-
#1060 by roma847 on 25 Sep, 2016 06:31
-
Thanks Bob for your nice compliments,
I'm glad if you like my way of Real Space Modeling.
Thanks for watching and stay tuned.
-
#1061 by roma847 on 30 Sep, 2016 22:11
-
Hello everybody,
here it goes on with the tricky puzzle at this connecting piece.
Initially, I have made intensive image analysis once more in order to accurately understand how these 30 ribs are arranged on the circumference of the pipe end, especially since one can always see only certain partial areas on most photos.
And after I had reasonably decrypted the arrangement from the optics, the laborious measuring and scaling were started in order to determine the required dimensions and clearances for the scratch building, I can tell you ... 
The starting point for the determination the position of the triangular ribs on both sides of the 3rd ring was the 120° arrangement of these rectangular pairs of ribs (0.8 mm x 1 mm) with the holes (Ø 0.2 mm).
Source: Troy McClellan
And on closer inspection you can still see these two slots, one directly between the pair of ribs, and one close to it.
Source: Troy McClellan
But for now enough of preliminary observations.
However, the flipside of these great close-ups of a friend from the ARC Forums is now the implementing of these details in real components because they shrink drastically after scaling, will be seen as equal.
Initially I wanted to take a similar approach in the production of rib pairs as in the previous triangles ribs, for which I have glued two 0.8 mm wide Styrene strips (0.15 mm) again with some supernatant with a respective spacer (0.4 mm).
Previously, I had tried to bore this tiny hole (Ø 0.2 mm), which after a few failed attempts still could be realized.
But then I would have these tiny fins (0.8 mm x 1 mm) to be glued individually what myself appeared illusory considering my sharpest tweezers, because the rib would then have glued rather to my tweezers.
So I had to go without these holes for better or worse which could still be indicated with a fineliner after painting.
And thus, I then made the three rib pairs without the holes.
After that, I have marked the 120° positions and have sawed the small slots.
After that, I have marked the 120° positions and have sawed the small slots, and above it then glued the first pair of ribs with CA.
But already during cutting off the overhang with a razor blade both ribs are broken off.
Probably I have not waited long enough, perhaps the blade was canted, or the adhesive bond was still too weak. 
Therefore, I have the following rib pairs after the CA-attachment precautionally still stabilized with MEK.
And then I have cut off the overhang of the first couple gently and was glad that everything went well,
and looked not bad.
And then followed the other two pairs,
which proves that it works indeed so, if somewhat difficult and stressful, what in this size range is truly but no wonder.
And so tomorrow the small triangle-ribs would be on my plan, with whom I fortunately already have some experience, but nevertheless it will probably become a very nice teeming crowd.
-
#1062 by Hobbes-22 on 01 Oct, 2016 15:49
-
hi Roma,
when you bend a styrene rod, how do you heat it?
I've tried making bends several times, but styrene goes from rigid to 'completely no resistance' very quickly. When I hold the two ends in my hands, any movement translates to 'ripples' in the styrene instead of a neat bend.
The balsa jig is a good idea which I'll borrow in the future.
About the flaws you've found in the LVM kit: have you contacted them about those issues? -
#1063 by roma847 on 01 Oct, 2016 23:36
-
Hi Hobbes,Quote
when you bend a styrene rod, how do you heat it?
I've tried making bends several times, but styrene goes from rigid to 'completely no resistance' very quickly. When I hold the two ends in my hands, any movement translates to 'ripples' in the styrene instead of a neat bend.
The balsa jig is a good idea which I'll borrow in the future.
I fully agree with you, that the softening of Styrene happens very quickly, so you should heat very gentle and as possible only at the bending point, for what you need some exercise.
In order to prepare reproducibly defined bows, you need a jig with a template, around which the clamped rod can be aligned. And when you realize that the Styrene begins to soften, you must immediately stop the heating, and in this position you have to wait until the rod has cooled down, what is important.
If it maintains the desired shape, it's okay, if it bends back, you must bend it back again against the template and firmly clamp, and then reheat and cool, so often until the shape is maintained.QuoteAbout the flaws you've found in the LVM kit: have you contacted them about those issues?
Yep, I have talked about it with Leon van Munster, but they still have some problems with the design and production of their LUT kits that must finally be completed.
-
#1064 by roma847 on 03 Oct, 2016 15:02
-
Hello together,
and back again to the tiny ribs, although it went on only a small step today, it should become rather stressful.
Here are initially the small 3 mm long strips (0.15 mm x 0.8 mm) for the triangular ribs, 24 of which are needed.
Here 9 ribs sit above the ring, each between the rectangular ribs pairs of,
Source: Troy McClellan
and below there are even a few more, namely 15 pieces. But that was again an undertaking, which has very stressed me. 
Firstly, the snippets are difficult to keep in the tweezers, then the front ends were carefully dipped in CA and glued, whereby one but immediately has to meet the marked spot. On the other hand some strips also were glued on the tweezers, so it was all in all again a nerve-wracking game of patience.
