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

• #500 by roma847 on 28 May, 2014 12:28
• Hello all together,
  
  after the stressful lighting analysis, I first had to take a breather and go for a change again to another building site where a longer time was break.    
  
  And so back to the TSM ladders, but they are no less stressful, which is why I also have longer left fingers on it. But it's no use, the ladders must now finally to the TSMs, even if this tricky job costs a little  overcoming.
  
  My last state (February) this was here. After that I wanted to put the ladders for mounting on individual support brackets made ​​of brass wire (0.2 mm), to a U-shape must be bent.
  
  
  
  As at that time shown, one must note that the TSM ladders are different. While the ladders on the outside of the TSM's have in the middle of this continuous strip (red arrow), this is absent in the ladders on the front and back of the service boxes (green arrow).
  
  
  Source: NASA
  
  Another difference is that the ladders have different lengths feet. While the ladders on the outer sides are standing on equal length legs, the feet of the ladders on the service boxes are of different lengths.
  
  For the ladders on the outside of the TSM's I had already made ​​a first prototype.
  
  
  
  Therefore, I have now separated the missing ladders for the service boxes from the PE boards out, making the ladders would ever complete.
  
  
  
  Then I've been bending the narrow side beams at 90° upwards on the bending tool,
  
  
  
  
  
  which the ladder was ready.
  
  
  
  The support brackets must be bent to conclude on her width flush with the step width. To this end, I first have cut me wire pieces of 10 mm length,
  
  
  
  and then bent through 90° upwards. This can be done either in the bending tool,
  
  
  
  and then have to clamp and bend again. 
  
  
  
  Or take the same pieces of wire into a flat-nose pliers and bend the two ends (always with the same pliers width!) by 90°, which is easier and also faster.
  
  
  
  For testing the most suitable mounting variant of the ladders on the support brackets I made me a sketch and already inserted the first support in pre-punched holes, the supports should protrude approx. 1 mm.
  
  
  
  
  
  Now I'm just wondering about the mounting variant which is more advantageous. Either I glue later all supports firmly into the holes on the TSM, and then the ladder to the support.
   
  Or I glue the ladder first to the provisionally inserted supports and then can remove the ladder with the supports as a whole from the backing. After that I could paint it completely and then carefully glue with the feet in the pre-punched holes on the TSMs.
  
  That sounds extremely complicated in theory, hopefully it can also practically be accomplished.
  
  And now the interesting question, which variant would you prefer, or are there possibly quite different solutions?
  
  
• #501 by RichO on 28 May, 2014 12:44
• MANFRED,
  
  I have had experiance with measuring, and measuring again to make fixed legs fit into pre drilled holes. Almost always there is at least one of the legs that dose not want to go into a pre arranged hole. I will always secure my anchor legs first and then mount the ladders onto the support legs. For me, this is always the best method. I vote for mounting your supports first, then applying your ladders.
  
  BTW, nice to here from you again about the TSM's. Great job.
  
• #502 by roma847 on 28 May, 2014 15:01
• Hello Rich,
  
  thanks for your advice my friend.
  
  I fully agree with you, everything else would probably produce only expensive waste, because any foot would always stand beside the pre drilled hole or bend while the rest already glues, and that's it been then.
  
  These PE ladders are quite fragile structures, and after all only 0.15 mm "thick". You have to be even with the tweezers already taking care not to bend something.
  
  
• #503 by roma847 on 28 May, 2014 21:48
• Hey folks,
  
  let's go with the TSM ladders. 
  
  And that brings me right back to the question of the best type of assembling. From my previous gut feeling when dealing with ladders and support brackets I am now came to the conclusion that the latter variant is probably not really suitable.  
  
  Accordingly, I will first glue all supports firmly into the holes on the TSM and then carefully glue the previously painted ladders, step by step on the supports.
  
  The other variant with the gluing of the complete, painted ladders with the support brackets into the prepared holes seems to me now as impractical.  
  
  This will hopefully clearer at the two next pictures. Even when provisional insertion of the support brackets into the pretreated holes there are problems. This must be done very carefully so as these thin brass brackets (0.2 mm) do not bend, they also need to be more aligned. For a uniform height of the supports of 1 mm I have a profile (1,5 x1,0 mm) underlaid.
  
  
  
  On the supports then the ladder must be placed and glued, so that as the respective ladder spoke with the support lie one above the other, as seen in this image, where the ladder is placed only provisionally.
  
  
  
  And then the pending procedure with adhesive will be difficult enough, but I have probably first to glue the ladder on an outer support and only then can follow the bonds to the other supports. And that probably will work only with tiny Superglue droplets, as already in the bonding of the central strip.
  
  As you can see, this will probably become a fairly delicate and stressful action, which I already think with horror.
  
  But somehow it'll succeed, I hope so strong.
  
