1/72 Revell Space Shuttle Orbiter W.I.P. Done! w/Photos

Ah, a major milestone has been reached; movable rudder! A bit of retouching where I scraped the black paint away from the glue joint and all will be well. It also looks as though the inspection is going smoothly. 

Max

It looks so cool, Max! Yeah, what is the rush? Lol

Hey, thanks Steve and Mike! I guess there is no hurry. This really is a fun one!  

Wow! Nothing like a major unmasking to get you re-enthused! This Tamiya tape is amazing. Just another thing I learned on the forum from the Gang. Masking and decal problems had me discouraged on model building and thanks to everyone I'm somewhat back on the path again. Thanks to all for your guidance in such matters!

There's still some minor retouching to do but I'm really happy with the paint results. 

Max

PS--hey, check that movable rudder!

Here's another application where the hot glue really worked good. The fit was good on the engine mount if you squeezed all the parts together. I would have applied glue to all of this and clamped or taped it together and waited a couple of hours to make sure it was sound. In this case I just tacked on one inside corner and held it two minutes. I then tacked the other lower side. The top needed to squeeze in and I held and tacked that. All of this will be covered. Two minutes later I tacked the top from the inside and was done. That tip is mighty hot and in close quarters you can transfer a glob with a sprue or stick to the area as needed.

Max

Hot glue??!

Is that just to hold things in place while the LC cures?

M. Brindos

Hot glue??!

Is that just to hold things in place while the LC cures?

 

Nope, its the final, no waiting in this hidden area. Strong and spaceworthy. Hot glue saved me on the recent A-37 when installing the resin cockpit. It was just floating around in the fuselage half with no place to glue it or any glue that would stick to it. I used temporary shims and tacked it in place with hot glue. Not only does set in two minutes it filled the voids for a solid mount. It cuts with an Xacto knife for removal if needed. Earlier in this post I used it to join the lower fuselage where I clamped and glued a troublesome seam. It all looks crude as there's no precision way to apply it but it sometimes saves the day to make parts behave.

Max

I noticed that early Challenger return pictures show scorch damage on the two rear fairings. On later flights shuttles were fitted with the higher temp resistant black tiles in that area. I needed some! I tried masking the area but had trouble conturing the tape to the curve. It looked bad and repainted the fairings white. In the striping tape drawer I found just what I needed. Not totally accurate but meets the standards of the tile that's there. A dull sealing spray and I think it will represent the later modifications. I asked the little guy if this was accurate but he said he couldn't remember.

Max

Lots of progress yesterday, not on the house, but on the shuttle. Procrastination can be a good thing if there are models to work on rather than ladders and paint. This window framing has been on my mind but the areas around them need to be final finish. For that to happen the hatch and forward decals needed to be done. The hatch area was just white with a depression for the window. There was a black tile decal to surround the white door which worked well but not before cutting out the door area which was clear. The door itself needed to be trimmed in black. The window trim problem was solved with black wire insulation cut into a tiny donut. Actually I made dozens of donuts as they were hard to get them the right thickness and be flat. I had just been in the black tile production for the rear fairings so I cut out another batch for the door trim. So much for the OOB build!

So, hatch done, forward decals on, flat lacquer spray, inspection by the inspector. Now I think I'm ready to attack the window problem.

Max

Here's a better shot of the hatch. Not pefect but putting things in perspective the hatch is only 3/4" tall and the little guy is 1''. The fake tiles are 1/8". At least at viewing distances the door is quite acceptable at least to me, lol.

I did find a ladder in the spares box for the little guy. That will save me time placing him here and there for inspections.  

Max

Max, this is looking excellent. Nice work.

Ah, thanks Steve!--Here's what I'm up against now. By far the worst part of the kit. Luckily I've been sawing and installing black tiles the last couple of days so I do have a few hours experience at this! LOL! My this stuff is getting small for old hands and eyes! We duz the best we can I always say. Again, Onward!

Max

Hmm, Accurate Model Parts has an aftermarket kit for the 1/72 windows. I've not found any yet. Listings so far are out of stock. Researching.

Max

I did get momentarily excited seeing a quick solution with a window kit but they all seem to be gone or at least in a place I can't get. I guess modeling is not about quick solutions but problem solving. Make do is the phrase. Let's see if I can come up with something acceptable. Hey, I still only have $15 in this thing which I've made part of the challenge. Maybe that's why I used the Challenger name from the decal sheet. lol.

