Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6

[roma847]

Thanks for your nice compliment,  

 

be patient and stay tuned my friend. 

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

since I also came across some drawings with detailed views of the sides of the canister in part of the documentation Orbiter Payload Canisters (HEAR NO. FL-8-11-I), I decided without further ado to abandon my previous plan of gluing the coherent sleeve (Paper kit) and instead to create detailed Sides separately and glue them onto the Balsa framework of the canister. Now that I know where the details go, I can choose which ones to scratch and save a lot of drawing work.  

 

Before I'll try printing the parts on an Evergreen Sheet Styrene (0,13mm) I will first print them out on paper to be able to check the fit of the parts on the framework.

 

The first thing I did was to determine the semi-circular outline of the Payload Bay Doors to be able to glue the curved covering of the canister later onto the side walls and the inner Supporting walls at the Forward & Aft Bulkheads.

 

To do this, I fixed again a thin brass wire closely around the curve of a supporting wall with magnets in order to be able to determine the length for the flat pattern of the contour, which is the simplest solution.   

 

 

And this is what the flat pattern looks like. 

 

 

It is approx. 50 mm long, so the part for the doors should have dimensions of 120 mm x 50 mm, making the semicircular PLC doors.

 

 

Based on the drawings, I was able to reconstruct the doors of the canister from the top and side views, which was not that easy, since e.g. the position of the semicircular brackets of the Door Actuators of both doors had to be projected into the plane.   

 

 
Source: NASA Conference Publication 2342 Part 2 (M. E. Donahue)

 

When preparing the parts, I first retouched away all those details of the drawings that are outside the canister shell, such as ladders, railings, cables, etc., so as not to see them twice afterwards, and have only marked their base points.

 

And this is how the finished flat pattern of the doors now looks like,

 

 

that I printed out on paper and cut out, then have rolled in, 

 

 

and rolled it out again after a while.

 

 

The test fitting of the doors on the canister looked nearly perfect and made me quite confident about the further procedure. 

 

 

This includes further drawings, such as the Forward & Aft Bulkheads, but again without the ladders and railings located there, 

 

 

 

as well as the Port Side & Starboard Side with the remaining parts of the Door Actuator systems, whose Actuator Screw Jackets were removed again, as well as the ladders too.

 

And of course the Bottom of the canister must not be missing (below).

 

 

So far for today, tomorrow is still another day too.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

today I started with the structural work of the Payload Canister and first glued the two side walls with the bottom.   In doing so it was important to ensure that the walls were vertical, flush with the floor and couldn't slip, which is why I clamped them in using my proven Magnetic clamping Technique.

 

 

Then I glued the Forward and Aft Bulkheads on both sides. To stabilize both sides in the longitudinal direction and to later support the thin Payload Bay Doors (0,13 mm), I've also intended a spacer bar (2 mm x 4 mm x 120 mm) made of Balsa, which was temporarily held by the supporting walls during the gluing and acted as a spacer, for which I had cut out a corresponding recess from the two supporting walls.

 

 

After checking that the previously glued parts were correctly seated, I then glued both supporting walls from the inside onto the front and back and fixed them with clips, and glued in the spacer bar. 

 

 

This completed the structural work of the canister,  

 

 

and I was able to try on the doors, which matched again, as did the cover of the Forward Bulkhead. 

 

 

At this point it should be mentioned briefly that the Canisters were labeled with same designations as the Orbiter: the Starboard Side (right), and the Port Side (left).

 

In order to get an overall impression, I have now also covered the walls all around, here with a view of the Port Side and the Forward Bulkhead,  

 

 

and here a view of the Starboard Side and the Aft Bulkhead with the Spike. 

 

 

Well, and then I was curious and of course I wanted to see what the Canister looks like on the Transporter, and here it is, even if only as a provisional arrangement, here with a view of the Port Side, 

 

 

 

and on the Starboard Side. 

 

 

And this is the view of the transporter approaching the Launch pad with upright standing canister.

 

 

 

As an interim conclusion, it can be said that the images are promising despite the still unfinished state of the canister and encourage me to continue, although there is still a lot to do before final completion the Sheet Styrene version, but it is after all a decent result.  

[roma847]

Hallo zusammen,

 

heute ausnahmsweise nur ein kurzes Statement - sozusagen als Wort zum Sonntag .

 

Leider musste ich heute meine Hoffnungen auf die geplante Sheet Styrene Version begraben , denn der Ausdruck der vorbereiteten Teile auf der dünnen Evergreen Plastic Foil war ein kompletter Reinfall.

 

Vielleicht würde das mit einem Laserdrucker funktionieren , aber sicher nicht mit meinem Tintenstrahldrucker , da die Farbe nicht ausreichend trocknet und bei jeder Berührung verschmiert.

