Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

[Mustermark]

Amazing.

[roma847]

Thanks Mark for your compliment,

 

today I'm going to scratch the next clamping rings using my Lattice technique.  

[roma847]

Hello everybody, here we go.

 

At first I've caught up the four-part clamping ring with the longer screw connections (1 mm), 

 

 

and compared it with the previous one with the too short screw connections (0.75 mm), the edges of which I have also rounded off somewhat.  

 

 

On this macro recording one can still recognize the difference, but from some distance probably already not more.  

 

And now to the small series of the nine four-part clamping rings, for which I wanted to apply the Lattice technique.

 

Originally I had also thought of a similar jig with spacers, as it had worked well for the cartridge belts of the Rainbirds. But for these only nine clamping rings then I have renounced on it and have used only tapes.

 

First of all I attached the strips (0.38 mm x 0.5 mm) for the clamping rings with the ends on a tape strip.

 

 

For bonding of the strips (0.25 mm x 1 mm) for the four screw connections per clamping ring with MEK, however, I have precautionally changed over to a metal sheet.

 

 

Then I have placed these four strips over the clamping ring strips and laterally fixed with tape. 

 

 

And in order for the screwing strips to lie tightly on top of each other during gluing, the lattice was still loaded by a weight. Afterwards, the superimposed strips on both sides were carefully dabbed with MEK, wherefore a brush tip MEK is really enough.

 

 

After the same gluing procedure was done on the back, the tape strips could be removed, and the clamping ring lattice was finished.

 

 

And lo and behold, the lattice is at first sight relatively stable, wherewith the lattice technique has proved itself.  

 

 

That's it for now, and next time the clamping rings will be separated.  

[roma847]

Hi everybody,

 

even if it is currently something tiring, here it goes on with the clamping rings, it is no good ...   

 

Since the rounding of the edges on a single strip is quite difficult and obtently stressful,  I have not completely separated the lattice, but only the outer overhangs are cut off. As a result, the outer side of the clamping ring, including the screw connections, can be rounded off relatively comfortably over the entire length since the lattice itself is surprisingly stable and flexible.  

 

 

On the other side of the strip, one has to work carefully, particularly when rounding off the interstices,   for which I have made myself a 1.5 mm narrow grinding stick.

 

 

This business was very time-consuming, but then the nine clamping rings were finally (like myself) done.

 

 

How good that I had planned a spare strip, because at one strip, during rounding off actually one screw connection was canceled.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

after the four-part clamping rings were securely stowed in a small box, I kept doing with the six-part rings, however 19 of them are needed.

 

For the clamping rings 0.38 mm x 0.5 mm strips were again used, and 0.25 mm x 0.75 mm strips for the shorter screw connections. 

 

 

I will use the same method again to prepare two lattices each with 10 clamping rings, because the size had been okay.

 

 

 

In order to hold down the screw connection strips, they had to weight again, 

 

 

whereby I almost had forgotten one strip.  

 

 

After the transverse strips were aligned once more, in order to have approximately equal distances, I have additionally two narrow masking strips glued, so that the lattice can not slip during MEK gluing. 

 

 

Then all the lattice junctions were glued together on the top side,

 

 

and then on the bottom.  

 

 

And with the first lattice again a small step was done, the next will follow soon.  

[RichO]

Mass production!!  I like.  Nice clamp rings.

[roma847]

Thanx Rich, 

 

even if this crazy stuff is quite stressful, you know I like this tiny details. 

[roma847]

Hi all together,

 

and thus in the fast passage to the second clamping ring lattice with the known procedures:  

 

Fixing the longitudinal and transverse strips,

 

 

 

as well as gluing the cross points with MEK.

 

 

The lattice, which has been smoothly adhering to the sheet metal, can easily be detached with a razor blade.  

 

 

After that the stressful rounding off of the filigree edges had to be done again, which this time because of the closer distances of the screwing strips was somewhat more difficult.

 

 

That's why I've come up with a narrow mini-file for the narrow spaces, for which I have glued a 1 mm wide strip of fine sandpaper (500) to a 2.5 mm Evergreen channel.  

