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

[freshnewstart]

If those printed motors will be just as nice, like your "showoff" in fiddling..

 

It will be quite a sight in the together model..

 

What a teaser you present here 😁😊

 

Jesper

[K2Pete]

2 hours ago, freshnewstart said:

If those printed motors will be just as nice, like your "showoff" in fiddling..

 

It will be quite a sight in the together model..

 

What a teaser you present here 😁😊

 

I completely agree with you ... 100%  

Such a "tease"! ... indeed!

 

Crackerjazz and spaceman ... keep up this unique and Wonderful build!

Pete

[spaceman]

Thanks Jesper and Pete for your funny response, 

 

it's nice when you like it and when you're excited to see how the show will go on ... 

 

I always want to entertain you a little with my sometimes crazy fiddling too ... 

Edited May 26, 2021 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello friends,

 

while I was agonizing over this tiny motor, my ARC friend (crackerjazz) was busy modeling and has sent new progress shots with more details, which look great.  

 

As one can see, he even got right the Toggle fastener on the Flaps over the service openings, although some details, like this one, may need to be simplified or enlarged in order to be printed. 

 

 

These images all show the left Propel motor in different perspectives. 

 

 

 

 

 

This also includes a right motor, since they are always arranged in pairs, as has already been seen several times. 

 

Source: NASA

 

And this right motor is now also modeled, so the set is complete. Heart, what more do you want! 

 

 

 

 

I have already thanked the creator warmly for this,   who has really done a great job so far.  

 

However, I've noticed a little detail that I've told him with the request for correction. 

 

And that concerns the two brake shoes, which have the same thickness in the present model, but of which the larger brake shoe is actually only half as thick as the smaller one, as one can see in these 3D PDF images and also in the original photo. The multiple layers in the paper kit always correspond to a paper thickness of approx. 0,1 mm. 

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

Therefore the Brake disc should only be approx. 0,2 mm, for which as a matter of prudence he has chosen 0,3 mm in his 3D model, as this is according to the Shapeways-Design Guidelines is the minimum wall thickness for a supported wall, which is connected at least on two sides of the wall, while an unsupported wall (minimum 0,6 mm!) is connected only on one side of the wall, which is why some parts, whose thickness in the model previously only corresponds to the paper thickness, still have to be modified. 

 

Fortunately, the brake disc is connected on three places, namely with the drive shaft and with the two Brake shoe holders, which is why a thickness of 0,3 mm should be permissible in my opinion. 

Edited May 26, 2021 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

in the meantime, my Ghostdesigner has also taken into account twice the thickness of the smaller brake shoes in his 3D model, wherewith the picture always more is rounding off itself. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this is a look ahead to the later Propel Motor Set, which Shapeways could then print once the adjustments have been made. In addition, the connecting webs between the motor rows have to be modeled before the complete set can be uploaded to SW. 

 

 

 

In these theoretical Sets of 16 motors the adjustment/enlargement of the details is not yet taken into account, but this will happen soon. In addition, in the final set, at least 2 reserve motors should be provided in order to have a backup.   

 

Next I will turn to the Gear cases, of which, logically, 16 pieces are also required, which also is craving for 3D printing. 

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

After all, the motor power has to come onto the Crawler chains and from there onto the Crawlerway.  

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

and how this was technically realized at the time on behalf of NASA is indeed an exciting thing that interested me in advance, as always.  

 

The mere idea that the drive of these huge caterpillar tractors should be done by these comparatively measly Propel motors seemed a mystery to me at first,  but what has now become clear to me. 

 

Thereto here is a worthwhile look into the opened gear housing on the multi-stage gear consisting of 10 gears and 5 shafts after the dismantling of the front gear unit with the huge Drive Sprocket, on which the extension drive shaft of the dismantled Propel motor can be seen.

 

Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (JayP)

 

On its end sits a Propel pinion that engages in the dome-shaped attachment in a vertical Bevel gear, which can be seen very nicely on this overview drawing, 

 

Source: NASA Technical Reports Server ( NTRS)

 

just like in this impressive 3D model by a crawler expert from the NSF Forum (JayP). 

 

Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (JayP)

 

As was already be seen, this gear housing looks like this in the assembly instructions for Mischa Klement's Paper Kit. 

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

In his Truck 3D PDF, after long and stressful trials of the Acrobat Reader measurement tool, I have now succeeded in determining several measurement results at the same time and in the picture instead of a single measurement to hold on. 