 

Also ich werde normales Papier für die Verkleidung des Kanisters nehmen , dann passt es sowieso besser zum Transporter , das ist Trial & Error!

 

Und damit einen guten Sprung in den Wonnemonat Mai. 

[RichO]

Apparently it takes a Phd to figure that out! 😀 just kidding Manfred!!

 

Good details, keep 'em coming.

[roma847]

Well roared lion! 

 

one is always smarter afterwards, Rich!  I immediately thought of Decal foil, but what was a fallacy. 

 

One must beware to compare apples to oranges, Evergreen Sheet Styrene is not a Decal Foil compatible with the ink, while Evergreen Styrene appears to be not. 

 

Another possibility would be to print it out on decal foil, but I'll stick to the printout on Paper now and refrain from further experiments. 

 

We'll see ... 

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

let's continue, and thus full concentration on the cladding of the Balsa shell with the side walls incl. Payload Bay Doors made of paper, wherefore I had to rethink something.

 

Somehow I had to give the curved doors more support before gluing and make sure that they couldn't buckle anywhere that would then be impossible to correct.

 

That's why I first increased the two Balsa side walls (H = 20 mm) by gluing on Balsa strips (2 mm), 

 

 

resulting in a adhesive edge for the door shell.

 

 

Then I've thought that, for reasons of rigidity of this shell, it would be useful and also safer to use a Supporting roof of Styrene (0,13 mm), which would then provide sufficient support and stability when gluing the paper doors.

 

So I've immediately looked for a suitable core (Ø approx. 35 mm) for the Thermal curvature of the door cover, for which a kitchen roll aluminum foil has offered itself, 

 

 

onto which I glued the Styrene sheet.  

 

 

Since the usual hot air gun did not seem suitable for evenly heating the sheet, I filled my kettle without further ado, heated the water strongly and dived the roll with the shell for a while in the hope that the curvature would set in, just like in my hitherto always successful Balsa bending tests of various plastic profiles at the SSWS.

 

 

But things never turn out the way you expect ... To my surprise, the Styrene strip then relaxed back to its original shape, contrary to expectations, as if nothing had happened.

 

 

I had to let this disappointment sink in first and had to further modify my solution in order to be able to glue the door cover.

 

Since adhesive surfaces on the sides of the curves of the inner support walls would certainly be helpful for this, I've bent two arcs of an Evergreen strip (0,75 mm x 1 mm) using my Hot air gun and my Balsa bending technique.

 

 

 

 

And as one can see, Evergreen Sheet Styrene and Evergreen Strip Styrene cannot be the same material. Apparently Evergreen Sheet Styrene, in contrast to the Strips, is a Duroplast that doesn't mind heat at all, which is why it retains its original shape.

 

 

I then glued these arcs onto the support walls, and also still Evergreen angles (1,5 mm x 1,5 mm) on the side walls.

 

 

And since this stubborn door roof cannot be glue in one step, I have to proceed step by step and initially only glued one side to the angle, fixed it accordingly and let it dry.

 

 

 

However, since the strip was not yet completely glued in the middle, 

 

 

I've brushed it once again with Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) both on the outside and on the inside of the angle and glued it additionally. 

 

 

But now I'm pondering how best to glue the rest of the part ...

 

 

With normal Plastic glue this will not work which would take time to set, so this method is ruled out.

 

That's why the only thing that remains is to glue it with CA, although I'm considering first dabbing only half the curve of the three support walls with CA and then to pull the cover sheet across the curves and to hold it briefly, which should be enough to tie it off. Maybe a bit tricky matter, but what might work.

 

Then the other half could follow.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

and that's exactly how I did it, and I can anticipate the result right away, it actually worked.

 

After the first half of the Door sheet was glued onto the additional support arcs of the inner support walls with CA and also has kept,

 

 

came the other half's turn, which I first held with great care and then has clamped once again to be on the safe side.

 

 

And that's how I imagined the result, with which I'm very satisfied.

 

 

Now the transitions can be smoothed out a bit and then the pre-bulged Paper roof of the Doors can be glued in peace, 

 

 

and then all the remaining sides.

[roma847]

Hello friends,

 

but I can't get started with the cladding of the Balsa shell quite that quickly, because, as always, the correct and appropriate order is important, which I have to consider, so that the next steps cannot be hindered. Strength lies in calmness!

 

That's why I thought it thoroughly again and came up with the following order.

 

First, I'm going to cladd up the larger and smaller "ears" on the inside of the Forward and Aft Bulkheads. These are only tiny areas, but they first have to be glued before I can glue on the door cover.

 

Therefore, next I've determined the lower contours for these small snippets by using a Support wall and have drawn them on Sheet Styrene (0,13 mm ), which I've split beforehand because of the easier handling when gluing. 

