Space Shuttle Cutaway-winter project

[Astrazoic]

Good for you for taking on this fascinating project. Really good work there!

[crowe-t]

Pete,

This build is really coming along nicely! Excellent work so far!

[janman]

Amazing work with all these understructures!

[Berkut]

I have no words. Those wings, oh man. :D

[David Hingtgen]

Seriously, have you considered sending pics to NASA, and asking if they want it for display? I doubt they themselves have anything half as good.

[spaceflightengineer]

I have to wonder if the engineering fit check "cutaway" [more at "skeletal"] mockup which we used at Downey for the entire build phase of orbiters got struck,

or if somehow it made it's way to somewhere. It was rather cool, but a bit beat (almost entirely wooden in materials), though accurate. It's wood stringers could remove shin skin as well as the real deal.

Bruce P.

Seriously, have you considered sending pics to NASA, and asking if they want it for display? I doubt they themselves have anything half as good.

[K2Pete]

I took a break from this as I had the urge to build that 1/70 Tamiya Apollo Spacecraft kit.

Then needed another break from that

So here's a little update.

I'm fiddling with the Forward RCS nozzles. The nozzles protrude from the 'surface' of the fuselage and I've gotta trim 'em back a bit.

 

The seam down the fuselage is pretty poor, but it was just a matter of sanding it down and filling a few sink holes with Tamiya filler.

 

I've added some wiring and greeblies to the inside of the aft bulkhead. The two 'boxes' are the Avionics bays. I don't think much of this will be seen because it's going to get very cluttered back there with all the engine plumbing.

 

The Body Flap has a couple of wires added to represent moisture drain and hydraulic lines. The Rotary actuators have been added too.

 

And the frames/ribs for the payload bay are being built. These are delicate little structures and don't fit too well in the fuselage. The fuselage sides are warped inward about an 1/8" in the middle and I had hoped that these 12 frames would've helped to push it out, ... but nope.

Can you guys suggest a way of 'relaxing' this bow in the fuselage? Hairdryer maybe?

 

 

A question about the Payload Bay. Are the 'white' thermal coverings applied directly to the frames/ribs? Or is there another structure attached to the frames and the thermal covering attached to that?

Thanx

Pete

Edited January 19, 2018 by K2Pete

[niart17]

Looking AWESOME Pete! I look forward to opening up ARC and finding a new update on this project. It makes my day.

As far as the payload bay, I assume you are talking about the inside of the bay? I see on the Pdf. from NASA the outside is covered with 1.173" Aluminum honey comb, then covered with .016" insulation, but it doesn't show how the actual bay interior is built up. I'll see if I can find anything else.

One thing I did see a while back that confused me was a picture of the payload bay outside of the orbiter. It was as if that whole inner structure was removed with the inner doors attached. I had to look at it several time to see if I was looking at it correctly. There was no caption on the photo so I don't know what the story was behind it, but it was a fully loaded payload bay sitting by itself in a framed structure. Other than the possiblity that they are in fact removable as a unit, perhaps it was a similation bay? Maybe something they use to verfiy fit before installing all of the payload in the orbiter? I'll try to find that pic.

Keep up the great work.

BIl

[Astrazoic]

Excellent buildup. I love the forward RCS assembly - a neat cluster of modeling goodness.

[niart17]

Hey Pete, I was going to say that surely the payload bay has some sort of aluminum skin beneath those insulation blankets, but then I ran across this pic.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...%26tbs%3Disch:1

If you look, it appears they simply pulled the insulation back and are revealing the frame structure directly below that... interesting. I'll try to shoot an e-mail to my brother to see if he can confirm that. I don't know if he would have paid attention to that detail, but he may know.

Bill

[K2Pete]

Thanx a lot Bill!

I know about the trays on the side for the wiring, and assumed about there being no structure under the thermal 'blankets', and your photo kinda confirms it.

Thanx for doing the legwork! I really appreciate it!

Pete

[Jay Chladek]

I am currently working on a 1/72 Shuttle stack right now (doing it as a Moonraker shuttle from the Bond movie) and believe me, I am also dealing with the slightly bowed in sides. The last one I did used a 1986 vintage kit and that one as I recall didn't really have the problem that the current model I am doing has. Since mine is bay doors closed, I cut sections out of the payload bay rails to expose the side walls and glued several tubes cut to the proper length in to act as spacers to gently push the fuselage sides back straight enough.

Granted, I don't think that will work too well for your project. Monogram plastic is rather hard, so it may take a lot of heating with a hair dryer to get it flexed out, and then there is no guarantee it won't damage the side wall.

Only thing I can think of would be to scratch a new far side wall with sheet styrene (to replace the old section from the back of the crew cabin to the front of the aft stucture). The dimensions are easy and it is just flat overall. Plus, you can also use the opportunity to cut in a pair of payload bay vent doors on that side (which likely won't be visible anyway if there is an open payload bay door covering that area).

