-
#2240 by roma847 on 22 Jul, 2022 18:16
-
Hello everybody,
next I tried to arrange the brackets on the bottom plate of the smaller transportation plate (4 mm x 5,5 mm) which is so small that it has place on the globe of the cent coin.
And as it quickly turned out, it's not that easy and requires a certain amount of dexterity when using the pointed tweezers, since you sometimes can't get hold of the tiny parts and there is a risk that they will suddenly jump away, whereon the Tile Monster is just waiting.
But the space check was at least satisfactory and showed that the space conditions on the drawing is sufficient.
However, I can't yet glue the brackets to the floor plate because I need to know how wide the Hold-down Clevis with the inserted Tie-down Lug Plate is, that needs to fit into the narrow gap (0,8 mm) between the two plates.
So I first had to use various detailed photos to scratch the appropriate parts in order to be able to carry out a 'real' space check. And those were the plates for the Clevis, which I need in total 8 x, the dimensions of which I determined in this and other photos.
Source: NASA (STS-132)
This image shows the prototype of the plate and the prepared base plates (0,4 mm x 1,3 mm x 2,6 mm). Above that is my first sample of the Tie-down Lug Plate, which I still have to modify a bit, as subsequent measurements have shown that the plate is a bit too small and too thick.
So I used the first one as a template to prepare another Clevis plate to test the fork,
and have cut off and pre-drilled the remaining six plates.
Furthermore, one can also see on this image the modified Tie-down Lug Plate with the two outer discs, all three made of Evergreen Styrene (0,13 mm) so that the finished plate also fits into the Clevis. What to think all about ...
And because I was there once, I also prepared the remaining Lug plates,
which I need 4 x.
But that's enough of the preparation, next comes the practice test.
-
#2241 by roma847 on 24 Jul, 2022 21:53
-
Hello everybody,
let's go into and win fight for the tenths of a millimeter when gluing the puzzle pieces onto the small transportation plate!
First I intended to do the Tie-down Lug Plate, the three parts of which I glued one after the other with Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK). To do this, I put the middle disc with the snippet and the outer disc on a needle (Ø 0,5 mm), on which I can align both parts precisely beforehand, after which I then paint a brush stroke with MEK, which is enough to glue them together.
Since the hold of the needle on the Balsa board was not stable enough,
I've clamped the needle in a clamp and clamped it firmly to the tabletop. After that I was able to align the panes in peace and carefully wet the edges with MEK with the tip of the brush. The bonding can be accelerated by blowing lightly on the splice immediately afterwards, which means that the MEK quickly evaporates and the parts are connected in no time, which I learned from a friend at a trade fair. 
Then the needle was clamped around and the other disc was glued on the back in the same way.
Then the opening was re-drilled a little and the thickness of the plate was measured,
which actually stayed within the predetermined range with 0,4 mm.
Then I put the two Hold-down Clevis Plates) on a stick from both sides and measured the thickness of this arrangement,
which with 0,79 mm also remained within the required range (≤ 0,8 mm), which cannot be seen on the caliper rule,
and you just have to believe me.
After that, I could go about gluing the Clevis brackets to the smaller transportation plate with a clear conscience, which I had to think carefully about beforehand, based on the drawing.
These are the two brackets under which the small base plate of the hold-down fork has to fit, for which I have in mind a detachable connection, like at the original, whereby the Clevises can be plugged in for vertical transportation and pulled out for horizontal transportation, what of course complicates the whole thing a bit.
For this I came up with the following solution.
The underside of the outer bracket I've dabbed a drop of the normal Revell glue and set it down with the tweezers against the stop of the steel ruler and immediately checked and slightly corrected its position. Then I supported the gluing with some MEK on both sides and checked the lower free space with a strip (0,4 mm x 1,5 mm).
Gluing the other bracket was inevitably more difficult, which is why I checked its arrangement beforehand and thought about how best to proceed, especially since everything is quickly glued together with the MEK, and inseparably so,
which of course shouldn't happen. 
So I thought about a special fixation for the transport plate,
in which it is clamped under a steel ruler, which allows me to align the other holder at another ruler and could adjust the upper and lower opening with appropriate placeholder strips. 
After that I've removed the bottom placeholder and gently dabbed the front part of the left bracket with MEK, which held it in place.
Then I've turned the plate over, carefully fixed it again, and then glued the outside of the bracket with MEK.
