I'll have to remove it and grind a chanel in the air cleaner and probably the carbs also.

I hope that is enough...

Some success. I'm almost there.

It turns out the air cleaner was not the only problem. The alternator and fan blades also were an issue.

I started cutting up the sheet plastic for the fender badges. So far they are looking good.

Looks fantastic Mach

Thanks!

Mach71>  Good work!  Glad the engine parts got sorted out.  I think the decal result will be fine once you get them on.  Looks like you'll be the first to get 3 models finished.  You really have gone above and beyond!

Update:

I must admit I'm having some difficulty with the AMT boosters.  The seams on the Titan II popped, so I'm trying to repair that.  Handling it has dulled the aluminum so much that I really need to respray the body, so I'm a bit behind.  I think I'll finish by July 20th, but it will be tight.  I still haven't figured out how to mount these things.

Hope everyone has a great 4th tomorrow!  Launch rockets!

Gary

Today In Space History:

1969 July 3 - . 20:18 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC110R. LV Family: N1. Launch Vehicle: N-1 11A52. FAILURE: First stage failure.. Failed Stage: 1.

• N1 5L launch - . Payload: Soyuz 7K-L1S s/n 5 / Dummy LK. Mass: 6,900 kg (15,200 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Program: Lunar L3. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft.  Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-L1A. Decay Date: 1969-07-03 .

  N-1 serial number 5L began to fail at 0.25 second after liftoff when the oxidizer pump of engine number 8 ingested a slag fragment and exploded. A fire ensued as the vehicle climbed past the top of the tower. Engines were shutdown until the acceleration dropped below 1 G; then the vehicle began to fall back to the pad at a 45 degree angle. The escape tower fired at the top of the brief trajectory, taking the L1S dummy descent module away from the pad. Upon impact of the base of the N1 with the pad, the vehicle exploded, destroying launch pad 110 east, which would take over 18 months to repair. This was the end of a slight Soviet hope of upstaging the US Apollo 11.
  

1971 July 3 - .

• Soyuz 11 investigative commission. - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Dobrovolsky, Patsayev, Volkov. Program: Salyut. Flight: Soyuz 11.

  The Soyuz 11 crew is buried in the Kremlin Wall in a State Funeral at Red Square. This is followed by the first meeting of the State Commission on the Soyuz 11 disaster. Ten sub-committees were set up to concentrate on various technical aspects of the investigation. The initial finding is that the air valve in the 'Mir' apparatus opened in free space at 170 km altitude. Within 112 seconds the capsule fully depressurised. The valve was designed to let in fresh air after re-entry. It should have been impossible for this valve to open until the external barometric pressure had increased to a set level. The only crew instructions and training in relation to this valve were that it was to be closed by either the crew or the recovery forces in case of a landing in water.

1974 July 3 - . 18:51 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC1. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511.

• Soyuz 14 - . Call Sign: Berkut (Golden Eagle ). Crew: Artyukhin, Popovich. Backup Crew: Demin, Sarafanov. Support Crew: Rozhdestvensky, Volynov, Zholobov, Zudov. Payload: Soyuz 7K-T(A9) s/n 62. Mass: 6,800 kg (14,900 lb). Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Artyukhin, Demin, Popovich, Rozhdestvensky, Sarafanov, Volynov, Zholobov, Zudov. Agency: MOM. Program: Almaz. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Flight: Soyuz 14. Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-T/A9. Duration: 15.73 days. Decay Date: 1974-07-19 . USAF Sat Cat: 7361 . COSPAR: 1974-051A. Apogee: 217 km (134 mi). Perigee: 195 km (121 mi). Inclination: 51.60 deg. Period: 88.60 min.

  On 4 July Soyuz 14 docked with the Salyut 3 space station after 15 revolutions of the earth. The planned experimental program included manned military reconnaissance of the earth's surface, assessing the fundamental value of such observations, and some supplemental medico-biological research. After the crew's return research continued in the development of the on-board systems and the principles of remote control of such a station.

