Scott Smith Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 I managed to use the slide glasses with success. I think I had to do it several times, but if I remember correctly the glass fits on the inside, not in the opening. I’ll get some close up pics later. About to go into an online meeting until 11:30. For tiles elsewhere, I actually cut out individual tiles from Evergreen stock, glued in place and then shaped them into place with a jewelers file and then fine sanded them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FlyAndFight Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 Excellent build log!! Definitely saving this thread for future reference. Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Underdog Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 10 hours ago, K2Pete said: I decided to not use a decal for the tile pattern and to try something else. I had a CD case and used the Dutycat supplied window guide to scribe and cut out the window glass from the CD case. ... filing them to shape. Needless to say, there was a lotta test fitting. Initial test fit of all the windows Rather than use decals for the tile pattern, I decided to paint it on ... Tamiya Tape mask ... and painted ... I was thrilled with the result! And with the Glass installed. I just used Future to 'glue' them in. Later Pete Pete, The entire nose of your Shuttle looks magnificent. Everything you've done to this point has worked in your favor. I'll be taking notes of what you've accomplished, and I'll use some of these techniques on my Shuttle build projects as well. Amazing "Work of Art" you've been able to create, and adding the Hubble Space Telescope will be - "The Icing on the Cake!" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
southwestforests Posted April 7, 2020 Share Posted April 7, 2020 The great use of texture on this project is going to give it a strong sense of mass and presence when it is done. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 Man that is looking very good! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted April 13, 2020 Author Share Posted April 13, 2020 Thanx a lot gents! Underdog, I've learned from everyone on these fora ... and the guy who posted immediately above was an enormous influence. Jay posted builds of the Shuttle before I got into this hobby 12 or more years ago. His solutions, to me, were "outta the box" solutions, they allowed me to think past "I didn't know you could do-o-o THAT!" and solve my own 'problems' ... in this hobby that is ... I started the time consuming process of wrapping the payload with foil ... I wanted to try M Meens method using double-sided tape but went with my One Coat Rubber Cement instead. To wrap this one piece, took 2 complete Joe Rogan podcasts ... about 5 hours ... sheesh! Wrapping the capture fixture for the HST ... ... and almost done. Still needs some tidying up. Adding the fixture to the bottom of the HST. A brass rod will support the HST in the Payload Bay. A dry fit of the Payload To refresh your memory, here's an image of the real thing ... ... and with the HST ... I still wanna glue up the PB doors but I have to figure how to display this ... so there'll still be a lot of manhandling ... but man, I can't wait! In the meantime, I have details to take care of ... the handholds, and there are a lot of 'em, to go onto the cargo ... once the doors go on, then hinges, wiring, Ku Band, RMS and OBSS and a whole bunch of small stuff ... still quite a few hours to go on this build ... but, I'm getting down to the short strokes now! The PE handholds from Real Space Models are being beefed up a bit with 0.020" styrene rod. The handholds are just sitting on a styrene piece as the jig ... it was coated with Rubber Cement to keep the tiny PE items in place ... but it was still a tedious effort ... my steady hands impressed the heck out of me! Thanx for stopping by! Till the next post! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 Alone this process of wrapping the payload with foil is deafening ... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted April 19, 2020 Author Share Posted April 19, 2020 The tedium continues ... but it's one more step closer ... I used Real Space Models' PE handholds and I felt they were too thin so I glued on strips of 0.020" styrene rod and ... what a @%$#&*!! pain THAT was. I thought I had cleaned the PE prior but the fact that the styrene wouldn't stick leads me to believe that the PE was NOT. The PE handholds were then CA'd onto squares of PE ... I also made shorter ones from 0.020" styrene square rod ... ... and attached 'em ... In the process of thinking how to display this thing, I recalled that I had a display stand from an old partially built 1/72 Shuttle stack ... found it and tried it and ... I think it'll do nicely. I sprayed on some Easy-Off, stuck it in a Ziplock bag to remove the chrome lettering and ... ... it's better than I coulda made ... So with the display stand selected, I can put on the PB doors and ... I'm in the home stretch! Still a lot of things to do, but ... it's getting there. Thanx for taking a peek! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 How do you clean your PE parts before gluing? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted April 20, 2020 Author Share Posted April 20, 2020 To clean the Photo-etch parts, I leave them attached to the fret and immerse the whole thing in White Vinegar, the same stuff you put on your Salads! I'll leave them in the Vinegar for a few hours ... 