  
• #504 by shuttlemodeler on 29 May, 2014 15:50
• Looking good Manfred.  I admire your work at that scale, and I wish I had your eyesight.
• #505 by roma847 on 29 May, 2014 16:10
• Thanks Tom for your compliments,
  
  but you're right, this is not a rest cure for the eyes, which is why I have to slow down every now and then.
  
  How are you getting on with your TSM's?
  
  
• #506 by roma847 on 30 May, 2014 13:11
• Hello guys,
  
  before it continues with the TSM ladders, here again a short bit on the side back to lighting with a great photo that I just found.
  
  This is the Challenger in preparation for the STS-41B (1984). As you can see in the picture, the lighting could well be switched to full light intensity sometimes, which is most visible in the MLP lighting.
  
  
  Source: NASA
  
  Therefore, how well that my lamps will also be adjustable, of course, everything in reasonable limits, but still.
  
  BTW, in this picture is also very nice to see the colors of the elevator shaft, with its red seems to be but much stronger than that at the Tower framework.
  
  
• #507 by shuttlemodeler on 30 May, 2014 13:55
• i have that pic as a 18x24 print from NASA.   looks great on the wall
• #508 by roma847 on 30 May, 2014 15:46
• Hey Tom,
  
  I can vividly imagine, approx. 45x60 cm, this is an awesome eye catcher.
  
  Soon my STS-6 reference photo will be hanging on the wall in 70x70 cm, I can hardly wait.
  
  
  Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)
  
  
• #509 by RichO on 31 May, 2014 21:14
• Totally Awsome Photos Manfred!!!
• #510 by roma847 on 31 May, 2014 23:03
• Yep Rich, these are awesome pictures!
  
  But, this does not mean that I want to have such a bright light too, which is actually too bright, because the poor guys walking on those platforms would be blinded.
  
  The picture only took me excited and surprised because you can find more photos with dimmed lighting, especially on the MLP.
  
  
• #511 by shuttlemodeler on 31 May, 2014 23:11
• would the lights really vary in Brightness?   Couldn't this be more of an affect with the camera exposure.
• #512 by roma847 on 01 Jun, 2014 11:32
• Tom,
  
  I think so, because the bright light is only on the Access platforms below the Blast shields, and does not come from a flood light outside the MLP, otherwise the whole Side 1 would be as bright.
  
  
• #513 by roma847 on 09 Jun, 2014 22:50
• Hello folks to Whit Monday,
  
  since it is at these high summer temperatures outside almost unbearable, I've done with the TSM ladders on. The ladder of the outside of the LOX-TSM has still been lacking, which also has a center strip.
  
  So no long preface, let's go with the PE parts and cutting the ladder, you really have to be careful that you cut only the connecting webs.
  
  
  
  Above is already the finished ladder for the LH2 TSM, and also the separated ladder with the center strip.
  
  
  
  Next, the two side spars must be bent in bending tool. To this end, the narrow, only 0.25 mm wide ladder beam is clamped respectively,
  
  
  
  and then carefully bent the rest with the bending blade upwards.
  
  
  
  And so looks the almost finished ladder.
  
  
  
  Now comes the tricky gluing procedure of the center strip on the ladder, including both parts must be fixed with tape strips.
  
  
  
  Then again you need a steady hand and eagle eyes, or better yet a headset with magnifier in order to glue the central strip with Superglue on the ladder rungs.    
  
  
  
  For this purpose, it is advisable to proceed in sections and always coat only 2-3 ladder beam with very little superglue then centrally set up the strip and fix. That sounds quite stressful, what it is actually, because you can of course also screw up all with a little too much Superglue and/or a shaky hand and glue the ladder to the base.
  
  Since this did not happen luckily, I was then able to calmly breath, because the ladder (below) looks really good.
  
  
  
  And so all 6 ladders for the TSMs are now finished and can go for painting.
  
  
  
  And here is the fitting of the ladder on the LOX TSM with a support pad that fits quite well.
  
  
  
  OMG, Oh, if the ladder would only be already installed ...
  
  
   
  So friends, now it becomes really serious about the installation of the ladder supports to the TSMs, which should not be less stressful for sure. 
  
  
• #514 by roma847 on 11 Jun, 2014 17:43
• Hello guys,
  
  and so despite the heat it continues with the supports for the TSM ladders that are known to be different, as can be seen here again. The ladders on the sides (red arrow) have the same length feet but on the service-flap boxes (green arrow) are of different lengths.
  
  
  Source: NASA
  
  For the ladders on the sides with the center strip, I had already some supports bent, of which I need 9 pieces each, for a total of 18.
  
  
  
  For the 4 ladders on the service-flap boxes I need each of 6 support brackets, a total of 24 pieces which need a longer foot because the boxes sideways overlap about 3 mm. That's why I at first have cut supports from brass wire (0.2 mm) to length (10 respectively 13 mm),
  
  
  
  and then started bending, and this time I have immediately resorted to the flat nose pliers, because it is easier and faster.
  
