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First off, thanks to some of you for the light pushing to post a build thread. I wasn't feeling ready for it, I'm more of a "wait for the thing to be done, and then write about it" kind of guy but here we go!

 

A brief background - I've always been somewhat removed from the space program. Never really paid much attention to it (one of those 'it's so routine that it's not exciting' things), saw some launches in elementary school in the early 90s, I remember being in 4th or 5th grade when John Glenn went into space. Moved to Florida (from New Jersey) in 2001, and continued to not pay attention until Columbia in '03. When the retirement was announced for the program, I figured it'd be a good idea to go see a launch, but being 16-17 when Discovery lead the return-to-flight, and only so many years left to catch a launch, having no car, and parents that were not ready and willing to travel across the state, it looked like a bleak outlook. Not long before the end of the program I had an older friend whose family was decided to go see the final night launch and invited me, and I think that's when it really started. I don't remember much, except that it was incredibly late, cold, and the launch scrubbed, and we couldn't stay for the next attempt because, what else, work and school.

 

I attempted STS-134. I took a bus to Orlando, spent the week with an old friend who offered to drive to Titusville to see the launch with me. After being scrubbed and delayed, I had to once again go home disappointed. Then STS-135. I took off several days from work, took a greyhound bus to my Orlando friend once again. We trekked out to Titusville, among the hundreds of people on a muggy summer morning. It was incredibly overcast, and not looking good. The countdown comes, hold at 31 seconds, and our hearts sink expecting them to scrub again, my last chance blown. A few brief moments pass, and the crowd gets excited. 30 seconds! That day, far away in Titusville, I saw a tiny blip of light miles away liftoff, last for about 10 seconds, and then disappear into the low clouds . We waited for the sonic boom which came maybe 5 minutes later. And I was hooked.

 

Fast forward two years, and I was fortunate to join some fairly new space-minded friends from college at the opening day ceremony for the Atlantis exhibit at KSC. It felt special, I was there for her final launch, my only launch (until MUOS-2 and MAVEN), and there to celebrate her in her new home. Atlantis was something special and I loved this orbiter. I've dabbed in models a lot when I was younger, but I wanted something that would be special to commemorate the grand interest and excitement in the space program Atlantis instilled in me. Then I picked up this 1/72 Revell kit in late 2011. I decided on having her displayed as she is at KSC, doors open and in flight. I saw Phil Smith's Discovery, with the medical tape and styrene tile strip and knew I wanted to emulate those techniques, but I didn't have much of a plan or patience. I don't have many pictures from this time period either.

 

With a Red Bull payload for those long college nights.

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The medical tape looked pretty good, although the look of two pieces overlapping wasn't so great.

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Then she went into storage for a long time. I was burned out by the process of creating tile strips which I did totally wrong. I bought 2mm .010 strips of evergreen, glued them on, and THEN scribed them, as they were on the belly of the orbiter. They were crooked, they looked off, it wasn't great. I tried to do the scribing sheets and then cutting them, but the process of measuring and marking the lines on the styrene sheets was daunting. So into storage she went.

 

Fast forward to August of this year. I had an itch to begin working on the model again, so I pulled it out of storage. It was a mess and I was unhappy with the state of it, especially after lurking on this forum and others and seeing all the improvements that various companies have made for the Revell/Monogram orbiters, 3D printed parts, decals, details, I knew I could do better in 2016 than I attempted in 2011. But first, she had to be completely stripped of the old styrene and medical tape.

 

I tried various methods to remove the old tape and styrene, but in the end, it required scraping off. The medical tape was yellowed at this point, and the cockpit glass was cracked and hazed.

This is mid-August 2016.

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The black was a krylon primer (following Phil Smith there), the white is the plastic underneath after scraping and sanding smooth. I decided against re-priming. The only thing that stayed was the nose cap of hardened and shaped putty.