 

 

And these are the individual parts of the gear case printed out from the Outlines PDFs, 

 

 

which I then glued back onto thin Evergreen Sheet Styrene (0,3 mm).

 

 

And from these puzzle pieces I will now try to scratch the gearbox housing. Let's see if and how well I can manage that. 

Edited May 30, 2021 by spaceman

[K2Pete]

I'm glad you're doing this deep dive into how this works. I must admit that when you referred to the Propel Motor, I assumed it drove something else, like the Coffee Maker ... but this... WOW ... this is GREAT!

And really, I should have expected to see this kind of gearing ... but it's still wonderful to see!

 

... and now you're going to build the Gear Housing too? oh dear ... I'm gonna need more popcorn!  

Pete

[spaceman]

Thanks Pete, 

 

and I'm glad that you are also interested in this technique like me. 

 

Here one can find more technical details about this superlative vehicle. 

 

Hello everybody,

 

before I try scratch-building the Gear case, I would like to briefly come back to the Propel motors and show an interesting video sequence in which one can see the relatively slow running engines,  

 

Source: NASA's Kennedy Space Center

 

whereby I estimate that they run at a rotational speed of approx. 60 rpm. 

 

BTW, this video is so interesting that it should be watched in full length. 

Edited May 31, 2021 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

next I've punched out the basic body of the gear case (Part 1) with my wide Chisel cutter (Martor) from the Styrene Sheet (0,3 mm), whereby I have already noticed how stable this part is, so that folding and bending of the individual sides as in Paper construction is eliminated a priori.

 

 

That's why I first separated all parts from each other. But since these parts would lead to incorrect dimensions of the gear case when glued together due to their thickness, I had to realize that this variant would not be effective, which is why I've rescheduled.

 

 

Since I also have Styrene Sheet (0,15 mm), which corresponds to the normal paper thickness of the paper kit, I came up with the idea, to cut out the part after transferring the outlines and to try to fold it like in paper construction and glue it to the edges.    

 

First I tried to fold a small piece like an angle by holding it under a steel ruler and bending it up with the chisel cutter, which I succeeded in doing.

 

To transfer the contours, I've then pierced all the corner points of the template with a thin needle (0,3 mm), 

 

 

what will probably hardly be seen,

 

 

which I've then connected with a pencil, which in turn was balm for the eyes.

 

 

Then I've cut out the part with a fine scissors and slightly reworked the edges using the laid on template. 

 

 

 

Then I folded the part edge by edge under the steel ruler. 

 

 

Since gluing the edges edge to edge seemed too risky to me, I've glued in small Evergreen sticks (1,5 x 1,5 mm) inside as adhesive edges and for stabilization. 

 

 

 

 

As a result, gluing the base body was no longer rocket science.

 

 

Then I've glued on the Base plate (Part 35) made of 0,3 mm sheet, on which the dome-shaped attachment for holding the Propel motor shaft will sit. 

 

 

And my ARC friend Joe has already started with the gear case and delivered a first image of his 3D model, which looks great.

 

Source: ARC Forums (crackerjazz)

 

And next I'll try my hand at this semicircular casing.  

Edited June 4, 2021 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

sorry, but because of the many sporting events (Soccer U21 European championship, Ice hockey World championship, Tennis, etc.)  I was a bit distracted, but in between it goes on with the Gear case now. 

 

After the basic body was so far finished, I've started with the smaller dome-shaped attachment, through which the rear end of the Propel motor shaft extends into the gear, what has been already shown in this image. 

 

Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (JayP)

 

And with that away from the original and down to the model level 1/160, and I can only say what's coming next is small, but oh my!!! 

 

First I've transferred the paper template from the Outlines PDF onto Styrene (0,15 mm) and partially cut it out or carefully punched out with the chisel cutter. 

 

 

 

Then I've folded the dome, so far, so good.  Since direct gluing of this part should be almost hopeless, I thought about a solution with internal support struts. 

 

 

To stabilize the small case, I've first glued in a base plate (1 x 4 mm), which requires a firm stop so that nothing can slip.  

 

 

 

With the help of the supports glued in on the inside, I was able to glue the pre-curved arch, whereby the strip had to be fixed at the lower end until the glue set. 

 

 

Even if this procedure may seem a bit laborious at first glance, it was successful and definitely gave me courage, especially since the test fitting on the gearbox looked quite acceptable.    

 

 

Then the side walls were glued on,

 

 

whereby the gear case took on more and more shape. 

 

 

From now on it will get smaller and smaller, and in the end there will even be midgets < 1 mm, although I still don't know, how to handle it when gluing into place ... 

