Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

[bootneck]

I can almost hear the crunch of the gravel under those tracks! 

Mike

[roma847]

Hi Mike,

 

although in this great Video after 1:33 one can only hear the mighty din of such a monster crawler, 

 

 

one can at least see the smooth tracks of the chains in the flat-rolled gravel.  

 

 

BTW, I remember a video that I have somewhere,  on which one can also hear the driving noise, but maybe I'm just imagining it ... 

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

with the 2nd Crawler chain I can make it briefly.

 

After the Track Shoes were put together again in pairs and the Pin Lugs were slightly pre-drilled,

 

 

the couples could be pinned together.  

 

 

Each time further chain links were added, the middle openings were first pre-drilled again and then these groups were pinned together, etc. ...

 

 

until finally the 2nd Chain was done too.

 

 

Meanwhile the tedious handling is already easier for me.  

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

and that's why I wanted to take advantage of the momentum and have tackled the 3rd Chain on.

 

Already the separation of the Track shoes and the fettling of the separation points is a rather time-consuming business, in which greatest caution is required because Shapeways' 3D plastic Frosted Ultra Detail (FUD ) is relatively brittle and therefore easily fragile.

 

 

Thereby now 3 Chains are already pre-assembled and waiting for the next chain, 

 

 

where, just for fun, I'll stop the time, because I'm curious.  

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

so then again I've cleaned the Headset glasses, looked at the clock (12:30 pm), and got started the assembly of the 4th Crawler chain.

 

12:30 pm: Separation of the 57 Track shoes 

 

 

12:45 pm: Deburring the Track shoes & pair formation

 

 

 

1:05 pm: Pre-drilling of the Pin lugs & Pinning of the pairs (deburring of the pins)

 

 

1:35 pm: Pinning the chain & deburring of the pins 

 

For the pinning these two tweezers were used, whereby the pins were inserted with the wide tweezers into the Pin Lugs, the position of which could be corrected with the pointed tweezers, which were then pushed in all the way to the stop.  

 

 

At 2:17 pm, after approx. 1¾ h, the 4th Chain was finally finished.

 

 

BTW, my preliminary estimate was approx. 1,5 h, so I wasn't that bad at all.

 

Now half of the 8 Chains are done, wherewith only approx. 7 h of pure construction time lie ahead of me without interruption, but which I will still manage now too. 

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

now I only have to bite my teeth four times then the 8 Crawler chains would be done, so let's get to work!

 

So keep the scissors coming,

 

 

and get rid of the annoying set-bars. After that, the laborious deburring of the chain links was the next step again.  

 

 

After the pair formation, the pre-drilling of the Pin Lugs followed, as usual,

 

 

and then the pinning the chain, alternating with pre-drilling the Pin lugs and occasionally deburring of bulky pins.

 

 

And with the 5th Chain I'm already over the worst,

 

 

and can slowly see light at the end of the tunnel ...

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

before I get to my day-to-day business, I would like to remind the beginning of the Shuttle missions and Columbia's launch to her maiden flight STS-1 with which NASA's legendary Shuttle program began today 40 years ago.

 

Source: NASA

 

And thus back to the present. Today was the turn of the 6th Crawler chain, of course (almost) again in the familiar and proven sequence of steps.

 

 

- Deburring of the Track shoes

 

 

- Pair formation and pre-drilling of the Pin Lugs

 

 

- Pinning the pairs (deburring of the pins)

 

 

For a change, I proceeded a little differently this time than before and have connected these pairs by building Groups of four,  

 

 

which I've then connected to each other to Groups of 16, 

 

 

from which in the last step finally the 6th Chain was formed.

 

 

So now it means to clench the teeth only still twice, to finally holding a complete set of 8 Chains in my hands.  

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

today I'll report with a quickie regarding the 7th Chain.

 

- Deburring of the Track shoes

 

 

- Pinning the pairs

 

 

And so also the 7th Chain is already done, so that the last Pin-storeroom can be looted next.

 

 

In order that the finale of this fiddling chapter is finally around the corner.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

it's managed!   In the meantime, the 8th Crawler chain is finished and the Crawler is already almost Ready for Rollout!

 

So here is the short farewell to a certainly stressful and monotonous for everyone, but necessary chapter ...