 

Firstly, I had to tackle the process of creating tiles. I had some A4 size sheets of .010 styrene, so I printed out a grid of squares that were 3mm on the sheets in a standard printer (note - don't use the thick glossy setting, it will shrink and warp the styrene!). I figured 3mm was smaller than the huge tiles engraved on the model, but bigger than what 'scale' should be but I could work with them easier than 2mm or smaller, and the larger size meant I should be able to finish sooner. It was a good compromise IMO. (The picture is actually of the cardstock thermal blankets in 1/4 inch squares, but I did the same for the styrene).

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After some careful planning, I went ahead and began laying the strips in the familiar alternating brick pattern.

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I decided to go for close to accurate, representational, rather than ultra-realistic, but still accurate to satisfy my want to get it right.

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I decided to try the textured cardstock that I read about here - I easily found it at the local craft shop and stocked up so I could make plenty mistakes. The gaps between the squares of cardstock will be carefully filled with Tamiya putty, another technique I read about here!

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This is fairly far along, the end of September-ish.

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This is today. I've had to go back and redo about 15% of the starboard side forward of the RCC wing edges. It's not completely finished.

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The bottom and top of the body flap.

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And some of the nose. I know it looks fairly rough, but I plan on going over the unevenness with some fine sandpaper, re-scribe any tiles missing, and see how it looks then. There's a lot to do, and a lot needs to be covered, filled, smoothed, etc

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Another note - For the nose and cockpit tile, I went ahead with 2mm strips instead of the belly's 3mm.

 

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Because the doors are going to be open, I used the tops of the payload bay doors and some of the side of the fuselage as practice for cardstock laying techniques, figuring out what worked, so it won't look all that great but should be hidden when the doors are permanently mounted open.

 

Inside the payload bay, it's been completely been reconfigured. The Revell model is separated into 10 sections instead of 13. Using the cardstock and strips plus sheets of styrene, it has been overhauled and detailed with the junction boxes and other pieces associated with a busy, if empty, payload bay. I added strips for sidewall edges and pieces of hinges and other bits. The fore and aft bulkheads are covered with strips of plain tissue.

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The rear portion has that channel cut into it. I had to crack the super glue holding the payload bay in the fuselage of the orbiter to pull out the bay and perform surgery for this part.

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And that's it! For now at least.

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I have the AMP cockpit windows on order, and I'm thinking of resin engines - I really like the fisher set but haven't committed. The port-side fuselage needs to get 'thermal blankets', the cockpit needs to be tiled (waiting on the AMP windows), the OMS pods, vertical stab, and the aft end all need to be detailed. All the thermal blanket gaps will need to be filled. Some details need to be added to the payload bay walls, as well as the ISS docking module (undergoing fabrication using styrene and part of the kit parts from the spacelab it came with). And finally, raised and rough areas will be cut back, rescribed, primed, and painted when the time comes.

 

Thinking about it, a set of decals would probably have been easier. But I think the texture of the orbiter should be noticeable at this scale, and seeing how others have approached the strips of styrene and medical tape/cardstock blanket method, I think it's worth it for sure. And if there's anything I've learned while working on this, is that if there is something that looks off to me, to just go ahead and redo it even if it means losing a week of progress and not be annoyed at it!

 

There you have it - thanks for taking a look and reading my damn life story! :sunrevolves: I'll update this thread when there's anything to update. Next will be the completed repairs to the bottom, completing the tops of the wings, and thermal blankets on the port side.

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A WIP, Work-In-Progress, thread is for our benefit too. Plus, if you run into an area that you need help or more info, we're right here!

 

This is looking terrific! Your accuracy is good enough for me ... it looks right! But I hafta ask ... why reduce the number of sections in the Payload Bay from 13 to 10?

 

I am curious when you said that you remember when John Glenn went into space you were in 4th grade ... oh wait, do you mean when he went into space on the Shuttle? See, I remember when he went up the first time ... in '62.  :rolleyes:

 

Thanx for posting ... and keep it up! We love to see builds!

