Space Shuttle Cutaway-winter project

[808state]

Wow, what a slacker. C'mon, Pete, put some effort in next time.

(Yes, I'm joking. This is incredible work - as usual. Kudos!)

[K2Pete]

Thanx once again guys, for the positive comments ... but Mr Holmes, methinks you exaggerate a tad! I'm really just learning this medium, really!

... and I'll make an attempt to be less 'slack' ... ;)

 

I've attached a wing element, to the left, that the wing chine blends into. And the chine extension itself is a Milliput solution. You can also see the last remaining wing supports and their bracing.

 

The Payload Bay is getting there, and the model is progressing nicely. I still have a little detailing to do in here

 

 

 

I've installed the starboard wiring tray with some cabling.

 

... and 3 opened payload bay vents on the starboard side.

Edited January 20, 2018 by K2Pete

[K2Pete]

The belly of the beast needed some TLC. I'll deploy the port MLG, so I used the kit's MLG door and glued it in. But the gaps were huge. So I used sheet and scrap styrene to patch 'em up and sand 'em down.

 

 

And the MLG will have no Weight On Wheels (WOW) so I've lengthened the piston ... and scratched the torque links.

 

In trying to figger out how to do the split rudder, I realized that the rudder halves had to be narrowed a bit, so I trimmed 'em down a bit.

 

I think the payload bay was my biggest concern. Now that it's almost done, I can start detailing the payload bay doors and attach the subassemblies and apply the TPS.

... that ... way down there ... may be a light at the end of this tunnel!

Pete

Edited January 20, 2018 by K2Pete

[Army_Air_Force]

What are you using to glue the small parts and wiring in without damaging the painted interior?

[K2Pete]

To attach the copper wiring, I've had to scrape away a little paint on the black tubes ( purge lines) and use CA glue. Then I went back and repainted, touched up, those scraped areas.

I've also used a small dab of white glue to hold the wiring in position where they overlap each other. I'm sure a little poke will dislodge 'em, but they're holding just fine, for the time being.

Pete

[Army_Air_Force]

I was wondering if there was some secret to it. On my P-36, I was using cyano and white glue, and any glossy areas left by the glue were hidden by the matt coat.

[Impatient Pete]

Awesome!

[GreyGhost]

Well Pete, if you're just learning this medium, I can't wait to see what you can do with a little experience 'under your wings' ...

Gregg

[HOLMES]

Pete

I dont buy that !! Learning!!! LOL!!

you are pulling MY leg... Anyway keep up the good work.

[K2Pete]

I've been doing some of the small stuff ... it's getting to the point that it's ALL small stuff now.

 

The Main Landing Gear. Here's a pic of the kit's parts on the right, and my improvements on the left. I've extended the piston to depict no Weight on Wheels and added a few linkages.

 

The MLG door has had a thickness applied to it, and the allowance for the stowed wheel ... and I've installed brake lines on the MLG itself. On the blue tape, are the linkages attached to the interior of the MLG bay.

 

 

The Payload Bay doors are having their Radiators installed. The Rads are Real Space Models offerings. I had to use a few clamps.

 

Some gold insulation applied to the 'port' cutaway door.

 

Almost completed

 

And a little closer. The EVA handles, photoetch from Real Space Models and I've attached the TPS 'insulation' between the handles.

 

There's gonna be a lot of little futzin'-around-type duties as this is coming together. For instance, when I dryfitted the Rudder to the fuselage, with the SSME wall attached, there was a gap underneath. So I filled it with Milliput and sanded it down. There's gonna be a thousand of this type of fine tuning as I start attaching the sub-assemblies ... which is happening now.

 

I think this is gonna get done this winter ... I've got 5 more months!

Thanx for lookin' in ... and thanx for all the positive remarks.

Pete

Edited January 20, 2018 by K2Pete

[niart17]

Oh MY GOSH! :unsure: This is getting borderline rediculus! You need to mess up on SOMETHING just to make us feel like you're just like us. I mean comon' be fair dude, put a fingerprint in glue somewhere or something would ya'?

Seriously, this is just more and more better everytime I see it progress. Keep it up.

Bill

[gonzalo]

Ok, I just threw away all my kits, paints, tools, and everything else associated with this hobby. With the bar set to this incredibly high standard I cannot hope to match it! I quit! Okay I am going to go vomit now. Seriously, great work Pete simply amazing. I have a question. How do you keep your copper wire so straight. I can't seem to do that when I add wiring to my kits. I can't even get them to bend in the correct position.

Gonzalo

[Boxster]

Seldom I came across such works done on a model of this magnitude and in fact, never! I am mostly a sci-fi modeler and I have seen some amazing works done along the years, mostly spacecraft-wise or not, but no one came close to what you are working on there irregardless of what modelers from which countries. What you doing there is not modeling and that is not a model I am afraid to say, sir, what you working on there, is a work of art and you are truly an artist that I, now, look up to with the highest respect and admiration! Extremely well done and will be a thread I can't wait to visit again!

B

Edited November 10, 2010 by Boxster

[K2Pete]

Gonzalo ... you're gone? ... excellent, my strategy is working ... the less competition I have, the better my chances at winning all those BIG cash prizes at the next ModelCon!

