spaceman Posted May 27, 2022 Author Share Posted May 27, 2022 (edited) Hello everybody, well, as is so often the case, the devil is in the details and therefore first once more back to the Transportation Support Plates. And since the Payload Canister also rests on special Support Plates during horizontal transport too, now I have been dealing with these plates more closely and have tried to get me smart about the replica. This photo again shows an overview of the different Transportation Support Plates that were mounted on the transporters for either the horizontal or vertical Transportation Mode. Source: NASA Since this is one of the two KAMAG transporters delivered in 2000, both types of Support plates were mounted at the time, which was not normally the case. At least the Hold-down Clevises, here to see on the vertical transport plates (red circles), were only mounted during the vertical transport of the canisters to the Launch Pad, but which were dismantled during horizontal transport in and between the assembly and processing facilities in the KSC, as could be seen in one of the last posts. It can already be seen from this image that these transportation support plates had a special structure and were not just simple support plates for the canister. So I first looked at the corresponding photos to see details for the scratch construction. Among other things, I came across this photo of the canister at the STS-135, on which one can already clearly see the outline of the horizontal support plates in plan view, which I got started with. Source: NASA (STS-135) According to this, two Border strips are arranged on a Base plate around the support of the Canister transportation plates, which are probably used for roughly fixing the canister when lowering onto the transporter. With this I was able to determine part of the dimensions of the components, which is always very time-consuming, but is simply necessary for the replica and requires a reliable Reference dimension (blue) ... I was able to get further information about the arrangement of the components from this image, Source: NASA in which one can see in the zoom that there is a separate Support plate for the canister on the base plate, which completes the arrangement of the parts, after which the dimensions of the parts could be determined and the plates could be scratched. To do this, I first had to reproducible cut off all the individual parts, but what is impossible without a defined stop, as can be seen here for the Base plates (0,3 mm x 3,5 mm x 3,5 mm). Next to it are the Border strips (0,5 mm x 0,75 mm x 2,5 mm) and the Transportation support plates (0,5 mm x 2 mm x 2 mm ), to be glued to the bottom of the canister. Of course, to glue the parts onto the base plate, it had to be fixed, for which I've stuck a strip of tape with the adhesive side up on the mat, what has provided adequate hold and has worked, as can be seen from both sides on the finished plate, which I am happy with so far. The difficulty in dimensioning the parts was that their heights had to be dimensioned in such a way that the underside of the canister must not rest on the border strips, but a certain overhang must be guaranteed, which is actually the case. To do this, I placed a canister support plate onto the inner transporter support plate as a test in the following image, which later creates the necessary overhang of the canister. Now I can scratch the other three horizontal Support plates in the same way and in peace. Although these are only small, inconspicuous parts that will hardly be visible later under the canister, but should not be missing. Edited May 27, 2022 by spaceman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 28, 2022 Author Share Posted May 28, 2022 (edited) Hello everybody, so, get to work then! With keeping the first succeeded Transportation Plate in sight, the other three went comparatively easily. A first test fitting of these Horizontal Transportation Plates on the transporter looks unspectacular, but good, but now has to be compared with the canister with regard to the exact positions, since these plates must be below the Horizontal Transportation Tie-down Lug Plates, which are located directly below the ladders. Source: NASA (STS-135) On this image one can see the Tie-downs underneath the ladders more clearly. Source: NASA (STS-135) These would be the places on the model, which is why I have to measure them precisely so that everything fits together. So much for today. Edited May 28, 2022 by spaceman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
freshnewstart Posted May 28, 2022 Share Posted May 28, 2022 Outstanding !! 👍💪 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 28, 2022 Author Share Posted May 28, 2022 Thanks Jesper for your nice compliment, only small but nice details. