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#2060 by roma847 on 04 Jun, 2021 18:33
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Hello everybody,
next I've punched out the basic body of the gear case (Part 1) with my wide Chisel cutter (Martor) from the Styrene Sheet (0,3 mm), whereby I have already noticed how stable this part is, so that folding and bending of the individual sides as in Paper construction is eliminated a priori.
That's why I first separated all parts from each other. But since these parts would lead to incorrect dimensions of the gear case when glued together due to their thickness, I had to realize that this variant would not be effective, which is why I've rescheduled.
Since I also have Styrene Sheet (0,15 mm), which corresponds to the normal paper thickness of the paper kit, I came up with the idea,
to cut out the part after transferring the outlines and to try to fold it like in paper construction and glue it to the edges. 
First I tried to fold a small piece like an angle by holding it under a steel ruler and bending it up with the chisel cutter, which I succeeded in doing.
To transfer the contours, I've then pierced all the corner points of the template with a thin needle (0,3 mm),
what will probably hardly be seen,
which I've then connected with a pencil, which in turn was balm for the eyes.
Then I've cut out the part with a fine scissors and slightly reworked the edges using the laid on template.
Then I folded the part edge by edge under the steel ruler.
Since gluing the edges edge to edge seemed too risky to me, I've glued in small Evergreen sticks (1,5 x 1,5 mm) inside as adhesive edges and for stabilization.
As a result, gluing the base body was no longer rocket science.
Then I've glued on the Base plate (Part 35) made of 0,3 mm sheet, on which the dome-shaped attachment for holding the Propel motor shaft will sit.
And my ARC friend Joe has already started with the gear case and delivered a first image of his 3D model, which looks great.
Source: ARC Forums (crackerjazz)
And next I'll try my hand at this semicircular casing.
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#2061 by roma847 on 11 Jun, 2021 22:57
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Hello everybody,
sorry, but because of the many sporting events (Soccer U21 European championship, Ice hockey World championship, Tennis, etc.)
I was a bit distracted, but in between it goes on with the Gear case now.
After the basic body was so far finished, I've started with the smaller dome-shaped attachment, through which the rear end of the Propel motor shaft extends into the gear, what has been already shown in this image.
Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (JayP)
And with that away from the original and down to the model level 1/160, and I can only say what's coming next is small, but oh my!!!
First I've transferred the paper template from the Outlines PDF onto Styrene (0,15 mm) and partially cut it out or carefully punched out with the chisel cutter.
Then I've folded the dome, so far, so good. Since direct gluing of this part should be almost hopeless, I thought about a solution with internal support struts. 
To stabilize the small case, I've first glued in a base plate (1 x 4 mm), which requires a firm stop so that nothing can slip. 
With the help of the supports glued in on the inside, I was able to glue the pre-curved arch, whereby the strip had to be fixed at the lower end until the glue set.
Even if this procedure may seem a bit laborious at first glance, it was successful and definitely gave me courage, especially since the test fitting on the gearbox looked quite acceptable. 
Then the side walls were glued on,
whereby the gear case took on more and more shape.
From now on it will get smaller and smaller, and in the end there will even be midgets < 1 mm, although I still don't know, how to handle it when gluing into place ...
As one can see in this image, there are a number of details on the outer side of the case in the form of attached discs, rings and wedge-shaped struts, which I'm scratching one after the other, first the ones in the red border (Parts 36-40).
Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)
There are these three discs there with different diameters (Ø 3,4 mm, 2,0 mm, 1,5 mm) which I've punched out of styrene of different thicknesses by using my Punch & Die Set.
Then I've glued them onto each other,
and glued them at the side wall of the dome.
I still have problems with these Rings (Parts 20), whose inner diameter (Ø 2,5 mm) I can punch out, while I still have to rework the outer diameter (Ø 3,4 mm) a little bit.
And on the other side of the case there are the details circled in green, (Parts 41-45), whereby I've first puzzled over awhile how to build and glue this flat, curved cover (1 x 5 mm),
until I came up with a solution. 
And that will be the next step.
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#2062 by roma847 on 13 Jun, 2021 22:58
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Hello everybody,
for gluing of the 3 parts for the arched cladding I've cut out small supports again, for the middle a flat profile (0,75 x 1 mm), and for the two ends a Triangular profile (1 x 1 mm) so that the pre-curved strip cannot be pressed in when gluing.
Then I've first glued the two side parts with the supports, fixed by a magnet stop,
and then have glued this structure to the curved strip, with a little overhang on both sides so that the ends could be cut off exactly after the adhesive had set.
