Vince Hoffmann Posted January 3, 2012 Author Share Posted January 3, 2012 Jetplane: The missing OMS nozzles will be added during the final painting stages. MarkD: Thanks for the painting tip, but its a bit late now since the doors are already done (I'll post pictures later). I have found no reference pictures of the inside of the doors when the radiators are deployed, but I do have some good line drawings of the framing and latch mechanisms. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Man! this just keeps getting better and better. When you add all the details this thing is going to really stand out! If mine even comes close to this I'll be very happy. Keep them pics a-coming. Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MarkD Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Will you be making any new hinges for the payload bay doors? I also posted a couple new photos of my STS-51L stack and am in need of help with the doors in question as on my model they won't close. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vince Hoffmann Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Will you be making any new hinges for the payload bay doors? No hinges. The doors will be pinned to the sides (notice the small pins in the photos). Then the PE door actuators will be glued in place. So, the doors will be fixed open and held in place by the brass pins. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Vince, Excellent work! The finish looks nice and smooth. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vince Hoffmann Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Crowe, thanks :) The only problem area was the top of the crew compartment. I'm not worried about it though because it'll be covered by the insulation blankets. The other seam problems around the rear area were fixed with epoxy putty and will be covered by the surface finishes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Crowe, thanks :) The only problem area was the top of the crew compartment. I'm not worried about it though because it'll be covered by the insulation blankets. The other seam problems around the rear area were fixed with epoxy putty and will be covered by the surface finishes. Vince, What will you be using for the insulation blankets? Mike. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Youngtiger1 Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 Oh dude, that payload bay is totally awesome. I'm going to have to save this thread. Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vince Hoffmann Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 The payload bay is painted with white lacquer spray paint. I would normally use an airbrush for this job, but the Tamiya lacquer spray cans are so much better than they used to be that I have no reservations using them on a job like this. After the white has dried, a coat of clear lacquer is applied using the airbrush. This seals the white paint against the wash to come later. A wash of black enamel thinned with mineral spirits is liberally applied to the inside of the cargo bay. The mineral spirits do not attack the lacquer. After the wash dries, a rag dampened with mineral spirits is used to wipe off the excess paint. A couple of passes over the surface and the results look pretty good. I'll need to clean up some of the corners where the wash was heavy, but so far so good. The next step will be detail painting and decaling the interior. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Great technique for giving a wash to the payload bay I must say as it pops out the detail just perfect. My eyes are half expecting to see two shuttle astronauts in the bay doing a space walk. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 The wash in the payload bay looks very realistic. You did an exceptional job on it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vince Hoffmann Posted January 14, 2012 Author Share Posted January 14, 2012 (edited) Here are the bay doors, using the same technique described above for the cargo bay. Just like the cargo bay, there will be detail painting and decals and more add-on doodads to come. I wasn't particularly concerned about removing all of the excess wash as most of the areas on the doors will be covered up or in deep shadow from the radiators. Edited January 14, 2012 by Vince Hoffmann Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Youngtiger1 Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Wow, that detail just jumps out...super work! BTW, is that water color as well? TIA Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DutyCat Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Looking good, Vince Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vince Hoffmann Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 Wow, that detail just jumps out...super work! BTW, is that water color as well? TIA The wash is Testors enamel thinned with mineral spirits. The base coat is sealed with clear lacquer so the wash can be wiped off without damaging the painted surface. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stevenichols Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Looking great indeed, thanks for sharing your progress with us. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vince Hoffmann Posted February 5, 2012 Author Share Posted February 5, 2012 Continuing with the payload bay, the bridge fittings are next. I realized after they were done that I had made a huge mistake... I made them upside down So, here are the progressive pictures of the upside down bridge fittings... I'll cut these apart and rebuild them properly and post new pictures in a few days. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mriccio Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Vince, following your build with great interest, and will use it as a guide in a future build depicting an open shuttle. Keep up the great work, and sorry about your bridge fittings. Marco Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vince Hoffmann Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 I took a 2 week break from this model, but yesterday I was back at it again! Working on the IUS cradle and tilt table this time. The parts are old RSM parts from their first shuttle payload bay detail kit issued back in the late 90s. They are good starter shapes but require a fair amount of extra detailing.There is quite a bit of good reference on the NASA website for the cradle, but each mission that flew a cradle was different and the device has shown a lot of changes over time. This model shows one of the earliest type entirely wrapped in mylar insulation. Later models were left exposed and entirely pai I first cut off a bunch of blocky detail that was not accurate, then fabricated plastic parts to replace what was removed. The plastic bits are shown here assembled and in part form. Small plastic ribs were glued on and mylar foil was glued between them using foil adhesive similar to rubber cement. After the foil was all glued onto all of the sides, epoxy putty is used to form two shapes that cover the IUS support brackets. These were also covered in foil and the IUS brackets (I don't know what else to clal them) are made from various bits of plastic and glued in place. The final step is to add the bumper and locking devices at the bottom of the cradle using plastic rod and stock. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 (edited) Very nice detailing on the cradle! So far the Payload bay looks terrific. Edited February 21, 2012 by crowe-t Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alvis 3.1 Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Awesome work! All this info is very good to see, and I really like the wash and wipe technique for getting that detail to pop. Al P. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vince Hoffmann Posted April 9, 2012 Author Share Posted April 9, 2012 (edited) Alrighty. So I haven't posted on this project in a few weeks so here's the last part of the IUS cradle assembly. The trunion pins were replaced with short aluminum tubes to better represent the stainless steel. The cradle was then attached to the bridge fitting with a short U shaped piece of wire which represents the capture mechanism. Done! Edited April 9, 2012 by Vince Hoffmann Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vince Hoffmann Posted April 9, 2012 Author Share Posted April 9, 2012 next up is the tilt table. The original part is an old Real Space Models cargo bay detail kit that originally came with a TDRS communications satelite model. The tilt table is too large and has incorrect details for this flight (all tilt tables flown differ according to the payload). So the first step was to carve off the incorrect details, and add a few of my own. Additional instrument boxes are made from plastic. Some are painted, and some are foiled. The double trunion pin assembly is also started. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Considering the amount of work you've done on this, I would swear you spent the last three decades working in shuttle processing before flights. This is just insane! Very cool though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Vince Hoffmann Posted April 9, 2012 Author Share Posted April 9, 2012 Heh, no.. but I wish. I've just been collecting every single shuttle and space station mission photo that I can grab since the start of the ISS project, and selected missions prior to that. And my collection of space shuttle books helps too! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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