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

• #2280 by George B on 04 Nov, 2022 23:26
• The level of detail you achieve at such a small scale is incredible. I'll continue to sit quietly at the back and be amazed.
• #2281 by mike robel on 05 Nov, 2022 00:02
• Magnificent stuff, Manfred.
  
  I would like to know where you are in the greater scheme of things.  For example, I do not think you have built the stack yet nor is the LUT finished?
  
  Mike
• #2282 by roma847 on 05 Nov, 2022 00:13
• Quote from: George B on 04 Nov, 2022 23:26

  The level of detail you achieve at such a small scale is incredible. I'll continue to sit quietly at the back and be amazed.

  
  Thanks George for your nice compliment.
  
  Stay tuned and let us hear something from time to time, but you are also very busy with your great Crawler yourself.
  
  
• #2283 by roma847 on 05 Nov, 2022 00:21
• Quote from: mike robel on 05 Nov, 2022 00:02

  Magnificent stuff, Manfred.
  
  I would like to know where you are in the greater scheme of things.  For example, I do not think you have built the stack yet nor is the LUT finished?
  
  Mike

  
  Thanks Mike to you too.
  
  In the meantime, I've worked on all the important sub-projects, some of which only need painting.
  
  The Payload Canister I still want to finish at this detail level, then I can continue with other things.
  
  
• #2284 by roma847 on 05 Nov, 2022 17:46
• Hello friends,
  
  new incident in the 'Bermuda Triangle'.
  
  The whole time the remaining three support struts were always on the table in front of me.
  
  
  
  I was all the more surprised today when I looked at my desk and saw that there were only two struts left.
  I thought I couldn't see correctly and I immediately suspected that evil forces were at play again and I remembered the 'Bermuda Triangle' ...
  
  However, since I couldn't find the 3rd strut on my desk, I immediately looked at the floor directly in front of me and started searching on my knees, but couldn't see anything of the sort, which got me more and more frustrated ...
  
  
  
  After pushing my chair aside, I searched the wider area. Lo and behold suddenly I spotted the strut in the "Bermuda Triangle" on the floor, about 1 meter away on my left beside my chair, was  jolly glad and put it back on the desk to the other two struts.
  
  
  
  I don't know how it got there, it was probably hanging on me somewhere and fell off there ...
  
  
  
  It certainly won't be the last time, slowly I'm experienced in finding lost things ...
  
  
• #2285 by EG on 06 Nov, 2022 03:21
• Building models always includes learning new things, Search, Discovery and Recovery of long lost items....
  
  Finding where it went to is always a refreshing, reliving experience.... A joy only model builders & watchmakers experience....
  
  Good deal brother...
  
  It's magnificent!!!!
  
  I'm in a constant state of AWE at your mad mad skillz....
  
  I have trouble with 1/72nd scale stuff and your working at 1/160th!!!!
  
  Amazing brother and inspiring...
• #2286 by roma847 on 06 Nov, 2022 08:38
• Good morning Elmer,
  
  and thanks for your nice words of appreciation.
  
  Sometimes I'm amazed myself at such a crazy details' area I've gotten into over the years ...
  
  One more reason for me to come back to my senses again after the Payload Canister.
  
  
• #2287 by roma847 on 07 Nov, 2022 17:37
• Hello everybody,
  
  the coupling forks for the remaining three support struts I'm now also still able to do.
  
  
  
  But first I wanted to give the remaining four sickles their final shape in order to glued them to the upper rotary axles (Ø 0,3 mm), which was stressful precision finishing work that I had to trudge through.  
  
  
  
  Then the 3rd couple of sickles was glued,
  
  
  
  
  
  and after that it was finally the turn of the last couple.
  
  
  
  
  
  And after cutting off the overhang, all four couples were done,
  
  
  
  and I could take a deep breath.
  
  
  
  Finally, the remaining three coupling forks and their gluing to the support struts still waited,
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  for what I've taken my time.
  
  
  
  And to get this fragile odds and ends off the desk before it disappears again or gets damaged, I will now glue the linkages onto the Payload Bay Doors.
  
  
• #2288 by roma847 on 10 Nov, 2022 21:38
• Hello everybody,
  
  but of course this needs to be well thought out so that nothing goes wrong with these fragile parts. Strength lies in calmness.
  
  So that the linkages first get a certain stability, I first glued the lower stands between the sickles, for what they have to be fixed somehow gently, wherefore I've used a longer tape strip.
  
  Then the stands were carefully grabbed with the pointed tweezers at the axis of rotation between the middle struts, both ends dabbed with a drop of glue and pushed between the sickle ends, where they were aligned a bit.
  
  
  
  And when you see them lying there, it all looks pretty easy.
  
  
  
  
  
  And if one knows how it works, one only needs to repeat it.
  
  
  
  Now I only have to cleverly glue the linkages onto the doors, in order to then finally glue the support struts.
  
