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After a long wait, Shuttle Wars, Part 21 is out.

In this video, you get to see the evergreen strip thermal blanket layout (most of it anyway), and you get to meet my two new Boston Terriers (fast forward through that part if it doesn't interest you).

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Great update! Been wondering how your shuttle builds were coming along. Those thermal blanket patterns look excellent! How much time do you think you have just laying those out so far? I like the idea of texturing the putty to make the blankets. My only concern would be the speed at which the Squadron putty dries. It's pretty fast, so it seems like you'd have to work really quick with filling it into a section, evening out the surface, and then stamping in the texture. If it were me, I might use Milliput since it stays workable for a longer period or time, or I might instead apply oil paint in an impasto style and texture that. Looking forward to seeing how it works out, as I'm not sure which route I will go blanketing my shuttle (if I can ever get past the tiles!). Looking forward to Shuttle Wars 22

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I second that reply by Hotdog. And I'm happy to see the 21st installment of Shuttle wars. Looking forward to the next one also.

When I get back to my 1/72 orbiter, I was thinking about using cloth tape as the insulation blankets. I saw an article of someone using that application and thought it looked really good. But I am also curious to see how the putty application turns out.

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Great update! Been wondering how your shuttle builds were coming along. Those thermal blanket patterns look excellent! How much time do you think you have just laying those out so far? I like the idea of texturing the putty to make the blankets. My only concern would be the speed at which the Squadron putty dries. It's pretty fast, so it seems like you'd have to work really quick with filling it into a section, evening out the surface, and then stamping in the texture. If it were me, I might use Milliput since it stays workable for a longer period or time, or I might instead apply oil paint in an impasto style and texture that. Looking forward to seeing how it works out, as I'm not sure which route I will go blanketing my shuttle (if I can ever get past the tiles!). Looking forward to Shuttle Wars 22

How much time to lay them out? Way too long! Hours and hours and hours, but probably not any longer than it would take to cut surgical tape into little sections and apply them.

Regarding the putty....I am not planning on the putty being wet when I work it. I am going to thin it out and spray it on with my Paasche H. Squadron putty is soft, relatively speaking, which is why it is so easy to sand, and one of the reasons I like it. The armor zimmerit tool should easily be able to texture the putty's surface after it is dry.

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How much time to lay them out? Way too long! Hours and hours and hours, but probably not any longer than it would take to cut surgical tape into little sections and apply them.

Negatory good buddy ... doing the tiles with First Aid tape might ... might take 4 hours total!

IIRC, it took me about 2.5 hours for the 1/72 Shuttle. And like yours Gil, mine wasn't absolutely perfect, but dang close! :rolleyes:

I also did it on a 1/100 Shuttle too.

You've gotta give it a try. The effect is very nice. The scale look looks great and it's most definitely eee-zee-er, and much less time consuming than all the steps you're about to do.

But having said this, I do look forward to seeing the effect you want.

And I'm glad you haven't given up on the Shuttle Wars vids ... thanx Gil!

Pete

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Negatory good buddy ... doing the tiles with First Aid tape might ... might take 4 hours total!

IIRC, it took me about 2.5 hours for the 1/72 Shuttle. And like yours Gil, mine wasn't absolutely perfect, but dang close! rolleyes.gif

I also did it on a 1/100 Shuttle too.

You've gotta give it a try. The effect is very nice. The scale look looks great and it's most definitely eee-zee-er, and much less time consuming than all the steps you're about to do.

But having said this, I do look forward to seeing the effect you want.

And I'm glad you haven't given up on the Shuttle Wars vids ... thanx Gil!

Pete

The 1/72 and 1/144 shuttles(as well as the various Saturn Vs) are begging for a retool. We are dealing with molds from the lat 60's early 70's in most cases. They could probably get away with two thermal blanket tile patterns.....one early Columbia/Challenger design and then the late Atlantis/Discovery/Endeavor design. If they wanted to be more comprehensive, they could do the intermediate thermal pattern design for the wings as well and have all three basic configurations as well.

A cheaper alternative might be just keeping them all as smoothies and doing wallpaper decals to represent the thermal blankets/tiles. R2 is doing that with their ST kits and it seems to be working out.

I just don't know how much demand there will be for real space kits going forward. I think as long as the boomers like most of us are alive in large numbers most of the NASA golden era space stuff will continue to sell, but once the video game generation starts to take over, I wonder what will become of scale modeling in general and classic spacecraft in particular. We remember the glory and awe of Apollo and the early shuttle years. Kids growing up now are, "meh" about all of this.

Edited by DutyCat
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Kids today have nothing to be proud of in their history. What has happended for them? Few wars but nothing significant as far as human space exploration goes.

Maybe Ares/Orion will change that? I know no one under 30 building models and maybe in the near future no o0ne will have to build much at all thanks to 3d printing.

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Gil,

It was great seeing a new installment of Shuttle Wars! I'm glad you are back to this project and I hope to see the next installment soon.

I agree with Pete that applying the tape is faster, however I also like using Squadron putty and have used it to re-shape parts and whole sections of models. It just sands so easily. I can't wait to see the results of the blankets using your putty technique. I like learning new techniques.

Not only are the old shuttle kits old tools, but most were also made back before the shuttles ever flew. They look more like Enterprise then any of the other orbiters. I doubt Revell, Airfix or even Minicraft will ever re-tool a shuttle kit but it could happen.

Even the best and most accurate kits are not 100% spot on. I actually get a kick out of seeing what others do to bring these old kits up to date and I really enjoy making the fixes myself. These old kit's might not be perfect but they do make a nice base to start from and that's what this hobby is all about.

