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

• #2380 by roma847 on 06 May, 2023 12:34
• Hello everybody,
  
  after trying hard but ultimately unsuccessfully to cut feet of the same length out of the brass strip (0,2 mm x 1 mm),
  
  
  
  I changed my mind and cut out a Styrene strip (0,15 mm x 1 mm) instead, from which I then cut the 1,5 mm long feet with the Chisel cutter at the Ruler angle stop.
  
  
  
  The feet were glued to the ladder rails according to my  tested fixation between several rulers, whereby the underside of the ladder with the rungs must point upwards so that the feet are flush with the top edge of the rails. Great care was required because the filigree PE Ladders can quickly bend.
  
  
  
  For the gluing, I used a new UHU-CA-Easy, which is thin and can be corrected.
  
  
  
  The gluing of the feet held in the pointed tweezers is not for the faint of heart and shaky hands, especially since at the same time with the other hand a tiny droplet of CA has to be dabbed onto the lower edge of the feet with the Acupuncture needle and then the foot has to be glued to the ladder rail. To do this, I carefully pressed the foot against the rail with the steel ruler and aligned it out a bit, which can be seen better in the picture after the next.
  
  
  
  Doing so it is advisable to move the ladder carefully immediately after gluing so that it does not stick to the base, which can happen.
  
  
  
  Fixing the rulers with magnets is very helpful.
  
  
  
  And that was the result, roughly how I had imagined it.
  
  
  
  
  
  And the test fitting on the canister is okay so far too.
  
  
  
  Maybe I still can work out the remaining three ladders a little bit better.
  
  
• #2381 by roma847 on 06 May, 2023 23:01
• Hello everybody,
  
  initially I've cut the remaining three ladders to the length (14,5 mm) with a side cutter.
  
  
  
  And therewith without many words to the next ladder, which truly went a little easier because I knew what I had to pay particular attention to.
  
  Nevertheless, two feet didn't want to glue at the ladder stringer straight away, which is why I first had to carefully remove the old CA from the foot before the second gluing could take place, which then worked well.
  
  
  
  But one shouldn't let that impress you, otherwise things would go too smoothly.
  
  
  
  And that's already half of the short ladders done,
  
  
  
  and the remaining two ladders can follow.
  
  
• #2382 by roma847 on 09 May, 2023 12:02
• Hello everybody,
  
  and now to the Final Ladder Countdown.
  
  This will be the 3rd Ladder, scratched as usual.
  
  
  
  This image shows how quickly the rulers can slip as I was not careful when photographing the three finished ladders next to the fixed 4th Ladder.
  
  
  
  So it's better to put the finished ladders aside quickly and fix the ladder once again.
  
  
  
  This now completes all four ladders for the side walls of the canister,
  
  
  
  
  
  and were safely stowed away until their Airbrush painting,
  
  
  
  for which I still have to think about a clever way of holding these filigree and extremely fragile parts.
  
  
• #2383 by leeg on 14 Jun, 2023 12:21
• Is Manfred OK haven't seen a post for a month. Hope he is well.
• #2384 by SteveGoodey on 14 Jun, 2023 12:40
• I was thinking that the other day.
• #2385 by Metalskin on 14 Jun, 2023 21:49
• Hope you're all good roma847 (aka Manfred?). Been wondering if you are okay, I miss your semi-regular updates. :-)
• #2386 by roma847 on 15 Jun, 2023 23:43
• Hello my dear friends,
  
  and thanks for your concern, which shows me that you obviously miss me a bit.
  But it's all good, I'm doing fine. I was just distracted by other things, sporting events, Tennis, Soccer Champions League, etc. ...
  
  And as is well known, it is always difficult to come back again ... But it will go on soon with the tricky Payload Canister.
  
  Then a little fling happened.
  
  A follower in ARC Forums encouraged me to breathe new life into the Real Spacecraft topic in the KitMaker Forum with my construction report, which I followed just for fun.
  