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted May 30, 2022 Author Share Posted May 30, 2022 (edited) Hello everybody, and thus to the exciting question of how I can best glue these Transportion Plates for the horizontal transport, both on the Transporter as well as on the Canister, what I had to think about beforehand. To do this, the question of the sensible order of the gluing had to be clarified first, so that in the end the positions of the plates on the transporter and on the canister bottom match and are in the right place. Since the transportation plates of the Transporter must be directly below the Horizontal Transportation Tie-down Lug Plates of the Canister, which are located directly below the ladders, it became clear to me relatively quickly that first the plates on the transporter and then those on the canister bottom had to be glued. To do this, I first transferred the plate positions of the canister to a transparent printout of the Transporter platform, and have just laid out the plates temporarily, to be able to measure their distances for later gluing on the transporter. When I was handling with the plates, I was suddenly horrified to find that there were only three plates left and one was missing. Since the fourth plate could not be found on the table, I got up cautiously and actually saw it lying on the floor intact, so I could continue with peace of mind. When all four panels were finally glued to the transporter, I was able to catch my breath a little bit, because the test fitting of the canister was okay so far. But that was only half the battle, because now I had to do the even more difficult part of the exercise, namely to transfer the positions of these plates exactly to the bottom of the canister for gluing them, which I still have to think about carefully. Edited June 1, 2022 by spaceman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 2, 2022 Author Share Posted June 2, 2022 (edited) Hello everybody, since any measuring and marking of the positions of the small Transportation Plates (2 mm x 2 mm) on the Bottom of the Canister would be far too imprecise and, on top of that, too uncertain I've come up with a solution that may seem a bit cumbersome, but it should work. A prerequisite for the success of this delicate action is a stable holding of the transporter, which should not move, as it is about minimal distances. To do this, I supported the transporter in a special holder jig with Balsa blocks in such a way that the wheels hung in the air, so that they were not unnecessarily stressed during gluing, and the transporter was fixed on both sides with magnets to prevent it from slipping. Furthermore, I used two Evergreen L Profiles (4,8 mm) as lateral stops, one side of which was cut out at both ends so that I would see the transportation plates glued on the transporter and would be be able to align the laid down canister accordingly. Then, in a first step, I wanted to carefully place the four transportation plates of the canister on the transporter's plates, and align above them as precisely as possible. http://www.smiliesuche.de/smileys/spiegel/spiegel-smilies-0002.gif But since no glue can be applied to these loose plates, I quickly changed my plans and glued the plates separately and one by one to the bottom of the canister, which was quite a tricky operation. To do this, I took the plates off again before gluing them and dabbed them beside the transporter, one at a time with a tiny drop of UHU-CA, holding one corner of the plate with my fingernail. Then I carefully grabbed it with pointed tweezers and set it down even more carefully on the transporter's transportation plate and adjusted it slightly, which should become enough to drive me up the wall ... Then I've carefully and with a lot of feeling lowered the canister between the side stops onto the transporter plates, causing the glue-dabbed canister plate to stick to its bottom - if I was lucky, like for the first three plates. But it all went much too smoothly, because when picking up the fourth plate dabbed with glue, it got stuck on the tweezers and couldn't be set down, no matter how loudly I've cursed ... That's why this plate had to be cleaned again, dabbed again and set down onto the fourth Transporter plate, what luckily worked again. With that, that difficult task was finally done, and the canister with its transportation plates fits nicely on those of the transporter's - Thank goodness! Now I can confidently turn to the Vertical Transportation Plates on the transporter, located in the middle of the transporter, but have different sizes and structures as can be seen in this image. Source: NASA (STS-135) On the one hand, this is due to the fact that they have to accommodate the differently sized transportation plates of the canister. On the other hand, they have recesses on the bottom for the Vertical Transportation Tie-down Lug Plates, which should make the scratch-building of these plates a bit more complicated and demanding. Edited June 2, 2022 by spaceman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CaptKirk Posted June 3, 2022 Share Posted June 3, 2022 Great to see the relentless progress, Manfred. I also like your clever trick to defeat the carpet monster! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 3, 2022 Author Share Posted June 3, 2022 Thanks Kirk for looking in on me again, well, the handling of these tiny parts is already quite stressful, but I'll keep hanging in there and biting me through, even if it is sometimes difficult. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Slartibartfast Posted June 6, 2022 Share Posted June 6, 2022 Still as entertaining as ever. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 12, 2022 Author Share Posted June 12, 2022 Thanks Bruce for looking in on me again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 12, 2022 Author Share Posted June 12, 2022 (edited) Hello everybody, as I have now discovered with horror, my NASA photos, which I've mostly linked to the Hi-Res. photos, are unfortunately no longer accessible, as the extremely helpful NASA Media archive is no longer updated and maintained by NASA, as one could read there until recently. Source: NASA The first part of the reference to flickr.com is correct indeed, but the search options there are quite spartan and a search for special content is like looking for a needle in a haystack, which one can forget. The second part of the reference is simply Fake News because the site is no longer accessible. This is all the more deplorable because I analyzed many details for my work and measured them for scratching this way, especially by zooming these photos. So don't be surprised if the high resolutions of these photos are no longer found and an error message appears. Edited June 12, 2022 by spaceman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 12, 2022 Author Share Posted June 12, 2022 (edited) Hello everybody, life goes on! And so now back to the Vertical Transportation Support Plates & Clevises on top of the Transporter, their scratch building turns out to be quite a tough nut to crack, since these multi-part brackets are in fact more difficult and are a lot more complicated than those support plates for the horizontal transport. Source: NASA Since the four Transportation Tie-down Lug Plates on the Aft Bulkhead of the canister Source: NASA (STS-132) must fit into the screwed-on Hold-down Clevises on these transport plates, Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6) Source: NASA (STS-135) I have to think about the best way to build these mounts. In this image one can see very nicely all the dismantled individual parts of these mounts. These are the Base plates with the screwed on Receiving blocks (red circles) for the dismantled Hold-down Clevises (red arrows), and stop holder (blue circles) for guiding the canister when setting it down onto the transporter. Source: NASA (STS-132) At first I thought of making the hold-down clevises individually and inserting them into the recesses of the receiving blocks, but what would probably be too much of a good thing. It should be easier if I scratch the receiving blocks and hold-down clevises as a unit, which is worth trying. Edited June 12, 2022 by spaceman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted June 12, 2022 Share Posted June 12, 2022 I'm disappointed to read that NASA's wonderful archive won't be accessible ... I too relied on that archive when researching my Apollo and Shuttle builds. But Manfred, I know you'll overcome this small hiccup and your research skills will turn up another resource! I echo Slartibartfast's comment, "Still as entertaining as ever!" ... keep up the wonderful work Spaceman! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 12, 2022 Author Share Posted June 12, 2022 Thanks Pete for your nice compliment, but you can count on it, that I'm going to find a solution for this problem too, because I also need these sources like my daily bread. In such and similar cases, I like to quote the Bible saying: Seek and you will find. And therefore Never let go! It's only a good thing that I copied the URLs and the photos in the zoom resolutions in Word documents, which I can enlarge at will to see and measure the details that interest me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 13, 2022 Author Share Posted June 13, 2022 (edited) Hello everybody, since the matter has not left me in peace, I have researched intensively again and now I know the innovations and connections around the former NASA media archive, which no longer exists as such. There was a similar confusion years ago after a change in NASA photo archiving along the lines of: Now and then some quite a novelty ... when the old URLs (www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov) were no longer found, but what I managed to figure it out. Instead, one now has to search the NASA Image and Video Library website, e.g. after the year abbreviation of the NASA photo number, if you know it. The search on https://images.nasa.gov/ nach 2010-2664 resulted in the photo I know of the STS-132, here in the Medium resolution (856x1280), which I've linked with the Original resolution (2008x3000). Even better, however, is the content search which I once tested for the Payload Canister Transporter that is of interest to me now, after which this gallery was displayed to me, which immediately offers an overview of the available photos, from which one can then select and directly access the photo of interest and download the desired resolution. And in this overview, along with many other well-known photos, I noticed this red framed photo (KSC-08pd3303) of the STS-126, which was not in my collection so far, where one has a good direct view of the transporter and the support plates in this position, which is particularly important for measuring details, since oblique perspectives are distorted always. And of course I used that immediately to be able to determine the dimensions of the larger of the two Support plates for the Vertical transport more precisely, what one can see here, since I've linked this image section again with the Original resolution. Source: images.nasa.gov/ The image also clearly shows the effort I have to put in to determine the dimensions of such small details that I need for their scratch-building. And so there are certainly more photos with interesting perspectives that will help me with the construction of these transport plates. Edited June 13, 2022 by spaceman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 16, 2022 Author Share Posted June 16, 2022 (edited) Hello my friends, but that's only half the battle firstly since the depths or widths of the Support plates and Hold-down Clevises are still missing, which is why I still have to look for and find other detail photos, which