1998 July 3 - . 18:12 GMT - . Launch Site: Kagoshima. Launch Complex: Kagoshima M-V. Launch Vehicle: M-V.

• Nozomi - . Mass: 258 kg (568 lb). Nation: Japan. Agency: ISAS. Manufacturer: NEC. Class: Mars. Type: Mars probe. Spacecraft: Nozomi. USAF Sat Cat: 25383 . COSPAR: 1998-041A. Apogee: 489,381 km (304,086 mi). Perigee: 703 km (436 mi). Inclination: 27.30 deg. Period: 20,910.00 min.

  Originally known as Planet-B; renamed Nozomi ('Hope') after launch. The third stage and payload entered a 146 x 417 km x 31.1 deg parking orbit. The KM-V1 kick (fourth) stage then fired to place the spacecraft into a circumlunar 359 x 401491 km x 28.6 deg orbit. Nozomi made multiple lunar and Earth gravity assist passes to increase its energy for solar orbit insertion and the cruise to Mars.. The spacecraft used a lunar swingby on 24 September and another on 18 December 1998 to increase the apogee of its orbit. It swung by Earth on 20 December at a perigee of about 1000 km. The gravitational assist from the swingby coupled with a 7 minute burn of the bipropellant engine put Nozomi into an escape trajectory towards Mars. It was scheduled to arrive at Mars on 11 October 1999 at 7:45:14 GMT, but the Earth swingby left the spacecraft with insufficient acceleration and two course correction burns on 21 December used more propellant than planned, leaving the spacecraft short of fuel. The new plan is for Nozomi to remain in heliocentric orbit for an additional four years and encounter Mars at a slower relative velocity in December 2003.

Mach71: She looks friggin' perfect! Hope you get the issues straightened out, the exterior looks so good. And good luck with the badges. 

Gary: I know what you mean, I hate trying to sand and putty long tubular objects. The seams on my B-29 popped multiple times till I slathered on the cement and just glued the @#@# outta the thing... And thanks for the updates, I've read a few books on the Soviet space program but still it helps to remind me of all the stuff they accomplised and screwed up on.  

Gamera>  Thanks!  I'm not sure what happened to cause the seams to open like that.  Probably too much handling.  I've resprayed the main parts today, but will have to redo some of the details on the first stage.  I've got the capsule and instrument section attached to the upper stage, so I need a few more details on it (including some "UNITED STATES" decals) and it will be done.

I have a wooden base I want to stain and mount the boosters to, but haven't figured out how to attach them yet.  Need some sort of cradle they can rest on.  I could glue some sort of dowel or pin into the engine nozzles, but the nozzles on the Titan are so flimsy I'm afraid they will break off.  Guess I need to sit down today and figure something out.

Have a great 4th of July everyone!

Gary

Sorry about the setback Gary, and so close to the end of the build!

I'm going to call the Corvette done. I almost put the wrong mirrors on. Thankfully I was checking the photos of the actual car for the fender badge location when I noticed that the basic single drivers mirror rather than the 2 body colored mirrors. Anyway Everything is on. I have tried many ways of getting the "LMP" on the blue but nothing looks good.

I'll leave it off for now.

Thanks to everyone for their help during this group build, I learned much and had a great time being part of it! Thanks GAF and modelcrazy for hosting it!

Cult TV just notified me that the Revell re issue of the LEM is in the mail and I picked up the RG re issue of the Apollo astronaut off of Ebay so the fun will continue! 

Hey Mach, your Corvette looks fantastic. And I like how you photographed it too. Very cool! Good job sir.

Thanks.

The photo background is the Apollo XII landing site.

Mach71>  All I can say is "wow"!  You finished it up far earlier than you had hoped.  Great job all around.  The badges turned out pretty good, even without the abbreviation for the crew position in the blue.  Might be a bit too small to do well without a professional printing.

I must thank you for reminding me of using the TV as a background for photos. I had done that for a "Star Trek" USS Enterprise model a few years ago, but forgot completely about it.  I'll try to remember that it makes a great backdrop for many models.  Just need to load up the DVD and pause at the scene you want!  Thanks!

Will defer to you on what image you want for the front page.  I think either the first or second would be good.

Meanwhile, here's your new badge, the "Senior Astronaut Modelers Badge with Diamond".  Heh!  Didn't think anyone would be doing 3 models for this GB!