The previous intermediate result certainly looks like this, and conveys already a foretaste of what then awaits me on the underside.
The supernatants will be cut off tomorrow, and then follow the 15 ribs on the underside of the ring, which certainly should be even more stressful because the already small distances should move together still closer.
But somehow it will work out, I hope.
-
#1065 by b0objunior on 05 Oct, 2016 05:24
-
WOWOWOWOW!!! You are really good at these things.
-
#1066 by roma847 on 05 Oct, 2016 05:33
-
Thanks for watching!
-
#1067 by roma847 on 05 Oct, 2016 09:14
-
Hello everybody,
today now follows the last act of the Ribs Festival at the lower ring of the coupling socket.
First, the upper nine supernatants were cut off, first vertically again, to create more free movement for the 45° cuts,
and then were made very carefully the oblique sections.
Then the still missing three slots were sawed.
And only now I have glued the lower tube segment with the narrow ring definitively with MEK.
Then it went onto the underside of the ring, on which now 15 triangular ribs must be placed. And since in this narrow space it is hardly possible in order to measure tiny distances, the space was divided much more of the optics ago.
Therefore, I have initially glued in each case the three ribs in the interspaces below the rectangular ribs pairs,
and then in each case the two ribs, which are located below the ribs pairs.
These ribs were then cut off again initially vertically,
and finally chamfered at a 45° angle, which was truly no bed of roses.
And here, finally, is still the view of the mounting position.
And when one considers that about 60 parts were scratch-built at this pipe, then that is really hardly to believe.
But so it is now almost done, because now only the small support is missing, with which the coupling socket of the pipe is fastened to the inner wall of the SRB chamber, which can be seen in this picture.
Source: NASA
Fortunately, there are only two of these feed pipes, so I have the whole procedure only to exercise once again, thank God.
-
#1068 by Marge Inovera on 05 Oct, 2016 15:23
-
Manfred, your workmanship is truly remarkable. I cannot tell the difference between your tiny replica and this actual one!
Your patience in this build is remarkable too ... you have to tell me what you eat that gives you this super-human ability!
Just one more to do!
Keep up the incredible work. It's pure joy to watch!
Pete -
#1069 by roma847 on 05 Oct, 2016 21:03
-
Thanks Pete for your pleasant compliments.
In addition to my attention to detail, patience is indispensable, and as the saying goes - Skill comes with practice.
Otherwise, I'm quite normal, eat nothing extraordinary, and a cool beer always belongs thereto.
Stay tuned, I have finished the Launch pad by no means yet.
-
#1070 by Ronpur50 on 06 Oct, 2016 02:45
-
What separates you from most of me, is that when I realize the only way these two pipes would be seen, is if a 1/2 in tall person was to walk under the completed pad! I would have put a plastic ring on it and been done. But that is why you are a Master Builder!!
-
#1071 by roma847 on 06 Oct, 2016 11:10
-
Thanks Ron,
yep, these tiny parts are crazy to handle, but it will be worth it.
Now I have to do the same procedure one more time. Although I know what to do, it will be again similar tricky for the second time, because my mind knows the difficulty.
The more difficult the first attempt was, the more one has to overcome oneself to do it again. But the second time one can try to do it possibly a little bit better.
-
#1072 by Davp99 on 08 Oct, 2016 20:02
-
We All have a Gift or 2, to bestow on our fellow Human Beings.....Manfreds is to blow our minds with his creations,, Dave
-
#1073 by roma847 on 09 Oct, 2016 14:00
-
Thanks Dave,
as long as you like it all, everything is okay.
-
#1074 by roma847 on 13 Oct, 2016 21:49
-
Hello everybody,
and thus back to the coupling socket at the other 36'' inlet pipe.
This time, however, I did not use a triangular profile for the conical ring (truncated cone) but wanted to try it with the winding-off of the truncated cone, for which I wanted to use a thin PE sheet (0.15 mm). In doing so, I had hoped that the PE ring would let align closer to the pipe than the bulky 1 mm triangular profile.
But for that one needs the winding-off of this part, whose construction however I had to look for initially.
And after I had found a corresponding guidance, I tried out the design on paper on a 1: 1 scale. The truncated cone is 1 mm high and the diameters are 6.3 mm and 8.0 mm respectively (see red contour).
Afterwards, I've repeated it on the thin PE-sheet and tried to cut the winding-off with the circular cutter, but because of the small size did not go so easily from the hand.
And that was the proud part, the edges of which I then had to smooth something.
After sticking of the first ring segments it was then possible to start with the gradual sticking of the winding-off above the ring,
whereby the beginning was important, which had to be fixed tightly.
And then it went with normal Revell glue in small steps round about.
And here is the result, whereby I find that one can already see the difference, because the new ring has leaned up closer to the pipe, and the cone is slightly more flat than the other.
