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

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

cutting off the individual strips with the chisel cutter behind the Evergreen strip (0,5 mm x 0,5 mm) as a spacer has proven to be effective.



When cutting all six strips at once, there is a risk that not all of the strips will be cut evenly or that single strips will break off again.

So it's better to carry on as before, safe is safe.



And this is hinge No. 5, the squirrel is laboriously feeding itself.



Don't believe it?



The strength is in calm.

[roma847]

Hello friends,

and then there were only nine hinges left.

For this, I initially only started with the hinge rollers, and again I improvised a lot. Since the strip labels for the small bending radii around the brass wire (0,3 mm) are not easy to roll up, I started to moisten the slightly longer brass wire with a very small amount of UHU-CA and glued it directly to the edge of the strip label, because this fixes it more firmly and prevents it from coming off again when rolled in.



I then carefully lifted this strip, which was fixed between two steel rulers, with the chisel cutter,



and gently rolled it around the wire with the eraser, which is the gentlest method.



After one rotation one only have to cut the label strip flush with the chisel cutter, and the hinge roll is ready.



I then made the next hinge rolls in a similar way,



six of which are shown here, leaving only three rolls left.



When rolling in, it is important to always fixate it with a second steel ruler.





Then the upper ruler was removed,



followed by lifting the label strip, and cutting off the roll with either the chisel cutter,



or cutting it with scissors, although cutting it off with the cutter has proven to be easier.



And with that, the remaining nine hinge rolls are now finished, and their gluing onto the hinge strips, as well as the subsequent step-by-step gluing of the hinge sheet grid can follow.



Then all 14 hinges can be glued onto the doors of the Payload Canister.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

with the prepared nine hinge rolls and the strip grids I have now started a small series production in order to finally be able to close this chapter PLC hinges.

To make faster progress, I've split my strip grid and went on double tracked.



To do this, two hinge rolls were first glued to both ends of the hinge sheet strip.





The grid strips were then shortened as usual behind the spacer (0,5 mm) using the chisel cutter.





And so it continued in the tried and tested manner, hinge by hinge,



and the strips became shorter and shorter.



For the last hinge I had to cut a new hinge sheet strip (0,13 mm x 1,5 mm).



Then finally all 14 hinges were finished and I could make three crosses.



And after the QM boss of the Can Crew gave his green light,



the hinges can now also be glued onto the Payload Canister.

[mistergoblin]

I love checking in periodically and seeing your progress. THis project is serious historical research.

[EG]

I love checking in periodically and seeing your progress. THis project is serious historical research.

And a master class in scratch scale modeling....

[roma847]

Thanks guys for your overwhelming interest and complements,

which mean a lot to me and always again push me to follow the long and winding road, to quote the well-known Beatles song ...

Yep, these tricky hinges are really tiny, and it was a rather hard nut to crack.

But as you know, I don't give up so easily, but I keep going and bite me through, even if it's difficult.

Meanwhile it's for me like a drug or a kind of magic (Queen) to keep the memory of NASA's unforgettable Space Shuttle Program alive.

But the best is yet to come, when I'll attach these crazy hinges and all the other fancy details to the PLC Canister that have been sitting in the drawer for a long time.

[roma847]

Hello friends,

and the guys of the Can Crew immediately started installing the hinges on the Payload Bay Door on the Port Side.









And the guys did a good job.



So we now continue on the Starboard Side.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

and with that the Can Crew went to the Starboard Side to mount the door hinges there as well.





And here too they did their job with proven quality,



so that the QM Boss had no objections and gave the green light again.



So much for today.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

before I continue with the Pneumatic door drives, I'll come back to this almost invisible detail on the Payload Canister, about which I asked my friend Richard Chamberlain from Titusville, who was a member of a Can Crew during his active time in the mid-80s, and I sent him this image.


Source: NASA (STS-135)

And as he then explained to me, it was a steel cable that was stretched across the entire length of the Payload Bay Door, into which the Can Crew could hook their safety belts.


Source: NASA (STS-132)

Similar cables were also located on the front of the canister.


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



For this cable I had already cut a brass wire (Ø 0,15 mm) some time ago,





as well as glued the two turnbuckles with the lugs on the Starboard Side Door.