 

 

But since the foil is shiny, it wouldn't match the dull paper of the rest of the side panels, which is why I dulled it beforehand with Tamiya Sanding Sponge Sheet 2000.

 

Then I've glued the halves with CA on the inside of the Forward Bulkhead and trimmed off the protruding parts, 

 

first on the left inner side,

 

 

 

and then on the right inner side.

 

 

The same procedure then followed on the Aft Bulkhead. 

 

 

 

Next I've cut out the Styrene strips (2 mm) for the top sides' curves of the Forward and Aft Bulkheads, 
 

 

which can now be adjusted and then glued step by step.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

after the tricky little "ears" were cut back, the strips could be glued with the UHU-CA, first one half of the rounding so that something could be corrected, and then the other half, which also worked quite well.

 

 

Both strips were then smoothly sanded at the edges. 

 

 

Then the Front and Back were to be papered, initially using UHU Spray adhesive. But either the glue wasn't mixed thoroughly after it hadn't been used for a long time or it was too old, in any case I wasn't satisfied with the result because the paper was stained, which didn't go away even after drying.

 

That's why I went back to my previous technique and spread a corresponding area of glue from the UHU-Nimble Bottle onto a piece of paper, briefly placed the front side cover on it and then glued it onto the front. It is important that one must hit the right position as quickly and precisely as possible, since the wetted paper can only be corrected for a short time.

 

And this is what the Forward Bulkhead looks like, which is quite impressive.

 

 

 

Don't worry, the front shouldn't remain so bare, of course, especially since the all-round papering of the canister is only the Compulsory exercise, so to speak, and the Voluntary exercise with a number of details still will follow.

 

Here's already a little foretaste of the ladders and railings etc. that I'm looking forward to.

 

Source: forum.nasaspaceflight.com (Ares67, STS-9)

 

And the Back (Aft Bulkhead) with the Spike outline was papered in the same way.

 

 

But before I turn to this Spike, I first wanted to paper the bottom of the canister, which I was a bit scared about because of the size.

 

So that the gluing could go as quickly as possible, I carefully clamped the canister in a handy slanted position on the edge of the table. Then I quickly coated the previously marked area on the sheet of paper with glue, put the floor cover on briefly, then quickly removed it again, 

 

 

and immediately applied to the bottom with pinpoint accuracy, so that it only had to be readjusted slightly.  

 

 

 

Then I've cut the four small Horizontal Transportation Support Plates from Styrene (0,3 mm) for the bottom, 

 

 

and glued them on. 

 

 

And on the Back side (Aft Bulkhead) there are also four Vertical Transportation Support Plates, also made of Styrene (0,3 mm), which of course should not be missing. 

 

 

Then I took a closer look at the Spike, which contains the Upper Door Seal Control Panel, which I had previously only imitated as a Dummy.    

 

 

On closer inspection, however, one sees that this is not just a simple thorn, but that it is divided into two and only its rear part tapers out, which is closed with a little hatch, which has a handle in the middle and a small socket at the top right, things which should perhaps be scratchable.

 

Source: NASA (STS-132)

 

So I tried to spice up my Dummy (2 mm x 7 mm) a bit, 

 

 

 

what I still didn't really like so much, which is why I planned another Spike that I wanted to be a little more skilful with.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

since such a small stub is difficult to handle and edit, in order to make the work with my 2nd Spike easier,  I've used an Evergreen Strip (2 mm x 2 mm), on which I first removed half of the tip area and rounded off the front part.  

 

 

After that, I slowly worked the shape of the spike and carefully filed it bit by bit, slowly allowing the spike to take its final shape, which finally satisfied me.

 

 

The Spike was then shortened to the final, slightly longer length and sanded smoothly. 

 

 

Here the other needed parts are to see, the Hatch made of Styrene (0,13 mm), as well as a Broom hair (Ø 0,15 mm ) for the handle, which is barely visible, and a German silver wire (Ø 0,25 mm) for the Connector. 

 

 

Then the holes (Ø 0,3 mm) for the handle and the connector were drilled and the handle was bent, which was a bit tricky, as it was only 1 mm long, or better short.

 

 

Then the hatch was glued to the Spike and the holes re-drilled to the required depth. 

 

 

Gluing in the shortened handle and the short connector into the holes was quite a game of patience, but it finally worked.

 

 

With this the finished Spike could actually be glued onto the Aft Bulkhead, 

 

 

but wherewith I want to wait, until the Door covering and the Side walls are glued on. 

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

after I had made enough fittings, the final wallpapering of the Payload Bay Doorss and Side walls of the canister could now be done. 

 

According to the intended order, the door covering was next in line. After unrolling the previously rolled-up cover, its shape fitted the curve very well.