And after pulling out the upper placeholder strip, this bracket also sits firmly on the base plate.
Now I can think about how I can glue the Clevis plates to their smaller base plate so that the finished Clevis then also fits into the small opening under the brackets, 
what should be at least as complicated and exciting.
-
#2242 by roma847 on 28 Jul, 2022 11:24
-
Hello everybody,
and now to the gluing of the Hold-down Clevis onto the small base plate (0,4 mm x 1,3 mm x 2,6 mm), which shouldn't become a cakewalk, because there's hardly any space on this little snippet and handling seemed extremely difficult. 
But so far I've always come up with a solution , even if it may have looked adventurous at times.
It would be skillful if one could glue both Clevis plates onto the base plate in one step, for which I carefully grabbed and aligned them with tweezers, with an inserted spacer with the thickness of the Tie-down Lug Plate (0,4 mm), additionally supported by an inserted round rod (Ø 0,5 mm).
Of course, both of these must be firmly clamped and fixed before one can start with gluing, for which again only the MEK glue and a fine pointed red sable brush come into question. 
The positioning and alignment of the plates in this tricky holder on the base plate could still be done with a lot of care, patience and finesse, but it became clear to me that the gluing between the two rulers had little chance of success because the [color=blue ]baseplate[/color] might also stick to the rulers after wetting it with MEK, which has happened to me before, because the creeping ability of MEK is treacherous and unpredictable.
Therefore it was more advantageous to do without the prepared short base plates and to use a longer strip of the same width (1.3 mm), which is fixed with sufficient overhang between the rulers and can cut off after successful gluing.
This gives you a little more freedom of movement with the brush when wetting the tiny corner, which is at least a small relief. However, there is also a risk of sticking to the cutting mat here, especially since my red sable brush seemed too frayed for that anyway.
That's why I thought about whether it wouldn't be better if I got myself a new red sable brush, and the finest there is.
But just with this consideration, it suddenly made Bang,
and my daredevil tweezer holder collapsed, what totally scared me. 
Luckily the impaled Clevis plates hadn't flew off and survived the mishap unscathed.
So I've invented a similar holding jig using anantimagnetic tweezers and a smaller clamp, what seemed safer to me, 
especially since I was now able to use the more stable Magnet clamping technique again and the areas to be glued were much more accessible from the front too.
And for the MEK gluing I got the finest red sable brush,
whose brand name da Vinci - Maestro alone should guarantee quality,
and has gave me hope with its superfine tip.
And with this solution, I've quite successfully managed to glue the plates together, as one can see here. Only pushing the Clevis plates into the holder was quite difficult,
because there was almost no clearance in their opening and the seat was therefore too tight, which I have to take into account with the remaining three Clevis brackets. 
After I had carefully sanded out the opening with a strip of sandpaper a little bit, it was much easier to slide it in.
And after I had also smoothed the Tie-down Lug Plate on both sides a bit, it then also fitted well between the Clevis-Fork, wherewith I'm satisfied now.
Taking these findings into account, I should then be able to do the remaining three Clevises as well as the construction of the Transportation plates, which gives me confidence.
After cutting off the protruding base plate strip, the first of four Clevises is finally finished after a few birth pangs.
I'd rather do without the two handles for handling the original ca. 60 cm high holder,
Source: NASA (STS-135)
since they could just about be made with a length of 1 mm and a diameter of 0,1 mm, but their assembly would then be too risky and overkill.
If I can do the other three hold-down Clevises just as well, then I'll be satisfied already.
-
#2243 by roma847 on 04 Aug, 2022 14:23
-
Thanks Elmer for your short liking, not bad, considering ...
Hello Guys,
after I did successfully scratch the first Hold-down clevis quite well, I've glued the remaining three clevises together too.
Because the simultaneous gluing of the plates with MEK proved to be too unstable due to the minimal adhesive edges, I proceeded a little differently this time and used my steady hand and my eagle eyes trusted.
This time I fixed the base plate strip (1,3 m) to a steel ruler so that nothing could slip. Then I wet a Clevis plate lightly on the lower edge with Revell glue and carefully close to the edge of the strip (approx. 0,2 mm) placed at its end. After that, there was still enough time for the finest position corrections.