However, subsequent measurements have now shown that the cable diameter should not be Ø 0,15 mm but only Ø 0,1 mm.



And since I like to build it true to scale, I used the thinner nickel silver wire (Ø 0,1 mm) and laid it onto the door, but it is hardly visible anymore.







Now I just have to glue it, probably with tiny CA droplets.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

and that's exactly what I did, first carefully securing the wire between the two turnbuckles with a little tape in the middle.

Then I pushed one end of the wire a little to one side, then carefully dabbed a tiny drop of UHU-CA onto the end of the lug, and then immediately pushed the end of the wire into this drop and left it to dry.





And I did the same thing at the other end of the wire.



Then I moved the wire a little out of the center, dabbed a drop of CA on the line and pushed the wire over it. And that was it, so now I can really turn my attention to the door drives.

[llanitedave]

It's been quite a while since I've been to this site, and I hadn't seen your progress in forever.  I'm glad that you're in the thick of building.  Just when I thought it was impossible for anyone to get more exquisite and realistic looking detail, you shock me anew.  I would never have believed the turnbuckles could be so exciting.
You're a true treasure, Manfred.

[roma847]

Thanks Dave for your nice compliments,

well, I love the tiny details and they are always an exciting challenge for scratch building.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

and now full concentration on the assembly of the fiddly drive chain, consisting of the Pneumatic drive and the Door actuators hanging on the pipes with the Screw jacks.

You hardly want to touch this strand with tweezers so that nothing breaks off, which makes even taking it out of the box a problem.



Therefore, I first carefully pushed the whole strand from the base onto a steel ruler,



from which I then carefully pushed it onto the side wall of the canister between the two Access platforms.

In this position, I then first taped the central Pneumatic Drive by carefully dabbing its frame on both sides with Revel Contacta on an acupuncture needle.

The two Door actuators with their Screw Jack brackets were then aligned and glued onto the wall in the same way.







And that looked already quite appealing to my taste.



Now the installation of the door drives on the Port Side should also be successful in a similar way, I still hope.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

because things are going so well, let's take a quick look at the door drives on the port side.







And then still two images with the Payload Canister on the PLC transporter.





So the picture is becoming more and more complete, but there are still some details missing at the canister, so stay tuned.

[EG]

Well there we go, "Honey, I shrunk the payload container"

My god brother, that looks fantastic... and to think, it is half again smaller than anything anyone else is building... (and many say can't be done)

You are the master modeler of all time...

EG

[roma847]

Thanks Elmer for your effusive words of praise, which of course flatter me very much, after all they come from the mouth of an expert.

Now it is time to reap the fruits of the hard work with the final PLC details and I have the feeling that the effort was once again worth it.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

well, with the missing details I now have to think about the order in which I attach them to the PLC, because I always have to take into account a safe support of the Canister in order not to break off any components, which is becoming increasingly difficult.

On the one hand, there are the extremely fragile Ladders on the side walls to reach the Access platforms,


Source: NASA (STS-135)

which must be handled with extreme caution, especially since their manufacture was very complex.

Then there are also the RSS Outriggers, one of which is mounted at the front end of the Starboard Side, which can be seen here in the unfolded state as I plan to build it for the lifting process of the canister to the Payload Changeout Room (PCR) of the RSS.


Source: NASA (STS-135)

The other outrigger is located at the front end of the Port Side, which can be seen here in the folded state.


Source: NASA (STS-135)

And this is what they look like in scale 1:160.



Then the two pneumatic lines for operating the Door actuator Screw jacks are also still missing on each side,


Source: NASA (STS-135)

which are connected to the Door actuator pneumatic drive), which I will bend out of Nickel Silver wire (Ø 0,2 mm).

Then there are several hand rails on the FWD bulkhead for the safe handling of the Can Crew in Vertical Transport Mode.


Source: NASA (1980)

I can save myself the trouble of using the two ladders, as they were only needed during working at canister in the Horizontal Transport Mode, to get to the Personnel Door and the Payload Bay Doors.



That is still not all, but it should suffice for today,



at least I'm glad that I found the parts in my inventory again.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

first, I wanted to bend and try on the thin pneumatic lines (Ø 0,2 mm) according to my 1:1 template of the canister, so that I could then glue them.

