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

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

today it was the turn of the second Fire extinguisher, for which it took me 20 min..  I had thought that it would go quicker, but this time it took me forever to thread the hose into the funnel ... 

 

But then it was done, 

 

 

 

 

so there are now extinguishers on both sides for quick access when needed.  

Edited March 15, 2022 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

after the Fire extinguishers are attached now, I actually wanted to scratch the two Rear-view mirrors as final details.  

 

But prior I've planned to do one more detail that I actually wanted to do without, but which hasn't gotten out of my head since then ...  

 

And that concerns to the two side walls of the transporter, which are huge steel profiles and resemble double T-beams in shape, as one can see on many images, as well as here on these STS-6 photos. 

 

Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)

 

Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)

 

But this thing just hasn't let rest me the more details of the transporter I've scratched.  However, I was undecided for a long time, because with this action I would risk disimproving the actually well-made transporter in the end. 

 

But then, in the end, my ambition and penchant for perfection won out, which is why I decided to do this in front of the rear-view mirrors, which would otherwise have gotten in the way. 

 

Since I had wisely already indicated the upper webs by the slight overhang of the ceiling panel, I've thought about using Evergreen Strips (0,25 mm x 2,5 mm) for the lower webs could,  which after precise gluing approx. 0,5 mm should protrude outwards. 

 

However, the strips onto the lower edges of the side walls would have to be glued carefully and with the greatest care, since they are only 2 mm wide and directly border on the outer twin wheel sets. 

 

However, I first had to order the strips online and also think about which glue I could use to glue them to the Balsa wood. 

 

After the profiles arrived yesterday, I first tried a few gluings on the first two KAMAG side walls. 

I've used a somewhat older UHU all-purpose adhesive, a Pattex instant adhesive, and a newly purchased UHU all-purpose adhesive Super, also a CA that is supposed to be correctable for a short time, which I finally decided to use. 

 

 

The angled areas of the walls on the front and back of the transporter were problematic because of the small Panel boxes and Fire extinguishers already glued there, at which I had to go past, so I glued those parts separately, which was quite a stressful affair.  

 

In order to adapt and glue the strips, the transporter had to be firmly fixed again by using magnets. Then the long central strip was carefully dabbed with Seku and immediately placed onto the lower edge up to the rear stop, slightly corrected and then pressed on,  

 

which worked quite well, as you can see here, after which a load has fallen from my heart. 

 

 

And so the whole thing looks much better, which I'm finally satisfied with, 

 

 

so that the other underside could then be planked in the same way. 

 

 

And what made me wonder about the photos from the beginning, the transporter is actually very flat and only about a man's height, as one can see here. 

 

 

And as the grand finale, I can now try to scratch and mount the two Rear-view mirrors and I'm curious to see if I'll be able to do that. 

Edited March 18, 2022 by spaceman

[Slartibartfast]

Incredible and entertaining.

[spaceman]

Thanks Bruce for your kind compliment. 

 

Then my effort is worth it, heart, what more do you want ... 

[CaptKirk]

Looks brilliant!

[spaceman]

Thanks Kirk, nice that you like this improved detail too,   that was bugging me the whole time, it really looks better this way. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

and so now to the last step and the two Rear-view mirrors of the transporter, which I wanted to try scratching at least once. 

 

How they were attached to the transporter, I could see from the few usable photos from that time, albeit a bit blurred. 

 

Source: 16streets.com/MacLaren

 

More important for scratching was of course the shape of the mirror and the holder, which I've learned by watching from this photo, what will not have looked much different at the time. 

 

Source: NASA (STS-135)

 

And off we go, whereby the mirror itself still looks relatively simple at first, on the other hand the filigree holder (Ø 0,1 mm) has instilled quite a bit of respect in me. 

 

That's why I've begun that the first thing I did and picked out my thinnest German silver wire (Ø 0,1 mm).  

 

Since the two holders should be the same size if possible, you cannot bend such filigree mini parts with tweezers simply by hand. Therefore, a suitable jig was needed again, like this stop from the Mitre Cutter, in order to be able to bend at least the first scaled length of 1,9 mm reproducibly. And experience has shown that one should definitely use a longer length of wire than needed and then cut off the rest, what makes handling much easier. 

 

 

The further bends were then much more trickier due to the short lengths,  because one still have to hold these tiny things somehow while bending, so that they don't fly away, which, however, could not be completely avoided, followed by creeping and looking for on the floor ... 

