1:1,000,000 scale model of lunar surface mapped by Lunar Astronautical Chart 12.   Model is made from basswood lumber, measuring 48cm tall by 59cm at the widest part. 4cm height, or 40km of elevation difference, due to 30 degrees of curvature. Topography generated from ldem_128.jp2 available at the Planetary Data Service.

Lit with small flashlight in darkened room.  Basswood too fuzzy for sharp detail.

Sanded to 400 grit with sanding mop after 2nd application of glue size and stained with reactive pining stain (still drying).

The changing appearance of Messier A and Messier (9km x 11km) in the eyepiece over the course of a lunar day produced a controversy that was not settled until the Lunar Orbiter and Apollo missions.  Here is a snapshot from Meshlab (with some extra contrast added in Photoshop) of the two craters modeled from the SLDEM dataset available at Map A Planet 2.

Messier A and Messier carved from Maple at 1:100,000 scale, fresh off the CNC and still fuzzy.  Sunlit for sharp shadows.

 

Lunar Astronautical Chart 108 imaged from SLDEM dataset.  5 million faces for 16 x 20 degree sector of the far side of the Moon.  A section of Mare Orientale at the upper right, Montes Rook at the bottom right.

Close-up of above; Golitsyn crater at the top, with Golitsyn J in the foreground.  Lots of unnamed features on the far side.

57km Cassini Crater at the eastern edge of Mare Imbrium.  Imaged from SLDEM available at Map A Planet 2.

Close-up of 15km Cassini A seen from the West.

30km Lambert Crater in Mare Imbrium with 55km Lambert R giving the appearance of a flooded crater to the South.  Portion of LAC 40 imaged with SLDEM dataset available at Map A Planet 2.