Justin Davenport Posted May 16, 2005 Author Share Posted May 16, 2005 I've finished the ET. I used MM Acryl Ochre Yellow for the main color, Polly Scale Italian Camouflage Yellow for most of the piping, MM Acryl Hull Cream for the ET back mount, Polly Scale British Interior Green and Gunship Gray for certain portions of the ET struts, and Aircraft Interior Black for the black areas. Also RLM 23 (red-pink) for the nose ET strut. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted May 16, 2005 Author Share Posted May 16, 2005 Here's the orbiter with New Ware masks for the windows. I've decided not to simulate the blankets with tape or anything else, because I'm not sure it would look right and I have some masking concerns. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted May 17, 2005 Author Share Posted May 17, 2005 Thanks Jeff...I'm now hard at work on the SRB's and I've also primed the Orbiter itself. Hopefully the real thing will be ready to go on July 13th. I know mine will be finished by then. Justin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted May 20, 2005 Author Share Posted May 20, 2005 After a few coats of white primer and Tamiya flat white, this bird's almost ready to be masked and prepped for other colors (interior/scale black for the underside and medium or gunship gray for the leading edge, and pearl or gloss white for the rest of the bird for decal placement purposes, then semi gloss on some areas and flat on others for the finishing touch). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted May 20, 2005 Author Share Posted May 20, 2005 And as a bonus shot, here's me with my new beard and ARC shirt: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted May 22, 2005 Author Share Posted May 22, 2005 I've had to re-do the white coats on the orbiter and the SRB's because the finish got too grainy - I was holding the rattle cans too far away. But I think I'm okay now. Here's the gray launch pad taken from the Revell kit. I know it's not fully accurate, but I'd rather have the shuttle standing up than on the Airfix stand. Especially if I'm going to place it next to a Saturn V in 1/144th scale (I have the Airfix kit, too). Justin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted May 23, 2005 Author Share Posted May 23, 2005 After two days reworking the coat, I am deeply and finally satisfied with the orbiter. It's now gloss white and ready for decals, after I get the black and gray areas all done. I'll also pull off the masks I already have on over the windows. Then I'll use flat coat on the areas that I normally would cover with blankets, covering up the windows again beforehand. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted May 28, 2005 Author Share Posted May 28, 2005 Well, well....after a whole week's worth of elbow grease, rattle cans, airbrushing, cleaning, and Goo Gone, I've come up with an orbiter/shuttle stack I'm becoming proud of. Here's Discovery just after it was masked with a combination of New Ware and CE Black magic masks (a two day process!) and oversprayed with flat white to "seal in" the edges before applying the MM Acryl A/C Interior Black (and Polly Haze Gray on the RCC nosecap/leading edges). A trick that worked great! Unfortunately I needed to apply a lot of Goo Gone afterwards to get the residue from the masks off (and I placed them on my palms before applying, as directed). But all is well now. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted May 28, 2005 Author Share Posted May 28, 2005 Here's the orbiter after I finished painting and masking, touching up, and lifting off the mask residue. It's parked next to my ET and boosters...the SRB's have had a few setbacks but I think with some intensive work this weekend they'll be good to go. The paint finish on the SRB's turned out rough, even after a few gloss coats, so I've had to do some sanding and I will redo the finish this weekend. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted May 28, 2005 Author Share Posted May 28, 2005 Here's the orbiter on its left side. A decal will go over the windows so I'm not going to do anything about the slight gap in the windshield area as it will be covered over. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted May 28, 2005 Author Share Posted May 28, 2005 Here's the Real Space Models resin engines with Testor Metalizer Gunmetal. Later, I'll paint the OMS bells Polly Gunship Gray. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmike Posted May 28, 2005 Share Posted May 28, 2005 Looking great so far Justin, how are those CE decals working? I have to get the Airfix kit to put my decals on B) MikeJ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted May 28, 2005 Author Share Posted May 28, 2005 Thanks Madmike...I haven't put any of those decals on yet. I'll be using a combination of CE and Real Space Models decals for this one, as the Real Space decals have an accurate window tile and OMS decal set, but the CE has the NASA worm logo. Justin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmike Posted May 28, 2005 Share Posted May 28, 2005 I have never seen the Realspace set, I was pleased just to get the CE ones. The orbiter kit costs $80 here, so that is a target for later this year B) Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TomcatFanatic123 Posted May 28, 2005 Share Posted May 28, 2005 (edited) I'm thinking about building the Revell shuttle/boosters kit myself, and figured it wouldn't be so hard, but I just thought of something...Won't the thin black rings around the SRB's be difficult to paint? That's the one thing that concerns me about building this kit, and I was just wondering how you were going to go about it. Looking absolutely beautiful so far. Incredible job on the ET B) ! My lifelong dream is actually to fly to the Cape to see a shuttle launch someday. Edited May 28, 2005 by TomcatFanatic123 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted May 28, 2005 Author Share Posted May 28, 2005 Wow...80 bucks! Ouch. I hope you do get it! As far as the Real Space set goes, it's available at