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

[K2Pete]

I, quite honestly, cannot believe my eyes ... the only way that I can understand the perfect results I see, is that the copper coloured disc, you call it the Euro Cent, is 10cm or 6" in diameter. You've simply made a styrene copy to use in your photos.  ... and it too is perfect!

 

I am already curious to see how a 3D print compares to this exquisite little scratch build. I hope it will measure up to your most high standards Manfred!

 

And I also have to commend the research done by the originator who developed the print out you're using as templates ... well done!

 

Pete ( shaking my head in disbelief in what I'm seeing! )

[spaceman]

Thanks Pete for your nice feedback. 

 

One seemingly cannot believe everything one can see,  and therefore you've seen through me, of course I have a special minting of the coin for my photos ...  

 

 

 

But joking aside!  Already in the Bible is written: Blessed are, who do not see and yet believe! 

 

 

So I hope I can calm you down, but I'll probably never can give up scratching such crazy stuff,  although < 1 mm should actually be the limit for me ... 

 

But I totally agree with you that LUT Guru Mischa Klement did a terrific job,  from his meticulous research to the 3D modeling of the Crawler using Rhino 3D to the dismantling into these incredible 11.000 parts in Corel, including his 3D & Outlines PDFs, simply unbelievable! 

 

And then you just have to build everything Out Of Kit (OOK) because everything fits together wonderfully. 

 

The only difficulty is my small scale (1/160), but that is my problem. 

 

Well, and how Shapeways will deal with it and whether I will be satisfied with their results is written in the stars ... 

Edited June 26, 2021 by spaceman

[K2Pete]

With that image of the Calipers on the Euro Cent, my good Man, I was sipping my coffee and ... I involuntarily snorted OUT some of my favourite beverage from my nasal passage!   

Your sense of humour Manfred is every bit as good as your modelling skills!   😂

 

[spaceman]

 I would have wanted to see that ... 

[crackerjazz]

That's some serious scratchbuilding, Manfred!  Really beautiful stuff!  What do you need printed gearbox/motors for?   : )

 

 

 

 

[spaceman]

  Absolutely amazing job, Joe! 

 

I will contact you in detail later. I'm watching Soccer European Championship France - Switzerland, 3: 3 extra time !!!
Pure high tension !!! 

[spaceman]

Hello friends,

 

sorry, out of topic, but first of all, the sensation is perfect, little Switzerland throws the overpowering Soccer World champion France in the round of 16 after penalties 8:7 from the tournament. 

And now back to your spectacular 3D model of the Gearbox housing, Joe,  which looks perfect and is incredibly beautiful, a true masterpiece! 

 

And thank you for your flattering compliment on my scratch-building work,  but your question is only hypothetical and not meant seriously ... 

 

Well, I've taken my time and tried to do everything thoroughly and as perfect as possible, which was rather difficult and therefore particularly time-consuming,   which is why I'm modeling at this prototype for 7 weeks now ... 

 

In terms of the sheer time required, I would need about 2 years for 15 more couples, which is also only meant hypothetically, wherewith your question becomes superfluous what we both know. 

 

A great advantage for both of us was the possibility that we could use Mischa Klement's Truck 3D PDF and the Outlines of the individual parts, which is a great help. 

 

So I'm excited about the next step, how we'll have to adapt and modify these two 3D models so that Shapeways can print Sets of 16. 

 

With that in mind, let's finish it off successfully, we can do it! 

Edited June 28, 2021 by spaceman

[crackerjazz]

Test fitting.  It somehow reminds me of an AT-AT  : )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[crowe-t]

Joe, It almost looks as good as the one Manfred scratch built! 

 

It does sort of resemble an AT-AT. 

 

Excellent job!

 

Mike.

[spaceman]

6 hours ago, crackerjazz said:

Test fitting.  It somehow reminds me of an AT-AT  : )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congrats Joe, the Test fitting looks awesome!  

 

BTW, NASA already knew why the Crawler was better equipped and more agile with its strong trucks than with such long stilts ... 