[niart17]

hey Pete, I talked with my brother and what he could tell me from his memory is that the payload "floor" for the most part is just the open framework. he said there is a main central spine strengthening the bulkheads and there are certain areas , such as were there may fuel tanks and what not that will have some sort of a hard surface above it for protection. but by and large the majority of the bottom of the bay is just ribs covered with the insulation. also he said to note the vent grills that line up with the outer vent doors. those also have a hard structure around them that have the grills bolted to them with various seals and such. i am pressuring him for some drawings but unfortunately, he said more stuff can be found on the interenet than he is allowed to give out. it doesn't make sense, but that's how his company works.

hope that helps add a little bit more to the puzzle.

Bill

[K2Pete]

Jay, your suggestion is quite the example of "thinking outside the box"! It's drastic, but looks like it may be the only solution ... thanx, I may-y-y just give it a try! And I've got 2 other 1/72 orbiters 'on the go' ( they've been 'on the go' for about 3 years now :wacko: and the bowed-in sides was solved by installing the kit's payload bay. The PB adds a lot of strength to the structure and is a nice, snug press fit. But for this model, the bow isn't appreciated one bit! ;)

Bill ... the NASA site with all those line drawings of the Orbiter's various systems, shows the vent mechanisms and where they're positioned inside the payload bay. However, I think I'll just be showing an indication of the vent doors, though, as the starboard side will be obstructed by some of the thermal insulation inside the payload bay and the port side will be just the frames/ribs ... as the outside surface will be cutaway. And the photo link you provided really gives an idea as to how much plumbing there IS on the payload bay floor. Thanx again for that link!

And thanx very much for the payload bay thermal blanket info ... and thank your brother for me!

Pete

[Phil Ciborowski]

looks simply amazing, and i cant wait to see whats next with this!

[K2Pete]

Thanx for all the nice comments gents ... I appreciate 'em!

 

This project is gonna take a little bit longer than I had hoped. I've got the major assemblies done, or at least started, and all the time consuming details will keep me occupied for a few more weeks ... or even months!

 

I'm still unable to straighten out the warped fuselage, and am making this last attempt. I've supported the ends with blocks and have a 3 or 4 pound lead weight in the middle ... I'll leave it for a day or so and see what happens.

 

The forward RCS assembly is just about done. I had to remove and sand down most of the nozzles to a more correct profile relative to their openings in the fuselage.

 

The AFT plumbing got started and this is gonna be tricky to install. Here are some of the parts, and the jig I'm using to build 'em.

 

 

 

 

I sprayed some Zinc-Chromate on the parts just to see how they look. On the AFT bulkhead the installed APUs can seen at the top of it, painted black. Thanx again Bill!

 

 

 

 

With all the details yet to do, I figger I'm only about 20% of the way thru this thing. But still enjoying the effort!

Thanx for looking in!

Pete

Edited January 19, 2018 by K2Pete

[richter111]

Jaw dropping spectacular!

[martin_sam_2000]

This is turning out great!!!

keep it up

Sean

[K2Pete]

I've been futzing around with the Aft plumbing ... and it was like building a ship in a bottle! There were a lot of "... why the #%@& am I doing this ..." mutterings, but it's close enough for me. :D

Here's a few shots from assembly to 'done'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And one with the vertical stab dry fit.

Edited January 19, 2018 by K2Pete

[K2Pete]

The Crew Module is next in line. I've got to get this done and fit before I can do the Payload Bay frames and start assembling all the other parts ... and then all the details ...

 

I had really put off cutting up the crew module because I just didn't wanna take the chance of ruining it. But it happened anyway. This crew module is quite fragile and styrene popped, little things broke off (an ejection seat head rest and an ejection seat.) But it has to be done.

 

Trying to line up the Crew Module with the shuttle's fuselage was and still is a problem. The windows hafta line up, the crew hatch opening has to line up and it's surprisingly difficult to get this module to line up the same every time. Granted it's only off a millimeter or two, but ...

 

I've had to rework the cutaway portion of the flight deck. Cutting away a part of the payload specialist's console and patching it up. Just so the viewer can see inside the crew module. I'm gonna try to include a human figure in there for scale too.

 

 

 

 

 

That's all for now. I had hoped to have it ready to show at the end of May for the big once every 2 years, TORCAN show, but won't be able to make it for other reasons, so I can take my time ... and hopefully have 'er done for the fall season.

 

Thanx for all your positive comments guys ... they are appreciated!

Pete

Edited January 19, 2018 by K2Pete

[RedHeadKevin]

Oh man, that's nice... I love the "stretched tube" you used for the RCS thrusters! It's making me take a hard think about superdetailing a BSG Viper...

[GreyGhost]

Everytime I come back to this thread I look ;) and go !

Fantastic Work, Pete ... :o

Gregg

[niart17]

WOW again! This is incredible. One thing, I think the official NASA toilet paper is Charmin not Angel Soft as you show.

(haaa, made ya'll look)

seriously, keep this one going. It's probably one of the most awesome things I've seen built in well, forever.

Bill

[Brady]

Completely, utterly speechless.

[Jay Chladek]

I really like the scratchbuilt low weight pilot seat on the flight deck. It looks accurate to my eye. Very impressive work overall and I am taking notes for my next build (not a full cutaway, but a few tweaks here and there).