Update:

After some repainting and detailing, the Titan / Gemini is together and awaiting some decals.  All the AMT boosters are at that state.  Meanwhile, I've decided to build some small support stands out of plastic sheet and rod.  I can glue the base of the rocket body to this and then glue the botton to the wooden base.  Should hold well enough for display, and you can see the nozzles through the open framework.  Think I can finish them up by the 20th.  We only have 15 days left in the GB.

Gary

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!  Lots of rockets exploded on launch I hear. 

Today In Space History:

1944 July 5 - .

• MX-324 rocket fighter prototype first flight. - . Crew: Crosby. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Crosby. Spacecraft Bus: American Rocketplanes. Spacecraft: MX-324. The MX-324, first U.S. military rocket-powered plane built by Northrop, was flown by test pilot Harry Crosby, at Harper Dry Lake, Calif..

1960 July 5 - .

• House recommends a high priority manned expedition to the moon - . Nation: USA. Program: Apollo.

  The House Committee on Science and Astronautics declared: "A high priority program should be undertaken to place a manned expedition on the moon in this decade. A firm plan with this goal in view should be drawn up and submitted to the Congress by NASA. Such a plan, however, should be completely integrated with other goals, to minimize total costs. The modular concept deserves close study. Particular attention should be paid immediately to long lead-time phases of such a program." The Committee also recommended that development of the F-1 engine be expedited in expectation of the Nova launch vehicle, that there be more research on nuclear engines and less conventional engines before freezing the Nova concept, and that the Orion project be turned over to NASA. It was the view of the Committee that "NASA's 10-year program is a good program, as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough. Furthermore the space program is not being pushed with sufficient energy."

1966 July 5 - . 14:53 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC37B. LV Family: Saturn I. Launch Vehicle: Uprated Saturn I.

• Apollo 203 - . Payload: Saturn S-IVB-203. Mass: 26,500 kg (58,400 lb). Nation: USA. Agency: NASA Huntsville. Program: Apollo. Decay Date: 1966-07-05 . USAF Sat Cat: 2289 . COSPAR: 1966-059A. Apogee: 212 km (131 mi). Perigee: 183 km (113 mi). Inclination: 31.90 deg. Period: 88.50 min.

  First orbital test Saturn IB; no spacecraft. AS-203 lifted off from Launch Complex 37, Eastern Test Range, at 10:53 a.m. EDT in the second of three Apollo-Saturn missions scheduled before manned flight in the Apollo program. All objectives - to acquire flight data on the S-IVB stage and instrument unit - were achieved.

  The uprated Saturn I - consisting of an S-IB stage, S-IVB stage, and an instrument unit - boosted an unmanned payload into an original orbit of 185 by 189 kilometers. The inboard engine cutoff of the first stage occurred after 2 minutes 18 seconds of flight and the outboard engine cutoff was 4 seconds later. The S-IVB engine burned 4 minutes 50 seconds. No recovery was planned and the payload was expected to enter the earth's atmosphere after about four days.

Continuing with the "Man On the Moon" bubblegum cards.  These are from Apollo 9.

Gary

From my archives, a memo concerning changes to the Apollo CSM.  And Charlie Duke has pneumonia!

Thanks Gary!

And thanks for hosting the GB!

As for the photo, I'm good with whatever you decide.

Mach,

The front page is updated.  Thanks for participating above and beyond the call of duty.

Guess you're the Prime Pilot who gets all the hot planes! 

Gary

Mach71: The Corvette looks 'out of this world'. 

Sorry, couldn't help myself. Nevertheless; very impressive work there. As I said I can't get a smooth gloss coat to save my life. Neat set-up for the photos, I love the tiny 2001 moon shuttle and moonbus! 

Thanks Gary! A quote from Pancho is praise indeed!

Gamera, Your the 1st to comment on my little easter eggs! Thanks!

The finish is nice, but the camera hides a few imperfections. 

Just a quick update after the 4th of July weekend.  Naturally, I didn't get much done as I was away most of the time.  Enjoyed some nice BBQ though!  I have begun work on small support stands for the AMT boosters and will get those done this week.  Should be adequate.  I'm debating whether to not stain the base and just do one like the one for Vostok with a concrete pad look.  I think that might be the way to go.  Never cared for staining.  Too messy!

Sorry Mach!  I did notice the Moon Bus and the Airies 1B spacecraft, but failed to mention them in all the hub-bub.  Very nice little models.  What scale are they?

