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

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

and thereby to the 14 hinges, which are so tiny that I wonder if it would be enough to just cut them out of paper and stick them on. 

 

To illustrate the proportions of the hinges on the Payload Canister, I placed the printout in front of the PLC.

 

 

And when I look at the dimensions of these tiny hinges again,

 

 

it might be worth trying to scratch such a hinge, because a 3D-hinge looks better than a 2D-hinge, although I have a pretty daring idea in mind,  especially since just cutting out the spaces between the lower six hinge halves would become extremely difficult and stressful. .

 

Therefore I'm still fiddling around with it a bit and will present it to you next time. 

[crowe-t]

What I would do for the hinges is cut the top larger strip and a narrower strip for the 6 sections on the bottom.  Then cut the narrower strip into the smaller pieces and glue them individually.  After that use half round rod between the top strip and the 6 smaller parts.  I would imagine .010"(.25 mm) thick sheet styrene would work fine for the strips.  Possible .020"(.5 mm half round rod).  

  

Edited February 7 by crowe-t

[spaceman]

Thanks Mike for your constructive thoughts and helpful proposals. 

 

Good morning Hinge friends,

 

I've chosen a slightly modified solution and I'm assuming a thinner hinge sheet on the canister door, for which I'll use an Evergreen Sheet Styrene 0.005'' (0,13 mm). This means that the lower, slightly thicker hinges should be 0.010'' (0,25 mm). 

 

 

However, unfortunately there are no matching Evergreen strips for some parts of the hinge, which is why I had to laboriously make them by hand. 

 

Therefore I've tried to cut a strip for the thinner hinge sheet on the canister door with a cutter from an Evergreen Sheet Styrene 0.005'' (0,13 mm), which initially resulted in strips that were too wide (1,7 mm, 1,6 mm, ...). 

 

So I placed three steel rulers on top of each other, which gave the required strip width of 1,5 mm.

 

 

Then I clamped an approx. 1,6 mm wide strip Styrene upright with a 1,3 mm thick steel ruler against the strip and filed it down finally to a width of 1,5 mm. 

 

 

For the production of the lower 0,63 mm wide hinge parts on the side wall I used an Evergreen Strip (0,25 mm x 0,75 mm),

 

 

which I clamped upright between two steel rulers using the same method, 

 

 

and then, piece by piece, with repeated measurements, I've filed it down to a width of 0,63 mm. 

 

 

That's only 0,12 mm less, but otherwise I wouldn't get the scaled hinge length of 7 mm. 

 

The hinge sleeve rod (Ø 0,4 mm x 7 mm) is then glued onto the lower edge of the 1,5 mm wide upper strip, against which the six short hinge parts are then glued from below. 

 

Of these tiny hinge parts, I need no less than 84 short strips for 14 hinges, each of which can be only 0,5 mm long, which gives you an idea of how demanding and complicated this solution is. 

 

So much for the preparation of this adventurous solution,  with which I will try to scratch one first hinge soon. Then we will see. 

Edited February 8 by spaceman

[crowe-t]

I didn't realize the lower hinge was thicker.  I know you're on top of this and the hinges will come out perfect.

[spaceman]

No problem Mike,

 

but if you look closely at my friend's second image, one can see that there are second plates mounted under the hinge sheets on the side panel, making it almost twice as thick as the hinge sheet on the door. 

 

This is because the door is apparently not flush with the wall, but has a little overhang, what I didn't know until now because on most of the later photos this gap is covered by the protection tarpaulin. 

 

 

Do you think it would make sense trying to show the dividing lines between the hinge sleeves, and if so, how could one do it, especially since these lines would have to be extremely thin and should be only 0,63 mm apart at my small scale (1/160)? 

 

It would certainly look better, but perhaps that would be too much of a good thing. 

Edited February 8 by spaceman

[crowe-t]

At this scale dividing lines between the hinge sleeves might not be worth the extra work.  Whether you use round rod or half round for the hinge sleeves you can glue on a single piece across the hinge.  Then after the glue is dried slice it into the 6 sections with an hobby knife.  Another option is to cut the hinge sleeves into the 6 sections and glue each section on individually.  You'll still see very slight dividing lines between the 6 pieces.  After they are painted the dividing lines might not show too well.  Do a test and see if it's worth the work.

