Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

[roma847]

Thanks Rich, 

 

yep, from this type with the lower flange I have to scratch only still 32, and then still 6 from the other type without the flange.

 

Source: Raumcon (eumel)

[Gimme Shelter]

this is terrifyingly intricate and finite work you have going on here - mind blasting - surely the workmanship you have done, and continue to put into this must be close to what put man on the moon in the first place !

 

simply stunning work - eat your heart out evergreen plastics..

[roma847]

Thanks my friend for your nice compliments, 

 

you hit that nail square on the head!  It is really quite elaborate and rather stressful to scratch these details at this scale, but I have to bite through,  cause I like this crazy stuff. 

 

And therefore - Keep on struggling day by day ... 

[Mustermark]

The tiny parts are as impressive as the macro photography. If it wasn't for the famous cent and the markings on the rule it would not be possible to believe the small size.

[roma847]

Thanks Mark for your nice words, 

this is really pure stress for my eyes, which is why I have to take a break more often,   but the show must go on ... 

[xffw45343tg]

If I didn't know better, I'd say it sounds like you're not enjoying this.

You could always take a break and do a bit more of the launch tower!!

Or chuck it in the bin and start again in 1:72 (much easier on the eyes).  

 

[roma847]

You are a joker, Kirk! 

 

Whether you believe it or not, but this stress is meanwhile a familiar part of my daily work at this scale,   but then comes the success and the satisfaction, and that is the main thing. 

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

but there is also an easier and above all faster solution, provided one has a quiet hand and a good sense of distance,  which I've tried today. 

 

The strip is clamped between the steel rulers as before. Then I've tackled the support at the upper ends with the tweezer and gently dipped the edge into a flat CA drop, and set it down as centrally as possible on the strip, where it started glueing. For a short moment it is possible to correct the support's seat minimally with the fingernail or tweezer.

 

Then I have still painted a little bit MEK onto both sides.

 

 

 

Finally I've cut off the front overhang with the slanting edge of the cutter chisel,

 

 

 

 

and then the rear overhang with the straight cutting edge. 

 

 

And these are less handgrips than with the previous solution with the cutting compass, so why complicated, if it goes also easier. 

[Mustermark]

Simple is always good! Only another 20-something to go...

[roma847]

Thanks Mark, 

 

and Hello everybody,

 

meanwhile the 19 supports for the three gutters on the Side 2 are finished.  

 

These are the 16 supports with the lower flange, as well as three without the flange.

 

 

Two supports each are welded to the angle profiles at the front and rear corner,

 

Source: Raumcon (eumel)

 

and the third support sits on the narrow girder between the Bay 12 and Bay 13,

 

Source: apollosaturn.com (John Duncan)

 

which one can see here somewhat better on Side 4.  

 

Source: Raumcon (eumel)

 

Now I have only to work out a skilful method, how I can glue the supports on the aluminum gutters, wherefore this time only CA is suitable. And this will probably not be possible without a special holder jig for the gutters, I think.

[roma847]

Hello together,

 

well then let's get back to the work, if it's also difficult.

 

First, I tried my proposed solution with the upside-down gutter, for which I used a gutter, bended out of shape, as well as a wasted support.

 

For holding the gutter I have made myself a narrow core strip, for which I have glued a 1.5 mm half-round profile on a 1 mm square bar, on which the gutter was then placed. 

 

 

Since a fixed stop of the gutter is important for the gluing of the supports, my Balsa pin-and-clamp technology was again used.

 

Then I have tackled the support with the tweezer at the bottom edge and wetted the inner rounding carefully with an acupuncture needle with a few CA droplets. After that, I have lowered it very carefully onto the gutter, so that it touched easily the angle stop with the rear edge, and after a short moment carefully released.  

 

 

Unfortunately, nothing can be corrected at this position, and either the support is centered over the rounding of the gutter and at right angles to the longitudinal axis, or also not.

 

Unfortunately, the latter was the case because the gutter was obviously not evenly rounded.

 

 

Then I have still tried another holding method with a cross tweezer, for which the gutter with the inserted core strip was fixed between magnets. 

 

 

 

But also this time the seat of the support was not perfect.

 

 

 

That's why I probably will return to the upright arrangement of the gutter, as it was shown already one time.  

 

 

For this I will clamp the support upright between two steel rulers, whereby they are standing already vertical. And then the gutter with the core strip at the angle stop is lowered to the inner rounding of the support, which was previously wetted with CA.

And also by using this method it will be advisable to glue the supports successively separately with the gutter, which I will try next time. 

[RichO]

I hope you have some good luck  with your technique.  

