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

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

I hope everything is cleared up now. 

 

The Payload Canister will be continued here soon. 

[CaptKirk]

22 hours ago, spaceman said:

Thanks Mike

 

Not even my mother called me Mike. Probably because they named me Kirk... 🤪

[spaceman]

Sorry Kirk,

 

I think I have to mistake you for somebody. 

[CaptKirk]

No problem. Miniature payload cannister engineering is much more important that visitor names. 😉

[spaceman]

That's definitely right, Kirk! 

[spaceman]

Hello friends,

 

today I have to deliver sad news to all friends of Real Space Modeling.

 

As I just found out, my long-time friend, John O'Connor, is the brilliant creator of the 360° panoramas on the nasatech.net website, passed in May at the age of 75.

 

 

I had just emailed him that I was coming back to Florida and to the KSC in October to meet with him, and I was surprised that he didn't reply. Unfortunately, we weren't able to meet up last year during NASA's Psyche Mission launch. Now his death is a sad certainty. May he rest in peace ...

 

Meanwhile I have learned that he was buried at the Riverview Memorial Gardens in Cocoa, where I want to do honour to him if I can find his grave.

 

I first asked my friend James MacLaren, who already knew and confirmed it. He also knew him and was also very impressed by his panoramas.

 

As you know, I have linked many of his unique panoramas to images in my STS-6 report what are for my Scratch building were an invaluable resource. It is a detailed compendium of American Space missions for the last 25 years. 

 

An tribute of his colleagues can be found on the website DEDICATED TO JOHN O'CONNOR.

Edited August 21 by spaceman

[crowe-t]

Manfred,  Thanks for letting us know about John O'Connor's passing.  His 360° panoramas on the nasatech.net website are amazing.  I've used them for reference when I was building my Revell shuttle stack.  He will be greatly missed.

 

Mike.

[spaceman]

Mike, it's really sad and I deeply miss him.

 

For 25 years he knew both Launch pads 39A & B like the back of his hand. 

 

In 2000 John began his media career covering rocket launches and various space-related events with Atlantis' mission STS-106 (09/08/2000). Since then he developed an impressive encyclopedic knowledge of the American space program. 

 

That's why his outstanding Website is a treasure trove for Real Space modelers like you and me. 

 

His 360° panoramas have actually always inspired me anew to look for more details to scratch, which has constantly expanded my experience for scratching craziest things.

 

FOREVER REMEMBERED ...

[spaceman]

Hello friends,

 

meanwhile I have inquired about John's grave at Riverview Memorial Gardens in Cocoa and a staff member will direct me to it so I can do honour to him during my vacation in October. 

 

 

FOREVER REMEMBERED ...

[spaceman]

Hello friends,

 

I could hardly believe it myself and had to scroll far back to find my last post from Payload Canister to pick up my thread at that time again. 

 

Back then it was about the painting the four ladders for both side walls,

 

 

Everything was prepared, the ladders are waiting still on their holders, 

 

 

just like the Dummy that I wanted to test with beforehand. 

 

 

First of all, I've checked the white paint, Aqua Color (36301), which was anything but spray-able after such a long time and had to be prepared and tested accordingly. 

 

More on that later, when you're awake. 

Edited September 1 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

since I haven't done anything with Airbrush for a long time, I had to slowly get back to it and get my colors going again. 

 

That's why I had to dilute my still unused can of White, Aqua Color (36301) again and test it according to the tried and tested test by Heinz Wagner, Ø ≥ 11 mm. 

 

Source: Heinz Wagner

 

To do this, I first diluted the paint with Aqua Color Mix in a ratio of 2:1 and then let drip down a drop of it from a height of 30 cm, which produced a blob of paint with a Ø = 13 mm (see below on the sheet), which is perhaps a little too large, but should at least be spray-able. 

 

 

With the color set in this way, I went to my airbrush room, have clamped the exhaust hose into the window,

 

 

 

and first primed the individual dummy with my smaller Revell Airbrush-Basic Set,
 

 

 

and then the remaining ladders too.

