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MPC's Pilgrim Observer (doing something different while stuck on the kitbash)


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Have you ever had that thing where insomnia does stuff to your mind and you get ... ideas ...?

🤔💡😁

 

Have an idea to lengthen the cylindrical fore and aft sections of the craft.
Primarily to, as mentioned previously, put some distance between the docking ports and the rotating arms.
But then there came ideas to lengthen the forward hull between the docking port ring and the forward face of craft with all the instruments.
And then to lengthen the aft engineering section.
Neither by overly much, though, after all, I am calling this model 1/200 scale and a little bit of lengthening on the model would go a long way in real life.

 

Easy way to being would be by acquiring a second kit.

That's forty bucks plus which I don't have free in this month's Social Security Disability income.
However ...

I do have plenty of model parts, sheet and strip styrene, and a modicum of ingenuity ...

 

And ...

Think I'm going to alter the alternate history to say this thing was built in orbit instead of launched from the ground.
Because that scale makes the 3.14 inch outside diameter docking ring of the model about 52 feet in diameter,

which is just a hair fatter than the 50 foot diameter first stage of the proposed Saturn-Nova superbooster. 

 

And ...

 

The current plan is to cover the styrene extensions to the forward body with a lamination of stick-and-tissue model airplane tissue to suggest thermal blanket insulation.
How to define, delineate, the blanket segments has not been imagined.

So ...

At forward end of model there will be an extension inserted forward of the docking ring & an extension inserted aft of the docking ring.

Which means ...

I will have to noodle out a forward bearing for the rotating section & a mounting for the long body tube between there and the engineering section.
But, as was said a moment ago, 

I do have plenty of model parts, sheet and strip styrene, and a modicum of ingenuity ...

 

So, here we go, on a grey, rainy, July 5 morning.

 

😄

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Ended up going for something else. After finally getting some sleep, when I woke up neither my brain nor body were good for concentrating on precise measuring and styrene cutting so I played in the dirt instead.
Added texture to the base.

 

First was painting it with a mix of artist acrylic matte medium and a granite grey craft paint.
In to the wet paint was sprinkled very fine sand sold in a jar in some store's craft department.
Have had the jar for years but not yet used it. 

After that dried, half the day, it was given a wash mix of Woodland Scenics model railroad scenery cement and black craft paint.

When that was dry a drybrushing was done with a lighter grey.

Then I decided I wanted more color and added black, rust brown, light grey, chalk pastel dust.

 

The harsh and judgmental part of my being says it is now too colorful and cartoony.
The rest of me says, Dude, that looks cool, I like it!

😁

And the spaceship it will hold up is not real, anyway, so there!

😜

 

After looking at Apollo moon landing pictures in June's "Happy Birthday to myself" book binge the idea came to dust the figures' legs with grey pastel to simulate that persistent moon dust.

The chalk pastel dust absolutely positively in-no-uncertain-terms totally refused to stick to the mixed craft paint and matte medium the soft plastic Airfix figures were painted with.

Oh well, it was an idea.

 

48210026501_06d9d566e7_c.jpg

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Still don't feel up to fabricating body sections from scratch so I added some detail which has been being pondered for most of the week.
Turned out that sizing the corrugated aluminum bands to fit snugly between details molded on the part worked out to be even measurements on the HO scale ruler for model trains.

😁
Wide band is 2 feet in HO scale and the narrow band is 1.5 feet in HO scale.

This is an illustration of why I keep several different scale rulers within reach, the dimension of a part to make could turn out to be a relatively easy number on one of them!

 

48216965747_03808a3c3d_c.jpg

 

48216965582_e490f4fd9b_c.jpg

Edited by southwestforests
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Thank you! 
I am having a lot of fun with this build.

😁

Oh, and the support rods will eventually be painted black.

Current thought is with metallic black spray paint from Rustoleum or Krylon.
Base will be masked via plastic cling wrap, with rods poked through and wrap pulled flush with base.

Edited by southwestforests
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Wait! What's this!? What's a Lindberg Moon Ship doing in this thread?
🤔😮

I'm in the mood to add a bit more to that slowly progressing make-it-up-as-you-go project.

Which has been waiting several years for the next step.

Had been wanting to add solar panels and finally decided on some of the round ones like early proposals for the Orion capsule.

So, got started making those.

Also finally glued on the 5 different rocket nozzles for it which had been assembled and put in a plastic bag several years ago.

 

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EDIT:

Alright! We have solar panels. 😎 And I tried to give them the look of once having been folded up.

 

48255332556_3ffb940d55_z.jpg

Edited by southwestforests
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Well, hey, even slow progress is progress.

🙂

The solar panels are painted with Rustoleum spray paint 7251 cobalt blue metallic.
The spacecraft body is hairy brush painted with Testors Model Master Acryl, flat white with some silver thrown in for I'm not sure why.

There are 3 different bottle paints of metallic blue on hand, two from Testors in their classic quarter floz enamels and one Tamiya acrylic.

But I was in the mood to go out in the nice weather and spray paint.
Also got the 9 different fuel tanks spray primed.

 

48365452901_fb007dcab3_z.jpg

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Last month as my brother was heading home from spending a week or so helping our elderly parents with some things he stopped by my place and dropped off a couple ancient stick-and-tissue airplane model kits they found Dad still had buried in stored stuff.
The other day I had an inspiration to use some of the aging tissue from the control-line P-40 kit to represent non-Mylar insulation blankets, like the Shuttle has, on at least some of the Pilgrim Observer's fuel tanks and the extended habitable areas I'm going to make.
(Hmm, and maybe I should name the model Pilgrim-40?)

