Author Topic: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6 (1:144)  (Read 994804 times)

Offline Darren_Hensley

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1180 on: 03/13/2017 06:07 pm »
@Roma847 way up about the water bags, thanks for the explanation. This helps.
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Offline roma847

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1181 on: 03/15/2017 10:55 am »
Hello everybody,
 
in the meantime I had thought over, that it would certainly be difficult to remove the paint on these fragile sickle holders, especially since the contact points should be clean for a good adhesive bond.

And that would mean that the fragile sickle holders would have to be sanded gently, which would presumably not happen without breakages.

But I've already considered whether I should not paint the spaces between the sickle holders with a fine brush by hand ...  

I have not painted anything with Airbrush for a long time, which is why I'm simply unsure whether such horizontal surfaces below the ring line would get enough paint. Furthermore the paint application has to be well dosed, which is why several thin layers are advisable and too much paint at one go should be avoided.

Because I would bite myself somewhere else if I would spoil my painstakingly scratched details by an unclean varnishing ... 

« Last Edit: 03/15/2017 11:57 am by roma847 »
***************
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Manfred

Under construction:
1:144 Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

Offline roma847

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1182 on: 03/15/2017 12:00 pm »
Hello everybody,
 
and because we have dealt with breakages, of which I had to complain already some at the ring line outlets, without damage the last action with the clamping rings unfortunately had not ended.
 
On closer inspection, I have noticed unfortunately that the small nipples on the outer two 6'' outlets behind the TSMs after the felt 100.000 twists and turns when clamping the ring lines must have been broken, which I had not noticed so far.
 
That is why, for a change, cosmetic operations were announced today, because something like that bothers me, even though it would hardly be noticed by somebody else's.
 
These OPs are, however, rather delicate, since the outlets are only thin round bars (Ø 1 mm), into which still thinner rods (0.3 mm) have been glued as nipples. That is why I have first carefully sanded off the remaining stumps and then still more cautiously drilled small holes with Ø 0,3 mm, but for which I first had to think on a clever clamping condition of the ring line for a stable support.
 
Seek and you shall find, and here the nipple rod is already glued again with a little overhang, which now only needs to be shortened accordingly, what but also does not so easily go out of cupped hands.
 

 
For the cutting off the supernatant then a different support had to be found and to be newly clamped again,
 

 
so that the rod also has a stable support and can not break off.
 

 
But that worked out well,
 

 
as one can see here.
 

 
And the same OP then synonymous still at the other ring line, as before.
 

 

 

 
And so the damages have been remedied again.

***************
Regards from Germany

Manfred

Under construction:
1:144 Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

Offline roma847

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1183 on: 03/17/2017 06:49 am »
How did you make the pipes using plastic? The way they are shaped? I'm planning the same for my 1/72 scale model. How did you get the pipes to bent into curves like that?

The word Thank you seems to be a foreign word to you, right?

***************
Regards from Germany

Manfred

Under construction:
1:144 Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

Offline roma847

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1184 on: 03/21/2017 09:43 pm »
Hello everybody,

in the last few days I have finally brought myself to start with the gluing of the Pipe Supports under the ring line behind the LOX-TSM, for which the already announced removal of the rear SRB Supports was necessary.

Since I can carry out the gluing of the supports only step by step, in order to be able to check their seat, I have to remove the ring line now and then, and because I did not want to risk anything, I have removed the disruptive rear SRB Supports.

For gluing of the pipe supports, the ring line was then introduced again and its exact seat fixed with the spacers. After that, I tried as a first variant the gluing with MEK and have initially positioned and aligned only three supports under the ring line, as well as dabbed the contact points of the sickle holders on the outer side carefully with a fine brush with MEK, which should be sufficient for a first hold.



And as one can see in this picture, that was actually already sufficient. 



Since in the bracket-holder I can reach now the remaining contact places of the sickle holders from all sides, I can now also glue them completely.   
And so it can then gradually go on with the next supports. 

« Last Edit: 03/21/2017 09:48 pm by roma847 »
***************
Regards from Germany

Manfred

Under construction:
1:144 Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

Offline IanThePineapple

Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1185 on: 03/21/2017 10:00 pm »
This is looking amazing, how do you have this much patience?

Offline roma847

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1186 on: 03/21/2017 10:28 pm »
Thanks Ian for watching! 

All you need is will of iron, nerves of steel and years-long exercise, as well as the strong conviction that the dream will come true someday ...




***************
Regards from Germany

Manfred

Under construction:
1:144 Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

Offline roma847

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1187 on: 03/23/2017 06:16 am »
Hi all together,

for the gluing of the next Pipe Supports I used again my approved bracket in the mini vise, which is best suited for this.