  
  
  After that I wanted to try with a support for the ladders on the service flap boxes such as this could work with the installation. For this purpose, again the photo where you can see the exact arrangement of the ladder.
  
  
  Source: NASA
  
  One side is standing with the supports on the laterally protruding box while the supports on the other side are on the TSM housing and therefore must be slightly longer.
  
  And so then is the fitting of the support, on the left he overlaps 1 mm and 4 mm on the right, which would thus fit quite well.
  
  
  
  So then continue by bending the rest of the support brackets.
  
  
• #515 by roma847 on 14 Jun, 2014 21:59
• Hi there,
  
  today only a short time visit, as there is not so much to see except a lot of small stuff.
  
  To install the TSM ladders now the support brackets had to be bent from 0.2 mm brass wire. These were 18 pieces for the two ladders on the TSM sides with the center strip (top), and 24 pieces for the 4 ladders on the service-flap boxes (below).
  
  
  
  Therefor a sense of proportion was required when inserting the support strip to the flat nose pliers to always possible to have a uniform supernatant before bending the overlaying ends.
  
  
  
  And so everything was now ready for the painting of the ladders and supports. Installation is then separately, as already described. First, the support brackets are assembled and then the ladders are glued  on the supports.
  
  For the painting of the support brackets I have put these on toothpicks with a tip from patafix,
  
  
  
  and then plugged into a styrofoam plate. And that was quite a fumbling, I can tell you.
  
  
  
  Now I just hope that the supports do not fly during the airbrush. 
  
  
  
  So it pays to be at the opportunity then also still the first series lampshades for the MLP should be painted, which are on the balsa strip (below).
  
  And the ladders I will also attach with patafix on toothpicks for painting.
  
  
  
  So now I'm going to visit the friends in the paint shop, hopefully are not all in Brazil.
  
  
• #516 by roma847 on 21 Jun, 2014 08:17
• High there,
  
  at the same time occupies me now yet another tricky problem. It's about how I should conjure the regular intervals for the base points of the support brackets to the TSMs to groove them in.
  
  This could be marked relatively well on the plane,
  
  
  
  but now I have to consider some trick how to apply this to the difficult accessible TSMs.
  
  
  
  And that will probably just go with a suitable template, which should however be transparent and as narrow as possible for accurate applying on the TSM to identify the correct position of the ladder and to align the template yet.
  
  In addition I have first transferred my paper template (above) on a transparent film and carefully grooved the base points with a needle. And with this transparent template (below) I then made ​​a test-scribe mark. I just hope that you can see the little holes for the base points above the template yet. 
  
  
  
  The difficulty, however, now will be the correct aligning and fixing the template on the TSM's because the space is quite narrow and difficult to access, which you can see in the next two pictures again. That's why I'll probably must cut the template to a narrow strip, about 6 mm wide (ladder width 3 mm), then I have to position and fix it somehow for grooving the holes.
  
  
  
  On the TSM sides you can apply the template still relatively good, 
  
  
  
  but on the service-flap boxes it is relatively complicated due to the different heights, in particular then still to be able to accurately groove the holes next to the boxes.
  
  Well, I will already have to try out how to do it best ...
  
  
• #517 by RichO on 21 Jun, 2014 12:36
• Hi Manfred,
  
    Well it seems that you are between a rock and a hard place! I do not envy you on this one. The uneven surfaces will defenetly create a challange. But I know you are up to it, so full steam ahead!!
  
    BTW, the TSM's look fantastic!
• #518 by roma847 on 21 Jun, 2014 13:18
• Thanks Rich for your encouraging words,
  
  but the ladders are really a tough nut to crack, but I'll still crack.
  
  
• #519 by roma847 on 25 Jun, 2014 16:36
• Hello folks,
  
  today I once tried the transparent template and started the piercing for the support brackets on the LH2 TSM. In order to position the template exactly as possible next to the pipe bundle, I have them cut on one side about 1 mm from the pre-punctured row of holes.
  
  
  
  In order to reasonably safe handling, I had to put the TSM in a proven way flat and clamping the holding arbor in my special mount and additional support at the left end.
  
  
  
  Then I first pre-punctured the outer base point for the lower support bracket 3 mm above the TSM bottom and fixed the template on one side with a steel wire (0.3 mm). After alignment of the template then the outer base point for the last upper support bracket was pre-punctured and also fixed with a steel wire.
  In this position, I then carefully pre-punctured the remaining base points, so as not to slip.
  
  
  
  And this hole pattern was the result,
  
  
  
  and so roughly, I had imagined the procedure, although a little tricky, but doable.
  
  
  
  Then came the LOX TSM to the series. This has on the outside also a ladder with center strut, only the free space here is fortunately somewhat larger.
  
  
  
  Otherwise the procedure is the same, so first marking the base points and then pre-puncture the holes with applied template.
  
  
  
  
  
  And here the first six of the nine support brackets are temporarily plugged.
  
  
  
  So far for today with the first piercing round.