Edited by K2Pete
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Excellent job on this! :thumbsup:  It isn't the easiest to add all the TPS and you are doing it very well.  It all looks accurate to me. These old kits aren't 100% accurate and it takes quite a bit of 'cheating' to make it work sometimes.  Unless someone from NASA is going to come over and count every tile, I'm sure you're OK. :woot.gif:

 

I like the card stock method for the thermal blankets.  The medical tape looks close but the card stock looks almost exactly the same as the thermal blankets.

 

I know what you mean about when things aren't working out.  If something doesn't look right, it's better to redo it while you still can.  Often I'll add a detail and something will look off.  I'll keep looking at it hoping I'll see something different but eventually I'll just redo it.

 

BTW, STS-135 was also the first and only shuttle launch I got to see in person.  

 

Mike. 

Edited by crowe-t
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16 hours ago, K2Pete said:

A WIP, Work-In-Progress, thread is for our benefit too. Plus, if you run into an area that you need help or more info, we're right here!

 

This is looking terrific! Your accuracy is good enough for me ... it looks right! But I hafta ask ... why reduce the number of sections in the Payload Bay from 13 to 10?

 

I am curious when you said that you remember when John Glenn went into space you were in 4th grade ... oh wait, do you mean when he went into space on the Shuttle? See, I remember when he went up the first time ... in '62.  :rolleyes:

 

Thanx for posting ... and keep it up! We love to see builds!

 

If someone can learn something from me and avoid making the same mistakes, then I'm all for it!

 

I probably did not word that clearly - the stock revel kit comes divided into 10 sections. I made it 13, using AXM Paper Models (which I forgot to mention, that site has been so helpful!) and the diagrams of the payload bay for STS-135 and my own images of Atlantis' bay, to measure and configure it correctly and detail it.

 

Yeah, that was with the shuttle! I remember reading a kids scholastic magazine all about it.

 

12 hours ago, crowe-t said:

Excellent job on this! :thumbsup:  It isn't the easiest to add all the TPS and you are doing it very well.  It all looks accurate to me. These old kits aren't 100% accurate and it takes quite a bit of 'cheating' to make it work sometimes.  Unless someone from NASA is going to come over and count every tile, I'm sure you're OK. :woot.gif:

 

I like the card stock method for the thermal blankets.  The medical tape looks close but the card stock looks almost exactly the same as the thermal blankets.

 

I know what you mean about when things aren't working out.  If something doesn't look right, it's better to redo it while you still can.  Often I'll add a detail and something will look off.  I'll keep looking at it hoping I'll see something different but eventually I'll just redo it.

 

BTW, STS-135 was also the first and only shuttle launch I got to see in person.  

 

Mike. 

That's the thing with us modelers though, we just may count all those tiles! :cheers: I'm just going to keep chuggin' along and it'll get done eventually. I do like the cardstock instead. The medical tape I struggled with a lot more, the stray threads, and it never took paint very well. I'd definitely recommend anyone wanting to do the thermal blankets with texture to see if they can't get some of that cardstock, especially if they struggle with the tape.

 

That launch was an emotional roller coaster and I talked of nothing else for weeks following!

 

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I've been looking at your pix a little closer and I hafta tell you ... you're doing a terrific job! The tiles and, most of all, the reworking of the Payload Bay. ( Did you know there is a CA glue De-Bonder ... which may have made your disassembly job a little easier? Honestly, I don't know why most of us display the Orbiter with the PB doors closed ... there's so much wonderful details in the Bay )

But I looked at my unbuilt  Revell's Payload Bay to compare and man, you've recreated it! From the width of the sills to the notch in the aft sections. Not to mention all the junction boxes.

 

That image of the nose is eye candy! Did you bore out the holes of RCS?

You've got some serious skills and I'm looking forward to watching this come together!

Thanx!!