Keep the video updates coming, I'm looking forward to seeing the completed Shuttle Wars builds.

Mike.

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I glad to see you’re back at this. I just started watching them after purchasing the Monogram full stack kit last weekend. (LHS had a Father’s Day Sale … $63 is hard to pass-up.) I still have a ways to go, I’m only on video 9, but there’s some great info to glean and gives me some direction on how to approach the whole crazy thing.

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I glad to see you're back at this. I just started watching them after purchasing the Monogram full stack kit last weekend. (LHS had a Father's Day Sale … $63 is hard to pass-up.) I still have a ways to go, I'm only on video 9, but there's some great info to glean and gives me some direction on how to approach the whole crazy thing.

Watch them all before lifting a finger. It is a challenging build. Mistakes are made and dealt with. The whole idea is to discover the issues and fight through them. The first videos are kind of long, but I decided to back them down to under ten minutes because viewers get fatigued after about 8 or 9 minutes. I also improved my editing skills as time went on.

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I glad to see you're back at this. I just started watching them after purchasing the Monogram full stack kit last weekend. (LHS had a Father's Day Sale … $63 is hard to pass-up.) I still have a ways to go, I'm only on video 9, but there's some great info to glean and gives me some direction on how to approach the whole crazy thing.

Dutycat's videos have a lot of good information to help make the model look authentic. There is going to be a few trying times on it, but if you stick with it, it'll come out just as good as his. I also highly recommend purchasing one of his beany caps, if you haven't already.

When it comes to the thermal protective system on the orbiter, there are a few choices that you can use. I actually took the time to score and cut styrene pieces to replicate the LRSI and HRSI. But decals work well too.

atlantis1024x768_zpsadcff54a.jpg

Atlantis21024x768_zps83825f93.jpg

One day, I'll get back to this project.

Good luck!

Mike

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Dutycat's videos have a lot of good information to help make the model look authentic. There is going to be a few trying times on it, but if you stick with it, it'll come out just as good as his. I also highly recommend purchasing one of his beany caps, if you haven't already.

When it comes to the thermal protective system on the orbiter, there are a few choices that you can use. I actually took the time to score and cut styrene pieces to replicate the LRSI and HRSI. But decals work well too.

atlantis1024x768_zpsadcff54a.jpg

Atlantis21024x768_zps83825f93.jpg

One day, I'll get back to this project.

Good luck!

Mike

The tile looks great, but holy crap what a lot of work!

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Oh I’m taking my time on this one … after all, I’ve still got my Saturn V project on the table. I will likely begin my shuttle before the Saturn is complete, that’s usually how it goes … right?

Mike, I’m going to approach the TPS much the same way you have. It just looks awesome, you’ve done a great job. I like how you’ve married the bean-cap and tiled it over it … it looks like the real deal.

I do have an idea on how I’m going to deal with the windows but if it poses too much of a problem I might just do the bean-cap to save time and frustration. Speaking of saving time, I ordered a set of the Fisher nozzles Monday before last … they’re really super nice.

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Oh I’m taking my time on this one … after all, I’ve still got my Saturn V project on the table. I will likely begin my shuttle before the Saturn is complete, that’s usually how it goes … right?

Mike, I’m going to approach the TPS much the same way you have. It just looks awesome, you’ve done a great job. I like how you’ve married the bean-cap and tiled it over it … it looks like the real deal.

I do have an idea on how I’m going to deal with the windows but if it poses too much of a problem I might just do the bean-cap to save time and frustration. Speaking of saving time, I ordered a set of the Fisher nozzles Monday before last … they’re really super nice.

I apologize right up front for this...but (shameless plug coming here) I do have some parts available for that 1/72 scale shuttle stack model whenever you do start it. I plan on working on more and tweaking what I have. Ok, ducking out now... :whistle:

Bill

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I apologize right up front for this...but (shameless plug coming here) I do have some parts available for that 1/72 scale shuttle stack model whenever you do start it. I plan on working on more and tweaking what I have. Ok, ducking out now... :whistle:/>

Bill

What's your site on shapeways? I've purchased some parts from Michael Keys

My shuttle however has been built I'm now onto detailing after deisassembling to a point.

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Oh I'm taking my time on this one … after all, I've still got my Saturn V project on the table. I will likely begin my shuttle before the Saturn is complete, that's usually how it goes … right?

Mike, I'm going to approach the TPS much the same way you have. It just looks awesome, you've done a great job. I like how you've married the bean-cap and tiled it over it … it looks like the real deal.

I do have an idea on how I'm going to deal with the windows but if it poses too much of a problem I might just do the bean-cap to save time and frustration. Speaking of saving time, I ordered a set of the Fisher nozzles Monday before last … they're really super nice.

Before you get started and have finished watching all of Dutycat's videos, check out the NASA's Spacecraft Technical Diagrams thread. There are links in there that have references showing great detail on the thermal protection system on the orbiter plus others. Here's one of them....http://files.seds.or...huttle/sts-pdf/.

Mike

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Thanks Hotdog. Already past those particular parts. Again. Wish I had found this site before I built it. Although I did start building the shuttle in 2005. Took a few years to find the urge again.

All that's left are the Realspace or Fisher engine nozzles. You could probably swap those out pretty easily.

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  • 3 years later...

I gave Gil my extra shuttle model parts a few years back for his beanie cap project and followed his build progress. Like most of you, I too learned a lot from his video series and plan on adopting his techniques with my upcoming builds. Our community has lost model building talent that has inspired us all in some way, and now I am left speechless to hear this very sad news. RIP good sir, and may the wind always be at your back!

Edited by Discoveryov103
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