In the image on the left the small disc (Part 43, Ø 1,5 mm) could just be seen yet, which together with the 3 wedges (Parts 45) must be glued to the side wall of the dome, which suddenly had been disappeared, never to be seen again,
wherefore I had to punch them out once again.
But after I had prepared the drop of glue, this disc was gone too - I thought I was going to lose control!
And suddenly I happened to see the disc hanging under my little finger, as if there were evil forces at work!
After I had digested the renewed horror and had blown off my steam again, I've cut off the protruding parts of the glued cladding with the cutter,
and have glued it together with the small disc on the side wall.
And with that now to the green circled 3 wedges (Parts 45),
for which I've cut a narrow sheet strip (0,15 mm),
which I've cut diagonally in half with the chisel cutter at a distance of 2 mm, which resulted in these mini wedges.
Now I just had to somehow glue these snippets onto the side wall, just wondering how, since even taking them up in the pointed tweezers is extremely problematic and stressful.
To be able to grab them at all, they have to stand upright, which is why I wedged them between two steel rulers. Actually, however, they have to be clamped in exactly the other way around so that they can be attached with the wide side onto the disc, which of course did not work right away.
Finally I've put it on my fingertip, carefully gripped it with the tweezers, picked up a touch of glue and then carefully glued it on the side wall.
After this was finally done, it can now continue on the other side of the case, on which similarly cute details await me, whereby the red circled 5 mini struts (Parts 40) on this dome side with 0,3 x 1,5 mm are even tinier! 
Now I'm stretched like grandma's garter belts whether I can somehow get hold of them in order to be able to glue them ...
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#2063 by Starbase101 on 15 Jun, 2021 04:42
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So......where again do the batteries go for this thing to propel itself?
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#2064 by roma847 on 15 Jun, 2021 08:22
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Where already, in the Engine room of the Crawler, of course, where else!
Here you can look around.
Source: NASA
And my batteries are installed right there!
Do you remember?
All clarities eliminated?
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#2065 by roma847 on 16 Jun, 2021 19:15
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Hello everybody,
here is a look at the measurement of the Mini-Struts (Parts 40) circled in red in the last post, wherewith I've been dealing now. 
Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)
And as one can see, these tiny pieces (0,3 x 1,3 mm) would hardly be able to be handled safely, let alone glued, even with my sharpest tweezers.
That's why I've remembered my Strip technique, I used at the time (2016) for the SSWS Inlet pipes in the corners of the SRB Chambers, long long ago ... 
The trick with this solution is that one at first cuts longer strips than necessary, with the appropriate width (0,3 mm), which so are much easier to grasp and glue.
After the adhesive had hardened, I've carefully shortened these strips to their final length of 1,3 mm with the razor blade, and have also beveled them from the outside to the inside, what I've actually succeeded in doing.
And in the same way I've proceeded on the front of the Dome attachment, on which there are the details circled in blue (Parts 29-32), for which I would have to move further down my previous handling limit,
Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)
since the dimensions of the two outer Mini struts (Parts 32) with 0,3 x 0,5 mm are clearly < 1 mm.
Then there is also this Ring (Part 31) there, into which the drive shaft of the motor (Ø 0,8 mm) ends, whose dimensions with Øo 1,3 mm and Øi 1,0 mm, as well as a height of only 0,3 mm was a bit of a headache at first.
But I've also found a solution for this, because I've thought of the thin Shrink tubing that I had initially tested for the small lamps on the Crawler truck sides.
For this purpose, I made a first shrink attempt on the Punch (Ø 1,2 mm) with a tube (Ø 2,0 mm) which has shrunken under the heat gun to Øo 1,6 mm, which was still a bit too large for me.
In the next test I've used the punch with Ø 1,0 mm, with whose shrinking result (Øo 1,3 mm) I was completely satisfied then,
because the shaft of the Propel motor fits perfectly into the ring and also still has some clearance.
Using this tube I've cut a Ring (0,3 mm),
and have glued it together with the Disc (Ø 2,5 x 0,5 mm) to the front side of the dome. Then the surrounding struts were glued, wherewith also the front side is completed now.
Before that I had also still glued this Mini disc (Ø 0,6 mm x 0,2 mm) to the dome.
Now the orange marked front part of the Gear case is still missing,
Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)
which is next in line.
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#2066 by roma847 on 21 Jun, 2021 14:26
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Hello everybody,
for a better overview I have again determined some dimensions of the parts in the 3D PDF,
Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)
which I've then printed out from the Outlines PDF.
At it first I didn't even notice that both side parts (Parts 8, 9) have different inner contours,
which promptly resulted in the fact that I've glued the side walls reversed in the bulging cladding, which I've only noticed later.