  During my brief introduction to the topic Diorama, an interesting suggestion came up with regard to the background wall of the Dio, which I have dealt with in more detail, since I already have dealt with the Dio three years ago in Reply #1941
  
   
  
  At that time, me and my Raumcon friend Arno were deeply involved in planning the Launch pad lighting and had chosen this  jokingly called by me "transformer house" on the back of the pad, as a convenient place for the interface in the wiring between the diorama and the Power bank.
  
  As a reminder, my Diorama should look something like this mini diorama (1/700) from Tomytec, whose base plate is only 35 cm x 29 cm "big".
  
  
  Source: Andromeda24.de
  
  And because of the given occasion, the idea I had at the time for a Panorama Background Poster came back to me, which I had always in my mind anyway, a view with the VAB (left) in the background and the LOX Tank (right), which could be more interesting than a bare white wall, possibly with a continuation on the right side of the dios, which would then reach up to the Water tower.
  
  
  
  For example, this would be the image for the background,
  
  
  
  where this continuation could start for the right side.
  
  
  
  And both images glued together across the corner would look something like this.
  
  
  
  Then I've tinkered a bit more to make the Diorama appear a little more vivid with the Panorama Background Poster.
  
  For this I released the image of the Tomytec diorama and combined it with the Google Maps background image,
  
  
  
  which would look pretty well I think.
  
  So much for a first draft, maybe there are still suggestions for improvement or other opinions that I would of course be interested in.
  
  
• #2387 by mike robel on 16 Jun, 2023 16:25
• Quote

  And because of the given occasion, the idea I had at the time for a [/size]Panorama Background Poster[/size][/color] came back to me, which I had always in my mind anyway, a view with the [/size]VAB[/size][/color] (left) in the background and the [/size]LOX Tank[/size][/color] (right), which could be more interesting than a bare white wall, [/size] possibly with a continuation on the right side of the dios, which would then reach up to the Water tower[/size][/color]. [/size]
  
  [/size]
  WOW!  The scale of your effort really came through to me with that picture of the sort of finished bits positioned on the launch pad "mat".  I really look forward to seeing that day.[/size]
• #2388 by roma847 on 16 Jun, 2023 18:06
• Thanks Mike for looking in on me again.
  
  It will be some time before then ...
  
  But anticipation is the prettiest joy!
  
  
• #2389 by roma847 on 18 Jun, 2023 20:55
• Hello friends,
  
  40 years ago today, Sally K. Ride († July 23, 2012) launched into space as the first American woman aboard the Challenger (STS-7).
  
  
  left to right Sally Ride †, John Fabian, Robert Crippen, Norman Thagard, Frederick Hauck
  Source: wikipedia.org
  
  
  Source: wikipedia.org
  
  Her legacy will be cherished forever.
  
  
• #2390 by roma847 on 22 Jun, 2023 15:58
• Hello everybody,
  
  life still goes on ...
  
  Hot summer greetings (31°C) from the Filder Space Center (FSC)!
  
  
  
  Of course I can't miss this attraction of the Giant water slide in the local center of Filderstadt-Bernhausen in my immediate vicinity!
  
  
• #2391 by roma847 on 26 Jun, 2023 10:13
• Hello everybody,
  
  unfortunately, the matter was quite a flop, since the Countdown unfortunately had to be aborted, which NASA calls Abort.
  
  The boss of the Family Adventure Land damaged the Shuttle stack plastic jacket while unloading it with the forklift, resulting in a leak that needs to be sealed first.
  
  The "buddy" has already ordered the glue, but I'm curious to see whether the damage can still be repaired in the next few weeks.
  
  They also informed me that the "Giant water slide" can only be offered when it is dry. Apparently it also worked with water, but this is correspondingly more complex.
  
  Let's wait and see.
  
  
• #2392 by roma847 on 11 Jul, 2023 13:38
• Hello friends,
  
  due to the occasion, I want to come back and slowly get off to a flying start again.
  
