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Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6 (1:144)


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Again, your attention to detail is beyond belief... The 'barberpole' pattern is a very precise job, but I fear that putting on the strips on the front/bottom of the tank will be even harder bacause it's not a straight surface. How are you going to approach that? Cutting out strips for one 'revolution' at a time or do you apply that barberpole pattern there too?

I'm anxious to see the results.

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Manfred,

Once again, your "attention to details" and being able to translate them into your build

are phenomenal. No doubt whatsoever, you're going to have the most accurate build -

and your work on the ET is just part of the overall equation, and the results!

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5 hours ago, mikephilippens said:

Again, your attention to detail is beyond belief... The 'barberpole' pattern is a very precise job, but I fear that putting on the strips on the front/bottom of the tank will be even harder bacause it's not a straight surface. How are you going to approach that? Cutting out strips for one 'revolution' at a time or do you apply that barberpole pattern there too?

I'm anxious to see the results.

 

Thanks Mike for looking in on me and for your nice words. :worship:

 

Also onto the LO2 Tank I will stick a barberpole style endless tape spiral, and I think there will be no problems, because the 0,75 mm tape is so thin and flexible that it will nestle easily against the tank bulge. top.gif Cutting out and gluing separate strips for each 'revolution' would be a too brutal punishment, eek.gif which I would like to save myself.

 

This typical SOFI pattern texture can be clearly seen in this photo of the ET-33 (STS-36) by George Gassaway, 

 

STS-36_Feb90_ET-33_BI036.jpg

Source: georgesrockets.com

 

and also on the LO2 Tank of the ET-8, which interests me, on which I had counted the number of rings, which was the purest stress for my tired eyes. cant-believe-my-eyes-smiley-emoticon.gif

 

eloNck.jpg

 

But my previous attempts gave me courage to try it again now. top2.gif

 

KmDtRQ.jpg

 

28qTjk.jpg

 

The only difficulty is maintaining the same spacing while the tape spiral is being glued, but I hope being able to do this crazy job successfully. up040577.gif

 

Let's wait and see, and keep your fingers crossed for me. JC_doubleup.gif

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6 hours ago, The Underdog said:

Manfred,

Once again, your "attention to details" and being able to translate them into your build

are phenomenal. No doubt whatsoever, you're going to have the most accurate build -

and your work on the ET is just part of the overall equation, and the results!

 

Thanks Underdog for your nice compliments which make me proud and is pushing me forward. :worship:

Edited by spaceman
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Hello friends,
I've tried it on the Aft Dome, which is actually not immediately satisfactory, smiley215.gif since the 1,5 mm tape on this flat bulge with decreasing radii is increasingly difficult to bend and consequently fits less smoothly, which then leads to small wrinkles, which of course do not appeal to me. hmmm.gif

 

06g7Sn.jpg

 

A little remedy can be provided by carefully cutting into the wrinkles with the razor blade and then pressing them flat, which I did here in the middle area above the Man Hole. huh.gif

 

BKLx3i.jpg

 

But that's also not yet exactly brilliant, I think at least ... rolleyes.gif

With the 0,75 mm tape, this should probably look different on the LO2 Tank, i.e. a little bit better.  up040577.gif

Edited by spaceman
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15 hours ago, mikephilippens said:

In Dutch, we have this expression 'monnikenwerk', which translates to monastic work (Klosterarbeit). It refers to the tedious work the monks did in copying books by hand.

This qualifies as monastic work at Olympic level...

 

I think a lot of us have been trying to find the proper, "Superlatives" in describing what

Manfred has been doing with this project, since the beginning. You have found a new

and unique way of putting it, connecting it to 'Old World' practices in getting it done! I

for one, have learned to expect the unexpected... not knowing and being surprised at

what he is capable of doing, with his talents and this project.

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Hello everybody,

 

today fitting to the topic of SOFI Pattern Texture, here once again a small quiz question. top.gif 

 

Most of you already know this item on the right, this is a piece of SOFI Insulation Foam from the External Tank ET-138 flown on the last mission, STS-135, that my friend Scott Phillips has gifted me. top.gif

 

9H5Xiv.jpg

 

But what could that be on the left in the picture?  hmmm.gif

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1 hour ago, spaceman said:

Hello everybody,

 

today fitting to the topic of SOFI Pattern Texture, here once again a small quiz question. top.gif 

 

Most of you already know this item on the right, this is a piece of SOFI Insulation Foam from the External Tank ET-138 flown on the last mission, STS-135, that my friend Scott Phillips has gifted me. top.gif

 

But what could that be on the left in the picture?  hmmm.gif

 

Manfred,

If I had to guess, I would say it could be a Space Shuttle Tile. But what do I know?