Got a lot to do this week and only 13 days left in the GB.  Better fire up the AuxGen if I want to get this last project done by the 20th!

Meanwhile, my sister informed me that there's a box of NASA stuff in her attic and wanted to know if I wanted it.  Apparently its some stuff I gave to my nephew years ago.  Yes, I do want to browse through it just for nostalgia's sake! 

Gary

Today In Space History:

1907 July 7 - .

• Birth of Robert A Heinlein - . Nation: USA. Related Persons: Heinlein. Leading American writer of technical science fiction, inspired many engineers that would later make space travel a reality. Major corporations, the military, and nuclear power were key aspects of the colonization of space in his stories..

1970 July 7 - . LV Family: Shuttle. Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle.

• Alternate Space Shuttle Concepts (ASSC) - . Nation: USA.

  NASA Huntsville, dissatisfied with the shuttle concepts being pursued by NASA Houston, let contracts to Chrysler and Lockheed for alternate technical approaches to the configuration dictated to Phase B contractors by NASA Houston. Later a further contract was let to a Grumman/Boeing team. In all, 29 configurations of partially reusable to fully-reusable vehicles were explored. The baseline engine for these studies had a thrust of 250,000 kgf and a two-position bell nozzle.

1972 July 7 - . LV Family: Shuttle. Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle.

• Shuttle orbiter contract - . Nation: USA.

  North American Rockwell received NASA contract NAS9-14000, valued at $2.6 billion, for development of the space shuttle orbiter. Included are two flight articles, the STA Structural Test Article, and the MPTA Main Propulsion Test Article. Later production of two additional orbiters will be added, bringing the final contract value to $ 5.815 billion by 1996.

Well, I airbrushed the astronaut over the Fourth of July and the weekend. Painting the details and putting wash into the seams now. I hope to be done in time.

Gamera>  Can't wait to see him... her... it...    Should be a good one!

Update:  Slow day today.  I did manage to find some things to use for the booster stands from leftover Vostok parts.  Should be nice once assembled and painted.  Need to start thinking about decals.

11 Days left in the GB.  Crew should stow any unnecessary gear in preparation for landing.

Gary

Today In Space History:

1954 July 9 - .

• X-15 project begun. - . Nation: USA. Program: X-15A. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. Spacecraft: X-15A.

  NACA met with USAF and Navy BuAer representatives to propose the X-15 as an extension of the cooperative rocket research aircraft program. The NACA proposal was accepted as a joint effort and a memorandum of understanding was signed on December 23 naming NACA as technical director of the project, with advice from a joint Research Airplane Committee.

1966 July 9 - .

• Struggle for space leadership - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Malinovskiy, Rudenko, Smirnov, Ustinov, Vershinin. Program: Soyuz, Voskhod. Flight: Soyuz 1, Soyuz 2A, Soyuz s/n 3/4, Voskhod 3, Voskhod 4, Voskhod 5, Voskhod 6. Spacecraft Bus: Vostok. Spacecraft: Voskhod.

  In the previous days Kamanin has been preparing Vershinin and Rudenko for the struggle to ensure the Ministry of Defence's interests in space are preserved and defended. Malinovskiy, Smirnov, and Ustinov must be convinced of the righteousness of the VVS position on space crew preparation and training. At the beginning of 1966, Kamanin thought 1966 would be the year Russia would leap ahead again in the space race. At that time four manned Voskhod and four manned Soyuz flights were expected. Now the year is half over, and it is clear that the only remaining Voskhod flight will not go ahead, and it will be luck if even two Soyuz missions are flown. Instead of a year of triumph, 1966 will see the USA pulling far ahead in the space race. This is the fault of the incredibly poor management of the Soviet space program by Ustinov, Smirnov, Keldysh, and Malinovskiy -- but even more fundamentally due to the inept management of OKB-1 and TsUKOS. The Voskhod program was delayed, then destroyed by OKB-1's insistence on inclusion of their poorly thought-out and developed experiment in artificial gravity. VVS was always opposed to this experiment, yet OKB-1 dragged the program out for years trying to perfect it. Flights of the Soyuz spacecraft could already have occurred in 1962-1963, had Korolev not ignored VVS recommendations and insisted on perfecting a fully automatic rendezvous and docking system. Development of this system delayed the Soyuz project a minimum of three years.