 

As one can see in this image, there are a number of details on the outer side of the case in the form of attached discs, rings and wedge-shaped struts, which I'm scratching one after the other, first the ones in the red border (Parts 36-40). 

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

There are these three discs there with different diameters (Ø 3,4 mm, 2,0 mm, 1,5 mm) which I've punched out of styrene of different thicknesses by using my Punch & Die Set. 

 

 

Then I've glued them onto each other,  

 

 

and glued them at the side wall of the dome.

 

I still have problems with these Rings (Parts 20), whose inner diameter (Ø 2,5 mm) I can punch out, while I still have to rework the outer diameter (Ø 3,4 mm) a little bit. 

 

 

And on the other side of the case there are the details circled in green, (Parts 41-45), whereby I've first puzzled over awhile how to build and glue this flat, curved cover (1 x 5 mm),  until I came up with a solution. 

 

 

And that will be the next step. 

Edited June 11, 2021 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

for gluing of the 3 parts for the arched cladding I've cut out small supports again, for the middle a flat profile (0,75 x 1 mm), and for the two ends a Triangular profile (1 x 1 mm) so that the pre-curved strip cannot be pressed in when gluing.

 

 

Then I've first glued the two side parts with the supports, fixed by a magnet stop, 

 

 

and then have glued this structure to the curved strip, with a little overhang on both sides so that the ends could be cut off exactly after the adhesive had set.

 

 

In the image on the left the small disc (Part 43, Ø 1,5 mm) could just be seen yet, which together with the 3 wedges (Parts 45) must be glued to the side wall of the dome, which suddenly had been disappeared, never to be seen again, wherefore I had to punch them out once again.

 

But after I had prepared the drop of glue, this disc was gone too - I thought I was going to lose control!

 

And suddenly I happened to see the disc hanging under my little finger, as if there were evil forces at work!

 

 

After I had digested the renewed horror and had blown off my steam again, I've cut off the protruding parts of the glued cladding with the cutter, 

 

 

and have glued it together with the small disc on the side wall.

 

 

And with that now to the green circled 3 wedges (Parts 45), 

 

 

for which I've cut a narrow sheet strip (0,15 mm), 

 

 

which I've cut diagonally in half with the chisel cutter at a distance of 2 mm, which resulted in these mini wedges.

 

 

Now I just had to somehow glue these snippets onto the side wall, just wondering how, since even taking them up in the pointed tweezers is extremely problematic and stressful.

 

To be able to grab them at all, they have to stand upright, which is why I wedged them between two steel rulers. Actually, however, they have to be clamped in exactly the other way around so that they can be attached with the wide side onto the disc, which of course did not work right away.

 

 

Finally I've put it on my fingertip, carefully gripped it with the tweezers, picked up a touch of glue and then carefully glued it on the side wall.

 

 

After this was finally done,  it can now continue on the other side of the case, on which similarly cute details await me, whereby the red circled 5 mini struts (Parts 40) on this dome side with 0,3 x 1,5 mm are even tinier!  

 

 

Now I'm stretched like grandma's garter belts whether I can somehow get hold of them in order to be able to glue them ...

Edited June 13, 2021 by spaceman

[Aussie-Pete]

Absolutely amazing level of detail. Wow

[Slartibartfast]

You are a monster!

[spaceman]

Thanks Pete and Bruce for your nice compliments.  

 

There is still room for improvement ... 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

here is a look at the measurement of the Mini-Struts (Parts 40) circled in red in the last post, wherewith I've been dealing now.    

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

And as one can see, these tiny pieces (0,3 x 1,3 mm) would hardly be able to be handled safely, let alone glued, even with my sharpest tweezers. 

 

 

That's why I've remembered my Strip technique, I used at the time (2016) for the SSWS Inlet pipes in the corners of the SRB Chambers,, I used at the time (2016) for the SSWS Inlet pipes in the corners of the SRB Chambers, long long ago ... 

 

 

The trick with this solution is that one at first cuts longer strips than necessary, with the appropriate width (0,3 mm), which so are much easier to grasp and glue. 

 

 

After the adhesive had hardened, I've carefully shortened these strips to their final length of 1,3 mm with the razor blade, and have also beveled them from the outside to the inside, what I've actually succeeded in doing. 

 

 

And  in the same way I've proceeded on the front of the Dome attachment, on which there are the details circled in blue (Parts 29-32), for which I would have to move further down my previous handling limit, 

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana) 

 

since the dimensions of the two outer Mini struts (Parts 32) with 0,3 x 0,5 mm are clearly < 1 mm. 