  Today we broke the sound barrier of 1 Million views in our German Raumcon forum.
  
  
  
  And here we're not far from that too.
  
  If that is not a reason to celebrate.
  Cheers!
  
  
• #2393 by roma847 on 11 Jul, 2023 21:52
• Hello everybody,
  
  to celebrate the day of this outstanding milestone here comes the current hit statistics of my noble fan Hugo from our German Raumcon forum, which he immediately posted, what has amazed me once again.
  
  
  
  In this I entered the current hit numbers of the other forums in which I still otherwise post.
  
  While your NSF (934.186) is hot on our heels, the other forums are already a long way behind:
  
  - Paper Modelers (467.074)
  
  - ARC Discussion Forums (343.500)
  
  - Britmodellers (209.200) with the red lantern.
  
  A definitely insightful comparison.
  
  I'm curious to the further development of this hit statistics.
  
  
• #2394 by roma847 on 16 Jul, 2023 11:55
• Hi folks,
  
  apropos STS-6 diorama dream, that goes well with it now.
  
  In addition to this project dream I will fulfill a long-awaited dream in 1:1 scale at the beginning of October and fly for three weeks to Florida, to make the Kennedy Space Center resp. the KSC Visitor Complex unsafe and will have a look at the surrounding area.
  
  There I will spend a week in Cocoa Beach and meet my friend and Launch Pad old hand James MacLaren (16streets.com),
  
  
  
  
  as well as my friend John O'Connor who created and constantly updates the websites with the awesome 360° Panorama Views (nasatech.net), which are a real treasure trove for Real Space modelers like me, especially when it comes to technical details for scratch  building.
  
  
  Once to be standing under the huge External Tank (ET) between the two Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB) in front of the Atlantis Exhibition Hall,
  
  
  Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (Lee Jay)
  
  
  Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (Zakrah)
  
  and then to go inside to admire the retired lady Atlantis up closest, what could be nicer for a crazy spaceflight lover like me, apart from all the Apollo Saturn sights in the Rocket Garden etc. ...
  
  
  Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (Naito)
  
  But enough of the daydreaming and in the next post back to the somewhat smaller Payload Canister (1:160).
  
  
• #2395 by mike robel on 16 Jul, 2023 13:59
• Hi Manfred,
  
  
  I am excited for you to be able to visit the Space Center. As it happens, I live on Merritt Island. If you'd like to meet, shoot me a PM.      I imagine you have a lot planned, so if not possible, it is not a problem.
• #2396 by roma847 on 16 Jul, 2023 16:30
• Hi Mike, 
  this is a cool news my friend and I'm happy to meet you there, maybe for lunch or supper in the Best Western Cocoa Beach Hotel, where I will check in for the first week until 10/10/23, or later too.
  
  Let's talk about it in PM.
  
  
• #2397 by roma847 on 16 Jul, 2023 23:35
• Hello everybody,
  
  but after the daydreaming now back to the somewhat smaller Payload Canister (1:160).
  
  For this I have to go back to this image again, on which the lower Door Actuators with the Screw Jacks and the central Door Actuator Pneumatic Drive can be seen.
  
  
  Source: NASA (STS-135)
  
  And these are these pretty filigree assemblies that I need now.
  
  
  
  But before I can glue them onto the side walls of the canister, a test should show whether and how well the distances of the respective connection points of the pipes (blue arrows)  from the wall correspond. In addition, the exact lengths of these pipes had to be determined for later assembly.
  
  The Pneumatic lines (red arrow) will come later.
  
  
  Source: NASA (STS-135)
  
  These pipes connect the central Bevel Gearbox (1mm x 1mm), which is seen here,
  
  
  Source: NASA (STS-132)
  
  with the drive shaft housings (0,5 mm x 0,5 mm x 1,5 mm) located behind the Worm gears (Ø 1,0 mm x 1,0 mm) of the lifting Screw Jacks and must therefore be aligned with each other.
  
  
  Source: NASA (STS-135)
  
  Here the three assemblies are laid out on the Starboard Side template of the canister.
  
