In November 2022, when NASA launched the Artemis I unmanned mission to the moon and back, we figured it wouldn’t take long for a kit of the rocket to arrive. Round 2 answered the call with its AMT 1/200 scale Artemis I Space Launch System and Orion Crew Spacecraft plastic model kit, a size matching other space program kits under the same brand. It models the oh-so-imaginatively named Space Launch System with the Orion spacecraft atop as it appeared for the Artemis I mission. The kit includes a 12-page information booklet with photos.
The kit comprises 38 parts, including the stand. Molded in white plastic, the cylinders that make up the Core Stage and the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB) are thick and won’t deform or go out of round during gluing.
I appreciated that the separate parts cover the corrugated seams at either end of the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage. Unfortunately, they don’t fit cleanly as molded. Trim off most or all the locating tabs on the back of them (parts 8 and 9) to improve the fit. I left off the four Abort Motors (Part 11) around the Launch Abort System spire atop the Crew Module housing. I also omitted the RS-25 engine bells (Part 13) from the Engine Section at the base of the Core Stage for painting.
I filled minor gaps between the halves of the core and crew stages and SRBs with superglue. Much of them will be largely hidden when the SRBs are attached to the Core Stage if you want to expend less time and glue in those areas.
To ease masking and painting, I left off the liquid oxygen feed lines (Part 3), system tunnel (Part 5), and pressurant lines (Part 4).
I painted the SRBs, the Core Stage engine section, and the upper section from the Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter Tamiya Pure White (No. TS-26), the SRB forward sections and aft skirts and section just above the Core Stage engine section with Tamiya Racing White (No. LP-39), and the bands on the SRBs Black (No. LP-1). Matching the insulation on the Core Section required plenty of masking and custom mixes of Tamiya lacquers: for the tan 2 parts Tamiya Dark Yellow 2 (No. LP-55), 1 part Light Sand (No. LP-30), a little Yellow (No. LP-8), and a little Orange (No. LP-51). For the orange-red, I mixed ¬¬¬¬¬1 part Tamiya Dull Red (No. LP-18), 1 part Red Brown 2 (No. LP-57), and 3 parts orange.
Even after a liberal layer of clear gloss, the kit decals proved thick and troublesome. Fortunately, most of the numerous markings go on smooth curves. But I had a devil of a time settling the large NASA worm logos over the conduits on the SRBs, and almost all the decals silvered despite the clear gloss and multiple applications of Microscale Micro Sol. I ended up sealing them with clear flat, stabbing them with the tip of a No. 11 blade, and flowing on Walthers Solvaset, but even that didn’t correct the silvering. I used black and silver stripe decals from my spares to add some stripes missing from the Orion spacecraft housing.
With the engines in place and the model on the sturdy stand, the model stands an impressive 20 inches tall and looks sharp. The AMT 1/200 scale Artemis I Space Launch System and Orion Crew Spacecraft plastic model kit is an easy build that requires careful painting to bring out its best. The decals were a bit of a letdown, and that probably makes this a kit better suited to modelers with experience building at least a few kits.