 

With the pinned couples the final countdown was ushered in, 

 

 

and then the time had finally come, and the 456 Track Shoes have become now to the 8 Crawler chains. And the 8 Pins for closing the chains are also left over.  

 

 

Since the 16 Drive Sprockets are already finished, I will soon have to think about which parts of the trucks I will build from the Paper kit, or will scratch, or whether I should fall back for some tricky details to the 3D modeling skills of my friend Joe (crackerjazz) from the ARC Forums followed by 3D printing ...

 

 

Very helpful for this would also be the generous offer from Sascha1990 in his German Raumcon thread (Reply #14) NASA Crawler + LUT and Saturn V as 3D print of his monster crawler for making the 3D STL Files available for general use on his homepage. Unfortunately nothing has been seen of him since then, as well as that he has not yet responded to my recent request too ...

 

So let's see, time will tell!

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

now that the 8 Crawler chains are finished, I stowed them safely in a box so that they don't get dusty and nothing happens to them.  

 

 

 

And now to a sad story, which is connected with the generous offer from Sascha1990 to share the 3D STL files of his Monster-Crawler in his much noticed thread NASA Crawler + LUT und Saturn V als 3D Druck as well as with the following radio silence of the master since then.

 

About the connections I have now received more information in the NSF forum (forum.nasaspaceflight.com).  

 

Since I was quickly enthusiastic about his great project at the time and we were in a daily exchange of ideas, I had suggested him in a PM in autumn 2018, to post about also it in the NSF forum, whereupon he then had started a thread Crawler Transporter 1/48 3D-Print, in which he had announced his idea of a true-to-scale model of the NASA Triology (Crawler, LUT, Saturn V) in 1/48 what had aroused great interest there.

 

In it he had also announced that his 3D STL files for the 3D printing of the Crawler would be made available for general use, that he would then upload on Thingiverse what he has also done,  as I've learned now from an NSF friend.

 

At the same time as printing and building his Crawler, he had already started with the 3D modeling of the Launch Umbilical Tower (LUT).

 

In his post Reply #17 one could read that he had to remove his project on Thingiverse because some people attacked him very aggressively in private messages, which I was surprised about, but without having given it any further thought, because I couldn't do anything with this portal at the time.  

 

But that was apparently the reason for his sudden disappearance, both in his German thread and in the NSF forum.  

 

As I've found out from my US friend today, he actually made his Crawler 3D STL files available on Thingiverse at the time, but my friend hadn't downloaded them immediately because he was already looking for a 3D printer  and nearly almost had bought one. 

 

When my friend was on the platform again, he was horrified to see that the 3D files and their master had meanwhile been gone, after which he didn't show up somewhere ...  

 

Here is the comment of my frustrated friend:  

 

A lot of people were putting heavy pressure on him to share his LUT files as well, many were unkind ... You know how people can be ...
I can only imagine what some of those cretins were doing to him ...
Very sad ...

 

So the good-heartedness and unselfishness can be abused by such people ...

 

Let's see, maybe he'll get back at some point ...

[Harry Callahan]

Lindt chocolates are very good quality , i love it, but of course i love your progress too 😆

[roma847]

  Werner! 

 

You really got a good taste! 

[Bigdave22014]

I don't know which is more amazing...

The tracks themselves, or the fact that you had the correct number of pins left!

If it was me several would have gone PING!

[roma847]

Safety first! 

 

I still have some Track shoes and pins in reserve. 

[roma847]

Hello friends,

 

the break was long enough, and since Sascha1990 has probably said goodbye forever, I have shelved my 3D Printing Considerations for now.

 

Most likely I had thought of the 16 Propel motors, four of which drive one of the four Truck pairs and thereby move the huge Crawler forward. 

 

Source: NASA

 

In David Maier's Kit, these motors form a unit with the gearbox housing and must be laboriously folded and glued together from these parts, 

 

 

whereby the details in the typical Maier design are only indicated by partially blurred textures,

 

 

what then looks like this at the finished model of my friend Michael Knobloch. 

 

What bothers me even more are the even more rustic-looking modules of the JEL Hydraulic cylinders for equalization the crawler on the slant Crawlerway up to the pad, 

 

Source: papermodelers.com (mk311049)

 

which are only built box-shaped and covered with textured wallpaper, 

 

Source: papermodelers.com (mk311049)

 

what is immediately noticeable on closer inspection and therefore would not please me.