 

 

Then I have coated the upper edge of the side wall on the left side (Port side) as well as half of curves of both Support walls with UHU glue and glued the Port Side Door while carefully pressing on.

 

 

This was followed in the same way by the Starboard Side Door. Doing so I've noticed that while handling three of the Vertical Transportation Support Plates on the Aft Bulkhead had peeled off, but which were found and were glued together again. 

 

 

Then the Port side wall was wallpapered first,

 

 

and then the Starboard side wall  in the same way.

 

 

With that, the compulsory exercise was successfully completed, in the way I had imagined.

 

Then there was the obligatory test fitting of the canister on the transporter with the temporarily attached Spike, what successfully passed my critical quality control.  

 

 

 

At this image you can see the transporter in the position,

 

 

which he has when leaving the Vertical Processing Facility (VPF).

 

Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)

 

And in this position, the transporter drives the canister to the Launch pad,

 

 

as was to be seen in this image already. 

 

Source: 16streets.com/MacLaren

 

After this compulsory exercise, the freestyle exercise can now follow, in which I will first turn to the Locking mechanism of the Payload Bay Doors, which I have already briefly described, whose linkage system can be seen in this photo of the STS-132.

 

Source: NASA (STS-132)

 

But, as always, I first have to determine the dimensions of the individual parts in order to be able to scratch them.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

in the meantime, a friend on ARC Forums pointed out to me that there is more clearance between the canister and the transporter than on my model.

 

Source: ARC Forums (Jesper)

 

His notice is absolutely justified and brings me to some other missing details, which are to be observed with both the Canister and the Transporter.

 

The canister ist resting on the four Vertical Transportation Support Plates, which are also on the Transporter,

 

Source: NASA (STS-132)

 

as I have now seen in retrospect and therefore have still to be added there.

 

Source: NASA

 

But even more important are these four punched Vertical Transportation Tie-down Lug Plates, which engage fork-shaped Hold-down Clevises on the transporter deck, which are connected to the canister with large steel pins, and serve as anchor points for securing the canister in the vertical transport position.

 

Then I've checked still more Hi-Res-photos and determined the distance between the canister and the transporter deck, which is approx. 1mm, which would look like this on my model.

 

 

Therefore I will attach the missing Transport plates and also the horizontal and vertical Hold-down Clevises to the canister and Hold-down devices to the transporter, so that then everything complies with the safety regulations.

 

Then I've also found out that these Hold-down Clevises were not permanently attached to the transporter, depending on the type of transport, but could also be dismantled, which can be seen in this image for the horizontal PLC Transport, when the vertical hold downs were not required. 

 

Source: NASA (STS-135)

 

Learned something new again!

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

now I can think about how to scratch the Payload Bay Door Latch System.

 

The door latch mechanism can be actuated from either end of the door by a Torque tube that runs the length of the door, which contains seven Door latches.  

Source: NASA (STS-132)

 

As one can see in this image, there are seven Locking pawls on the tube which, when closed, lock both doors.

 

Source: NASA (STS-135)

 

In a first step I've determined some dimensions for it.

 

Source: NASA (STS-132)

 

Now I can look around for some suitable plastic profiles.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

well, as is so often the case, the devil is in the details and therefore first once more back to the Transportation Support Plates.

 

And since the Payload Canister also rests on special Support Plates during horizontal transport too, now I have been dealing with these plates more closely and have tried to get me smart about the replica. 

 

This photo again shows an overview of the different Transportation Support Plates that were mounted on the transporters for either the horizontal or vertical Transportation Mode. 

 

Source: NASA

 

Since this is one of the two KAMAG transporters delivered in 2000, both types of Support plates were mounted at the time, which was not normally the case. At least the Hold-down Clevises, here to see on the vertical transport plates (red circles), were only mounted during the vertical transport of the canisters to the Launch Pad, but which were dismantled during horizontal transport in and between the assembly and processing facilities in the KSC, as could be seen in one of the last posts.

 

It can already be seen from this image that these transportation support plates had a special structure and were not just simple support plates for the canister. So I first looked at the corresponding photos to see details for the scratch construction. 

 

Among other things, I came across this photo of the canister at the STS-135, on which one can already clearly see the outline of the horizontal support plates in plan view, which I got started with.

 

Source: NASA (STS-135)

 

According to this, two Border strips are arranged on a Base plate around the support of the Canister transportation plates, which are probably used for roughly fixing the canister when lowering onto the transporter.

 

With this I was able to determine part of the dimensions of the components, which is always very time-consuming, but is simply necessary for the replica and requires a reliable Reference dimension (blue) ...

