Revell 1/144 Shuttle/Stack build/STS-133 - Finished!!!

[crowe-t]

I started a Revell 1/144 shuttle stack kit as STS-133. I removed the kit's inter tank ribs with Evergreen .75 mm strips and used Evergreen (.025" spacing, .020" thick) V-Groove sheet for the sides of the inter tank. I also removed the bands that are around the ET with a razor saw.

 

Edited August 21, 2024 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

Here is some work I did on the shuttle's OMS pods. The Revell's OMS pods are a bit boxy in the front. I glued some styrene strips inside the pods and filed the fronts down to a more rounded shape.

 

 

 

I used the book Space In Miniature #3 as reference for the drag chute compartment. I cut out the shape from the tail and will add a piece to the bottom to finish off the chute compartment.

 

 

 

Here are some pics of the orbiter.

Edited August 21, 2024 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

 

 

 

I scanned a set of the Cutting Edge 1/144 Orbiter tile decals and changed the colors a bit. I had a couple sets printed with a laser printer on white decal paper. The Cutting Edge is on the right and the new set is on the left.

I used a "junk" shuttle I have to test the new decals. With some weathering they should look good.

 

 

 

 

There are areas around the cockpit windows and the OMS pods that contain small white tiles. I inverted the colors on the CE tile scans to make a set of "white" tiles. I'll cut the shapes out that I need from this sheet.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2024 by crowe-t

[niart17]

Yay! Glad to see you start up this thread. Nice job so far. I hadn't really noticed the OMS pod shape but you be correct, I wish I'd thought of that. I also didn't think to add the chute cut-out til after the halves were glued together so it's going to be a little bit challenging. Your's is looking great!

Keep them coming man, maybe we'll both finish before the final launch.

Bill

[crowe-t]

Hey Bill, Thanks for the encouraging words! Your build inspired me to get into gear with this build.

You're right, at this rate we both might get finished before the launch of STS-133.

I had started adding the feed line "tie downs"

 

 

 

I just got back to this and I'm just about finished with the feed lines.

 

 

 

I'm not sure what these small rectangular shapes(circled in green) are called on the SRB's but I removed them and moved them to a lower position. They might have been in the higher position on the earlier missions but since I'm building a current mission I moved them down.

 

 

 

Here they are in the lower position.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2024 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

These 3 rings(circled in green) on the bottom of the SRB's appear to extend out further then the others. These are the rings that have the insta-foam.

 

 

 

I added a .5mm styrene strip on the outside of the 3 rings. The SRB on the left has the added strip and the one on the right is the "before" side of the picture before I added the strip styrene.

 

 

 

Here they are finished.

 

 

 

These pictures show these rings up close.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2024 by crowe-t

[K2Pete]

Man ... there's a whole lotta Shuttles goin' on ...

It's good to see your own thread on this build Mike ... and your scratchbuilt improvements are superb! And ... your idea of inverting the belly tile colours for use on top, is brilliant! Good thinking! ... I wish I'd thought of it!

Are you two thinking that you're gonna get these completed by the end of this month? or the end of the program?

Pete

[niart17]

Are you two thinking that you're gonna get these completed by the end of this month? or the end of the program?

Pete

Well I can only speak for myself but I was thinking that MAYBE I could have the stack part of my build done before the end of the program. I doubt that would include the MLP by that time. Of course, if they have several delays...like a year or so worth, then maybe. :)

BTW Crowe, good catch on the insulated rings being of a larger diameter. I never noticed that either. ;)

Bill

[HOLMES]

crowe-t

I am enjoying this build of yours and loving the work

The Shuttle is gonna look amazing with each detail you tackle..

Keep up the good work

HOLMES

[Jay Chladek]

Very nice progress there. Reminds me of my Airfix stack from 2003-04. And yes, I am taking notes.

[crowe-t]

Thanks guys for the nice words!

Are you two thinking that you're gonna get these completed by the end of this month? or the end of the program?

Pete

I'm hoping to get this done within the next few weeks. I'll do some more work this evening and finish up the ET & SRB's details. If all goes well I'll be able to get paint on these parts this weekend.

For the base I'm going to use the kit's MLP with just a few details added, like the Tail Service Masts. I'm going to use the files from http://www.axmpaperspacescalemodels.com/ to make the Tail Service Masts. I don't have the time right now to build a correct size MLP like Bill(niart17) is building. Maybe someday?! Bill's MLP is absolutely amazing! I can't wait to see that one finished.

