My entry into this SiG will be the Apollo Lunar Module from Revell - the shot above is the Apollo 11 Lunar module "Eagle" as seen from the Command Module "Columbia" prior to the lunar descent.
The info on the instruction sheet covers the landing event but very little about the craft itself so here's some I've pulled from various sources on the web:
Background
The Apollo Lunar Module (LM), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the US Apollo program by Grumman Aircraft to carry a crew of two from lunar orbit to the surface and back. Designed for lunar orbit rendezvous, it consisted of an ascent stage and descent stage, and was ferried to lunar orbit by its companion Command/Service Module (CSM), a separate spacecraft of approximately twice its mass, which also took the astronauts home to Earth. After completing its mission, the LM was discarded. It was capable of operation only in outer space; structurally and aerodynamically it was incapable of flight through the Earth's atmosphere. The Lunar Module was the first manned spacecraft to operate exclusively in the airless vacuum of space. It was the first, and to date only, crewed vehicle to land on a natural object in the solar system other than the Earth.
Six such craft successfully landed on the Moon between 1969 and 1972. A seventh provided propulsion and life support for the crew of Apollo 13 when their CSM was disabled by an oxygen tank explosion en-route to the Moon.
The LM's development was plagued with problems which delayed its first unmanned flight by about ten months, and its first manned flight by about three months. Despite this, the LM eventually became the most reliable component of the Apollo/Saturn space vehicle, the only component never to suffer a failure that significantly affected a mission.
The total cost of the LM for development and the units produced was $21.3B in 2016 dollars, adjusting from a nominal total of $2.2B using the NASA New Start Inflation Indices.
At launch, the Lunar Module sat directly beneath the Command/Service Module (CSM) with legs folded, inside the Spacecraft-to-LM Adapter (SLA) attached to the S-IVB third stage of the Saturn V rocket. There it remained through Earth parking orbit and the Trans Lunar Injection (TLI) rocket burn to send the craft toward the Moon.
Soon after TLI, the SLA opened and the CSM separated, turned around, came back to dock with the Lunar Module, and extracted it from the S-IVB. During the flight to the Moon, the docking hatches were opened and the LM Pilot entered the LM to temporarily power up and test its systems (except for propulsion). Throughout the flight, he performed the role of an engineering officer, responsible for monitoring the systems of both spacecraft.
After achieving a lunar parking orbit, the Commander and LM Pilot entered and powered up the LM, replaced the hatches and docking equipment, unfolded and locked its landing legs, and separated from the CSM, flying independently. The Commander operated the flight controls and engine throttle, while the Lunar Module Pilot operated other spacecraft systems and kept the Commander informed on systems status and navigational information. After visual inspection of the landing gear by the Command Module Pilot, the LM was withdrawn to a safe distance, then the descent engine was pointed forward into the direction of travel to perform the 30 second Descent Orbit Insertion burn to reduce speed and drop the LM's perilune to within approximately 50,000 feet (15 km) of the surface,[4] about 260 nautical miles (480 km) uprange of the landing site.
At this point, the engine was started again for Powered Descent Initiation. During this time the crew flew on their backs, depending on the computer to slow the craft's forward and vertical velocity to near zero. Control was exercised with a combination of engine throttling and attitude thrusters, guided by the computer with the aid of landing radar. During the braking phase altitude decreased to approximately 10,000 feet (3.0 km), then the final approach phase went to approximately 700 feet (210 m). During final approach, the vehicle pitched over to a near-vertical position, allowing the crew to look forward and down to see the lunar surface for the first time.[5] Finally the landing phase began, approximately 2,000 feet (0.61 km) uprange of the targeted landing site. At this point manual control was enabled for the Commander, and enough fuel reserve was allocated to allow approximately two minutes of hover time to survey where the computer was taking the craft and make any necessary corrections. (If necessary, landing could have been aborted at almost any time by jettisoning the descent stage and firing the ascent engine to climb back into orbit for an emergency return to the CSM.) Finally, 66 inch (1676 mm) long probes extending from three footpads of the lander touched the surface, activating the contact indicator light which signaled time for descent engine cutoff, allowing the LM to settle on the surface.
Beginning with Apollo 14, increased LM fuel was made available for the powered descent and landing, by using the CSM engine to achieve the 50,000-foot (15 km) perilune. After the spacecraft undocked, the CSM raised and circularized its orbit for the remainder of the mission.
When ready to leave the Moon, the LM would separate the descent stage and fire the ascent engine to climb back into orbit, using the descent stage as a launch platform. After a few course correction burns, the LM would rendezvous with the CSM and dock for transfer of the crew and rock samples. Having completed its job, the LM was separated and sent into solar orbit or to crash into the Moon
Design phase
This 1963 model depicts the second LEM design, which gave rise to informal references as "the bug".