Edited June 29, 2021 by spaceman

[spaceman]

4 hours ago, crowe-t said:

Joe, It almost looks as good as the one Manfred scratch built! 

 

It does sort of resemble an AT-AT. 

 

Excellent job!

 

Mike.

 

Thanks Mike, 

 

we all need a little bit fun. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

in the meantime I have started building the Fan unit (Parts 21-25), for which, as I said, at first I had a lot of respect, because the whole assembly is quite small and has an idiosyncratic and complicated shape, which is why I pondered for a long time about a workable solution that is still feasible, especially on my small scale (1/160).  

 

First I've started with the simpler-looking front box (Part 21) and tried to fold it in the classic way out of paper and glue it (left in the image), but quickly noticed that the tiny angled corners would let hardly be glued cleanly, which is why I discarded this variant.  

 

 

Then I glued the part onto Styrene (0,15 mm) and punched it out.  

 

 

 

But this Paper/Styrene variant has also proven to be too complicated and unsuitable, since exact edges were even more difficult to fold, and the glued-on paper began to tear and peel off, wherefore I haven't even used the prepared angles for the corners.  

 

 

But famously there isn't just one way of doing it, and that's why I have omitted the sloping corners in the 3rd variant. As already with the Gear case I've then again pierced the corner points of the paper template on Styrene (0,15 mm), traced with a pencil and then carefully punched out the part.

 

 

Then I carefully folded the main edges and glued in small triangular profiles to support the gluing of the sloping side walls, what has proven itself again.  

 

 

Then the two angle strips could be glued into the front corners with sufficient overhang for handling, for which purpose the box was fixed again with super magnets.  

 

 

 

For gluing the other angle I had to change the clamping accordingly.

 

 

Finally, the protruding parts of the angles were carefully cut off with the razor blade and the edges smoothed. 

 

 

Last but not least, I also still glued the inlet grid to the underside, for a better look.  

 

 

Now only the narrow edge strip around the grid is missing (Part 22, red arrows), 

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

which I'll glue later, when this box is connected to the tricky Part 23, which is next in line, because it would only interfere during the final assembly.   

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

And for this idiosyncratically shaped part, which in addition to the lower rounding (Ø 4 mm) in the upper area is also still twofoldly slanted, I now have to come up with a special solution, because I consider making of the part provided in the paper kit to be hopeless due to its small size.  

 

But at least I already have an idea how I can scratch that thing.

Edited July 3, 2021 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

I can tell you, this measly Part 23 of the fan unit really has it all.  

 

To get the required thickness (2,4 mm) of the rounded part, I first transferred the outline on a Styrene strip (1,4 x 5 mm) and filed it to the final shape, which was quite tedious.  

 

 

The second disk I transferred to a strip (1,0 x 5 mm), which was shortened by the upper side slant, because there I've planned a triangular profile for the slant to the rear. 

 

 

After both disks had been glued and reworked, the triangular profile was glued on with a little overhang, which I then carefully wanted to punch off, but this failed because the part came loose.  

 

 

So I shortened this piece accordingly, but due to its triangular shape it could no longer be gripped with the tweezers for the gluing,  which I've managed to do with a tape strip. 

 

 

After the slant has been carefully sanded, 

 

 

I was able to turn to the assembly of the front box, which has now also received the lower frame. 

 

 

After I had marked the position of the box on the front of the rounded part, 

 

 

the box could finally be glued, which was half the battle! The problem with gluing such small parts is always a stable fixation of the parts, without which it would not work.  

 

 

Now the only thing missing was the connection of the fan with the gear case, for which there is a small Platform (Part 25) on which a small Cylinder (Part 24, Ø 1,5 mm) is sitting, which is only connected to the fan, but not to the housing, 

 

 

what I only recognized with the aid of the ingenious Truck 3D PDF.  This area is no longer visible after assembly, but it doesn't matter, that's how it should be. 

 

Source: MicroArtwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

After trying on the fan, 

 

 

the cylinder could then be glued to the back, 

 

 

 

followed by another try-on.