1966 July 9 - .

• M2 Flight 2 - . Crew: Thompson. Payload: M2-F2 flight 2. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Thompson. Program: NASA Lifting Body. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. Spacecraft: M2-F2. Maximum Speed - 634 kph. Maximum Altitude - 13720 m. Flight Time - 245sec..

1999 July 9 - .

• Astronaut Charles Peter (Pete) Conrad Jr dies at age of 69 -- Motorcycle crash. - . Nation: USA. Related Persons: Conrad.

  American test pilot astronaut 1962-1974. Third person on the moon. Only astronaut to fly Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab. Commander of first successful space station mission. 4 spaceflights, 49.2 days in space. Flew to orbit on Gemini 5 (1965), Gemini 11, Apollo 12, Skylab 2.

More "Man On the Moon" bubblegum cards.  These relate to Apollo 10.

These bubblegum cards really bring back memories. Those were some good times for me; comics, cool movies, models, and the awesome space program.

Glad to hear you guys are making progress, I am as well. However, I give my project a 50/50 chance to see the light of day. Why you say? Well, the gremlins are at it again and disaster struck.

Last night I accidently bumped the X1s tail section whilst pulling it off a shelf. It just barely touched the shelf, and man, I was astounded at the carnage. I can only laugh about it because it seems to defy any rational explanation. The undercarriage was completely broken up and the wheels dislodged from the base. The only part of the X1 still connected was the front wheel assembly. What was astounding is that the mounting pins on the rear wheels had sheared off just above the desert floor. As I write this, I still can't understand it; I swear it had barely bumped it. So much so, I was sure the damage was minimal. Apparently, it was more than that. Maybe it was the mass of the base that caused all the inertia. Even in the weightlessness of space, objects have mass. 

Well-fighting the urge to fling the dio against the wall, I set out to repair it. There was no fixing this with the one wheel attached; I needed the plane removed for surgery. The problem was that I used hot glue to secure the post from below. After some trial and error, I quickly figured out that I could reactivate the glue by heating it with a flame. It became so liquid that I could wipe it off. At that point, I pulled up on the X1 and watched the anchoring pin slide out from the base. Phew, the X1 is free for surgery.

Frankly--I don't know how I got through this without making things worse. Somehow--I managed to reassemble and remount the X1, and I did so to my liking. It is not as sound as it was before but ... I can live with it.

Superglue to the rescue

I could not use pins on the rear wheels because I would not attempt drilling the old ones out. The cheap drills I have would never cut the metal, and it would end in disaster. Rather than pins, the rear wheels are glued to the base and the front wheel is anchored via the extracted anchor.

I am still working on the hose. Mounting that, along with feeding the wiring through the base, soldering, and all that comes with it, it will be a very precarious process. If I have another accidental bump, it may be all she wrote. Hence, my 50/50 odds, and that would be a real shame if it goes sideways because I really like how this dio is turning out. The gremlins don't.

Anywho--I thought I'd share the latest, and no condolences please. It was a disaster, but one I have recovered from. As I work through this, an old Saturday Night Live skit comes to mind where Dan Aykroyd playing as Nixon says to Kissinger, Pray for me Henry. It's a hoot. SO--pray for me guys, pray for me.

THE END

I hate it when you put that much work and expense into a project and have something happen to it before or after you're finished. Good recovery and I'll bet nobody will be able to tell.

modelcrazy

I hate it when you put that much work and expense into a project and have something happen to it before or after you're finished.  

As it is right now it still looks pretty good, thank goodness. Now, I just need to be extra extra extra careful. This sort of happened because I had to keep the project away from  SammieCat. By doing that, it put the project in a tight place he can't get into. But--it is still on me. I should have found a less dangerous place, though I did try. I have since found a bin that it fits into perfectly, and lesson learned.

Fingers crossed!

Thanks Steve!

Wow, Very sorry to hear about that, but glad you were able to fix it.

mach71

Wow, Very sorry to hear about that, but glad you were able to fix it.

 

 

 

I have been working on the hose for the last week to week and a half. This has proven to be a little troublesome.

The main issue I had was that paint didn't stick too well. If I did any sort of flexing on it, even minor--it would flake off. The result was a do-over. The second time around I used Alclad. I found that Alclad stuck the best, but I still had to be careful with bending.