After this, the ribs followed in the usual way, first the eight wider strips between the upper rings,
and then the narrower strips for the underlying triangular ribs,
here after the final circumcision.
That's it for today, because now it becomes again a little more stressful.
-
#1075 by roma847 on 20 Oct, 2016 06:22
-
Hello everybody,
today I will now finally complete the connecting piece of the second supply pipe, on which still lacked the rectangular rib pairs and the triangular ribs on the lower ring.
After the rib pairs over the slots were glued and cut off,
the nine ribs between them were continued in well-known manner. Thereafter, the corresponding ribs sitting below them on the underside of the ring were glued,
and finally bevelled.
And only then did I have glued the remaining six ribs below the rib pairs, which was easier for reasons of space than for the first inlet pipe, where I had first glued all 15 ribs, which made the bevelling quite difficult.
And after the bevelling of the last six ribs, this tricky fiddling was finally done and I've felt relieved. 
Therewith all pipes and outlets of the SSWS are finally finished and can be further processed.
-
#1076 by roma847 on 21 Oct, 2016 17:31
-
Hello together,
after all the outlets of the SSWS have been completed with some missing Pipe Supports could actually follow their assembly at the ring lines.
I will begin with the transitions from the now finished 36'' inlet pipes (Ø 6.3 mm) to the two 24'' ring lines (Ø 4.0 mm),
Source: NASA
whose connecting sleeves are finally positioned and glued to the ring lines.
Then follows the modeling of the transitions of these six 18'' outlets (Ø 3.2 mm) with the tapers to 12'' (Ø 2.0 mm).
And then there are still these two outlets at the end of the ring lines behind the TSMs with the tapers to 16" (Ø 2.5 mm) and then to the 12" nozzle pipes (Ø 2.0 mm).
These four rear 18" outlets (above) and the two front 12" outlets (below) have no tapers and are already ready for assembly.
When these transitions are modeled, the outlets can finally be glued onto both ringlines. And then these connecting points must also be modeled.
So, all in all, this looks like an extensive Apoxie Sculpt session at which we then will see us again.
-
#1077 by roma847 on 26 Oct, 2016 23:16
-
Hello everybody,
so, now I have begun with modeling the transitions, first with the transitions on the two ring lines,
Source: nasatech.net
which are still quite accessible and handy.
First, two equally sized marbles were formed from the two Apoxie-Sculpt components,
which were then kneaded until they were completely mixed, which can be seen in the white color.
And then the transitions were modeled on the two sleeves, which can be made at the same time.
Thereby it is helpful not to take too much Apoxie Sculpt and then keep it in the mean time occasionally to moisten in order to stay flexible.
Then followed the six 18'' outlets from the ring lines into the SRB shafts, and this action was then much more tricky and stressful.
Since these parts can hardly be held in the fingers, but they still have to turn and turn around constantly, this was absolutely no nerve balm.
Thereby one thing turned out to be particularly hindering, and these were the tiny nipples on the bows and the lower baffles, which I should have installed better afterwards.
As a result, the transitions have not worked out as good as one can see. But I wanted to make use of the time before the mass hardens too much, and so I have stayed the course.
But now I leave all this dry and then I will rework the transitions separately by sanding.
That's it for today.
-
#1078 by roma847 on 27 Oct, 2016 20:52
-
Hello everybody,
well, seen in hindsight, I have applied a bit too much Apoxie Sculpt (AS) and now have to sand off something, but this is easy to do because the AS is very dense and extremely fine-grained after the hardening.
But this effort would have been significantly reduced if I had already formed the transition better in the damp state and adapted it to the rather concave shape. But afterwards one is always wiser.
Therefore I have to shape this concave transition with different files, sanding sticks and finally with 2000er sanding sponge, which is already a bit arduous, but what the heck!
Here already a first picture of one of the transitions, on the left the somewhat chubby modeled form, and on the right the post-processed form, which looks optically already quite well.
In fact, the transition could be even something shorter if I exactly look at the picture once again.
Source: nasatech.net
At the transition on the second ring line (above) I was then already somewhat more relaxed, since I knew that there was something significantly to sand off,
as can be seen here at the right transition.
And these are the finished transitions.
And now followed the transitions at the six 18''-12'' outlets, which also have a slightly concave shape.
Source: NASA
Although there is less material to remove, but their handling is more tricky due to the small size. For comparison, I have put a raw state next to it. 
And tomorrow the remaining five outlets will be reworked.
-
#1079 by roma847 on 30 Oct, 2016 09:35
-
Hi guys,
as I have already indicated, I have now after all brought myself to shorten the transitions at the 36'' outlets of the ring lines, and I imagine that they fit better now into the overall picture.
And these are the 18''/12'' outlets with the reworked transitions,
And here are finally the finished transitions at the 16''/12'' outlets to the both nozzle tubes.
And as next step, the final assembly of all the outlets on the two ring lines begins then with the mounting of the inlet pipes.
Source: NASA
