jetplane Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 Mike, Great efforts to bring out the painting details on this Shuttle.. can't wait to see it finish up.... This build takes a long time..I'm starting to grow grey hairs now... Keep it up!! George Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 If one takes it as exactly with all the details as Mike, then everything needs its time, but the immense effort pays off in the end because this build becomes uniquely. Keep up the great work! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted May 29, 2012 Author Share Posted May 29, 2012 (edited) George, Very Funny! :lol: It is taking me much longer with this one but I'll have it done soon. Manfred, Thanks again for the comments! :) I had a small mishap with the paint on the Starboard side of the fuselage and had to repaint the white yesterday. In a day or 2 I'll finish the gray areas and then continue with the black areas and decals. Edited May 29, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jetplane Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 ...Slow and Steady..wins the race..! No doubt this is going to be a great detailed shuttle yet to be seen this far... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Hi Mike, let you make not nervous, remain cool and make further such a great job as before. To err is human, if errors are annoying, happen however to everyone of us. Don't worry be happy, life goes on! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Zombie_61 Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Hello all! Short-time lurker, first-time poster. I discovered this thread (and ARC) while doing a little research on which currently available "Shuttle Stack" model kit would best suit my needs, desires, whims, and budget, and I decided on Revell's 1/144 scale "Discovery & Booster Rockets" kit. I know the Airfix kit in the same scale is considered by many to be slightly superior, but in more than 40 years of building models I've yet to build an Airfix kit; I've built several Revell kits, so I know what to expect from them. Besides, I rather like the MLP base that comes with the Revell kit even though it's woefully inaccurate. That said, as far as I'm concerned this thread should be required reading for anyone who is, or will be, building this particular kit and wants to do even a minor amount of accurizing. Thank you, Mike, for illustrating the shortcomings on this kit and making life a little easier for schmucks like me! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 (edited) Zombie_61, Thanks for all your kind words! It's very nice of you and very much appreciated. :) I was planning on building an Airfix shuttle stack first but wanted to utilize the MLP as a stand so I decided to first build the Revell kit. I wanted to try out some different techniques and ideas I had so the Revell kit seemed like the best choice. I've had to redo some of the work along the way and did make mistakes but all in all it's turning out well. Mike. Edited June 1, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Zombie_61 Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Experimentation and lessons learned from "mistakes" are par for the course with this hobby; of course, you already know that. From what I've seen, your results speak for themselves. I'm not one to build the same subject repeatedly. I get bored easily, so I prefer to build something once and move on to other things. Also, I tend to be a lazy, out-of-the-box builder unless a particular bit of detail is glaringly inaccurate, so I don't have a great deal of experience with modifications and/or scratch building. As such, your work-in-progress thread and techniques will help me tremendously and cut down on the amount of guess work; if you're going to steal, steal from the best! :D Although I've been fascinated with the U.S. space program since the days of the Apollo missions, I have a particular affinity for the Shuttle program because the last company I worked for performed an integral manufacturing process on the 11 steel components that comprised the bulk of the RSRM's used on every launch (11 per RSRM, that is). And since that company was involved since the inception of the Shuttle program, we contributed in our own way to the success of every Shuttle launch. So, since I have a bit of a personal connection (even though my own contribution was extremely minor by comparison) I'd like to get it right...at least as far as the limits of my meager modeling skills will allow. I probably won't try to duplicate every modification you've made, but whatever improvements I attempt will help to make this a build-up I'll be pleased to display. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 (edited) Zombie, That's great that you got to work for a company that contributed to the shuttle program. I did a lot of research for this project and probably downloaded about 2,000 reference pictures, all of which has been a lot of fun. I'm building this one to honor the Discovery and her last mission and am planning on building the next stack as STS-135 (Atlantis). Last July my wife and I were fortunate to be able to go down to Florida to see STS-135 launch in person. It was an amazing sight and one I'll never forget so it's only right that STS-135 is my next build. That one will most likely be built using the Airfix kit. I never built an Airfix kit so at least it won't be the same exact build again. I hope to see your build thread here at ARC soon. BTW, Welcome to the ARC Forum! Mike. Edited August 1, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted June 2, 2012 Author Share Posted June 2, 2012 (edited) I was able to get a little work done today. The Starboard side of the fuselage is masked off (again). I applied some white putty to the top and bottoms of the SRBs' lower attachment joints to simulate the Insta-Foam. A small area was painted as a test and so far I like the results. Edited June 2, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Zombie_61 Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 Zombie, That's great that you got to work for a company that contributed to the shuttle program.Thank you; I agree. Most people would probably have found it boring but, for me, it was a terrific learning opportunity in many ways, and I got to work with some great people for 18.5 years.Last July my wife and I were fortunate to be able to go down to Florida to see STS-135 launch in person. It was an amazing sight and one I'll never forget so it's only right that STS-135 is my next build.Now that's a memory! I never had the opportunity myself, but one of the managers at the company did. Because of his position in the company and his very positive reputation in the industry he was also given a guided tour of the Vehicle Assembly Building, something I'm told is an honor for someone not working directly for NASA or Thiokol.I hope to see your build thread here at ARC soon."Soon" is a relative term. Quite honestly, it'll probably be quite a while before I get around to starting on my kit, a few months at least. And I don't have the necessary photographic equipment or skills, or the patience, to do a work-in-progress thread; at best I'll post some photos when it's completed. Right now the plan is to do some accurization, though probably not as detailed as yours; time will tell.Getting back to your build-up, looking at the Orbiter photo in your post above it seems the windshield and two overhead flight deck windows have the protective pre-launch coverings on them. Is the kit part molded this way, did I miss the step in which you installed them, or am I completely wrong? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted June 2, 2012 Author Share Posted June 2, 2012 (edited) Getting back to your build-up, looking at the Orbiter photo in your post above it seems the windshield and two overhead flight deck windows have the protective pre-launch coverings on them. Is the kit part molded this way, did I miss the step in which you installed them, or am I completely wrong? What you're seeing in that picture is the masking tape over the clear windows. I just haven't removed it yet to apply the window decals. The windows in the kit are just a single clear piece. I cut masks using the window decal I have as a template. I'm building this in launch configuration without the protective window coverings. Mike. Edited June 2, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 3, 2012 Share Posted June 3, 2012 ... I applied some white putty to the top and bottoms of the SRBs' lower attachment joints to simulate the Insta-Foam. A small area was painted as a test and so far I like the results. ... Hi Mike, you discover always again new details, it itself is worth to scratch-build, very impressing and promising work in order to simulate the Insta-Foam. Had you at first once also considered to simulate the foam structure of the ET surface? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share Posted June 3, 2012 Manfred, I actually did make an attempt to simulate the structure of the foam on the ET but it doesn't show too well. I did sand the ET with coarse paper in a horizontal pattern but it's mostly covered by the paint. I did however try and do a 'bad' job with the painting so it looks a bit bumpy but again, the paint is a bit smoother then it should look. All in all I like the way the ET is coming out so I'm leaving it as is. Mike. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted June 5, 2012 Author Share Posted June 5, 2012 (edited) I installed the brackets for the SSWS piping around the SRB openings. Nothing too accurate but they get the job done for what I'm doing. I'll work more on the piping and try and finishing the TSM's this week. I'm not sure if I'll make the 'Rainbirds' (water nozzles) for this. If I do I'll do just the 3 that sit closest to the SRB holes. Edited June 5, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 5, 2012 Share Posted June 5, 2012 Hi Mike, nice litte new details with the SSWS piping brackets and the big pipes done so far. I would also think that all 6 Rainbirds would be a little to much for the few place you have. Therefore I would only make the 3 rainbirds beside and between the SRB's and the stair housing behind. You already marked the place for it, how one sees. But I would continue to set it a little more to the rear. I already see, you must absolutely still build another 1:144 MLP for your wonderful stack, therefore do not stick it too firmly on!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted June 5, 2012 Author Share Posted June 5, 2012 (edited) Manfred, I'm still on the fence about the Rainbirds but if I add them it will be only the 3 closest to the SRB openings. The mark on the MLP for the stair housing is actually a square shape that was already on the Revell MLP. I filled it with putty to remove it but it still shows until it's painted. I'm thinking the stair housing would sit too close to the SRB openings since there isn't much deck space in that area so I'll most likely leave it off. Mike. Edited June 5, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted June 5, 2012 Author Share Posted June 5, 2012 (edited) The 'gray' areas on the Starboard side of the fuselage and the 2 areas on both sides behind the cockpit windows are finished. I also started taping off the areas to paint the black. Edited June 5, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Hi Mike, wow, great art of painting with the "gray" areas now, very nice work done. I checked for you again the Stair housing dimensions in David Maier's Paper kit (1:144) as follows: 33x10x14 mm (LxWxH). But I think that would be surely too large for this small Revell MLP. But perhaps you could use my 1:160 dimensions of the housing: 29x8x12 mm, what do you think about, would that be a suitable compromise? I would not leave it out completely, since you already omits the rear 3 rainbirds. Look and think about it again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted June 6, 2012 Author Share Posted June 6, 2012 (edited) Thanks Manfred for the encouragement! :) Also, thank you for the Stair housing dimensions. However the problem with the Revell MLP is, of course, being under scale so I'm having to make many compromises. I measured the area from the SRB Blast Shields to the end and it only measures 42 mm. Even the 1:160 size Stair housing will look too large. I attached a picture below showing the area with the size and arrows. Mike. Edited June 6, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Hi Mike, okay, now I can see that the place is too small for the stair housing, then you have to be content with the 3 rainbirds on this place, unfortunate. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted June 14, 2012 Author Share Posted June 14, 2012 (edited) Here's the start of the 3 Rainbirds I'll be adding around the SRB Blast Chambers. This one isn't 'refined' yet, however I'm happy with how it's coming out so far. I'll sand the rough spots and it should look the part. Edited June 14, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 Hi Mike, your small bird looks great, I hear chirping him properly before pleasure that you it have created, really a very nice detail. Pay only attention that rainbirds look not all the same, the two rainbirds in the middle between the SRB holes an behind the stair housing have conical feet. Source: NASA Will you build the little cameras too? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted June 14, 2012 Author Share Posted June 14, 2012 (edited) Thanks Manfred for the compliment! Since I'm only making the 3 rainbirds closest to the SRB openings I only have to make one with the conical feet. I'm not planning on making the cameras. If this were an actual in scale MLP I would make them but the upper deck is just to small to include everything. I've already added more details to this MLP then I originally planned. The 3 rainbirds around the SRB holes should be enough for this one. The funny thing is I was showing my wife and she called it a 'songbird'. :lol: Mike. Edited June 14, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 14, 2012 Share Posted June 14, 2012 I've just got an idea, you could have taken also a pipe, then you would have had also the front opening up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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