 

Source: papermodelers.com (mk311049)

 

Source: papermodelers.com (mk311049)

 

That is why I thought for a long time how I could at least partially circumvent these inadequacies in David Maier's Paper Kit.  

 

To do this, I firstly again dealt more intensively with Mischa Klement's Crawler Kit (1/96) and the few construction reports about it and then contacted the master who had briefly introduced his unprecedented Crawler in our German Raumcon forum a long time ago in the topic Paper models.

 

Source: Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

His kit consists of approx. 11.000 parts (0,4 mm to 40 cm) and is without exaggeration High-End Paper Modeling, whereby the Crawler is a true work of art in museum quality due to its impressive level of detail.  

 

The kit has been available since 2010 and is limited to 499 pieces worldwide, but is not for the faint of heart, which is why so far only a few modelers have successfully completed the construction of this monster, of which I know three, whose construction reports I am followed and studied with interest.

 

Due to the high level of detail, these assemblies look worlds better by Micro Artwork, here just the components for a Propel motor and beside it the finished pair Gearbox housings with motors, 

 

Source: Mischa Klement (cyana) 

 

as well as here on the finished model. 

 

Source: Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

And in his extensive building instructions (48 pages) everything is illustrated and described in detail.

 

In our last conversation I learned that there are actually still some kits available what I no longer believed. That's why I spontaneously decided to buy a kit and have received the proud part in a sturdy cardboard box a few days ago.

 

 

Here is an overview of the contents of the kit:

 

 

1  The kit comes in a solid card board box and is packed in a nylon bag to avoid damage from humidity. The red circle shows the placement of your serial number,  for me 443/499.

2  Instructions manual with 48 pages

3  2 sheets of 300 g card stock – one A4 sized in gray, one half A4 sized in yellow (WWY2, WWY3)

4  2 sheets of A4 transparent film (TRNS1, TRNS2) for windows and gratings

5  1 sheet of black A4 tissue paper for Guide and JEL tubes as well as for steering cylinders (TPA)

6  12 sheets of 250 g card stock A3 (CHA1-CHA5, COR, CBL2, TOP, 4 x TRK2) 

7  10 sheets of 120 g paper A3 (SMP, CBL1, 4 x TRK1, 4 x TRK3)

8  1 sheet of 100 g paper A3 (WWY1) and 1 sheet of 80 g paper A3 (PIT)

 

In the kit nearly everything has been thought of, both in terms of different paper/cardboard thicknesses and colors, as well as transparencies for windows in the driver's cab and gratings for covering openings in the crawler floor as well as for fans and walkways.

 

 

Since the truck booms contain breakthroughs and openings, these parts are printed on gray cardboard of the same color, 

 

 

and partially even the backs of the sheets are printed with the backs of the parts.

 

 

And here is a look at the detailed and illustrative assembly instructions,

 

 

that one also can downloaded from the Homepage, here with a look at the detailed structure of a Propel motor. 

 

 

And here for comparison the individual parts of a motor in the kit size (1/96) and about half the size in my scale 1/160 with my obligatory one reference Cent, from which it can be seen that it should be difficult, if not impossible, to tinker such a small motor respectively 16 pieces of it.  

 

 

But maybe I should at least give it a try ...

[RichO]

This brings back great memories Manfred, Have fun!!!

[roma847]

Thanks Rich, 

I can fully understand you as the Lord of the Crawlers! 

Do you still dream about it sometimes?  I've soaked up your building reports like honey.  
 

But I'm not going to build Mischa's Crawler kit, I also got his outlines and had them let printed out down scaled to 1/160. I want to use it to recreate the outriggers of the crawler and the JEL cylinders made of plastic, as you did, in order to combine them with the chassis of the Maier Crawler kit, because the color of his kit matches my Maier MLP better. This will then also fit better with my 3D printed Crawler chains, I hope so. 

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

here is still an addition to the superlative Micro Artwork Paper Kit.

 

This kit is unique and worth every Euro, after all, the Lord of the Crawlers worked on it for about 10 years, until after his extensive CAD modeling everything was printed on paper/cardboard/foil in 11.000 parts, what a hell of a job! 

