K2Pete

Scott Smith, can I see how you did Dutycat's windows? I briefly tried using his glass and my 'scriber' didn't scribe into the slides. I do wonder how it woulda turned out though. I decided to not use a decal for the tile pattern and to try something else. I had a CD case and used the Dutycat supplied window guide to scribe and cut out the window glass from the CD case. ... filing them to shape. Needless to say, there was a lotta test fitting. Initial test fit of all the windows ... Rather than use decals for the tile pattern, I decided to paint it on ... Tamiya Tape mask ... ... and painted ... I was thrilled with the result! And with the Glass installed. I just used Future to 'glue' them in. My mind has been on these windows for awhile and now that they're done, I can work on the Payload ... I still have to figure how I'm gonna mount this behemoth model ... dang it's BIG! Later Pete

Welcome to the Real Space forum Mike. So nice to see you here! I have a Buran/Energiya but it's neither one of the ones you're looking for, but I've watched one of your vids and will watch the others when I have a little time ... oh wait ... we've all got a lotta time now-w-w ... I met you, and all the other Space Modelers, at the 2009 NATS where we had 53 entries and the category had to be split ... I still post my completed builds on Sven's site ... I hope you'll post here regularly ... So, set a spell, take your shoes off, take a look around this forum and ... y'all come back now, y'hear? Pete

The body flap decal was just my mistake ... I made a quick look at the sheet, it looked like it would fit there and I trimmed it and applied it to the TOP of the flap. Thinking back, it may have confused this old fart, as the wing section of the decal may have looked like the flap was included ... either way, no need to replace it Hotdog, it looks just fine the way it is and no-one, not even a judge will see it. And re the Windows on Dutycat's resin piece, my initial thought was that they were small, but I just figured he did it perfectly. About 10 years ago, I made my own window decals and thought I had done an accurate bit of research on the size and placement, but heck, I could be wrong too. But mine are way bigger ... Geez, I still don't know what to do with these ... but I'll figure something out ... The engine bells got added ... ... some weathering is getting done ... ... some delicate dry brushing on the nose ... ... and that'll do for now. I really want to glue on the Payload Bay doors but I still need to drill a mounting hole in the belly and will be handling the Shuttle a LOT and the doors will just get in the way. This 20" long model bangs into lamps ( notice the tail isn't installed? ) and edges of tables and knocks over glue bottles and the PB doors will be installed much later. And then all those little hinges and other details will need to be installed then too ... still a lotta stuff to do on this ... But, seeing as we're all gonna be locked down and model contests are indefinitely postponed, I have a little more time! Pete

Thank Ret ... but as that old saying goes ... "Good looking from far, but far from good looking"! It shan't win any awards, but it sure is fun to build! The Body Flap decal was replaced with the old Cutting Edge decal. These were really cutting edge when they came out, 10 or so years ago, as no-one had done the Shuttle's belly decals to this high degree ... I placed it, let it dry, then sealed it with Future then ... ... ran an enamel wash over it to knock down the lightness. Maybe I'll do another wash, but I'll see ... it'll be on the bottom of the model and shan't be seen ... The Hubble Space Telescope was in pretty good condition for having been built over 10 years ago ... but a couple of handrails had broken and needed repairs and while handling this fragile model, I broke off a few other things. There's hardly a square centimetre that doesn't have a handhold or other delicate item on it ... At the lower left is the cradle the HST will sit in and the brass rod will support the HST. The only major thing left is wrapping the Payload cargo in "Mylar" and then a myriad of little details ... oh, and affixing the PB Doors to the Shuttle. Thanx for tuning in! Pete

Thanx very much Randy ... I don't know what this is gonna look like when it's done, so I'm looking forward to it too! Manfred, if this wasn't a fun and enjoyable pastime, I wouldn't be doing this. Plus, I get the same enjoyment from viewing YOUR progress! Thanx Underdog ... and just ask it right here ... unless it's personal. In that case ... no, I won't give you any of my canned food! The Orbiter is getting closer ... The Aft bulkhead ... ... masking the black tile pattern on the lower OMS pods ... ... applied more tape and Real Space Models' umbilical connection PE to the Aft fuselage. In front of the Umbilical are 2 squares of styrene to represent access panels. ... I wrapped the OBSS boom with grocery bag plastic ... the Grapple fixture is on the lower left on the boom. These decals are from Real Space Models and are at least 20 years old, maybe more ... and they broke apart. But I had more which didn't ... This is Real Space Models hatch decal. I don't know why there is a Grey border around it, but I used it anyway. The decal to the right is cock-eyed and I repositioned it later. It'll be mostly covered by the open PB Doors in any event ... Now, for the Belly decals. I've been putting this off for awhile but dove right in this morning ... I'm just cutting around the nose decal and had to cut around them all. These decals are from our own Hotdog and I've had them for 3 or 4 years ... The sheer size of them worried me ... but they went down with no-o-o trouble ... at ... all! And they're BIG! Lovely ... just LOVELY! The full size bottle of Future is beside it, just for scale. And I made a mistake. The Body Flap's decal should have been placed on the bottom of the belly, but as you can see, I put it NOT on the bottom of the Flap ... my mistake. But I'll figure out a fix! Due to the compound curves at the Nose, the decal didn't conform, so ... with a sharp blade, I cut the little blisters down the middle, added some Setting Solution and ... ... turned out perfectly! This decal paper / film is fantastic to work with. I worked the surface pretty well, but gently, and there was no damage done to the decal at all! This is Dutycat's cockpit resin and under it, is his instructions. The image of the window decal is ... whose? Hotdog, did you make it? I would prefer using a Decal for the window rather than paint it and wonder where I can get it ... The Orbiter is just about done. Now I need to work on the Payload equipment and tidy up / repair, my old Hubble Space Telescope. Phee-e-e-e-w-w-w-w ... this was a task and a half! But in a FUNN sort of way! Thanx for stopping by ! Pete

