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

[crowe-t]

Jay, Thanks for the info on the SRB's.

Again, thanks guys for all your nice comments! :)

The Revell's ET/SRB connection is quite weak OOB. I even remember many years ago when I was about 12 and had a Revell stack I broke the 'L' hooks off. I used a 1/8" brass rod because that's all I had on hand but it really made the connection strong. What a difference and the rod blends right in. I'll be doing the same on my next (Airfix) build.

I'll post some more pictures soon after I get a few areas sanded.

Edited April 18, 2011 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

Just a little pre-shading. Most of these areas will be covered with the darker colors.

[RG-4]

Whoa! Great Build.

Had to read to make sure it was 144 Scale and not 1/72.

Incredible attention to detail at such a relatively small scale.

I can't imagine the level of detail on the 1/72 scale stack if you ever decide to build one.

I will be following this thead closely. Truly inspiring.

Robert G.

[crowe-t]

Robert, Thanks for the complements! :)

I was excited to finally get some paint on it today. It's taken me long enough. I'll get back to some more painting after the holiday weekend and still need to do a little work on the orbiter cradle and the MLP.

Edited April 23, 2011 by crowe-t

[MarkD]

The bottom of the tank isn't darker in color at all. That happens during launch from aerodynamic heating. Something to do with the upper atmosphere and the booster plumes causing residual heat to ignite vapors below the ET. It's seen easily at launch. You can see that in this NASA vid at 42:05

[crowe-t]

That's a great video, I've watched it a couple of times.

I painted the bottom tan so I can mask off a thin line around the bottom. This picture below shows the lighter line. Most of the tan paint on the bottom will be covered with the darker orange/brown color when the whole ET is painted.

[crowe-t]

During 'inspection' the crew found some cracked stringers. :lol: I guess this is really turning into STS-133.

Some putty and they'll be sanded tomorrow. I also puttied the base of the SRB cones so it'll be another couple of days before I get paint on these. :(

Edited April 25, 2011 by crowe-t

[MarkD]

Awesome photo. For the ET repairs of STS-133, the foam would have to be a cream color. The sun having not had time to darken the foam yet.

The one detail to a shuttle model no matter the scale of the kit is the tiny IFR ramps of foam that cover the brackets of the two gaseous feed lines next to the LOX fed line. I got the 1/72 scale kit and I'm still stuck on how to do that. http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/143735main_022805_01_ET-debris-mitigation.jpg

You know in some photos from STS-114 of the ET falling away, you can see the faint outline of all the panels beneath the foam of the aluminum skin.

Edited April 25, 2011 by MarkD

[crowe-t]

Here's a small update! :)

I added the 'open' umbilical doors on the bottom of the shuttle. They are basic shapes and will be painted green with some red around the edges. Since they really won't be seen much I won't add any other details to the doors.

I primed the shuttle and started on some sanding. It still needs some more sanding before painting. I'm also waiting for a friend to send me the completed window decal file. Until then I'll hold off on starting to paint it. I need to use the window decal to mask the windows for painting.

Edited May 4, 2011 by crowe-t

[K2Pete]

The orbiter looks suh-weeeet, Mike!

Too bad you couldn't be paid for all this effort, eh!

Pete

[MarkD]

This vid of the final external tank by NASA could be useful. :)

[mriccio]

It is getting close to painting time. Looks really good, and can't wait for your next update!

Thank you for your posts.

[crowe-t]

Thanks again guys for all the support! :)

I'm just about at the panting stage of this project. I've run into a few obstacles but every thing's coming along. I did start to paint the ET with a darker color I mixed but the color didn't come out right so I ordered a few different colors. The paint is scheduled to arrive on Monday. I sanded and applied a light coat of primer so it's ready... again! :lol:

I had a bit of difficulty with the detail on the upper skirts and cones of the SRB's. After priming outside on a windy day, the primer was a bit thick at the tops. I live in an apartment so I go outside to spray the Tamiya Lacquer primer. I'm using acrylics inside. Well, some sanding and then some more sanding and the details were partially lost. Over the last couple of days I stripped the details off the upper skirts and cones and re-applied them. I went easy on the primer(on a calm day, no winds) and they look good now. I'll be painting the SRB's over the weekend and have some thin stripe decals coming from Microscale for them as well.