is still a tedious work, but unfortunately not to be avoided if one takes it as seriously as I do. And that's why I was glad that I came across this photo from the STS-126 on the new NASA website, which presents a pretty direct side view of the canister, without major perspective distortion, from which, in addition to the details, one can also determine the distance between the Support plates, which in turn is important for the installation of the plates on the transporter. Source: NASA (STS-126) In addition to this larger of the two support and hold-down plates measured in the last post, I also measured the smaller support plate in the same photo. Source: NASA (STS-126) However, the difficulty in researching suitable photos for determining the dimensions of the plates for Vertical transportation is that there are far fewer photos with the canister standing upright, and that at such photos the important details of the support plates are mostly hidden by the red ECS hoses. But in this photo I was able to at least analyze more closely the arrangement of the larger plate near the Payload Bay Door and of the Clevis, in which one can also determine the sizes of the lateral Stoppers that are only mounted in this vertical arrangement. Source: NASA (STS-122) And then I finally found this photo from the STS-114, on which one can finally see the lateral arrangement of the support parts at least a little bit. Source: NASA (STS-114) And that's enough of the stressful eye torture for today. Later I want to turn to the Vertical Transportation Tie-down Lug Plates on the Aft Bulkhead of the canister and try to make a first prototype scratch. Source: NASA (STS-132) With approx. 0,5 mm x 2,5 mm x 2,5 mm they should become relatively small and have to fit into the gap of the Hold-down Clevises. Edited June 16, 2022 by spaceman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 16, 2022 Author Share Posted June 16, 2022 (edited) Hello everybody, then let's go to the prototype of the small Vertical Transportation Tie-down Lug Plates. If you look closely, you can see on this photo from the STS-130 that the Hold-down plates consist of three parts (have a look at the zoom on the right edge of the photo), a middle part with a narrow lower extension and two slightly smaller welded-on side parts to stabilize the opening without this extension. Source: NASA (STS-130) While I used Styrene (0,2 mm) for the side parts, the middle part seemed a little narrower to me at first, so I used Styrene (0,13 mm ). However, in the zoom of this shot it looks as if the three parts are of equal thickness, which is why I will then use Styrene (0,2 mm) uniformly. Since it is difficult to cut out this narrow strip without perhaps cutting it off, I first made the two side parts and drilled the holes with Ø 0,5 mm. Then I glued a side part to the center strip, have drilled through it too, and then glued the other side part to its back. Then I cut out the curve of the middle stripe and rounded it off and only then carefully separated the remaining stripe up to the lower extension, which I actually managed to do, even though it's only 0,5 mm wide. In this configuration, the thickness of the Hold-down plate is approx. 0,5 mm. And at this point of the canister, this first of four plates will later be glued. For scratch-building the Support plates, I first marked the exact positions of the Hold-down plates on the floor plan of the transporter, whereby I first realized how small all will be, if you imagine that for the Support plates with the Hold-down clevises only approx. 1,5 mm space is available under the canister. But I'm going to take it easy now and first look at the resulting sizes of the individual parts, then we'll see. Therefore keep cool, scaremongering shall not be considered! Edited June 16, 2022 by spaceman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 The amount of research you do, Manfred, is amazing! And I'm glad you found the NASA Image and Video Library and provided a link for us. I just went there, plugged in Apollo 10, and while not a LOT of photos, there were some I hadn't seen before. I'll do a little more exploring of the site. And all these little details you're adding to the canister ... I shake my head in disbelief! I get the sense that the Engineers, Designers, Draftsmen, didn't put as much effort into these elements as you are! If we hadn't seen the build process, I'm sure none of us would have appreciated just how MUCH work you've put into this model! Thanx Manfred! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 17, 2022 Author Share Posted June 17, 2022 Thank you for your honest appreciation of my work, you can judge it best because you are also such an excellent space model maker with love of details. BTW, I also noticed in my search for STS-6 that there are fewer images for older time slots that may further help. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