 

 

And these first ten of the required 19 six-part clamping rings are the result of this laborious fiddling.  

 

 

And next time follows the same procedure again at the 2nd lattice.  

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

today I have disassembled the 2nd grid and rounded the edges on the remaining 10 clamping rings and their screw connections on all sides.

 

And I can tell you, with the last stripes my eyes began to tear more and more,   because in the long run this is too strenuous, because the edges are so tiny.  

 

 

That's why I've counted once for fun the edges, which I have rounded off with my mini-files at the total of 28 clamping rings.

 

And what would you estimate if I would ask you?

 

Well, since I myself was surprised, I'm going to say it immediately: believe it or not, a total of 900, hardly to believe but true !!!

 

And now it's time to get the SSWS skeletons out of the SRB Holes in order to glue all the clamping rings.

 

 

 

 

 

But first I have to deal with the transitions at the outlets and to model them with Apoxie Sculpt.

[RichO]

900 is a big number, I know!  Nice idea with the sanding stick.

[roma847]

Thanks Rich for watching, 

 

I'm very glad that I finally managed this crazy fiddling and the clamping rings can finally be glued to the ring lines. 

[roma847]

Hello together,

 

but before I start with the Apoxie Sculpt modeling, there's still something else to do.  

 

After removal the ring lines, I have noticed that in front of the 16''/12'' transition behind the LOX-TSM the clamping ring still lacked, as one can see in the right circle.  

 

 

The rings for this I had (only) bent from lead wire (Ø 0,4 mm) at that time. 

 

 

But in reality, these are two-part clamping rings with laterally fitting screw connections, 

 

Source: NASA

 

Source: NASA

 

which could also be made by the successful lattice technique.  

 

And just during this consideration, a friend from the Raumcon Forum has sent me a piece of Teflon foil (PTFE, 0.05 mm), which I should try as underlay during the MEK-gluing.

 

Onto this idea one must only come up, especially since PTFE is known for its excellent anti-stick properties.

 

For as you may remember perhaps, the strips lattice glued with MEK adhered on the metal sheet, which surprised me.

 

And I have now tried the same with the both two-part clamping rings, meaning no metal sheet than underlay, but only the Teflon foil on the cutting mat on which the clamping ring strips were fixed.   

 

Subsequently, the crossings were dabbed with MEK as before and so glued. 

 

 

And lo and behold, nothing remains adhered, and the bondings can be removed from the foil easily and without any problem.

 

 

And these are the two clamping ring strips with the two screw connections. 

 

 

As far as for today.

[RichO]

Thank for the tip Manfred, We sure can use a foil like that!

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

unfortunately I've got a lumbago, what is not so funny, but when sitting comfortably, it is still tolerable, so I once tried one of these both two-part clamping rings. Because of the smaller pipe diameter (2.5 mm) this time I used an Evergreen strip 0.25 mm x 0.5 mm for the ring, and for the screw connections 0.25 mm x 1 mm.

 

I hope one can still recognize the clamping ring behind the bow,

 

 

this one here is it,

 

Source: NASA

and therefore here once somewhat larger.

 

 

Subsequently, I have started modeling the transitions at the rejuvenations of the ring lines and first rolled Apoxie Sculpt balls and then mixed them.

 

Here is the preliminary result, first at the 24''/12'' transition, which is still accessible relatively easy, 

 

 

 

and then here at the 24''/16'' transition, which was somewhat trickier because the two 6'' outlets are unfortunately in the way.

 

 

 

On the occasion I have also installed one of the two 9'' transitions, for what I had to insert the ring line again into the shaft, which however against expectation has worked, also without removing the SRB Supports.

 

 

Now everything has only to dry, then the transitions still can be reworked somewhat.

 

 

That's it for today.

[RichO]

 

it's so close now I can smell the paint. Good job.

[roma847]

Thanks Rich,

 

yeah, time flies, and you have a good nose for it. 

