1:144 Space Shuttle

[DMC]

44 minutes ago, Moa said:

Far from being an engineer

Au conraire mon ami, you are definitely an engineer of the plastic.  

 

32 minutes ago, Dave Swindell said:

They serve two purposes

Thanks for that, Dave, clear as a bell now.

 

Dennis

 

 

[johndon]

Nice work on the bells.

 

John

 

[DMC]

27 minutes ago, johndon said:

Nice work on the bells

Thanks, John.

 

Dennis

[Dave Swindell]

38 minutes ago, Moa said:

Hi Dave

Does that mean that they are not actually rings, but a sort of coiled duct?

No, they're rings. If you think of the rocket bell being the wing surface radiator of a Schneider racer rolled spanwise into a cone, the rings are the coolant headers supplying the coolant to the tiny channels in the radiator. 

The whole of the rocket bell is double walled and cooled by fuel between the walls. it's known as regenerative cooling (link warning, it contains references to German rockets that go bang).

[fjaweijfopi4j48]

12 minutes ago, Dave Swindell said:

No, they're rings. If you think of the rocket bell being the wing surface radiator of a Schneider racer rolled spanwise into a cone, the rings are the coolant headers supplying the coolant to the tiny channels in the radiator. 

The whole of the rocket bell is double walled and cooled by fuel between the walls. it's known as regenerative cooling (link warning, it contains references to German rockets that go bang).

Thanks, Dave, great piece of knowledge shared, appreciated.

Cheers

[DMC]

Landing gear and bay doors mostly done. Nothing special just a few extra bits to busy them up a little.  A spot of CA or cement will secure them in their bays.  The door hinges are bits of fuse wire flattened out a little.   The gear and doors can be added at the very last so as not to worry about snapping anything off.  Couple of things I would do a little differently but these will do for this one.

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

Dennis

 

 

[DMC]

Looking to enhance various details of the Shuttle, I decide to focus my attention on the windshield area.  It is heavily framed with the panes apparently sunk in quite a bit.   The kit windshield is a one piece affair with no framework to speak of, just flats that

wrap around.

 

 

I’ve added framework to one side and will try and smooth it out with Mr Surfacer or spru goo.  While messing around with the framework I wondered whether using black styrene would have worked and somewhat made the painting a little easier.  Maybe next time.

 

 

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

Dennis

[starseeker]

 

One of the biggest problems with the shuttle models is the windows. The size and the shape on all of the kits is wrong, and that little discrepency really throws off the look of the whole nose. I managed to track down actual blueprints of the individual windows and drew up some art for etched frames. The windows are multiple layers of glass with spacers between. They kit windows are different,  sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, depending on the model. This is what the frames should look like, outside frame top of image, innermost frame bottom, from the blueprints, to 1/72 scale I think:

 

Great work, by the way. You look like you're well on the way to a fine build. Cheers!

Edited January 14, 2021 by starseeker

[DMC]

Well now, sir, these will come in handy as I have the “Atlantis” shuttle up, I hope, next.  Did a search for something similar but had no luck.  Many thanks, much appreciated.

 

Dennis

[starseeker]

After I posted, I got curious as to what exactly I'd done with the file of data that I built that image from. After much searching, I found it on my old computer. Here are a couple of images that I worked from. I don't want to use up a lot of space on this site, if that's even a concern, so I'll just post the links to where I put the samples.

https://imgur.com/vefH4Xm

https://imgur.com/mgxgSVr

https://imgur.com/Bb1Tak6

https://imgur.com/urodl1b

In case you want to fiddle with your own variations? But I think mine are darned close. 

 

All part of a many winters' project of trying to build tile maps for complete body decals for each of the shuttles, in each of their variations. Here are a couple examples of sides:

https://imgur.com/V3WH5cU

https://imgur.com/MeSq1S0

All I have left to do is map the tops of the noses and I can start figuring out a cutting pattern to make all the sections wrap. And match. Maybe this winter??