 

 

I was able to get further information about the arrangement of the components from this image, 

 

Source: NASA

 

in which one can see in the zoom that there is a separate Support plate for the canister on the base plate, which completes the arrangement of the parts, after which the dimensions of the parts could be determined and the plates could be scratched.

 

To do this, I first had to reproducible cut off all the individual parts, but what is impossible without a defined stop, as can be seen here for the Base plates (0,3 mm x 3,5 mm x 3,5 mm). 

 

 

Next to it are the Border strips (0,5 mm x 0,75 mm x 2,5 mm) and the Transportation support plates (0,5 mm x 2 mm x 2 mm ), to be glued to the bottom of the canister.

 

Of course, to glue the parts onto the base plate, it had to be fixed, for which I've stuck a strip of tape with the adhesive side up on the mat,

 

 

what has provided adequate hold and has worked, as can be seen from both sides on the finished plate, which I am happy with so far.

 

 

 

The difficulty in dimensioning the parts was that their heights had to be dimensioned in such a way that the underside of the canister must not rest on the border strips, but a certain overhang must be guaranteed, which is actually the case.

 

To do this, I placed a canister support plate onto the inner  transporter support plate as a test in the following image, which later creates the necessary overhang of the canister.

 

 

Now I can scratch the other three horizontal Support plates in the same way and in peace. Although these are only small, inconspicuous parts that will hardly be visible later under the canister, but should not be missing.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

so, get to work then!

 

With keeping the first succeeded Transportation Plate in sight, the other three went comparatively easily.

 

 

 

 

 

A first test fitting of these Horizontal Transportation Plates on the transporter looks unspectacular, but good,  

 

 

 

but now has to be compared with the canister with regard to the exact positions, since these plates must be below the Horizontal Transportation Tie-down Lug Plates, which are located directly below the ladders.

 

Source: NASA (STS-135)

 

On this image one can see the Tie-downs underneath the ladders more clearly.

 

Source: NASA (STS-135)

 

These would be the places on the model, which is why I have to measure them precisely so that everything fits together.   

 

 

So much for today.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

and thus to the exciting question of how I can best glue these Transportion Plates for the horizontal transport, both on the Transporter as well as on the Canister, what I had to think about beforehand.  

 

To do this, the question of the sensible order of the gluing had to be clarified first, so that in the end the positions of the plates on the transporter and on the canister bottom match and are in the right place.

Since the transportation plates of the Transporter must be directly below the Horizontal Transportation Tie-down Lug Plates of the Canister, which are located directly below the ladders,

 

 

it became clear to me relatively quickly that first the plates on the transporter and then those on the canister bottom had to be glued.  

 

To do this, I first transferred the plate positions of the canister to a transparent printout of the Transporter platform,

 

 

and have just laid out the plates temporarily,

 

 

to be able to measure their distances for later gluing on the transporter. When I was handling with the plates, I was suddenly horrified to find that there were only three plates left and one was missing.

 

 

Since the fourth plate could not be found on the table, I got up cautiously and actually saw it lying on the floor intact, so I could continue with peace of mind.  

 

 

When all four panels were finally glued to the transporter, I was able to catch my breath a little bit, 

 

 

because the test fitting of the canister was okay so far.

 

 

But that was only half the battle, because now I had to do the even more difficult part of the exercise, namely to transfer the positions of these plates exactly to the bottom of the canister for gluing them, which I still have to think about carefully.  

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

since any measuring and marking of the positions of the small Transportation Plates (2 mm x 2 mm) on the Bottom of the Canister would be far too imprecise and, on top of that, too uncertain I've come up with a solution that may seem a bit cumbersome, but it should work.

 

A prerequisite for the success of this delicate action is a stable holding of the transporter, which should not move, as it is about minimal distances.  

 

To do this, I supported the transporter in a special holder jig with Balsa blocks in such a way that the wheels hung in the air, so that they were not unnecessarily stressed during gluing, and the transporter was fixed on both sides with magnets to prevent it from slipping.

 

 

Furthermore, I used two Evergreen L Profiles (4,8 mm) as lateral stops, one side of which was cut out at both ends so that I would see the transportation plates glued on the transporter and would be be able to align the laid down canister accordingly.

 

 

Then, in a first step, I wanted to carefully place the four transportation plates of the canister on the transporter's plates, 

 

 

and align above them as precisely as possible. But since no glue can be applied to these loose plates, I quickly changed my plans and glued the plates separately and one by one to the bottom of the canister, which was quite a tricky operation.  

 

 

To do this, I took the plates off again before gluing them and dabbed them beside the transporter, one at a time with a tiny drop of UHU-CA, holding one corner of the plate with my fingernail.  

 

Then I carefully grabbed it with pointed tweezers and set it down even more carefully on the transporter's transportation plate and adjusted it slightly, which should become enough to drive me up the wall ...  