  
• #2289 by roma847 on 13 Nov, 2022 21:36
• Hello everybody,
  
  extreme caution was required when gluing the Door Actuators onto the Payload Bay Doors, which is why I haven't glued the filigree support struts for now so as not to take any risks.
  
  The gluing was done with UHU-CA, first on the lower rotational axis of the stand-fork, and then with MEK at the sickles, which resulted in sufficient adhesion.  
  
  
  
  
  
  Only then the support struts were glued at the upper rotational axis, first on the Port Side Door of the canister,
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  and then at the Starboard Side Door, wherewith a difficult and tricky subassembly was completed.
  
  
  
  In order not to have to constantly take the canister in my hand during further assembly work and to protect it, I put it down on a small cutter mat.
  
  
  
  Next followed the four Access Platforms on the side walls, which can be climbed over the ladders when the canister is in a horizontal transport mode, in order to mount the linkages of the upper and lower Door Actuators to be able to open the doors.
  
  
  Source: NASA (STS-125)
  
  
  Source: NASA (STS-132)
  
  Of course, it is much easier and, above all, safer from the lifting platform.
  
  
  Source: NASA (STS-126)
  
  Here I have already prepared the necessary individual parts, the platforms (0,5 mm x 3,5 mm x 4 mm), as well as the different support struts (0,25 mm x 0,5 mm),
  
  
  
  the gluing of which will then follow next time.
  
  
• #2290 by roma847 on 14 Nov, 2022 23:17
• Hello everybody,
  
  and thus for gluing the individual parts of the platform for a first prototype, whereby the important thing was again a stable fixation of the tiny parts, without which it will not work.
  
  For gluing the tiny contact points I used the normal Revell glue (Contacta 39604).
  
  
  
  Since the construction of the platform and the shape of the parts is simple, the handling was no problem.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  For the reproducible cutting of the diagonal support struts I've drawn a  true-to-scale stencil.
  
  
  
  
  
  And a first test fitting on the canister was quite satisfactory. 
  
  
  
  Since the lighting conditions in the evening with artificial light are unfavorable for the exact positioning of the tiny parts during gluing due to the formation of shadows, I put a LED lamp on the side,
  
  
  
  which was very helpful.
  
  
  
  And this is what the first platform looks like,
  
  
  
  which also matches well onto the canister.
  
  
  
  Since this technique has proven itself, the remaining three platforms can now follow too.
  
  
• #2291 by roma847 on 15 Nov, 2022 23:07
• Hello friends,
  
  before the Artemis 1 will take off in about 5 hours, if everything goes well, here is a short report on the platforms.
  
  Here are the already known steps for gluing the individual parts of the platforms.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Finally it's done,
  
  
  
  and I can glue the platforms to the side walls with UHU-CA, here first on the Port Side,
  
  
  
  
  
  and here on the Starboard Side.
  
  
  
  And here's a member of the Can Crew checking a Door Actuator.
  
  
  
  And now I'm thrilled to bits for the Artemis 1 Lift-off.
  
  
  
  
• #2292 by roma847 on 16 Nov, 2022 19:31
• Hello everybody,
  
  wow, what a spectacular picture-book launch of NASA's SLS Moon Rocket with the Orion Spacecraft atop to its maiden flight Artemis 1 that leaves you wanting more.
  
  
  Source: NASA
  
  
• #2293 by roma847 on 20 Nov, 2022 21:46
• Hello everybody,
  
  and from NASA's huge SLS moon rocket back to my crafting table and to my little puzzle pieces.
  
  In fact, the smaller the pieces get, the smaller and slower the steps I take along inevitably get, but I have to get through that now.
  
  For the sake of completeness, I would like to add one small but important detail for the safety of the Can Crew, and these are these Grab rails here, which are next to each upper Door Actuator where members of the Can Crew could hold on themselves or buckle their protective belts.
  
  
  Source: NASA (STS-132)
  
  In order to roughly fit my scale (1:160), I used NiCr wire (Ø 0,15 mm) and tried to bend grab handles out of it, which wasn't that easy, since they should only be 1,7 mm long and 1 mm high, so they are tiny.
  
  For my first attempts I've bent the wire step by step over three 0,5 mm thick steel rulers.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  However, the first four bending attempts (left) were not satisfactory because the handles with 2 mm were too wide. For more reproducible widths of approx. 1,5 mm (right) I've later modified my bending technique.
  
  
  
  Here, however, a handle is inserted into the door as a test, which has not completely convinced me, as the handles are still on a narrow base plate (0,1 mm x 0,6 mm x 5 mm), which I initially wanted to omit.
  
  
  
  
  
  But with a brass angle (wall thickness 1,3 mm), narrower handles with a width of approx. 1,7 mm could be successfully bent,
  
  
  
  which I already rather was more satisfied with.
  
  
  
  But then I've still decided to try scratching the tiny plates and used my thinnest Evergreen sheet (0,13 mm) for this, into which I've drilled holes with my thinnest Twist drill (Ø 0,25 mm),
  
  
  
  in which the handle also has fit.
  