 

 

After a few tries I managed to get a passable pair.  Next to it is the rectangular profile (0,25 mm x 0,7 mm) for the supports rods, which should be approx. 5 mm long. 

 

 

As a mirror I wanted to use the parts from the Astrovan Kit first, 

 

 

to glue Bare-Metal-Foil (Chrome) on their front as a mirror surface,  which was a delicate matter,

 

 

because you have to carefully pull off an excess length and only then cut it to 4 mm and then glue it on. 

 

 

Since the holders cannot be glued directly to the backs, a tiny recording had to be scratched first, by means of which the mirrors, although not for my model,  but in reality let swing in. And these minis I've punched with Ø 0,6 mm from styrene (0,25 mm) by using the Punch&Die Set.

 

 

Of course, to glue these mini discs in the middle on the back, the mirrors had to be fixed again, then a dot UHU-CA was dabbed into the middle with the acupuncture needle and then to carefully pick up the midget with the cutter tip and put it down with a steady hand. 

 

 

And then the holders were glued on in the same way. So far so good. 

 

 

Now the mirrors only had to be glued onto the 5 mm long support rods, 

 

 

which had to be fixed again so that nothing could slip when the mirrors were glued on. 

 

 

Then the base points for the gluing were marked, CA dots were dabbed onto them again, after which the mirror was set down with the tweezers and a steady hand while holding the breath - between two heartbeats ... 

 

And as one can see, the first mirror stands bolt upright! 

 

 

Now the support rod only had to be cut to the final length, of course again with the a stable fixation. 

 

 

And now there's the thing! 

 

 

 

 

Then the adhesive point was marked under the side wall next to the driver's cabin and the support rod with the mirror was glued, which is half the battle. 

 

 

 

That's the end of the first action, the other half will follow later. 

Edited March 29, 2022 by spaceman

[freshnewstart]

What a difference those mirrors make at the appearence.. Totally magic ☺️

 

Jesper

[spaceman]

Thanks Jesper for your nice comment. 

 

That's right, it's just a small detail, but it adds still a little more reality to the transporter. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

and after the images of the Rear-view mirror on the Front side here now for mounting the mirror on the Rear side of the transporter, here the mirror and the prepared support rod. 

 

 

To glue on the mirror, it must be placed ready to hand for the tweezers, 

 

 

so that one can sit it onto the support rod immediately after dabbing the CA.

 

 

With it the driver's cab at the Rear side now also has its Rear-view mirror, and the transporter can be maneuvered safely in both directions. 

 

 

 

 

From now on at the latest as the top priority applies: Handle with care!  

 

And with that, have a nice evening everyone. 

Edited March 23, 2022 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

since we were just talking about safety in the Launch pad traffic, without large Rear-view mirrors it just doesn't work. But of course one thing is still missing, well, who has an idea? 

 

Okay, guys, I don't want to keep you in suspense for long. 

 

Since the transporter sometimes transports millions expensive Satellites in the Payload canister, an appropriate safety distance and free travel must of course be guaranteed. And this is usually warned by corresponding Rotating beacons on the transporter, which should not be missing at my transporter too, but which should then be the irrevocable final detail. 

 

And in these STS-6 images one can see the beacon on the back side. 

 

 Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)

 

 Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)

 

So then I want to measure and scale this thing to see if that's still doable. But I think so, because the diameter should be in the range of a Fire extinguisher (approx. 1,5 mm), so I could have a chance. 

Edited March 24, 2022 by spaceman

[CaptKirk]

Then the windscreen wipers?

[spaceman]

Cool idea, Kirk, 

 

you know my slogan: Nothing is impossible! I used to drive a TOYOTA long time ago ... 

 

Here you can see the both windscreen wipers. 

 

 Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)

 

Where is the problem? 

 

In principle, that should be feasible, the holders would then be Ø 0,1 mm and 3 mm long, and the wiper blades approx. 2 mm long and 0,2 mm wide. 

 

My thinnest Nickel silver wire (Ø 0,1 mm) and a Broom bristle (Ø 0,2 mm) would do for this. But you would probably hardly be able to see them on the blue windows ... 

 

 

But I'll do the Rotating beacons first ... 

Edited March 25, 2022 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

let's go with the Rotating beacon. 

 

After it was clear where the beacons are on the transporter, I looked for a few more detailed photos that show how they are set up and attached, which can be seen in the following two photos. 