The Lunar Module was chiefly designed by Grumman aerospace engineer Thomas J. Kelly. The first LEM design looked like a smaller version of the Apollo Command/Service Module (a cone-shaped cabin atop a cylindrical propulsion section) with folding legs. The second design invoked the idea of a helicopter cockpit with large curved windows and seats, to improve the astronauts' visibility for hover and landing. This also included a second, forward docking port, allowing the LEM crew to take an active role in docking with the CSM.
As the program continued, there were numerous redesigns to save weight, improve safety, and fix problems. First to go were the heavy cockpit windows, and the seats; the astronauts would stand while flying the LEM, supported by a cable and pulley system, with smaller triangular windows giving them sufficient visibility of the landing site. Later, the redundant forward docking port was removed, which meant the Command Pilot gave up active control of the docking to the Command Module Pilot; he could still see the approaching CSM through a small overhead window. These changes resulted in significant weight savings. Egress while wearing bulky Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) spacesuits was also facilitated by a simpler-opening forward hatch (32 x 32 inches).
A configuration freeze did not start until April 1963, when the ascent and descent engine designs were decided. In addition to Rocketdyne, a parallel program for the descent engine was ordered from Space Technology Laboratories (TRW) in July 1963, and by January 1965 the Rocketdyne contract was canceled.
Power was initially to be produced by fuel cells built by Pratt and Whitney similar to the CSM, but in March 1965 these were discarded in favor of an all-battery design.
The initial design had three landing legs. As any particular leg would have to carry the weight of the vehicle if it lands at any significant angle, three legs was the lightest configuration. However, it would be the least stable if one of the legs were damaged during landing. The next landing gear design iteration had five legs and was the most stable configuration for landing on an unknown terrain. That configuration, however, was too heavy and the designers compromised on four landing legs.
In June 1966, the name was changed to Lunar Module (LM), eliminating the word "excursion". According to George Low, Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office, this was because NASA was afraid that the word "excursion" might lend a frivolous note to Apollo. After the name change from "LEM" to "LM", the pronunciation of the abbreviation did not change, as the habit became ingrained among engineers, the astronauts, and the media to universally pronounce "LM" as "lem" which is easier than saying the letters individually.
Specifications
Ascent stage
The Ascent stage contained the crew cabin with instrument panels and flight controls. It contained its own Ascent Propulsion System (APS) engine and two hypergolic propellant tanks for return to lunar orbit and rendezvous with the Apollo Command/Service Module. It also contained a Reaction Control System (RCS) for attitude and translation control, which consisted of sixteen hypergolic thrusters similar to those used on the Service Module, mounted in four quads, with their own propellant supply. A forward EVA hatch provided access to and from the lunar surface, while an overhead hatch and docking port provided access to and from the Command Module.
Internal equipment included an environmental control (life support) system; a VHF communications system with two antennas for communication with the Command Module; a unified S-band system and steerable parabolic dish antenna for communication with Earth; an EVA antenna resembling a miniature parasol which relayed communications from antennas on the astronauts' Portable Life Support Systems through the LM; primary (PGNCS) and backup (AGS) guidance and navigation systems; an Alignment Optical Telescope for visually determining the spacecraft orientation; rendezvous radar with its own steerable dish antenna; and an ice sublimation system for active thermal control. Electrical storage batteries, cooling water, and breathing oxygen were stored in amounts sufficient for a lunar surface stay of 48 hours initially, extended to 75 hours for the later missions.
During rest periods while parked on the Moon, the crew would sleep on hammocks slung crosswise in the cabin.
The return payload included the lunar rock and soil samples collected by the crew (as much as 238 pounds (108 kg) on Apollo 17), plus their exposed photographic film.