The bonding was carried out on a sheet metal base, to be on the safe side again on a Teflon foil (PTFE), the parts being fixed with small super magnets to prevent slipping.
Before, I had cut out the opening for the small lining (Part 10),
which was then glued inside, which was quite a fiddling, until it was in the right place and the glue was cured.
And only when I had put the cladding on the housing did I notice that the semicircular contours did not match because I had glued the side walls of the cover the wrong way round.
This careless mistake had happened to me, because I had already thought more about the construction of the lower, curved claddings (Parts 11, 12) on the flat bases.
These small claddings I wanted to build from a base strip and an attached circle segment, for which I had punched out several discs (Ø 5 mm) from Styrene (1 mm) to get the required width, which is different on both sides, as you can see from the laid stripes on.
Then I've drawn the segments on the discs,
whereby I've cut the segments for the smaller curvature (Part 8 ) a little narrower,
in order to roughly account for the different contours.
It looked like this in front of the side wall (Part 8 ), which didn't convince me of the proportions, because the lower curvature of the disc (Ø 5 mm) is too wide and optically simply does not match the large curvature.
Therefore I've also punched out a couple of discs with Ø 4 mm, the circular segments of which fit perfectly into the picture. What such a small difference can make.
For this, the segments of the Ø 5 mm discs correspond exactly to the intended curvature on the other side wall (Part 9),
so that I can now glue these parts together.
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#2067 by roma847 on 23 Jun, 2021 22:40
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Hello everybody,
first I've glued the two circle segments for the front side wall together, slightly reworked the seams, and then glued them to the small base. After a short drying time, this small cladding was glued to the gear case.
For the cladding on the rear side wall, three circle segments were glued together to get the slightly larger width.
Then I've glued stripes again instead of the triangular struts, first on the front side wall,
and then on the back of the cladding, whereby my Euro Cent was abruptly attracted by the magnet, which one know and take into account so that no damage is done.
Then the protruding stripes were cut back to the triangular shape of the struts,
for what I've used the following tools to do. In addition to two nail scissors and the razor blade, this Minaral file was particularly well suited for the gentle finishing of the slants, as its narrow side is smaller than the slants are long.
That was quite a game of patience, especially since I had to proceed with extreme caution and a steady hand in order not to tear off the struts, which only adhere to a minimal linear adhesive contact. But as it looks, the result is nothing to sneeze at. 
But now there are a few more details, such as these Rings (Parts 20), which I've already tried.
While I was able to punch out their inner diameter (Ø 2,4 mm) from sheet (0,2 mm), for the outer diameter (Ø 3,4 mm) I've punched out a template with which I could transfer this.
But now the harder part of the exercise came with cutting out the ring, especially since its width is only approx. 0,5 mm, so one can still hardly hold the ring towards the end.
Therefore, I had to leave a small overhang on the ring, which I've then painstakingly stroked off all around with the mineral file. And after the rings were carefully glued, I was able to take a deep breath and wipe off my sweat. 
Then there are these small screws bezels (Parts 2/3) that I wanted to at least indicate, even if only made of paper, but at least.
Next to come this small Platform (Parts 4-6, 16-19) on which the Propel motor is mounted,
whereby I will modify the structure of the pedestal a bit.
That's it for today.
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#2068 by roma847 on 25 Jun, 2021 20:28
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Hello everybody,
and therewith on to the Final Countdown!
As one can see again in the following image, the substructure of the platform in the Paper kit is designed as a kind of plug-in connection, which gives the thin paper a certain stability which I've denied myself because Styrene (0,2 mm) is stiff enough and slitting the small parts would be difficult.
Likewise, the Cladding (Part 7) should be slotted and the Platform supports (Parts 4/6) should be inserted into these slots and glued, which appeared for me unnecessarily complicated.
Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)
That's why I've modified the supports and cut out the contour of the curve so that I could glue it directly onto the cladding.
With the 7 Mini disks (Ø 0,6 mm x 0,2 mm) I want to try to indicate the screws on the small side claddings.
After the 4 small plates for the motor feet were glued to the platform plate, this had to be fixed again accordingly for the secure gluing of the supports,
with which the platform was completed.
Then the platform could be glued to the case cladding.
And then came the exciting moment of trying on the Propel motor on the platform, whose drive shaft, to my surprise, fitted perfectly into the socket of the dome-shaped attachment.
On this image one can also nicely see the 3 screws on the base of the small cladding.