Seriously ... thanx a lot for the response. I'm havin' a ball with this. And for the wire, I use a variety of gauges, scrounged from various little motors and straighten 'em out by laying 'em on my table, taking my metal ruler (mine has a cork backing) and placing the ruler, metal side down, on top of the wire, and roll it ... back and forth ... till it's straight. To bend it, I just put it in a set of pliers and bend with my fingers. Eezy peezy.

 

Now Mr Boxster ... holey smokes, man. If you could see my face as I was reading your high praise ... made me smile ... :D As I stated a couple of posts ago, I'm just learning. In the 4 years I've been building these, I've done about 20 models, some of which can be seen in ARC's Space and Sci-Fi Gallery. Every model was done with a specific goal in mind. To try something new. Like, gluing brass to styrene ... or scribing, or masking or scratchbuilding a complex interior, or building from 'blueprints'. I'm still learning about the limitations of styrene, applying decals and using a whole whack of scrounged materials. I'm honestly not worthy of your admiration, although it is certainly wonderful for my ego to hear ... it's really just a model.

 

A 1/72 Shuttle model ... and I see all the imperfections. This exercise is a learning experience for me ... if you guys enjoy looking at it's progress, that's a bonus! I appreciate the sentiments, really I do, and I'll agree that this model is like nothing I've seen before either ... and I'm thrilled to see it coming together ... but when it's done, it'll get put in a box, it'll be entered in a contest or two, and then it'll collect dust ... but the things I will have learned from building it, will be worth all the time spent on it.

 

Thanx very, very much for your positive comments, I do appreciate 'em!

 

Now for an update ( I'm feeling the pressure to perform now )

I attached the Aft wall, where the engines mount, and there were gaps galore. I patched 'em with styrene and sanded 'em down. A big styrene patch is between the OMS pod and aft RCS thrusters. Just trim and sand. I also used some first aid tape to try to replicate that shielding around the base of the engine.

 

These are the 2 Air Data Probes that'll attach to the nose section.

 

The RMS will be adjustable. It's a Real Space Models product, and it's pretty good, but I'll enhance it with just a couple modifications.

 

 

The Starboard Payload Bay door is getting it's TPS covering. This is the tape I use, it has just a subtle texture, and just cut it into little squares and apply. The Rudder is done and the starboard fuselage too. I'll paint it with a tone of white and use a dark wash over the Cutting Edge decals to darken 'em down. The decals have become quite brittle too ... so I'm learning how to deal with these, now, too.

 

 

 

Thanx again lads, for taking the time to take a peek and for the 'feedback'.

Pete

Edited January 20, 2018 by K2Pete

[Jay Chladek]

I would say it is a good idea to spray on a nice dark coat of Tamiya smoke (preferably smoke mixed with a couple other tints to shift it more blue black) over the TPS decals on the tops of the wings and the tail since those areas don't lighten up in color like the bottom ones do. When done, you may not see any color variations in the tiles, but they will still have a tile texture. This is the look I was able to achieve with mine:

[K2Pete]

I'll play around with it Jay.

Yours however, looks too light on the bottom and too black on the front side ... I wanna see more of the tiles showing thru.

This is my Tamiya shuttle and the effect here is just about what I'm visualizing for this model. The wash is pretty crude, so I wanna clean that aspect up for this one.

Did you use surgical tape for the white tiles Jay? I don't see a texture or a decal.

Thanx for the Tamiya Smoke suggestion though, Jay. Is it a transparent colour ... and is it enamel or acrylic?

Pete

[crowe-t]

Hey Pete,

This build is incredible to say the least!

A friend suggested that I might want to try using black food coloring mixed in with Future to spray over the Cutting Edge tiles on the nose and other top sections on my current 1/144 Revell stack build. I haven't gotten around to testing it yet so I'm not sure how well it will work.

Edited November 16, 2010 by crowe-t

[HOLMES]

Pete,

I am floored by your tenacity ..

Great things from you as always.

HOLMES :wub:

[GreyGhost]

Great updates, Pete ...

The doors and the vertical tail are looking fantastic ... :wub:

Gregg

[Jay Chladek]

When I did my project, I had planned to use a simulated fabric for the AFRSI and FRSI areas, but I ran out of time as it was being built for a deadline. So instead I went with decals to represent the AFRSI areas. When I tackle my next late era shuttle model in 1/72, I will try doing the fabric. I also didn't have time to weather the model like I wanted to with some soot staining around the FRCS module. But considering it was going on public display, I didn't want anyone to think it looked trashy either as sometimes people can mistake weathering for a dirty paintjob.

Indeed I agree that I probably went a little too far with the smoke tint as I wanted a little more of the tile detail to be visible to the naked eye. Although based on my own up close observations of the orbiters and the photos I've compiled, the tiles do tend to remain quite black as they get further away from the bottom. BTW, Columbia's unique black wing chines are not HRSI tile, they are LRSI tile that was painted semi-gloss black and they remained nice and dark black all throughout her life from STS-1 to STS-107.