 

 

 

Edited February 9 by crowe-t

[spaceman]

Thanks Mike,

 

but that seems to me to be quite complicated and hardly feasible. 

 

And believe it or not, I already have a crazy idea for it that's been running through my head for a few days. 

 

The idea came to me in our supermarket and is similar to the barcode labels, 

 

 

and this should be possible with my previously described MS Word technique, which I tried. 

 

It is a further development of my previous sketch of the hinges. 

 

 

To do this, I extended the bottom six hinge sheets to 20 mm in MS Word using its thinnest lines to create a printable template, 

 

 

that I could use for the 14 hinges. 

 

So I printed the extended Hinge Sleeve strip on normal paper, 

 

 

and tried to roll it up over a pin (Ø 0,5 mm), which wasn't easy because the paper is a bit too stiff for that. Next to it you can see the unsuccessful attempt to indicate the dividing lines of the hinge sleeves with a fineliner (Ø 0,05 mm). 

 

 

I've then printed this strip on label paper because I wanted to kill two birds with one stone, as the peeled-off label is more ductile than normal printer paper and can be glued, which should make the whole handling easier. 
 

 

At first I wanted to cut a narrow strip off of it, which would be enough to wrap the hinge wire, but I immediately discarded this idea again,

 

 

because it seems much easier to place the wire or rod on the adhesive surface of the label, or vice versa, because then it is already fixed and cannot roll away.  

 

 

And that's really the case, so with a few tricks I managed to wrap the wire (Ø 0,4 mm), which in my opinion looks almost perfect and is a practical solution. http://www.raumfahrer.net/forum/yabbfiles/Attachments/up039822.gif

 

With this wrap, the hinge roll has a diameter of 0,5 mm. To get to Ø 0,4 mm, I would preferably have to use a Styrene round rod (Ø 0,3 mm), which is my iron reserve, but never mind. 

 

I also have steel wire (Ø 0,3 mm), but I would have to cut it off after wrapping with a side cutters, which is a bit more difficult than cutting the Styrene round rod with the chisel cutter. 

 

 

But that's not all, because six of the tiny hinge sheets(0,63 mm x 0,5 mm x 0,25 mm) still have to be glued under the hinge rollers, which I have tried to indicate in this image. 

 

 

And for this last step, I will have to use my often-used Magnet clamping technique, probably again with slightly longer strips that I can fix to a sheet of metal with tape, and whose overhangs, after being glued to the hinge roll, will be cut off behind an upright steel ruler (0,5 mm) to the required length of 0,5 mm. 

 

And the whole procedure for 14 hinges, actually an insane effort of work,  which nobody but you guys can understand afterwards. 

Edited February 12 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

today I marked the positions of the hinges on the Payload Canister by fixing a narrow strip with the hinges from my PLC template over the dividing line between the PLC Door and the Side wall, which allowed me to mark the start and end points of the hinges with a dot. 

 

Here on the Starboard Side,

 

 

and here on the Port Side of the PLC.

 

 

And here, for illustration purposes, I have placed only the hinge roll on the dividing line without the upper hinge sheets on which the roller sits and without the six lower hinge sheets that sit on the side wall. 

 

 

The next step is to produce the 14 hinges, which will certainly take some time and require a lot of patience. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

since the diameter of the hinge roll with the core wire (Ø 0,4 mm) after being wrapped is Ø 0,5 mm and therefore a bit too big, I also followed up with an experiment with a brass wire (Ø 0,3 mm). 

 

It's just not that easy to roll up, so I tried a few things. 

 

 

 

It is always important to have a tight clamp so that nothing slips or the wire comes off again, which is stressful. 
 

 

Then let carefully stand up the label strip,

 

 

bend it around the wire and then cut off the excess overhang, is easier said than done ... 

 

 

And here you can see the difference between the two hinge rolls with Ø 0,4 mm (above) and Ø 0,3 mm below, which is more scale-appropriate and is therefore applied.

 

 

And it goes on.

 

 

After the roll has been carefully glued to the hinge sheet, dried and the strip cut to length,

 

 

now to the scratching and gluing of the bottom six hinge sheets, which can only be 0,63 mm wide and 0,5 mm long, which is too tiny to be able to glue them individually. 

 

That's why I've  cut six short strips (0,63 mm x 0,25 mm), 

 

 

which I aligned using the hinge template and secured with strips of tape.

