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Launch 14 - Cooper's Rocket


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On 11/25/2020 at 6:57 PM, RichO said:

 

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Hi Rich,

amazing progress with the transporter production by your Resin casting procedure, which already impressed me at your lots of Crawler Track shoes that time. :yikes:

The grey battery on the right was probably part of the kit, the white on the left too, or have you scratched it as prototype for casting? :hmmm:

 

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 Is that a two-part latex shape or did you cut open it halfway?

 

Maybe I'd have to try it too, especially if I think for all these gas tanks in the High Pressure Gas battery area of my Launch Pad Diorama ... smiley215.gif

 

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Source: nasatech.net

 

 

 

 

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Manfred,  the white transporter on the left is the scratch built "master" for casting.  Very hard to tell from the photo, but yes, the mold was cut half way to make extraction easier.  I should have made a two part mold, afterthought. 

 

The molding process is very easy, but can get messy at first. Two part molds are also easy, just takes a little longer.   I would think that judging volumes for mixing amounts is about the hardest thing to do.  I use the Alumilite products for casting.  ALUMILITE.COM  I paid $30. American, for the rubber package and another $30. for the resin package.  I receive enough to last for a lot of castings.  

 

  Your gas tanks look to be quit easy to cast in numbers needed.  Add all the little details after casting and all should look very convincing. Try it Manfred!  You'll love having the option of reproducing any parts you need in mass numbers.

 

  Stay tuned, I have many more vehicles to cast.  Next up are the Tractor Cabs.

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Thanks Rich for your great support. bow.gif

 

What do you think is the problem with judging volumes for mixing amounts of the epoxy? :hmmm:Volumes can be estimated, I think. Or do you estimate the required quantities based on weight? 

 

What does the manufacturer's regulation say? smiley215.gif

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  Manfred, I'm sure that there is a mathematical formula for estimating volume, but I just "eyeball it" and sometimes I don't mix enough for the job, or to much.  With such a short working time for the resin I would rather error on the side of mixing to much.  Mixing to little has no time to add more before it starts to set.  Once all this is worked out, the process is a breeze.

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   Hi Manfred,  If your original master is a complex shape with undercuts where the air inclusions could appear,  Use a two part mold.  Simple shapes in a one part mold, a good squeeze of the mold usually pushes out the air.

 

  If you are feeling a bit more adventuresome, you can build or purchase a pressure chamber that squeezes out the air bubbles.  I have even heard of someone using a centrifuge to spin the bubbles out.

 

  Like most things, it just depend how involved you want or need to be.  It's all good fun once you have a grip on things.

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Hey, a quick report for today.

 

  The work continues with the vehicle production.  I have managed to cut off all the pour plugs on the trailers I'm working on.  I still have to clean up some extraneous flashing and repairs, but this is going to be really cool with all these painted up and parked around the tarmak.

 

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After I get all this cleaned for painting, I still have to support these off the ground.  I have a bunch of support gear to replicate...some of these parts I will build by hand instead of casting.  I feel that building these by hand will be faster than casting and will not use up my molding materials.

 

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You can see here how these parts are arranged on the bottom side of the castings.  These are small parts that require casting a dozen times, maybe.  Except that I need several dozen tires.

 

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All is going fine with the vehicle build, however when I got back from running errands today..........A MAJOR TRAGIDY!!

The cats got into the build room and knocked over the Launch Tower and busted it up a bit.  I'm to distressed to look at to close for now, but I may have to rebuild it in styrene.  I'll check on it later.........

 

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I'll be back with some Launch Tower news and more of the vehicle build.

 

Later All, Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hi Rich!

 

Apologies for not having welcomed you back and saying how great it is to see you back at work on this incredible project, but welcome back, it's great to see you back at work on this incredible project. I have nevertheless followed youR progress since your return, I just didn't have the time to waffle like I do/am doing now. lol

 

So, just when I've a few minutes spare in which to 'pen' something, I discover the tragedy which befell your tower. I am devastated for you. I too have cats, but of the 3 Molly abandoned by her stray mother after a fox attack, and rescued by us, is one that I consider to be MY cat. She was barely weaned when we took her in, a wild thing, all teeth claws, spitting and hissing.  But she was using the litter tray within hours. I tried to keep her as wild as possible, having lots of play fights and 'my finger is a mouse' games.  She's 3yrs old now, and still a biter and scratcher, but she's equally happy to cuddle up and snooze with me.  The other two are my wife's from a previous marriage. lol. Her cats are banned from my modelling workspace. Molly is not. She is a very intelligent cat. I've trained her well. Whilst she does walk over my Ever Evolving Dio, which sits on a table in a corner waiting for more work, she more or less tip-toes through the static grass and absolutely avoids the seafoam hedgerow and any other 'high features'. A simple growl from me as she approaches it and she will stop and find some other route to the window sill. Oh look, I'm waffling!