 

 

Then I've carefully and with a lot of feeling lowered the canister between the side stops onto the transporter plates, causing the glue-dabbed canister plate to stick to its bottom - if I was lucky, like for the first three plates.

 

 

But it all went much too smoothly, because when picking up the fourth plate dabbed with glue, it got stuck on the tweezers and couldn't be set down, no matter how loudly I've cursed ...

 

 

That's why this plate had to be cleaned again, dabbed again and set down onto the fourth Transporter plate, what luckily worked again.

 

 

With that, that difficult task was finally done, and the canister with its transportation plates fits nicely on those of the transporter's - Thank goodness!
 

 

 

Now I can confidently turn to the Vertical Transportation Plates on the transporter, 

 

 

located in the middle of the transporter, 

 

 

 

but have different sizes and structures as can be seen in this image. 

 

Source: NASA (STS-135)

 

On the one hand, this is due to the fact that they have to accommodate the differently sized transportation plates of the canister.

 

On the other hand, they have recesses on the bottom for the Vertical Transportation Tie-down Lug Plates, which should make the scratch-building of these plates a bit more complicated and demanding.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

as I have now discovered with horror, my NASA photos, which I've mostly linked to the Hi-Res. photos, are unfortunately no longer accessible, as the extremely helpful NASA Media archive is no longer updated and maintained by NASA, as one could read there until recently. 

 

Source: NASA

 

The first part of the reference to flickr.com is correct indeed, but the search options there are quite spartan and a search for special content is like looking for a needle in a haystack, which one can forget.

 

The second part of the reference is simply Fake News because the site is no longer accessible.

 

This is all the more deplorable because I analyzed many details for my work and measured them for scratching this way, especially by zooming these photos.  

 

So don't be surprised if the high resolutions of these photos are no longer found and an error message appears.

 

And so now back to the Vertical Transportation Support Plates & Clevises on top of the Transporter, their scratch building turns out to be quite a tough nut to crack, since these multi-part brackets are in fact more difficult and are a lot more complicated than those support plates for the horizontal transport.

 

Source: NASA

 

Since the four Transportation Tie-down Lug Plates on the Aft Bulkhead of the canister  

 

Source: NASA (STS-132)

 

must fit into the screwed-on Hold-down Clevises on these transport plates,

 

 
Source: retrospaceimages.com (STS-6)

 

Source: NASA (STS-135)

 

I have to think about the best way to build these mounts.

 

In this image one can see very nicely all the dismantled individual parts of these mounts. These are the Base plates with the screwed on Receiving blocks (red circles) for the dismantled Hold-down Clevises (red arrows), and stop holder (blue circles) for guiding the canister when setting it down onto the transporter. 

 

Source: NASA (STS-132)

 

At first I thought of making the hold-down clevises individually and inserting them into the recesses of the receiving blocks, but what would probably be too much of a good thing.  

 

It should be easier if I scratch the receiving blocks and hold-down clevises as a unit, which is worth trying.  

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

since the matter has not left me in peace, I have researched intensively again and now I know the innovations and connections around the former NASA media archive, which no longer exists as such.  

 

There was a similar confusion years ago after a change in NASA photo archiving along the lines of: Now and then some quite a novelty ... when the old URLs (www-pao.ksc.nasa.gov) were no longer found, but what I managed to figure it out.

 

Instead, one now has to search the NASA Image and Video Library website, e.g. after the year abbreviation of the NASA photo number, if you know it.

 

The search on https://images.nasa.gov/ nach 2010-2664 

 

 

resulted in the photo I know of the STS-132, here in the Medium resolution (856x1280), which I've linked with the Original resolution (2008x3000).

 

 

Even better, however, is the content search which I once tested for the Payload Canister Transporter that is of interest to me now, after which this gallery was displayed to me, which immediately offers an overview of the available photos, from which one can then select and directly access the photo of interest and download the desired resolution.

 

And in this overview, along with many other well-known photos, I noticed this red framed photo (KSC-08pd3303) of the STS-126, which was not in my collection so far, where one has a good direct view of the transporter and the support plates in this position, which is particularly important for measuring details, since oblique perspectives are distorted always.

 

 

And of course I used that immediately to be able to determine the dimensions of the larger of the two Support plates for the Vertical transport more precisely, what one can see here, since I've linked this image section again with the original resolution.

 

Source: images.nasa.gov/

 

The image also clearly shows the effort I have to put in to determine the dimensions of such small details that I need for their scratch-building.

 

And so there are certainly more photos with interesting perspectives that will help me with the construction of these transport plates.  

[roma847]

Hello my friends,

 

but that's only half the battle firstly since the depths or widths of the Support plates and Hold-down Clevises are still missing, which is why I still have to look for and find other detail photos, which is still a tedious work, but unfortunately not to be avoided if one takes it as seriously as I do.  