 

 

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There's no need to buy a resin payload bay from Real Space Models when you can re-build it like this.  :thumbsup:  It's outstanding!

 

There are water based putties that might make the job of filling in the seams between the blankets easier.  Perfect Plastic Putty is one and I think Vallejo makes a water based putty.  I haven't used them but heard they are good. 

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On 10/21/2016 at 10:24 AM, K2Pete said:

I've been looking at your pix a little closer and I hafta tell you ... you're doing a terrific job! The tiles and, most of all, the reworking of the Payload Bay. ( Did you know there is a CA glue De-Bonder ... which may have made your disassembly job a little easier? Honestly, I don't know why most of us display the Orbiter with the PB doors closed ... there's so much wonderful details in the Bay )

But I looked at my unbuilt  Revell's Payload Bay to compare and man, you've recreated it! From the width of the sills to the notch in the aft sections. Not to mention all the junction boxes.

 

That image of the nose is eye candy! Did you bore out the holes of RCS?

You've got some serious skills and I'm looking forward to watching this come together!

Thanx!!

 

 

I do appreciate the kind words! A CA debonder would probably have helped, but all it took was a little flexing and the bonds snapped with relative ease. I probably would have needed to go the debonder route had it not budged so I consider myself lucky. I really love that Atlantis herself is on display in-flight so we get to see what really makes the shuttle a ‘space truck’. I’m hoping when it all gets painted and details finished it’ll look even better.

 

I did fill the RCS holes with putty, and drilled them out at an angle with a small drill bit, it’s shallow but does the trick I hope! Only the starboard side is completed at the moment with respect to the RCS, I still have to do the same for the port side.

 

47 minutes ago, crowe-t said:

There's no need to buy a resin payload bay from Real Space Models when you can re-build it like this.  :thumbsup:  It's outstanding!

 

There are water based putties that might make the job of filling in the seams between the blankets easier.  Perfect Plastic Putty is one and I think Vallejo makes a water based putty.  I haven't used them but heard they are good. 

 

I knew RSM made a resin payload bay but they don't have it on their site any more (and details of it left on the internet are few and far between). I figured just wingin' it would be best and hoping I get something resembling the real thing would be sufficient. Really I just wanted the accurate spacing and the lowered floor at the aft section! 

Hmm, I may have to look into a water based putty. Gap filling will be more towards the end of construction, at least a few weeks – maybe months – out from now. But I’m not against experimenting with different things at this point.

 

No photos to show, not much done at the moment. I received the AMP cockpit windows in the mail over the weekend, and removed the excess plastic on the model that would keep the windows from sitting correctly. I’ll probably have to make adjustments and remove more material as I go along, I won’t know the actual fit of the windows until I can get them painted and glued together but as I said, they look fantastic! I’m also making sure to line up the angles of the tile nose pattern at the corners of the cockpit windows with the AMP windows themselves, this is not a place I want to have to re-do if I can help it.

I also managed to get a drop of coffee in the payload bay so there is a 1 inch spot in the center. The cardstock floor does not appear to be wrinkled, just discolored so I’m hoping it’ll be covered up when the bay gets painted.

I also ordered the 1/35 Tamiya MkIV Male tank in my excitement of a certain WWI video game being released. Can’t wait to have a little MkIV scooting along the floor at a scale 4mph! It’ll be a nice respite from the orbiter.

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The RSM Payload Bay only has 12 sections too ... instead of the correct 13. When I told Glen that it wasn't correct, he said "just an oversight". So to do it from scratch, correctly, is much better.

And if Dutycat is showing his stuff,   :thumbsup:  have you, through your researching, seen the 1/72 Shuttle cutaway?  :whistle:

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30 minutes ago, K2Pete said:

The RSM Payload Bay only has 12 sections too ... instead of the correct 13. When I told Glen that it wasn't correct, he said "just an oversight". So to do it from scratch, correctly, is much better.