 

But with the painting of this crazy SSWS stuff and the Firex pipes I have to wait however still something, because beforehand the 28 tiny clamping rings have still to be glued first. 

 

 

After that, all the 36 supports can be glued under the ring lines, and then the guys in the paint shop can get started finally. 

 

And therefore you should still be patient for so long and stay tuned. 

[Mustermark]

Hi Manfred, I hope the lumbago gets better soon - I understand that as I have suffered the same on and off for the last years.

 

The SSWS is looking great... almost there!

[roma847]

Thanks Mark for your consolation,  then we can reach our hand.

 

I also hope that it will become soon again better, so that I finally can finish this SSWS chapter. 

[The Chief Smeg]

On 25/01/2017 at 0:02 PM, roma847 said:

 

 

 

As far as for today.

Of course what we are not being told is that the coin in the picture is actually a giant manhole cover sprayed a copper colour!

 

joking apart, the level of detail and amount of work you are putting into this is simply staggering. I have been following this build avidly for some time now, every update is eagerly awaited. It's just amazing. 

[roma847]

Thanks Chief for your praising words, 

 

a little bit fun is always good.  

 

I am glad that you like my work, then I will try to keep up this level of detailing furthermore, because I believe, that the effort will be worth it. 

[James G]

Excellent work Manfred, you have incredible patience and perseverance (not short on skill too of course)!

[roma847]

Thanks James for your kind words, 

 

just good that I still have so much patience and perseverance, without which I would have long since given up already this long-term project. 

 

The skill develops by itself, if one exercises long enough and gives his fancy full scope ... 

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

in the meantime, the modeled transitions have been carefully plastered on both pipe frames, using different tools for grinding to reach to the respective points.  

 

 

These were for the bigger roundings beside normal grinding sticks also again my handmade small sticks as well as fine files and especially grinding sponge (Tamiya-2000). Since the grinding sponge adapts particularly well to the contours, I have glued a small sponge stick from a narrow strip and a balsa stick, with which one can carefully grind around the transition without producing unsightly nicks.  

 

 

Since hardly any rework was required on the 18'' outlets, existing unevenness were eliminated with a thin needle file (Ø 1.0 - 0.5 mm). 

 

Now also the other 9'' transition on the ring line behind the LOX-TSM could be glued, whom I had to give especially care while further handling, since the glue point with Ø 1,5 mm is highly sensitive and extremely fragile.

 

 

The thin support rods under these transitions can only be glued at the very end, because their support webs are simply too narrow and would hardly provide support.  

 

Then the other two-part clamping ring came next into line. 

 

 

After I had marked the position of the screw connections with a tape strip, 

 

 

the clamping ring was glued step by step.

 

 

 

Thereby the two ring lines are now finished, so that now the 28 clamping rings can be glued, which certainly will become a stressful affair.

 

 

At first, however, the positions had to be marked, for which I have used a small tape template, which was very helpful.

 

 

And now my drawing of the ring line behind the LH2-TSM came again into the game,  

 

 

by means of which I marked the position of the six-part (green) and four-part tensioning rings (blue) on the ring line, therewith nothing can get jumbled, because the arrangement of the clampingg rings on the ring line  behind the LOX-TSM looks a little different.  

 

 

So it can now finally get started with the clamping ring orgy, of which I already a bit dread.   Because this time I have to go back again to the CA, because with MEK the disaster would be pre-programmed, if you can remember, long, long time ago ...  

 

 

The important thing is a secure holding of the ring line, in order to be able to position the clamping rings correctly, because the first contact has to be fixed straight away, especially since correction is extremely difficult. Because if the starting point does not glue, one has to clean the glue point again, because on the old CA strangely enough no new CA glues.

 

But today I do not start anymore, because now our dog wants to go outside ...

 

Bye for now.

[RichO]

The photo of the first ring applied sure does make the line look good.  This is getting so exciting...  

And isn't it a pain that super glue sticks to everything but it's self.

 

Good job.

[roma847]

Thanks Rich for looking around, 

I just hope it will not become a nightmare.