Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6 (1:144)

[roma847]

Good Morning my friends,

now I have to figure out how to glue these fragile pneumatic lines (Ø 0,2 mm) to both side walls.

I have to bear in mind that they are attached to small support plates with clamps in various places, as you can see in the picture here if you look closely.


Source: NASA (STS-126)

In order to mark the attachment points on the pneumatic lines and then glue the support plates and clamps, I determined their distances, which you can see when you click on the image above.

That alone shows how crazy the idea of ​​wanting to scratch these details is. But at least I have a possible idea for it. And that consists of cutting out the plates with a bit of overhang from Evergreen Stripe (0,25 mm x 0,5 mm x 2,5 mm), which is certainly doable. The mounting clamps, however, are a real challenge, as they should only be about 0,2 mm wide and semicircular.

In a first test, I used a razor blade to cut thin slices from an insulating tube (Ø 0,5 mm) and then split them in half. However, these snippets are barely visible to the naked eye and difficult to handle even with the sharpest tweezers.



With a lot of patience and effort, it is quite possible to place these tiny snippets over the line and glue them in place, which proves that the solution is complicated but, with the appropriate effort, feasible in principle.



There are also photos of the Payload Canister with fewer attachments, but they are stacked on top of each other, as you can see in this image,


Source: NASA (STS-135)

which is why I will consider a modified, less complex solution.

The support plate overhang can then be shortened on both sides as needed.



Since cutting tiny narrow rings with a razor blade is not reproducible, I remembered my trusty RP Toolz cutter and, after adjusting it accordingly, cut off the rings from the insulating tubing,





and I threaded a small ring onto the thin wire, which is like milking mice.



Now that the lines are already bent,



I can't avoid cutting the rings in half with a razor blade.

So, first I made the necessary plates with a little overhang from Evergreen Stripe (0,25 mm x 0,5 mm x 2,5 mm),





which I will now glue to the attachment points under the lines with UHU-CA. Next comes the gluing of the clamps, what of I have a lot of respect.

Then there are also these two couplings in the middle of the lines, which I could also indicate with insulating tubing.


Source: NASA (STS-135)

Since I can no longer thread these onto the bent lines, I cut open a short section of the hose with a razor blade and inserted the pipe into the slot.



And since both couplings have enough space on top of each other, this problem would be solved too.



Then just stay relaxed for now until next time.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

after this stressful snipping of these tiny parts, I needed to take a breather and glue the safety railings I'd been preparing for some time to the Forward bulkhead of the payload canister, which one can see them in this image of the canister folded during STS-9 (1983).


Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (Ares67)

In these old photos you can see the railings in the extended position when lifting the canister into the Payload Changeout Room of the RSS on the Launch Pad 39A.




Source: NASA, Payload Canister Report (HAER FL-8-11-I)

And these are the eight railings,



which I have now glued in this arrangement onto the canister,



which required it to stand upright and be secured accordingly.

For the gluing, I used UHU Flinke Flasche, which was only dabbed onto the back of the holders at the foot points with the acupuncture needle.



The gluing was done by eye according to the layout sketch and had to fit as well as possible right away,



and with a steady hand and holding my breath, it worked quite well.



Before gluing the two lines, I've first glued the two tiny couplings made from the black insulating tubing (Ø 0,5 mm x 1 mm). This required me to carefully cut them open on one side with a razor blade, which was quite difficult and stressful, because they were difficult to fix, popped off, and were sometimes even severed.

I only had success with this after I threaded the tiny tube onto a pin, which I could then hold in place, after which the tube could then be cut open on one side at the top.



Afterwards, the line only had to be carefully and sensitively pressed into the small slot, which was also a test of patience and not for the faint of heart.

And now on to the most difficult step of gluing the pneumatic lines to the support plates and the tiny clamps on the lines, starting with the lines on the Starboard Side.

To do this, I first marked the contact points on the lines according to my sketch using a thin Multi Liner (0.1). Then, I dabbed a droplet of UHU Seku onto each plate and placed the wires on them step by step, leaving a little overhang beneath. Since the plates would still be shortened after the clamps were glued, it wasn't important to have exactly the same position.  