Here only the thin nickel silver wire was laid for test onto the template.



After fixing the wire with tape, I started bending it, initially with sufficient overhang next to the Door drive,



because for connecting the end of the line to the pneumatic unit involves millimeters, what I had to examine and measure more closely.

Then I've already attached the pneumatic connections to both ends of the line, for which I used my thinnest insulating hose (Ø 0,5 mm).



Furthermore, I have to take into account that the lower of the two pneumatic lines must run over the right Tie-down Lug Plate, as can be seen in this image.



I've already made the lug plates before, but now I just need to paint them white.



Then there are also these tiny Grab rails that I also want to scratch build, as they were important for the Can Crew to be able hold on to, during folding out the Door actuators on the doors top.



which also need to be painted,



for which I prepared these holders from toothpicks with a Pattex tip,



as well as this mount for the Lug Plates, which are sitting on a tape strip, whose adhesive side facing up, which I glued onto a steel ruler.



And that’s what I’ll continue with in the next post.

[roma847]

Thanks my friends for looking in on me again and again. Hope I could entertain you well.

And now to the painting of the tiny PLC components for which I prepared my extraction system.

Since there were only so few parts, I didn't want to paint them with the airbrush gun,



instead, I used the TAMIYA spray can again, which I had shaken well and tempered in a warm water bath.



However, the dosage of the spray jet is a bit of a problem, as it is easy to apply too much paint.

While I was happy with the Tie-down Lug Plates, the Grab Rails got a bit too much paint for my taste, what I don't like them as they seem too thick and round.




 
Then I placed one of the Lug Plates on the front of the Port Side to determine the exact height of the pneumatic line running above it.



When I had put the prepared pneumatic line on it, I noticed that the lower end with the connection was too low, which also cannot remain that way.



Slightly frustrated, I then had to take a deep breath and have bent new grab rails by using three steel rulers (approx. 1,5 mm) placed on top of each other,



which were then painted white in two coats.



They are now slimmer, I like them better than the first handles,



which also look well at the container.



Then I bent a new pneumatic line for the Portside,



which now needs to be further adjusted and bent exactly at the transition into the pneumatic drive,



wherewith I want to leave it at for now.

[roma847]

Hello friends,

unfortunately the Pneumatic lines are causing more problems than I expected, and especially the handling when bending the thin lines (Ø 0,2 mm) is quite stressful.

This starts already with marking of the bending points, for which the wire must be fixed appropriately, which was already seen when the cable was firstly bent on the Portside.



And now to the Starboard Side. While the first bendings with tweezers from the end of the line to the Pneumatic drive are relatively easy, the crucial point comes with the two 90° bendings at the transition into the drive 'cage'.


Source: NASA (STS-126)

The bendings look simple in themselves, but I failed several times when executing them in such a tight space and they didn't fit, as every tenth of a millimeter counts.

And what seems clear from the images and the measured dimensions is only half the truth. What's crucial are the dimensions at my Canister, which the bent lines must match.


Source: NASA (STS-126)

Here I first placed both lines with sufficient vertical overhang at the drive box, which is a rather nerve-wracking affair, as these thin wires react very sensitively to the slightest positional corrections and can quickly slide off from the canister, or even fall off the table, which also happened and is totally frustrating.







I also have to be extremely careful that none of the fragile superstructures are damaged or even torn off during the manipulations, which did happen to me once, when a Screw Jack suddenly came loose and the delicate thin drive tube on the drive box was hanging in the air, which I was then fortunately able to fix carefully and with a lot of feeling.



After that, I tackled the two 90° bendings in front of the drive box, which required bendings that were as reproducible as possible. I also had to take into account that the lines didn't have to lie directly on the wall, but rather slightly raised, which is why I've laid small Evergreen Strips (0,25 mm x 0,5 mm) underneath.



Doing so both lines should ideally match the Hydraulic cylinder (4), which complicates everything even further if you remember this image of the Starboard Side with the individual parts of the drive unit.


Source: NASA (STS-135)

Afterwards, the work continued on the Portside, but the line was still too long after the second 90° bending and consequently passed too far above the Hydraulic cylinder through the drive 'cage', as can be seen here,





which is why it had to be shortened.





Now I just have to finish bending the remaining lines.