 

Their structure is relatively simple, and the shape corresponds to the rotating beacons also known in this country, whose orange Bell sits on a Holder, 

 

Source: nasatech.net

 

which in turn sits on a simple Mounting bracket attached to the wall. As a result, it would actually only be three parts.

 

Source: mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov

 

I started with the Bell (Ø 1,2 mm), for which I used an Evergreen rod. For its coloring I used Illuminant dip paint, which I bought some time ago for coloring of white LEDs.

 

 

As the color test shows, the hue Orange (left) corresponds more to a Red, whereas the hue Yellow next to it corresponds to the Orange of the beacon on the photos, which I then also used. http://www.raumfahrer.net/forum/yabbfiles/Attachments/up045518.gif Next to it are the small Holders (Ø 1,4 mm), which I punched again, as well as a strip for the Mounting bracket (0,1 mm x 2,5 mm ). 

 

 

Then I carefully separated the Bell (L = 1,5 mm) with the razor blade, 

 

 

 

and glued onto the holder.

 

 

 

To glue the Holder to the angle strip, I used the UV glue again. 

 

 

 

Since the wafer-thin Styrene strip cannot be bent at right angles but breaks, I've cut it off, 

 

 

and glued the part with the beacon to the strip, also under UV light,

 

 

eventually resulting in the Angle Bracket. Since the bracket is not attached directly to the wall, a small spacer (0,4 mm x 0,75 mm) was glued underneath,

 

 

and the lateral overhangs separated, with which the Rotating beacon was completed. 

 

 

To glue the beacon on, the transporter had to be placed on its side. In order not to break off the Rear-view mirror improvidently  the transporter had to be supported accordingly and at the same time fixed in a stable manner. 

 

 

This was followed by a test fitting of the beacon on the side wall, which fitted so far well. 

 

 

Now a spacer was also placed on the underside, whereupon the bracket on the upper spacer was glued to the wall. 

 

 

After that, the transporter could finally be put back on its wheels, 

 

 

with which the first Rotating beacon is now in place. All in all, quite a lot of effort for this small detail, but it was worth it and rounds off the overall picture. 

 

Now all that's missing is the beacon on the other side, which I'll still be able to do too. 

Edited March 26, 2022 by spaceman

[CaptKirk]

As ever, I was joking about the wipers, Manfred. The beacon looks great (though I'm surprised you didn't use transparent rod). 

I've finally returned to my 1:24 Harrier model recently and find adding cockpit detail immensely tricky at this comparatively massive scale. It's a privilege to watch you producing microscopic details and the way you make it look so easy inspires me to attempt parts I would have previously omitted.

Actually, perhaps you can give me a tip? When I try to attach small styrene pieces to say, the cockpit sidewall (using liquid poly cement), they frequently tend to stay stuck to my tweezers as I position them. If I use less cement, they don't stick at all. Any ideas? (Perhaps this is why you use the UV adhesive?)

[spaceman]

Thanks Kirk for your nice compliment. 

 

Gluing is a science in itself. 

 

It is always bad to give a specific tip without a picture, because it always depends on several factors, e.g. the type of glue, the material and size of the parts to be glued, and whether or how and with what you can hold them when gluing. 

 

How do you apply your glue, to the part to be glued or to the place where you want it to glue?

It's always better to dab the glue onto the splice than trying to hold the part with the glue in on then to put it onto the splice. I don't know your tweezers, are they sharp enough? 

 

I use these sharp tweezers by Master Tools.

 

 

 

With parts in the millimeter range or less, you can no longer hold them even with these tweezers, so I poke the tiny things lightly with the tip of the cutter so that it gets stuck and carefully place it on the glue droplet on the glued area.

 

Maybe you should try the UV glue. This has the advantage that you can glue the part onto the splice and still position it or correct the fit. And only when the part is correctly positioned do you cure the glue with the UV source and your part is firmly bonded. 

 

I hope this can help you. 

[crowe-t]

Hi Manfred,

 

I just caught up on the last few pages.  The transporter looks great and keeps getting better with all the details you are adding,  The tiny fire extinguishers and the rear view mirrors really make it look real.  Keep up the great work.

 

Mike.

[CaptKirk]

Many thanks for the tips Manfred. I thought my tweezers were fine tipped but they look blunt in comparison with yours. At the moment for the cockpit ribs I am gluing, I've tended to glue both the part and the destination.

So, a few things from me to try. 🙂 

[spaceman]

9 hours ago, crowe-t said:

Hi Manfred,

 

I just caught up on the last few pages.  The transporter looks great and keeps getting better with all the details you are adding,  The tiny fire extinguishers and the rear view mirrors really make it look real.  Keep up the great work.