 

 

Since the opacity was not yet sufficient, I went into the garage and still sprayed one or two more coats on both sides with the Tamiya Color spray can from a distance of approx. 30 cm, 

 

 

which ultimately resulted in satisfactory coverage. 

 

 

 

At this point I got out of the Payload Canister about a year ago before starting my Florida trip.

 

 

Today I can now provisionally lay down the painted ladders too,

 

 

wherewith I'm quite happy. 

 

So I can now safely glue the ladders together with the other details onto the Payload Canister. 

Edited September 2 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Dear friends,

 

today the next sad news reached me. 

 

As I've learned from her husband Stephen, his dear wife, my friend Judy Gale Roberts, passed last week, the gifted Intarsia artist from Tennessee who in 2019 created this unique work of art Apollo 11 - 50th Anniversary Intarsia - For All Mankind on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first manned moon landing by Apollo 11. 

 

 

On July 19, I've congratulated her on her birthday and wished her all the best, and now the painful news of her passing. 

 

While she was working with her team on this Intarsia Project, I was in close contact with her and was totally surprised and overwhelmed by her gesture when she gave me an Eagle feather with her signature that time,

 

 

 

 

which I had with me last year during my visit to the Apollo/Saturn V Center,

 

Source: NASA, KSC Visitor Complex

 

and had held it in front of her Intarsia For All Mankind which is on display there.

 

 

 

May she rest in peace forever ... R. I. P.

[crowe-t]

Manfred,  I'm very sorry to hear of Judy Gale Robert's passing.  Her artwork was beautiful.

 

Mike.  

[spaceman]

I fully agree with you, Mike, I am still shaken and thinking of her poor husband Stephen, I feel so sorry for him.

 

Edited September 9 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

although the sad thoughts about the sudden death of Judy Gale Roberts are still running through my head, I want to continue with the Payload Canister, where, in addition to attaching the fragile ladders, various other small parts are waiting for me. 

 

Doing so I have to think about a sensible order, though, because the canister becomes more and more unwieldy with each detail and I have to consider the required support surface for assembly so that nothing can break off.

 

That's why I had to go back a long way in my construction report to be able to recapitulate and take into account the problems I had identified at the time. 

 

As I pointed out at the time, the canister on my Diorama will only be seen in Vertical Transport Mode, i.e. standing upright on the PLC Transporter, as was shown in the images at the time, 

 

Source: Space Shuttle News Reference (NTR Server, 1981)

 

like here leaving the Vertical Processing Facility (VPF).

 

Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)

 

Therefore I now have to take another closer look at the fastening points of the Payload Container to the Vertical Transportation Support Plates & Clevises provided for it on the Transporter,

 

Source: NASA

 

in order to be able to glue the thin Tie-down Lug Plates onto the container in the next step, whereby at the same time they have to fit easily into the fork-shaped Clevises, which in turn are shoved into the transportation plates and screwed to them.  

 

Source: NASA (STS-132)

 

So I immediately got the PLC Transporter out of the garage and put the container on it to remind myself of the tricky circumstances after such a long time.

 

 

 

And here are the neatly stored tiny little parts for the four attachment points on the transporter, although I can't remember to their numbering on it, and have to find my notes first. 

 

 

These are the parts from Box I, together with the two stop holders and the spike that sits on top of the container and was briefly seen in one of the images (STS-132).

 

 

And here is the Tie-down Lug Plate inserted into the Clevis,

 

 

which then has to be glued onto the container with its narrow lower edge, which I have a bit of respect for already.

 

 

So much for a first look back at the tricky problems.

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

after the view has slowly become sharper again, we should continue.

 

In this image one can see one of the four Tie-down Lug Plates for the Vertical Transportation Mode, which I now have to glue to the container.

 

Source: NASA (STS-130)

 

To do this, I now have to take another look at which of the four attachment points on the transporter the collected plate sets I-IV belong to, which is why I first had to search through  the building report from that time.  

 

 

An important orientation point is the Spike on top of the front wall (Forward Bulkhead) of the Payload Canister (PLC), which always points in the direction of travel of the transporter with the canister standing upright to the Launch Pad.  

