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#1220 by Darren_Hensley on 20 Apr, 2017 18:44
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In my mind it's totally f-ing awesome!!!! You deserve the break, have a cold one while your at it. Beautiful work!
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#1221 by roma847 on 21 Apr, 2017 09:21
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Thanks Darren for your nice words and stay tuned.
Strength lies in calmness!
Cheers!
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#1222 by Ronpur50 on 29 Apr, 2017 23:16
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Did you go on vacation, Manfred? lol
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#1223 by roma847 on 29 Apr, 2017 23:41
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Hello Ron and all together,
no, no,
but the break was really long enough, but after the SSWS stress it has benefited me. 
To the warm-up I have first done some small things, which I have put so far aside again and again.
There were initially still to do the openings for the Rainbirds, what were now finally made. Since the openings in the paper kit were somewhat too small, they had to be corrected anyway. In addition, I had deepened them too far already, since they should only be about 0.5 mm deep.
And so the MLP deck looks now from above.
After that, I went to the Stair Housing once more, with which I was not completely satisfied, especially since it was built in an early stage, in which I was still not as exacting and crazy for details as today.
Since the housing from the Paper Kit especially at the back with the door looked relatively pale,
I had it at that time a bit weathered, which then but became a bit too dark. In addition, I had now found some detail photos, which have naturally animated me for scratching.
In this picture one can see some details that seemed to me feasible, especially this red warning bell in the upper left corner.
Source: capcomespace.net
Here is a similar picture from that time from the other side.
Source: apollosaturn.com (John Duncan)
This is why I built the housing once again, and now I find that the coloring, except for the too bright door, it fits better into the picture than the old one, which in turn is pure taste.
And now to the required small parts, e.g. this bell. At first, I had thought of small red discs, which I had punched out of the cap of a thumbtack, which should be about 1.4 mm in diameter.
Then, of course, there are also pin needles with correspondingly small, flat head, which I dipped briefly in red color, which looks almost even better.
For the red box underneath the bell, I used the holder of an interdental brush, from which I have cut off one of these side pins, which correspond to the required size with 1 mm x 1 mm.
As one can see in the pictures, the bell sits on a small support or socket, which I still need to color.
Then I tried the lower longer locking lever made of 0.3 mm steel wire, which is inserted in a brass pipe (0.4 mm) and could be rotated thereby. The ball handle is a glue drop, but it is still a bit too big.
Since the lever seems to be too long and too thick on the housing, I have tried the whole thing again a little smaller and shorter, with brass wire 0.2 mm in a 0.3 mm brass tube, but still without a ball handle.
This could already look better and should be tried on today.
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#1224 by roma847 on 30 Apr, 2017 21:07
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Hello everybody,
and so on with the equipment of the Stair Housing with some accessories, which has now also got a new door with a from red to green foldable warning sign, of which I have unfortunately shot no close-up.
The two locking levers I have bent once more using 0.2 mm brass wire, which are in a brass tube (Ø 0.3 mm), here the longer lower lever,
and here together with the smaller upper lever, both with a small glue ball.
After both levers were painted gray,
they could also be installed, and the red warning bell and the small box underneath are already attached, wherewith the Stair Housing is finished and looks good so far.
And here are some pictures with the housing on the MLP top deck.
Again only a small step, but at least a nice-looking detail.
Yeah, now one can hear the bell ringing ...
But as long as the warning sign is turned to green, nothing can happen ...
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#1225 by Ronpur50 on 30 Apr, 2017 23:57
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Small step....funny. Since it goes to stairs. Bell looks great. And I can hear it!
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#1226 by roma847 on 01 May, 2017 07:40
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Thanks Ron,
but you need to have no fear, as long as the warning sign is green there ...
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#1227 by roma847 on 03 May, 2017 16:27
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Hello everybody,
since now only are missing the cameras, as well as the railings and gutters, etc., which still can wait, I now want to take a closer look at the side walls, because there are also some nice details that should not be missing.
Let's look at the Side 2, where there are some inconsistencies in David Maier's Paper Kit touching his CAD Design, that contains some details that do not fit to MLP-2 and therefore need to be corrected.
Here first this picture of the Side 2 of my MLP. This side is admittedly numbered in the first and last Bay with Nr. 2 for MLP-2, which, on closer inspection, contradicts some details of the original.
