Not sure how much of the base you can see but here it's all Durham's Water Putty with a couple layers of mud coloured cheap craft store paint and a slightly darker wash of the same cheap paint. I made ruts for the tracks while the putty was still wet, when they call it 'Rock Hard' they aren't kidding, it dries super hard and won't crack like plaster.

GAF

Durhams sounds like interesting stuff!  Wonder how it takes paint?

The manufacturer says it can be painted, and I just did some test painting as part of working out my desert process. In my opinion, it takes paint really well. The putty pulls the paint into it. I guess, what is your definition of how something takes paint? 

Durhams sounds like interesting stuff!  Wonder how it takes paint?

Not much going on here.  Doing some minor detail work, but nothing worth a picture yet.  I want to touch up the metallic paint on the engine bell so will probably be masking it again.  If I can finish up the nose cone for the Command Module, I'll be ready to seal up the heat shield and then start making decals.  Of course, there's some other minor things I want to do.  Wonder if I can finish her up this month?

Gary

Gamera

Yeah, it's not too heavy once it's dry. Love Durhams! 

 

modelcrazy

I have some at the house for repairs. I never thought about using it in place of Plaster of Paris .

Google Durhams and dioramas. You will find some interesting stuff. People use it for casting too!

I have some at the house for repairs. I never thought about using it in place of Plaster of Paris .

Yeah, it's not too heavy once it's dry. Love Durhams! 

modelcrazy

Looks heavy

 

The putty is only about a quarter inch thick. DWP gets pretty light once the water works out of it, which is a ways off yet.

Looks heavy

GAF

It does look good!  No problems with the frame yet?

Gary

 

It does look good!  No problems with the frame yet?

Gary

Thanks Gam.

That looks really good Bakster! 

Glad you had the newspaper there to deal with the mess. 

Okay--Durhams water putty is poured. The reason I went with Durhams is because it can be self-leveling (if mixed that way), it's sort of sandable, and you can drill it. 

How did it go? One word... MESSY. I expected it, but it was a little more than that. 

I mixed it so it poured allowing me to fill the entire base. At this point the surface is very uneven and self-leveling won't compensate for that. I used a plastic ruler to scrape the excess by pulling it across the frame. This flatted it nicely. And after that, it was cleanup work. 

There are air holes here and there that I will need to fill, overall it went okay.

Moving forward, I am still working out the crackle process. I used todays excess mixture to make a test sample that I can work off of. Getting it to crackle is not the problem; getting the look I am looking for has yet to be worked out.

Whilst this cures--I will begin work on the landing gear assembly.

Bakster

 

 

GAF

All these "The Right Stuff" quotes made me go watch the film again today.  Still a great movie capturing the thrill of the early days of space flight.

 

 

 

 

Gary, it's good you are moving along so nicely with your spe-ci-men strapped into the pot. There was a danger of hearing this:

Alan Shepard: Request permission to relieve bladder... Gordo... Gordo?

Gordon Cooper : Look, the man has got to go! Now it's either that or we get out the lug wrench and pry him out...

Chief Scientist : [with resignation]  Do it... in the suit.

Gordon Cooper : José, permission to wet your diapers anytime son.

 

 

Looks good Gary! 

GAF

All these "The Right Stuff" quotes made me go watch the film again today.  Still a great movie capturing the thrill of the early days of space flight.

Gary, it's good you are moving along so nicely with your spe-ci-men strapped into the pot. There was a danger of hearing this:

Alan Shepard: Request permission to relieve bladder... Gordo... Gordo?

Gordon Cooper : Look, the man has got to go! Now it's either that or we get out the lug wrench and pry him out...

Chief Scientist : [with resignation]  Do it... in the suit.

Gordon Cooper : José, permission to wet your diapers anytime son.

All these "The Right Stuff" quotes made me go watch the film again today.  Still a great movie capturing the thrill of the early days of space flight.