With this I have much more freedom of movement for the assembly and can adjust the position of the ring line so that the already attached three Supports lay flat on the support block and I can push the next supports below the line by slightly raising and arbitrarily align. 

Then I also modified the gluing technique, whereby I carefully dab the normal Revell plastic glue onto the sickle holders with a acupuncture needle, then push the support under the raised ring line and then lower it. This allows for even smaller position corrections until the support sits in the right place. After that, the ring line is still weighted down, so that it can be fixed firmly on the spot.

Then I can then take the mini vice with clamped ring line in the hand and stabilize the sickle holders also still from inside and outside with MEK, which should give them the final hold.

And this technique I have here exercised with the two Supports behind the corner bow, which also worked great.





And in the same way it went on down the straight line.









And now they hang in rank and file and look  .



Then came the three flatter supports sitting on the Blast Shield, which I have glued with inserted ring line.





And finally, I have glued the small support under the 16'' rejuvenation behind the LOX-TSM, which has only one sickle holder. 



So I want to let it go for today. 

« Last Edit: 08/22/2023 08:06 pm by roma847 »
***************
Regards from Germany

Manfred

Under construction:
1:144 Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

Offline Oersted

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1188 on: 03/23/2017 01:14 pm »
Thanks Ian for watching! 

All you need is will of iron, nerves of steel and years-long exercise, as well as the strong conviction that the dream will come true someday ...



Not to mention lots of free time!

I look forward to you finishing the piping and moving on to other interesting aspects of your build.

Offline roma847

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1189 on: 03/23/2017 09:41 pm »
Thanks Oersted for looking around,

that's right, scratch-building of lots of such tiny details is undoubtably a very time consuming process, or with other words maybe a never ending story ...
But this SSWS pipe and support madness is now coming to an end, slowly but surely.

***************
Regards from Germany

Manfred

Under construction:
1:144 Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

Offline roma847

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1190 on: 03/23/2017 09:58 pm »
Hello everybody,

today I want only present a few pictures about the gluing of the six Pipe Supports on the inside of the ring line behind the LOX-TSM, which took place in the same way. 









And tomorrow it will go on with the gluing of the first six triangular supports (left) at the outlets of this ring line,



which hopefully will work similarly well. 

***************
Regards from Germany

Manfred

Under construction:
1:144 Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

Offline roma847

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1191 on: 03/24/2017 04:28 pm »
Hello folks,

as hoped for, the gluing of the first three triangular supports went smoothly, as can be seen in the following pictures.







And then the three supports at the outlets on the inside of the ring line had their turn.







So far so good, now I need to repeat the same procedure only still on the other ring line behind the LH2-TSM.

***************
Regards from Germany

Manfred

Under construction:
1:144 Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

Offline roma847

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1192 on: 03/28/2017 09:32 pm »
Thanks Dave and Ron for stopping.

Hello everybody,

but before I go on with the gluing of the supports on the other ring line, I want to start (again) with the preparation of the Water Bags, which I had already begun a long time ago, until the reconstruction of the SRB exhaust holes up to 1:144 has stopped me.

Since I now intend to present the MLP both with and without Water Bags, I first had to think about how best to solve this constructively.

These elongated foil water bags, which are suspended into the SRB shafts, are filled with water only to a height of 12" (approx. 30 cm), as can be seen here again.


Source: NASA

With a width of the (most) bags of also 12'' and a length of 20' (6,10 m shaft width), the result is about 550 liters of water per bag, which corresponds exactly to the volume of my aquarium.

First, I want to start with the bags in the back of the chamber (Secondary SRB Hole), with the first part reaching from the shaft back wall to the 18'' outlets (Ø 46 cm) which contains 18 of these red bags. This will inevitably become a few less for my MLP because of the modification of the SRB holes ... 

As can be seen in this picture, the first water bag is hanging between the chamber back wall and the 36'' feed pipe (Ø 91 cm) and is therefore somewhat narrower than the other bags in front of the pipe. The next two bags are somewhat wider than the remaining ones and also shortened in front of the feed pipe, which should be taken into account in the following design. 


Source: flickr.com (Andrew Sheer)

So I first took measurements and made a new template for the partition walls, 



and therefore get to work!

Since the distance between the back wall and the feed pipe is rather small, the first bag can be only 1,5 mm wide. 



For the gluing of the parts with MEK, I have carefully placed Teflon foil underneath. 







Since the bag has a bit jammed during insertion, the length had to be adjusted slightly. 




Therefore the question for insertion came up, so it is probably more favorable to insert the bags later from the bottom into the shaft with installed ring line, because the SRB Blast Shield slightly protrudes at the top edge and therefore would disturb.