 

 

To stabilize the distances and ensure the dimensional accuracy of the hinge, I placed an Evergreen rod (1 mm x 1 mm) on top and glued it with MEK to form a kind of comb.

 

 

 

I then glued this stable structure with the hinge roll and let it dry.

 

 

Then comes the most difficult part of the game, namely shortening the six hinge strips to 0,5 mm length as quickly as possible, for which I used a complex magnet clamping technique with three rulers, one of which was vertically positioned as a spacer (0,5 mm), and cut off the overhangs behind this ruler with the wide chisel cutter.

 

 

which actually worked, as the bond was apparently sufficiently stable. 

 

 

And this is what the first finished hinge looks like, 

 

 

which turned out quite well and makes me confident that I can also complete the remaining 13 hinges. 

Edited February 17 by spaceman

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

with the remaining 'comb' I made the next hinges using the same procedure. 

 

 

First, the label strip was rolled up to form the hinge roll in several steps.

 

 

 

Then again the gluing of the hinge roll to the hinge sheet strip, as well as gluing the six lower hinge strips to the roll. 

 

 

 

To be on the safe side I also glued the hinge strips to the hinge sheet on the back,  two is better than one!

 

 

Because shortening the hinge strips to 0,5 mm length with the upright steel ruler is too cumbersome, 

 

 

 

this time I used an Evergreen strip (0,5 mm x 0,5 mm) as a spacer, which makes it easier to cut off with the cutter. 

 

 

Then I had to file new strips (0,63 mm x 0,25 mm) flat for the hinge sheets.

 

 

For gluing the hinge strips of the remaining hinges, I remembered my tried and tested grid technique when gluing the tension rings to the SSWS ring lines. 

 

 

To do this, using the hinge templates I first arranged six of these strips on Teflon non-stick foil (PTFE) to form this grid, fixed them with tape, and then glued Styrene Strips (0,25 mm x 0,5 mm) with MEK on top for stabilization. 

 

 

 

And I can now glue this stable grid step by step to the remaining hinge rolls, 

 

 

and thus produce the remaining hinges.

 

 

For this I then also printed a longer hinge strip on label paper, 

 

 

which was supposed to be enough for the remaining hinges. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

cutting off the individual strips with the chisel cutter behind the Evergreen strip (0,5 mm x 0,5 mm) as a spacer has proven to be effective. 

 

 

When cutting all six strips at once, there is a risk that not all of the strips will be cut evenly or that single strips will break off again. 

 

So it's better to carry on as before, safe is safe.  

 

 

And this is hinge No. 5, the squirrel is laboriously feeding itself, 

 

 

Don't believe it? 

 

 

The strength is in calm. 

[spaceman]

Hello friends,

 

and then there were only nine hinges left. 

 

For this, I initially only started with the hinge rollers, and again I improvised a lot. Since the strip labels for the small bending radii around the brass wire (0,3 mm) are not easy to roll up, I started to moisten the slightly longer brass wire with a very small amount of UHU-CA and glued it directly to the edge of the strip label, because this fixes it more firmly and prevents it from coming off again when rolled in. 

 

 

I then carefully lifted this strip, which was fixed between two steel rulers, with the chisel cutter,

 

 

and gently rolled it around the wire with the eraser, which is the gentlest method. 

 

 

After one rotation one only have to cut the label strip flush with the chisel cutter, and the hinge roll is ready. 

 

 

I then made the next hinge rolls in a similar way,

 

 

six of which are shown here, leaving only three rolls left.

 

 

When rolling in, it is important to always fixate it with a second steel ruler.

 

 

 

Then the upper ruler was removed,

 

 

followed by lifting the label strip, and cutting off the roll with either the chisel cutter,

 

 

or cutting it with scissors, although cutting it off with the cutter has proven to be easier. 

 

 

And with that, the remaining nine hinge rolls are now finished, and their gluing onto the hinge strips, as well as the subsequent step-by-step gluing of the hinge sheet grid can follow.

 

 

Then all 14 hinges can be glued onto the doors of the Payload Canister. 

[CaptKirk]

Wow! So small! So clever!

[spaceman]

Thanks Kirk, 

 

yep, these damn hinges are really tiny, and it was a rather hard nut to crack. 

 

But as you know, I don't give up so easily, but I keep going and bite me through, even if it's difficult. 