 

And that's why I was glad that I came across this photo from the STS-126 on the new NASA website, which presents a pretty direct side view of the canister, without major perspective distortion, from which, in addition to the details, one can also determine the distance between the Support plates, which in turn is important for the installation of the plates on the transporter. 

 

Source: NASA (STS-126)

 

In addition to this larger of the two support and hold-down plates measured in the last post, I also measured the smaller support plate in the same photo.

 

Source: NASA (STS-126)

 

However, the difficulty in researching suitable photos for determining the dimensions of the plates for Vertical transportation is that there are far fewer photos with the canister standing upright, and that at such photos the important details of the support plates are mostly hidden by the red ECS hoses.

 

But in this photo I was able to at least analyze more closely the arrangement of the larger plate near the Payload Bay Door and of the Clevis, in which one can also determine the sizes of the lateral Stoppers that are only mounted in this vertical arrangement.  

 

Source: NASA (STS-122)

 

And then I finally found this photo from the STS-114, on which one can finally see the lateral arrangement of the support parts at least a little bit.

 

Source: NASA (STS-114) 

 

And that's enough of the stressful eye torture for today.

 

Later I want to turn to the Vertical Transportation Tie-down Lug Plates on the Aft Bulkhead of the canister and try to make a first prototype scratch. 

 

Source: NASA (STS-132)

 

With approx. 0,5 mm x 2,5 mm x 2,5 mm they should become relatively small and have to fit into the gap of the Hold-down Clevises.

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

then let's go to the prototype of the small Vertical Transportation Tie-down Lug Plates.  

 

If you look closely, you can see on this photo from the STS-130 that the Hold-down plates consist of three parts (have a look at the zoom on the right edge of the photo), a middle part with a narrow lower extension and two slightly smaller welded-on side parts to stabilize the opening without this extension. 

 

Source: NASA (STS-130)

 

While I used Styrene (0,2 mm) for the side parts, the middle part seemed a little narrower to me at first, so I used Styrene (0,13 mm ). However, in the zoom of this shot it looks as if the three parts are of equal thickness, which is why I will then use Styrene (0,2 mm) uniformly.

 

Since it is difficult to cut out this narrow strip without perhaps cutting it off, I first made the two side parts and drilled the holes with Ø 0,5 mm.

 

 

 

Then I glued a side part to the center strip, have drilled through it too, 

 

 

 

and then glued the other side part to its back. 

 

 

Then I cut out the curve of the middle stripe and rounded it off and only then carefully separated the remaining stripe up to the lower extension, which I actually managed to do, even though it's only 0,5 mm wide.

 

 

In this configuration, the thickness of the Hold-down plate is approx. 0.5 mm. 

 

 

And at this point of the canister, this first of four plates will later be glued. 

 

 

For scratch-building the Support plates, I first marked the exact positions of the Hold-down plates on the floor plan of the transporter,

 

 

whereby I first realized how small all will be,

 

 

if you imagine that for the Support plates with the Hold-down clevises only approx. 1,5 mm space is available under the canister.

 

 

But I'm going to take it easy now and first look at the resulting sizes of the individual parts, then we'll see.   

 

Therefore keep cool, scaremongering shall not be considered!  

[roma847]

Hello everybody,

 

as a well-known old saying goes ... Don't put the cart before the horse! A realization that has now cost me some time, what could have been avoided with more concentration.

 

As has already been emphasized several times, when determining dimensions from photos, it is particularly important to have reliable reference dimensions, to which all measurements are then related and have to be converted in my scale (1:160).  

 

However, when I compared the determined dimensions of the floor plates of both transportation plates with my floor plan of the transporter and the outline of the payload canister, I noticed that the proportions can't be right, especially since the floor panels were obviously a few millimeters too large, which made me suspicious, especially since the distance between the two Vertical Transportation Tie-down Lug Plates 

 

Source: NASA (STS-132)

 

according to NASA's drawing is only 15,5 mm (1:160).

 

 

At some point an error must have crept in, but whom I quickly tracked it down.

 

A partial result of my first measurements was based, among other things, on this photo with the determined dimensions of the parts of the larger transport plate, whose length of the floor plate therefore should be 10,5 mm (red). 

 

Source: NASA (STS-126)

 

In retrospect, in this image I recognized my mistake in using the side wall height (7,5 mm) determined before the construction of the transporter as a reference measurement, which I then used for a while without thinking,  for determination of lengths in other photos, which were falsified as a result.  

 

I had noticed this source of error a longer time ago and then paid attention to it, but unfortunately not this time. In addition, the use of photos from different perspectives can result in further inaccuracies. 

