Jinx

Still working away on the orbiter, latest progress includes: - Filled the nozzles on the nose as they aren't particularly accurate and for launch config they are covered anyway (will be sanded smooth) - Sanded the OMS pods to a more accurate shape and attached the New Ware aftermarket parts. These have also been attached to the main body and once the filler dries I will sand smooth the gaps. Of course I went to the trouble of drilling out the thruster nozzles to be more accurate before realising that these are also covered at launch so then ended up filling them in... doh - Finished the door hatch with my medical tape/electrical tape heat shield solution and deepened the etching in the model to account for the extra thickness so it sits more flush. The little electrical tape tiles are undoubtedly fiddly and I have added a small amount of glue to hold them firm but I think they look good - opinions? Cheers!

So today has been a slower day... - I have added some shims and putty to the base of the tail to recreate the drag chute which isn't on the original Revell model. - Added some putty inside the OMS cowlings in anticipation of some reshpaing the forends to be more accurate. - Affixed the end bulkhead of the cargo bay. - Cut out the inner window framings and added decals to some clear plastic for the windows themselves. The clear plastic will be sandwiched between these frames and the outer shell of the orbiter. - Carved out an area for the photo etched door from New Ware and started adding some medical/electrical tape to replicate the thermal protection (waiting for white electical tape to arrive tomorrow to finish). - Main cockpit is complete (except the back wall) with ceiling and extra decals added. PS: I have been making use of this link https://massive.sketchfab.com/3d-models/orbiter-space-shuttle-ce086ea2bd4c49d2a3ed3c9bee60ddd4/index.html to a super high resolution orbiter model created from the real Discovery at the Smithsonian. A great resource for any shuttle modeller! Thanks for watching!

Latest progress... The New Ware kit comes with PE replacements for the umbilical connections (Revell supplies a simple decal) so I carefully scored out to roughly the depth of the part on each side of the orbiter and glued them into place, then I drilled out the main umbilical connection for depth. I also cut out the areas on the underside where the external tank connects to the orbiter, I will be crafting some detailed parts to go in there at a later point, plus the doors etc. I have also affixed the replacement resin rear section including filler and sanded it all smooth. Finally, more progress on the cockpit, I have painted and applied decals and assembled with the chairs and HUD. It's not particularly accurate and looks a little scrappy but to be honest I doubt much/any of the detail will even be visible once it's in place so i am not worried too much. Very difficult to assemble such tiny pieces!

Yeah I saw that, it’s a great technique but I don’t think it will scale well to 1/144 and in any case the blanket tiles are probably the easy bit, it’s the little ceramic tiles that’s gonna be the ballache! I want to try and do the individual tiles Just to see if it can be done and how the end result looks.

Thanks! I may have bitten off more than I can chew but it’ll be a good learning experience none the less.

Been trying to scratch build a 144 scale cockpit (bearing in mind I haven't done any of this before!) and maaking some steady progress. I am not working to exact dimensions or anything, so long as it looks 'about right' to the MK1 Eyeball it'll do for me. I'll be painting and applying some homemade decals for the control panels and floor details and using some cut down model car aerials for the control columns. I have also made some little chairs from styrene and black thread.

I’m assuming it will be far less as by the time I’ve done 5000 I’ll have gone completely mad and be in an institution...

Next steps I have glued on the wings, filled the gaps, sanded them smooth and carved out the detail in the landing gear doors. I also carved out between the flaps and reshaped the outer edges to be more accurate. I have also drilled/sanded the holes for the New Ware resin star trackers. Next steps will be to scratch build some sort of simple cockpit!

I love the Voyager! Can’t wait to see this build.

First update... I have glued the two halves of the orbiter together after smoothing off any artifacts from the casting process, I then filled in the various gaps along the join and sanded them smooth. I also want to make the windows more realistic by giving them some depth so instead of using the kit supplied window and decal I used some plastic shims and filler to craft them out.

Excellent, I look forward to seeing how you get on too!

Hi, you’ll have to go easy on me as this is the first model I’ve built since I put together a Shuttle Orbiter and Eagle Landing Module when I was about 13 (some 25 years ago now!). I have taken a lot of inspiration from various threads and websites on how I want to go about the build (particularly impressed with the efforts of Roma847 here:) I plan to make Space Shuttle Discovery, I wont be replicating a specific mission stack preferring to just make it to my own visual preference but it will be roughly late 90s. One thing I will be doing differently to I think any other build I have seen is replicating the shuttle tiles using individually cut little pieces of electrical tape... overkill? Sure. But I have done some tests and I think it will look quite good?! I’ll also stick with the tried and tested medical tape for the FTPS blankets and I think white masking tape is a good substitute for the look of the FRSI areas. I’ll also be scratch building a simple cockpit for what little you can see inside, using the flour trick for the ET and adding as much detail as I can to the stock Revell launch pad to make it look better (if not accurately sized). I’ll be learning by doing along the way so any/all of this might change! I’ll post occasional updates and photos along the way! *Testing different materials. I only quickly cut out the individual 'tiles' so if I am careful to get them evenly sized and placed onto a black base coat they should look pretty good, then I can add weathering to lighten them up... that's the plan anyway!

Hi, just wanted to say I just joined this site to say how amazed I am at the work that's gone into this! Absolutely incredible! Just when I think you can't possibly get any more obsessed about the smallest details you find something even smaller to work on! I have a Revell 1/144 stack that I am going to work on and I have shamelessly stolen some of your ideas to use on my own model, though as this is the first model i have attempted the results will likely be far inferior (but fun none the less!). Great work!