The next step was to glue the tiny clamps over the wires onto the support plates. To do this, I first prepared a pair of tape tweezers, like the ones I've used for similar things in the past, whose tip is able for gripping the clamp.



Then I dabbed the line on the plates with Acupuncture needle with UHU CA in order to be able to place the clamps on it as accurately as possible, but this method failed because the clamp stuck too tightly to the tip of the tape.



This worked better by smooth touching the clamp with a sharp needle and carefully placing it on the adhesive point, and if necessary immediately adjusting the position a little, but this is again tantamount to the infamous milking a mouse.



After the glue had dried, the overhangs on both sides of the clamps was cut off using the Chisel Cutter (martor).





Before the crucial, delicate gluing of the lines onto the Starboard sidewall, I did another test with the MEK just to be on the safe side and glued a piece of Styrene onto the paper. I simply placed it on the paper and brushed it all around with MEK, which immediately penetrated under the plate and quickly evaporated, firmly gluing the piece.



Then I placed both lines onto the Starboard Side and aligned them precisely, although everything can slip again at the slightest touch.



Since this must not happen under any circumstances during the gluing process, I had to think about how I could fix the position of the thin lines and at which point I should start gluing, which would at least firmly fix the line at this point.

So I started with the lower line first and wanted to glue the left end onto the tie-down lug plate before the Z-bend. Since the lines need to be overlie at all contact points, I placed a lead strip in the middle onto both couplings as a hold-down and adjusted their position again. A styrene rod was sufficient for the left end, as it shouldn't bend anything.

On both sides of the Tie-down lug plate, I placed small styrene stripes (0,25 mm x 0,5 mm) as spacers to compensate for the height. Only then I've painted the tiny support plates with MEK, extending beyond the coupling, and finally glued them this way.



When gluing the plate to the right of the door drive, I had to proceed just as carefully and place appropriate spacers, especially at the exposed angle bend, in order to be able to weigh down the line with a small steel block,



which I had acquired a longer time ago.



I proceeded in the same way when gluing the plates on the upper line, which also started at the Tie-down Lug Plate.



And then the work was done, and so that you'd believe me, I laid the canister down, and as you can see, both lines are hanging neatly in place.



And with this result I'm completely satisfied,



which means I can now switch to the Port Side for the same business, and wish you all a big weekend.

[saturnsky]

Thanks for the photos,,that really look amazing!

[roma847]

Thanks my friend, then stay tuned and have fun.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

and now let's go for the Pneumatic Line Final Countdown off to the Port Side.

And since the process of gluing these lines was similar to that on the Starboard Side, today I'll just show a few pictures without much wording.

For a better overview, this time I have marked the positions of the support plates on this tape strip,





whereupon both lines could then be glued onto the side wall.





And it continues with these parts.



These are the connecting elbows (ECS ducts) of the two red hoses on the Port Side, through which the Payload Canister is connected to the ECS Module of the PLC transporter to ensure constant clean room conditions during the transport to the launch pad. I explained their use and technical background two years ago in Reply #2364.


Source: NASA (STS-93)


Source: NASA (STS-93)


Source: NASA (STS-125) 


Source: NASA (STS-135)

The corresponding cable (Ø 2,5 mm) for it I had already found back then,



and can now be configured accordingly.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

but on closer inspection, it's not quite that simple.

As subsequent measurements have shown, the red hoses should be slightly larger in diameter than previously determined, i.e. Ø 2,5 mm instead of 2.3 mm, which unfortunately meant that my intended red cable(Ø 2,3 mm) was out of the running.

That's not much, but the proportions should be roughly right. So I remembered the variant with shrink tubing and looked through my inventory. However, you have to keep in mind that the tubing doesn't run perfectly straight in Vertical Transportation Mode, but has a curve at the front end of the PLC Transporter. This isn't fully visible in this image, but should be taken into account.


Source: NASA (STS-125)

Naturally, such images appeared in my mind's eye, but I still had to find them. But after patiently searching, I finally found them and was rewarded with this image, which shows the entire route of at least one of the hoses.


Source: NASA

And on this enlarged section, I was also able to measure the individual hose segments, which are connected to each other, which is at least what I wanted to indicate.

The hidden lower hose (red) is the ECS Supply Duct from the ECS Module of the PLC Transporter into the canister, and the longer upper hose (green) is the ECS Return Duct.