 

 

[Eric Mc]

On the history of Shuttle kits, like with Apollo, most of the kits were issued before the Shuttle made its first flight in April 1981. I think Revell's kit dates from around 1977.

 

Don't forget that the Shuttle had a long gestation period. 

 

The project got the official go ahead from President Nixon in 1972. "Enterprise" was rolled out in 1976 and took part in the glide flights in 1977. It had originally been expected that the Shuttle would start making orbital flights in 1978.

So you can see why model kit companies were rushing to get their kits out whilst the Shuttle was in the news.

 

In the end, it took a few more years before the Shuttle was ready for spaceflight - by which time the models had already been out for about three or four years - and there had been some changes to various aspects of the real Shuttle which the models didn't reflect.

[DMC]

1 hour ago, Eric Mc said:

On the history of Shuttle kits

Thank you, Eric, all very interesting.  I know the story of the models but it does cause me to wonder what sort of access Revell, etc., had in order to get such reasonable accuracy. 

 

I am currently about half way through Into the Black—Rolland White.  A very readable account of events leading up to STS-1, and near disaster, from the very earliest days of the Space Program.  Recommended.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Eric Mc]

I've read it a number of times. It's a cracking book.

I have tons of stuff on the Shuttle. I followed from when it was just a proposal (1969/70 period) right through to the final flight ten years ago.

 

Another very readable book which has a lot about what flying on the Shuttle was like, is "Riding Rockets" by Mike Mullane.

On the technical front, the Haynes Manual on the Shuttle (by David Baker) is very good.

[DMC]

5 minutes ago, Eric Mc said:

On the technical front, the Haynes Manual on the Shuttle (by David Baker)

Thanks, Eric, I’ve been thinking about the Haynes book and I will look into getting a copy.  I don’t have that many books, only four, but they have some pretty good pictures which are helpful when modelling.  The Squadron Signal book is good for detail stuff, but you probably know that.  

 

Wish I started modelling the Shuttle sooner.  I’ve been looking out for a reasonably priced Airfix kit but the vendors seem to think they are selling “vintage” kits and price them accordingly.  

 

My Shuttle claim to fame is seeing Columbia on the SCA returning to Kennedy after its maiden flight.  Really low and rather awe inspiring.  In Florida of course, at the time and a complete surprise.  Just happened to look up and there it was.

 

Cheers 

 

Dennis

 

[DMC]

On 1/15/2021 at 3:37 AM, starseeker said:

But I think mine are darned close. 

Close enough for my needs and with these latest links can’t imagine needing anything else. The mods are coming along okay but instead of radiused corners they’ll have to be ,well, corners as the frame is a bit small.  I believe the windscreen to be the most difficult mod to correct on these old kits.  However, I have an idea or two that might prove a better solution to the problem.

 

Thanks for the links, most useful info.

 

Dennis

[DMC]

Because I’d not given the windscreen much thought I cemented the clear piece in figuring the decals would suffice for the framework.  Wrong!  Decided to add styrene strips for the framework But shaping and priming them turned into a major problem and I messed up the clear insert. So, back to the drawing board.  I then decided to remove the “Beanie cap?” entirely and vac a replacement.  I fashioned a mould out of clay, baked and shaped it and pulled a replacement cap.  Left it too long in the oven and ended up with a bit of webbing. But felt I was on the right track.

 

 

Second pull turned out okay but it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for so I modified the mould to define the windscreen a little and tried again.  This one looks much better and I think I might be able to get the result I’m looking for.

 

 

Thanks to @starseeker I’ve got excellent renditions of the Shuttle windscreen framework to go by.  We’ll see how it goes.

 

Thanks for dropping in.

 

Dennis

 

 

Dennis

 

[DMC]

Well, so far so good.  A little more fettling and I think this one will do okay.  For the glass I’ll vac one out of PETG, trim it down and insert from inside.  Best bet will be to cut down the cabin bulkhead, paint everything and install the bay doors after the “glass”. 

 

Pleased with this.

 

 

Thanks thanks for looking in.

 

Dennis