This red-rimmed three-fold kink of the two thin pipes above the LOX lines there is only on the MLP-1, which can be seen in the following picture. Therefore, David M. obviously must have confused the MLP numbers, whyever, because otherwise I can not explain.
Source: NASASpaceFlight.com (NasaPhotographer, STS-116)
This typical route of the two pipes in the middle does not match the MLP-2, as can be seen in the next picture. Both on MLP-2 and MLP-3, these two pipes have only a double kink, which is not in the side center, but further to the left in the Bay 13, whereas the three-fold kink on the MLP-1 is clearly to the right of this interface (Bay 9-11).
Source: NASA (STS-115)
David M. also has some reference photos in his Paper Kit documentation. The curiosity about the thing is that the only reference photo of the Side 2 comes from the MLP-3, whereby the double kink here is unfortunately hidden by the service platform.
Source: NASA
Therefore it would have been better, if the master had used the MLP-3 as a template, especially since his LC39-Paper Kit is based on the STS-135, on which MLP-3 was used. Then his CAD design would have been self-consistent and Launch Pad and MLP would get well together.
But be that as it may, one only needs to know and take into account for the construction, which is why I simply let this false triple kink disappear and will mount these two pipes with the double kink in the right place.
Fortunately, I have made some copies of the side walls, and there are also some sheets with backup parts in the Paper kit, among others also with neutral gray bays, as one can see here, which I have used.
Since some bays on the side because of the slight reddish color anyhow were not to my liking, these parts for the Bay Lifting come just right, since they fit quite well from the color to the remaining side.
Now I have to cut off only suitable parts for the corresponding bays and thereby to redecorate, with which I have already begun here.
And so I'm hopeful that I can give this side with a better outfit.
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#1228 by Davp99 on 05 May, 2017 20:29
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Strange, Like 2 Chef's in the Kitchen...
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#1229 by mike robel on 05 May, 2017 23:26
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Manfred. Have you ever been to the Maerklin museum in Goeppingen? That place is full of masterpieces, but your work easily exceeds there's. It's just magnificent.
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#1230 by roma847 on 06 May, 2017 00:20
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Thanks Dave and Mike for your kind words.
BTW, I still don't know this museum, do you kow it?
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#1231 by mike robel on 06 May, 2017 00:36
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It's the model train company Marklin (with an umlaut) in southern Germany, relatively near Stuttgart. When I was last in Germany (1984 - 1987) I was stationed in Boblingen, near Stuttgart as part of the 1st Infantry Division (Forward) [The Big Red One]. Our brigade headquarters was in Goppingen. Before that 1977 - 1980 I was stationed in Fulda with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (The Black Horse). Wonderful times. I really liked Germany. My German is not so good now, but it gets better if I drink German Beer.
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#1232 by roma847 on 07 May, 2017 00:05
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Hello Mike,
that's interesting to know about your former stations in Germany, then you are half a Swabian.
Then let's have a drink, Mike!
Cheers!!!
BTW, Böblingen and Göppingen are in close vicinity, I live in Filderstadt, which is very close to the Stuttgart Airport, which you then surely know, right?
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#1233 by mike robel on 07 May, 2017 01:13
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Manfred, Oh yes! We're practically hometown boys!
Have some of this for me! And a ziggeunerschnitzel!
Mike
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#1234 by IanThePineapple on 07 May, 2017 01:55
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I live in America, can I still stop by for a beer and then
stealtake a look at that model?
Looking better every post! -
#1235 by roma847 on 07 May, 2017 12:29
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Manfred, Oh yes! We're practically hometown boys!
Have some of this for me! And a ziggeunerschnitzel!
Mike
Hi Mike,
yeah, my mouth is already watering.
Cheers, my hometown boy!
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#1236 by roma847 on 07 May, 2017 12:36
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I live in America, can I still stop by for a beer and then
stealtake a look at that model?
Looking better every post!
Thanks Ian for your nice words,
then come along across the pond and have a look, but do not touch!!! 
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#1237 by roma847 on 10 May, 2017 14:15
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Hello everybody,
after a little art break, it can now go on now, but therefor a little more detailed.
Here is an image of the Side 2 after the recent modification of some bays with some "new wallpapers".
Now the disturbing triple kink is eliminated, but as it has turned out, it is not done with it, because on closer inspection, I have also noticed other things that are exactly related to this triple kink and finally explain its strange constructive execution, which is completely mystery to me.
The reason for my research was initially the fact that the Side 2 still did not really please me, especially since the two thinner pipes and this little red circled box on the frame in the Bay 13 seem sit too high.