First, I glued the already prepared connecting bends (ECS Ducts), which I almost confused, because you have to pay attention to whether you are looking at the lying or the standing canister.





I had previously experimented with various shrink tubings and different thicknesses of core wires on both straight and curved sections, which are essential to achieve even curves when shrinking.





Since the required tight bends cannot be achieved with core wires (Cu, Al),



I finally decided on a combination of a ductile cable (Ø 1,7 mm) and a red shrink tubing (Ø 3,4 mm),



which is shrunking onto a suitable hose (Ø 2,5 mm) after the hot air shower.



And this hose could then be carefully bent with some effort to the required curve in front of the ECS module of the transporter,





and then did fit quite well on the transporter.



This was followed by the first test fittings on the upright standing canister, initially with the lower ECS Supply Duct, which were not entirely safe and required a steady hand in addition to appropriate fixation.



The test fitting became more difficult with the ECS Return Duct, which is running above it,



which was initially a bit too long at the left end,



what, although not perfect after the shortening, but already looked better.



Then, however, I noticed something about the hoses's running that wasn't right and therefore couldn't stay that way.

In reality, the hoses run behind the Horizontal Transportation plate, while in my case they lie on or in front of this plate, as one can easily see in the last images. .



However, this means that both hoses have to be bent around this plate and inevitably become a bit longer, which I now have to correct and adjust accordingly.

Nevertheless, I wish everyone carry on a Happy Easter!

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

well, it's not easy as it looks like.

However, I only need one longer hose, as the longer of the two is long enough for the shorter hose and only needs to be adjusted.

But there are still a few details missing that I had almost lost track of.

Firstly, there's this Spike on the AFT Bulkhead of the PLC, which has been waiting to be installed for some time and is now on its row.

This spike contains the upper Door seal control panel, which can be used to operate the valves for inflating the door seals in the Vertical Transportation Mode.


Source: NASA (STS-132)

And here is this cute piece in scale 1/160,



as well as after gluing on the canister.

In this image one can also see the Tie-down Lug Plates for the Vertical transportation Mode, which have been glued in the meantime.




Source: NASA (STS-132)


Source: NASA (STS-114)

Gluing them to the upright canister was a delicate matter, since the thin panels only have linear contact with the wall and could therefore only be carefully dabbed with adhesive on both sides using an acupuncture needle. Fortunately, this was sufficient and held.





To make it easier to glue the hoses on the front of the PLC transporter, I then thought of small plug-in sockets, for which I drilled off an Evergreen tube (Ø 3,3 mm) on its inside to Ø 2,5 mm.



Then I cut off 1 mm wide rings of it, which I glued onto round blanks (Ø 4 mm x 0,2 mm),



from which these small 'plug sockets' were created.



And for the hose connectors I thought of rings made of lead wire (Ø 0,4 mm), which I wound around a rod (Ø 2,4 mm) and then cut through,



which could then be threaded onto the hoses and glued.



So, all in all, it's still quite a ticker-tackle. Let's see if I can manage to do it the way I envision.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

this leaves only the two Outrigger and the four ladders left.

Only is good, the free space for laying the canister during assembly is becoming increasingly limited and handling is therefore becoming more and more risky in order not to break off any of the existing structures.


Source: NASA (STS-135)

As they both stand there, I still think I did quite a good job with them.



But if you look at where they have to be mounted, then they are the two outer ends of the canister on both side walls, which have always served me as support surfaces, but which I would block with this.



Since I absolutely need these support surfaces for the tricky mounting of the fragile ladders, I have to attach them first before I can then assemble the two Outriggers as the crowning touch, for which I then hardly have any free support surfaces left.

Therefore, I first glued the ladders, for which I came up with the following solution.

As a spacer between the ladder and the Access Platform I used an Evergreen profile (1,5 mm x 2 mm),



and on the other side of the ladder a wider strip (1,5 mm x 5 mm) is fixed with tape, which should provide sufficient hold.

Then I carefully brushed the two free outer legs of the ladder with MEK, which was enough for a light initial bond. After removing the wider strip, I also attached the middle leg in the same way, whereby the ladder was fixed.

