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Revell 1/144 Shuttle/Stack build/STS-133 - Finished!!!


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Pete,

Thanks for all the nice words! :thumbsup:

The details I added aren't perfect but I'm happy with the results. This is nothing compared to the work you did on your cutaway shuttle. Seeing your cutaway Columbia finished has inspired me to get mine done.

Today I'm working on the SRB joints where the lower struts attach to. The rings have a channel in the middle and aren't perfectly round on this kit and are solid on an actual SRB. I filled in the channel with styrene and am building them out a bit. I'll post pictures either later or tomorrow.

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Thanks Holmes! :jaw-dropping:

Here are before & after pictures of the rings on the SRB's where the lower struts attach to the ET. I still have to finish sanding/filing the rings but here is where they are at so far.

This picture shows the ring how it comes in the kit.

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I filled the channel and added some thin styrene on top and started shaping them.

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Here is how that ring appears on an actual SRB.

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Edited by crowe-t
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I cut out the gap in between the elevons to more closely resemble the Discovery. I approximated the gap to be about 1.25 mm wide for this scale. I cut the gap about 3 mm wide and inserted various pieces of styrene to get the desired gap width.

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Here are some images that show the gap between the elevons. The gap is wider then I initially thought.

DiscoveryRightWing.jpg

DiscoveryLeftWing.jpg

Edited by crowe-t
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Awesome model. Will you be adding the thermal blankets to the shuttle's TPS?

For the ET foam color, might I suggest using Model Master's Chrome yellow for the darker foam and Testor's flat yellow for the lighter foam and insta-foam of the SRBs.

You can see the result of this in my thread of my 1/72 scale shuttle fleet. :woot.gif:

The one area I am still stuck on, but would help for any model of the whole stack is the small ice frost ramps that run along the two gaseous vent/ purge lines that run next to the big LOX feed line. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/image...p_8-12-04_m.jpg The paint colors for the ET I mentioned result in the same color as seen in photos like this of the real ET. If you plan to make it look like the tank came fresh from MAF.

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mriccio, Thanks!

MarkD, For the thermal blankets I experimented with some surgical tape but it looks a bit out of scale at this size so I'm not going to use anything other then paints for this. I'm going to apply a white base coat on the orbiter and use some off-whites(white mixed with gray, tan...) in various areas. This will be sort of how Star Trek modelers do an Aztek pattern, but no where near as extreme. BTW, I also build Star Trek models.

For the ET I'll be using Testors MM Acryl paints. A mix of Guards Red, Chrome Yellow, Tan, White, and some Rust to make up the shades on the ET. I did some experimenting by using these different colors added to a mostly tan mixture and I'm happy with the results. The ET will be painted as it looks before the launch, darker shades.

Edited by crowe-t
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  • 4 weeks later...

I got back to this today to do some work and one of the "L" shaped hooks at the top of an SRB broke off. These small hooks connect the top of the SRB's to the ET but are very fragile. I already broke the other one off a couple of times.

I finally had enough and decided to install a 1/8" brass rod into the ET to connect the SRB's. I drilled holes in the SRB's and installed a 5/16" styrene tube and cut those flush with the surface. The brass rod and the tubes are glued in with epoxy.

I test fit the SRB's and the whole assembly feels much stronger. Now I can get to finishing the ET & SRB's and get some paint on them this week.

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Edited by crowe-t
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Here's another update!

I attached the lower struts to the SRB's so I can make sure they are lined up correctly.

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The OMS engines are glued in place. These are from the Real Space Models resin set. I'll attach the SSME's after everything is painted.

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This is where I'm at with the ET/SRB's. I'm contemplating adding some fine details to the top cones on the SRB's but might just leave them alone. The details on the cones might be a bit overkill and out of scale for a 1/144 kit. It's hard to see in pictures of a real stack.

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The space between the elevons is done. It looks pretty close to the correct size now. I originally had the space too wide so I added some styrene sheet on the insides.

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DiscoveryRightWing.jpg

My goal is to get the ET/SRB's in primer by the end of the week and am getting excited to start painting it all. :D

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This is looking really, really good Mike! :D

For the SRB nose cone details, try experimenting with aluminum foil. It's so thin that the details will look to scale and will, unfortunately, be missed by most viewers. But even look at it as an exercise in detailing, for when you do the 1/72 stack!! :(

The details you've already added are making this quite an eye-catching model! I've already Bookmarked this thread for future reference.

Well Done!

Thanx for posting these pix Mike.

Pete

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Your dedication to your subject is as impressive as your scratchbuilding skills. What an amazing project! Thanks for continuing to upload pics!

Mark

Mark, Thanks so much for the kind words. I'm having a lot fun building this.

This is looking really, really good Mike! :worship:

For the SRB nose cone details, try experimenting with aluminum foil. It's so thin that the details will look to scale and will, unfortunately, be missed by most viewers. But even look at it as an exercise in detailing, for when you do the 1/72 stack!! :sunrevolves:

The details you've already added are making this quite an eye-catching model! I've already Bookmarked this thread for future reference.