 

And meanwhile I know I will do it. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

with the prepared nine hinge rolls and the strip grids I have now started a small series production in order to finally be able to close this chapter PLC hinges. 

 

To make faster progress, I've split my strip grid and went on double tracked.

 

 

To do this, two hinge rolls were first glued to both ends of the hinge sheet strip.

 

 

 

The grid strips were then shortened as usual behind the spacer (0,5 mm) using the chisel cutter. 

 

 

 

And so it continued in the tried and tested manner, hinge by hinge, 

 

 

and the strips became shorter and shorter.

 

 

For the last hinge I had to cut a new hinge sheet strip (0,13 mm x 1,5 mm).

 

 

Then finally all 14 hinges were finished and I could make three crosses. 

 

 

And after the QM boss of the Can Crew gave his green light,

 

 

the hinges can now also be glued onto the Payload Canister. 

[spaceman]

Hello friends,

 

and the guys of the Can Crew immediately started installing the hinges on the Payload Bay Door on the Port Side. 

 

 

 

 

 

And the guys did a good job. 

 

 

So we now continue on the Starboard Side. 

[CaptKirk]

Well done can crew!

[crowe-t]

Great job Manfred!

[spaceman]

Thanks Kirk and Mike for your compliments. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

and with that the Can Crew went to the Starboard Side to mount the door hinges there as well. 

 

 

 

And here too they did their job with proven quality,

 

 

so that the QM Boss had no objections and gave the green light again. 

 

 

So much for today. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

before I continue with the Pneumatic door drives, I'll come back to this almost invisible detail on the Payload Canister, about which I asked my friend Richard Chamberlain from Titusville, who was a member of a Can Crew during his active time in the mid-80s, and I sent him this image. 

 

Source: NASA (STS-135)

 

And as he then explained to me, it was a steel cable that was stretched across the entire length of the Payload Bay Door, into which the Can Crew could hook their safety belts.

 

Source: NASA (STS-132)

 

Similar cables were also located on the front of the canister.

 

Source: NASA, Orbiter Payload Canister (HAER FL-8-11-I)

 

 

For this cable I had already cut a brass wire (Ø 0,15 mm) some time ago,

 

 

 

as well as glued the two turnbuckles with the lugs on the Starboard Side Door. 

 

 

However, subsequent measurements have now shown that the cable diameter should not be Ø 0,15 mm but only Ø 0,1 mm. 

 

 

And since I like to build it true to scale, I used the thinner nickel silver wire (Ø 0,1 mm) and laid it onto the door, but it is hardly visible anymore. 

 

 

 

 

Now I just have to glue it, probably with tiny CA droplets. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

and that's exactly what I did, first carefully securing the wire between the two turnbuckles with a little tape in the middle.  

 

Then I pushed one end of the wire a little to one side, then carefully dabbed a tiny drop of UHU-CA onto the end of the lug, and then immediately pushed the end of the wire into this drop and left it to dry.

 

 

 

And I did the same thing at the other end of the wire.

 

 

Then I moved the wire a little out of the center, dabbed a drop of CA on the line and pushed the wire over it. And that was it, so now I can really turn my attention to the door drives. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

and now full concentration on the assembly of the fiddly drive chain, consisting of the Pneumatic drive and the Door actuators hanging on the pipes with the Screw jacks. 

 

You hardly want to touch this strand with tweezers so that nothing breaks off, which makes even taking it out of the box a problem. 

 

 

Therefore, I first carefully pushed the whole strand from the base onto a steel ruler,

 

 

from which I then carefully pushed it onto the side wall of the canister between the two Access platforms. 

 

In this position, I then first taped the central Pneumatic Drive by carefully dabbing its frame on both sides with Revel Contacta on an acupuncture needle. 

 

The two Door actuators with their Screw Jack brackets were then aligned and glued onto the wall in the same way. 

 

 

 

 

And that looked already quite appealing to my taste. 

 

 

Now the installation of the door drives on the Port Side should also be successful in a similar way, I still hope. 

[spaceman]

Hello everybody,

 

because things are going so well, let's take a quick look at the door drives on the port side. 

 

 

 

 

And then still two images with the Payload Canister on the PLC transporter. 

 

 

 

So the picture is becoming more and more complete, but there are still some details missing at the canister, so stay tuned. 

[crackerjazz]

Brimming with beautiful details!  Those hinges are amazing! : )