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

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

and after the same knitting pattern briefly to the announced ECS Supply Duct, for which the Pipe bend on the Connection nozzle has to be glued rotated by 90°, wherefore the parts on the right are already prepared. To the left is the finished ECS Return Duct. 

 

After the Connection nozzle was glued onto the Ring plate, 

 

 

came the decisive step, in which this time the pipe bend had to be glued lengthwise with the foot of the connection nozzle onto the ring plate, 

 

 

which was then glued lengthwise onto the base plate. 

 

 

So both ECS Ducts are now completed. 

 

 

While this was the test fitting of the ECS Return Duct to the Payload Canister shown in the last post, 

 

 

here now the test fitting of the ECS Supply Duct on the canister, which is laying below.

 

 

With this I can later show the canister standing upright on the transporter on the Diorama in front of the RSS, as can be seen on this image in Transportation Mode. 

 

Source: NASA (STS-125)  

 

But both ECS Ducts are put aside for the time being and later glued onto the canister. 

Edited April 19, 2023 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

here is still a small addendum to a detail on the Port Side, where below the Personnel Door is still located this Access Platform Mounting Bracket, which I have added. 

 

Source: NASA (STS-125)

 

The Bracket (0,13 mm x 7 mm) stands on tiny Base plates (0,13 mm x 0,5 mm x 1,5 mm),

 

 

whose gluing together was quite tricky. 

 

 

Here is the test fitting on the canister together with the two ECS Ducts. 

 

 

And then there are still these Horizontal Transportation Tie-down Lug Plates, whose rungs lead to the Ladders laying above them. 

 

Source: NASA (STS-135)

 

The hold-downs are indeed tiny, but I wanted to at least try it. 

 

The markings on the canister I should have covered better. 

 

 

And these are the individual parts, all made of Evergreen Sheet Styrene (0,13 mm). The two lateral discs (Ø 1,2 mm) at the hold-downs received a centered drilling (Ø 0,5 mm) and were then glued one  after the other onto both sides of the hold-down strip, which was also drilled through in between.

 

For the passing Rung I will use a Nickel silver rod (Ø 0,2 mm x 3,5 mm), which is slightly angled at the ends.

 

 

For the gluing of the cover strip the hold-down was fixed again.

 

 

 

When bending the rungs, I was helped by the fact that my try square had exactly the required thickness (3 mm), with a corresponding overhang at the ends being important again,

 

 

so that the angled ends can be trimmed to final length. 

 

 

Then came the trickiest thing, threading the rungs into the small hole (Ø 0,25 mm), aligning them in the middle and gluing them.  And that's not easy because the rung has a little too much clearance in the hole. 

 

 

In the end I did manage to dab some UHU-Super-CA onto the splice, which doesn't set immediately, which means that minor corrections are still possible. 

 

 

 

And this is again the obligatory test fitting of the hold-down on the canister. 

 

 

For the next three hold-downs, I will use my finest drill (Ø 0,2 mm) in the hope that the rungs will then have a little less clearance and therefore a tighter seat. 

Edited April 19, 2023 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

and finally to the remaining three hold-downs, which I've put off for as long as possible because of the stressful fiddling. 

 

First I've bent all Rungs (Ø 0,2 mm) and didn't even notice that I already had one too many, but better than one too few. 

 

 

After the lateral discs were glued and drilled out, the marking of the midpoints for the rung drilling followed, for which I used a pin. But even this simple matter is not trivial and didn't want to work right away, because it's about tenths of a millimeter and one needs a steady hand and sharp eagle eyes under the Headset magnifying glass. 

 

For the Rung drilling this time I used my finest drill bit (Ø 0,2 mm), but I had to be extremely careful not to break away the fragile midget.  

 

 

For gluing the cover strips, the hold-downs were again fixed between steel rulers as before. 

 

 

But that was all harmless compared to the next step, threading the rungs into these tiny holes,  whereby fixing the hold-downs in the tweezers alone was a stressful affair, especially since the rungs kept turning sideways when being threaded into their tweezers, which almost made me despair. 

 

 

Only after carefully deburring the angled end did I succeed in threading the rungs in at least as far as behind the kink, but that was only half the battle, since they had to be aligned centered  before gluing, which is why I've again used a fixation between steel rulers. 
 
For this the rungs had to be carefully balanced and in this position, as for the prototype, dabbed with mini-droplets UHU-Super-CA from both sides using an acupuncture needles,  what surprisingly has worked. 

 

 

The rungs were then be briefly aligned in the tweezers. 

 

 

And so at least two hold-downs were already completed, 

 

 

and after a lot of sweaty work, a total of five hold-down devices were done, and so did I myself. 

 

 

Next I will deal with the laying of the Pipes (blue arrows) between the Pneumatic Door Drive and the Screw Jacks as well as with the Pneumatic Lines (red arrow),

 

Source: NASA (STS-135)

 

which allows my badly strained eagle eyes to recover a little. 

