Members of the Central Committee:

The recent setback in our construction of the new space rocket has been attributed to sabotage!  An inferior paint product from the decadent Western nations was used instead of our superior Soviet military grade paint, resulting in a degradation of its adherent properties, thus causing it to fail.  Certain members of the project team have been dismissed, and others reduced in rank and status.  We continue to work to correct this defect in a timely manner and assure the august members that this will in no way affect our meeting the launch schedule.  Onward!

Chief of Rocket Research and Development

Apparently the paint I was using takes a long time to dry.  When I sprayed it over the first coat it actually caused it to lift and craze.  Not good!  So, I'm going to do a re-paint of the Vostok, using a paint called "Euro 1 Gray" that is the color recommended online.  I've ordered a can and will have it in a week or two, so the Vostok is on hold for awhile.

Meanwhile, lots of other things I can work on like the AMT boosters and the base, so work will continue as we count down to the end of the GB.

Gary

Today In Glorious Russian Space History!

1970 June 4 - .

• Soyuz 9 Day 4 - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Mishin, Nikolayev, Sevastyanov, Tereshkova, Tregub. Program: Soyuz. Flight: Soyuz 9. Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-OK.

  There are a total of 500 staff at Yevpatoriya for the mission, including 53 representatives from the VVS, 6 military cosmonauts, and 3 civilian cosmonauts. Mishin returns to Moscow, leaving Tregub in his place. In the afternoon there is a problem with the control of the spacecraft's solar cells. On the 47th orbit Sevastyanov reports that one solar panel is energised, but only generating 26 amps. This could only mean that the automatic control of the solar panels was not working. On the second day the crew had to engage and disengage the solar batteries 12 times manually. After the 15th manual session it became clear that the mission could last only eight days before the batteries would run down. In the orbit of Soyuz 9 in June, the night lasts 40 minutes. On the previous flight, in October, it lasted only 10 minutes and this would not have been a problem. The crew is told to revolve the spacecraft at 0.5 deg/sec around the long axis. By this method the spacecraft remains fully oriented towards the sun, and the batteries don't have to work so long on the night passes. The cosmonauts do not report any unpleasant sensations from the rotation. At the 23:25 communications sessions the cosmonauts report that their appetites are good and they are sleeping well.

Comrades... I tried applying our badge to my signature and it appears too big. Do you have to resize them first? What's the deal.

You will have to resize the image.  I did mine in a paint program and then linked it from Flickr.  If you don't know how, I'll be happy to resize them for you.  Just let me know what image(s) you want.

Gary

GAF

You will have to resize the image.  I did mine in a paint program and then linked it from Flickr.  If you don't know how, I'll be happy to resize them for you.  Just let me know what image(s) you want.

Gary

 

Gary: I am sorry to hear about the counter-revolutionary Kulaks sabotage of your Vostok. Looking forward to the repaint, the revolution will not be underdone!!! 

Thanks for the advice, will go for the colour look. I'll give Ebay a look for the glasses! 

Nothing to see here except my latest model sculpture. I like to call this sculpture, Jeep Du Jour.

As you can see paint is applied. Hey--it's progress. 

Bakster>  Oddly, it looks like your jeep exploded!  Rocket fuel is dangerous stuff!  

Nothing to report today.  Paint is removed from the Vostok, though it still has small patches in areas.  I will get a stiffer brush tomorrow to try to get rid of as much as I can, then spray it with a black base coat.

Gary

Today In Space History:

1954 June 4 - .

• X-1A Flight 17 - . Crew: Murray. Payload: X-1A flight 17. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Murray. Class: Manned. Type: Manned rocketplane. Spacecraft Bus: XS-1. Spacecraft: X-1A. AF flight 11. X-1A reached 27374 m. Encountered same instability Yeager had, but at mach 1.97. Murray recovered after tumbling 6100 m down to 20130 m.

1974 June 4 - . LV Family: Shuttle. Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle.

• Shuttle Enterprise construction begins. - . Nation: USA. Program: STS. Spacecraft Bus: Shuttle. Spacecraft: Enterprise. Structural assembly of the crew module for shuttle Enterprise (OV-101) begins at Plant 42 in Palmdale.

2010 June 4 - . 18:45 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC40. Launch Pad: SLC40. LV Family: Falcon. Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9.

