Cassini Spacecraft

The Cassini spacecraft is without a doubt the most complex and time-consuming of the models I've built.  This was constructed from the detailed design downloaded from NASA.

I embellished heavily on the original design with extra colors, foil, and even a few extra parts that were not in the plans, but represent actual parts on the Cassini spacecraft itself.  Some of the "extras" include the four reaction wheel assemblies, an instrument panel on the main body, the two sun sensors on the main antenna dish, and the main engine gimbal assembly at the bottom of the craft.

The long boom was also an extra level of detail--the model blueprint called simply for a solid sheet of paper folded into a triangle.  I went the extra step of cutting out each triangular hole with an X-Acto knife before folding the sheet into the boom.

I estimate that this model took a total of 40 hours, not including the drying time after assembly of many of the sub-sections.

Another interesting part is the main antenna dish.  Rather than use the paper cone that was part of the blueprint, I took the Styrofoam dish from an extra Voyager kit I had purchased and used it instead!  Amazingly, the scale was exactly the same; otherwise, this would not have worked.