 

Source: Space Shuttle News Reference (NTR Server, 1981)

 

So I first looked at my building report images from two years ago again. 

 

There you can at least see the arrangement of the transport plates for the Vertical Transportation Mode, here the larger of the two plates (at the front in the direction of travel) with two sliding shoes (blue, green).

 

Source: NASA (STS-122)

 

 

Here you can see the smaller transport plates which sit on the underside of the PLC front wall, 

 

Source: wikimedia.org (STS-132)

 

and have only one sliding shoe (green),

 

 

what I had to consider when mounting it on the transporter.

 

Here, for testing purposes, I had provisionally fitted all four transport plates for the Vertical Transportation Mode with their sliding shoes and placed the four hold-down clevises besides, which are inspected by the true to scale fireman (1:160).

 

 

And with that, I have now arrived at the point of my retrospect that shows the container on the transporter standing in Vertical Transportation Mode between the transport plates,

 

 

 

 

where I can now continue and glue all the individual parts together, although I have to remember that I still have to be able to remove the container in order to can glue the remaining details on the side walls.

[crowe-t]

Manfred,  You are doing an amazing job on this.

 

Mike.

[spaceman]

Thank you Mike for continuing to be loyal to me. 

Stay tuned and enjoy, the show will go on.  

Edited September 21 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello my friends,

 

it's time to give you a little advance notice today. 

 

There will be a break at the end of next week, because I am starting then to my Return to KSC Tour 2024 (28th Sept. - 2nd. Nov.) via Washington D.C., Huntsville, Alabama, Cocoa Beach, Everglades, Fort Meyers, St. Petersburg, Tampa and back to Cocoa Beach,  and therefore I will be absent on my construction sites for 5 weeks … 

 

But I will be back then because the show must go on here. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

after a thorough study of my former posts, I was able to recap the assignment of the stored plate sets I-IV to the four attachment points on the transporter.

 

Then I took the Transporter and the Payload Canister out of the cupboard, which is standing here in the direction of travel. 

 

 

 

As one can see in the image, the larger transport plates are located at the front in the direction of travel. 

 

 

Then I've tried to push the Hold-down Clevis into the rear transport plate (IV), but only managed to go about halfway, what immediately reminded me of the problems I had already back then with the accuracy of fit.  

 

Apparently the two openings in the transport plate are too narrow and need to be reworked so that the hold-down clevis has more play when pushed in. 

 

 

The same problems occurred on the larger front transport plate (I), when I tried to carefully pull the hold-down clevis out again, but this failed whereby one of the plates broke off.

 

 

And already I'm back in the middle of the stressful fiddling around of handling these tiny parts and have to get used to proceeding with extreme caution and not doing anything rash what could have dire consequences.

 

For example, using my beloved Cent coin for the size comparison almost proved to be as my undoing, as it is magnetic, which means that it can suddenly jump to the magnets holding the transporter and can cause damage to the surrounding area.  

 

 

 

The same disaster can happen when positioning tiny parts with ordinary tweezers, which are also magnetic and suddenly get attracted, causing parts to jump off never to be seen again, which I can also tell you a thing or two about it, which is why I have to use non-magnetic tweezers from Master Tools.

 

Now I first have to think about a suitable mini sanding strip (1,4 mm wide) with which I can rework the bottom opening (0,4 mm x 1,4 mm) of the transportation support plate.

 

 

At some point I had bought some thin and narrow sanding sticks, but I don't remember where they came from or where I put them ...

 

In return I was able to remove the Hold-down clevis (IV) out off the plate without damaging it,  but now I have to glue the other one back together, which will become also a tricky task. 

 

 

That's why I'll stop now, because excessive zeal doesn't help. 

Edited September 26 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

since I will be leaving for Washington D.C. the day after tomorrow for the first stop on my this year's USA trip, it's time to pack my bags, which is why I urgently need to make a break here, and will report back to you when I'll be back home on November 2nd. 

 

Have a good time and stay healthy my friends. 

Edited September 26 by spaceman

[crowe-t]

Manfred,  Have a safe and happy time on your trip.  Post lots of pictures when you get home.

 

Mike.

Edited September 26 by crowe-t