• Dragon/Falcon 9 - . Mass: 4,000 kg (8,800 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: SpaceX. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Spacecraft: Dragon. Duration: 23.00 days. Decay Date: 2010-06-27 . USAF Sat Cat: 36595 . COSPAR: 2010-026A. Apogee: 140 km (80 mi). Perigee: 138 km (85 mi). Inclination: 34.50 deg. Period: 87.30 min. First launch of the commercial Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Structural model of Dragon reusable spacecraft. Remained attached to final stage.

GAF

Bakster>  Oddly, it looks like your jeep exploded!  Rocket fuel is dangerous stuff!  

Lol. That is a good one. Now that you mention it... it does.

Crying from laughing.

Still crying, still laughing. Oh man, hilarious. 

Ps: That’s what I get for adding the rocket engine badge to my signature today. It blew the whole dxxxx thing up! It’s that, or I don’t have a future in model sculptures. I am going with the badge.

Gary,

Sorry about the paint, That really stinks. I'm sure all will be good in the end.

Bakster, that jeep does look like modern art all blown apart! 

Goodluck on the hose, I've been thinking on it but I have nothing workable to add to the discussion. I like how your trailer is coming along, It should fit right in.

A little progress on the Vette. I masked it today for the wings.

I cleaned the area ,burnished everything down, gave a light sanding, a polish with a papertowel, cleaned it again, burnished it down again, and again. 

I don't have good luck with maskings, I'm sure there will be some bleed through.

I got a coat of flat black on.

I'll know in a few hours how much bleed through I have.

Hey Mach, looking good so far. Fingers crossed.

Thanks!

Good news!

I'm very happy with the results.

Mach71> Ah, that does look good!  Congrats!  I love it when a plan works out.  

Gary

It looks great, Mach. What’s next?

A bit of brush painting the headliner, finish the engine, then final assembally.

I'll have to make some decals, For the red/white/blue banner with LMP on the front fenders.

I'll have to gloss coat it also.

mach71

A bit of brush painting the headliner, finish the engine, then final assembally. I'll have to make some decals, For the red/white/blue banner with LMP on the front fenders. I'll have to gloss coat it also.

K, sounds good.

Mach71: That looks amazing!!! Great job there, looking forward to seeing her all done. 

Bakster: You 'exploded' Jeep looks like something out of those old WW II cartoons by Bill Malden (sp?) Willie and something - I can't remember the other guys name now. 

I started the cockpit today. The main colors are flat and semi gloss black. Things kind of get lost in all the black. The speedo and the tach have decals. I'm not sure I'll use them. I'll see if I can get my paint cleaned up some.

The center guages should not have a white face, but it kind of breaks up the black.

The alternator has no support mount, so I made one.

I also started on the RF shield. I'll see how these work.

Edit:

I went to the Newport RI auto museum Monday. They had a 1969 convertable, I got some good photo's.

Mach71: Great job there replicating the real thing!  

Mach71>  Nice work!  Great to have a real example to look at.  Odd, I can't remember anything but "white" faced instruments from my boyhood.  The black faces look odd to me.  Guess I didn't drive many Corvettes!

Gary

Yeah--nice work Mach! I like your attn to detail. 

Thanks everyone. 

Progress, slow but forward.

I just watched the "From the Earth To the Moon" episode 7. Apollo 12.

A very well done, and a bit unconventional take on the mission.

I'm  glad I didn't see this before I stated painting the car, The episode has the paint all wrong.

The show just has the top rear fender/door painted, No red/white/blue badge with rank on the front fender. The black should go all the way over the rear roof.

Other than that, a very enjoyable watch!

Good episode!  Poor Alan Bean almost didn't make it to the moon as he was assigned to the Apollo applications project (what to do with left-over Apollo equipment) until Pete Conrad requested him for his team.

Here's a nice article on the Corvette, and shows the location of the NASA emblem on the windshield (that I mentioned elsewhere).  I note the black wings have a small white trim also.  Wonder if some strips of white decal paper would take care of that?

http://www.corvetteblogger.com/2013/09/12/apollo-xii-astronauts-1969-corvette-to-be-displayed-at-the-corvette-chevy-expo/

Gary

Yah, that white stripeing. I think it was added later. I've also seen a back stripe in place of the white stripe.

All of the period photo's I've found don't have it, just the black "wings". Only later photo's taken when the car was on display have the striping. That makes sense, The car would have come from the factory solid gold (the build invoice shows solid gold), all the indications are  that the local dealer did the black at the crews request, along with the red/white/blue fender "flag". My guess is the dealer body shop was told "paint this section black" and thats what they did.