 

Mike.

 

Thanks Mike for looking in on me again and for your nice comment. 

 

The journey is going on ... 

[spaceman]

5 hours ago, CaptKirk said:

Many thanks for the tips Manfred. I thought my tweezers were fine tipped but they look blunt in comparison with yours. At the moment for the cockpit ribs I am gluing, I've tended to glue both the part and the destination.

So, a few things from me to try. 🙂 

 

An old experience, Kirk, nothing beats good tools. 

 

If I understand your problem correctly, your cockpit ribs in 1:24 should be large enough to simply glue them with Methylethylketone (MEK). 

All you have to do is hold the rips with the tweezers on the cockpit wall and brush both sides with MEK with your other hand. And already they're sticking to the wall. 

 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

let's go to the second Rotating beacon, now I did know how to do it yet. 

 

And the second time one can always still change and improve something. So this time I tried to cut off the Bell a little more precisely and came up with the predetermined Length (1,5 mm). 

 

 

This time I did without the UV adhesive and preferred the simpler variant with normal Revell Contacta, because it works fine for gluing of plastic/plastic. 

 

 

 

After that, the already known steps followed again. 

 

 

 

 

Only for the last gluing of the Beacon (Styrene) on Paper I've used the UHU-CA, wherewith its place can still be corrected a bit. 

 

 

 

The Transporter is now ready for use and is waiting for the Payload Canister. 

Edited March 27, 2022 by spaceman

[crowe-t]

Manfred,

 

Beautiful job!

 

Mike.

[spaceman]

Thanks Mike for your nice compliment. 

 

To Kirk's wipers I'll come back later. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

and with that, despite all the teasing, as a sign of good will, let's go on to my most minimal gluing so far (0,1 mm onto 0,2 mm),  which is more like another skill test. I'm curious myself whether this will work the way I thought it would. 

 

First, I prepared a small retaining strip (0,4 mm x 0,7 mm) that fits exactly into the gap above the Driver's cabin on which initially the wipers are to glue, before then gluing the complete strip into the gap. Gluing these delicate things individually I ruled out from the outset, because with that the failure would have been bound to occur. 

 

As a mount for the holders, I cut small slices (Ø 0,5 mm) from a rod and glued them onto the strip. 

 

 

 

 

Then I tried to glue the thin wire onto the 2 mm long broom bristle, which can definitely work, although it was very difficult and the right fit is probably a matter of luck.  

 

 

It is cheaper to fix the slightly longer bristle, then carefully and with eagle eyes and a steady hand glue onto the little wire moistened with CA, and only then cut the bristle to a length of 2 mm.  One should also leave a certain overhang on the holder itself, which is only shortened after it has been glued to the holding strip. 

 

 

The next problem was the handling of the tiny wiper when gluing it onto the holding strip, since you can no longer hold it in tweezers, let alone position it safely and precisely.   That's why I came up with this Tape Adhesive Applicator made from a toothpick, with the tip of which one can pick up these tiny little things and can place them on the glue point.  

 

 

 

To do this, of course, the strip had to be firmly fixed again. After a tiny drop of UHU-CA was dabbed onto the mount, the entire wiper could then be put on and glued, which actually worked. 

 

But when I wanted to glue the other wiper, it suddenly disappeared without a trace.  I thought I was going to lose it and wanted to stop first, especially since it was very early in the morning again ... 

 

But then I searched the floor with the LED lamp on my knees and, contrary to expectations, actually found the damned thing, 

 

 

after which the wiper was immediately glued.

 

 

Next, the overhangs of the wires on this bizarre structure had to be cut off with nail scissors, 

 

 

for which the strip has to be brought into a suitable position, which also had still to be held in place somehow. 

 

 

To avoid possible leverages and flyings off when cutting off the wires, I held down the strip with the wipers with a Balsa board, 

 

 

and then the overhangs were carefully cut off. 

 

 

Now only the strip with the two wipers had to be glued over the front window of the driver's cabin, for which the transporter had to be fixed upright again in a stable and unbreakable manner. 

 

 

When that still worked out too, I was jolly glad and made three crosses. 

 

 

 

This also successfully completed this tricky exercise, which is really enough for me now - No more bets, please!  

Edited March 31, 2022 by spaceman

[CaptKirk]

Yet again you prove that no detail is impossible to model.

And no, I'm not going to suggest the driver's key fob.