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


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Hello dear friends,

 

actually I wanted to leave it at the result of my previous inventory of the  Crawler lightingcool.gif

 

But at one point I'm starting brooding again and again, so that I can't stop thinking about it,  which is why I took a closer look at it once again. 

 

It is a matter of this area at the underbody of the crawler, on which one can still see some circled lamps on/in front of the inside of the Trucks, which have not (yet) been taken into account in my previous count, the exact position of which is difficult to make out on my reference photo of the STS-28 (1989). huh.gif

 

9R3mjP.jpg
Source: flickr.com/photos/nasacommons

 

Since two of these lamps have already got my attention in the video of the STS-6 Rollout

 

6erxAS.jpg

 

I've already done some more thorough research and actually found what I was looking for, namely at my friend Mischa Klement, whom I has inquired about the diameters of the crawler's tubular support struts.

 

On his homepage one can find under Support a very detailed and nicely illustrated construction manual, in which I, among other things, also came across this image, which immediately made my heart beat faster because there the construction is shown at this point, where the lamp can be seen in the video (circled in red). 

 

51fy7t.jpg
Source: Mischa Klement (microartwork.com)

 

This is one of the two attachment points between which the Longitudinal Steering Cylinders of the truck steering are mounted, on the center of which there is also a lamp, as one can see in the following both pictures. 

 

g09RHy.jpg
Source: Mischa Klement (microartwork.com)

 

pt2pQY.jpg
Source: Mischa Klement (microartwork.com)

 

And those are the three lamps that one can see here again on the Crawler (Corner B), wherewith this last question would also be clarified. 

 

2zSZ2O.jpg

 

This results in the following modified Crawler lighting, which contains 40 Lamps + 2 Beacons

 

ZG4X0n.jpg

 

which are distributed onto the following 6 LED Circles:

 

Corner A to D : each 7 = 28
Side 1/Side 3 :  each 6 = 12

 

How good that my friend Arno (McPhönix) in wise foresight has again planned in his Electronics 6 circles with each 7 LEDs. up040577.gif

Edited by spaceman
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Thanks Mike, but unfortunately: :fraidnot:

 

Hello everybody,

 

I do not want to keep you in suspense any longer and let grope in the dark ... idea1_2.gif:coolio:

 

To the day exactly today 9 years ago I started my report in our German Raumcon forum and 4 months later then also here in this forum, up037311.gifas one can see on page 1.

 

Long, long ago ...  hmmm.gif

 

And for it that many of you have been loyal to me since then, as well as for your feedback and the lively encouragement in good and bad times, I would like to thank you very much. up046068.gif

 

With this in mind, I can only hope that you will stay tuned and that we will have a lot of fun together yet.  up040577.gifup040577.gif

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2 hours ago, spaceman said:

To the day exactly today 9 years ago I started my report in our German Raumcon forum and 4 months later then also here in this forum, up037311.gifas one can see on page 1.

I couldn't have guessed. It's a long term project, a bit like that airport they've built near Berlin... 😂

 

But actually, I've a build that's taking longer. Something like 15 years ago (I'm guessing, but it should be around that), I started building a Formula 1 car (Williams FW14B) from Tamiya 1/12 big scale series...and I never finished it. I'm picking work up now, so that should count towards a long term build too, doesn't it? 😉 Reason why I'm picking this one up is that I stumbled across a video of somebody building exactly that model and I remember that it was still in my storage. And nowadays you can get a lot of detail kits to make the model better. So I got inspired again.

 

Keep up your good work and keep inspiring people to strive for the highest level of detail. You really show what can be done with patience and determination. 

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2 hours ago, freshnewstart said:

I'm defenitly on..!

Your thread here is the most spectacular i ever seen!

 

Jesper

 

 

Thanks Jesper for your great compliment, that makes me proud and happy. :worship:

 

I only came across it by chance too, because otherwise I neither look at the time nor at the calendar while modeling, and so it becomes more and more to a kind of life's work ... :whistle:

 

Stay tuned, the journey is going on ... up040577.gif

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2 hours ago, mikephilippens said:

I couldn't have guessed. It's a long term project, a bit like that airport they've built near Berlin... 😂

 

But actually, I've a build that's taking longer. Something like 15 years ago (I'm guessing, but it should be around that), I started building a Formula 1 car (Williams FW14B) from Tamiya 1/12 big scale series...and I never finished it. I'm picking work up now, so that should count towards a long term build too, doesn't it? 😉 Reason why I'm picking this one up is that I stumbled across a video of somebody building exactly that model and I remember that it was still in my storage. And nowadays you can get a lot of detail kits to make the model better. So I got inspired again.

 

Keep up your good work and keep inspiring people to strive for the highest level of detail. You really show what can be done with patience and determination. 

 

Thanks, Mike, for your smart thoughts, :worship: and I am happy to have inspired you again. 

 

Long-term projects like this are not measured in days, weeks or months, but in years. And around three quarters of my time I'm spending on studying of sources and reference material as well as research and detailed analysis in order to get as close as possible to the historical original with my solutions. idea1_2.gif

 

In doing so, one must not allow oneself to be distracted from the path which is the goal and do not lose heart, in order to hold on tight to your dreams, which is not always easy. up040577.gif

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Manfred,

 

You are doing an amazing job on this build!  I've been following it here at ARC since you started.  Keep taking your time, slow and steady wins the race. 