3 or 6. I used to leave them in for just 1 hour, as I read somewhere, but that didn't clean the surface of any residue well enough. Now, this PE was very thick stuff, New Ware's PE is very thin, so you may want to adjust the time in the Vinegar ( it's a mild acid ) so it doesn't damage the thin PE. Then I take the PE out and give them a good rinse under running water, pat them dry and let them air dry thoroughly. Cleaning the PE really makes an enormous difference! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spaceman Posted April 20, 2020 Share Posted April 20, 2020 Thanks Pete for sharing your experiences on cleaning the PE parts. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Underdog Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Found this photo of the Revell 1/72 scale Space Shuttle, beside a B-25 Mitchell same scale for a comparison shot. "NASA's bird was really big, in so many different ways!" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ret Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 It's so great you post these workups Pete - like a master class! I'm getting so many ideas to put into practise - thanks again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 Underdog, a few years ago I did a 1/72 Spitfire that my Uncle had flown and compared 'em side by each ... and to be honest, I STILL don't have a firm grasp as to the size of the Shuttle. Ret, thanx much! I'm glad to share everything I do and ... i hope we see some of your results! Some of the small stuff includes ... foot restraints. I'd like to include an Astronaut for scale. So I'll rebuild another one ... The PB doors have been installed ... and the PE actuators for the PB doors as well But in getting the final fit of the cargo, I realized that the pallet interferes with the OBSS. If you look at the far end of the OBSS, you can see it doesn't align with its rest ... ... this may be a little clearer ... darn it ... but, it never fails, right? But, slowly but surely, it's getting closer to being done ... i can't wait to see how this'll all look! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Underdog Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 Pete, "I thought NASA had retired the Space Shuttles." Seems like you've done a great job in, resurrecting the program back to life! Starting to all come together rather well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ricardo Salamé Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 On 2/24/2020 at 10:14 PM, Solo7 said: This may be a little off topic, but I called Plastruct last week because my order was also delayed. I talked to the women of a husband & wife team that had just purchased Plastruct and was in the process of relocating stock & manufacturing machines to Des Plaines, IL. In addition they also own Evergreen, so they have the market for hobby plastic material cornered. If you check they just launched a new website for Plastruct, sine the old one was not working very well with orders. Just give them a call you will get the stuff the next day like I did. On 4/19/2020 at 12:11 PM, K2Pete said: The tedium continues ... but it's one more step closer ... I used Real Space Models' PE handholds and I felt they were too thin so I glued on strips of 0.020" styrene rod and ... what a @%$#&*!! pain THAT was. I thought I had cleaned the PE prior but the fact that the styrene wouldn't stick leads me to believe that the PE was NOT. The PE handholds were then CA'd onto squares of PE ... I also made shorter ones from 0.020" styrene square rod ... ... and attached 'em ... In the process of thinking how to display this thing, I recalled that I had a display stand from an old partially built 1/72 Shuttle stack ... found it and tried it and ... I think it'll do nicely. I sprayed on some Easy-Off, stuck it in a Ziplock bag to remove the chrome lettering and ... ... it's better than I coulda made ... So with the display stand selected, I can put on the PB doors and ... I'm in the home stretch! Still a lot of things to do, but ... it's getting there. Thanx for taking a peek! Pete Magnificent Job! Pete I think that it’s a little late, but a coat of gloss varnish protects the foil paper for future discoloration Ricardo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted May 2, 2020 Author Share Posted May 2, 2020 Ricardo Thank You! This foil is REAL foil, not paper and if it discolours, nobody's gonna ever know ... And Thank You for your photos of Atlantis at KSC ... you may have noticed your views on Flikr going up, that was just me. Thanx Underdog ... I'm happy with the way this is coming together ... it looks pretty good ... from 2 feet away! 😉 I wrapped Bill's airlock in Grocery Bag plastic ... ... and extended the airlock tunnel with styrene tubing ... I'm ready to attach the cargo and had made these semi-circular brackets but ... they were too big, so I made new ones that are half the size ... Their scale is better too ... These little brackets were painted Gunmetal and attached. I had to glue 'em all in to see if I could get the OBSS to fit correctly. I did get it aligned properly but it took about 2 and half days of adjusting here and there ... but it now fits! And I had to see how the HST fits on it and ... it's SOLID! Such a good feeling! The HST is supported on a thick brass rod ... and I wanna camouflage it somehow ... maybe. And while reaching for my coffee, my arm jerked and ... knocked over the HST. It's festooned with handholds and all kinds of delicate thingys and a few of 'em broke off. And it took another 2 days to repair 'em all but, this HST was built in 2007 and at the time I didn't know Evergreen had all sorts of shapes and size of styrene. So this little model was made from Brass rod, Piano Wire, Aluminum sheet and is pretty solid, surprisingly ... so there was no big damage ... but all those little breakages took time to fix. The High Gain antennae needed an extension added and I used a short length of styrene tube. I was pleased at all the details I had included in this old HST build ... For instance, the attaching points for the 2 Hi-Gain antennae were right where they were supposed to be ... all the handholds were too. If anything, I've gotten a little sloppy over the past few years! This long build is almost done ... I think! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Brett M Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 Brilliant work on your shuttle and HST. I definitely look forward to seeing these updates! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ralf Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 This will be stunning if it's finished. Keep up the great work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Underdog Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 Pete, Now that this project is almost completed, I'm looking forward to seeing the "beauty" shots of the finished model... in all its splendor. I know at times during the build, you were challenged but you stayed with it and overcame with tremendous results. Do U have a special place to display it in your collection? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 Thanx a lot Gents! Underdog, this won't get displayed. I'll post it to just a 2 or 3 other fora and then ... it gets put in a box waiting for a contest to get shown. I enjoy showing my builds at a show to educate and, hopefully, get kids curious about the Space program. If it wins an award that's a Bonus, but not my goal. For instance, I'll be happy if I overhear someone say " Gee, I didn't know the Hubble was so-o-o BIG!" When a judge looks closely at it, if they even know what they're looking at, my builds aren't perfectly clean ... they're a touch on the rough side ... but for me, they've all been fun builds! True recreation! Just tidying up some final details ... I glued the RMS joints into a position and this is my jig ... The shoulder joint was weak so I drilled it out and stuck in a 3/32" styrene tube. It wasn't till a bit later that I realized I had some 3/32" ALUMINUM tubing ... but when this Canadarm sags, I'll replace the styrene with the metal ... I won't glue the shoulder joint in to the Payload Bay and will remove it for its long-term storage. And then guess what ... It's DONE! Here's a few pix of it ... they were taken quickly and I may, just may-y-y, take some better ones later on. Here's a screen shot from the STS 125 Hubble Repair Mission video ... Yesterday, I was adding decals to the RMS and OBSS as well as the Astronaut on the side of the HST, and buttoning this build up and ... a feeling of withdrawal washed over me. I'm almost sad it's over. Solving the various issues has been on my mind so much over the past few months, that I'm going to miss the thought process. I can imagine how Manfred will feel when he completes his magnificent build! But, I have the Grumman proposal LM to do now, the acrylic spheres came in about a month ago ... so I'll see you over there! Many Thanks for your comments and suggestions Gentlemen ... I really appreciate 'em! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ret Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Hey Pete - really great stuff here - I always appreciate the time, level of detail, research and ingenuity you bring to these projects - thanks so much for sharing. I consider myself lucky to have seen your work "in person" and up close. Thanks again - and hopefully we'll be meeting sooner rather than later! Ret Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Slartibartfast Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 Awesome model, Pete. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted May 5, 2020 Author Share Posted May 5, 2020 Thanx Ret ... I sure hope it's sooner than later ... I won't be building too many more as my vision isn't getting any better, so for me, it's just a matter of time. Thanx Slartibartfast ... Here's a few beauty shots ... the entire model is mounted at a bit of an angle, say 5 degrees, so in this image, the HST looks off kilter. It is in fact at right angles to its mount and nice and solid! All in all, I'm quite pleased with how this turned out! And here's an actual photo from the mission ... Thanx for taking a peek at this build ... now, what's next? Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Underdog Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 Pete wrote: Underdog, this won't get displayed. I'll post it to just a 2 or 3 other fora and then ... it gets put in a box waiting for a contest to get shown. I enjoy showing my builds at a show to educate and, hopefully, get kids curious about the Space program. If it wins an award that's a Bonus, but not my goal. For instance, I'll be happy if I overhear someone say " Gee, I didn't know the Hubble was so-o-o BIG!" When a judge looks closely at it, if they even know what they're looking at, my builds aren't perfectly clean ... they're a touch on the rough side ... but for me, they've all been fun builds! True recreation! Pete, I've really enjoyed, "The Mission" - of you creating this wonderful looking model. This huge 1/72 scale Space Shuttle, is a great complement piece for your HST and vice-versa. You've done an amazing job on the project, and the "Beauty Shots" are proof-positive. That photo of an actual shot of the mission, at first I thought it was the model with an Astronaut figure. If it were, I wouldn't been surprised. Thanks for sharing the process... outstanding results!!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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