Edited April 28, 2023 by spaceman

[crowe-t]

Beautiful job Manfred!  You have the patience of a saint!

 

Mike.

[spaceman]

Thanks Mike for your nice compliment. 

 

Patience is one thing, the iron will to succeed is another. 

 

And then I always say to myself, never give up and ever keep fiddling about a feasible solution! 

 

 

 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

and thus a look at the next details, which are first the two white Pipes of the Output shafts on both sides of the Bevel Gearbox, as well as the two Pneumatic lines, whose dimensions I have determined in this image.  

 

Source: NASA (STS-135)

 

After that, the pipes have a diameter of Ø 0,3 mm, and the pneumatic lines are still a little thinner with Ø 0,2 mm.

 

For this I will use the thinnest available Styrene rods (Ø 0,3 mm) and Nickel Silver rods (Ø 0,2 mm). 

 

 

But before I lay those pipes and lines, I'll first deal with the four Ladders on the canister sides,

 

 

for which I will use PE Ladders (ABER) that I have already presented earlier. 

 

 

And their dimensions I've determined once again more precisely in this image. 

 

Source: NASA (STS-125)

 

For the feet that are attached to the outside of the ladder bars, I'll use brass strips (0,2 mm x 1,0 mm x 1,5 mm).

 

 

And as one can easily see from the dimensions, it will be quite a fiddly thing again to attach these six strips, which are only 1,5 mm long, to the ladder bars without bending the filigree and fragile ladder. 

 

Conceivable is a gluing with UHU-Super-CA, which I'll try out. 

 

So let's wait and see. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

after trying hard but ultimately unsuccessfully to cut feet of the same length out of the brass strip (0,2 mm x 1 mm), 

 

 

I changed my mind and cut out a Styrene strip (0,15 mm x 1 mm) instead, from which I then cut the 1,5 mm long feet with the Chisel cutter at the Ruler angle stop.  

 

 

The feet were glued to the ladder rails according to my  tested fixation between several rulers, whereby the underside of the ladder with the rungs must point upwards so that the feet are flush with the top edge of the rails. Great care was required because the filigree PE Ladders can quickly bend. 

 

 

For the gluing, I used a new UHU-CA-Easy, which is thin and can be corrected. 

 

 

The gluing of the feet held in the pointed tweezers is not for the faint of heart and shaky hands,  especially since at the same time with the other hand a tiny droplet of CA has to be dabbed onto the lower edge of the feet with the Acupuncture needle and then the foot has to be glued to the ladder rail. To do this, I carefully pressed the foot against the rail with the steel ruler and aligned it out a bit, which can be seen better in the picture after the next. 

 

 

Doing so it is advisable to move the ladder carefully immediately after gluing so that it does not stick to the base, which can happen. 

 

 

Fixing the rulers with magnets is very helpful. 

 

 

And that was the result, roughly how I had imagined it. 

 

 

 

And the test fitting on the canister is okay so far too. 

 

 

Maybe I still can work out the remaining three ladders a little bit better. 

Edited May 6, 2023 by spaceman

[CaptKirk]

Looking good. I've been doing a little work on my 1:24 diorama and it seems small to me. Then I remember the scale you work in: Magnificent!

[spaceman]

Thanks Kirk, 

 

what kind of 1:24 diorama you are working on? 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

initially I've cut the remaining three ladders to the length (14,5 mm) with a side cutter. 

 

 

And therewith without many words to the next ladder, which truly went a little easier because I knew what I had to pay particular attention to. 

 

Nevertheless, two feet didn't want to glue at the ladder stringer straight away,  which is why I first had to carefully remove the old CA from the foot before the second gluing could take place, which then worked well.  

 

 

But one shouldn't let that impress you, otherwise things would go too smoothly. 

 

 

And that's already half of the short ladders done,

 

 

and the remaining two ladders can follow. 

Edited May 6, 2023 by spaceman

[Youngtiger1]

Nice work Menfred. Are those PE ladders from ship detail set? 

[spaceman]

Thanks Mike, 

 

yep, I have posted about those ladders February 16,  which are offered by ABER (1:200-05) as Ships Ladders (wide) in three different widths, of which the middle width (3,5 mm) is well suited for my Payload Canister (1:160). 

 

 

There one can also find other great PE sets as Stairs, Railings, etc.

 

Have a look at their website:

 

https://abermodels.com/

[Youngtiger1]

Thanks brother for the information. I did miss this bit of post while back. I’ll have to grab couple off these sets also. 😉

Edited May 9, 2023 by Youngtiger1

[CaptKirk]

On 5/7/2023 at 12:08 AM, spaceman said:

what kind of 1:24 diorama you are working on? 