I then glued the other plate in the same way, inserted a spacer strip the thickness of the Tie-down Lug Plate (0,4 mm) between the plates and gently pressed both together with the tweezers. Then the position of the plates was adjusted to each other and the central position of the pair of plates was checked and adjusted if necessary, which worked quite well.
After that, to be on the safe side, I brushed the glued areas of both plates with MEK and cut off the base plate strip flush,
and the second Clevis was done too.
The two remaining Clevises then followed in the same way.
And as one can see, the Tie-down Lug Plate still fits in between, which was my biggest concern at first.
Next I tackled the two stoppers that one can see in this image on either side of the bottom of the canister. In my opinion these are more likely to be Sliding shoes for the Payload Canister, through which is guaranteed a certain guidance of the canister when the canister is set down on the Transporter as well as during unloading and hoisting into the RSS-Payload Bay.
Source: wikimedia.org (STS-132)
The fact that this PLC-Hoisting is an extremely complicated and not without danger process, I was just reading in James MacLaren's Page 51 on the Canister Hoisting System in his treatise about the structure of the Launch Complex 39-B, what I can warmly recommend to all interested parties,
which made a lot of things clearer to me, such as the need for additional securing of the canister on the "kneeling" transporter with several Tethers (Tag lines) during the Canister is hanging on the crane hook. 
Source: James MacLaren - The Construction of Space Shuttle Launch Complex 39-B (Page 51)
The sliding shoes sit on base plates, which are screwed onto the smaller Transportation Support Plates of the transporter during the Vertical Transportation mode.
For the base plate I used an Evergreen strip (0,75 mm x 1,5 mm), which I filed down to a width of 1,2 mm and cropped to 2,4 mm length.
For the sliding shoe, I filed an Evergreen strip (1,5 mm x 1,5 mm) to 1,2 mm x 1,3 mm, which was cropped to 3,5 mm length.
Then I wanted to do a first vertical test fitting of the canister on this transport plate and I have glued on the PLC base plate (0,5 mm x 2 mm x 2 mm) as a support for the canister,
have temporarily put the base plate of the sliding shoe on and set up the canister, what fits together quite well.
And this is what the finished sliding shoe looks like,
which is here standing on the plate, in front of it the Clevis is standing already,
which is inserted here with the inserted Lug Plate in the brackets,
but what is hardly recognizable from this distance.
The same Transportation support plate now will follow for the other corner, and then the two larger Transportation support plates will follow.
-
#2244 by EG on 04 Aug, 2022 17:30
-
You know as well as I do brother, once you have figured out one way to do it, another easier way within your skills will reveal itself...
Gorgeous work, very functional and in extreme miniature as well...
You are the master.... -
#2245 by roma847 on 04 Aug, 2022 18:30
-
Thanks Elmer for so many warm words of praise.
Yep, the first prototype is always the most difficult, but luckily there is Learning by doing, and the next ones are getting much easier.
-
#2246 by roma847 on 05 Aug, 2022 16:09
-
Hello everybody,
the first prototype is always the most difficult, but fortunately there is Learning by doing, and since I've meanwhile drilled me in this Mini-puzzle, the second plate was much easier to handle, so I can be brief, especially since the images are self-explanatory.
And with that, the two smaller Transportation Support Plates are now complete and can be put aside for the time being.
This brings me to the two larger Support plates, whose Clevis brackets are unfortunately not the same size, as one can see here. 
Source: NASA (STS-122)
But in the meantime I've been on the lookout for suitable Evergreen profiles and have actually found some.
For the upper part of the left bracket I can use the left Evergreen strip (0,38 mm x 2,5 mm), from which I only have to cut off 2 mm long pieces. And under these comes a strip of the right Evergreen strip (0,38 mm x 2,0 mm), which is to file to a width of 1,8 mm and to cut to 2,5 mm long pieces.
The two narrower brackets are already finished and only need to be glued to the plates.
So much for the preparation.
-
#2247 by roma847 on 11 Aug, 2022 18:55
-
Hello everybody,
despite the persistent heat, things have to go on, after all, the final of the Mini-Puzzle Show is just around the corner.
These are the both Evergreen Strips (0,38 mm x 2,0 mm x 2,6 mm) for the top parts of the wider brackets,
under which the narrower Evergreen Strips (0,38 mm x 1,6 mm x 2,6 mm) were glued (left on the ruler).
The narrower bracket was glued to the right edge of the fixed base plate in the manner already described, first with normal Revell glue, and after final alignment additionally still with MEK.