[Mustermark]

Great progress. Looking good.

[roma847]

Thanks Rich and Mark, 

 

I can only hope that my technique will work as I imagine it. 

 

It would be easier if the gutter were made of plastic, then I could glue the supports with MEK, but with CA everything is more difficult. 

 

Therefore friends, please keep your fingers crossed! 

[Mustermark]

I thought you had discovered MEK would glue to some metal like aluminium? Do I recall incorrectly? Or is this just the wrong metal?

[roma847]

Hi Mark,

 

unfortunately not, this you must have misunderstood. 

 

MEK is actually a solvent, therefore it solvates plastic parts and glues them together this way. 

 

What I had discovered was the fact, that MEK glues plastic to paper too, which I can use when gluing the SSWS pipe supports on the MLP.

[Nigel Heath]

Marvelous micro manipulation Manfred!

[roma847]

Thanks Nigel, 

 

yep, these gutters are really a rather delicate matter. 

 

Hello everybody,

 

I have yet again changed my plan and moulded a new Gutter 2, since the first gutter had been a little too short. This is the gutter with the hole for the downspout, which then flows into the vertical downspout at the end of the Bay 17. 

 

Source: Library of Congress

 

After the hole (Ø 1.5 mm) for the downspout was punched, the gutter was again moulded in the gradually decreasing half-tubes with corresponding core wires.  

 

 

 

 

Then the gutter floors were glued in,

 

 

and the gutter was ready.  

 

 

But tomorrow the supports really will follow.  

[Nigel Heath]

I like the look of your work there.

[RichO]

Nice and clean,  I hope all works out for you!

[roma847]

Thanks Nigel and Rich for looking in on me, 

 

now it's time for glueing of the tiny Supports, hopefully it works as I imagined. 

 

 

[roma847]

Hello together,

 

today I have tried to put the planned method for glueing the supports to the gutter into action, which has expectedly proved to be a difficult undertaking.

 

For fixing the supports between the steel rulers I needed again my steel sheet, on which I first attached a tape with the support distances. 

 

 

As a vertical stop for the gutter, I fixed a steel ruler vertically in front of a longer brass angle with magnets,

 

 

behind which however unfortunately also my markings disappeared,  

 

 

which is why I've also taped the same marking tape on the ruler.   And in front of this stop, I then clamped the first support between two more steel rulers and fixed them with magnets. 

 

 

After that, I have put the gutter with the core strip on the support and eyed the arrangement up, which was okay so far, except that the markings were covered up again.  

 

Therefore, I had to change my plan and fixed the gutter with an additional steel ruler as end stop.

 

 

For glueing of the support, CA had to be applied there, the question was only how or where best, so that in the end not everything glues together ...   

 

In order no risking that the support during the CA application would glue between the steel rulers, I have marked the contact point at the gutter. Then I took the core strip away, dabbed a mini-CA droplet on the front rounding of the gutter and then positioned the core strip including the gutter to the rear stop and finally lowered it carefully to the support,   

 

 

what has worked well so far. And after removing of the core strip, the gutter glued only at the support, so that the rulers could be removed too.

 

 

For stabilization, I have carefully dabbed the support from both sides with CA with an acupuncture needle,

 

 

wherewith the first support had been successfully glued.

 

 

 

And since this method has worked as I have imagined it and has proved itself, the glueing of the remaining supports can now take place in a similar way. Every beginning is difficult. 

 

So you are now up to date again.

[Mustermark]

It's just unbelievable when you put it near the cent! So tiny, so intricate. More great creativity with the clamping equipment too.

[roma847]

Thanks Mark for your nice words. 

 

Hello everybody,

 

after the successful glueing of the first support today I have glued the remaining five Supports at the Gutter 2.

 

In order to get with the steel rulers into the interstices between the supports, however, I had to clamp them vertically, otherwise it was the same procedure as before.  

 

 

 

For clamping the tiny supports between the rulers one needs, however, patience and a quiet hand, since the supports can quickly tip over.

 

 

Then CA was applied again and the gutter with the core strip lowered to the second support and glued thereby. 

 

 

 

 

And so it went on until the fifth and penultimate support on this gutter.

 

 

 

 

Then came the last support, which lines up precisely with the gutter end at the beginning of the Bay 11, as one can see in this image. 

 

Source: apollosaturn.com (John Duncan)

 

 

And after this support was glued,

 

the Gutter 2 was finally finished.

 

 

 

Next, the short Gutter 3 follows at the end of the Side 2, which has only two supports, and thereafter finally the Gutter 1 at the front of the side with its nine supports. 

[RichO]

You have our "full support".  Nice job!