Apollo Crawler at 1/72 scale

[RichO]

Hey Manfred,

Thanks for lookin' out for me. The Shapeways shoes are 32mm long and are 6mm wide. I'm thinking that maybe these are modern era Shuttle shoes and not Apollo shoes. Altho I can find no info on replacing or redesigning the Apollo shoes, these shoes look correct. I have seen computer model renderings that have all sorts of shoes shapes for the tracks. The Shapeways shoes are not the same dimension as Mischa's track shoes, and not the same shape (paper of course). The differences are so small at this scale that all should work fine. I just hope that the number of shoes per track will work out ok.

I have looked at Mischa's design work and I think I can build the truck assemblies with working tensioners to take out any sagging. However all this is taking away from the attention that the Walkway chapter is demanding. I am thinking all along about this, but no action as of yet. Still to much to do for the walkways. I will have to build a moch-up of the truck to work out the details and dimensions and also I am thinking about adding road wheels to help with the situation. All down the road a bit yet. I'll get there tho!

Thanks, Rich

[roma847]

Hi Rich,

keep quite cool, I do not think the Apollo crawlers had other shoes.

[RichO]

I have had info from Mischa about the shoes. There have been no shoe changes!! So the shoes that I am casting should work out fine. I just have to modify the bottom end of the trucks. This is looking easier and easier and should go smoothly after taking so much time to think on it.

[SANDMAN0198]

So when we go for launch ha...

[RichO]

Sandman,

The casting is going great! I am casting while I'm building the rest of the walkways. I should be done or close, by the time I'm ready to start with the truck build. I have made multiple molds and cast several at a time. I will also make a jig to hold the cast shoes upside down, so I can clean up the bottoms quickly. I still have to drill out the link pin holes and work on the pin itself, but it is looking better all the time.

The dreaded Truck chapter is feeling not so intimidating at the moment. I'm starting to look forward to the build.

[SANDMAN0198]

I am glad, your attention to detail is exceptionally commendable. I would love to have the skill to build the crawler too for my 1/72 Apollo Rocket, maybe some day.

[RichO]

Hey Guys, Thanks for the comments!

Just a quick check in for today. The Walkway build continues, and when I can remember cast some shoes.

Stair way under construction.

A bunch o' shoes!

A very light posting, the walkway build is still going and the shoes are adding up. More later, Thanks All!!

[roma847]

, that looks like Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin says hello.

Around a quarter of the needed shoes you have already done, everything casted with separate molds?

BTW, how far are you with the redesign of the truck boxes, any progress?

Edited April 10, 2015 by roma847

[SANDMAN0198]

The grasshopper has become a master in the art of casting, you have definitely graduated.

Edited April 10, 2015 by SANDMAN0198

[RichO]

Hi Manfred, I am using several molds at a time, and you are correct, that I am about a quarter of the way through the shoe production. I am casting while I'm trying to build the walkways. this has slowed the walkway build quit a bit, but by the time I am finished with the walkway build I should have all the shoes I need to start the Truck chapter. I have been thinking on how to modify the truck box, but I have done no physical mock ups yet.

I talked to Mischa. It sound like the MLP/LUT project is almost done. I just need to do some more prodding to get the kit finished. I'll send a note, maybe a release of just the MLP for now. We'll see.

Bye for now.

[RichO]

Sandman, Thanks! The casting is coming along great. I have some tires for an armor build that I'm thinking of casting. If I can pull off the tire cast I think I could cast about anything I need for modeling. With your experience, I have a question...It seems that the rubber molds have a limited life span. once I get around 20-30 shoes cast, the mold starts to be difficult to work with. Any advice?

Thanks for now, Rich

[cyana]

Hi RichO,

incredible build!!!! Finally, I'm approved to write here - so first let me tell you your crawler is mindblowing!!!!

Now for the truck. When I designed the kit, it was intended to provide maximum stability specially when bearing the weight of the LUT and the Saturn. So the trucks became the shoes for the model, hence a lot has been changed underneath the center structure, but disguised well enough so it would not be visible on the finished model. You can, however, easily reverse those changes and set the truck on real cleats, because everything you need is still there. The key is to understand how the truck components look in real.

This is a precise model from the cleat - you already did this

Now, the key components of the truck are the Center Structure, the Bearing Housing and the Gear Case:

The Center Structure.Its real shape is easily detectable in the kit, once you know how it looks like. Note its height (from bottom to ground level) differs from the one in the kit.

The Gear Case. Here you see its face to the center. The interesting thing is, that the ramp in front of the Center Structure actually belongs to the Gear Case, as in opposite to the kit. What you can see, too, is the ramp shaped bottom of the box. In the kit, it's colored black to simulate the empty space.

The inner side of the Bearing Housing. It has a box that alignes with the Center Structure. Also, you can see that the bottom level of the Center Structure alignes with the relief on the housing wall. The center-side wall is nearly identical with the outer side wall, only the closing braces for the sprocket wheels are missing - they are part of the Gear Case on the center side.

Here we put everything together. This is how the Gear Case connects to the Center Structure in real.