Moreover the marked supports on the right (Bay 3-8) have too big shadows, and as I wanted to scratch the supports anyway, they should then cast their own shadows.
That's why I did still some ancestral research and have looked at my few old reference pictures from the Side 2 at times of the STS-6 and afterwards, but they don't show enough details because they are simply too fuzzy. And the awesome HiRes NASA or Street View panoramas from the past few years unfortunately do not help, but only clarify the dilemma with which I must necessarily live with during my Real Space Scratching of my models.
Meanwhile, I'm a bit smarter and I know that I can also redecorate this box on the frame in the Bay 13, as there was no such equipment at the MLPs during the first shuttle years, but instead a different typical detail on another place.
A first clue for this was the shot from Challenger's Rollout for the STS-8 (1983), which at first glance seems less exhilarating, because one can hardly see any details on the Side 2. Therefore, I would like to draw your attention directly to this encircled hutch, which later inter alia can explain the position and shape of the triple kink on Side 2 of the Paper Kit.
In the linked HiRes resolution one can see this somewhat larger box in the Bay 10 more clearly, and the practiced eye can also recognize the double kink of the two pipes on the left even though only hazy.
Source: spacefacts.de
And here is a shot of the STS-6 from this NSF forum by Ares67, which shows on the left side of the picture that this box above the two thinner pipes at that time already had existed, actually logical, since both missions are only a few months apart. 
Source: NASASpaceFlight.com (Ares67)
In the course of these findings, I have recollected to images from the Side 4, on which I had noticed a similar box, which can be seen in the following image section from the Lift-off to the STS-6 and that it has oblique supports. 
After my overview so far, there were these boxes at the MLPs at least until the end of the 80s, as one can see on this picture from the rollout of the Discovery on the MLP-2 for the STS-29 (1989).
Source: spacefacts.de
Since these middle boxes are not available in the Bay 10 in the paper kit, I can now adjust myself to this and can omit these other boxes in the Bay 13 and the triple kink of the pipes (Bay 9-11) with clear conscience.
But now still to the elucidation of the location of this triple-kink in the paper kit, which is indeed on the Side 2 of the MLP-1. The reason for this becomes clear very quickly from this image of the Rollout of the Columbia to the STS-1, although I had to evaluate lots of images. But from the STS-1, there are luckily most of the images you can find in the KSC-Media-Archiv.
As can be seen in this picture, earlier this box was sitting there, around which the pipes were installed. I suspect that it could be a kind of Firex water tank, because you can see a red pipe on the right, which would speak for it.
Source: NASA
These boxes were later dismantled on the MLP-1 (red circle), as can be seen in the image of the STS-79 (1996). And since then there is in the Bay 13 instead this box on the frame (green circle), which is existing in the paper kit on both sides, but for the MLP-2 they are absolutely wrong there. 
Source: NASA
For the sake of completeness, it should be mentioned that the old boxes on the MLP-2 were also sometime dismanteled and replaced by the boxes on the frame, as shown in this picture of the STS-115 (2006), which was then also freshly painted.
Source: NASA
And now I come to the great photos of the MLP-2 from John Duncan from the year 1998, which I actually wanted to use as standard reference photos for the further detailing of the side walls.
Since it is soon time to deal with the "roof"gutters, which are interrupted several times, I have numbered the Bays on the Side 2 for better orientation, since I do not always want to count them again for myself.
I can still use these images well for scratching, since one can see the details of the pipes and the supports very beautifully.
Source: apollosaturn.com (John Duncan)
Source: apollosaturn.com (John Duncan)
I just have to keep in mind that I have to omit the box with frame in Bay 13 and mount the old box in the Bay 10.
And finally there are still some small things that I need to correct on this occasion on the Paper Kit side walls, of which more later.
After seeing things a bit clearer and having penetrated through David Maier's MLP confusion, I feel immediately more comfortable again.
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#1238 by Ronpur50 on 11 May, 2017 02:53
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Wow, another amazing history lesson. I have always studies the changes in the orbiters, since that is what I build, but I never realized so many things evolved on the MLPs as well!
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#1239 by roma847 on 11 May, 2017 11:08
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Thanks Ron,
yeah, and so everyone can ride his own hobbyhorse.
Since I am building one of the oldest Shuttle missions, I need to to spy out many details and investigate until they become tangible for scratch-building, but this is very interesting and also challenging.