So, I made sure to do all the extreme bends prior to paint, and this time around, I used the heat from a candle to soften the plastic, thus allowing me to bend the straw farther than it wanted to go otherwise. Once Alclad was applied, I added a layer of clear acrylic to seal it. The Alclad I had on hand was gun metal, and I didn't really care for the color so, I applied another layer of Tamiya Rubber Black.

Below is the upper section that will reach into the wheel well. I tapered one side so that it reaches further into the wheel compartment. Otherwise, the hose would only go so far, leaving the wires exposed. On the other end I made coupler out of Evergreen tube stock. This will help align the two sections when mated, and it will give both sections something to grab onto. You can't see the coupler very well in the image.

I used sewing thread in the recesses of the "hose" to simulate the same pattern as shown in the movie. I wrapped a thread around each recess and superglued it in place on the bottom side, where it "shouldn't" be readily visible. I still have the longer section to wrap, but it should only take me another 1 to 2 nights. When that is done, I will spray them with Dullcote, and I may even drybrush some desert sand color. Afterall, the hose is dragged around on the desert floor. We shall see about that.

I hope to have the two sections ready for the weekend where when I can feed the wires through, glue the hoses in place, and begin making all the solder connections. 

 With luck, I will have this diorama done before the 20th, just barely. 

Bakster> "Houston, we've had a problem!"

Okay, everyone into the LM and we'll use it as a lifeboat until... oh, wait...

Glad everything seems to have been corrected.  Seems like there's always something going south when doing complex work.  I remember my Escape Tower for the Apollo model and having to rebuild the supports.

The duct looks pretty good, though I think I would have gotten it all assembled before installation and painted it then.  But you're on the scene, so you're the best judge of how to do it.  All I can say is carry on!

No update tonight as I didn't get anything done today.  I'm busy on other real life things at the moment, so I may not get anything really done until this weekend.  I've been recording a lot of space specials on PBS and the National Geographic Channel to watch.  Lot of good stuff on this week.

Will report if anything changes.  10 Days till splashdown.

Gary

Today In Space History:

1965 April 10 - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC1. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Molniya 8K78. FAILURE: Stage 3's engine 8D715K failed due to depressurization of the nitrogen pipeline of the LOX tank pressurization system of Block I.. Failed Stage: U.

• Luna failure - stage 3 engine failure. - . Payload: E-6 s/n 8. Mass: 1,422 kg (3,134 lb). Nation: Russia. Agency: RVSN. Program: Luna. Class: Moon. Type: Lunar probe. Spacecraft: Luna E-6. Decay Date: 1965-04-10 . The upper stages fell apart on re-entry into the atmosphere...

1966 April 10 - . LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K.

• Cosmonaut training for lunar flights announced - . Nation: Russia. Related Persons: Leonov. Program: Lunar L1. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spacecraft. Spacecraft Bus: Soyuz. Spacecraft: Soyuz 7K-L1. Leonov announces that cosmonauts are in training for lunar missions..

1979 April 10 - . LV Family: Shuttle. Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle.

• Shuttle Enterprise delivered to Kennedy Space Centre - . Nation: USA.

  The decision was taken not to convert the Enterprise to a flight orbiter due to the numerous structural design changes made since its construction. Static test article OV-099 would be used for that instead. So Enterprise became a pathfinder vehicle at Cape Canaveral to verify fit and handling of ground facilities in the Vertical Assembly Building and LC39.

Bakster: OUCH!!! So sorry to hear that. I too hate to go back and fix stuff that I've just built. So good to hear that you've been able to get on top of the problem though. And the hose looks really good. 

Don't know if I've told this before but one of the members of our club had a fleet of beautiful ship models that he'd spent ages building, PE, all the details, no expense or time spared. He had them all on shelves mounted to the wall to keep them out of the way. 

Well, anyway one day while he's at work his wife decides to hang a picture in the next room. On the wall opposite where he's got all his ships on shelves. She hits it once, twice, a few more times and then CRASH!!! Running in the next room she sees all the ship models lying on the floor smashed to  and gone. So he comes home from work and gets a big, big surprise. Thankfully he said he was able to fix most of the damage... 

Gamera>  That must have been one long nail! 

Gary