Edited November 10, 2010 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

I got some work done tonight. I installed some 3/16" tubing in the bottom of the SRB's so I can use 1/8" rods to mount them on the base. I still have to cut off the excess tubing and mount the nozzles.

 

 

 

I did some work on the SRB's. These blocks(sorry, I'm not sure what they are called) are squared off on the Revell kit so I added some styrene on the ends and angled them.

 

 

 

The shuttle I'm using isn't the original one from the stack kit so I'm using a shuttle kit from 1981. The sides of the fuselage are a bit warped, maybe due to age, so I used some styrene tubing I had lying around to make supports on the inside. I also added a strip of 1mm styrene on the inside to add some support for the payload doors. I have to add a strip to the other side. It was getting late so I'll take care of that tomorrow.

 

 

 

The vents on the side are only on the port side of the Revell orbiter so I decided to fill them in and use decals to represent them on both sides.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2024 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

I'm slowly chipping away at this!

 

There is a small 'block' located on the outside bottom of each SRB at the top of the skirts. On the Revell SRB's there is a thin piece of plastic sticking out where this block should be. I glued on a 1.5mm piece of styrene on each side and filed it down to the correct shape.

 

Here is a picture of an actual SRB with that block circled in green and another picture showing the block from another ang

 

 

 

This first picture below shows the original shape.

 

 

 

Here I started to carve out the basic shape before adding the styrene to the sides.

 

 

 

Here they are finished from a few different angles.

 

 

 

Here's the stack almost finished. Just a few more details to go!

 

 

 

The bottom of the SRB with the mounting tube trimmed and the nozzle attached.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2024 by crowe-t

[K2Pete]

That's a nice bit o' carving Mike!

Regarding the Orbiter's vents ... I don't know for sure, but wouldn't the vent doors be closed at launch? I mention this only to save you some time applying decals for the vents.

And just to satisfy my own curiousity, when you installed those braces in the payload bay, if you had just used the kit's payload bay instead, would that have pushed / straightened the sides out?

Let's see some more! :wacko:

Pete

[crowe-t]

Hey Pete,

Thanks again for the nice words. It means a lot coming from you! :wacko:

That's a good point about the vents being closed at launch. I might just lightly pencil the outlines in now that you mentioned it.

The sides were pretty warped. If I installed the Payload bay I still would have had to shim the sides. I'm going to look at the width of the payload bay again. That may be the better way to go.

[crowe-t]

Tonight I worked on the SRB's. I started adding the braces that run down the sides.

Here are 2 pictures showing the one I modified(on the right).

 

 

 

Here is another before & after comparison.

 

 

 

Some more shots of the SRB I worked on.

 

 

 

I'm almost done with the ET & SRB's. After these straps are added I'll be done with the SRB's.

Edited August 21, 2024 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

Here's a small update. I finished adding the braces that run down the side of one of the SRB's and just have to finish the other one. I have a few more braces to add.

Here are 2 pictures of the bottom of one of the SRB's. I still have to do some filing/sanding so the braces don't appear as obvious.

 

Edited August 21, 2024 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

I drilled out the star tracker ports on the orbiter's nose. Here are a couple of pictures.

 

 

I added a small ring of styrene and a small dot to the bottom of the ET. I'm not really sure what these are called. The rest of this area will be finished with paint. I attached a picture of a real ET that shows the bottom for comparison.

 

 

 

I also finished adding the braces on the sides of the SRB's. A few more details and I'll be ready to paint the ET & SRB's.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2024 by crowe-t

[K2Pete]

Gee Mike, you're sure packing in a lot of detail on this little kit! Are ya just getting ready for the 1/72 stack re-issue?

A suggestion for the Star Tracker ports, rather than just make a divot in the surface of the orbiter's nose, drill all the way thru. Then on the inside, glue in a little piece of styrene to cover the hole. If you already glued the payload doors, this may not be possible. If you've got the book, "Return to Flight" by Dennis Jenkins, page 67 has a terrific view of the ports.

And those circles on the bottom of the ET, I'm just starting to research the ET to try to attempt a 1/100 scratchbuild of one, and info is really scarce as to terminology and detailed descriptions of it. So, we can speculate as to what they are ... access plates? drains? structural supports?

And what tool didja use to cut that 'washer' shaped circle?

Hope you a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Pete

[K2Pete]

Hey Mike, I just found this on NASA's site ... it's a photo of 2 technicians working on that 'circle' on the bottom of the ET.