After I removed the spacer, the same MEK gluing was done on the other legs.

But that's not all. To be on the safe side, I finally carefully dabbed all legs with UHU CA using the acupuncture needle, which has held up so far.



And the same procedure continued at the other end of the canister, although it was more difficult there because of the two ECS ducts I had to be extremely careful on them.



And the following images prove that the ladders are indeed firmly in place, which further completes the picture.







And now to the ladders on the Starboard Side, although I have to carefully consider the limited support options for the canister due to these ECS Ducts.

[roma847]

Hello friends,

and thus to the two ladders on the Starboard Side, which were glued in a similar way.

Of course I was able to reuse the spacers.



Otherwise, the same procedures were followed as when gluing the ladders on the Port Side, which required a similar amount of caution and patience.
 




The left ladder was now successfully glued,



and the right ladder followed immediately.



And so the only thing missing on this side was the Outrigger, which only needed to be glued.



And that went relatively smoothly, some UHU CA with the acupuncture needle on the foot points and under the three feet,



then a slight position correction before the glue sets,



and the work on the Starboard Side was completed, with which I was fully satisfied, I thought at first ...



But already two years ago a question had crossed my mind in this context.

Even back then, I had been thinking about whether I should still install these black cables (Ø 0,1 mm) that lead from the upper Instrumentation & Communication (I&CS) Panel, but I wasn't entirely sure about that, especially since it could have been a stressful process with a few question marks.


Source: NASA (STS-135)

State of today, I'm thinking why I shouldn't give it a try, especially since I already have a certain, albeit daring, idea about it.

In any case, I have already determined the distances and dimensions of the required details, as you can see in this excerpt.


Source: NASA (STS-135)

The cables should have a diameter of approx. 0,1 mm, be flexible and relatively easy to install.

And after some pondering, I came up with the idea of ​​trying fine sewing thread (Ø 0,1 mm), which I found in the sewing basket,


which will be continued in the next post.

[roma847]

Thanks folks for liking my post.

Hello everybody,

and with this, off to the first sewing lesson.

Now, I've used many different materials for scratching before, but sewing threads are a new thing so far, true to the old saying the end justifies the means, so why not.

But now we're moving into dimensions < 1 mm, which is actually beyond good and evil, as you can see in this image.



I didn't initially think about the length of the cable bundle, especially since I only wanted to hint at it.

And on the Diorama, such tiny details are barely discernible later anyway. I'm imagining the following scene: the Payload Canister standing upright on the transporter in front of the RSS, in order then to being hoisted in front of the Payload Changeout Room, as already seen in these pictures.





So, it's about this small upper I&CS panel,


Source: NASA (STS-135)

which I had already scratched and glued to scale based on original photos, from which I have now removed the small box for the modified version in order to be able to glue the new panel with cables.



Next, I've cut approx. 150 mm long strings for the five cables and strips for the two holding clamps, although I initially had no idea how long these cables should actually be.

But just gluing on the tiny plugs (Ø 0,4 mm x 0,6 mm) made of black-colored silver wire was extremely stressful, because one can hardly grab these snippets with tweezers in order to glue them onto the panel.





Then it was time to glue the twines, which I had first pulled through a glue bath and briefly stripped off to smooth the fringes.

To do this, I fixed the undersides of the retaining clamps between two steel rulers and glued the five thin cables onto them one after the other, leaving a little overhang.
 




Then I glued on the tops of the two clamps.



After the threads were shortened,



they were glued to the new panel directly in front of the plugs and weighted down until the glue set.





After removing all the tape strips, the result was visible, which definitely has exceeded my wildest expectations.



Afterwards the cable bundle with the panel was tried on the canister,



and then glued, which successfully completes the overall picture,



and looks great on the upright standing PLC too.



Now I'm just trying to figure out how the cable bundle was laid on  the transporter, or how/where it was connected with the I&CS Module. Perhaps an NSF expert can help me figure this out?

[roma847]

Hello friends,

I've been waiting for feedback on my question until today, unfortunately in vain. But that wasn't the real reason for the long  silence. Unfortunately, I had problems with my PC monitor (Black screen) and couldn't do anything for a few days except looking for reasons. Since my old monitor has finally given up the ghost, I've since bought a new monitor and can finally continue.

