MarkD

I just got the new kit. It looks the same, save for new decals. The decals, well I'd prefer getting decals from Real Space Models instead as they are more accurate.

I see at Squadron the model is out,but the price went up on the kit. Yeah a pic of the new model's decals would be nice.

No problem helping a fellow shuttle modeler. :) The black strip is now painted white, but it's there. Hidden by the flame curtain that protects the hydraulic system inside the aft skirt. http://homepage.mac.com/georgegassaway/GRP/Scale/ShuttleData/SRB/TC_closeout.jpg Those curtains are gone when the boosters are recovered, probably pulled loose during the free fall to the ocean or torn off with the nozzle extension near/ at splashdown. From the SRB videos, you see the debris from the explosive separating the nozzle from the booster. This vid shows it happen, the first view looking down t

Here is a reference for the boosters I stumbled on doing my own reference look for my model. :) http://homepage.mac.com/georgegassaway/GRP/Scale/ShuttleData/SRB.html In the photos of the real booster you posted on the start of this thread, there is a foam spray at the edge of the aft skirt. You can see it in those photos and photos of recovered boosters. Also there is a black strip that separates the nozzle extension from the rest of the booster. The diagram on the link above shows it's location with a blue stripe. http://homepage.mac.com/georgegassaway/GRP/Scale/Drawings-shuttle-G/SRB-colo

Here is a sketch I did to help show the scale of the Valkyrie to the space shuttle of today. http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/148/d/c/endeavour_and_valkyrie_tav_by_onigojirakaiju-d3hf0rw.jpg

I have a set of decals from an old kit a couple years back. Will they still work even after sitting around that long un-used?

I see. you can make it accurate, a few modifications will need to be made. Lengthen the MLP as well as make a bottom for it. I remember as I used to have a kit like yours as a kid-until my little cousin shattered it. :( Here is a site with helpful reference for the MLP in the same scale as yours. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t60603.html and http://www.daveayers.com/Modeling/RealSpace.htm

I see. yeah, certain details are difficult to impossible to even attempt. The tiny ice frost ramps are one detail that would be entirely up to the modeler, no matter the scale. You mentioned you're making the MLP. Will you add weathering details to it like faded paint in some spots or rust stains?

Will you be adding the extensions of the two gaseous lines that go to the orbiter? For example http://homepage.mac.com/georgegassaway/GRP/Scale/ShuttleData/STS_47/47UMBI-1.JPG http://homepage.mac.com/georgegassaway/GRP/Scale/ShuttleData/ET_Photos/Pathfinder_ET_2..JPG and http://homepage.mac.com/georgegassaway/GRP/Scale/ShuttleData/ET_Photos/aftattach.JPG As the third photo shows, the LH gaseous line goes across the main beam that connects the struts. http://homepage.mac.com/georgegassaway/GRP/Scale/ShuttleData/ICD_Data/6-45-ET-Aft_Attach_Struts1.GIF Plenty of reference at http://homepage.m

I see. Here is a close up of my model http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/140/3/5/et_model_strut_by_onigojirakaiju-d3gtd7q.jpg This one will need to be modified as you can see it all sticks out, compared to the photo of the real ET. An easy fix as it's glued on, with no notches to fill in unlike the 1/144 kits. Have you thought of scribbing tiles on your shuttle orbiter? 1/72 scale is easy. 1/144, I don't know.

You could fill that with putty or make a strip of styrene fill the space left.

I see, but what I mentioned was below the two strips at the top half of the base of the strut, you should remove the rest of that thick bit of plastic. Here is a better photo of the ET showing what I mean. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/images/content/149269main_ET-119_2571_2660x2128.jpg Below the strips, the rest evens out with the rest of the tank.

This pic from the show, shows how massive this carrier really is. http://www.farscapefantasy.com/3.20.1/images/013_jpg.jpg The tiny yellow/ bronze ship there is the height of a two story house, and about twice the length of a bus. PeaceKeeper Command Carriers are huge.