In the top view, you can see that the front cover of the Gear Case extends to the inner wall of the Bearing Housing.

Same from the front with a good view to the Gear Case front cover.

Now that you know how the structures look in real, it should be not too hard to design your custom truck using the kit parts. If you need some more renderings, just let me know - they stem from my 'Real' project, that is parallel to the LUT and will resemble the moon landing hardware as precise 3D model, with all dimensions and so on.

best greetings and keep up your great work!

Mischa

[SANDMAN0198]

Sandman, Thanks! The casting is coming along great. I have some tires for an armor build that I'm thinking of casting. If I can pull off the tire cast I think I could cast about anything I need for modeling. With your experience, I have a question...It seems that the rubber molds have a limited life span. once I get around 20-30 shoes cast, the mold starts to be difficult to work with. Any advice?

Thanks for now, Rich

Unfortunately you are correct, between usage and the humidity factor molds tend to go bad, also it depends on the RTV used. As I mentioned before the RTV I use is supplied by Micro Mark is a one on one measure and seals extremely well some of my molds have lasted up to a year.

and this is the resin I use also 1 to 1 ratio.

Hope this helps a little

[SANDMAN0198]

^{Looking at the 3D model from the pictures above, I believe that you could use the M4 Sherman wheels the only thing would be the scale to choose to make them look accurate.}

[RichO]

Mischa...OMG!! Thanks so much for the renderings of the truck, and I still have the 3D instructions for the Truck assembly that you sent. I can see clearly how things are to look, so this should not present any big problems. I do want to maintain the support of the Center structure and the internal bracing (for the weight). All things to figure out when I get there. I'm actually looking forward to the Truck chapter now with reserved enthusiasm, just because I know how many parts I will have to deal with. The front view of the truck is a great look at what this should look like. Thanks!

It's really great that you check in from time to time. I like the idea of the Master seeing what the Student is up to. I know that the Truck chapter will take a bit of time to build, but the Trucks are the last chapter of the build. You should consider releasing the MLP early, so we can get started on part two of the trilogy. Just a thought.

I am still working on the Walkway chapter, which is going great altho a little on the slow side at the moment. I'm also casting as I go, so I should have more than enough shoes to do some mock ups and get things squared away.

Thanks again for checking in and making sure I do your design justice!! RichO 114/499

[RichO]

Sandman, The resin I am using is from "Alumilite " and is "RC-3" resin. Not sure what that means, but it works really well and mixes the same as yours. 1 to 1 mix. The rubber mold is a 10 to 1 mix and is really soft when the mold is first made. This stiffens up a bit after time. I am using this material because I can get it locally without having to mail order. My first experience with casting has been a good one and I will sure use this technique again on the Armor build.

I think I have the road wheel thing figured out also. However I will keep the Sherman wheels in mind. Good idea! The road wheels on the original Crawler are hard to see and are in such a position that one has to get a viewing angle to even see them. The shoes are all the same size tho and any wheels, from a kit or scratch built should all match up to fit into the top of the treads. However, more casting to do and walkways to build. So........

Thanks, Rich

[SANDMAN0198]

Good deal I will keep watching as I stated before is an awesome build.

[roma847]

Hi Rich,

Mischa's CAD renderings of the real truck components are a great help for you, and together with the 3D instruction for the truck assembly you can now start the remodeling for the resin shoes.

Can't wait to see the progress.

[James G]

Excellent work Rich, what a project!

[RichO]

Hey Guys,

A brief posting again today. The Walkway chapter continues. I'm down to the last side with the walkways. I have completed 3 sides and I'm on the home stretch. The next three sections of walkway are the largest to construct and each is larger than the one before.

Two more sections. One needs hand rails.

Here is a new section all painted and ready to install.

You can sorta see that I have 3/4 of the walkway built. Even tho you can only see two sides.

Like I stated before...the construction for the walkway's are all the same, ...so we ALL must just slough through this chapter and "git 'er done".

And another box o' shoes.

That's it for now. Thanks all.

[RichO]

Hey, I've been posting here at Britmodellers for a year today. I hope the rest of the build doesn't take an other year.

[GordonD]

Well, they do say the first 90% of a build takes 90% of the time. The last 10% takes the other ninety...

[roma847]

Hey Rich,

amazing progress with the walkways.

Never ending story ... How many shoes are still missing?

Do not give up, hold out bravely.

Edited April 18, 2015 by roma847

[RichO]

Thanks Guys,

Manfred, I am only about half way to the number of shoes that I need. I think I will be close to what I need to finish the trucks by the time I get the walkway chapter finished, but even so, I will have some work to do on the trucks before I can even start the build, so plenty of time. I am starting to fumble around with making a jig to hold the shoes upside down so I can clean up the contact surface. I'll take photos.

The walkway continues...I did have a little excitement tho. The recent mold I was using was reaching it's end, so I started another mold. I did not make sure about the contact of the clay to the mount surface. I had a blow out!

On the up side...I have a really cool mold of my work bench.

walkways

Until next time...

[philp]

Are you planning to mold several shoes together? I think this would be helpful especially in cutting down your casting and assembly time.