Tamiya smoke tint is an acrylic and it is one of several tints they do (clear red, green, blue, yellow and orange). Out of the bottle, it tends to look slightly brownish in shade, so it needs a little red and blue mixed in to shift it more black (just going with blue tends to tint it green, which the clear red counteracts). Mixed with Tamiya's acrylic thinner and misted on with an airbrush, it can produce some nice effects over tile decals. I've heard of the food coloring idea, but Tamiya smoke can achieve probably better results and given that it is a pre-mixed paint shade, it will likely dry more evenly and with a potentially more durable finish then Future. I tend to save my Future for just canopy dipping.

Edited November 17, 2010 by Jay Chladek

[K2Pete]

I understand your reasoning on the black colour, but I like to use the scale effect, Jay. For instance, if the viewer of this 1/72 model is, say, 2 feet away ... in 1/72 scale that's almost 150 scale feet. From 6 or 8 feet away, more than 550 scale feet. So, to replicate the 'atmospheric' effects (atmospheric perspective, if you will) that 100% Black, when held up to your eye at 6 ", isn't the same black as the item at 150'. At distance, it's lighter ... say 85% black. Your brain may 'see' 100% Black, but your eyeball is seeing a dark grey.

That's what I'll be going for.

 

Anyway, a quick update.

I've been tweaking the small stuff and the Umbilical panels I got from Real Space models weren't correct, so I made a couple. Port on the left, Starboard on the right and the Real Space PE at the top. (The trapezoidal shapes are access panels)

 

Then I decided to replicate the starboard fuselage TPS in styrene. Mapped it out and cut it out of 10 thou styrene sheet. Then gave it a quick coat of paint.

 

 

 

After giving the belly a coat of gloss black, to prep it for those huge Cutting Edge decals, I saw a lot of divots, so time to sand and fill and sand again. :D

 

I'm surprised at how little damage I'm doing to this model, with all the manhandling it's going thru. And it's come close to being dropped on the hard floor more than a couple times. :D

 

Thanx for looking in gents, and once again, I appreciate the wonderful comments! I've spent over a calendar year on this thing, and your feedback serves as an inspirational, "kick in the pants" too!

Pete

Edited January 20, 2018 by K2Pete

[Vidar_710]

Well said Pete.

I try to get the scaling of shades and colors across to modelers in the Starship Modelers forum, but they just don't seem to get it. The majority of'em just have GOT to have all the bells-n-whistles, and colors no matter how small the subject may be. i.e using pearlecents on a 1/1000 scale hull, or grid lines of TOS E in 1/1000 or smaller.

Some do understand because they build in other areas, such as Armor , Naval, and Aircraft.

Terrific work to date M8

Tracy

[Jay Chladek]

I know. Ultimately it is all about how the model pleases each of us when we build them. One of my other concerns with my build was trying to match the decal color for the black tiles on the side hatch as I didn't like the color difference between that decal and the slightly smoke tinted decals on my 1/144 Columbia STS-107 stack. It is strictly a judgement call. As such, I certainly respect your decision and I know the results are going to look rather good when done. If you get a look similar to your other orbiter, I think you'll nail it pretty well.

BTW, I would recommend testing one of the small decals on each sheet before you apply the belly decals. Reason being is on my 1/72 stack, I had a really hard time with one of the belly decal halves as it kept wanting to crack and break apart on me as it didn't want to flex. I also had problems with one of the set of white decals as well (for the wings, I tried to use cut down segments on the fronts of the OMS pods). The reason was it seemed like one of the decal sheets didn't seem to have enough clear carrier over it to deal with the handling of the markings when I applied them. I got it down okay with a lot of water, but I was really cursing it and in the end I was very lucky. If I had noticed the problem sooner, I likely would have sprayed on an extra layer of clear to help keep it from cracking apart. Now not all sheets are likely to have that problem. But it is worth checking. Since your tail markings seemed to go on okay, that particular sheet is likely fine. But the others could still be suspect.

Also, when I applied the belly decals, I noticed that the markings overlap a little diagnally going towards the back of the orbiter. Since the original sheet was sized for the Revell kit, apparently it has a little wider mid-section in the rear then the Monogram kit. When the markings were down I didn't notice any oddities, but it seemed a little strange when I applied them.

Edited November 22, 2010 by Jay Chladek

[K2Pete]

Thanx for the heads-up on the decals, Jay. The decals on the Vertical Stabilizer did not go on easily. They were quite brittle and for the small size of 'em, took more time that I thought it should, to apply.

I applied Future to the orbiter this morning, to prep it for decalling, and will now spray on a quick light coat of fixative onto the decal sheets. I haven't experienced decals that break up, but have read about it on this site ... and it's something I don't wanna hafta deal with, especially with those HUGE Cutting Edge belly decals.

And once again, thanx for the info for the wing chines. I've got a photo of Columbia taken as it's being rolled back to the shop, and must've looked at it, 40 times. But for different reasons. So I viewed a hi-rez photo of it ... and son-of-a-gun if there's LRSI tiles for 2/3 of the chine.

Thanx laddie

Pete

[richter111]

I had wondered how I would ever match the batted look, the medical tape is genius!!!!!