"Technicians from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana begin removing foam from the external tank designated for mission STS-121. The work is the first step in removing and replacing the external tank's four liquid hydrogen main engine cutoff sensors, which indicate whether the tank still has fuel during its climb to orbit. After the foam removal, the technicians will remove a cover, called the "manhole," to provide access to the area to begin the removal and replacement of the sensors."

Well that's one more piece of the puzzle solved!

Pete

[crowe-t]

Pete,

I have an original(Young Astronauts) release of the 1/72 shuttle/stack so I probably won't be picking up the re-issue just yet. This build I'm now working on has been a sort of test given all the issues of the Revell kit. I've actually started to like the Revell kit much more then I did before. It just takes a bit more work to make it more accurate.

I did drill the star tracker holes all the way through. I tried taking a picture of the inside that shows the styrene I glued inside to cover the holes but it kept coming out blurry due to low lighting last night.

I do have the book Return to Flight. I'll take a closer look at the star tracker ports and make some adjustments. In the close up pictures they don't look as good as in person. Any tips?

I used a hobby knife to cut out the 'washer'. It isn't perfect but since I'll be using a brush to paint over the manhole(thanks Pete for the research finding the name on this one) it should look fine. I actually got the idea from the pictures of your 1/144 Revell stack. It looks like you used a black washer. Did you cut it out or was it a regular plumbing washer?

In your last post did you intend to attach a picture? I don't see one attached.

 

Edited August 21, 2024 by crowe-t

[K2Pete]

Oh geez Mike, I didn't intend that second last post to be a critique ... your Star Trackers look just fine! Those close up photos do it an injustice! ( if you look at my pix, there's NO close ups ... there's a reason for that

And when I built that 1/144 stack, I was such a newbie, that I didn't know styrene could be cut and bent and shaped. So, yup, I used a little old metal plumbing washer.

And I hadn't attached a photo of the techs working on the 'manhole', but here's a link to it. There were 3 or 4 in the series of pix.

KSC-06PD-0551

Pete

That link doesn't seem to work, so here's the website, then just plug in the "KSC..." photo number.

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm

Edited November 26, 2010 by K2Pete

[crowe-t]

Pete, I didn't think you were critiquing the star tracker ports. I just meant I need to clean them up a bit and wanted to know if you had any tips.

That link is great, I hadn't found that one. I wasn't 100% sure which mission I was going to make this build. Initially I was thinking STS-131 since now that I have Satellite TV I was able to follow that mission from start to finish. Since I'm building the Discovery I'm now going to make this one STS-133 in honor of Discovery's last mission. Also the ET has some unique markings. One of these areas is located on the top of the ET and looks like a dark smudge with some light areas to the right.(pics attached below)

I'm just about done with the ET's details. I'm trying to add the more obvious details to the ET/SRB's taking 'scale' into consideration. For a brief second I thought of adding the fine raised details that appear at the top of the SRB's cones. Given the size of this kit(1/144) and the actual distance a viewer would be to see it at this size those fine details wouldn't be seen. I chose to add the details that could be seen although I might be off on some of my choices.

With that being said I have to admit that the feed lines on the Revell kit are a bit larger and out of scale. The small tie downs and supports I added seem to add to that a bit but I thought it needed that detail to complete it. I didn't feel like cutting all the feed lines off and adding new ones. I'll do that to an Airfix stack on a future build.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2024 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

I removed the ring and the small circle(this area is where the manhole is) because they weren't in the right location. I also didn't do the best job cutting these shapes out the first time and I applied too much glue.

Here are the pictures of the work I did again.

 

 

 

The drag chute compartment is finished. Now that I'm almost done with the ET & SRB's I'll start getting the shuttle together.

 

 

Edited August 21, 2024 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

I did some more work on the OMS pods. I installed the RCS units at the rear of the pods and had to add some strips of styrene on the inside to correct their angle. They angled in too much. I also filled in the holes in the domes where the SSME's attach and will file the domes down a bit to make them resemble a real shuttle's. The Revell's OMS pods have a raised 'U' shaped section on the rear that needs to be removed. This detail doesn't appear to be on actual OMS pods.

 

 

 

The Revell OMS pods have too much of an angle in the rear so I fixed the angle as best I could. I just have to add the triangular side panels to the OMS pods.

 

 

 

The cockpit windows are installed and the wings are glued together. I applied tape to the tops of the wings to protect the surface detail when I glue them in place.

 

 

 

That's all for now. I'll try and get the shuttle completed soon.

Edited August 21, 2024 by crowe-t