K2Pete

That was fun Jay ... thanx! Regarding the payload bay warping, I've added the sill / longerons, and the rigidity of the bay doors themselves will, I think, straighten the side walls out. And this model is still only about 50% done, if that. But it'll be the details now ... fuel tanks and more wiring in the Payload Bay, TPS all over, in the payload bay too (the starboard half ), MLG brake lines, split rudder ... whew! And that's terrific news about the Shuttle Stack being reissued! :P Thanx for posting that news! Pete

Well I'll be darned!! I've met him a few times about 20 years ago and I'm thrilled to know he's still around! Happy Birthday indeed! ;) Pete

Nice job! Now, I need some more info ... ( I'm know nada about Sputnik, so bear with me ... ) the antenna rods are what material? Styrene rod? Piano wire? ( There's no sagging ... ) What look like delicate hinges are made ... how? And the 'brackets' attaching the antennae to the body are, solid styrene, bent/formed aluminum? The sphere is ... hollow? Solid? Is the seam carved into the surface? And the circular access panels are what material? Even the Explorer looks pretty good! Do ya have any WIP pix of your Sputnik? I'd love to see 'em! Thanx for posting these! You've got a couple of med

Alright ... thanx very much for the info guys! Pete

To replicate other metallic finishes, have any of you tried the Alclad method of painting a Gloss Black undercoat first, then painting on, say Model Master Silver, or Aluminum or Brass, for instance? Will the Gloss Black coat make the metal finish 'pop' as it does with Alclad? Thanx in advance Pete

I'm getting the piping and wiring installed into the Payload Bay. The frames/ ribs have been installed as well. Whew ... talk about tedious! If I do something like this again, I'm gonna see how laser cut styrene will work ... these frames were a pain, but in a good way! The sill / longerons that span the Payload Bay were next. I just used 2 pieces of 'C' channel and glued 'em at 90 degrees. Then put in all those little brackets ... details, details, details! I added some wiring to the port wing, the RCC attachment brackets and glued it

Time for an update, I guess, eh? Firstly, thanx guys for all your comments. This project was almost a " ... Shakka, when the walls fell ... " situation. This past summer was a real schitty one, let's just say there were too-o-o many funerals. And it kinda took the wind outta my sails ... but building that Big Gemini kit did what I had hoped, so I feel rejuvenated. So let's get this show on the road. I've only worked on this for the last couple weeks ... Now, where was I ... ??? Oh yeah, the stand. Here's a rear view of the 1/72 Monogram tank and my disp

My, my, my ... you're doing a terrific job on this! And as this was supposed to be a 'practice' piece for a larger model, I just can't WAIT to see what yer gonna do with THAT one! With what you've learned on this one, are ya burned out? or did this just tease and tantalize you into doing another one? Can I ask you, how and what you used to mask off the cutaway parts in order to paint the aircraft? I just love cutaways! Pete

Did I read that correctly? ... you're having fun?? Well-l-l-l, that's what this model building is all-l-l about! :P This really IS coming along nicely Bill! And you're moving right along at a pretty good clip ...! Can I ask what method you used to bend the piping? My right angle bends never look that good. Keep up the great work! Pete

It is a nice little kit. And it is a rush to actually touch that aircraft isn't it? There'a guy on this forum, Tony Landis, who has published a book on the X-15 and has photo DVDs available too. I'll be curious to read his take on what this craft is. I built only a couple of these models and they went together pretty well. I modified this X-15 with delta wings for this proposed launching method. And I did a white one ... scratchbuilt landing skids It's a quick fun build ... And Spacecraft or Aircraft? I'll go with Spaceplane. :D Pete

Aw-w-w ... just put it aside ... for however long it takes ..... and think the problem through ... whatever your painting problem, look at other websites' models, try to figger out how the paint was done on them. Think the process through, from start to finish. Try to understand where the problem lies and ... address it. The key is, take some time away from this project. So it takes a month ... 6 months ... 2 years ... when you're ready to tackle the job, to conquer the demons associated with painting it ... it'll still be there. But, if I was you, in the meantime, I'd practice the area that

Thanx guys! And I agree whole-heartedly with you Jay! The industrial design used on the original Gemini was somehow missed on the Big G! But as this barely got off the drawing board, hopefully things like the exterior thrusters would've been reworked and some general streamlining would've been incorporated. But at this stage, it ... just ... don't ... look ... right! Pete

I picked up this new offering from Fantastic Plastic. The 1/48 Big Gemini. Here's the background blurb from the kit ... "In 1966, as the Gemini program was nearing an end, it was becoming obvious that a new system would soon be necessary to ferry large numbers of astronauts to the military and civilian space stations then being planned. (Ah, the 1960's!) McDonnell Douglas, primary contractors for the Gemini spacecraft, proposed building upon their existing technology to fill this need with an enlarged spacecraft that could transport up to 12 passengers plus 12 tons of payload 6 to 14 time