Jack Ridley: [talking to TV] Attaboy, Gus!
[talking to Yeager]
Jack Ridley: Pull that stuff on flight test, it's all over for him. I say he screwed the pooch, partner. Plain and simple.
Chuck Yeager: Yeah, well, sometimes you get a pooch that can't be screwed, ya know?
Jack Ridley: [chuckling] Exactly! Right now the President's got his own problems with the Bay of Pigs, he doesn't want the astronauts' image tarnished. Nothing these guys do is gonna be called a failure... But you'd think the public'd know that they're just doing what monkeys have done...
Chuck Yeager: Monkeys? Think a monkey knows he's sitting on top of a rocket that might explode? These astronaut boys, they know that, see? Well, I'll tell you somethin' - it takes a special kind of man to volunteer for a suicide mission, especially one that's on TV. Ol' Gus, he did alright.

Progress Report:

Work on the Command Module continues.  Installed the control panel and support struts.  Began painting the Parachute Recovery System.  Nose cone for the Blast Protective Shield is nominal.  Repainted SM Engine nozzle to help with seams, and the Instrument Unit.

Detailing continues.

Mission Director (GAF)

Today in Space History:

2019, March 8 -

SpaceX’s unmanned Crew Dragon capsule has splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean after its historic DEMO-1 test flight to the International Space Station.

The capsule, carrying a dummy dubbed ‘Ripley,’ made its return to Earth after undocking from the ISS early Friday. After plunging through the Earth’s atmosphere, Crew Dragon deployed its parachutes and splashed down at 8:45 a.m. EST.

scottrc

Not any progress on my Saturn. Lacking motivation at the moment.

I know the feeling. I had the wind taken out of my sail with the stupid decal issues. Slowly, work continues on the base. I plan to pour the putty this weekend. We'll see what disaster I can get into THIS weekend.

Gordon Cooper:  

Who was the best pilot I ever saw? Well, uh, you're lookin' at 'im.

But on that glorious day in May 1963, Gordo Copper went higher, farther, and faster than any other American--22 complete orbits around the world; he was the last American ever to go into space alone. And for a brief moment, Gordo Cooper became the greatest pilot anyone had ever seen.

Here is to you, Gordo. 

Great work Gary.

I'm enjoying the conversation here with quotes from the Right Stuff.

Not any progress on my Saturn. Lacking motivation at the moment.  Maybe this weekend.

Scott

Yeah, I never thought of the space program as being funny but there was some great material there in 'The Right Stuff'. Funny how a little funny can leaven out a serious movie from being too serious. 

Gary: Lol, I always think of 'Marooned' with the MST3K version. I think it was Crow who did the hilarious Gregory Peck impersonation. 

Good info, Gary. Thanks for the heads up about Apollo 11 too. I am gonna look into seeing that.

Meanwhile, back at Panchos:

Whatta you two rookies gonna have?

Rookies? Now hold on, sis! You are lookin at a whole new ballgame, here, now. In fact, a couple more years, I bet you're gonna immortalize us by puttin our picture up on that wall!

What? I say somethin wrong here, or...?

I tell you what, we got two categories of pilots around here. You got your prime pilots, that get all the hot planes; and you got your pudknockers, who dream of gettin the hot planes. Now, what are you two PUDKNOCKERS gonna have?

Scotch.

Watched a couple of old movies that I hadn't seen in a long time last weekend.  "Marooned" and "Countdown".  "Marooned" (1969) is about an Apollo spacecraft stuck in orbit because of the failure of the main engine (and lack of fuel for the RCS systems apparently) after a lengthy stay in an orbiting station (early Skylab concept).  Some big name stars (Gregory Peck, David Janssen, Gene Hackman, Richard Crenna, James Franciscus) but small name budget.  "Countdown" (1968) is about an attempt to get one man to the moon in a Gemini capsule to beat the Russians (who land first but crash).  Stars James Caan and Robert Duvall.  Interesting view of the space program just before the moon landings.

Meanwhile, the "Apollo 11" documentary is supposed to be opening nationwide tomorrow.  Need to check on a local theater to see where it is playing.

And I watched NASA TV today as they closed the hatch on the Dragon Demo-1 capsule.  They really seemed meticulous in their prep work, even wiping down the seals around the inner hatch before sealing (they had to decide what sort of wipes to use). 