 

 

Then there is also this Ring (Part 31) there, into which the drive shaft of the motor (Ø 0,8 mm) ends, whose dimensions with Øo 1,3 mm and Ø_i 1,0 mm, as well as a height of only 0,3 mm was a bit of a headache at first. 

 

But I've also found a solution for this, because I've thought of the thin Shrink tubing that I had initially tested for the small lamps on the Crawler truck sides. 

 

For this purpose, I made a first shrink attempt on the Punch (Ø 1,2 mm) with a tube (Ø 2,0 mm) which has shrunken under the heat gun to Øo 1,6 mm, which was still a bit too large for me. 

 

 

In the next test I've used the punch with Ø 1,0 mm, with whose shrinking result (Øo 1,3 mm) I was completely satisfied then, 

 

 

because the shaft of the Propel motor fits perfectly into the ring and also still has some clearance.  

 

 

Using this tube I've cut a Ring (0,3 mm), 

 

 

and have glued it together with the Disc (Ø 2,5 x 0,5 mm) to the front side of the dome. Then the surrounding struts were glued, wherewith also the front side is completed now. 

 

 

 

 

Before that I had also still glued this Mini disc (Ø 0,6 mm x 0,2 mm) to the dome. 

 

 

 

Now the orange marked front part of the Gear case is still missing, 

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

which is next in line. 

Edited June 16, 2021 by spaceman

[K2Pete]

My Goodness ... you continue to raise the bar of intricate detail! ... but be honest, isn't this scratch building more FUN than just getting something from a 3D printer?

Now, I don't know how much fun it will be to make 16 of them  ... but 1 or 2 looks like it's time-well-spent!

 

And all this fine, fine detail ... gosh Manfred. How many "Opti-Visors" have you worn out?

 

Thanx

Pete

[spaceman]

Thanks Pete! 

 

Scratching this assembly of Gear case & Propel motor in 1/160 appealed to me, but also demanded all my commitment and ambition, which is why I want to pull it through til the end, especially since this crazy tinkering is also a funny affair, albeit sweat-inducing too. 

But considering the fact that 16 combos are needed,  there was no alternative to 3D printing, which is my saving anchor named Joe (crackerjazz). 

 

I just have to take a break and clean my glasses every now and then,  wipe the sweat from my headset magnifying glass and grit my teeth ... 

 

That's it.  

Edited June 17, 2021 by spaceman

[CaptKirk]

Marvellous work.

I'm not sure you're going to be satisfied until you've found a way to push individual styrene molecules around.

 

This is indeed the most understandable use of nanotechnology that I've encountered.

[spaceman]

Thanks Kirk. 

 

But now that's going too far!  

 

I can promise to stay in the millimeter range and not go into the micrometer range, let alone the nanometer ... 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

for a better overview I have again determined some dimensions of the parts in the 3D PDF,

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

which I've then printed out from the Outlines PDF. 

 

 

At it first I didn't even notice that both side parts (Parts 8, 9) have different inner contours, 

 

 

which promptly resulted in the fact that I've glued the side walls reversed in the bulging cladding, which I've only noticed later. 

 

The bonding was carried out on a sheet metal base, to be on the safe side again on a Teflon foil (PTFE), the parts being fixed with small super magnets to prevent slipping. 

 

 

 

Before, I had cut out the opening for the small lining (Part 10), 

 

 

which was then glued inside, which was quite a fiddling, until it was in the right place and the glue was cured. 

 

 

And only when I had put the cladding on the housing did I notice that the semicircular contours did not match because I had glued the side walls of the cover the wrong way round. 

 

This careless mistake had happened to me, because I had already thought more about the construction of the lower, curved claddings (Parts 11, 12) on the flat bases. 
 

 

These small claddings I wanted to build from a base strip and an attached circle segment, for which I had punched out several discs (Ø 5 mm) from Styrene (1 mm) to get the required width, which is different on both sides, as you can see from the laid stripes on.  

 

 

Then I've drawn the segments on the discs, 

 

 

 

whereby I've cut the segments for the smaller curvature (Part 8 ) a little narrower,

 

 

in order to roughly account for the different contours. 

 

 

It looked like this in front of the side wall (Part 8 ), which didn't convince me of the proportions, because the lower curvature of the disc (Ø 5 mm) is too wide and optically simply does not match the large curvature.  