 

I got back into model building in 2008 when I decided to build a Star Trek Refit Enterprise.  I stopped working on it to build my Revell Shuttle Stack, which I finished, but I never got back to the Enterprise.  One day soon I hope.

 

Mike.

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Thanks Mike for your nice compliment, :worship:

 

I appreciate you as a faithful companion on my long way from the start through all ups and downs, and for this I want to award you the STS-6 Perseverance Medal, 1st Class

 

                               7AxJPS.jpg

 

Are you planning a Real Space project sometime again? :hmmm:

 

Stay tuned, and first of all healty! up040577.gif

Edited by spaceman
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2 hours ago, spaceman said:

Thanks Mike for your nice compliment, :worship:

 

I appreciate you as a faithful companion on my long way from the start through all ups and downs, and for this I want to award you the STS-6 Perseverance Medal, 1st Class

 

N7SYb2.jpg

 

Are you planning a Real Space project sometime again? :hmmm:

 

Stay tuned, and first of all healty! up040577.gif

 

Manfred,

 

I'm honored to have that medal. :worship:

 

I have some ideas but maybe I'll get back to my Airfix STS-135 Atlantis build in the near future.

 

Mike.

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My Goodness Manfred ... 9 years?

What amazes me about this build is your continued exploration of new techniques ... and your continual enthusiasm.

My longest build was about a year-and-a-half and I had to push hard to complete it. My delight and my enthusiasm had drained. 

 

But you keep moving on to the Ultimate Goal of completion.

 

And it's absolutely delightful to watch you solve problems, to see your extensive research and to see how you plan out each solution.

Plus, your communication skills, to your faithful viewers, your photos, your Calculations to get the precise Scale dimensions is ...  as astounding as it is informative!

 

I hope we all get to see this massive project completed ... to your precision-oriented satisfaction!

 

Still watching!  :popcorn:

Pete

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Thanks Pete for your nice compliments and interesting comments, which I'm always happy about because they are meant honestly. cool.gif

 

But I also have been able to suck a lot of honey from your reports and have learnt a lot by watching you model building, which in turn has inspired and motivated me. :clap2:

 

And since you, like Mike, have followed my Long-term project with interest from the beginning, I would also like to thank you for it with my STS-6 medal

                                    7AxJPS.jpg

Stay tuned and healthy, my friend, and let's have lots of fun together yet. up040577.gif

Edited by spaceman
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Hello everybody,

 

then let's go into the 10th year with fresh courage! cool.gif

 

And you won't believe it, but the Crawler lighting still won't let me go, so whether we like it or not, I have to come back once again to the STS-28 photo. rolleyes.gif

 

In addition to the red circled lamps at the front and back of the JEL Cylinders, there were still a few others that I have not yet followed up. 

 

3mWeVQ.jpg
Source: flickr.com/photos/nasacommons

 

And that concerns in particular to the lamp marked blue next to the lamp marked red. The lamps circled in yellow do not belong to the crawler, but are located on the Pedestals, as I have seen on other photos and could possibly be added as a LED circle into the Pad Lighting, if the power bank could still cope with it. huh.gif

 

So I've gone into the matter of the blue marked lamp again more exactly and found it on this photo of the STS-6, as one can see in this photo, albeit only blurred.

 

M9oj6W.jpg
Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (jacqmans)

 

That's why I've traced the STS-6 track further and also watched the Rollout video again. And there I came across this Sequence (7:46), on the screenshot of which one can see the blue circled lamp next to the red circled lamp on the front of the JEL Unit, which is located on the side wall.  

 

06Qg1e.jpg

 

Much more precisely one can see these lamps on photos in the Crawler Report (HEAR FL-8-11-C), as on this Photo (JPEG (334 kb) here, 

 

POb0pJ.jpg
Source: Library of Congress (HAER FL-8-11-C-9)

 

if one knows that there is also always a HiRes. (TIFF (38.9 mb) for all photos in this report, which one can study in detail to your heart's content, as I did first of all for the front corner Corner A.   

 

And on it one can see both the lamp on the front of the JEL Unit (the same lamp is on the back too) and the lamp on the side wall to the left of the ladder. speak_cool.gif

 

rCcvRt.jpg

 

And at the rear corner Corner D with the driver's cab one will find the same arrangement of the lamps, as well as at the corners Corner B & C

 

BNzdV7.jpg

 

As a result, 4 more lamps are added to my previous Inventory.

 

Therefore I've decided to modify the lamp distribution as follows:

 

ggV4gB.jpg

 

This now results in the following final Crawler lighting, which contains 42 Lamps + 2 Beacons, which are distributed on the following 6 LED circuits

 

Corner A-D:    each 7 = 28
Side 1/2-3/4:  each 7 = 14 + 2 Beacons

 

And it will stay that way. Rien ne va plus - Nothing works anymore! up040577.gif

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello everybody,

 

now that the number of LEDs for the Crawler lighting is clarified, I wanted to get things straight concerning the size of the lamps to see whether it's possible to scratch them ever. 