 

 

Then the small platform was glued onto the cylinder, 

 

 

after which the entire fan unit was glued to the housing, 

 

 

 

with which the gear case was complete. 

 

 

After a successful last try-on, I then glued the Propel motor to its housing platform, with which the work is finally done, whose result completely satisfied me. 

 

 

 

With a little distance one can hardly guess the effort  and sweat that this small assembly has costed ... 

 

 

And now Ladies & Gentlemen a little encore for all Sci-Fi freaks, especially for my friends Joe and Mike, here comes the  AT-AT in 1/160 scale  suspected by them ... 

 

I hope you like him. 

Edited July 4, 2021 by spaceman

[Slartibartfast]

Simply remarkable!  You have the patience of Job.

[freshnewstart]

WAUWW and just WOW!!

This was truly amazing, interesting, fun, educational and quite entertaining to follow.

Thank you for that Mr Spaceman, and congratulation to your outstanding result..

 

Im starting to suspekt you might be and alien, who escaped from area 51 🤔😄

Jesper

[spaceman]

1 hour ago, Slartibartfast said:

Simply remarkable!  You have the patience of Job.

 

Thanks Bruce for your nice compliment. 

 

Yep, with my distinct attention to detail, I need lots of patience and perseverance to never give up and to try to make the impossible possible. 

[spaceman]

1 hour ago, freshnewstart said:

WAUWW and just WOW!!

This was truly amazing, interesting, fun, educational and quite entertaining to follow.

Thank you for that Mr Spaceman, and congratulation to your outstanding result..

 

Im starting to suspekt you might be and alien, who escaped from area 51 🤔😄

Jesper

 

Thanks Jesper for your nice words,  that's music to my ears. 

As I can see you fit perfectly into my loot scheme,   so take care, you know too much ... 

[CaptKirk]

Love the AT-AT! 😄

[crowe-t]

Hi Manfred,

 

Outstanding job on this!  Your attention to detail is amazing!

 

I can almost hear the Star Wars theme playing.

 

Mike.

[spaceman]

Thanks Kirk and Mike for loving my little AT-AT! 

 

Then let's still round off this fun round also acoustically, let's go and enjoy it! 

 

 

I hope you have fun! 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

after longer being busy with different Crawler assemblies now a change of scene, and thus after several earlier attempts back to the lighting of the MLP to finally bring light into the darkness on the Side 1.  

 

After I finally had decided on the cabling interface between the Pad and Crawler at the Pedestal 6 next to the FSS tower, I've defined once again the last division of the LED circles more precisely, based on my STS-6 reference photo. 

 

Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)

 

And this is exactly how it looks on my MLP. 

 

 

So I've rummaged out the utensils from that time and tried to gradually recapitulate the handling steps, which took some time. 

 

At first, however, I proceeded rather naively, held the toothpick with the impaled ferrule in my right hand, held the tip in my left hand with tweezers and then carefully began to separate with a slight advance, which initially led to some losses, Bang - up and away ...  

 

 

To avoid that, I then put a kind of collecting cage under the cutting disc and held the tip with a pair of pliers, which then worked better. 

 

 

 

Then I've searched my URL-Screenshot directory of my Building-report, which is meanwhile 120 pages long, and came across my Separation technique from the previous year, which had proven itself, because it was much more solid, but unfortunately no longer in my mind ... 

 

Back then I had clamped the toothpick with the impaled sleeve in a small vise, held the tip of the sleeve with pliers, and then carefully pushed the vise towards the cutting disc, which worked well. 

 

 

 

After the separation, the sleeves must then be deburred by carefully sanding. 

 

 

Then a small bead (Ø 1,3 mm x 1 mm) is glued with CA into each of the shades for better guidance of the LED wires,

 

 

what I'm going to do next. 

 

As a lesson from this dilemma, I have meanwhile begun to add matching keywords to my URL-Screenshot directory to create an smart Report-Index, what should need some time,  so that I can directly search for it in future research and get to my goal faster. 

 

After painting the 20 lampshades required for the Side 1, the LED wires are threaded into them, followed by gluing the LEDs in the shades with Bondic UV adhesive and thus sealed at the same time. 