And if I now calmly make me realize the size of this imposing couple once again next to the Euro Cent,
then a small feeling of satisfaction and also proud of the result of my work creeps over me.
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#2069 by roma847 on 25 Jun, 2021 22:19
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Hello friends,
but in my euphoria I have now yet overlooked one assembly, namely this Fan unit (Parts 21-25), which looks formidable, but of course it shouldn't be missing.
Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)
Source: NASA
And these are the parts required,
Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)
whereby the Part 23 looks a bit bizarre indeed, so that I have to figure out how I can best scratch it.
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#2070 by EG on 26 Jun, 2021 00:53
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Beautiful work, 15 more to go.... And the Fan units? Right and left, 8 of each....
You simply amaze with your scratch building skills my friend....
I'm learning a lot.... -
#2071 by roma847 on 26 Jun, 2021 07:57
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Thanks my friend for your nice compliments.
But the time exposure and also the stress are simply too high for series production, which I don't want to do to myself,
so let's see what Shapeways will get going ...
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#2072 by roma847 on 03 Jul, 2021 23:03
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Hello everybody,
in the meantime I have started building the Fan unit (Parts 21-25), for which, as I said, at first I had a lot of respect, because the whole assembly is quite small and has an idiosyncratic and complicated shape, which is why I pondered for a long time about a workable solution that is still feasible, especially on my small scale (1/160).
First I've started with the simpler-looking front box (Part 21) and tried to fold it in the classic way out of paper and glue it (left in the image), but quickly noticed that the tiny angled corners would let hardly be glued cleanly, which is why I discarded this variant.
Then I glued the part onto Styrene (0,15 mm) and punched it out.
But this Paper/Styrene variant has also proven to be too complicated and unsuitable, since exact edges were even more difficult to fold, and the glued-on paper began to tear and peel off, wherefore I haven't even used the prepared angles for the corners.
But famously there isn't just one way of doing it, and that's why I have omitted the sloping corners in the 3rd variant. As already with the Gear case I've then again pierced the corner points of the paper template on Styrene (0,15 mm), traced with a pencil and then carefully punched out the part.
Then I carefully folded the main edges and glued in small triangular profiles to support the gluing of the sloping side walls, what has proven itself again.
Then the two angle strips could be glued into the front corners with sufficient overhang for handling, for which purpose the box was fixed again with super magnets.
For gluing the other angle I had to change the clamping accordingly.
Finally, the protruding parts of the angles were carefully cut off with the razor blade and the edges smoothed.
last but not least, I also still glued the inlet grid to the underside, for a better look.
Now only the narrow edge strip around the grid is missing (Part 22, red arrows),
Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)
which I will glue later, when this box is connected to the tricky Part 23, which is next in line, because it would only interfere during the final assembly. 
Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)
And for this idiosyncratically shaped part, which in addition to the lower rounding (Ø 4 mm) in the upper area is also still twofoldly slanted, I now have to come up with a special solution, because I consider making of the part provided in the paper kit to be hopeless due to its small size.
But at least I already have an idea how I can scratch that thing.
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#2073 by roma847 on 04 Jul, 2021 19:50
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Hello everybody,
I can tell you, this measly Part 23 of the fan unit really has it all.
To get the required thickness (2,4 mm) of the rounded part, I first transferred the outline on a Styrene strip (1,4 x 5 mm) and filed it to the final shape, which was quite tedious. 
The second disk I transferred to a strip (1,0 x 5 mm), which was shortened by the upper side slant, because there I've planned a triangular profile for the slant to the rear.
After both disks had been glued and reworked, the triangular profile was glued on with a little overhang, which I then carefully wanted to punch off, but this failed because the part came loose.
So I shortened this piece accordingly, but due to its triangular shape it could no longer be gripped with the tweezers for the gluing, which I've managed to do with a tape strip. 
After the slant has been carefully sanded,
I was able to turn to the assembly of the front box, which has now also received the lower frame.
After I had marked the position of the box on the front of the rounded part,
the box could finally be glued, which was half the battle! The problem with gluing such small parts is always a stable fixation of the parts, without which it would not work. 
Now the only thing missing was the connection of the fan with the gear case, for which there is a small Platform (Part 25) on which a small Cylinder (Part 24, Ø 1,5 mm) is sitting, which is only connected to the fan, but not to the housing,
what I only recognized with the aid of the ingenious Truck 3D PDF. This area is no longer visible after assembly, but it doesn't matter, that's how it should be. 
Source: MicroArtwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)
After trying on the fan,
the cylinder could then be glued to the back,
followed by another try-on.
Then the small platform was glued onto the cylinder,
after which the entire fan unit was glued to the housing,
with which the gear case was complete.