 

Back to  your felled tower. I'm sure you could repair that fairly easily. If it were mine and I wasn't 100 percent happy with it as it was prior to the tragedy, I'd probably take it as a sign that I was meant to start over.  Whatever you do, the result will be as ace as before, or even better. I look forward to seeing the result.

 

TC

 

Rearguards,

Badder

Edited by Badder
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On 12/2/2020 at 9:35 PM, bar side said:

Can’t leave anything out when the cat is about.  Small bits disappear and the cat sits there looking all innocent

Cats always look innocent, because they are, even when they're not. If a cat doesn't destroy something now and then I'd be worried for its mental health lol.

 

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  Thanks Badder, nice story with the cats.  I had an opportunity at one time to acquire a large Canadian Lynx.  Could you imagine the damage.  To big for my house.

 

  As for the tower. I have looked at it somewhat, and was a bit upset that some of the very thin brass has bends with kinks and separations from other parts.  If I take this as a sign, A scratch built Launch Tower is in order.  I have the patterns obviously, just time and materials.  I'll come to that solution later.

 

  Keep up your great work, and stay healthy!!!!!!!!!

 

 

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Hey Everyone,

 

  Small post for today.  The work with the vehicles build is going slow but steady.  I am about half way through painting the transport trailers. 

 

Primer....... 

 

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Base white........

 

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  The yellow parts are small enough to hand paint.

 

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A bit of touch up on the white, and these are ready for the tire faze of the build.

 

Be back later All..........

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey Everyone,

 

  I hope everyone had a great Holiday Season with about as much fun as you can have.

 

  The build has continued at a slower holiday pace.  I did manage to get some work done tho.  I have started with the tires, and ran into something I have not done before.

 

  In order to facilitate the tire count I built a mold that has ten tires on one sprue.  This is something I have not tried until now.

 

  Thinking of how parts are separated on a parts tree, I spread out the tires and hoped all would workout ok.  With some styrene rod as filler necks I just tried it to see what would happen.

 

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This seemed really crazy to me, however, it worked out better than I thought it might.  I did seem to have a plug on one of the risers that blocked a tire.

 

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I'll clean out the risers and the next one will be just fine.  I need about 200 tires. 

 

  After the tires I want to try something else not done before.  A fairly deep 3D mold.  I need some of these Trackers.  I have three different types to work with.

 

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The frame with the engine cast into it seems a bit simple. Just a flat-ish frame, with some details.  The Truck cab however, looks to be a bit much at this stage of my casting experience. I have been studying how to do molds for this kind of casting. I hope it works.  I'll show you what happens, even if it doesn't work  out.

 

The build continues slow for now.  Thanks for watching All.........

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey all,

 

  The progress with the space program is continuing.  This quick posting is to get everyone caught up on the latest repetitive work.

 

  The casting of items continues.  This is about all I have been doing for this project is casting tires (still) and cars.

 

I thought I would ease into casting the vehicles with a simple two part mold of one of the cars I'd like to  have more copies of.

 

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I learned a few things about air traps with this little car.  All is sorted, and now, a pile of cars

 

in the junk yard......

 

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and of course, a bag o' tires.........

 

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As you can see, the clean up is a bit much.  However, the flashing is really thin and just snaps off the items.

 

That's it for now, back to casting for a bit more.  Thanks All.

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  • 1 month later...

Hey All!

 

  Just a brief update today.  The casting continues altho at a slower pace.  I have managed to get a grip on the Launch Tower that got knocked down.  The damage was not so great that, with a bit of work, I got things lined up good enough so you don't notice the bends in the brass.  It seems I'm back on track with the Launch Tower.

 

The space just dose not look right without the Launch Tower.........

 

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The Tower bent back into shape............

 

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That looks better!!  The Launch Tower is back in business!!!

 

 

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I'll try to post a little more often.  For now back to my peripheral tanks and vehicles.

 

Thanks for looking at this small posting,  I'll be back sooner............

 

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I have had just about enough of the cats.  Total destruction!

 

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I think what I'll do, is store everything but what I'm working on at the moment.  And eat the cats!

 

Assessment to follow.

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OMG, Rich, :analintruder:

 

when the cats crept in ... :yikes:

 

That just means that they like your pad and they just wanted to prepare it for their final countdown ... :rolleyes:

 

Joking aside, just don't forget to remember closing the door next time, that will help ... up040577.gif

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Cats can be a right pain.  But I wouldn’t be without mine.  Hope things are not too bad.  Working from home can be a challenge - workspace in the foreground, model kit at the back and the cat...

 

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On 28/02/2021 at 10:39, bar side said:

Cats can be a right pain.  But I wouldn’t be without mine.  Hope things are not too bad.  Working from home can be a challenge - workspace in the foreground, model kit at the back and the cat...

Good looking kat .......would make a fine pair of slippers. :D

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