Then the wider bracket was glued to the left beside it, whereby the distances for the Hold-down Clevis were adjusted by spacers, above 0,8 mm)),
and below (1,3 mm),
wherewith the first step was done.
Into this opening the Clevis must now also be able to be pushed,
which also did fit perfectly.
And at these points the Transportation Support Plates for the vertical transport will sit on the Transporter.
Now the floor plates are still missing, onto which the Payload Canister is set down,
for their gluing I had a good orientation through the sketch laying beneath. As always, the be-all and end-all is a stable fixation of the plate so that nothing can slip, as well as pointed tweezers in a steady hand.
And the final stabilization of the Revell gluing with MEK is of course a must and provides additional security.
Finally, the stop bar was glued,
wherewith the plates for one side would almost finish.
After this the equipping of the larger plate for the other side did follow,
which took place after the same procedure, only everything in laterally reversed assembly,
which can quickly confuse ones.
And what is still missing from the larger plates, one can quickly see on the smaller plate, these are the Sliding shoes,
which are of different design and arrangement on these plates, as one can see here again.
Source: NASA (STS-122)
They will follow next time.
-
#2248 by roma847 on 14 Aug, 2022 08:45
-
Hello everybody,
and thus to the Sliding shoes on the larger transport plates, for which I used Evergreen strips (1,5 mm x 1,5 mm), which stand on small Floor plates (0,25 mm x 2,0 mm).
The larger sliding shoe is 3,2 mm high, the smaller 1,7 mm.
Handling these midgets when beveling the planing surface is pretty tricky as one can barely grab the pieces in the tweezers tight enough to keep them from flying off.
After the strip was clamped by magnet, it was glued in the tried and tested manner in two steps, first fixing with Revell adhesive and alignment, followed by stabilization with MEK.
During the positioning test on the transportation support plate, it turned out that the overhang of the floor plates was slightly too large and the place was therefore too small, which I had to correct. 
And finally, these are the two pairs of sliding shoes.
Then I've set up all four transportation plates with their sliding shoes to try them on.
They will not be glued, because also in reality they are screwed on separately for the respective Transportation mode (horizontal or vertical), otherwise they would only get in the way, what one can see on this image.
Source: NASA (STS-132)
And since the size comparison with my Euro cent coin is indeed always impressive but unrealistic, I have added a fireman (1:160) along, together with the four Hold-down Clevises.
The next step will be gluing the transportation plates onto the transporter, for which I have to think carefully about the position of the Payload Canister and the position of the plates and mark them accordingly,
Source: NASA
for which I still have to think about a precise procedure.
-
#2249 by mike robel on 14 Aug, 2022 16:33
-
GEEZE OH PETE! Such attention to detail!
-
#2250 by roma847 on 14 Aug, 2022 22:05
-
Thanks Mike,
so far so good, now I just have to glue the Support plates onto the right places of the Transporter, in order to match the Payload canister.
This will be a tricky undertaking in which nothing is allowed to go wrong.
-
#2251 by roma847 on 16 Aug, 2022 22:49
-
Hello everybody,
and thus on to the last battle and the tricky gluing of the Transportation Support Plates onto the Payload Canister Transporter.
Here is the pre-fitting test of the canister on the transport plates, but still without Clevises and Tie-down Lug plates.
But since I needed all four Lug Plates for the exact positioning of the transportation plates, I first had to scratch the remaining three of these plates.
These consist of three parts, the middle plate with the narrow bridge, onto which the smaller plates are glued with MEK from both sides. These plates are only glued later to the Payload Canister, but they are very helpful when positioning and aligning the transport plates, as will be seen shortly.
Then the previously determined position of the first larger transport plate was marked with several templates and tape strips, and the plate with the inserted Clevis, incl. Lug plate was placed and fixed on the left side with a narrow strip of tape.
For gluing the plates in this state the low-viscosity MEK is particularly suitable, as one only needs to carefully wet the edge with a fine brush, which is sufficient for a delicate gluing, whereby the position of the plate is already fixed.
In order to see the gluing edge clearly, I illuminated it with a small LED lamp.
Then the 1st edge was carefully glued,
and after folding over the adjoining templates/markings all around, also the remaining edges (2-4), wherewith the first transport plate was glued and the canister had its first fixed point. 