After a successful last try-on, I then glued the Propel motor to its housing platform, with which the work is finally done, whose result completely satisfied me.
With a little distance one can hardly guess the effort
and sweat that this small assembly has costed ... 
BTW, my friend Joe (crackerjazz) has also found time again to continue with modeling of the Gear case and has posted another image of his 3D Model which shows that he's on a good track.
Source: ARC Forums (crackerjazz)
And so it can go on.
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#2074 by roma847 on 04 Jul, 2021 22:12
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Hello everybody,
my friend Joe (crackerjazz) was very hardworking and has now completed the 3D Modeling of the Gear case, which I would like to present here in some images. 
Sources: ARC Forums (crackerjazz)
Without exaggeration, his model has become absolutely perfect,
which is largely due to the fact that he, like me, with the Truck 3D PDF and the Outlines PDFs by the ingenious LUT designer Mischa Klement (MicroArtwork) were able to fall back on perfect reference material, which was an invaluable advantage.
Now we have to see which details we may have to modify so that Shapeways can also print the model.
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#2075 by roma847 on 05 Jul, 2021 13:46
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Hello everybody,
here are some more images of my friend Joe from trying on the 3D models of the Gear case and the Propel motor.
Sources: ARC Forums (crackerjazz)
And as one can see, both assemblies fit together perfectly.
How could it also be otherwise, after all, Mischa Klement, the creator of the ingenious Crawler Paper Kit (1/96) has worked on his project approx. 10 years, which would once again prove that everything takes time, true to the saying: Good things come to those who wait!
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#2076 by roma847 on 05 Jul, 2021 20:00
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Hello everybody,
in keeping with the last images of his 3D models, here is an interesting note from my ARC friend Joe, who said that this somehow reminds him of an AT-AT.
Since I'm not a direct Star Wars Fan as an older semester, I first had to find out who/what was meant by that, but which my son was able to explain to me quickly.
This is The All Terrain Armored Transporter,
which many of you are likely to know ... 
Source: starwars.com
And I have to say, as far as the top part is concerned, the thing actually bears some resemblance to that Crawler Gear Case ...
After that I've immediately returned the favor and thanked him with this image for his great work so far,
which caused a sensation in the ARC Forums.
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#2077 by mike robel on 09 Jul, 2021 17:06
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Your. Work. Just. Continues. To. Amaze. Me. It's Fantastic.
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#2078 by roma847 on 09 Jul, 2021 20:05
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Thanks Mike for your nice compliments, which mean a lot to me especially from you.
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#2079 by roma847 on 16 Jul, 2021 11:26
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Hello everybody,
after longer being busy with different Crawler assemblies now a change of scene, and thus after several earlier attempts back to the lighting of the MLP to finally bring light into the darkness on the Side 1.
After I finally had decided on the cabling interface between the Pad and Crawler at the Pedestal 6 next to the FSS tower, I've defined once again the last division of the LED circles more precisely, based on my STS-6 reference photo.
Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)
And this is exactly how it looks on my MLP.
So I've rummaged out the utensils from that time and tried to gradually recapitulate the handling steps, which took some time.
At first, however, I proceeded rather naively, held the toothpick with the impaled ferrule in my right hand, held the tip in my left hand with tweezers and then carefully began to separate with a slight advance, which initially led to some losses, Bang - up and away ...
To avoid that, I then put a kind of collecting cage under the cutting disc and held the tip with a pair of pliers, which then worked better.
Then I've searched my URL-Screenshot directory of my Building-report, which is meanwhile 120 pages long, and came across my Separation technique from the previous year, which had proven itself, because it was much more solid, but unfortunately no longer in my mind ...
Back then I had clamped the toothpick with the impaled sleeve in a small vise, held the tip of the sleeve with pliers, and then carefully pushed the vise towards the cutting disc, which worked well.
After the separation, the sleeves must then be deburred by carefully sanding.
Then a small bead (Ø 1,3 mm x 1 mm) is glued with CA into each of the shades for better guidance of the LED wires,
what I'm going to do next.
As a lesson from this dilemma, I have meanwhile begun to add matching keywords to my URL-Screenshot directory to create an smart Report-Index, what should need some time, so that I can directly search for it in future research and get to my goal faster.
After painting the 20 lampshades required for the Side 1, the LED wires are threaded into them, followed by gluing the LEDs in the shades with Bondic UV adhesive and thus sealed at the same time.
Together with the appropriate dimensions I then send them to my friend Arno, who will then professionally solder up the 4 LED circles, which I can then lay and test on the Side 1.