http://www.realspacemodels.com - I don't know if they ship overseas and their stuff isn't available in most hobby shops that I know of. It's a one man outfit based in Florida, run by an enthusiast named Glenn Johnson. The CE set is a good one and I have several of them in 1/144 and 1/72nd scale. (The OMS tile decals on the CE set are solid black - cutting them up into strips might make them look more realistic, to simulate the tile gaps). I also have a few of their resin engine nozzles and black magic masks as well as a few Columbia fin tips. I'd like Airfix to reissue the kit with a revised cargo bay and a payload for in-orbit display (i.e docking module/Spacehab), and for Airfix to reissue the kit in an orbiter-only boxing. Justin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted May 28, 2005 Author Share Posted May 28, 2005 I'm thinking about building the Revell shuttle/boosters kit myself, and figured it wouldn't be so hard, but I just thought of something...Won't the thin black rings around the SRB's be difficult to paint? That's the one thing that concerns me about building this kit, and I was just wondering how you were going to go about it. Looking absolutely beautiful so far. Incredible job on the ET B) ! My lifelong dream is actually to fly to the Cape to see a shuttle launch someday. Thanks, James! You should go out there and see it - I got lucky and saw a night launch a few years back. It was awesome. As far as masking the SRB rings, I'm going to use Tamiya tape and spray them with white to seal the edges just before I spray them black. I'm going to use Int'l Orange for the bottom portions of the three large rings on the bottom of the SRB - as per padding added to those rings to help them survive the ocean impact as the base impacts first. Justin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pavvel Posted May 28, 2005 Share Posted May 28, 2005 (edited) Great work! I'm watching you, Dustin! As you can see in my signature, I also build this shuttle. Now, I've got a very good reference material, thanks! I stopped work at part with corrugations (ET). I think about build all this part as scratch, but I'm not sure, it's a good idea :blink: As I can see, you used a part from box and made corrugations your self. Maybe I'll go the same way... I have a great book, "The day, when Columbia does not return" (by Tomas Pribyl) - I'm not sure, that this title is correct, it's simply translation from polish, but I'll check that. There are many great pics of space shuttles. And this book is my "walkaround" Once again - great work! Pavvel Edited May 28, 2005 by Pavvel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted May 28, 2005 Author Share Posted May 28, 2005 Hey Pavvel, good luck on your shuttle! With regard to the corrugations, just take it a little bit at a time, not all at once, and you should be all right. I used Evergreen .020 x .020 rod for the corrugations and Evergreen .010 x .125 strip for the lining above and below the intertank section. The http://www.ksc.nasa.gov site's multimedia gallery has been invaluable. Justin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pavvel Posted May 29, 2005 Share Posted May 29, 2005 (edited) Thanks Justin :D I'll build my shuttle as good as possible, so I don't show ma work as long as nobody will remember yours This week I'll order SSM engines and decals from RealSpaceModels. And tomorrow I'll go to a shop for a plastic strip. Pavvel Edited May 29, 2005 by Pavvel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted June 13, 2005 Author Share Posted June 13, 2005 Hello all....a recent update. After I got back to feeling ready to work on the boosters, I tried to get them right by getting a few coats on them, but the earlier problems with the boosters (not all of them from that one night, there was an incident a week earlier where the paint got too grainy) had me basically treading water with no progress. So I have given up on this pair of boosters and have ordered a new Airfix kit from my hobby shop. I'll pick it up this week and build a new pair and hopefully get THOSE right. And then I'll resume work on the orbiter. I've got a long way to go, I hope to get my shuttle finished and in display shape by July 12th, the new launch date for Discovery. But if I don't make it I hope to make it by the Gathering in September (the regional contest in Ogden UT). Justin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted June 14, 2005 Author Share Posted June 14, 2005 Hi Brady....yes, you'd better have your Goo Gone handy. Also be sure to stick the mask to your slightly sweaty palm a few times. I don't think I'll be able to reuse my masks....if you're extra careful when peeling them off you might be able to reuse them and as a bonus, they won't be quite as sticky. But again, reusing the masks would be doubtful, particularly the smaller ones covering the small squares between the wing and flaps (not needed if you're doing a pre 1997 orbiter, they had solid black lines where the flaperon hinges were). Therefore, I bought several sets of Black Magic masks. Good luck!! Justin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmike Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 Justin Looking forward to seeing if these boosters behave themselves! MikeJ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted June 14, 2005 Author Share Posted June 14, 2005 Brady, I think those 1/72nd decals are now out of production. Meteor advertised a last chance sale on them a month or two back. But you can still get 1/72 decals from Real Space Models, only they won't have the "meatball" on them - use the Revell kit decals for that. Justin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Justin Davenport Posted June 26, 2005 Author Share Posted June 26, 2005 I finally got my new Airfix kit (in an old 70's era box) this week, and I've now built the boosters. Tomorrow the paint goes on, first flat white primer, then if I'm satisfied, thin gloss coats of Tamiya pure white. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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