 

Nothing on your level, Manfred. Just a scene with some Harriers, one of which will be on a road transport trailer. Your build has inspired me to be a little more ambitious on the detailing than I might have been.

[spaceman]

On 5/8/2023 at 10:49 AM, Youngtiger1 said:

Thanks brother for the information. I did miss this bit of post while back. I’ll have to grab couple off these sets also. 😉

 

Better you have than would have. 

[spaceman]

On 5/8/2023 at 11:33 AM, CaptKirk said:

 

Nothing on your level, Manfred. Just a scene with some Harriers, one of which will be on a road transport trailer. Your build has inspired me to be a little more ambitious on the detailing than I might have been.

 

No understatement needed, Kirk. 

 

PM me a link for having a look at it. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

and now to the Final Ladder Countdown. 

 

This will be the 3rd Ladder, scratched as usual.

 

 

This image shows how quickly the rulers can slip as I was not careful when photographing the three finished ladders next to the fixed 4th Ladder. 

 

 

So it's better to put the finished ladders aside quickly and fix the ladder once again. 

 

 

This now completes all four ladders for the side walls of the canister, 

 

 

 

and were safely stowed away until their Airbrush painting, http://www.raumfahrer.net/forum/yabbfiles/Attachments/up035091.gif

 

 

for which I still have to think about a clever way of holding these filigree and extremely fragile parts. 

[spaceman]

Hello friends,

 

40 years ago today, Sally K. Ride († July 23, 2012) launched into space as the first American woman aboard the Challenger (STS-7).

 

left to right Sally Ride †, John Fabian, Robert Crippen, Norman Thagard, Frederick Hauck
Source: wikipedia.org

 

Source: wikipedia.org

 

Her legacy will be cherished forever.

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

life still goes on ...

 

Hot summer greetings (31°C) from the Filder Space Center (FSC)!

 

 

Of course I can't miss this attraction of the Giant water slide in the local center of Filderstadt-Bernhausen in my immediate vicinity! 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

unfortunately, the matter was quite a flop, since the Countdown unfortunately had to be aborted, which NASA calls Abort. 

 

The boss of the Family Adventure Land damaged the Shuttle stack's plastic jacket while unloading it with the forklift, resulting in a leak that needs to be sealed first. 

 

The "buddy" has already ordered the glue, but I'm curious to see whether the damage can still be repaired in the next few weeks. 

 

They also informed me that the "Giant water slide" can only be offered when it is dry. Apparently it also worked with water, but this is correspondingly more complex. 

 

Let's wait and see. 

[spaceman]

Hello friends,

 

due to the occasion, I want to come back and slowly get off to a flying start again. 

 

Today we broke the sound barrier of 1 Million views in our German Raumcon forum.  

 

 

If that is not a reason to celebrate. 

 

Cheers! 

Edited July 11, 2023 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

to celebrate the day of this outstanding milestone here comes the current hit statistics of my noble fan Hugo from our German Raumcon forum, which he immediately posted, what has amazed me once again. 

 

 

In this I entered the current hit numbers of the other forums in which I still otherwise post.  http://www.raumfahrer.net/forum/yabbfiles/Attachments/up035091.gif

 

While the NSF (934.186) is hot on our heels, the other forums are already a long way behind:

 

- Paper Modelers (467.074)

 

- ARC Discussion Forums (343.500)

 

- Britmodellers (209.200) with the red lantern. 

 

A definitely insightful comparison. 

 

I'm curious to the further development of this hit statistics. 

[Bootneck42]

Fine statistics Manfred.

 

Mike

[spaceman]

Thanks Mike, 

 

ARC forum also has room for improvement, so hang in there. 

 

[spaceman]

Hi folks,

 

apropos STS-6 diorama dream, that goes well with it now. 

 

In addition to this project dream I will fulfill a long-awaited dream in 1:1 scale at the beginning of October and fly for three weeks to Florida, to make the Kennedy Space Center resp. the KSC Visitor Complex unsafe and will have a look at the surrounding area. 

There I will spend a week in Cocoa Beach and meet my friend and Launch Pad old hand James MacLaren (16streets.com), 

 

 

 

as well as my friend John O'Connor who created and constantly updates the websites with the awesome 360° Panorama Views (nasatech.net), which are a real treasure trove for Real Space modelers like me, especially when it comes to technical details for scratch  building.  

 

Once to be standing under the huge External Tank (ET) between the two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB) in front of the Atlantis Exhibition Hall 

 

    

Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (Lee Jay)   Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (Zakrah)

 

and then to go inside to admire the retired lady Atlantis up closest, what could be nicer for a crazy spaceflight lover like me, apart from all the Apollo Saturn sights in the Rocket Garden etc. ... 

 

Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (Naito)

 

But enough of the daydreaming and in the next post back to the somewhat smaller Payload Canister (1:160). 

Edited July 17, 2023 by spaceman