  
  
  First I've drawn the shape of the narrow plate around it,
  
  
  
  and carefully cut out.
  
  
  
  
  
  The remaining plates I've pre-drilled using the template,
  
  
  
  and then cut to the final shape.
  
  
  
  Luckily I only need four of these base plates.
  
  
  
  Now I have to see if I'm able to carry on during the Soccer World Cup as I've done before.
  We'll see ...
  
  
• #2294 by roma847 on 25 Nov, 2022 07:59
• Hello everybody,
  
  from this disastrous false start of our kickers against Japan I had to recover ...
  
  I didn't get much further either yet, only the base plates for the grab rails on the doors are now glued with MEK. Perhaps the grab rails are painted before gluing.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Next I took a closer look at the lower Door Actuator linkage and the Pneumatic Drive and determined the required dimensions for the scratch build, which again should become tricky.
  
  
  Source: NASA (STS-135)
  
  The brackets for the lower linkages are similar to the Access Platforms, only they are a bit narrower. In between runs the drive shaft connected to the Pneumatic drive, by means of which the lower linkages are extended to be coupled with the upper linkages in order to open the doors.
  
  In this photo one can see the entire arrangement again in the top view.
  
  
  Source: NASA (STS-114)
  
  Let's see what profiles I can use for the individual parts.
  
  
• #2295 by roma847 on 01 Dec, 2022 22:59
• Hello everybody,
  
  just a quick reminder of the Challenger Rollout - STS-6 in the fog 40 years ago.
  
  Let's Keep the Legacy Alive!
  
  
• #2296 by roma847 on 05 Dec, 2022 22:10
• Hello everybody,
  
  in order to understand the structure of the Door actuator pneumatic drive in detail and to be able to determine the dimensions of its individual parts, one cannot avoid looking at it from different perspectives with a higher magnification, e.g. as can be seen in the following images,
  
  
  Source: NASA (STS-135)
  
  here slightly larger, seen from the other side.
  
  
  Source: NASA (STS-132)
  
  This pneumatic drive is connected to the two screw jack bracket assemblies by the horizontal pipes of the pneumatic system, which extend forward and aft. When the door actuator system is activated in the horizontal configuration, the door actuator pneumatic drive pulls the screw jacks down vertically, tilting as necessary in their brackets,
  
  
  Source: NASA (STS-126)
  
  to clear the opening doors.
  
  
  Source: NASA (STS-135)
  
  Based on the determined dimensions, I've cut the corresponding individual parts,
  
  
  Source: NASA (STS-126)
  
  which can be seen in this image. The frame of the drive unit will be made from the smaller strips (0,25 mm x 0,5 mm), the longer strips (0,13 mm x 0,7 mm) should be used for the side retaining struts.
  
  
  
  To get an idea of the size of the drive unit, I added a cuboid of the appropriate size,  but a few more details this White Box should get already.
  Let's see if and how I will succeed in putting together this puzzle work.
  
  
• #2297 by roma847 on 06 Dec, 2022 22:21
• Hello everybody,
  
  first, I've beveled the strips (0,13 mm x 0,7 mm) for the lateral retaining struts at both ends with the cutter chisel, wherefore I used a small template, which had suffered quite a bit.
  
  
  
  Then the different length strips (0,25 mm x 0,5 mm) have been glued to form a frame,
  
  
  
  whereby first the longer strip (3,5 mm) was glued against the shorter strip (2,5 mm),
  
  
  
  whereto steel rulers served as a guide and for fixation.
  
  
  
  Then the second side stripe was glued,
  
  
  
  and finally the other narrow side, wherewith the first of four frames was done.
  
  
  
  And then the second frame was glued in the same way.
  
  
  
  Next, these two frames are glued together using four support struts (2 mm) to form a frame box.
  
  
• #2298 by roma847 on 07 Dec, 2022 22:08
• Hello everybody,
  
  in order not to get out of practice, I also glued the two frames for the Door drive, which is sitting on the other canister side.
  
  
  
  Then I've started gluing the four short support struts (2 mm) onto the frame, which, as expected, turned out to be a tricky business, especially since holding the struts in the tweezers, as well as wetting them with glue and setting them down with pinpoint accuracy on the frame is quite stressful and can quickly go wrong. The position of the struts could then be carefully corrected as required yet.
  
  
  
  
  
  And then the remaining struts followed, whereby it is always important that the frame is firmly seated between the stops so that nothing can slip, which is why it has to be re-clamped again and again.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  And then most of it was done, and the result even exceeded my expectations,
  
  
  
  and is quite impressive.
  
  
  
  And also the test fitting on the lower frame looks good.
  
  
  
  But before the frame box can be glued completely, I have to add a few drive details, which probably wouldn't work afterwards.
  
  
• #2299 by mike robel on 08 Dec, 2022 18:42
• You are the only guy I know who can make cutting tiny pieces of plastic strip and assembling them into hollow cubes look interesting.
  
  
  just how many more sub assemblies on that thing are there going to be?
  
  
  Kind regards
  
  
  Mike