I agree with Underdog 100%! ... plus you're doing this exceptional work on a tiny, itsy-bitsy scaled model ... taking note of your "angelic patience and steady hand. " Indeed! Pete

I wanted to create my own Wing decals and use up this awful decal film / paper ... After a few printouts, adjusting the colours each time, this one was looking okay. Now, only a bit of the decal will be seen as the open Payload Bay Doors will be covering it. Masking the RCC panels on the wings ... ... and afterwards ... the painted tiles on the wing is unfinished because the PB door will cover it up and it won't be seen. On the aft fuselage, you can also see where I've covered the fuselage with First-Aid tape and painted it White ... I'll go back and discolour it a bit with paint. The Umbilical panel is from Real Space Models and is part of Glenn's Photoetch items ... The PB interior is almost done ... Handholds have been painted, Cameras have been installed, PB Door locks have been painted., PB wiring has been painted too ... lots and lots of small things to take care of ... and still more to do ... ... but this is all good, clean FUNN! Thanx for taking a peek gents ... Pete

I never get tired of seeing an Apollo Lunar Module ... and your models of it! 2 questions Vincent ... 1. Did you seal the printed paper facets on the Ascent stage? ( are they printed on Laser or Inkjet? ) 2. The rendezvous Antenna is rotated in such a position that I wonder if you had a specific reason for it? I admire your attention to detail every ... single ... detail ... and the end result is lovely to see! Merci M Meens

I just went to the website and sure enough ... it's been postponed. http://heritagecon.com/index.html I'm trying to complete a model for the show, so this postponement is ... well, expected. What's that ancient curse? ... "May you live in interesting times?" ... these are indeed interesting times ...

No concerns whatsoever-r-r! Here's an image of my 9 year old Shuttle Cutaway and the tape looks ... as ... good ... as ... the day I stuck 'em on ... Now, in the prep, I paint the tape, then brush on Future, so they're pretty well sealed ... .. And thanx Bill!

Thanx Underdog ... it is coming along nicely! With just the normal amount of frustrations ! The First Aid tape has an adhesive backing ... and it's easily re-positionable. And here's an image I took a couple months ago ... the 1/100 and 1/72 Shuttles ... to see the size difference ...

Starting to add paint ... ... Masking the elevons ... ... and the nose ... Let me show how I mask on a curve ... the RCC nose cap always seems to be a problem. Firstly, I paint on the RCC colour and over paint the area I wanna cover ... Using a strip of Electrical Tape, because it stretches, I mask off the nose cap limit ... note the over painted Grey colour ... A little more Tamiya masking tape to ensure I don't overspray onto the RCC nose cap .. And spray on some Gunmetal ... instead of Black Peel off the masking tape and ... a nice clean result ... it works for me! I've spent the last many hours painting the blanket tapes and touching up the black tiles. The Hatch is First Aid tape cut out to shape The tail and aft end ... Adding some paint to the SSMEs ... I've used Ricardo's photos of Atlantis that he took in KSC ... and they're terrific! Thanx Ricardo! I'll coat the shuttle with Future in preparation for decals ... then Mylar blankets for the Payload Bay cargo and I'll probably need to fix up the 12 year old Hubble Telescope model ... still lots to do-o-o ... i'm still hoping to get this completed for a contest in 2 weeks, but due to this, IMHO overhyped virus, it will probably NOT take place ... but there's still a helluva lotta details to complete on this model, so it may well not be ready for the show! Pete

The Laser ranging and camera equipment at the end of the OBSS ... The belly got primed ... I cut out the 3 shields on the SSMEs One of the handholds broke off of the Payload Bay door and I built a new one from .030" styrene rod .. After sanding the OMS pods, a few spots didn't adhere properly and these divots were puttied and will get sanded ... The blankets on the side of the fuselage and the piece of tape is there to protect the styrene surface from paint so that the PB doors can be glued on later on ... The deadline's getting tighter, but I hope this gets done ... if not, there's always the next show! Pete

A superb piece of work ! Having built a few 1/48 LMs myself, your result is great to see! The coils on the VHF antennae, were they 3D printed too or did you coil them out of wire yourself? Once again, M Meens, you've set the bar very high! Well done! Pete

A 1/6 LM ... wow! I've watch his segments with Adam Savage and am impressed with his suits. His attention to detail is great to see. But something doesn't look ... quite ... right ... on this LM. I'm hoping its a combination of my poor eyes and parallax of the wide angle shot, but the Ascent Stage seems just a touch out of proportion ... but I'll take a good look at it. That said, I'd be more than proud to have built this myself! I'll see if this is on his website, I hope it's under Ryan Nagata ... Thanx for posting this Underdog ... this is great! Pete