 

Using the almost exact side view and measurement of the plate in the following photo resulted in a value of 8,5 mm for the length of the floor plate, although I also added the side wall height (7,5 mm) had used.

 

Source: NASA (STS-122)

 

Late, but not too late, I came to my senses and then made the only right decision for determining the lengths by using the center-to-center distance of the Tie-down Lug Plates as a reference dimension (15,5 mm), according to which the length of the larger floor plate is 7,0 mm, with the help of which the other length dimensions were determined.

 

 

With these dimensions I then tried to draw the arrangement of the parts on this floor plate on a 1:160 scale, which I have already described in the following image. 

 

On it one can nicely see all the individual parts of the larger transportation support plate. This is the floor plate (blue) with the Clevis brackets (red) screwed on to accommodate the disassembled Hold-down clevis (brown), the PLC support plate (green) behind it, as well as the two stop holders (yellow) for guiding the canister when setting down onto the transporter. 

 

Source: NASA (STS-132)

 

Since I was not able for free-style drawing with a ruler even with a Fineliner (0,05 mm) due to the small size of the individual parts, I gave it up. 

 

 

Instead, I came up with the idea and tried it in MS Word. To do this, I used the Insert shapes mode to arrange small rectangles of the appropriate size with the finest line thickness as contours of the parts and gaps on the floor plate, which was a bit tedious, but after some practice it worked very well and gave an exact picture of both plates.

 

 

I then printed them out, although one can be shocked when one can see how small everything will become. 

 

 

Since the arrangement of the plate parts on the other side has to be laterally reversed, I also printed it out on transparent paper (right) and therefore only have to turn it over.

 

 

And this is what the two larger Transportation support plates look like.
 

 

So at least the arrangement of the individual parts on the floor plate is clear, but now I also need the heights of the parts in order to be able to scratch them.  

 

And I will now determine those again using the height of the side wall (7,5 mm) as a reference, whereby I have to be careful, because they were sometimes incorrectly determined from reference lengths in various photos.

 

And with a table full of dimensioned photos, one can start to skid and lose track.

 

 

Therefore a cool head as well as highest concentration are required!

[roma847]

Hello friends,

 

I was just still talking about highest concentration!  

 

It's hard to believe, but true, although I've looked at these photos felt 1000 times, and know that the two stop holders are beveled,

 

 

Source: NASA (STS-114)

 

I've just noticed that I haven't drawn these bevels yet, which of course I made up for immediately.

 

 

But at the latest when scratching, I would definitely have stumbled over it.

[roma847]

Hello again,

 

when drawing the tiny heights of the individual parts on the transportation plate, it's getting straight down to the nitty-gritty, as feared.

 

When measuring the details on the photos, everything still looks quite manageable and large, although I have already seen that the dimensions after converting to 1:160 sometimes shrink into the tenths of a millimeter.  

 

But at it I still haven't even thought about drawing these mini parts yet ...

 

For example, a photo now looks like this after multiple corrections of the conversions if I previously have determined certain dimensions using incorrect reference dimensions (lengths/heights).

 

Source: NASA (STS-122)

 

In the last post I had already started drawing the heights on the floor plate (0,25 mm). But as soon as I drew in the holders for the hold-down clevis, which are only 0,8 mm high, I realized what I've let myself in.

 

In order to be able to see differences in the heights at all, I drew the front view of the plate at the highest magnification in MS Word (500%), and to keep things clear, I tried to color-code the different sub-areas accordingly to their dimensions, which is probably hardly recognizable here in the picture, but is probably not that interesting for you either.

 

The most difficult place was the opening between the two holders, in which the hold-down clevis later has to fit, whereby only a gap of 0,8 mm (light blue) for the two fork plates is available.

 

 

And between these two plates there must still also be enough space for the small Tie-down Lug plate, which can be seen here again, initially in the original, with an impressive size of at least approx. 0,5 m, 

 

Source: NASA (STS-114)

 

as well as here with approx. 3,5 mm in scale 1:160.

 

 

While the thickness of my prototype is approx. 0,5 mm, the finished plate has to be even narrower with 0,4 mm. And since it consists of three discs, only my thinnest Evergreen Styrene Sheet (0,13 mm) can be used, unless I save myself this effort and leave it with one thicker part, since one can hardly see the plate in the Hold-down Clevis anyway later.

 

To the left of the brackets one can see the two Stop holders. For the sake of clarity, I have not drawn the PLC Support Plate behind the Clevis brackets.

 

And here is an impression of the height profile of the parts in front of the transportation plate behind.

 

 

Since in the first image one can hardly see the interesting details of the entire bracket because of all the dimensions and conversions, here is another image without this irritating nick-nack.

 

Source: NASA (STS-122)

 

With that I might just at least make a first attempt and start building this transportation plate.