After the templates/markings were fixed again, the canister could be set up and the smaller Support plate put on.
After aligning it at the standing canister, the plate was then glued, whereby the position of the canister was already fixed on one side.
Then the transporter was carefully turned on the spot, after which the two panels were provisionally placed onto the other side.
Then the canister was set up and a small steel block was placed between the already glued plates as an additional lateral stop.
Since I would definitely would have to turn the transporter a few more times to check the position of the canister and the plates as well as the lateral distances, I've put the transporter on a airbrush turntable and have secured the canister using further steel blocks, which made it easier for me to handle from then on.
After the larger transport plate had been precisely adjusted again, it could then be glued on three sides.
Then the fourth plate still followed too,
which for gluing the front edge was fixed with a lateral block.
After removing the two blocks, the remaining sides of the plate were also be glued,
whereby the canister was definitively fixed by the transport plates.
Here is a view onto the front side.
Then all the blocks could be removed and the Sliding shoes were placed on the plates to get an overall impression,
what is impressive from all sides,
and has successfully passed my, as always, critical final check, wherewith my angelic patience has paid off at the end too. 
Thank God! 
Now I can calmly set out to scratch some more details on the Payload Canister, like there were the Door Latches of the Payload Bay Doors and their Door Actuator Pneumatic Drives, as well as ladders, platforms, doors, etc., wherewith I will definitely have to do with for a while ...
-
#2252 by roma847 on 19 Aug, 2022 23:21
-
Hello everybody,
now that I've dealt with the Vertical transportation mode long enough, the Horizontal transportation mode should also be brought into the picture once again.
To do this, all Hold-down Clevises as well as the Sliding shoes were usually dismantled and put next to the canister,
as one could see in this image,
Source: NASA (STS-132)
which I simulated just for fun.
After this little Milestone, I got all the parts to safety. The bizarre Tie-down Lug Plates are only glued to the canister at the end anyway and must not get lost. 
And the cleared transporter was parked in the cupboard until further notice and is waiting there for the canister to be completed.
As already announced, I can now take my time to turn to some more details on the Payload Canister what can be seen in this image.
Let's start with the Door Latches of the Payload Bay Doors, which can be seen in this drawing,
Source: NASA Conference Publication 2342 Part 2 (M. E. Donahue)
and whose structure can be studied in detail on this photo at high magnification (2000 x 3008).
Source: NASA (STS-114)
The Door Latch Mechanism could be actuated from either end of the door by a Torque tube that runs the length of the door, on which seven Latch Clamps are attached.
Source: NASA (STS-135)
To put it simply, scratching is about a tube with seven clamps that lock in latch mechanisms whose dimensions I first determined, whereby the diameter of the tube was used as reference dimension, which I determined from NASA drawings based on the width of the canister, which is Ø 0,7 mm (1:160).
Source: NASA (STS-114)
Since these parts are also in the millimeter range and below, I'm prepared for a lot, which is why I first had to think of a suitable solution with which I'll continue next time.
-
#2253 by roma847 on 28 Aug, 2022 23:03
-
Hello everybody,
on photos of the canister with the doors closed, one can usually only see the long Torque tube, but only a few details of the seven Door latches, and don't know on which of the two doors where/what is attached.
Source: NASA (STS-132)
Greater clarity about this one can only obtain from images of the canister with the doors open, whereby it is important when assigning special details from which side you look at the canister, but what you need to know for Scratching.
As one can see in the image below, the long Torque tube and the Swivel latches attached to it are on the door in the foreground, without knowing, however, which of the two Payload Bay Doors it is.
Source: NASA (STS-135)
This fact gave me a headache at first, what I've only gradually understood after analyzing several detailed photos about.
As one can see in this image, according to the NASA definition, one is looking at the Forward bulkhead of the canister, on which one can see the door gap. The left canister door is the so called Port Side Door, and the right door is the Starboard Side Door, on which the Torque Tube is attached, that is connected with the seven Door Latches.
Source: NASA (STS-135)
After realizing this, I thought about the best way to scratch these Door Latches.
For the Swivel latches, I first remembered the small Channel profile (0,7 mm x 1,2 mm) in the following image, from which I've cut off a first clamp with a razor blade, which unfortunately turned out to be too small for the Round bar (Ø 0,7 mm).