  
  
  Then I put a round rod (Ø 0,5 mm) in between and marked the required length of the pipe.
  
  
  
  And that piece of pipe rests here on a spacer at about the same level between the Bevel Gearbox and the Screw jacks drive shaft housing. If you look closely, you can see that it could be about 1 mm longer.
  
  
  
  So much for today's re-entry into the subject matter.
  
  
• #2398 by roma847 on 18 Jul, 2023 16:41
• Hello everybody,
  
  before installing these filigree and extremely fragile structures on the canister side walls, I had to think carefully about how best to proceed in order not to end up shipwrecked. Scratch building these challenging things were far too time-consuming for that, nothing was allowed to go wrong.
  
  One possibility would be to glue the central Pneumatic drive and the two Door actuators with their Screw jacks onto the provided places of the side wall, for which purpose an exact positioning of the three groups on a contour line would have to be realized, which could be complicated. Then the two matching rods could be glued in the gaps between.
  
  It would probably be more skillful in a first step to glue round rod (Ø 0,5 mm) to the housing behind the Worm gear of the Screw Jack, followed by checking the position on the side wall by placing the rod on the drive, and then to determine the required length.
  
  And for this variant then I decided, as can be seen in this image, where I marked the length of the rod next to the Bevel Gearbox,
  
  
  
  after what  it could be carefully cut to the final length.
  
  
  
  But then I noticed that the rod somehow looked a bit too thick compared to the Screw Jack's Protection tube (Ø 0,5 mm), especially since I remembered thinner tubes (< Ø 05 mm) from various photos, which was also confirmed afterwards, because I had planned round rods (Ø 0,3 mm) for this.
  
  These pipes still have these rings on both sides, probably flanges for mounting them, which I wanted to simulate with lead wire (Ø 0,2 mm).
  
  
  Source: NASA (STS-126)
  
  So I separated the thicker rod and replaced it with a rod (Ø 0,3 mm), which I glued onto the right Screw jack, which I liked better.
  
  
  
  Then I wound the  Lead wire around a brass wire (Ø 0,3 mm) to form a spiral and separated it lengthwise with a razor blade.
  
  
  
  
  
  I then threaded these whorls back onto the wire and rolled them tightly, which was like herding cats, resulting in tiny rings.
  
  
  
  The threading of these two rings onto the rod was even more stressful in order not to bend or even kink it, wherefore patience was required.
  
  Then the left end of the rod was also be glued to the Bevel gearbox of the drive,
  
  
  
  which finally succeeded and even exceeded my expectations.
  
  
  
  And on the canister it looks good  too.
  
  
  
  The left part of the pipe connection I will now make in the same way, and then continue on the other Side wall (Port Side) with the same procedure.
  
  
• #2399 by roma847 on 21 Jul, 2023 13:20
• Hello everybody
  
  my assistant thinks I should continue slowly.
  
  
  
  First, I glued the rod to the housing of the worm gear of the left Door Actuator assembly and let it dry briefly.
  
  
  
  Then it was time to try on these wriggly parts on the payload canister and to mark the protruding rod length on the housing.
  
  
  
  After that I almost wanted to glue the stick together, but fortunately I remembered the two rings, which have to be threaded on and glued on beforehand.
  
  
  
  After they were finally threaded and glued, I fixed the right part of the assembly with my Balsa pin technique to prevent it from slipping,
  
  
  
  and then I first checked the arrangement of the components again, which actually matched out quite well.
  
  
  
  And then, with the courage to take risks, I decided to take the last option I had in mind, and have also pinned tight the left assembly group and glued the rod at the left side of the housing.
  
  
  
  And the fragile result is quite impressive, but should be treated with caution from now on in further handling.
  
  
  
  
  
  And so the entire Door Actuator group could now be glued onto the side wall,
  
  
  
  but what I'm putting back for the time being until the second group for the other side wall (Port side) is glued together, because Discretion is the better part of valor!