And if Dutycat is showing his stuff,   :thumbsup:  have you, through your researching, seen the 1/72 Shuttle cutaway?  :whistle:

Link?

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I've been toying with and sketching up models with the idea of a 3D printed payload bay frame and detail part that has the junction boxes and various connection stiffening plates for the orbital docking system as well as miscellaneous payload items. My thought was to print the framework with the wire ways and details, and then use foil or plastic bag type material for the payload bay blankets. In theory, and in my mind, it looks GREAT. Transitioning that to real parts....meh, we'll see.

 

Bill

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22 hours ago, DutyCat said:

Well, I know it is not Revell, but have you seen this? 1/72 Monogram Atlantis Stack.

 

and this? Shuttle Wars

 

There are some techniques you might find useful.

 

I will get around to finishing the Revell kit in a year or two.

 

Ah yes, I've been quite familiar with your work sir! The use of putty for the blankets is a incredible and the level of detail is fantastic. Is it much heavier with a putty skin? I don't think I'd have the level of patience for such work but the effect is great.

 

19 hours ago, niart17 said:

I've been toying with and sketching up models with the idea of a 3D printed payload bay frame and detail part that has the junction boxes and various connection stiffening plates for the orbital docking system as well as miscellaneous payload items. My thought was to print the framework with the wire ways and details, and then use foil or plastic bag type material for the payload bay blankets. In theory, and in my mind, it looks GREAT. Transitioning that to real parts....meh, we'll see.

 

Bill

 

That 3D printed docking system and frame look great! 3D printing really has a lot going for it, I wouldn't hate getting my hands on the docking system, it'd probably take two weeks off my build time! My payload bay details are very rudimentary but there is only so much one can accomplish with some stock styrene and an x-acto knife, but that's a lot of the fun in it. 

 

22 hours ago, K2Pete said:

The RSM Payload Bay only has 12 sections too ... instead of the correct 13. When I told Glen that it wasn't correct, he said "just an oversight". So to do it from scratch, correctly, is much better.

And if Dutycat is showing his stuff,   :thumbsup:  have you, through your researching, seen the 1/72 Shuttle cutaway?  :whistle:

 

I think in the last two months I've combed the entire internet for completed models of 1/72 orbiters, just to see what others have cooked up. I'm quite familiar with the cutaway with all the scratchbuilt pieces, that's some dedication and skill! Sorry to hear that about the payload bay from RSM, but I imagine it's tough to go back and completely rework molds for that sort of thing. I'd bet money that the RSM was at least more accurate than the stock revell payload bay!

 

 

 

More slow progress, the port side top/upper wing area is more complete. I'm hoping to finally start the port fuselage thermal blanket areas, and then the starboard upper wing areas, and the elevons on both wings. I'll post some pics when this gets a little more complete!

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On 10/25/2016 at 0:17 PM, mkjm said:

 

On 10/24/2016 at 0:48 PM, DutyCat said:

Well, I know it is not Revell, but have you seen this? 1/72 Monogram Atlantis Stack.

 

and this? Shuttle Wars

 

There are some techniques you might find useful.

 

I will get around to finishing the Revell kit in a year or two.

 

Ah yes, I've been quite familiar with your work sir! The use of putty for the blankets is a incredible and the level of detail is fantastic. Is it much heavier with a putty skin? I don't think I'd have the level of patience for such work but the effect is great.

 

 

Well, I did not weigh the before and after, but it clearly adding anything would make it heavier. Also not helping was all of the extra internal bracing I did, and the resin cap.  However, offset against that is the fact that I did not put in the payload bay, so I saved a little bit of weight there.  I was concerned about it being too heavy for the attachment points to the rest of the stack, but so far it is hanging tough.

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As long as it's sturdy enough to support itself. The beanie-cap is a great concept btw!

 

 

I'm currently in the middle of gluing together the starboard AMP windows. Small dots of white glue and carefully spreading it over the layers. They really are a lovely piece of kit.