However, since I had determined in the meantime that the Swivel latch should have a length of 2 mm, I opted for a Evergreen H profile (1,8mm x 2,0mm) from which I filed off the webs on one side,
resulting in a suitable latch of sufficient height to cover the rod as can be seen in the photos with the doors closed.
And this is what the first test fitting of the rod with the seven latches on the canister looked like, which looked pretty good.
As one can see in this image, there are two small boxes next to the swivel latches that protrude onto the Port Side Door.
Source: NASA (STS-134)
Final clarity about the structure of the Door latches one can get from images like these ones.
Source: NASA (STS-131)
When the doors are closed, the Swivel latches snap into the holders on the Port Side Door, locking the doors.
Source: NASA (STS-131)
As one can see in the image shown at the beginning, these covers on both sides of the swivel latches were sometimes not available, which irritated me at first. However, in Zoom you can see the slanted holder of the swivel latch on the Port Side Door into which the swivel latch engages. 
Source: NASA (STS-132)
This becomes even clearer in the following image with the doors open,
Source: NASA (STS-131)
which is why I compared both parts of the Door latch system again.
Source: NASA (STS-131)
And that's enough of the interesting and, with these enlargements, quite plastic details. My task now was to simplify this system to such an extent that there is still something left of it on a scale of 1:160.
The swivel latches were already finished, for their side coverings I've planned small blocks made of Evergreen strips (0,5 mm x 0,5 mm x 1,0 mm), of which I wanted to glue two sticks next to each other on a thin base strip (0,1 mm x 1 mm), which are only then cut off to a length of 1 mm.
This image shows the entire again fixed assembly. Due to the minimal dimensions of the parts, all gluing of the latch to the rod should be done with MEK. Only at the end the swivel latch is carefully glued on. 
So much for the theory. I have to catch up one more thing. As one could see on the previous photos, the white Torque tube is not continuous, but only its inner Torsion bar, which is exposed on the swivel latches, which I at least wanted to indicate by these black markings.
Well then, let's see if everything works the way I imagine it to.
-
#2254 by roma847 on 29 Aug, 2022 22:10
-
Hello everybody,
the gluing of the small blocks for cladding the sides of the Door Latches (0,5 mm x 0,5 mm x 1,0 mm) was done on a steel ruler precautionally.
First, two short strips (0,5 mm x 0,5 mm) were glued onto the base strip (0,13 mm) with MEK.
Then the two strips and afterwards also the base strip were cut off,
and the seven Latch plates were made in the same way.
Next followed the gluing of the base plates with the rod, as well as gluing on the Swivel latches.
After the Latch strand was completely glued,
a test fitting on the canister was carried out which was fine so far as.
When gluing the Latch strand onto the canister, I was able to use my experience in gluing the SSWS pipe supports to the MLP, when I ascertained at the time that one can also glue plastic with paper by using MEK, which I tried again to be on the safe side, as can be seen here at the glued Styrene snippet.
The general advantage of gluing with MEK is based to its creeping ability, that one can position the part to be glued in place beforehand and that one needs only to brush its outer contour with MEK, what is completely sufficient and was the ideal solution for gluing the Latch strand onto the canister.
After I had fixed the strand on the canister with tape strips and aligned it precisely, I first brushed all seven Latch plates with MEK one after the other, and then also the rod sections in between, whereby the MEK evaporates instantly without leaving any residue.
Next I want to scratch the thin tube (Ø 0,5 mm) with the three Door Pull-down Latches,
Source: NASA (STS-132)
and glue it onto the Port Side Door,
which should be quite tricky because the parts are so tiny and thin.
-
#2255 by roma847 on 30 Aug, 2022 17:51
-
Thanks SteveGoodey, Metalskin and EG for liking and for your silent companionship.
It's okay so, what should one write again and again too ...
-
#2256 by roma847 on 08 Sep, 2022 22:31
-
Hello everybody,
and so now to this thin tube (Ø 0,5 mm) on the Port Side Door with the three tricky Door Pull-down Latches.
As one can see, with the diameters the associated parts are getting smaller and thinner too, wherewith I inevitably reach the limits of what is feasible when scratching in my scale (1:160), wherefore I have to lower my sights regarding the attention to detail a little bit.
The pipe itself is not a problem with Ø 0,5 mm, but at first glance the four Mounting Clamps with Ø 0,15 mm seem hardly be representable at least of plastic and difficult to assemble, as well as the rod systems of the three Pull-down Latches.