Well, I don't want to keep you in suspense any longer, now I finally have some clarity.

After silence was golden here in the forum, I tried to reach a wider ucommunity in the Q&A Section, which actually paid off with the response from DaveS, who has been able to help me several times.

He confirmed my suspicion about the opening in the transporter deck and sent me the following two images from two early Shuttle missions (STS-5, STS-7) as proof.

While you can't see much at the marked spot in the first image, even at zoom,


Source: NASA (STS-5)

one can clearly see this opening in the second image, and when zoomed in, one can even make out the connections in the recess, which is located very close to the Horizontal Transportation Support Plate.


Source: NASA (STS-7)

I found confirmation of this detail in this image, which I hadn't noticed before, even though I had looked at the picture with the red hoses countless times before.


Source: NASA (STS-114)

So I was faced with the decision of whether I should attempt to insert this small opening into the deck of my finished PLC Transporter at the risk of possibly causing unforgivable damage.

Now, I've already undertaken some daring operations in the past (like the one at the MLP) and have always been lucky, which is why I decided to do it after careful consideration.

First, I had to consider how I could secure the transporter for this procedure. Standing on its 48 cardboard wheels, he wouldn't survive it, so I had to come up with something.

But so far, I've found a solution for everything, and this time was no different.

There was only one solution, and that was the two side walls of the van, for which I used Balsa (2 mm), which is very strong and would also withstand a certain amount of pressure when making the opening. So I had to raise the side walls with sufficiently high supports so that the wheels were suspended in the air. Furthermore, everything had to be securely fastened again, which is why the tried-and-tested metal magnet mount was the only option.

Sorry for the quality of the following pictures, but the artificial lighting at night unfortunately doesn't allow for more. As one can see, the transporter was standing securely on 6 mm high Balsa strips, so I was able to try to penetrate the deck somehow.

First, I used the hand drill to drill four holes (Ø 0,3 mm) at the corners of the small rectangular opening (2,5 mm x 3,5 mm) and tried to score the connecting lines with the cutter, but this proved difficult and ineffective.





Therefore, in the next step, I boldly grabbed the Dremel and, using a drill (Ø 1,5 mm), very carefully and at the lowest speed, drilled a few holes into the plate. This allowed me to reach a sufficient depth (approx. 1,5 mm) and begin the laborious scraping of the small opening.





This gradually created a nearly flat floor in the opening, which I then  still had to line with Evergreen Styrene (0,13 mm) and short strips (0,13 mm x 3 mm),



which worked out quite well, as one can see.



Then I cut off approx. 1 mm long pieces from the insulating tube of my thinnest black stranded wire (Ø 0,5 mm) for the five plugs of the cable harness,



which were glued next to each other into the opening using UHU CA.





So far, so good. Then I put the Payload Canister back onto the transporter,



and until next time, I'll think about how best to connect the cables to the plugs, which should not be that easy.

[roma847]

Hello folks,

so let's get to the wiring harness,



which I first shortened.



The cables now need to be glued individually to the plugs. For this purpose, I glued short sections of black broom hair (Ø 0,1 mm) to the ends so that they can be inserted into the tiny openings of the plugs (Øa 0,5 mm) while gluing.



Of course, this required a steady hand again, as the gluing with UHU CA had to be as secure as possible right away, which meant that the remaining cables had to be moved to the side so as not to get in the way.



And then the remaining cables followed, one after the other, which were smoothed with a light film of adhesive before gluing. To make threading them a little easier, I widened the tiny openings of the plugs a bit beforehand with an insect needle (Ø 0,25 mm).





And I believe that the result is quite impressive.



Now the wiring harness had to be routed a little more space-savingly on the transporter, both behind the I&CS panel and at the opening where the arch was still too high, which I gradually laid down and fixed the harness to the deck with a little glue.







And so it's going relatively close to the original already.



Now I can take another look at the red hoses (ECS Ducts).

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

I had already adjusted the red ECS hoses three weeks ago in my Reply #4229, but then put them aside again because I wanted to change the route of the hoses again.



After Easter, I was initially distracted by other missing details. These included the Ladders, the Outriggers, and the wiring of the I&CS Panel to the transporter, which had captivated me.