 

And for this I've found this photo (JPEG, 334 kb) in the Crawler Report (HEAR FL-8-11-C), on which one can see the outer Truck lighting, which consists of three lamps. cool.gif 

 

N1tZE2.jpg
Source: Library of Congress (HAER FL-8-11-C-13)

 

However, I will only scratch the larger, downward-hanging lamp, as three LEDs in a confined space would otherwise totally flood this place with their brightness, which would only be seen as one light spot anyway. rolleyes.gif

 

From this direct photo I might determine the dimensions of the lamp, for which I would, as always, need a Reference dimension,  hmmm.gif which I determined from this NASA drawing of the truck, which is also included in the Crawler Report. speak_cool.gif

 

ceW55E.jpg
Source: Library of Congress (HAER FL-8-11-C-32)

 

And with the height of the Truck body (14 mm) as a reference dimension, I have determined the dimensions of this lamp from the HiRes. image (TIFF, 38,4 mb) of this photo, which shows how tiny it should actually be, especially since I also would still have to somehow place the LED-0401 (1,0 mm x 0,3 mm x 0,5 mm) ... up039493.gif

 

uCDBDz.jpg

For this the smallest ferrule (0.5x6), that I have, would come into question, with Ø 1,4 mm (sleeve) and a small shade (Ø 2,0 mm)

 

Xvsayc.jpg

 

what would be almost too big, or a brass tube with Ø 1,2 mm, possibly slightly widened in front. huh.gif

 

Maybe I can come across with something better ... :whistle:

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Hello everybody,

 

I've kept thinking and remembered the thin cable insulations which are lying on side for a long time already, here e.g. with Ø 0,7 mm, which would fit exactly. cool.gif

 

up073878.jpg

 

To do this it would have to be possible to get the thin LED wires (0,1 mm) threaded into this tube, but I think this should be possible for short pieces of 1 - 2 mm length. 

 

In discussion with my friend Arno (McPhönix) we quickly came from insulating tube to shrinking tube, with which I've also experimented a longer time ago, however for cables with slightly larger diameters. huh.gif

 

And shrinking tube is also available with smaller diameters, e.g. Ø 2 mm, which shrinks to 1 mm and is also transparent, which would be ideal for the lamp, especially since it would also protect the encased LED at the same time. 

 

up073879.jpg
Source: led-bestellen.de

 

And this idea I followed up right away, have Googled, and among other things, I on this, found in my opinion even this better suited, thin-walled, transparent Shrinking tube (1,6:0,8), which would be almost ideal for the Crawler lamps.  

 

And since the tube also has a small range like a lampshade at the transition after shrinking, it should be thought about whether this variant could also generally be considered for the rest lamps of the  Launch Pad, with the help of which I could therefore spare the more elaborate solution using ferrules ...  hmmm.gif

 

With it I will experiment soon, especially since the shrunk "glass body" with the LED inside could be sealed perfectly at the bottom with a drop of Bondic UV adhesive.  

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Your level of research and of Trial and Error is amazing Manfred.

 

For some reason, I always give myself a deadline ... I want to finish this part in 2 days and the bigger assembly should take 8 days and when I miss that deadline, I get frustrated.

You seem to just build until you're happy with the result, and it certainly works.

 

I'm gonna steal your method!   :thumbsup:

Pete

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Thanks Pete for your nice words. default_bow.gif

 

Sorry, but I cannot understand why you put yourself under pressure with a deadline, :hmmm:then it's your own fault if you are frustrated at the end my friend ... 

 

For me, the only thing that matters is the quality of the result, which decides on success and satisfaction or failure and frustration. This is my philosophy or method, and maybe also my recipe for success. up045518.gif

 

I have to be convinced of the result, and if not, s-boese-wand02.gif then my time is not too good for looking for other solutions until I'm satisfied. 

 

The journey is the reward and is leading sometimes over detours too ... 

 

In this sense steal my method, Pete, you have my blessing. up040577.gif

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It's interesting: When they teach you about project management in business, you learn of the relationship between time, cost and quality during the delivery of the project. In my experience, clients are fixated with time and cost and nobody wants to factor in the importance of the effect of quality compromises. Manfred, I think you are demonstrating the value (and impact) of setting quality to "as good as I can make it". It doesn't necessarily have a huge impact on cost but time keeps on ticking away. In the context of this project though, that is a good thing; the longer it takes, the more opportunity we all have to learn something. It turns out you can't measure all value in €.

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Thanks Kirk for your nice comment. default_bow.gif

 

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah ... up035091.gif As good as I can make it, that's my aspiration, whereby my effort for perfection and attention to detail have constantly evolved over the years, especially when I think about how I started ... :Hmmm:

 

Meanwhile I'm thinking, Nothing is impossible! cool.gif

 

That is certainly closely related to my constellation Virgo too, which is said to be very fussy and picky ... 

 

And in contrast to management in business, time is not a limiting factor for me as a pensioner. up040577.gif

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