RichO Posted September 14, 2022 Share Posted September 14, 2022 Hi Manfred, It's taken me some time to get caught up on your build, but well worth it. Your research is as impeccable as ever, and the build is looking great! RichO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted September 14, 2022 Author Share Posted September 14, 2022 Thanks Rich for looking in on me ones again. Yep, lately I've drifted a bit into the underworld of such bizarre details, which is quite time consuming to understand and scratch. But it's worth it and still a lot of fun. When will we see something new from you from Cooper again? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adm Lord De Univers Posted September 15, 2022 Share Posted September 15, 2022 Hi Manfred, I've also just caught up on your build. Absolutely outstanding details - I thought the tie-downs were impressive, then you moved onto those latches...not sure I've used the word beautiful to refer to a bit of a model before, but they are simply beautiful! Where does the madness end? David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted September 15, 2022 Author Share Posted September 15, 2022 Thanks David for your nice compliments, I'm glad you like my work. Now that I'm almost done with the tiny details on the Payload Bay Doors, I'll soon be able to tackle the Bulk heads and Side walls. The show must go on, therefore stay tuned my friend. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted September 17, 2022 Author Share Posted September 17, 2022 Hello everybody, while I was looking at this image, I noticed this long steel cable to the right of the Torque tube, which is attached by a hinge to a strut and runs across the entire Starboard Side Door, Source: NASA (STS-135) where it is locked in a bracket. Source: NASA (STS-135) At first I couldn't explain the meaning and purpose of this steel cable, but I want to try to find out somehow. Maybe someone of you knows wherefore it is good for ... And then it was down to business, because these linkage is really tiny. For the left part of the linkage, which is connected to the end of the Torque tube, I cut narrow strips of Styrene (0,13 mm), which I glued onto both sides of a rod (Ø 0,25 mm x 2,5 mm) to this small fork as the right part, which then were reduced to approx. 1,5 mm which was quite stressful to handle. This tiny part was so light that it stayed stuck to the tweezers for the photo. The joint of the strut attached to the rod I indicated with a tiny eyelet made of Lead wire (Ø 0,3 mm), which I 'rolled flat' by twisting back and forth under a steel ruler to Ø 0,2 mm, wherefore some preliminary tests were required. The final eyelet then looked like this, which I threaded and glued onto the rod in a rather hairy action. Then I carefully glued the linkage onto the door with CA/MEK, and let everything dry. Next comes the lateral strut, which reaches from the rod joint (eyelet) to the attachment point of the steel cable. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted September 18, 2022 Author Share Posted September 18, 2022 Hello friends, meanwhile I found out what this steel rope was all about, which sometimes sagged down a bit, like in this image. Source: NASA (STS-101) And if I'm interested in a technical detail like that, then, as is well known, I get to the bottom of it. And through my Swedish friend David from NSF (DaveS) I met a member of the then Can Crew whose explanation is as amazing as it is simple. "That cable what we tied off to for fall protection when we walked down the door in the horizontal configuration to verify the latch’s we’re closed properly prior to ratcheting into the closed position." After all, the Transporter with the Canister had a height of approx. 28 ft, and from there one shouldn't necessarily be able to fall off it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted October 5, 2022 Author Share Posted October 5, 2022 Hello everybody, in a time full of interesting football games, I want to get back to you quickly so that I don't lose the thread myself and get completely out of step. I'm still dancing around on the Payload Bay Doors without a Safety rope, what needs to change immediately. But these mini-struts took me some lot of effort, which is why I finally wanted to get this over with. From this perspective als well as at high resolution, one can still see the details best. Source: NASA (STS-114) On the one hand there is the lateral strut already discussed next to the rope holder, which I tried my hand at first and even managed the small wire to be inserted between the rope holder and the turnbuckle, made of a tiny lead wire (Ø 0,2 mm x 0,5 mm), but please don't ask me how ... The result is already invisible to the naked eye, but I know, as always, that it's there ... Now only the rope sling is