 

No pictures of those yet, however. Port side is starting to come together slowly.

 

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  • 4 years later...

Sheeesh, been a hot minute since I've last posted!

 

It's hard to believe this model started ten years ago this year. With the COVID pandemic I had some free time to work on finally reaching that finish line with this whole project. 

 

A major milestone was reached just in January - paint has been applied! Being in an apartment, I don't have an airbrush setup so I use Tamiya rattle cans (an investment in an airbrush will likely come later this year but the coverage of the cans is good for this kit IMO). First it was hit with a Tamiya fine white primer, and then a matte white. After masking off all the white with Tamiya yellow masking tape for the edges and blue painters tape for the big areas, the bottom and all the black tile portions were painted. Both white and black received several thin coats. 

 

There is a little orange peel on the starboard wing at the back so I've carefully sanded it back some for fixing once I can get some more matte white. But overall, I'm very happy with the results. I was worried the paint would bury the texture details of the cardstock 'thermal blankets' and the tile scribed styrene, but it seems to be just fine. 

 

Hopefully the pictures show up...

 

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I have some Fisher resin engines and OMS hardware to paint and install on the tail. Payload bay has been painted white but has not been detailed. The doors also need to be painted and detailed. I have figured out to represent the radiator panels on the inside of the doors by using some styrene sheeting that would otherwise be described as corrugated siding for a building painted in an aluminum color and cut into the appropriate shape - four pieces per door.

 

I'm heading to the local hobby shop for some grey to represent the Reinforced Carbon-Carbon on the nose cap and wing edges. Those haven't been fully masked off yet but will be before proceeding. 

 

The Canadarm and its extension have not been built, but it has finally entered my thinking space. I have some styrene rod that seems to be the right diameter, I just need to make and paint and decal it. Speaking of decals, the orbiter will finally receive her name and markings after that grey paint is applied and that aforementioned orange peel fixed. And after all of that, a light weathering!

 

And lastly, it will need to get a display stand of some sort. I'm thinking of using a mirror on the base to display the tile underbelly. The orbiter will be pitched as it is in orbit and as on display at KSC.

 

Thank you for looking folks! It is a marathon, but I feel like the end is approaching finally. 

 

-Mike

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Oh-h-h yeah-h-h-h ... this is looking pretty dang GOOD!

I'm glad to see this build continuing!

 

Are the windows and cockpit area Dutycat's or did you build it all yourself? I just skimmed over your previous posts and didn't see it, but IIRC you did use the aftermarket windows ... am I correct?

 

And I have a nice method for creating a smooth mask edge for the Nose Cap Grey paint ... using a thin strip of electrical tape. Page 3 almost halfway down the page ...

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/302248-172-shuttle-and-hubble-space-telescope/page/3/#comments

 

Keep up the great work!

Pete

 

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5 hours ago, K2Pete said:

Oh-h-h yeah-h-h-h ... this is looking pretty dang GOOD!

I'm glad to see this build continuing!

 

Are the windows and cockpit area Dutycat's or did you build it all yourself? I just skimmed over your previous posts and didn't see it, but IIRC you did use the aftermarket windows ... am I correct?

 

And I have a nice method for creating a smooth mask edge for the Nose Cap Grey paint ... using a thin strip of electrical tape. Page 3 almost halfway down the page ...

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/302248-172-shuttle-and-hubble-space-telescope/page/3/#comments

 

Keep up the great work!

Pete

 

 

Thanks Pete! I'm glad to be continuing it.

The cockpit area is all stock kit. I was too far along by the time I saw Dutycat's beaniecaps and I wasn't sure I wanted to restart this for a third time...


The cockpit windows are from Accurate Model Parts. I had to remove a lot of the window frames and surrounding material but I think it paid off. The cockpit around the windows was some of the most difficult areas to finish, next to the rear plate where the engines sit - a lot of odd shapes to cut tile strips into! 

