K2Pete

Those subtle shades really look good George! And all those little shapes represent a LOT of masking! Nice work! Pete

I agree with George ... we need to see more pix Ret! You're just teasing us with one or two ... come on ... we wanna be OVERWHELMED with pix! These do look pretty good though! Pete

My, my, my-y-y! This is just ... SOO-PERB! ... and you did this 20 years ago ... ?? The job you did on the nose with the Milliput and that per-r-rfect sanding job ... DANG you did nice work! And your photos look GREAT too! Thanx for posting these ... I'm lovin' this! Pete

WTF???!!! WOW ... I don't visit ARC for a few days and I missed this news? But really Manfred ... you've been at this build, putting all kinds of mental effort and expending all kinds of creativity, I'm not surprised you'd like a break from this. But this story ... it's pretty elaborate and well ... yes, I suppose it's possible .. but-t-t ... You could have just said that you're taking a lo-o-ong break from this effort of yours. Honestly, we would all understand! But Seriously ... I hope I didn't make you laugh ... and as a fellow old man, I really do understand how fragile us old guys have become. 30 years ago we would have just bounced ... but these old bones just don't have the same flexibility that they used to. Take all the time you need my friend! Yes, we will ALL have some withdrawal symptoms but we'll hope you have no complications and that everything heals perfectly ... Enjoy these Summer months and ... don't worry about US ... we'll be just fine! Pete ( I hope all of this translates well and you know that I'm just kidding, Manfred! )

The pix are GREAT! This build is lovely! ... so far-r-r ... ! I've been in this hobby for just 12 years and never knew building, like you've done, even existed. This ... is my kind of build. All built from scratch ... don't keep us hangin', post some more pix ... or even tease us with an image of the finished model and we can then just sit back and enjoy the build progress. Thanx! Pete

I enjoy watching you go through the mental conniptions trying to develop a solution for all these kit deficiencies ... and getting a lovely result! I love the old school thinking, Randy! Keep it going! Pete

THis'll be good to watch! Your model building skills are wonderful! But, don't keep us waiting too-o-o long, okay George? Pete

Your collector friend is gonna be so-o-o pleased with this Shuttle! Your painting of the OMS tiles and the wings is most excellent George! The shades are so subtle ... Well Done! I hope we see your posts of the Monogram Shuttle a little sooner than ... 9 years! Pete

Thanx George ... these pictures look terrific! The last time I tried to post directly, the forum software told me it needed to be smaller than 100kb ... yours look GREAT! You made the Revell kit look WONDERFUL! Looking at a past post of yours, did you end up putting on a Drag Chute Compartment? ... Brake lines on the Landing Gear? ... Shiny stuff on the inside of the Gear doors? I'm growing to LOVE the old Space Shuttles! Pete

GREAT to see your post George!! Long time ... no see! The model looks gor-r-rgeous ... but, did you post just post 3 images? When I click on your links, Photobucket doesn't let me click on the arrows on the sides to view other images ... but those 3 images are certainly a lovely teaser! ... but I'd love to see more ... Pete

I just went through your thread and was cautious, at first, before continuing because you were really bashing A-Model ... then, looking at your skills to repair and build, you've impressed the heck out of me! I've built a few Shuttles, ( 1/144, 1/72, 1/100 ) all 40 year old kits and the fit is really poor, so I can relate to your issues ... but you've solved 'em beautifully! This is a pleasure to watch come together! Thanx for posting and keep at it! Pete

The detail in the upper half of the engine bell is ... The 3D skills you guys are putting on display plus the capabilities of these 3D printers is simply ... a MAYzing!

You are a brave man ... I'm confident that this is going to look most excellent! Pete

Yup ... I agree. X-1, X-2, X-15, X-37 and all the lifting bodies belong here ... rather than on a Jet forum.

I used to use lots of putty but after seeing this solution somewhere online, this works better ... for me. I'm just now watching the Dragon docking with the ISS ... dang, these images are so-o-o incredible! After gluing the Ascent to the Descent stage the seam at the front needed to be patched. I used some scrap sheets of styrene after seeing gaps ... Filled the glued seam with a length of 0.020" styrene rod ... ... then filled and sanded ... a few times. The side window was made from a sphere cut in half and sanded then attached. The entire assembly got primed too ... it's looking good! Then a couple light coats of White ... The thrusters weren't attached because I have still a lot of fiddling to go. The Windows are next. I think I'll go with airbrushing and not decals. Because of all the compound curves on the 'face', the decal material won't conform ... so I need to determine the size and shape of the windows. This is a test fit ... And this seems to work nicely. The sheet is a printout of the decals ... just on paper for now. The windows went through quite a few subtle iterations ... This is in the final stretch ... I hope! Pete