😉

So, this morning I took a section which had torn free in handling the kit components and pre-shrank it with a misted mix of alcohol and water.
Then while the wetness was adhering it to the countertop,  applied heat from a blow drier on gentle blow setting, to hopefully increase the shrinking.

 

48372645637_5490529192_z.jpg

 

48372516286_d054f0fd4a_z.jpg

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On 7/5/2019 at 5:56 AM, southwestforests said:

Have an idea to lengthen the cylindrical fore and aft sections of the craft.
Primarily to, as mentioned previously, put some distance between the docking ports and the rotating arms.
But then there came ideas to lengthen the forward hull between the docking port ring and the forward face of craft with all the instruments.
And then to lengthen the aft engineering section.
Neither by overly much, though, after all, I am calling this model 1/200 scale and a little bit of lengthening on the model would go a long way in real life.

 

Easy way to being would be by acquiring a second kit.

That's forty bucks plus which I don't have free in this month's Social Security Disability income.
However ...

I do have plenty of model parts, sheet and strip styrene, and a modicum of ingenuity ...

A couple things came together: my hands have been hurting a lot, ☹️ and, a Pilgrim Observer kit priced 40% off came to my attention 😁 it is scheduled to arrive the 3rd.
There will still be plenty of use for the styrene sheet and strip, but the extra kit parts will sure simplify the job.

Hmm ...
🤔💡
... Ya know, that Paragrafix etched metal parts set has several different sets of arms for the work bee pod thing ...

... perhaps could use the one in 2nd kit and station it aft ...

... or, post it 'in action' somewhere ...

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  • 2 weeks later...

With parts from the 40% off kit mentioned above, the habitation and engineering sections are being lengthened and getting the look I want.

☺️

Using a model scale of 1/200 the 1.8 inch extensions give 3 additional decks of 0.6 inch on the model.

That 0.6 inch times 200 (for the 1/200 scale) makes each deck 120 inches, aka 10 feet, high.

Which allows for headroom and the deck structure itself.

 

I know I want some storage compartments in the engineering section.

And a docking port for the workbee or a capsule.

So, 

Now the question is ...

Do I want any portholes in those decks?
And what should the exterior finish of the extensions be?
Tiles?
Metal?
Foam?
Insulation blankets?
Mixed?

🤔

48539439177_1454b1c528_z.jpg

🤔 Habitation section looks like toilet tank float. 🧐🤣

Edited by southwestforests
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Kind of sort of tying in to the NERVA nuclear engine on this thing:
http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/NASAs_portable_trash_bin_sized_nuclear_power_module_to_be_ready_by_2022_999.html

Quote

 

The reactor is expected to fulfil a variety of tasks on the red planet, ranging from supplying astronauts with heat and air, to powering 3D printers that will be used for constructing buildings.

NASA's Future In-Space Operations (FISO) Working Group has stated that its portable nuclear reactor, called Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling TechnologY (KRUSTY), will be ready to fly to Mars by 2022.

Each KRUSTY will be capable of producing one to 10 kilowatts of electrical power while only being the size of a regular trash bin, not including the coolant systems' "umbrella" and weighing 1.5 tonnes each.

NASA is planning to use such reactors both in space and on other planets, including Mars. According to the agency's estimates, the base on Mars would require around 40 kilowatts to operate.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Couldn't finish by the build end date but progress will continue.
Just ordered some 1/32 scale Apollo service module RCS thruster mounts and nozzles from a vendor on shapeways.
Will eventually want 2 full sets, one forward and one aft.
Those will be some big honkin thrusters in the 1/200 scale I'm calling this thing.
But, I am increasing its mass, so ...

https://www.shapeways.com/product/MHJXAJUQ8/apollo-sm-rcs-housings-1-32

https://www.shapeways.com/product/PRHHB9C8G/rcs-engines-1-32-20-sprue

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Got notification the Shapeways parts have shipped. 😊
And here are some illustrations of how the body extensions are being made.
First thing was deciding what length 'looks about right' then coming up with a specific dimension.
Photo illustrates result of that process; a 1.8 inch extension divided in to three 0.6 inch decks, which at 1/200 scale make a deck height allowing for structural framing and still being neither too low nor too high.
A strip of .020 styrene was glued around kit parts to make an attachment lip.
A 1.8 inch wide strip of .020 (or was it .015?) thick sheet stryrene from Plastruct was cut then wrapped and taped around a spray paint can for several days to encourage the plastic to take a curve.
After it was secured, three strips of 0.6 inch wide, .020 thick, were cut then taped around pill bottles for several days for similar shaping.
Decided to do outer layer of wrap in the 0.6 inch strips for 2 reasons, took less effort to shape & also gives visual of where decks are.
Final exterior finishing will likely be representation of thermal blankets which will obscure that but for now I wanted to see where the decks would be.
For some unknown reason I staggered the external strip joins on one module but not the other.

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48718642641_74cc568584_c.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Another nibble of progress. Finally got some truss lengths from Plastruct with which to replace the kit's tubular parts which had pooly aligned mold halves.
Looks like it is going to take a couple inches more than one package of truss to do the job.

Trusses are molded in ABS plastic which requires a different glue chemistry from styrene glues.

Plastruct handily offers a glue which will adhere ABS to styrene.

 

48804177061_83da3834d6_c.jpg

48804323087_6ecc87a84a_c.jpg

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