 

Together with the appropriate dimensionsI then send them to my friend Arno, who will then professionally solder up the 4 LED circles,  which I can then lay and test on the Side 1.  

Edited July 16, 2021 by spaceman

[CaptKirk]

Love it. Good to see you back on the MLP!

Ever considered acquiring a lathe? Seems like a tool with Manfred written all over it.

[spaceman]

Thanks Kirk for your nice words, 

but a lathe would be for me like taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut,  an effort that would not be worthwhile for my manageable modeling challenges. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

the next step was filing down the lampshades, which had been cut off but still sitting on the toothpicks, to a length of approx. 1,8 mm, as well as the subsequent deburring.  

 

 

Since the small beads for protection and better guidance of the LED wires were glued in with Pattex-CA, I have put a Teflon foil underneath as adhesive protection again in the tried and tested way. 

 

The lampshades could only be held in a scissors tweezer to glue them in,

 

 

and in this position could be carefully dabbed with CA on the inner edge with a acupuncture needle,

 

 

and then to put it over the upright standing beads, what had to work at the first go,   which, with a few exceptions, also succeeded.  

 

 

Then the shades were turned upside down and pressed onto the top with the end of the cutter holder in order to level out any minimal overhang of the beads. 

 

 

With that the preparation for the upcoming airbrushing was almost finished. 

 

 

After I had found my well-stowed needle ledge from the first paint job, only the paint residue on the tips had to be removed, otherwise the needles would not have fit through the beads.  And in a small box of course I've kept the ferrules with plastic collars, 

 

 

which were now threaded onto the needles as spacers to prevent the shades from sticking to the Balsa ledge.  

 

Since it was already foreseeable at that time that I would have to paint further lampshade series, I had already marked further slots in wise foresight. 

 

 

And since I've prepared twice the number of umbrellas this time, I only needed to expand the needle ledge accordingly and found and used both the pins and ferrules that were used at the time. 

 

 

Now only the shades had to be threaded onto the needles. 

 

 

 

In order to avoid a later light emission upwards, I brushed the shades with black paint again as I did back then. 

 

 

Although the autofocus of my digicam already had its problems with this macro shot, 

 

 

I didn't want to withhold it from you, especially since you can see a bit more like that, at least I imagine it. 

Edited July 21, 2021 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

given the occasion, now still once more a swivel back to the Crawler, because the 3D printing of the Gear housings & Propel motors enters the decisive phase. 

 

In the meantime, my friend Joe (crackerjazz) has thought about what he should hollow out on the gear case to save material and what small details he should fill out. Since filling out would take a lot of work, he agreed to my suggestion just to upload the model with the hollowed-out case and see if/what Shapeways would undertake with it. 

 

In this context he asked me which side of the gear case he should leave open, the rear side or the underside,  as one can see in this image, wherewith he pleasantly surprised me, since he's apparently intending to upload and let print the entire unit of housing & motor. 

 

Source: ARC Forums (crackerjazz)

 

Thereupon I looked again at the corresponding Crawler videos by Jürgen Ziegler (FADDA), 

 

Source: Jürgen Ziegler (FADDA) - YouTube

 

Source: Jürgen Ziegler (FADDA) - YouTube

 

and have proposed him to leave the Rear wall open, as the case would be glued directly onto the truck's Center structure, as one can see in the two screenshots.

 

He agreed to this suggestion and has uploaded his 3D model file to Shapeways. 

 

Unfortunately, the link shows the worst possible view of the model, namely from the bottom, which unfortunately almost completely covers the motor. 

 

But in the 3D view one can turn in any view you want, which I once did here. 

 

 

 

In the best print quality Smoothest Fine Detail Plastic one unit costs € 10.01, and I've ordered one right away so that Shapeways' procedure of Processing and testing etc. can go started, which could lead to complaints about the printability of too small details, what we don't want to hope. 

 

BTW, I was shocked by the high Shipping costs, which are just as high as the production costs. 

 

Now we can just wait and keep our fingers crossed. 

Edited July 27, 2021 by spaceman