 

 

Therefore I've also punched out a couple of discs with Ø 4 mm, the circular segments of which fit perfectly into the picture. What such a small difference can make. 

 

 

For this, the segments of the Ø 5 mm discs correspond exactly to the intended curvature on the other side wall (Part 9), 

 

 

so that I can now glue these parts together. 

Edited June 21, 2021 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

first I've glued the two circle segments for the front side wall together, slightly reworked the seams, and then glued them to the small base. After a short drying time, this small cladding was glued to the gear case. 

 

 

For the cladding on the rear side wall, three circle segments were glued together to get the slightly larger width. 

 

 

Then I've glued stripes again instead of the triangular struts, first on the front side wall, 

 

 

and then on the back of the cladding, whereby my Euro Cent was abruptly attracted by the magnet, which one know and take into account so that no damage is done. 

 

 

Then the protruding stripes were cut back to the triangular shape of the struts, 

 

 

for what I've used the following tools to do. In addition to two nail scissors and the razor blade, this Minaral file was particularly well suited for the gentle finishing of the slants, as its narrow side is smaller than the slants are long. 

 

 

That was quite a game of patience, especially since I had to proceed with extreme caution and a steady hand in order not to tear off the struts, which only adhere to a minimal linear adhesive contact.  But as it looks, the result is nothing to sneeze at. 

 

 

But now there are a few more details, such as these Rings (Parts 20), which I've already tried. 

 

While I was able to punch out their inner diameter (Ø 2,4 mm) from sheet (0,2 mm), for the outer diameter (Ø 3,4 mm) I've punched out a template with which I could transfer this. 

 

 

But now the harder part of the exercise came with cutting out the ring,  especially since its width is only approx. 0,5 mm, so one can still hardly hold the ring towards the end.  

 

Therefore, I had to leave a small overhang on the ring, which I've then painstakingly stroked off all around with the mineral file.  And after the rings were carefully glued, I was able to take a deep breath and wipe off my sweat. 

 

 

Then there are these small screws bezels (Parts 2/3) that I wanted to at least indicate, even if only made of paper, but at least. 

 

 

 

Next to come this small Platform (Parts 4-6, 16-19) on which the Propel motor is mounted, 

 

 

whereby I will modify the structure of the pedestal a bit. 

 

 

That's it for today. 

Edited June 23, 2021 by spaceman

[freshnewstart]

Amazing job again 💪 

You really earn the right to those prints in the hard way, so to speak 😊

Jesper

[spaceman]

Thanks Jesper for your nice compliment. 

 

Yep, that was indeed my intention, to see how complicated and laborious it would be to scratch one Gear case with Propel motor. 

 

And I can already say that one copy is enough for me and confirms my opinion, that the piece number of 16 would absolutely be modeling madness  and that therefore there is no alternative to 3D printing on my small scale 1/160. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

and therewith on to the Final Countdown! 

 

As one can see again in the following image, the substructure of the platform in the Paper kit is designed as a kind of plug-in connection, which gives the thin paper a certain stability which I've denied myself because Styrene (0,2 mm) is stiff enough and slitting the small parts would be difficult.  

 

Likewise, the Cladding (Part 7) should be slotted and the Platform supports (Parts 4/6) should be inserted into these slots and glued, which appeared for me unnecessarily complicated. 

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

That's why I've modified the supports and cut out the contour of the curve so that I could glue it directly onto the cladding. 

 

With the 7 Mini disks (Ø 0,6 mm x 0,2 mm) I want to try to indicate the screws on the small side claddings. 

 

 

After the 4 small plates for the motor feet were glued to the platform plate, this had to be fixed again accordingly for the secure gluing of the supports, 

 

 

with which the platform was completed.  

 

 

Then the platform could be glued to the case cladding. 

 

 

And then came the exciting moment of trying on the Propel motor on the platform, whose drive shaft, to my surprise, fitted perfectly into the socket of the dome-shaped attachment.  

 

 

On this image one can also nicely see the 3 screws on the base of the small cladding. 

 

 

And if I now calmly make me realize the size of this imposing couple once again next to the Euro Cent, 

 

 

then a small feeling of satisfaction and also proud of the result of my work creeps over me. 

Edited June 25, 2021 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello friends,

 

but in my euphoria I have now yet overlooked one assembly, namely this Fan unit (Parts 21-25), which looks formidable, but of course it shouldn't be missing. 

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

Source: NASA

 

And these are the parts required, 

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

whereby the Part 23 looks a bit bizarre indeed, so that I have to figure out how I can best scratch it.