All of this is just guessing, but it makes sense to me. 

I think this photo fairly well establishes the "white stripe" on at least one of the cars.  No later photo this one.  Did all of them have a white stripe?  Can't tell from this photo.

http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/alternate/photo/apollo-12_4.jpg

or this one:

https://www.classicdriver.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_full/public/import/articlesv2/images/_de/8123/ASTRONAUT_CORVETTE_04pop.jpg?itok=VMjxIpzn

Not gonna complain if it's not there, however. 

Gary

Hmmm

In those photo's it does look like Pete's car has a white stripe. I cant see Alan or ***'s car that well. Maybe it was only on his car as the commander?

For a number of reasons, most importantly I don't know an easy/quick way of adding it, I choose to believe that Alans car did not have it. 

Mach71>  No problem!  I have "white stripes" on the brain right now as I've been adding them to the Titan II (and the C-47 I did for Keyda's GB).  I just used white decal paper and cut thin strips to apply.  Works fairly well, sort of like "pin-stripes". 

As for me, I'm detailing the Titan II booster.  I'm also considering modifying the Gemini capsule as the base where the instrument section mates with the booster is too small.  It should match the diameter of the Titan II but doesn't.  Looks rather odd.  So I'm looking for something to extend the instrument section a bit so it will match up.  Back to scrounging!

Meanwhile, the Vostok is on hold until the new paint arrives.  Need to get started on bases for the models sometime soon.

Gary

Today In Space History:

1965 June 8 - . 07:40 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC1. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Molniya 8K78.

• Luna 6 - . Payload: E-6 s/n 7. Mass: 1,440 kg (3,170 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: MOM. Program: Luna. Class: Moon. Type: Lunar probe. Spacecraft: Luna E-6. USAF Sat Cat: 1393 . COSPAR: 1965-044A.

  Attempted unmanned lunar soft lander. Tass reported that all onboard equipment was functioning normally. During the mid-course correction on 9 June the main retro-rocket failed to cut off as scheduled and fired until all of its propellant was exhausted, due to an erroneous ground command sent to the timer. This put the spacecraft on a trajectory to miss the Moon. The spacecraft was put through all the motions of an actual landing, jettisoning the lander and deploying the airbags, as an apparently successful practice run for the ground crew despite the fact that it flew by the Moon at a distance of 161,000 km on 11 June. Contact was lost at a distance of 600,000 km from Earth, the spacecraft presumably entering a heliocentric orbit.

1966 June 8 - .

• Test Pilot Joseph Albert Walker killed in collision of his F-104 chase plane with XB-70 bomber. - . Nation: USA. Related Persons: Walker, Joseph.

  American NACA/NASA test pilot 1945-1966. Flew D-558, X-1, X-3, X-4, and X-5, and into space on X-15 Flights 77, 90, and 91. Killed when the F-104 he was flying collided with the XB-70 during a photo opportunity. 3 suborbital spaceflights on the X-15, 0.5 hours in space.

1975 June 8 - . 02:38 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC81/24. LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K/D.

• Venera 9 - . Payload: 4V-1 s/n 660. Mass: 4,936 kg (10,882 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: MOM. Program: Venera. Class: Venus. Type: Venus probe. Spacecraft Bus: 4MV. Spacecraft: Venera 4V-1. USAF Sat Cat: 7915 . COSPAR: 1975-050A. Apogee: 112,200 km (69,700 mi). Perigee: 1,510 km (930 mi). Inclination: 34.15 deg. Period: 2,898.00 min.

  Combined Venus orbiter/lander mission. After separation of the lander, the orbiter spacecraft entered Venus orbit and acted as a communications relay for the lander and explored cloud layers and atmospheric parameters. On October 20, 1975, the Descent Craft was separated from the Orbiter, and landing was made with the sun near zenith at 05:13 GMT on October 22. The Descent Craft included a system of circulating fluid to distribute the heat load. This system, plus precooling prior to entry, permitted operation of the spacecraft for 53 min after landing. The landing was about 2,200 km from the Venera 10 landing site. Preliminary results indicated: (A) clouds 30-40 km thick with bases at 30-35 km altitude, (B) atmospheric constituents including HCl, HF, Br, and I, (C) surface pressure about 90 (earth) atmospheres, (D) surface temperature 485 deg C, (E) light levels comparable to those at earth midlatitudes on a cloudy summer day, and (F) successful TV photography showing shadows, no apparent dust in the air, and a variety of 30-40 cm rocks which were not eroded. Venera 9 and 10 were the first probes to send back black and white pictures from the Venusian surface. They were supposed to make 360 degree panoramic shots, but on both landers one of two camera covers failed to come off, restricting their field of view to 180 degrees. Parameters are for Venus orbit.

