johnlove_mk_II

Looks great. I'll be up for a set for sure.

This thing is starting to get tricky.

My first foray into casting was promising, but there’s still a lot to learn. Made a very simple pattern for the seats to cast, but placed the vent hole incorrectly resulting in seats with no headrests. Bum. Need to get more silicone for a new mold before I continue. I did get around to cutting the remaining parts for the cabin, so I’ll be working on that starting tonight.

Looking great. I’ll second what Pete said … the truss work is gonna be awesome to watch.

Oh hey Bill, didn’t see that you posted. I have been thinking of lighting the insides … tiny LEDs with added series resistance to dim them to scale … connectionless power via something like this … maybe a capacitance switch built into the base to turn it off and on simply by tapping it. Could be cool.

Yeah, during the initial build I noticed it was a lot longer, but it does fit in there pretty well. The extra length seems to be forward of the “dash” … and It may extend a millimeter or so passed the rear bulkhead. If I were going to use the patterns to build a flight deck for a open cargo bay model, I'd likely trim them down a bit.

Had a little time of the weekend to work on the flight deck. Just a few more things to add before I paint it up and install the control panel decals. Finished up the glass cockpit art too. Should match-up well with Thorsten’s panels. Flight Decks: Monogram, Revell and mine. Side view, next will be the "roof", seats, sticks and the other internal details.

Here's the link to my window pattern inserts. Not perfect, but workable. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gbm5b3wcnic6o96/AACvHcLSXZ8yyXDmnq6U6JFta

I ordered the Rocketry CNC fairing on Monday and it arrived yesterday. It’s really nice, a little sanding and glaze and it will be good to go. Wait, did I just commit to something here?

Exactly! Or, go back to the Saturn V.

You're right, that might be easier ... the thing that caught my eye was the Rocketry CNC faring was only $7.50. After doing “inventory” of my raw materials ... I've got enough 3.75" inch tube to make the S-IVB and interstage ... an extra Dragon Apollo Spacecraft (LES/BPC/CSM/SLA/IU) … so I’m kind halfway there, eh? Just need to get the tubing for the first stage, the adapter and the 3D printed H-1s. Or I could just keep working on all the other stuff. :)

Josh over at Meatball Rocketry now has these available. Pretty awesome. I found this over on Etsy too. Just add a little tubing, and a dragon BPC/CSM/SLA ... and presto. The wheels are turning.

A little more progress on the deck.

Thanks for the info guys. I did find partial diagrams in the Crew Ops Manual, they were even in vector too. At any rate, I’m still working on that. I did get a little more of the flight deck completed last night. It’s coming along.

Sorting through the flight deck decal art … here’s what I’ve got so far. Thorsten’s panel art is really nice, eh? Since this will be a representation on STS-135, I’m going to need to modify the front panel to reflect the Glass Cockpit upgrade. Does anyone have a diagram handy? I’ve searched for it on Google, surprisingly to no avail.

The flight deck is starting to come together. Lot’s of cutting, glueing and fretting. I’m still working on the payload control panels and seats … we’ll need seats.

I really just removed the panel art, I left all the fold tabs and what not … and added a few detail scribes here and there. I’m just going to kinda fit it together as I go, and cut off the fold tabs as the plastic would be too thick to utilize them. I bought a steel plate and some magnets with 90 degree sides to act as a jig to keep things straight during the glueing process. Sorta like this but much smaller, and only $8 and some change. I'll take some picts tonight.

I stand on the shoulders of giants. I’ve decided to build my own flight deck using Thorsten Brand’s excellent 1/48 paper Shuttle parts scaled down to 1/72nd scale. (Although his model is not yet complete, It’s still a very amazing project. If you’re a member of the Space Paper Models group on Yahoo, you can download the files there.) Parts, fresh from the CNC. Flight Deck and the forward panel, trimmed and prepped. I’ve got a lot of prepping to do, but I think this will make for a pretty awesome looking “deck”. I’ve also ordered some laser decal paper to test out some panels.

Looks pretty spiffy there Hotdog. I may need to reconsider the whole decal Idea.

Interesting. Perhaps I'll read through the launch and entry checklists and see if they make mention of a cover. Meanwhile, if only this could be printed in 3D ... how cool would that be.

Oh ... well that is interesting. I have a pict of a bulkier HUD, but I just passed it off as a cover or something. I do have other picts, from "glass cockpit" era photos, that look a lot like the first set of parts from the left. If that's the case scratching the newer ones would be considerably easier.

Been thinking about the flight deck. The Monogram kit part is relatively close but there’s a lot to tweak to get it closer. The the left and right hand console aren’t the right shape … there’s the two bulkhead-ish parts that reside behind the Commander and Pilot’s seats that will have to be added … the passages to the mid-deck will need to be cut … the payload op panels need to be modified to allow for those passages … add all the panel details … seats … payload CRTs … et al. So for the panel details. I really would like to have something more dimensional than decals. Been searching for s

Thanks for the all the kind words. crow-t, You’re correct … I’m only doing one layer of glass. It will be cut slightly smaller than the outer “tile-frame” layer, and will be installed before the tiling commences. I really hope this doesn’t come back to haunt me ... but at 1/72 scale, I’m not really sure if the multi-layer approach would be worth all the trouble. (BTW, check your email.) egt-95, I just went out and got some Tamiya Putty … I’ve been wanting to give it a try, and this is the best excuse to do so. Thanks for the tip. For the tiling I’ve got a few ideas. 1) cutting 2mm square

Unfortunately it's like that on both sides. Based on the drawings I was using it seems the the center pane on the kit is a little too wide. I tried a few different adjustments but it always resulted in the center windows looking too splayed-out. The plan is to sand out the ridge on the kit, and build it back when I ”tile” the area. Everyone wasn't kidding when they said the front windows were going to be a bear. They are!

All the cockpit frames have now been installed … there will definitely be a some shaping and puttying in my future. Also, my semi-retentiveness detects a slight asymmetry between the sides. Nothing to quibble over, it’s very slight. I can’t wait to add hundreds of little squares of styrene around them. Next up, before I join the two fuselage halves, will be the interior walls of the flight deck. I suspect I’ll just sand them down and add some interior frames to the forward windows. Also, after looking at the Monogram flight deck, I’m thinking of just scratching out my own. I think I coul