 

I'll have a look at your method for masking the nose, I'm hoping to do that today but I need to stock up on masking tape to protect the rest of the orbiter. I'll hopefully have some more to update with soon. The radiator panels are getting their paint today as well. I've neglected the bay doors for a long time now and they are the final 5% of this project.

 

 

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Some progress! Over the weekend, I used some German Grey from Tamiya for the RCC wing edges and nose cap. German grey might be a bit dark, but I plan on painting some of the wing edge panels a lighter grey for some variation as seen on the real thing. I also painted various portions of the orbiter using a thinned mixture of white craft paint with a drop of red for a very, very pale pinkish white. I evenly painted this onto the masked off areas with a brush, and somehow I avoided brush strokes.

 

This first photo is of the masked off areas and some of the decals loosely placed to see how it would eventually look.

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After the pinkish color was applied and dried, I coated the portions of the orbiter that was getting decals with some Future, then the decals were applied. 

 

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The decals stuck fast to the carrier paper and required some patience. Some of the decals broke during application (the United States on the fuselage sides), but rather than trash them and order a new set of 1/72 decals, I forged ahead with the kit set. I managed to line up the letters and pieces well enough that it's hard to see any flaws. When the payload bay doors are in place it should be almost impossible to tell.

 

PXL_20210302_031027774.thumb.jpg.e08ca3feda7ab75f32e6ba005a7fb3dc.jpg

 

After close to ten years, the orbiter has her name. This has been a long time coming. Part of me looks at the shuttles done by some of the fine folks on this forum and think man, I wish I waited until 3D printing was more advanced and available as a model builder but I'm happy with what I've managed otherwise. I was 20 years old when I started this and never did I think it would look as good as (I think) it does, but then I also didn't think I'd be 30 when I was finishing it! I was doing armor before this which was a lot easier for me, but I've learned so much in terms of technique with this build. I'm applying a lot of that to my other builds.

 

PXL_20210301_220741326.thumb.jpg.af1a656c2eecee95be0ad0e1b43a9448.jpg

 

For the body of the orbiter, some of the smaller decals need to be installed. The engines and OMS thrusters from Fisher have also been painted but not installed, that will be after the decals. I will likely weather and flat clear coat the model after the outside of the body is done. 

 

Following the clear coat, the payload bay and doors will bay will start to get detailed, wires and railings and the Canadarm and the 3D printed docking collar. I'm not sure if it matters if the PLB is worked on before or after weathering. I need to figure out the KU band antenna too, that is something I wish someone would offer a 3D print for but alas. And lastly, mounting for display. I have a few ideas but that's a little ways off.

 

As I feel like I'm approaching the end of the tunnel with this project, I figured I might as well treat myself. An upcoming birthday was the perfect excuse and the price was right! I won't be going too detailed with this one. I know some here are completely rebuilding these things, but I'm probably going to do an OOB build with a few extra Shapeways parts for detail. I am very tempted to replace the bottom piece with a 3D printed one but I'm not sure I will - it's so expensive...

 

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More to come!

 

P.S. I've pulled out some of my old HO trains. Not quite to scale at 1:87, but it would look right at home pulling some flatcars loaded with SRB segments!

 

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Edited by mkjm
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You should be proud of this Shuttle! It looks pretty good! And that Birthday present looks ... WOW! You must have been a very good boy!  :clap2:

 

Some of these guys do make their 3D stuff look great, but I guess I'm old school and prefer to try to build a new part from scratch, rather than try to suss out the problems on a screen. And the expense? I can't justify it ... almost all of my builds are from kits that were made in the 1960's and '70's. Their accuracy leaves a lot to be desired, but they sure are fun to augment and improve.

 

When I did my PB doors, I put the handholds on prior to attaching the PB doors to the fuselage ... and there was some breakage of the delicate detail parts, so you may wanna attach the doors first THEN detail 'em ... but it may be a 'six of one, half dozen of the other' situation.