We'll be watchin' this one MasterJedi! On the ET, I understand there's quite the seam at the top, and matching up the surface texture will be quite tricky. And for the Orbiter's TPS, you may wanna try Surgical Tape to replicate the texture. I've only used it (so far) on a 1/100 Shuttle, and it looks great! The kit's engine bells will require some work to make 'em accurate, but RealSpace Models has an aftermarket set, that are very nice. Hey Jay ... how do the Revell of Germany decals compare to RealSpace's or Ed Bisconti's (from ebay). Could you maybe post a photo of the sheet? You've piqu

I'm going up there in about three weeks for my annual canoe / camp weekend. George Lake is indeed spectacular and we'll be going on to Killarney, OSA and Kakakise Lake. It's so nice to see the lakes come back from near death and those fish look great! Did you catch all those in a week, or in a half hour? Thanx for the pix. I can't wait to get up there myself! Pete St Catharines

Those drooped flaps' inconsistencies were a surprise for me too. Have you seen my Arrow build? It may give you a heads-up as to what else to watch for ... like exhaust cans, fuselage seams breaking, yet more gaps to fill. http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index....p;hl=avro+arrow Have you thought about decals yet? Can I put in a word for Arrow Graphics? They're well researched and excellent! Your MLG bay looks pretty good, as does the model as a whole ... so far. Are you planning on thinning the wing's trailing edges? I'm looking forward to seeing more on this build. Pete

I'll be watchin' this one too. Are ya gonna have the clamshell canopies open? I used the Northstar aftermarket set for the cockpit (MasterCasters was outta stock when I built mine last year), but I also did a lot of scratchbuilding too. It'll be nice to see another Arrow! Pete (near Niagara Falls)

I've got a lot of photos for reference just by going to the NASA multi-media site. For instance, Search for 'rudder' under the Space Shuttle category and up will come low, medium and high rez pix. Then, all you have to do is translate that info to a plan view so you can build the particular part. For the wings, if you Google "Space Shuttle wing cutaway", you'll get a NASA page that has 4 or 5 3D CAD views of a wing structure. No measurements, but it'll give you a very good idea as to how it's built. There's a heckuva lot of info, free info, out there, and I've been lucky to find some of it,

Uh huh ... ah hm-m-m-m ... yup ... Yup! Looks pretty good Bill! Didja vacuform 2 sides or pull it from the nose down? And the tail looks close too, but the drogue chute compartment doesn't look quite right ... yet. Look at page 298 of the "1st 100 Missions" book. The bottom surface looks parallel to the bottom of the tail And is it really only 30" long? ... only ... Keep it going Bill ... only the middle part to go ( ... that's the e-e-easy part ...) oh ... and the wings, and, and ... the landing gear, and decals ... boy, this is gonna be a blast to watch come together! Pete

Thanx Les, can I ask a few more questions? What kinda glue do you use? White glue? Double-sided tape? Rubber cement? And do they take more time to assemble than plastic scratchbuilds? I've only done one, very simple, paper build and there was so much scoring, folding of fiddly bits, that I thought, I'll just build it outta styrene. And as fragile, styrene builds can be, the finished paper model was far more delicate. So I'm getting curious again about how you guys build in paper. Thanx again Pete

I don't know how you paper modelers do these things! It looks darn good! If you've got some WIP pix, wouldja mind posting 'em? I mean, I don't see any creases, no indications that it's made from paper. Is it paper? or is it a solid block of "paper-like" material? What does your support structure look like? is it wood? Styrene? Cardboard? Nice job Les! Pete

"Here is the Judges Grand winner with his Saturn V. Anybody know his name? The trophy he is holding is a custom branding iron that was used to burn the logo into the "Best of" category plaques." His name is David Weeks and this 1/48 Saturn 1B was completely scratchbuilt. He had a WIP series on a Real Space forum and he dwells mainly in Real Space projects. From the few models I've seen, his work is absolutely immaculate, extremely well researched and highly accurate! Pete

Your solution sounds quite viable Bill. I'm sure you could come up with a way-y-y more complicated method, but the KISS principle works here! And rather than hollow out the wood block for the payload bay, maybe see if a piece of large diameter plumbing (ABS/PVC) tubing would suffice? (I'm just brainstorming here ... ) Pete

Actually .. neither ... in the interest of cost savings, they'll be using 800 grit paper or if the diet changes they'll switch over to Brawny! And 10 years may be ... just ... about ... right! I thought I'd get the cutaway done over the winter, but I'm less than 40% done and I need a break. Yours ... man-oh-man .......... but rest, assured that I'll be looking for it here on ARC however long it takes! Have you given any thought as to what you'll use for the SSME bells? Will you be using a lathe? Form 'em from paper stock or just using found items? I'm just curious as to whether you've th

Is it just an optical illusion, or are the Shuttle's Main engines missing? You have done a nice job on this and the weathering on the shuttle is subtle and very effective! Pete