2007 June 8 - . 23:38 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC39A. LV Family: Shuttle. Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle.

• STS-117 - . Call Sign: Atlantis. Crew: Anderson, Clayton, Archambault, Forrester, Olivas, Reilly, Sturckow, Swanson. Return Crew: Archambault, Forrester, Olivas, Reilly, Sturckow, Swanson, Williams. Payload: Atlantis F28 / S3, S4. Mass: 122,685 kg (270,474 lb). Nation: USA. Related Persons: Anderson, Clayton, Archambault, Forrester, Olivas, Reilly, Sturckow, Swanson, Williams. Agency: NASA. Manufacturer: Boeing. Program: ISS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. Flight: Soyuz TMA-10, STS-117, STS-117 ISS EO-15, STS-117 ISS EO-15. Spacecraft Bus: Shuttle. Spacecraft: Atlantis. Duration: 13.84 days. Decay Date: 2007-06-22 . USAF Sat Cat: 31600 . COSPAR: 2007-024A. Apogee: 341 km (211 mi). Perigee: 330 km (200 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 91.20 min.

  The shuttle delivered the S3 and S4 truss segments to the starboard side of the International Space Station. The crew made three spacewalks to install these truss segments, conduct other station reconfiguration and installation work, deploy the solar arrays and prepare them for operation. A fourth spacewalk was added to repair loose re-entry insulation on the shuttle and get-ahead installation work on the outside of the station. The shuttle delivered NASA long-term ISS crew member Clayton Anderson to the station; and returned Suni Williams to earth. At the conclusion of this mission the station finally achieved its full-power, dual-boom configuration first conceived for Space Station Freedom in the 1980's.

2008 June 8 - .

• STS-124 - Wakeup Song: The Mickey Mouse Club - . Flight: STS-124. "The Mickey Mouse Club" was played for the STS- 124 crew..

OK, the straws came in and they are close to perfect for what I want. The scale is close, it is poseable, and it has a decent length to it. I may need to splice it only once. It even does a decent job representing the folds of the hose. You guys really came through for me on this idea.

Below: Here is a closer view of the port that I made. The grey ring is a half tire that I scavenged from the X-1 kit. The kit comes with both resin and traditional wheels. I had used the resin wheels on the plane leaving the other. I glued the wheel half to the enclosure and then cored out an opening large enough to accommodate the next piece, a brass insert.

Many years ago I purchased an assorted box of brass tubing from a bargain bin at our local hardware store. I thought it might come in handy, and it has. I have scavenged pieces from the kit many a time. If you run across a kit like that, I encourage you to get it. 

Anyway, the brass insert will simulate a clamp assembly, and the straw/hose fits perfectly inside the insert. 

Work continues with painting and such. In this case I made a wash out of the same paint I used on the desert lake bed. The wash is to simulate desert dust that would accumulate on the rims. Next, I need to mask off the rims and begin work on the rubber tires.

Btw, I made the wash in an unconventional way. I found a video where a person uses Listerine in the process. The alcohol breaks up the surface tension whilst softening the underlying acrylic paint for a good bond. The end effect is a dry and dusty looking rim. I did deviate from the Listerine though. I didn't want artificial coloring affecting the final product, so instead, I used vodka. The process goes like this:

1. Dab some paint onto a pallet.

2. Add several drops of water to dilute the paint.

3. Add several drops of (vodka).

4. Apply the wash.

Keep in mind that if left too long, the alcohol will attack any area it gets on. Secondly, this wash is not meant to be wiped off later. You get what you get. However, you can manipulate things some by reactivating with more solution. I used this wash on the undercarriage of the jeep and trailer too. If things get out of hand, you can always spray a thin topcoat of the base color to blend things. I will probably do that on some areas of the undercarriages.

Whilst all that dries, I will probably begin applying some decals to the jeep body. We shall see how these old decals work out.

Much more work to do on this, but progress is being made.

End of update