crowe-t Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 I like Pattern 2, it's more subtle. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 6, 2019 Author Share Posted May 6, 2019 Yep, this is my favorite Pattern too. In the meantime, I also think that one Flour application should be enough, so that the SOFI texture still will fit to the scale and does not seem too exaggerated. But somehow the Flour structure looks a bit too coarse-grained yet, so maybe I have to modify something, just wondering how to solve it? Presumably, this effect can be alleviated by repeated airbrushing, which will become necessary, especially because the brush application makes a thicker layer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 15, 2019 Author Share Posted May 15, 2019 Hello friends, it must go on, and that's why Get to work! For a change, I've went back again to the ET, on which still some things are to be removed, before it becomes serious with the final Flour coating. But first I had to fill some places on the glued seams of the two tank parts, for what I have used the white Quick-Putty of Simprop, which can be quite well processed and after about 30 minutes be sanded both dry and wet. While I first used coarse and finer grinding sticks after drying the filler, the final sanding step was done wet with Tamiya Abrasive Sponge (2000), which therefor is suited outstandingly. Then I have begun to remove the Press. Line and the Cable Tray on the LO2 Tank, which I did bit by bit with the Chisel cutter, which was quite tedious. Then the Press. Lines and the Cable tray on the LH2 Tank came under the chisel knife, whereby I've first cut off the Cable tray piece by piece and then the two Press. lines. While remaining remnants can easily be scraped off with vertical standing chisel blade, the fine sanding followed again wet with the sanding sponge, after which nothing remains of remnants to see. The four Supports of the LO2 Feedline can remain in place because they are sitting in exactly the right place. It just lacks the front Support immediately behind the Intertank, which will be scratched. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blakeh1 Posted May 16, 2019 Share Posted May 16, 2019 This is one of my favorite build threads ever! So much cool information combined with a great build and attention to details! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 16, 2019 Author Share Posted May 16, 2019 Thanks for your great compliment, blakeh1 (?). How nice if you like my work so much, therefore stay tuned and cool - Haste makes waste! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 16, 2019 Author Share Posted May 16, 2019 Hello everybody, so everything would actually be prepared so far that I could start with the gluing of the continuous spiral (Barber pole) from the 0,75 mm wide tape strip, with which I wanted to simulate the SOFI Pattern, which is followed by the Flour coating as well as priming and airbrushing. But since I'm still not completely satisfied with the quality of the Flour Coating, I wanted to try a few things before yet. Therefore, I will do another Flour coating attempt, for what I have first looked at the local flour varieties in the supermarket. And as I stood in front of the shelf with the many flour bags and was spoiled for choice, stood next to me an elderly woman, who somehow looked competent in terms of baking. And then I asked her briefly if she knew which flour would be especially fine-grained. And her tip was Rice flour or Cornflour, whereupon I then searched for. Bur since faced with so many bags I haven't seen any Rice flour but only found the cornflour, a coworker could show me the rice flour. At home I then made the comparison to my so far used wheat flour by Heimatsmühle (Type 405), the sample of which can be seen on the right in the next picture, whose loose bulk is similar to the cornflour, with both varieties lumping a bit. In contrast, the Rice flour actually seems to be more fine-grained and trickles rather than lumping, which gives me hope for a better result in the Flour coating. Then there was the unanswered question as to whether I should glue the Ice Ramps for the two Press. Lines before or after the Flour coating, whereby I meanwhile tend to the first variant. But then it is necessary to mask the glued Ramps before Flour coating, which is why I tried the Maskol by Humbrol, whereby I was amazed and frustrated that the stuff in the jar was almost completely lumped, because it was probably already too old. Here one can see a few drops of the residual liquid on a Styrene plate and on a glued small piece of Evergreen profile. After drying, one can easily peel off the rubbery skin. Then it was time for the preparation of the new Flour coating test, for which I've used the now no longer needed Airfix Intertank, on which I've glued the 0,75 mm wide tape strip as a continuous spiral (Barber pole). This time, I have dispensed with the 0,5 mm wide spacer strip and glued the strip by eye and pressed on each winding immediately a bit stronger, whereby I have even reduced the distance even slightly. This brought the strips even closer to the estimated Valley-to-Valley distance of approx. 1,3 mm. For this complete gluing of the IT I needed about 1 h , which was certainly pure stress for my still sharp eagle eyes, whereby I'm amazed at how evenly I have managed this. Here are two more shots in daylight. Next to come are the 'masked' Ice Ramps. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 17, 2019 Author Share Posted May 17, 2019 Hello everybody, and now to the announced Ice Ramps from the Newware-Enhancement Kit (NW131), which I wanted to glue on before Flour coating and therefore had to mask, in order to protect them, for what I used Maskol. These are two of the Ramps (R23), 14 of which sit on the LH2 Tank. I've glued the left ramp directly onto the tapes with Pattex-CA, the right one directly onto the uncovered place, to see how far the ramps and their openings for the two GH2/GO2 Press. Lines will be covered by the flour coating. Here are the two Press. Lines (2'' in reality), for which I'll use Nickel silver (Ø 0,35 mm). Afterwards, the ramps were masked with Maskol, whereby I hope that the masks can still be removed well after the Flour coating. And so nothing stands in the way of Flour coating with Rice flour, on the result of which I am already curious. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 18, 2019 Author Share Posted May 18, 2019 Hello friends, after the Flour coating with the Rice flour, I can now show the images too. Here the Intertank Dummy already hangs in my tried and tested Flour chamber, and is waiting for the UHU glue spray mist, which has covered it here after some turns from all sides. And then followed the generous Flour coating with the rice flour by using a sieve, whereby the flour was pressed smoothly between several times with the finger, which this time everything went much looser from the hand. Finally, the loose flour was removed by tapping at the rotating rod, so that everything can dry thoroughly first, and then tomorrow the excess flour will be brushed off. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 19, 2019 Author Share Posted May 19, 2019 Hello everybody, now I can also present the pictures after brushing off the surplus flour, which have pleasantly surprised me, because now the proportions of the SOFI-Patterns fit much better to the diameter of the Intertank, which results in a completely different and more realistic look of the texture, especially since the floured surface looks much finer and smoother this time, which is certainly due to the finer Rice flour. And if I now imagine this structure with primer and painting, then this should presumably give a quite acceptable overall picture. And then I carefully subtracted the Maskol bonnets from the Ramps, whereby I had to realize that the ramp, glued onto the tape strips (left) had no proper hold and has gradually peeled off during unmasking. Consequently, the splices for the Ramps should be exposed before the Flour coating and covered separately either with a piece of masking tape or with Maskol and then the Ramps to glue only after Flour coating. And with these positive impressions, I can now continue with a clear conscience. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 This result with the Rice flour looks superb! Your experimentation and careful documentation of this journey of trial and error is impressive too! Even something like your application of the tape so-o-o evenly spaced ... my goodness, and then to discover Rice flour ... I would have thought that Wheat flour was so finely ground, nothing was finer than that! And more importantly, you still seem to be having a great deal of FUN with this project! Well done Manfred! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 19, 2019 Author Share Posted May 19, 2019 Thanks Pete for your nice comment, yeah, how do you say? Necessity is the mother of invention! I was surprised myself - how good that I asked the Lady in the supermarket. A little bit of fun is always good, because without fun there is no progress ... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 19, 2019 Author Share Posted May 19, 2019 Hello everybody, here for comparison a small photomontage of the new SOFI Pattern structure in the original image of the ET-8 during the Roll-out, which shows that it looks not so bad, right? Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (Jester) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 Manfred, The rice flour on the ET looks much better and just about right. Mike. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 20, 2019 Author Share Posted May 20, 2019 Thanks Mike, I think it's important that the stuff should trickle down nicely to scatter itself evenly, like the rice flour doing, unlike wheat flour. And that's why I'm more than satisfied with the last result. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
my favs are F`s Posted May 24, 2019 Share Posted May 24, 2019 (edited) Hi! Amazing progress! as much as I can see from the pic above, the real tank has slightly more fluid stripes/lines. So, why not try to cover/dip the tank with the adhesive stripes in lacquer, then wait it dry completely, and then do the flour procedure? The lacquer should even the difference of the stripes and the plastic surface underneath (between the stripes) for a more fluid pattern;) Edited May 24, 2019 by my favs are F`s Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted May 24, 2019 Share Posted May 24, 2019 I wouldn't recommend dipping the tank in lacquer. Maybe spray some lacquer on but dipping it in lacquer will cause a mess. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 24, 2019 Author Share Posted May 24, 2019 (edited) 17 hours ago, my favs are F`s said: Hi! Amazing progress! as much as I can see from the pic above, the real tank has slightly more fluid stripes/lines. So, why not try to cover/dip the tank with the adhesive stripes in lacquer, then wait it dry completely, and then do the flour procedure? The lacquer should even the difference of the stripes and the plastic surface underneath (between the stripes) for a more fluid pattern;) I fully agree with Mike, dipping the tank in lacquer would be really adventurous and would probably mean the end of all dreams. In order to produce a more 'fluid pattern', as you call it, the priming of the flour coated strip spiral and the subsequent airbrushing in several layers should suffice. Edited May 24, 2019 by spaceman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 The primer should even it out quite a bit. I can't wait to see the ET all done. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