Well, I'm just philosophising this morning as today in reality is house painting. You know, large volume brushed acrylic, not my favorite thing to do but satisfying when done. One should take pride in your work. Parts of the house project are looking good! A man, or lady, needs more than one project I always say.

All this writing is turning into procrastination as we speak and I'm off to paint!

Reporting,  

Max

well you cauld always pop the windows out Max. Then when they are out you can try to use the kit windows by trying to copy the results of the AMP product onto the styrene windows. But I would suggest doing the outer part of the windows after the glass is put back in and the gaps closed with clear glue.

Hodakamax

Ah, thanks Steve!--Here's what I'm up against now. By far the worst part of the kit. Luckily I've been sawing and installing black tiles the last couple of days so I do have a few hours experience at this! LOL! My this stuff is getting small for old hands and eyes! We duz the best we can I always say. Again, Onward!

Max

 

Hey, bear with me here. I'm just trying things to see what might work. This looks promising with a little refinement. It only has to match the quality of the detail on the rest of the kit. Just experimenting at this point. It's a start and already an order of magnitude better than I started with. I'm somewhat encouraged!

Max

Hey Mike, I think this is going to work. Still some fine tuning to do but I'm getting there. Not perfect, but visually acceptable at least compared to the kit as a whole. The tape was too wide so I split it and now seems about right. I filled all the tape joints with paint and sealed  the edges with some brush on matte acrylic. The little guy is checking it as we speak.

Max

Heres a different view.

Oh, I think that trick is looking amazing, Max. But I think that ladder is a safety hazard. Is that thing OSHA compliant?

Lol! Looking fabulous, Max!

M. Brindos

Oh, I think that trick is looking amazing, Max. But I think that ladder is a safety hazard. Is that thing OSHA compliant?

Lol! Looking fabulous, Max!

 

Hey, Thanks Mike! The ladder is definately not OSHA compliant, lol. It took about 20 tries to get him balanced on the ladder which means I dropped him 19 times, several times clear to the floor below. The little guy was not happy! Persistence I say!

Max

I think I've reached the point of installing the wing. With it's large overall size it's easier to work on the two main pieces separately. I've been experimenting and planning how to pull this off. The ends of the wings need to be stressed upwards to close the really long gaps between the  fuselage and the wing. After trying all the clamps which was turning into a modeler's nightmare, I finally put foam blocks under each wingtip and placed my monster lead weight block across the cargo bay as shown which weighs in at 3 3/4#. Wow, it appeard that every seam closed tightly. Amazing! No glue yet but now this should go together smoothly. Another worry hopefully dispelled! 

Max

Nice work on the Windows Max. That is pretty sad at how poor a fit they gave you for this model. How can manufacturers release stuff like this. It irritates me. Again, that is a really nice solution to the problem.

Max,

Great work and a very entertaining read. Some nice creative problem solving. She's looking really nice.  

Good luck with the house painting.  I did that for a summer job in high school and through college.  Alot of work - but satisfying in the end to look at a house and say "I did that !"

Chris

Bakster

Nice work on the Windows Max. That is pretty sad at how poor a fit they gave you for this model. How can manufacturers release stuff like this. It irritates me. Again, that is a really nice solution to the problem.

 

Thanks Steve! There are some clever designs in the old kit but the windows are certainly lacking. The date on the mold is 1979 and the first flight of a space shuttle was April 12, 1981. Maybe there just wasn't enough information at the time which could account for all the inaccuracies in the model design. Even the window shape is wrong. It appears they just gave up on the windows before release. Who knows? Anyway it's not too bad a representation and has been a fun one despite areas of challenge.

Fortunatley, it's one of the most photographed and documented craft ever built. A big part of the fun of this project is being able to find almost unlimited pictures and information to compare with the kit. I'm beginning to become a wealth of useless information, as my wife says, about Space Shuttles, lol. All part of modelling I tell her.

One thing leads to another on this kit and the OOB concept quickly fades away on this project. Again, where do you stop on one of the most complicated things built by man? lol. All fun and educational.  