Well Done!

Thanx for posting these pix Mike.

Pete

Pete, Thanks for the encouragement.

I cut .005 styrene sheet into .5 mm strips and used reference pictures and the 1/144 plans from the AXM site. Here is what I started. I'll sand these strips down so they are barely visible. The rings that go around the cones are really rivets and not actually raised bands. They would be hardly noticeable at this scale. Maybe I'll do those with a lead pencil after I paint it.

I filled in the scribed square(w/ the 4 raised circular pieces). I don't know what this area is called. I'll add a raised border around it with strips of sheet styrene.

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Edited by crowe-t
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I filled in the scribed square(w/ the 4 raised circular pieces). I don't know what this area is called. I'll add a raised border around it with strips of sheet styrene.

I'm not positive, but I think they are motors that fire at SRB seperation to make sure the SRB's fall away correctly from the shuttle.

Very nice build, can't wait to see the end result.

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I'm not positive, but I think they are motors that fire at SRB seperation to make sure the SRB's fall away correctly from the shuttle.

Very nice build, can't wait to see the end result.

Mark, Thanks for the info and the kind words. I'll have to do some research on some of these areas and their functions.

HOLMES, You are being wayyy too kind, but I do appreciate everyone's support! Thanks guys! :cheers:

Here's a small update:

I did some more work to the cones on the top of the SRB's. I added the strips around the separation motors and filed down the vertical strips so they are less noticeable. At the bottom of the cones in the center of each section I added a small square shape and filed it down to blend in.

The only thing I haven't added is the horizontal rings. I found that those rings are actually rivets and not raised bands. The Bandai 1/144 shuttle stack has raised bands on the cones that I feel look a bit too obvious for the scale. Given the 1/144 scale(approx. 17" tall) those rivets wouldn't be seen at a normal viewing distance anyway. I'll sleep on it a couple of days but unless I can come up with something I think I'll leave those off.

Here's some pictures of the SRB cones.

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Edited by crowe-t
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Daaaayyyyyymmmnnnnnn!!! :jaw-dropping:

Dude, you are making my shuttle models look crude by comparison. ;)

Anyway, keep at it. Ironically, all this detail you are adding to your 1/144 SRBs I had to remove on the 1/72 units I built for my Moonraker stack (pictures coming, I've shot some, but haven't uploaded them yet). At least the 1/72 SRBs have some of that detailing, even if the stuff on the backsides of the SRBs aren't quite accurate since Monogram just molded two front halves and doubled them up for the boosters.

Another way that detailing could be done is with either a vinyl overlay, or a reverse vinyl mask. Then just airbrush on the paint thick and when fully dry, remove to reveal a ridge where the raised areas are. That is one of the tricks that special effects modelers used to do on models of ships like the Enterprise E from First Contact.

Edited by Jay Chladek
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Jay, You are being way too nice! Compliments from you mean a lot. The work both you and Pete have done on your shuttle models has been my inspiration. I couldn't have done half of this without both of your knowledge and advice. :blink:

I might use the paint to make the horizontal rings on the cones. However I applied a coat of primer on the SRB's today and they look good so far. I sanded down the vertical raised lines so they are barely noticeable and am afraid any more detail won't be seen much anyway.

That's funny how the Monogram ET & SRB's are the same in the front and back. I'm sure it kept the costs of such a large kit down and it isn't to difficult to correct. In fact some of the raised bands I added to my 1/144 SRB's are only seen on the left SRB, viewed from the front or back. This leads me to believe that both SRB's are basically the same design with the cones and skirts being different, or rather mirror images, for the left and the right SRB's.

Please post some pictures of the Moonraker stack here at ARC soon. I can't wait to see some updated pictures.

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The SRBs essentially are the same except for the fronts and rears as the casting segments and the resulting SRB segments (made up of two casting segments each, these are what get stacked at KSC) are designed for reuse. Look at the flight history of each SRB segment and it is a real hodge podge of flights with some stuff going back to the earliest development flights of shuttle. Even after Challenger when the field joints were redesigned, the cases continued to get used once the new field joints were made and retrofitted to them.

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I continue to learn from this build, and find it all very inspiring. Your attention to detail is superb. The ET to SRB connection in rod will be replicated in my build, as it should alleviate what would otherwise be a fragile connection. At 144 scale it is better to err on the side of subtlety than exaggeration, and you are doing this superbly. Keep it up!

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Dude, it just keeps getting better and better. I like the tubing re-enforcement for the SRBs as well. Of course now I'm debating if I want to be brave enough to attemp adding something like that to mine after the ET has been painted or not. I'm definatetly a little concerned about that week connection.

And the surface detail on the SRB's!!! I'd attempted a much simpler detail and still couldn't get anywhere near as nice as you are. Keep it up man! I'm learnin here.

Bill

P.S. again, sorry about not being able to get the full belly tile decal images to you. If I ever get the chance to redo the file I'll shoot you a copy when I can. I lost those along with some SRB and a few shuttle markings as well. I still have the piecemeal tiles in .PDF but all the root files are history. Teach me to careless.

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