my favs are F`s Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 Yes, of course, airbrushing a little bit more diluted/liquid primer should be enough for a more smooth pattern. Nice tip. I always forgot how small things are in this scale; the tank on the pics looks huge. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 25, 2019 Author Share Posted May 25, 2019 Thanks guys for understanding my situation with this SOFI texture. Hello everybody, for masking before Flour coating, I need a stable and secure solution, either with masking paint or tape, especially since I have the cover problem as with the Ramps even with the other ET add-on parts, such as with the ET/Orbiter Interface Attachment, this is the rear support structure of the orbiter with the different vertical and diagonal struts, as well as the LH2/LO2 PAL Ramps, etc. The Airfix solution of this Interface attachment, on the other hand, looks a bit more modest and therefore is not quite realistic, so there some scratch building is needed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
crowe-t Posted May 25, 2019 Share Posted May 25, 2019 Manfred, You should leave the ET/Orbiter Interface Attachment off until everything is painted and then attach it. That's how I did it on my Revell ET. It's much easier that way. When I painted Hotdog's 1/200 ET the ET/Orbiter Interface Attachment(cradle) was attached and it was a lot of work masking with Tamiya tape. Mike. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 25, 2019 Author Share Posted May 25, 2019 (edited) Thanks Mike for this helpful comment, I fully agree with you and did plan to myself to do this way. At this point a special thanks to you, Mike, because I have seen with astonishment, that you did re-store your awesome Revell STS-133 Thread by re-inserting all lost images. That's a great thing, there you have also very nicely scratched some special details of this ET/Orbiter Interface like the Umbilical Assemblies, where I can get a lot of helpful suggestions. P.S.: Small correction, as Mike told me, Photobucket has restored the pictures, unfortunately with their annoying signatures. Edited May 26, 2019 by spaceman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 28, 2019 Author Share Posted May 28, 2019 Hello everybody, and since both Airfix and Revell did not consider these two Umbilicals in their kits, but at least should be hinted, therefore here another view showing the connection of all lines and cables between the ET and the Orbiter Doors. Source: NASA And who wants to follow all the details exactly, can look at this drawing and even find some dimensions, whereby it should be noted that the struts are shown here without TPS. Source: System Definition Handbook SLWT - Vol. II For the further building process, it will become useful to model the ET/Orbiter Interface Attachment incl. Umbilicals separately and to glue it only after the Flour coating, priming and painting of the ET. Then I need to mask only the connecting areas of the two Longerons as well as the foot points of the vertical struts. Then follows the mounting of the LO2 Feedline as well as the Ice Frost Ramps with the two GH2/GO2 Press. Lines and the Cable Tray on the LH2 tank, as well as the installation of the GO2 Press. Line along with its Ramps and Cable Tray on the LO2 tank. And only at the very end the complete and painted ET/Orbiter Interface Attachment are glued and the corresponding line connections adjusted at the interfaces. So far to the theory, that wants to be well considered. I just hope that this can also be realized in practice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 30, 2019 Author Share Posted May 30, 2019 (edited) Hello everybody, to get in advance an idea of the size of the two Umbilicals, which I want to scratch, I reduced the drawing to 1:144 and cut out the Crossbeam with the Umbilicals and Cable Trays and put it onto the Crossbeam of the Airfix ET. And now one can see how small these miniature parts are that always look so huge in the photos. Here is a photo in daylight. And matching it I have a great photo of my friend Scott "Shuttleman" Phillips (see arrow), standing as young but then already about 1.80 m large greenhorn next to a Original LH2Umbilical, which shows the true size of this part. Source: Scott Phillips Mighty impressive, right? By the way, Scott Phillips has been busy for quite some time with two very interesting projects in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the first Moon landing, which is imminent. Source: NASA Since I've supported him a bit, I was also let in on, but I had to promise him not to reveal anything, as it should become a surprise. Here one can see Scott and his wife Dianne in the workshop of the creators before the internal unveiling of the "Corpus Delicti". Source: Scott Phillips Only so much in advance, it has something to do with historic wood ... Edited November 6, 2019 by spaceman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blakeh1 Posted May 31, 2019 Share Posted May 31, 2019 Very impressive! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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