware is a company based in the Czech Republic that produces mixed media 'science fact' kits of space vehicles and hardware.  They produce complete kits as well as conversions for existing injection-moulded space models.  Their products span the accepted scale range from 1/144 through 1/72, 1/48, to 1/32. 

Their latest issue in 1/144 scale is the John Glenn's Friendship 7 Mercury capsule mounted atop an atlas rocket.  The kit is configured as Atlas 109D as it appeared on 20 February 1962 when John Glenn was successfully launched to carry out three orbits of the earth, becoming the first American to do so. 

Typical of New Ware products, the kit is a mixed media one and comprises eighteen resin components as well as ten brass etched parts and two small decal sheets. 

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

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The resin parts look very much like they come the same people that produce the Aries range of resin aircraft cockpit and detail sets.  They are flawlessly cast and exhibit crisp and even detail that is best viewed under magnification to be truly appreciated. 

The escape tower come lattice work is supplied as brass etch and you must carefully bend it to shape.  New Ware must have realised that this is a delicate task and have mercifully supplied two complete towers on the single fret in case you make a botch of your first attempt. 

The two small decal sheets carry markings for both the Atlas rocket and the capsule.  All designs are in register and again, must be viewed under magnification to be fully appreciated.  Carrier film is minimal.  The 109D markings are provided in two parts to avoid any placement problems over the cast detail of the Atlas Rocket. 

New Ware must subscribe to the 'a picture is worth a thousand words' theory as the instruction sheet is big on diagrams but short on words to assist in the construction phase. Painting detail is by way of a shaded diagram key.  This is not a criticism of the kit by any means as the kit has no doubt been produced for people who are experienced modellers. 

The completed model stands nearly nine inches tall and will no doubt result in a stunning model. 

The resin parts, brass etch and decals all come in separate zip loc bags that are packed into a thin cardboard box. 

New Ware's website is at http://mek.kosmo.cz/newware/ and it is well worth a visit.  It shows excellent close-up colour photographs of their products that can be used as reference to build this kit and are far better than my pedestrian efforts that accompany this review! 

Recommended.

Footnote: 

My home, Perth, Western Australia is known as the City of Lights. 

When John Glenn carried out the historic Friendship 7 mission in 1962, the citizens of Perth were urged to tun on all their exterior lights in an effort to welcome him as he flew overhead in space.  It was figured that given Perth's location on the western shore of our continent with not much more than farm land and desert to the east, farmland to the north and the south as well as the Indian Ocean to the West it should stand out fairly well from space. 

Being seven years old at the time I well remember our extended families and entire neighbourhood gathering together on the designated night and "turning on the lights".  Our efforts were rewarded as John Glenn did truly did see our collective lights and passed a message thanking the residents of Perth.  From that time on Perth has been referred to as the City of Lights. 

36 year later, John Glenn passed our way again and we turned on all our lights again as he flew overhead on the shuttle Discovery.  This time however I was the father organising the activities!

Thanks to New Ware and Victory Models for the review sample

New Ware products are available online at Victory Models website