missing, to which the rope will later be attached. And here this strut made of Styrene (0,13 mm) is now mounted, which one can just barely make out. The thin wires ordered for this have also arrived in the meantime. The upper roll is the steel wire (Ø 0,1mm) shipped from China, and below are two NiCr wires (Ø 0,1mm/0,2mm) - Made in Germany. I proceeded in the same way for the rope holder and the turnbuckle on the other side. This time I glued a short NiCr wire (Ø 0,2 mm) between the two Styrene strips of the holder. The overhangs of the parts that are needed for handling are important. For the turnbuckle I prepared a Styrene rod (0,4 mm x 0,4 mm), using an Evergreen strip (0,5 mm x 0,5 mm). The shortening of the connecting wire between the bracket and turnbuckle to approx. 0,8 mm was a delicate procedure, for which backup tapes were helpful so that nothing could fly away. Bending the loop of rope from NiCr (Ø 0,2 mm) into a small eyelet was a stressful fiddling too, but finally worked after a few tries, as well as the gluing on the turnbuckle. And then the same procedure again on the other side. The rope is only glued in later so that it is not damaged when assembling the small parts that are still missing. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted October 12, 2022 Author Share Posted October 12, 2022 Hello everybody, here the Safety rope made of NiCr wire (Ø 0,2 mm) has been put on at least as a test. With gluing the cable onto the door, I will wait until the upper linkages of the Door Actuators are glued onto both doors, Source: NASA (STS-132) Source: NASA (STS-125) which I have now planned, but for which I first had to determine various dimensions again. Source: NASA (STS-125) In the closed state of the doors these linkages are folded and are only folded out to support the opened doors, as can be seen in this image. Source: NASA (STS-101) As one can see from the small dimensions, it's again about tiny parts, whereby the two outer sickle-shaped holders seem particularly tricky, whose shape I first drew in order to create a corresponding template for scratching. As one can see in this image, these holders are extremely narrow at < 1 mm and also very thin (0,13 mm), which are probably difficult to handle. On the upper Evergreen Styrene Strip (0,13 mm) the contour is pre-drawn and the lower bow has already been cut out, which was still reasonably easy to do. Cutting out the upper contour, on the other hand, will become a stressful affair, because one can hardly hold tight this narrow sickle in the tweezers. For gluing the linkages between the lateral holders I thought about a Balsa jig, the top of which I filed to match this lower contour. It doesn't matter how, but first I need a total of 8 such holders for both doors. That's why I transferred the lower contour 8 x to a Styrene strip, and carefully cut out with nail scissors. And I now have to transfer the upper contour to these parts and cut them out, file them out, or whatever ... Maybe it will be advisable, to glue the sickles to a bulged Styrene strip, then glue in the linkage parts and then glue the holders made in this way onto the doors. It may all still sound pretty bold and adventurous, but somehow I'll be succeeding already ... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted October 13, 2022 Author Share Posted October 13, 2022 Hello friends, after carefully cutting out the holder, I held it in tweezers and carefully smoothened it for a while at the top side with my finest TAMIYA Diamond file for photo-etched parts, measured its height again and again and compared the contours with the STS-132 -Photo, Source: amazon.de until I was halfway satisfied with this prototype, which differs pleasantly from my first guinea pig (above). In order to make my work easier when making the remaining 7 holders, I've bored a small hole (Ø 0,3 mm) at the location of the upper leverage axis, which I can now transfer to the rest of the holders and then pre-drill, which will hopefully make marking the upper contour easier. So far for the theory, let's see if it works like that. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted October 15, 2022 Author Share Posted October 15, 2022 Hello everybody, since the one-off production in this way is a bit too tricky and time consuming and the shape of the parts is also not very reproducible, I switched to a kind of small series production. To do this, I drilled through a strip at the linkage axis (Ø 0,3 mm) and then this strip with 7 other strips, with the lower contour cut out, as well superimposed as possible and clamped in scissor tweezers. Then I carefully drilled through the entire bundle and pushed a steel wire (Ø 0,3 mm) through the hole, whereby the bundle is at least fixed to the rod axis. Then I smoothed the bundle a bit on the underside and on both ends to compensate for small differences and to set a uniform length of 11 mm. And as one can see on this image, the bundle fits well to the curve of the Balsa jig and hopefully also later on the canister doors. Now I can take the bundle apart again and trace the upper contours individually, whereby the position of the stripes is fixed by the wire. Then the upper contours are cut out one by one as close as possible, and put the bundle back together. Then I'll try to smoothen this narrow bundle to an even shape at the top and hope I can do that. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted October 18, 2022 Author Share Posted October 18, 2022 Hello everybody, and I proceeded in exactly the same way and drew the upper contours of the individual sickles one after the other using my original form on the remaining 7 Styrene Sheets (0,13 mm), whereby the original form always has been fixed by the steel wire (Ø 0,3 mm) and by a tape strip on a Balsa plate. Then I've carefully cut out the top sides of the sickles with the nail scissors as close to the contour as possible, which was a very tedious and stressful affair, since the part had to be re-clamped several times in the scissor tweezers, which meant that the strip that was accessible became narrower and narrower. Then I threaded all the sickles on the wire in reverse order, whereby my original form (1) came to lay at the front position. All my subsequent attempts to evenly trim this aligned, narrow bundle on the top were ultimately unsuccessful, despite all efforts to clamp and fix it somehow, which is why I unfortunately had to give up this approach. Instead, I started by smoothing each of the 7 sickles individually at the top side to the shape of the original form in front of me, for what I held them in different positions in the tweezers and worked the upper contour with different files for so long, until I was reasonably satisfied with their shape and almost a twin had been formed. I then put the first pair of twins on a Styrene rod (Ø 0,3 mm) as a rod axis, and immediately tried a test fitting on the canister, which looked quite promising, which gives me courage to work on the remaining sickles in the same way, so that I end up with 4 pairs of twins for the Door Actuators on the doors. So far for today. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted October 23, 2022 Author Share Posted October 23, 2022 Hello everybody, before I turn towards the remaining sickles, I took a closer look at the linkages of the upper Door Actuators and thought about how and from what I could best scratch these filigree individual parts, whereby it is always important for me to understand the interaction of the components of an assembly and their function to some extent. And for this it is always worth looking at detailed photos with high resolution from different perspectives, like this one here of the upper linkage in the folded state, which I want to reproduce, Source: NASA (STS-132) as well as here in the unfolded state, in which one can see some details on the two rotary axes more clearly. After a close look at the linkage, its lower part seems to be a coherent strut construction, which I have marked in blue, Source: NASA (STS-135) which this photo in the zoom also seems to confirm. The longer support strut lies on top of it, which is rotatably mounted at the upper end between the side parts. Source: NASA (STS-132) Before opening the doors, both linkages of the door drives are folded out and screwed together, thus forming their upper supports, which are taken up by the drives on the canister walls on which the opened doors rest. For replicating the individual parts this photo of the STS-125 is ideal suitable, on which I determined the dimensions of the most important parts and immediately searched for suitable material in my inventory. Source: NASA (STS-125) I started with the lower rotary axis, for which I used an Evergreen strip (0,5 mm x 0,5 mm), on which the four struts are attached, which are probably welded together to a kind of a fork. Then I glued the upper rotary axis on one side with MEK, adjusted the distance between the two sickles with a suitable spacer (3 mm), and then glued the axle on the other side as well, and separated its overhang. For the longer rod attached to the upper axis of rotation, I first glued a rod (Ø 0,25 mm) onto a small styrene triangle (0,13 mm), which is not entirely correct since the bar actually sits between the triangles. For the struts of the small fork, I first used Evergreen Strips (0,25 mm x 0,5 mm). But when I had laid on the longer rod and compared this thing with the filigree structure of the side parts (0,13 mm), I saw that the proportions couldn't be right, which didn't convince me overall and therefore couldn't stay like this. So I measured all the dimensions again more precisely, after which I used a rod (Ø 0,3 mm) and ground off the Evergreen strips (0,25 mm x 0,5 mm) for the struts between two cosmetic polishing files to a thickness of approx. 