I may even make a mold of the stringers of the inter tank before I even build the model. Well I was thinking of makng wraps of the resin copies of the stringers for my Ares V model. Well I can find nothing that matches the stringer pattern on the kit, so I'll make them myself. Though how would I do that? Mix the resin so it comes out more pliable to bend, like rubber? I also am doing that for a planned, well possible, 1/72 scale Saturn V. The ET stringers match the same design of the stringers seen on the S-IC/ S-2 interstage.

Another thing to add on the model is the shape of the thick panels of plastic that are the bases for the ET aft struts. They should be half the length instead of what the kit shows, as seen here on my models http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/114/3/0/space_shuttle_stack_kits_by_onigojirakaiju-d3eqzng.jpg The real ET has the bases half the length, and the bottom portion is more or less foam filler to match. The real one http://shuttle.msfc.nasa.gov/photoData//STS-115/MISC/640/115%20Orb%20ET%20Aft%20Attach.jpg and http://shuttle.msfc.nasa.gov/photoData//STS-116%20Rollout/640/116-28.JPG

One thing to add to the ET, the models never fix is that the base of the ET aft struts are not continuous from top to bottom. They are half that. You can see that in this photo http://homepage.mac.com/georgegassaway/GRP/Scale/ShuttleData/STRUTS_interfaces/Shuttle_Umbilical_Hydrogen.jpg and http://homepage.mac.com/georgegassaway/GRP/Scale/ShuttleData/STRUTS_interfaces/STS-36_ETAR_LH2%20detail.jpg The top half is thicker, while the bottom is at the same level as the rest of the ET. The model kits have it all the same thickness. As seen on my models here http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/114

Well putty or paint, depending on the modeler. I noticed on my 1/72 scale stack, those areas of the boosters are already molded that way, so painting them is it. Though what to do to get the spray on foam look. The bottom segment area that joins to the aft skirt should have a lip protruding where the two pieces meet. In the photos of the real shuttle, you can see that. http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/100604main_image_feature_233_jw4.jpg

Ah, the insta-foam covered stiffener joints on the bottom segment. will you be adding the foam that goes on the inside of the bottom skirt?

I remember that model on the Apollo 13 movie. I never knew it was an actual kit. I thought it was a NASA only made kit for officials and astronauts only.

I have no idea the scale for it, but I might buid a model of one. Here is a reference photo http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm141/magnum17x/Farscape%20weapons/Andromeda%20weapons/Farscape%20ships/10mppFarscapePKCommandCarrier.gif http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm141/magnum17x/Farscape%20weapons/Andromeda%20weapons/Farscape%20ships/item301-1.jpg http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm141/magnum17x/Farscape%20weapons/Andromeda%20weapons/Farscape%20ships/item301-2.jpg To help give a sense of the size of the actual ship, the real one is so large it can carry well over 50,000 crew and

Your model looks cool. The movie model, from all I have seen lacks certain details to look realistic. I saw the movie not to long ago and thought, why not blend that with the real shuttle look. Tile patterns, etc on the orbiter.

I haven't even started building it yet. I have to sketch out the model to scale.

I see. Well there is a thread in case you change your mind on making a launch complex. :) I never heard of Akclad or SNJ. Here is a site with some other reference material.

I only have the Luna kit. I don't know about the rest. Say will you be building a launch pad for your model? The one change to the paint would be the areas it says to paint silver. Is there a paint that has that polished metal look? In the real photos those areas are highly polished metal with a mirror reflectiveness.

From the Luna kit is the best baseline to build Vostok or any of the other manned R-7 rockets. The Sputnik kit as a guide, I'm not sure as it probably won't have a cap for the first stage. Well for the Sputnik kit or original R 7 the kit would have the nose cone be the cap for the core stage. Here is my model. http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/286/c/1/soyuz_and_atlantis_model_by_onigojirakaiju-d30ozc5.jpg I may suggest resin molding the engines from the boosters or core stage for the upper stage.