The orbiter will be the last to be painted but I'm hoping to get started on that in a week or 2. In the next couple of days I'll do some work on the MLP.

I'll post some pictures soon.

Edited May 10, 2011 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

Here's a few quick pictures of the tops of the SRB's with the details that I did over. I'll do a bit more light sanding before the painting begins.

[crowe-t]

I started painting the SRB's but some of the raised segment joints looked a bit flat. These are on the inside where the seam was. I applied some putty and re-shaped them. I'll continue painting this week.

[MarkD]

Ah, the insta-foam covered stiffener joints on the bottom segment.

will you be adding the foam that goes on the inside of the bottom skirt?

[crowe-t]

I'll most likely add some insta-foam to the bottom edges of the Aft Skirts. Mostly to be seen from the top since I'm building it in the launch configuration.

However, I haven't yet decided how to represent the insta-foam. Maybe I'll use paint unless I can figure out a better way. At 1/144 scale some paint should be good enough.

[MarkD]

Well putty or paint, depending on the modeler. I noticed on my 1/72 scale stack, those areas of the boosters are already molded that way, so painting them is it. Though what to do to get the spray on foam look.

The bottom segment area that joins to the aft skirt should have a lip protruding where the two pieces meet. In the photos of the real shuttle, you can see that.

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/100604main_image_feature_233_jw4.jpg

[hacker]

Interesting indeed. Now with the shuttle retiring what is next for NASA? I feel they have no vision for the future and with the American debt the way it is I do not see any good prospects in the future. The space sector is one of the ones that creates jobs yet there is no political will to invest in NASA and the future. We may see the beginning of the end for NASA

I will be following with interest as I want to build one of these at some point

Hacker

[MarkD]

One thing to add to the ET, the models never fix is that the base of the ET aft struts are not continuous from top to bottom. They are half that. You can see that in this photo http://homepage.mac.com/georgegassaway/GRP/Scale/ShuttleData/STRUTS_interfaces/Shuttle_Umbilical_Hydrogen.jpg and http://homepage.mac.com/georgegassaway/GRP/Scale/ShuttleData/STRUTS_interfaces/STS-36_ETAR_LH2%20detail.jpg The top half is thicker, while the bottom is at the same level as the rest of the ET. The model kits have it all the same thickness. As seen on my models here http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/114/3/0/space_shuttle_stack_kits_by_onigojirakaiju-d3eqzng.jpg See the top half of the strut where the two strips run half way down the length of the base? Below that, I'm going to cut the rest of that off and make it more like the photos.

http://shuttle.msfc.nasa.gov/photoData//STS-115/MISC/640/115%20Orb%20ET%20Aft%20Attach.jpg

http://shuttle.msfc.nasa.gov/photoData//STS-116%20Rollout/640/116-28.JPG This one shows the upper half as it should be, by also it being a lighter color.

Edited May 18, 2011 by MarkD

[crowe-t]

Hacker, I'm a bit worried about the future of NASA myself. Hopefully they will start to develop something soon.

MarkD, I added the raised ordnance ring to the bottoms where the skirts attach. I'll post some pictures later.

I already removed the bottom half of the ET aft struts but it's barely visible in the pictures I had posted. I'll post a picture later of that as well.

Edited May 19, 2011 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

I added the raised ordnance ring to the bottom of the SRB's where they attach to the skirts.

Mark, Here are pictures that show the modified aft struts. I removed the bottom half of the struts.

[MarkD]

I see, but what I mentioned was below the two strips at the top half of the base of the strut, you should remove the rest of that thick bit of plastic. Here is a better photo of the ET showing what I mean. http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/images/content/149269main_ET-119_2571_2660x2128.jpg Below the strips, the rest evens out with the rest of the tank.

[crowe-t]

When the orbiter cradle is glued in place the lower part of the strut blends in with the ET's surface. If I remove that piece of plastic there will be a hole in the ET. The 1/144 Revell's ET has a channel that the strut fits into.

[MarkD]

You could fill that with putty or make a strip of styrene fill the space left.