jetplane Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Mike ... I keep trying to push First Aid tape ... because I've got shares in 'First Aid Tape R Us', and I keep hoping everyone will buy some to put on their Shuttle models! All kidding aside, it works really well. It provides a good texture, can be cut out using a blade and a circle template and doesn't look too bad either. Here it is on the 1/100 Shuttle. And it can be painted and weathered to look good. And I'm curious as to how you're gonna treat the aft RCS nozzles, paint, decals? I know, I know, "just be patient Petey", but ... it's ... killin' ... me! Never mind Mike ... I'll wait and see ...! Pete Pete, Did you post this nice 1/100 Tamiya Shuttle in ARC yet? can you direct me some pictures of your Tamiya Shuttle? Looks great... George Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 Did you post this nice 1/100 Tamiya Shuttle in ARC yet? can you direct me some pictures of your Tamiya Shuttle? Looks great... George Gee, George, thank you very much! I've posted pix of it somewhere, maybe Starship Modeler, years ago ( but they delete posts after a short while don't they? ) ... but I don't see it here on ARC either. I built it back in 2007 I think, but I think the quality of it is surpassed by the current builds. It was only my 3rd or 4th model ever and I was trying to make it look as good as your Shuttles. Plus, I'll hafta check, but I don't think I have any build pix ... I'll see what I've got. Thanx again Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 (edited) Nicely done on the windows Mike. I had a feeling you would go with the center black tile area without the tile lines. I think it looks fine myself (especially since it blends in well with the other black tile areas that you overpainted in black). And yes, the rear RCS ports on the OMS pods are covered on the pad. Sometimes a paper cover might fall off prematurely, but that usually only happens on the Tyvek covers on the forward RCS ports. The back ones tend to stay on pretty well. Edited August 16, 2012 by Jay Chladek Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted August 16, 2012 Author Share Posted August 16, 2012 Nicely done on the windows Mike. I had a feeling you would go with the center black tile area without the tile lines. I think it looks fine myself (especially since it blends in well with the other black tile areas that you overpainted in black). And yes, the rear RCS ports on the OMS pods are covered on the pad. Sometimes a paper cover might fall off prematurely, but that usually only happens on the Tyvek covers on the forward RCS ports. The back ones tend to stay on pretty well. Jay, Thanks for the compliment and the information regarding the OMS RCS ports. It's hard to see those in pictures. BTW, the window decal I used does have the tile lines in the center black tile area. I ended up using one of the decals I had laser printed instead of the ALPS printed windows. The tile lines in the center black tile area of the laser printed windows turned out very subtle and when applied does blend very nicely with the other black tile areas I painted. Even in person you have to take a second look to really see the center black area tile lines in the window decal which I feel looks a bit more accurate that way. Mike. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted August 16, 2012 Share Posted August 16, 2012 OUTSTANDING Mike! It's getting better everytime I open this thread and see your progress. Sorry I didn't get back to you on scaling down the 72nd scale decals I sent you copies of. I was out of the office on vacation for a while (Went to NATS!!) and didn't see the e-mails about you not being able to scale them. Oh well, maybe on a future build you can use them. Keep up the work, Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 (edited) Thanks a lot Bill! You have a heck of an excuse for being out of touch. WOW the NATS. I sure hope you will be posting some pictures! If you can send me the scaled down decals I would still like to have them printed. Mike. Edited August 17, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 (edited) It's been about 2 weeks since my last update. Well here are some pictures of the shuttle's bottom tiles. I applied some pastels to the bottom tiles and sprayed on flat clear to seal it. I also painted the ET close-out doors green and applied maroon stripe decals around the perimeter of each door. When the shuttle is attached to the ET the close-out doors won't be seen much so I didn't go too crazy detailing them. I also sprayed some darker shading on the top of the ET. The ET still needs more shading and the details painted. That'll come soon. Edited August 28, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hotdog Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Wow, those belly tiles couldn't have turned out any more perfect. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 (edited) Wow, those belly tiles couldn't have turned out any more perfect. Thanks Hotdog! I'm happy with how they turned out. I painted some more of the darker shading on the ET today. Next I'll start on the detail painting. Edited August 29, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Hi Mike, great compliment, it's very interesting to observe your painting technique, in particular the darker shading of the ET, that looks better and is very close the original already. Have you sprayed it or airbrushed? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted August 29, 2012 Author Share Posted August 29, 2012 (edited) Manfred, Thanks for the nice words! :) I airbrushed it. For the darker shades I used a fine tip needle. I'm trying to copy some of the more obvious details and shading of STS-133's ET. Mike. Edited August 29, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted August 29, 2012 Author Share Posted August 29, 2012 The darker areas on the top and bottom of the inter-tank are painted. I'll let these areas cure a couple of days and then spray on the lighter bands as well as the lighter foam where the stringers were fixed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Hi Mike, you are in the fortunate position that there are a lot of very good photos of the STS-133, on which one can recognize these details and differences in color. It's a pity that there are not nearly as many good pictures of the STS-6. Great taping and painting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hotdog Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 I can totally relate to ya on that one, Spaceman. I'm having the same issue with my early 90's version of Discovery. The pictures are out there, but they're either too low-res, too distant, or blurry. Some of the details ya kinda gotta guess at. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted August 30, 2012 Author Share Posted August 30, 2012 (edited) Thanks Manfred, at this point I feel I should own stock in Tamiya considering all their tape I've used. :lol: I agree with both you and Hotdog about the better pictures there are of the later missions. You can see just about every last detail in the pictures from the later missions. This is most likely due to the Columbia accident and the advent of digital photography. Mike. Edited August 30, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 ......... at this point I feel I should own stock in Tamiya considering all their tape I've used. :lol: Ya know? I was just thinking the exact same thing! The subtle paint colour you're applying to the ET, Mike, is just lovely. You ... have ... got ... a great eye! And I wondered if you had already glued the SRB's to the ET ... now I know. Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted August 30, 2012 Author Share Posted August 30, 2012 (edited) Hi Pete, Thanks for the compliment! :) The SRB's will be glued to the ET last. As Manfred and Hotdog pointed out, there are many great hi-rez pictures of the later missions so it wasn't too difficult to pick out the details. The ET is almost done and the shuttle needs a bit more weathering. After that I'll finish the MLP and I'm done. I can't wait. Mike. Edited August 30, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
composerman Posted August 30, 2012 Share Posted August 30, 2012 Mike, Everything is looking great! I have been up to my eyeballs and have not had much time with my build lately. I just got back from the Cape from the RBSP Atlas V launch. We had the privilege to watch it from the VAB roof. I can't wait to see your stack on the MLP! Troy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted August 31, 2012 Author Share Posted August 31, 2012 Thanks Troy! I'm glad you got to enjoy the RBSP Atlas launch. I'm hoping to finish the ET in the next few days and also finish the weathering on the shuttle. Mike. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted September 10, 2012 Author Share Posted September 10, 2012 (edited) It's time for another update! I made a change on the front attachment points(shown with green arrows) of the orbiter cradle. The Revell kit has this area looking like a raised triangle. I think it looks a bit more accurate now. Before: After: Some more of the lighter shade is painted. I still need to clean some areas up a bit and finish the details on the orbiter cradle and the feedlines but the ET & SRB's are almost finished. Edited September 10, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Hi Mike,. have been eagerly waiting for your update and I am thrilled. Your shading of the ET is just about perfect. One can see that you have evaluated the close-ups of Discovery's stack accurately, to indicate this many details. The overall impression of the ET with the boosters is outstanding. If now the orbiter comes in, this is certainly a fantastic ensemble. Really great job done so far, congratulation, now pays to your effort. :worship: I cannot longer expect to see the stack on your MLP. :gr_hail: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
composerman Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Outstanding Mike! I can't wait to see it all put together. Troy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mriccio Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 WOW Mike, that shading looks just great. Your attention to detail has been exhausting! I salute your valiant efforts. Can't wait to see it all put together... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted September 11, 2012 Author Share Posted September 11, 2012 (edited) Gee guys, thanks for all the compliments! :) It certainly keeps me going. I did get some more painting done today. I painted the areas where the stringers were fixed. By the time launch day arrived the newer foam had already turned tan so I painted them to indicate this. Next I have to paint the feed lines that run vertical. I may use decal stripes for the thinner lines. Here are some pictures of the 'fixed' stringers. Edited September 11, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hotdog Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 That is some really tight spraying/detailing on the ET, Mike. I don't know how you avoided over-spray into the grooved areas. Excellent job Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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