0,15 mm, what should then match better with the sickles. Then I also had the daring idea to glue the rod between the triangles, that only had a usable side length for clamping of about 1,5 mm, which is why I was rather skeptical about being able to glue them accurately to the rod. But that was too much of a good thing, which is why I remembered to another solution, which I have used already successfully in such cases several times, namely with the MLP-SSWS-Pipes, and most recently also with the Crawler Gear Boxes. OMG, that was already 6 years ago ... So I've cut narrow Styrene strips (0,13 mm) with the height of these triangles (1,2 mm) and glued them from both sides onto the rod (Ø 0,3 mm), which could still be done with appropriate fixation, and with the necessary patience and caution. Here's a comparison of both variants, whereby one hopefully can see the difference. And then the strips only needed to be carefully cut off at an angle, and with this result I was more like satisfied already. As a test, I've laid this rod on top of the rotary axis, which of course it will later be glued in front of the axis. So the picture is slowly rounding itself off, and with it I want to leave it at that for today and wish you a pleasant evening. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted October 31, 2022 Author Share Posted October 31, 2022 Hello everybody, it went on with the fold-out strut construction that lies between the sickles and is marked blue. Source: NASA (STS-135) As a spacer for the sanded off lateral Evergreen strips (0,15 mm x 0,5 mm x 3,7 mm) I used a strip (0,7 mm x 1 mm), and have tried to laboriously fix this structure, which is carefully held in the tweezers, between three steel rulers, which was a hair-raising action, because the strips tipped over several times doing so, before I managed to glue them to the bottom rotational axis (0,5 mm x 0,5 mm). Here one can see both forks in comparison, whereby the thinner struts fit the picture better. Then the slanting lateral struts were glued with a lot of feeling and a steady hand. And this is what the finished strut construction looks like, here also with the support strut laid on. This procedure was then repeated three more times, which made me sweat quite a bit, wherewith now all four lower linkages for gluing between the sickles are prepared. But beforehand I will still finish the remaining 5 sickles and scratch the remaining 3 upper support struts. Strictly speaking, these support struts still have these coupling forks at the end, which are screwed to the fork struts when unfolded, Source: NASA (STS-135) which perhaps would also still be feasible. In the folded state, however, they are usually surrounded by a protective cover, therefore let's see ... Source: NASA (STS-132) Finally, here is a test fitting with the inserted strut construction and provisionally applied support strut between the sickles, what doesn't look bad at first glance already. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graspaps Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 This is, by far, one of the most detailed projects èver. Been scrolling through all 96 pages and this is what we call “a long term build” since it seems you have been working on it for the last 10 years…😵💫😵💫. The extremly small size of a lot of parts is amazing……you must be wearning +15 glasses to even see them (and steady hands too…😬). With small parts like this there must be a “Bermuda Triangle” in your room…. ( that’s the spot where all the stuff is that fell on the floor never to be found again….). What’s the scale and what will be the total size once it is finished. Are there some “overall picturs” yet? As said, an amazing build !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted November 4, 2022 Author Share Posted November 4, 2022 Thanks Hans for your nice compliments. Hard to believe you have been scrolling through all 96 pages! For that alone you deserve my STS-6 Endurance Medal 1st Class. On your journey you should also have come across the image of this mini diorama (1/700) from Tomytec on p. 81, whose base plate is only 35 cm x 29 cm "big". Source: Andromeda24.de My Diorama of the Launch Complex 39A (1:160) could look something like this, on the other hand it is supposed to be 160 cm x 90 cm. Strange, what a coincidence, related to the “Bermuda Triangle” there is a current event, which I will briefly discuss in the next post. Therefore stay tuned. BTW, I've also checked out your interesting website and saw how versatile your talent is, really impressive. This reminds me of the Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg that you may know. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graspaps Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 The 1/700 lookes great. As you might have seen in this forum I’m working on the 1/700 scale Tracy Island. 160x90 is huge!! Yep, I know miniature welt. Never been there but seen it on Youtube. Thanks for the compliment. Yes, I build a lot of different things. Mostly for a museum of a friend of mine, like the Tainanman square and the Anne Frank House. Next project for the museum is a 1;35 cutaway dio of the Fuhrerbunker with full interior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted November 4, 2022 Author Share Posted November 4, 2022 Your Tracy Island looks very futuristic. Hello everybody, the remaining three support struts were produced in the same way as described lastly. During the drying I brought the second sickle pair to the final shape. After cutting off the strips on the support struts, both sickles were glued with the rod (Ø 0,25 mm) for the upper rotational axis, then the excesses cut off, and smoothed the ends. Then I tried my hand at a coupling fork and have carefully slit the spacer (0,7 mm x 1 mm), which was used lastly for making the stand fork, on the narrow side with a Fine saw blade (CMK), and widened the slit with fine sandpaper. But since this strip with 1 mm is too thick, I would have had to cut it in half or grind it down, but I didn't want to do that to myself. That's why I slit an Evergreen Strip (0,4 mm x 0,7 mm) in the same way. To cut off the only 1 mm long coupling fork, I secured the slotted end with tape to prevent it from jumping away. From that point of view, the fork could even be a bit narrower ... To glue it to the support strut, the fork had to be fixed again. And then I wanted to know it and try to display the unfolded state of the linkage. To do this, I carefully inserted the strut with the coupling fork between the stand fork, and carefully lifted it with a razor blade, which was pushed under it, and erected up to the point, until the end of the support strut hit the upper rotational axis, which was pure thrill. And after a few failed attempts, I actually succeeded in this game of patience. In contrast, I will build the canister with folded Door Actuators, for which purpose the individual parts are then glued together, which will make assembly much easier. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted November 5, 2022 Author Share Posted November 5, 2022 18 hours ago, Graspaps said: With small parts like this there must be a “Bermuda Triangle” in your room…. ( that’s the spot where all the stuff is that fell on the floor never to be found again….). Hello everybody, and now still a short look for the return of the “Bermuda Triangle” in my room, whereon Graspaps had pointed out. The whole time the remaining three support struts were always on the table in front of me. I was all the more surprised today when I looked at my desk and saw that there were only two struts left. I thought I couldn't see correctly and I immediately suspected that evil forces were at play again and I remembered the said "Bermuda Triangle" ... However, since I couldn't find the 3rd strut on my desk, I immediately looked at the floor directly in front of me and started searching on my knees, but couldn't see anything of the sort, which got me more and more frustrated ... After pushing my chair aside, I searched the wider area. Lo and behold suddenly I spotted the strut in the "Bermuda Triangle" on the floor, about 1 meter away on my left beside my chair, was jolly glad and put it back on the desk to the other two struts. I don't know how it got there, it was probably hanging on me somewhere and fell off there ... It certainly won't be the last time, slowly I'm experienced in finding lost things ... 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted November 7, 2022 Author Share Posted November 7, 2022 Hello everybody, the coupling forks for the remaining three support struts I'm now also still able to do. But first I wanted to give the remaining four sickles their final shape in order to glued them to the upper rotary axles (Ø 0,3 mm), which was stressful precision finishing work that I had to trudge through. Then the 3rd couple of sickles was glued, and after that it was finally the turn of the last couple. And after cutting off the overhang, all four couples were done, and I could take a deep breath. Finally, the remaining three coupling forks and their gluing to the support struts still waited, for what I've taken my time. And to get this fragile odds and ends off the desk before it disappears again or gets damaged, I will now glue the linkages onto the Payload Bay Doors. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted November 10, 2022 Author Share Posted November 10, 2022 Hello everybody, but of course this needs to be well thought out so that nothing goes wrong with these fragile parts. Strength lies in calmness. So that the linkages first get a certain stability, I first glued the lower stands between the sickles, for what they have to be fixed somehow gently, wherefore I've used a longer tape strip. Then the stands were carefully grabbed with the pointed tweezers at the axis of rotation between the middle struts, both ends dabbed with a drop of glue and pushed between the sickle ends, where they were aligned a bit. And when you see them lying there, it all looks pretty easy. And if one knows how it works, one only needs to repeat it. Now I only have to cleverly glue the linkages onto the doors, in order to then finally glue the support struts. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted November 13, 2022 Author Share Posted November 13, 2022 Hello everybody, extreme caution was required when gluing the Door Actuators onto the Payload Bay Doors, which is why I haven't glued the filigree support struts for now so as not to take any risks. The gluing was done with UHU-CA, first on the lower rotational axis of the stand-fork, and then with MEK at the sickles, which resulted in sufficient adhesion. Only then the support struts were glued at the upper rotational axis, first on the Port Side Door of the canister, and then at the Starboard Side Door, wherewith a difficult and tricky subassembly was completed. In order not to have to constantly take the canister in my hand during further assembly work and to protect it, I put it down on a small cutter mat. Next followed the four Access Platforms on the side walls, which can be climbed over the ladders when the canister is in a horizontal transport mode, in order to mount the linkages of the upper and lower Door Actuators to be able to open the doors. Source: NASA (STS-125) Source: NASA (STS-132) Of course, it is much easier and, above all, safer from the lifting platform. Source: NASA (STS-126) Here I have already prepared the necessary individual parts, the platforms (0,5 mm x 3,5 mm x 4 mm), as well as the different support struts (0,25 mm x 0,5 mm), the gluing of which will then follow next time. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted November 15, 2022 Author Share Posted November 15, 2022 Hello everybody, and thus for gluing the individual parts of the platform for a first prototype, whereby the important thing was again a stable fixation of the tiny parts, without which it will not work. For gluing the tiny contact points I used the normal Revell glue (Contacta 39604). Since the construction of the platform and the shape of the parts is simple, the handling was no problem. For the reproducible cutting of the diagonal support struts I've drawn a true-to-scale stencil. And a first test fitting on the canister was quite satisfactory. Since the lighting conditions in the evening with artificial light are unfavorable for the exact positioning of the tiny parts during gluing due to the formation of shadows, I put a LED lamp on the side, which was very helpful. And this is what the first platform looks like, which also matches well onto the canister. Since this technique has proven itself, the remaining three platforms can now follow too. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted November 16, 2022 Author Share Posted November 16, 2022 Hello friends, before the Artemis 1 will take off in about 5 hours, if everything goes well, here is a short report on the platforms. Here are the already known steps for gluing the individual parts of the platforms. Finally it's done, and I can glue the platforms to the side walls with UHU-CA, here first on the Port Side, and here on the Starboard Side. And here's a member of the Can Crew checking a Door Actuator. And now I'm thrilled to bits for the Artemis 1 Lift-off. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roma847 Posted November 16, 2022 Author Share Posted November 16, 2022 Hello everybody, wow, what a spectacular picture-book launch of NASA's SLS Moon Rocket with the Orion Spacecraft atop to its maiden flight Artemis 1 that leaves you wanting more. Source: NASA 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theb Posted November 18, 2022 Share Posted November 18, 2022 This is truly astounding. I only glossed over it but need to set aside a great deal of time to go through all the posts. I’m blown away with every level of its creation to the point I thought I was dreaming it. Wow! And again, Wow! I’m humbled rarely but this puts the cherry on top of all the humbled. you have to be a nano bot to get that level of detail at such a small scale. 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻👍👍👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now