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Hey Underdog, Bingo!!! smiley250.gif

 

This is a piece of a Heat protection tile from the Thermal Protection System (TPS) used for the Shuttle, which a friend from our Raumcon Forum has gifted to me as a small present from his visits to the KSC, with which he made a great pleasure to me.hurrah.gif

 

TovEtR.jpg

 

If one takes the material in hand, one will immediately notice the low weight, which is no wonder with a pore content of approx. 90%. yikes.gif

 

dAlOW2.jpg

 

This is a complete TPS tile that has a top layer of Borosilicate that withstands temperatures from 1200 to 1600 °C, underneath there is this material of sintered Silica glass fibers (SiO2), of which now a piece enriches my rarity collection. smiley250.gif

 

800px-Silica_Space_Shuttle_thermal_prote
Source: wikipedia.org

 

Space_Shuttle_%28HRSI_tile%29.png
Source: wikipedia.org

 

And to match this, the following two spectacular videos demonstrating the amazing properties of this material. erschrocken3.gif This photo is already a little taste of it. eek.gif

 

Tile-625x350.jpg
Source: geek.com/news (Ryan Whitwam)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp9Yax8UNoM

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CchPemGaEmw

 

So much for this hot topic. up040577.gif

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4 hours ago, spaceman said:

Hey Underdog, Bingo!!! smiley250.gif

 

This is a piece of a Heat protection tile from the Thermal Protection System (TPS) used for the Shuttle, which a friend from our Raumcon Forum has gifted to me as a small present from his visits to the KSCwith which he made a great pleasure to me.

 

Manfred,

That's pretty cool, I wasn't 100% sure it was a Shuttle Tile... I just figured it might be.

I'm happy for you, that you have it in your collection!

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Hello my friends,

 

in the meantime I have still thought and tried out another variant with two 0,75 mm tapes glued next to each other, which intuitively should work better on the flat curve of the Aft Dome. cool.gif

 

After I had removed the previously glued 1,5 mm tapes, rolleyes.gif this time I started on the inside at the smallest ring and first of all glued the 0,75 mm tape from the roll on the marked circle, piece by piece, and always firmly pressed on tightly, with the tank in the left hand and the tape roll in the right hand. Then I glued the next tape ring right next to the first ring, which was a bit easier because the tape did let easy nestle to it. up045518.gif

 

BOzswF.jpg

 

Since from now on it was important to keep the spacing of the double rings as uniform as possible, I glued four small pieces of the 0,75 mm tape as a spacer for better orientation and then glued the next ring, relying on my sharp eagle eye during the following quarter turns,  cant-believe-my-eyes-smiley-emoticon.gif until the next spacer came into view. top.gif  

 

SAxdGI.jpg

 

And so I've laboriously rolled out ring by ring, which was quite a torture for my eyes, smiley_worship.gif so that I had to take a few breaks.  

 

77eo8B.jpg

 

And then it was finally done, and I was done too, and the result is actually as I had imagined it and looks well, in my opinion. speak_cool.gif

 

YnoLcU.jpg

 

vt2upX.jpg

 

With these positive impressions I went to bed early in the morning ... schlafend3.gif

 

And here are still a few pics in daylight.

 

mnkkfF.jpg

 

gKsSMA.jpg

 

NTpqcI.jpg

 

This time indeed it was twice the effort, but the heck with it, it was worth it ... default_sunrevolves.gif

 

The Lord of the Rings says hello and wishes all a nice Sunday. up040577.gif

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🤣 

The Lord of the Rings indeed!

Such a wonderful ... yet very time consuming ... effort, Manfred!!

I can only imagine the strain your poor eyes endured ... it's nice that you treated them with a well deserved rest!   :thumbsup:

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Manfred,

I'm so glad you've taken on the responsibility of, "Elevating the Bar" to such a lofty level.

It's a Win-win all-around, you're happy with the results and we get to enjoy witnessing a

"Phabulous" project such as this... the likes as never seen before!

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3 hours ago, K2Pete said:

🤣 

The Lord of the Rings indeed!

Such a wonderful ... yet very time consuming ... effort, Manfred!!

I can only imagine the strain your poor eyes endured ... it's nice that you treated them with a well deserved rest!   :thumbsup:

 

Thanks Pete for looking in on me again. :worship:

But that was nevertheless just an easy exercise in comparison with the job on the rest of the ET with its felt 1.000 rings ... smiley215.gif

What will I say afterwards yet? :hmmm:

Maybe in memory of an old Beatles' hit: I'm down ... 1-13768.gif

Edited by spaceman
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2 hours ago, The Underdog said:

 

Manfred,

I'm so glad you've taken on the responsibility of, "Elevating the Bar" to such a lofty level.

It's a Win-win all-around, you're happy with the results and we get to enjoy witnessing a

"Phabulous" project such as this... the likes as never seen before!

 

Thanks Underdog for the great appreciation of my work, that is almost too much of a good thing. lob3.gif

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