Gary

Pot?  That's a scurrilous assertion!  Just because you had guys living in a space the size of a hall closet for a week...

Gus Grissom: [listening to the NASA recruiter] Say, Hot Dog; what the hell does "astronaut" mean, anyway?

Gordon Cooper: [thinks for a moment] "Star Voyager"

Gus Grissom: "Star Voyager" Gus Grissom. I kinda like the sound of that.

modelcrazy

Not capsule, spacecraft. Another part that I like.

Laughing..  Yup!

Not capsule, spacecraft. Another part that I like. 

Coming along nicely Gary.

Chief Scientist : I agree with those who say we could launch a pod.

Lyndon Johnson : A pot?

Chief Scientist : A POD - a, uh, capsule. Now, we would be in full control of zis pod. It vill go up like a cannonball, and come down like, uh, a cannonball, splashing down into ze water, the ocean, vith a parachute to spare the life of the specimen inside.

Lyndon Johnson : Spaceman?

Chief Scientist : SPE-CI-MEN.

Lyndon Johnson : Well, what kind of spe-ci-men?

Chief Scientist : A tough one. Responsive to orders. I had in mind a jimp.

Lyndon Johnson : JIMP? Well what the H E L L is a jimp?

Chief Scientist : A jimp. A-a-a jimpanzee, Senator. An ape.

LOL! That is one of my favorite parts in the moooovee.  

Your spe-ci-men look to be ready, Gary. They are all tucked into their pot!

Yeah, they look ready to make the trip to the launch pad! 

Progress Report:

The astronaut figures are finished.  They're awaiting final internal work on the Command Module which includes the installation of the control panel and a couple of support struts.

Strangely, there were no American flags on these Block I spacesuits.

The RCS nozzles are applied to the Service Module and await some touchup paint.

Major scratch-built part of nose cone for Command Module still needs finishing.  Lots of detail work still to be done, along with finishing the base.  This project is approaching completion.

Mission Director (GAF)

Today in Space History:

1927 March 6 - .

• Birth of Leroy Gordon Jr 'Gordo' Cooper - . Nation: USA. Related Persons: Cooper. American test pilot astronaut. Flew on Mercury MA-9, Gemini 5. First American to spend over a day in space. High spirited, and reportedly denied an Apollo assignment.

1937 March 6 -

• Birth of Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Tereshkova.

• Russian cosmonaut. First woman in space, aboard Vostok 6. But the flight was propaganda and future spaceflight opportunities did not develop. Was married to cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev. Later a leading Communist politician.

1969 March 6 - . 16:45 GMT - .

EVA Apollo 9-1 - . Crew: Schweickart, Scott. EVA Duration: 0.0319 days. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Schweickart, Scott. Program: Apollo. Class: Moon. Type: Manned lunar lander. Flight: Apollo 9. Spacecraft: A7L, Apollo LM. Stand-Up External Vehicular Activity. Tested Apollo spacesuit.

1971 March 6 - .

• Space Plan for 1971 unrealistic. - . Nation: Russia. Program: Salyut, Almaz. Flight: Soyuz 10, Soyuz 11, Soyuz 12 / DOS 1. Spacecraft: Almaz OPS, Salyut 1, Spiral OS, TKS.

• The space plan for 1971 has finally been approved. There are to be three space stations launched, manned by ten Soyuz launches and a total of over 12 different crewmembers in space during the year. But it is clear to Kamanin that the second DOS and first Almaz station will not really be ready this year. And there won't be more than two Soyuz and two TKS transports available by the end of the year. Ranazomov says that Chelomei's TKS, being designed to fly to the Almaz, will cover many of he same requirements of the Spiral spaceplane. He proposes that Mikoyan should collaborate with Chelomei on Spiral. Meanwhile simulators at TsPK remain underfunded.

Gamera> Thanks!  I'm finishing them up this morning, painting on name tags and a small NASA emblem.  Can't quite get names on the tags, however... 

Gary

Gary: Nice work again. Love those astronauts!!