Therefore, the two hoses were now laid by gluing them to the two Ducts on the Payload canister and the connections on the ECS module of the transporter, first the shorter hose,



and then the longer hose.













And it all looks pretty nice, doesn’t it?

[roma847]

Hello folks,

Okay, you seem to like it too.

But didn't you notice anything? There's a fatal error regarding the red hose routing.

[EG]

Well Brother, I was going to mention it in a private note, but, since you brought it up {chuckle}), the upper hose is connected to the wrong connection... The photo of the real thing shows the upper hose connecting to the outer tube at the end of the transporter... They are connected backwards...

Sorry... Easy fix though.... But before you do this easy fix, turn the cannister around so the connection is to the front of the transporter, but then again, the ECS unit on that end of the transporter is a bit long as well, isn't it? The ECS units are not the same length end to end... It is able to connect to either unit, but the one in your pics is the shorter unit rather than the longer one.... The shorter unit has lead in pipes for the connection...

EG

[roma847]

Well Elmer, you save the honor of the NSF community with your smart observation, the first part of which is correct.

Both red hoses on the ECS Module of my Transporter are connected to the wrong connecting piece.

But your proposed solution is not that easy as you think.

One must take into account that the Payload containers used during the early missions had two driver's cabs, one on both ends of the transporter. And the ECS Module of the transporter, to which the two hoses are connected, reached all the way to the leading edge of the transporter, as one can easily see in this image from STS-6.


Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)

In contrast, the PLCs used during the later missions until the end of the Shuttle Program were modified and had only one driver's cab, as one can see here.


Source: NASA

And they had the shorter ECS Module at the front end with the driver's cab and therefore longer connecting pieces.


Source: NASA (STS-135)

As a result, I had to use a scalpel to separate the connecting pieces from the module, which was a tricky surgery I'll report on next time, which fits the slogan of an old EAV song "Ba-Ba Bank robbery" from the 80s: Evil is always and everwhere!
But I'm just not sure if anyone knows this funny song.

[roma847]

Hello friends,

there's also a longer English version: "Ba-Ba-Ba Bank Robbery" ... The chorus always goes: "No money for nothing for Woofy and me."

And only during the credits does he sing the German chorus: Das Böse ist immer und überall! (Evil is always and everywhere).

And now I hope you have a sense of humor, too, which I assume you do.

[EG]

I knew from the various configurations in the images it had to be a different era thing...

Thank you for the explanation... Again AMAZING WORK!!!!

EG

It happens all over when modeling any NASA era...

[roma847]

Thanks Elmer for your continued interest in my long-term project.

I've had this problem from the beginning, as I'm always reliant on images from the early missions, preferably from STS-6, of which, unfortunately, there aren't many good photos.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

well, as I saidf, the joy didn't last long, though.

When I took another close look at the two red hoses (ECS ducts), I suddenly realized that I had indeed connected them incorrectly to the transporter (ECS Module).

After seeing in the I&CS photos that every Can crew seems to lay the hoses on the transporter the way they think of, I was a bit more relaxed and wanted to use my existing hoses  without having to extend them, but which then led to the fatal mistake.

Therefore I attached the shorter Supply hose (red arrows) to the ECS Supply Duct of the container and connected it to the front ECS Return Duct of the ECS Module on the transporter (blue arrow), which of course doesn't fit together.


Source: NASA

Inevitably, I then attached the longer return hose (blue arrow) to the ECS Return Duct of the container, but then mistakenly connected it to the rear ECS Supply Duct of the ECS Module (red arrow), which completed the swap.

Although hardly anyone would have noticed, it obviously couldn't stay that way, so I had to bite the bullet and still change it again, which represented another stressful surgery, since the tubes on the ECS Module were almost impossible to disconnect.

So here is the correct laying of the two hoses.

Here's the fitting first,



and here the somewhat tricky gluing of the two hoses, which had to be fixed until the glue had set using weights and magnets.















And suddenly I found this little part lying on the table, and knew immediately what it was and where it actually belonged.



This is this small Access Platform Mounting Bracket,



which is missing in this pic, as one can easily see.



But to glue it again, I had to dig deep into my bag of tricks, which is why I came up with this adventurous construction.





But more about that and to the connected frustration next time.