Ross Tierney

On April 12th, 1981, when a group of Portsmouth, England junior school students were let out of class to watch the televised launch of STS-1, two very important -- and very different -- journeys began.
 
That day, Space Shuttle Columbia’s first hurtle spaceward was tracked and scrutinized down to the very last detail. But no computer could gauge the effect its launch would have on witnesses around the world; and no one back at Mission Control Center was aware of the inspired inner journey begun by one of those Portsmouth children.
 
Young Ross Tierney had already developed a deep interest in aviation through his father, an RAF pilot and flight engineer who had served in WWII. During the ages of 6 to 8, when he wasn’t poring over his father’s collection of aircraft designs, Tierney was busy assembling intricate Airfix models of Spitfires, Hurricanes and Dorniers. Even then, he was particularly adept at replicating the minor structural details modeling enthusiasts often omitted for the sake of swift completion. This remarkable dedication to visual and architectural verity would stand him in good stead through a number of future endeavors.        
 
The hobby continued into Tierney’s teenage years before taking a backseat to the study of computing at Portsmouth College. Upon graduation, he went to work for Eidos Interactive and was instrumental in developing the first versions of the popular “Tomb Raider” game series. “I was quite busy then,” Tierney remembers, “but creating models was still a part-time hobby.”
 
In November 2001, Tierney made good on an earlier promise to see a shuttle launch first hand. “After I saw STS-1 lift off back in 1981,” says Tierney, “I told myself that I was going to witness a live launch before I died. I was here on vacation and the opportunity presented itself. It was STS-97, the Space Shuttle Endeavor, which was going up to the Space Station to take the first of the solar panels. I watched the launch from Jetty Park following a day spent visiting the Space Center. It was a crystal clear night and it could be seen going up as far as New York City. It was amazing. After that, I went on to learn as much about the program as I could.”
 
Tierney then left Eidos to pair his enthusiasm for the Space Program with his modeling skills. In 2003, he moved to the U.S. and began Cape Canaveral-based Launch Complex Models, LLC, devoted to producing highly-detailed kits of oft-ignored launch tower models. “It was, and still is, a highly-niche market. It had never been done before,” he tells me. “People had long been creating and collecting launch rockets and spacecraft replicas, but models of these historic launch towers had never been provided. I began Launch Complex Models to concentrate on expanding interest in them and fulfilling a need for the towers.”
 
Since their inception, Launch Complex Models have been the most popular producers of high-fidelity, museum-quality scale models of launch towers for the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. “We really concentrate on detail,” Tierney explains. “Each component is made from photo-etched brass, which is fairly unique in itself. The material is far more durable than plastic and allows us to incorporate details like corrugated textures, rivets and even the little nozzles on the emergency showers. Plastic is too brittle to bear the details we demand.”   
 
The actual construction of the tower models is farmed out to a few companies throughout the U.S., but the design specifications are provided by Tierney. “I spent a lot of time going to KSC and building relationships with NASA,” Tierney says. “By extending these relationships I was able to get measurements of  historic  equipment which had since been de-classified.” Due to the sensitive nature of some of the actual plans and heightened security measures after September 11th, Tierney fills in the few isolated design gaps by employing highly-educated guesswork buttressed with archived images provided by NASA.
 
His uncommon perseverance and passion for detail proved particularly useful when the deteriorating tower that launched Apollo 11 was destroyed in 2004. Known as Launch Umbilical Tower 1 – or LUT – the 490-foot gantry was originally dismantled in 1983, but the remaining sections were seeping dangerous toxins into the soil where it rested behind NASA headquarters. Finally, bowing to pressure from the EPA, NASA completely disposed of the LUT, despite Tierney’s efforts to preserve it as a monument through his “Save the LUT” campaign. “We failed in the end, but we came very close to saving it,” he laments.
 
Whether Tierney actually saved it or not is open to debate, for this tireless, under-the-gun research resulted in the creation of a 1:144 scale model of the structure, which includes working damper and swing arms, tail service masts and bogglingly intricate replications of minutae like textured girders and beams, pipes, fuel and hydraulic lines, benches and even the delicate chicken wire fence surrounding the service arms. As their products are geared toward the most discerning builders and collectors, Launch Complex Models’ success depends on this rigorous attention to detail.
 
“Though what I sell are kits for experienced and demanding model makers, I’m perfectly happy to build the towers so that they arrive to customers fully assembled,” offers Tierney. Other towers are being planned, including the Space Shuttle Mobile Launcher Platform, the Space Shuttle Launch Tower, and the Mercury/Atlas Launch Pad and Service Tower, all of which are built in 1:144 scale. “The original LUT was  490  feet high,” he explains, “and our model reduces it to about  41” . So you can imagine the detail we’ve duplicated.”
 
Some reproductions of the forthcoming moon-bound vessels are in the offing. “Though we are producing mostly historic equipment, we’ll be soon be providing models of the newer spacecraft which will return us to the moon, making us the first company to be able to offer them after the Columbia accident,” Tierney says. These newer spacecraft models , the  new “Orion”  Crew Exploration Vehicle and the “Artemis” Lunar Surface Access Module, will be available in either 1:48 or 1:32 scale.
 
Anyone who’s ever stood next to some of these full-size subjects can’t fail to be impressed by their sheer immensity or the technical prowess of the engineers who built them. Yet a squint at one of Tierney’s small models will have your jaw dropping with equal amazement.     
 
See all of Ross Tierney’s available kits and pre-order newer models at www.launchcomplexmodels.com, or email sales@launchcomplexmodels.com for more information.