1981 Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 (edited) Last year my little brother found, and returned to me what was left of my old beat-up 1/72 Monogram space shuttle I attempted to build, and then attempted to destroy out of frustration when I was a kid. There were enough parts left somehow to inspire enough of a spark to start this project. With the covid19 quarantine leaving me with little to do and little to blow money on, I have followed several of you down the rabbit hole that is 1/72 space shuttle super detailing. The ultimate goal is to turn my trashed orbiter into a super detailed Discovery, and eventually stack it on the boosters and tank that this kit originally did not have. Edited December 11, 2020 by 1981 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
southwestforests Posted December 11, 2020 Share Posted December 11, 2020 Gotta love a project with a back story! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
1981 Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 (edited) So here she is in all her glory. Dirty, dejected, shot full of BB holes. Some of the raised line panel details are still visible. Nothing lines up right, and some disassembly and reassembly will be needed throughout the project. My budget is $1000. I took a side job doing some product photography to pay for the cost of the project. The original dream was to simply spruce up this orbiter and slap it on some SRB's and a Tank that I thought wouldn't be too hard to get a hold of. Many lost Ebay auctions later, I would learn that getting your hands on a stack is not easy or cheap. From there I would use the stack to model various art projects I have been day dreaming about for years. Then... one day I stumbled upon 'Homer's' tiled beanie cap on Shapeways.com and it was a slippery slope from there... Edited December 20, 2020 by 1981 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
1981 Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
1981 Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 (edited) Took this photo just after unboxing my first Shapeways order, the Beanie Cap, Beanie Cap base and RCS on orbit module from "Homers Spare Model Parts" Edited December 20, 2020 by 1981 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
1981 Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
1981 Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 (edited) Fuselage undergoing extensive filling and repair when the first parts arrived. Note the main gear strut still in place under the wing. Edited December 20, 2020 by 1981 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
1981 Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 Couldn't help it, had to start sawing as soon as I got home. Mind you, at this point I had no Idea what I was doing. I ordered the parts and began work long before I realized there was a build forum underway on here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
1981 Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Hi 1981, I had hoped you'd post this thread on the RealSpace forum, but I'm glad I found you here. You can post many images in one post, but you need to join a photo storage site ... it just saves you the effort of opening up a new post for every image ... I feel you're going to be generating a LOT of images. I've done a couple of Shuttles and if you need any info, just ask any of us! My builds are on the Real Space forum if you're curious. This is gonna be fun to watch come together! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
1981 Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 Hey there K2Pete, I am trying to figure out how all this works. It took me a while to figure out how to link to Flickr. I also can't seem to figure out how to post from my phone. When you say Real Space forum, is that thread affiliated with 'Real Space Models'.com ? I will try to master the art of multiple photos without posting some many times at once. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
1981 Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 As I began to get deeper into the project, my brother surprised me with the Flight Deck set from Homer's spare parts. I had no intention of putting a flight deck in this thing, and also was going to build it with the bay doors shut. But, once I got the flight deck, I was blown away by the detail, and subsequently discovered these forums. I decided to go all-in and have the option of swinging the bay doors open. In the mean time I finally landed a win on Ebay and scored a Monogram stack that came with some older detail parts, many sheets of after market decals, and a spare Revel Orbiter. By the time I had found the forums, I had already gone ahead with putting some of the 3d parts together by trial and error. I made some of my own mistakes, fitment was a struggle, and a lot of risky re-work had to take place. The more I worked to learn the parts, the more I realized that perfection was going to be a difficult target to achieve with this build. Considering the state of the orbiter, I will have to do my best and use this a learning process for a future build which will take more time and patience, and by the looks of it will also have more parts from you folks available than are currently available. The goal here is to get a good looking result for my old nostalgic shuttle, and learn how to really go to town on the next one. Once the paint starts hitting the 3D parts, life begins to take shape. This stuff gives me goose bumps. Later on I would discover that clean parts, and effective primer are key for the 3D parts. Also, prepare to do some VERY light sanding with 1000 grit sand paper to help remove some of the printer lines. No the sheet styrene patches over the BB Gun holes inside the 'R' wall of the fuselage. These will cause some head ache later when trying to fit the payload bay back into the Orbiter, causing more surgery. ... More Goose Bumps. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 1981 ... the Real Space forum I'm referring to is the one where Homer is posting right here on ARC ... it's all Space stuff. And this is really coming along nicely! And your photography skills are showing too ... nice pix! You're making Homer's parts look GREAT! Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
1981 Posted December 20, 2020 Author Share Posted December 20, 2020 Thank you. I am considering moving this over to the Real Space forum. When I set this up I didn't know what the heck I was doing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
1981 Posted December 21, 2020 Author Share Posted December 21, 2020 K2 Pete, you are the hubble guy. It's an honor. I came across your build on a google search several months ago. Awesome. So check this out.... a few years ago, my mother in law brought me this box of documents. I will have to get the back story again, but basically the contents of the box is a massive amount of years of someones work on hubble. There is an incredible amount of data in here. Over-head transparencies, hand written notes, all kinds of stuff. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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