And that Ku Band antenna is tricky. It's a complicated little part to make and I did one, but it was a bit overscale ... I must have reference pix if you need 'em. I'll have to see.

The 3D guys should be selling this kind of stuff rather than ANOTHER set of engine bells ... :doh:

 

Thanx for sharing your pix mkjm

Pete

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/5/2021 at 5:04 AM, K2Pete said:

You should be proud of this Shuttle! It looks pretty good! And that Birthday present looks ... WOW! You must have been a very good boy!  :clap2:

 

Some of these guys do make their 3D stuff look great, but I guess I'm old school and prefer to try to build a new part from scratch, rather than try to suss out the problems on a screen. And the expense? I can't justify it ... almost all of my builds are from kits that were made in the 1960's and '70's. Their accuracy leaves a lot to be desired, but they sure are fun to augment and improve.

 

When I did my PB doors, I put the handholds on prior to attaching the PB doors to the fuselage ... and there was some breakage of the delicate detail parts, so you may wanna attach the doors first THEN detail 'em ... but it may be a 'six of one, half dozen of the other' situation.

And that Ku Band antenna is tricky. It's a complicated little part to make and I did one, but it was a bit overscale ... I must have reference pix if you need 'em. I'll have to see.

The 3D guys should be selling this kind of stuff rather than ANOTHER set of engine bells ... :doh:

 

Thanx for sharing your pix mkjm

Pete

 

Thank you for the kind words Pete! I have to say, I was going through your 1/72 orbiter and Hubble thread and it almost makes me want to tear it down for a third try, it is a beautiful build and the Hubble looks fantastic! I'm almost tempted to follow suit and build a hubble, but maybe in 1/100 to go with the more basic Tamiya orbiter I have awaiting assembly. 

 

And agreed about the engine bells. There's a lot to choose from there but the resin Fisher engines look amazing to me. I'm just glad that Bill at shapeways has the docking collar in 1/72 for us. I'm not great at scratch building components such as that. Maybe I can tackle the KU but it seems very fiddly! 

 

That's a good tip about the PB doors! Mine still need to be painted and the radiators installed but I will keep that in mind. All those handrails.... I wanted to ask how did you secure the doors to the orbiter? I have a few ideas in mind, none involving the original kit's hinges. Any specific methods or tips in that area? It's one of my major hold-ups right now. 

 

-Mike

Edited by mkjm
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To attach the PB Doors I just used glue ... and a few clamps. As well, because the sides of the fuselage bow in an 1/8th inch or so, I used 2 solid steel rods clamped to the doors and fuselage as supports.

 

If you haven't seen my cutaway Shuttle, it's in this forum at the bottom of page 3 or maybe the top of page 4 of this Real Space forum.

 

I also did a 1/100 Shuttle with the LDEF ... again, on this Real Space forum.

 

Pete

T-PB doors attaching.jpg

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On 3/5/2021 at 5:04 AM, K2Pete said:

Some of these guys do make their 3D stuff look great, but I guess I'm old school and prefer to try to build a new part from scratch, rather than try to suss out the problems on a screen....

...The 3D guys should be selling this kind of stuff rather than ANOTHER set of engine bells ... :doh:

Pete

Yeah, I hear ya. I apologize to ALL you shuttle guys, I've not only dropped the ball on providing some more good shuttle parts, I think I forgot where the stadium is located to even find the ball again. 🙂  I hope to get back there......one day.

 I had (and still have good intentions of getting back to shuttles and triyng to come up with some more products for it. The payload bay is something I've always wanted to tackle and just never seem to get the time to really work it out correctly. That and the cost of maintaining the software program I'm used to using is hard to meet sometimes. The good thing is there are a lot more people doing wonderful shuttle parts for 3d printing so that new generation can pick up and run with that ball. 

 

And Mike! Wow dude, this is coming along awesome! I can't wait to see this thing done! Great job.

 

Bill (the long lost shuttle builder)

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