Max

Bossman

Max,

Great work and a very entertaining read. Some nice creative problem solving. She's looking really nice.  

Good luck with the house painting.  I did that for a summer job in high school and through college.  Alot of work - but satisfying in the end to look at a house and say "I did that !"

Chris

 

Hey thanks Chris! BTW I giggle at your avatar everytime, lol. The model is going well as is the house project. Some of the siding materials of 25 years ago are failing and it was just a needed update on the structure. At 74 I've retired from really tall ladders but I'm still plenty lively and did hire some experts to do the scary parts. I pre-painted the materials on the ground as they worked and I can do the lower parts at my meager pace. There is satisfaction in doing things yourself and the project is looking good.

As always, thanks for your and everyone's comments!

Max

Hi Max,

Glad you got a kick out of the avatar.   Here's the origin in case you're wondering . . .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junior_Birdmen

When singing the Jr. Birdmen anthem - kids would do the hand-goggles thing.  This was in my Dad's era or slightly before. 

And yep.  I feel the same about ladders.  Used to lug around and run up and down a wooden 40 footer like it was nothin.  Those days are gone !

Chris

Check out pictures of the Enterprise as the model is based on the enterprise's configuration being the only Shuttle to not go into space.

Hodakamax

 

 

Bakster

Nice work on the Windows Max. That is pretty sad at how poor a fit they gave you for this model. How can manufacturers release stuff like this. It irritates me. Again, that is a really nice solution to the problem.

 

 

 

 

Thanks Steve! There are some clever designs in the old kit but the windows are certainly lacking. The date on the mold is 1979 and the first flight of a space shuttle was April 12, 1981. Maybe there just wasn't enough information at the time which could account for all the inaccuracies in the model design. Even the window shape is wrong. It appears they just gave up on the windows before release. Who knows? Anyway it's not too bad a representation and has been a fun one despite areas of challenge.

Fortunatley, it's one of the most photographed and documented craft ever built. A big part of the fun of this project is being able to find almost unlimited pictures and information to compare with the kit. I'm beginning to become a wealth of useless information, as my wife says, about Space Shuttles, lol. All part of modelling I tell her.

One thing leads to another on this kit and the OOB concept quickly fades away on this project. Again, where do you stop on one of the most complicated things built by man? lol. All fun and educational.  

Max

 

Hey Mikey, as you probably know, the Enterprise was the prototype but was not fitted with thrusters nor the thermal tile system. Most of the mistakes involve tile configuration which could change even between flights. The designers of the kit probably had drawings and advice but it was early in the game and they did fairly well on an ever changing system. Also the complexity of the real craft did have to be abbreviated in the model. 

First flight of the Enterprise was in February of 1977 and the model was dated 1979. The first STS-1 flight to space was April of 1981, two years after the model date. The designers probably had only conceptual designs of the tile system but actually did fairly well with what they had to work with. All speculation on my part but not a bad model for the information available at the time.

While discussing the tile, Here's an actual piece of it that my wife got as a gift from a friend who worked on the project. I did get to witness a demo of this material in action. A 3'' cube was heated with a torch and began to glow brightly. As soon as the glow moved to the center you could handle the cube with your bare hands. A cool experience so to speak! I can't get my wife to let me repeat the experiment on her treasured gift! lol.

Max

Nothing phenominal happening on the projects. More on the domestic project than the Shuttle. Maybe two boring reports will be better than no report. lol.

First the really boring report. I did finish up a major section on the house and I'm attacking another today. It's starting to get hot in the Kansas afternoons and I  try to work on things in the morning. Anyway that's my excuse. My wife did shoot this picture this morning to prove that I really do work at least part-time.

As for the boring report on the shuttle, I'm trying to get all these door hinge areas defined. I tried painting the teeny defined areas with the teeny brush and tried some with the tape trick. This all sounds easy and mundane but there's 26 two part hinges making for 52 places to define and they are approaching the limit of my vision and steadiness. This is as bad as house painting.

Ok, that's the report. Gotta keep things moving here.

Max

Max, I am glad to see that you are using a better ladder than the little man was.

It looks like you have a cool house, and nice job with your upkeep...

The Challenger is looking sweet! 

Nice work Max.  I like the color.  RAF Interior Green ?

. . .  And the Shuttle looks great too.

Chris