Source: NASA (STS-132)
But don't be frightened! Well begun is half done.
The following image shows the dimensions of the individual parts determined for scratching,
Source: NASA (STS-114)
at whose sight I was quite disillusioned, because I immediately realized that I might have to leave out some of the tiny details.
First I made the markings for the four clamps on the Evergreen rod (Ø 0,5 mm).
At the same time I've thought about what material I could scratch the clamps (Ø 0,15 mm) out of. However, since such a diameter made of plastic does not exist in hobbyist supplies, I had to come up with something, and have immediately thought of hand broom hairs, which luckily have a similar diameter.
However, a first attempt by winding such a hair around a pin quickly proved to be unsuitable, since I would then have to glue tiny curls, which would degenerate into a hopeless disaster and I therefore rejected it.
So it would make sense to bend the broom hair around the rod before gluing it,
or even better, to stick it to the rod with Pattex Superglue before bending and bend both ends after fixing them beforehand.
In this state it should be possible to carefully glue the rounded clamp onto the rod with MEK, after which the overhangs could then be trimmed off flush, which worked, as one can see here.
And this is how I proceeded:
- Gluing the clamp sections with UHU-CA,
- Turning around of the rod and pinching the overhang under the ruler, as well as bending up the other side of the overhangs and gluing the curves with MEK,
- Bending over of the overhangs and gluing with MEK,
- Fixing of the overhangs with tape and flush cutting with a razor blade,
- Removing of the ruler and trimming off the remaining overhangs, wherewith the rod with the four Mounting Clamps was completed.
- Fixing of the finished rod with tape onto the Port Side Door and carefully gluing with MEK,
wherewith the first step was done.
Even if the tiny clamps are barely visible, I know that they are there, and exactly as I imagined.
Now only the Leverage systems are missing, which one can see on this image,
Source: NASA (STS-132)
whereby some of them are so tiny that they have to be simplified a bit.
-
#2257 by EG on 09 Sep, 2022 17:26
-
Brother, some of us build models, some build works of art, you sir, make magic with plastic, paper, wood or what ever strikes your fancy... The reason that we follow and like but don't say much is cause there is nothing else to say... The normal superlatives just don't work and have been said so many times that they have become redundant...
You are a master at this craft, the rest of us are just pretenders and we are sitting here watching magic being created and performed before our very eyes...
Probably the same way Michaelangelo was held by his admirers in his day....
Stay well brother and do your artistry... Cause nobody else comes close....
EGThanks SteveGoodey, Metalskin and EG for liking and for your silent companionship.
It's okay so, what should one write again and again too ... -
#2258 by roma847 on 09 Sep, 2022 21:14
-
Thanks Elmer for your flattering laudatory speech, which overwhelms me and makes me very proud and happy.
So much praise and recognition shows me that the effort is worth it and gives me new drive to keep going with such crazy odds and ends,
even if my hair stands on end sometimes and I could go ballistic, e.g. when one of the three tiny Link Joints of the Door Pull-down Latches suddenly did jump away and was never to be seen again ...
This I'll show next time - always stay nicely curious.
-
#2259 by roma847 on 11 Sep, 2022 07:51
-
Hello everybody,
and thus to the leverage system of the Door Pull-down Latches.
Source: NASA (STS-132)
The tiny Link joint (0,4 mm x 1 mm) is connected at the rear end with a short Joint rod (Ø 0,3 mm x 0,5 mm), which is sitting in a bracket, and at the front via a Lever arm (0,15 mm x 4 mm) with the long tube of the Port Side Door.
Since such short parts can hardly be handled and glued, one has to start with longer parts, 
and can only carefully cut them to the final lengths after the glue has dried.
And that is what it looks like, if it is successful.
The rear mount of the Joint rod is also articulated mounted, but so tiny that I could only indicate it with greatly simplified parts.
The gluing of these tiny things was done with different glues and was the expected stressful matter,
where to my horror one of the three Link joints jumped out of the tweezers and couldn't be found anymore, which is why I had to scratch it once more. 
But with that, these three rod systems are done and in place, although they can hardly be seen.
On the opposite Starboard Side Door there is still this small Leverage,
Source: NASA (STS-135)
which is connected to the end of the Torque Tube,
Source: NASA (STS-124)
what I would like to try at least.