• Crew: 2
• Crew cabin volume: 235 cu ft (6.7 m3)
• Habitable volume: 160 cu ft (4.5 m3)
• Crew compartment height: 7 ft 8 in (2.34 m)
• Crew compartment depth: 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m)
• Height: 9 ft 3.5 in (2.832 m)
• Width: 14 ft 1 in (4.29 m)
• Depth: 13 ft 3 in (4.04 m)
• Mass, dry: 4,740 lb (2,150 kg)
• Mass, gross: 10,300 lb (4,700 kg)
• Atmosphere: 100% oxygen at 4.8 psi (33 kPa)
• Water: two 42.5 lb (19.3 kg) storage tanks
• Coolant: 25 pounds (11 kg) of ethylene glycol / water solution
• Thermal Control: one active water-ice sublimator
• RCS propellant mass: 633 lb (287 kg)
• RCS thrusters: sixteen x 100 lbf (440 N) in four quads
• RCS propellants: Aerozine 50 fuel / nitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) oxidizer
• RCS specific impulse: 290 s (2,840 N•s/kg)
• APS propellant mass: 5,187 lb (2,353 kg)
• APS engine: Bell Aerospace LM Ascent Engine (LMAE) & Rocketdyne LMAE Injectors
• APS thrust: 3,500 lbf (16,000 N)
• APS propellants: Aerozine 50 fuel / nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer
• APS pressurant: two 6.4 lb (2.9 kg) helium tanks at 3,000 pounds per square inch (21 MPa)
• APS specific impulse: 311 s (3,050 N•s/kg)
• APS delta-V: 7,280 ft/s (2,220 m/s)
• Thrust-to-weight ratio at liftoff: 2.124 (in lunar gravity)
• Batteries: two 28–32 volt, 296 ampere-hour silver-zinc batteries; 125 lb (57 kg) each
• Power: 28 V DC, 115 V 400 Hz AC
Descent stage
The Descent stage's primary job was to support a powered landing and surface extravehicular activity. When the excursion was over, it served as the launch pad for the ascent stage. Octagon-shaped, it was supported by four folding landing gear legs, and contained a throttleable Descent Propulsion System (DPS) engine with four hypergolic propellant tanks. A continuous-wave Doppler radar antenna was mounted by the engine heat shield on the bottom surface, to send altitude and rate of descent data to the guidance system and pilot display during the landing. Almost all external surfaces, except for the top, platform, ladder, descent engine and heat shield, were covered in amber, dark (reddish) amber, black, silver, and yellow aluminized Kapton foil blankets for thermal insulation. The number 1 (front) landing leg had an attached platform (informally known as the "porch") in front of the ascent stage's EVA hatch and a ladder, which the astronauts used to ascend and descend between the cabin to the surface. The footpad of each landing gear contained a 67-inch (170 cm)-long surface contact sensor probe, which signaled the commander to switch off the descent engine. (The probe was omitted from the number 1 leg of every landing mission, to avoid a suit-puncture hazard to the astronauts, as the probes tended to break off and protrude upwards from the surface.)
Equipment for the lunar exploration was carried in the Modular Equipment Stowage Assembly (MESA), a drawer mounted on a hinged panel dropping out of the lefthand forward compartment. Besides the astronaut's surface excavation tools and sample collection boxes, the MESA contained a television camera with a tripod; as the commander opened the MESA by pulling on a lanyard while descending the ladder, the camera was automatically activated to send the first pictures of the astronauts on the surface back to Earth. A United States flag for the astronauts to erect on the surface was carried in a container mounted on the ladder of each landing mission.
The Early Apollo Surface Experiment Package (EASEP) (later the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package (ALSEP)), was carried in the opposite compartment behind the LM. An external compartment on the right front panel carried a deployable S-band antenna which, when opened looked like an inverted umbrella on a tripod. This was not used on the first landing due to time constraints, and the fact that acceptable communications were being received using the LM's S-band antenna, but was used on Apollo 12 and 14. A hand-pulled Modular Equipment Transporter (MET), similar in appearance to a golf cart, was carried on Apollo 13 and 14 to facilitate carrying the tools and samples on extended moonwalks. On the extended missions (Apollo 15 and later), the antenna and TV camera were mounted on the Lunar Roving Vehicle, which was carried folded up and mounted on an external panel. Compartments also contained replacement Portable Life Support System (PLSS) batteries and extra lithium hydroxide canisters on the extended missions.
• Height: 10 ft 7.2 in (3.231 m) (plus 5 ft 7.2 in (1.707 m) landing probes)
• Width/depth, minus landing gear: 13 ft 10 in (4.22 m)
• Width/depth, landing gear extended: 31.0 ft (9.4 m)
• Mass including fuel: 22,783 lb (10,334 kg)
• Water: one 151 kg (333 lb) storage tank
• DPS propellant mass: 18,000 lb (8,200 kg)
• DPS engine: TRW LM Descent Engine (LMDE)[16]
• DPS thrust: 10,125 lbf (45,040 N), throttleable between 10% and 60% of full thrust
• DPS propellants: Aerozine 50 fuel / nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer
• DPS pressurant: one 49-pound (22 kg) supercritical helium tank at 1,555 psi (10.72 MPa)
• DPS specific impulse: 311 s (3,050 N•s/kg)
• DPS delta-V: 8,100 ft/s (2,500 m/s)
• Batteries: four (Apollo 9-14) or five (Apollo 15-17) 28–32 V, 415 A•h silver-zinc batteries; 135 lb (61 kg) each
Lunar Module diagram
Lunar Module cutaway illustration
Ascent module of Apollo 17
Eagle, the Lunar Module ascent stage of Apollo 11, in orbit above the Moon. Earth is visible in the distance.
(not 
)
You can see the seam joins still waiting for some attention here too...