philippe.chauvin Posted June 25, 2022 Share Posted June 25, 2022 hello I have been following you since the beginning of your post... your level of achievement is well above average! it's a real pleasure to see with what dexterity you realize all these subsets ... it's magnificent !!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 25, 2022 Author Share Posted June 25, 2022 Thanks Philippe for your enthusiasm and your many years of interest and loyalty. Stay tuned and keep having fun. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 30, 2022 Author Share Posted June 30, 2022 (edited) Hello everybody, as a well-known old saying goes ... Don't put the cart before the horse! A realization that has now cost me some time, what could have been avoided with more concentration. As has already been emphasized several times, when determining dimensions from photos, it is particularly important to have reliable reference dimensions, to which all measurements are then related and have to be converted in my scale (1:160). However, when I compared the determined dimensions of the floor plates of both transportation plates with my floor plan of the transporter and the outline of the payload canister, I noticed that the proportions can't be right, especially since the floor panels were obviously a few millimeters too large, which made me suspicious, especially since the distance between the two Vertical Transportation Tie-down Lug Plates Source: NASA (STS-132) according to NASA's drawing is only 15,5 mm (1:160). At some point an error must have crept in, but whom I quickly tracked it down. A partial result of my first measurements was based, among other things, on this photo with the determined dimensions of the parts of the larger transport plate, whose length of the floor plate therefore should be 10,5 mm (red). Source: NASA (STS-126) In retrospect, in this image I recognized my mistake in using the side wall height (7,5 mm) determined before the construction of the transporter as a reference measurement, which I then used for a while without thinking, for determination of lengths in other photos, which were falsified as a result. I had noticed this source of error a longer time ago and then paid attention to it, but unfortunately not this time. In addition, the use of photos from different perspectives can result in further inaccuracies. Using the almost exact side view and measurement of the plate in the following photo resulted in a value of 8,5 mm for the length of the floor plate, although I also added the side wall height (7,5 mm) had used. Source: NASA (STS-122) Late, but not too late, I came to my senses and then made the only right decision for determining the lengths by using the center-to-center distance of the Tie-down Lug Plates as a reference dimension (15,5 mm), according to which the length of the larger floor plate is 7,0 mm, with the help of which the other length dimensions were determined. With these dimensions I then tried to draw the arrangement of the parts on this floor plate on a 1:160 scale, which I have already described in the following image. On it one can nicely see all the individual parts of the larger transportation support plate. This is the floor plate (blue) with the Clevis brackets (red) screwed on to accommodate the disassembled Hold-down clevis (brown), the PLC support plate (green) behind it, as well as the two stop holders (yellow) for guiding the canister when setting down onto the transporter. Source: NASA (STS-132) Since I was not able for free-style drawing with a ruler even with a Fineliner (0,05 mm) due to the small size of the individual parts, I gave it up. Instead, I came up with the idea and tried it in MS Word. To do this, I used the Insert shapes mode to arrange small rectangles of the appropriate size with the finest line thickness as contours of the parts and gaps on the floor plate, which was a bit tedious, but after some practice it worked very well and gave an exact picture of both plates. I then printed them out, although one can be shocked when one can see how small everything will become. Since the arrangement of the plate parts on the other side has to be laterally reversed, I also printed it out on transparent paper (right) and therefore only have to turn it over. And this is what the two larger Transportation support plates look like. So at least the arrangement of the individual parts on the floor plate is clear, but now I also need the heights of the parts in order to be able to scratch them. And I will now determine those again using the height of the side wall (7,5 mm) as a reference, whereby I have to be careful, because they were sometimes incorrectly determined from reference lengths in various photos. And with a table full of dimensioned photos, one can start to skid and lose track. Therefore a cool head as well as highest concentration are required! Edited June 30, 2022 by spaceman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted June 30, 2022 Author Share Posted June 30, 2022 (edited) Hello friends, I was just still talking about highest concentration! It's hard to believe, but true, although I've looked at these photos felt 1000 times, and know that the two stop holders are beveled, Source: NASA (STS-114) I've just noticed that I haven't drawn these bevels yet, which of course I made up for immediately. But at the latest when scratching, I would definitely have stumbled over it. Edited June 30, 2022 by spaceman Quote Link to post Share on other sites
southwestforests Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 On 6/30/2022 at 7:25 AM, spaceman said: A realization that has now cost me some time, what could have been avoided with more concentration. True, but without it you wouldn't have the dramatic adventure of recovering from the error, with which to enthrall future generations. 😁 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted July 1, 2022 Author Share Posted July 1, 2022 That's right, my friend, you're always smarter afterwards! To err is human, said the hedgehog, and climbed down from the barbed wire ... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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