 

And then he has still put a sweet cherry on the top of the cake: The Crawler truck assembly procedure as 3D PDF file - Additional instructions.  

 

This revolutionary new concept of building instructions gives you full access to the 3D model and lets you zoom, pan and rotate the complete model, selected parts or part groups.

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

And this is just the start. Predefined scenes lead you through the assembly procedure, and each scene gives you full 3D access to the model. You can individually isolate, show and hide parts or part groups. No more guesswork how parts are meant to be folded or fit together.

 

And the best of all: All you need is the Acrobat Reader.

 

And here some interesting information about the Background of the Project, of which the visit to the KSC and the ride on the Crawler Transporter #1 were highlights.

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

And as one can see, the master was deeply impressed ...

[roma847]

Hello friends,

 

but for God's sake, I don't plan to build Mischa Klement's Crawler Kit with all 11.000 parts, but I plan to use it for scratching important assemblies by using plastic. 

 

I also plan to let some parts such as the tiny Propel Motors and the Gear case housings to be 3D modeled by my friend Joe (crackerjazz) in ARC Forums and printed at Shapeways.

 

A great help for doing this will be the construction report by the German Jürgen Ziegler (FADDA), a true genius in paper modeling, who successfully built Mischa Klement's Crawler Kit.
 
In addition to his construction report, he has uploaded 20 YouTube Videos with all the individual steps during modeling of the paper crawler from its 11.000 parts each as a slide show!
 
For example take a look at his Video #15, in which he first presents all 52 parts of one Propel motor in full and then puts them together step by step. You will be amazed, because this makes it easier to understand both the structure of the motor and all of the individual parts.  

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

but now one also needs 16 Gear cases on which the 16 Propel motors are mounted, 

 

Source: Jürgen Ziegler (FADDA) - YouTube

 

which one can see here after assembly. 

 

Source: Jürgen Ziegler (FADDA) - YouTube

 

Therefore maybe you can imagine that I'm not really bent on scratching 16 exemplars of this tricky assembly, especially since they are only about half the size in my scale 1/160, and that I can't make friends with David Maier's less detailed kit variant anyway. 

 

Source: papermodelers.com (mk311049)

 

Source: papermodelers.com (mk311049)

 

That's why I have asked my ARC friend Joe (crackerjazz), who has kindly started with the 3D modeling of the Propel Motors,  for which I've emailed  him some first dimensions. 

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

Unfortunately I don't have any NASA drawings of these assemblies.  But meanwhile I'm able to take measurements (1/160) in Mischa Klement's Truck 3D PDF, because the determination of the dimensions from the paper kit is rather imprecise. 

 

Source: Micro Artwork, Mischa Klement (cyana)

 

And so we are slowly progressing, step by step, as one can see in this progress shot. 

 

Source: ARC Forums member Crackerjazz

 

It can carry on like this. 

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

here comes the next progress with some more details.

 

 

Source: ARC Forums member Crackerjazz

[Adm Lord De Univers]

Guten tag Manfred,

 

That's about the limit of my German - apologies - just wanted to say how amazing this build is, it's taken me several days just to read through to this point!  I am also very grateful for the extra photos and videos you have posted.  Keep up the good work - I'm relying on your build to inform my own which will begin soon (although your dedication to detail and patience far surpasses my own).

 

David

[roma847]

Thanks for your compliments, David, your German is perfect!  And don't panic, practice makes perfect! 

 

Please tell us, what kind of project are you planning? 

[Adm Lord De Univers]

No, thank you for 86 and counting pages of supreme building. I'm planning a diorama of 1/144 Endeavour prior to STS-88 (first American ISS module). It'll be a bit of a change from ships...a few I need to complete to have some workspace (you may even complete before I begin!).

 

I'll be using the New Ware and Maier kits (MLP and CT) - excellent customer service from both, Warbird decals, Heroes Model figures, m-113 safety vehicles from TimeCast and Brengun Models jeeps. I still need to find a tanker I've often seen behind the crawler, I haven't deciphered what vehicles ride ahead spraying water on the gravel.

 

The plan is to cut down on detail by having a busier scene and to get a sense of operations, which may change depending on further cost overruns and time...we shall see. I digress, apologies for others reading this hoping it was from the Maestro.

 

David

[roma847]

Hi David, these are interesting and challenging plans, all the luck!