And now to the small-scale production of the individual parts. For the "normal" bags I will use a square profile (2 mm x 2 mm) for the lower webs, and for the partition walls 0,2 mm Styrene Sheet by Evergreen.



The next time, however, it will go on with the two wider bags next to the feed pipe (Ø 6,2 mm), for which I will use a rectangular profile (3 mm x 2 mm), after which the normal bags will then follow. 

« Last Edit: 08/24/2023 12:46 pm by roma847 »
***************
Regards from Germany

Manfred

Under construction:
1:144 Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

Offline Ronpur50

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1193 on: 03/29/2017 06:18 pm »
I can't wait to see this!!

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1194 on: 03/29/2017 11:29 pm »
Thanks Ron,

yeah, we all need still a lot of patience, but staying tuned will be worth it, I think.

***************
Regards from Germany

Manfred

Under construction:
1:144 Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

Offline roma847

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1195 on: 03/30/2017 11:48 am »
Hello everybody,

here is the next step on the way to the Water Bags, which are going to be composed of several parts, but always beautifully in sequence, just like during the later assembly. 

The first part is the slightly narrower bag (1.5 mm web width) behind the feed pipe, which is already finished and could already be seen in the last post. 



The next part extends up to the two 18'' outlets to which these individual parts belong,



which must be carefully cut out so that the bag package becomes uniform. Below the scissors lie the wider webs (3 mm x 2 mm) and the shortened partition wall for the two bags next to the feed pipe, 



which were next glued.



Then the longer partitions with the "normal" webs (2 mm x 2 mm) follow.







And so the first assembly test looks, which shows that the bags fit quite well and it can equally go on up to the 18'' outlets. 



Then the third part follows, starting with the bag between the two outlets and the following two "normal" bags, followed by the two short bags between the two rear MLP Support Posts, which unfortunately are covered by the guy in the bluey. 


Source: flickr.com (Jen Scheer)

I hope I can insert this connected third part from above, as well as the remaining three short bag parts on the side walls and the front shaft wall. 


Source: www.youtube.com (Michel Mephit)

So much for the moment.

« Last Edit: 08/25/2023 08:54 am by roma847 »
***************
Regards from Germany

Manfred

Under construction:
1:144 Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

Offline roma847

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1196 on: 03/31/2017 06:33 am »
Thanks Ron for looking,

Hello everybody,

here are a few pictures of the continuation of the gluing of the Water Bags in the SRB shaft behind the LOX-TSM.



And so it went on.



I had to pay attention to the fact that the package could not move upwards, for which I clamped it between magnets and pressed the central webs gently down onto the pad each time and held it tight for a moment. 



In this way, I have glued ten bags behind the inlet pipe,



which extend to the two 18'' outlets. 





Then it goes on with the third part, which begins with the wider bag between the outlets.

As an encore I still have this interesting video, in which the ingenious principle of the SSWS is very impressively illustrated and explained, which one or another may already know.

Noise Reduction Technology in Space Shuttle's Lift off Using WATER MIST

Enjoy this cool video.

***************
Regards from Germany

Manfred

Under construction:
1:144 Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

Offline Davp99

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1197 on: 03/31/2017 08:36 pm »
Thanks for the Link, I don't think I've Ever watched this before...Dig your Water System Manfred, Looks Great ! :D
You Only Live Twice

Offline roma847

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1198 on: 03/31/2017 10:39 pm »
Thanks Dave for your nice comment,
great, that you are also interested in the technical background.
The more I understand of this unique space technology, the more details I want to get to know ...

« Last Edit: 04/01/2017 10:38 pm by roma847 »
***************
Regards from Germany

Manfred

Under construction:
1:144 Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

Offline roma847

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Re: Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6
« Reply #1199 on: 04/03/2017 10:11 pm »
Hello guys,

before I go on with the next Water Bags, I have made a test arrangement with the Shuttle stack on the MLP to look at the space conditions in the front part of the shaft (Primary SRB Hole), in which then the shorter bags have to be mounted around the SRB.

The lineup of the stack was, of course, again a shaky affair, which had to be carried out with the utmost caution in order to avoid fatal crashes.











And after this overall impression I put the stack aside and have only placed the support posts upright, in order to get a better view for the further consideration. 





And so that the support posts cannot always slip away, I have made a small template of the SRB Aft Skirt.
 




And after this detailed view, I then scratched the next two bags, the wider front bag of which is sitting between the two 18'' outlets.



And these two fit well so far already to the previous bags, wherewith the Secondary SRB Hole would be covered up. 



So far again for today.

***************
Regards from Germany

Manfred

Under construction:
1:144 Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

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