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

Hell yeah, Mikey! Sounds like there might be a shuttle GB in the makings soon lol.

I have my P-40 in there so you can compare sizes. That's what I've got to work with.  :)

M. Brindos

1/288 Academy with booster rockets. Its a tiny one! But it will need some scribing, rescribing, and some minor modifications before I'll be happy with it.  :)

It even has the parts to piggy back a 747.

 

I've got the Revell 1/72 shuttle kit and 3 1/144 scale Revell Shuttle stack kits myself.

1/288 Academy with booster rockets. Its a tiny one! But it will need some scribing, rescribing, and some minor modifications before I'll be happy with it.  :)

It even has the parts to piggy back a 747.

Allright! Details? Plan?

Max

Max... 

I found me a shuttle kit.

Hey thanks Steve. I did get the engine cluster mocked up last night. The white tiles circling each main engine looked a bit stark so I did a minor wash as they might look in such a hot area. Everything has been sprayed flat lacquer except the nozzles. I think they look more metallic that way. Still undecided. 

I'm having some additional thoughts about the Krylon Fusion white paint on the fuselage and wing. It covers and bonds but with more than one coat it does remain tacky for a few days. I've got time to wait it out but I thought I'd better warn others who might want to move along faster.

Minor report here, no launch date set. 

Max

Hey Max, the little man has an eye for detail.

Your build is looking cool. That is also a cool picture of the landing gear assembly.

Keep at it.

Bakster

Hey Max, that is much better. Thank you for that.

The little man supervises so dang well. Just look at him. He is pointing out that you missed a spot!

If you know whats good for you, you had better get on that. This little man is all business. 

Lol...

Hey, He's the one going on the ride! He's checking out the gear now. Kinda plain gear but not much will show setting on the runway. Lotsa SB possibilities here again! Yikes!

Max

 

Hey Max, that is much better. Thank you for that.

The little man supervises so dang well. Just look at him. He is pointing out that you missed a spot!

If you know whats good for you, you had better get on that. This little man is all business. 

Lol...

Wow, your build is really coming along.  The little astronaut guy looks busy.

Pat

Bakster

Max, the scale of that model always make me chuckle. It certainly makes a person change their work flow doesn't it.

Where is the little man? He should be in the image supervising this. I suppose it's not a good idea, you might get some paint on him. Then you would have an angry little man, and that is never a good thing.

 

Just for you Steve, LOL. I think the little man avoids paint booths, a guy could lose a glove or boot in that sticky stuff. It's not like I didn't think about it.

Max

Max, the scale of that model always make me chuckle. It certainly makes a person change their work flow doesn't it.

Where is the little man? He should be in the image supervising this. I suppose it's not a good idea, you might get some paint on him. Then you would have an angry little man, and that is never a good thing.

Some serious painting is going on in the assembly hanger. Way too big of a job for the airbrush. It's time for the spray can on this large of area.

All went well! This is almost like painting 1/1 motorcycle parts, LOL! 

Max

Bakster

Hey Max... it's looking good. Nice work.

Yeah the little man does look happier. At least now he won't be crushed by the engine nozzle or swept off the wing!

 

Hey thanks for the comments Steve! I get more done with encouragement, LOL!

I like the shot of the little guy in the wing assembly. He appears to be in some sort of court as in racquetball or tennis or perhaps some modern building of the future. I do have a strange imagination my wife says, LOL!

Onward,

Max

Hey Max... it's looking good. Nice work.

Yeah the little man does look happier. At least now he won't be crushed by the engine nozzle or swept off the wing!

Ah, It's starting to look like a Space Shuttle. The wing parts went together smoothly and the fuselage and wing assembly fit together nicely without modification. I think I'll now do most of the final painting before the final assembly of the two major components. Also  the little guy seemed happy to be in the cockpit. 

The tail halves still need to be glued together but not until the movable rudder is installed. This is all waiting on final paint in that area. One of the minor challenges of the kit is figuring out the painting sequence. Also areas to be painted are poorly shown in the instructions. I've spent quite a lot of time on the internet studying all the configurations and markings. All part of the fun of course!

Max

Being a W.I.P. I didn't want to leave out any major steps. Not too exciting but I did get the wing tops secured to the lower wing/bottom of the craft. After this I'll fit this assembly to the fuselage. I looks to be a good time to paint the wing assembly before glue. Yet another report. 

Max

Well, the house painting is on hold due to rain. I kinda needed a break from all that manual labor on ladders anyway, Boo. This morning I worked on a few sub assemblies and splashed and sprayed several pieces with paint for the little guy to inspect. Minor report to keep things moving.

Max

LOL they would probably be what you need to make this project pop with detail anyways.

Hodakamax

Whoa! I just checked out the decals. Thanks for the info Mike! Probably beyond the scope of this particular $15 build. Like I said, where do you stop on this thing, LOL! Perhaps the serial numbers on each of the thousands of tile, LOL! And Thanks for thinking of me and the project! 

Max

 

Whoa! I just checked out the decals. Thanks for the info Mike! Probably beyond the scope of this particular $15 build. Like I said, where do you stop on this thing, LOL! Perhaps the serial numbers on each of the thousands of tile, LOL! And Thanks for thinking of me and the project! 

Max

Hodamax here are some 1/72 scale decals on Ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALL-NEW-Warbird-Space-Shuttle-Tile-Details-Decals-Monogram-Kit-in-1-72-034-/162511144192?hash=item25d66b4500:g:o5EAAOSwI3RW-rrd

Hodakamax

Hey, thanks for the comments Gang! Here's another shot showing how complicated this machine is. Thousands of tile, each with its own number and position. Wow.

Max

 

Hey, thanks for the comments Gang! Here's another shot showing how complicated this machine is. Thousands of tile, each with its own number and position. Wow.

Max

Max - Put that little guy to work doing edging and trim work.  I bet he's good at it.

Nice job by the way.  

Chris

That looks much better, Max. ...and for the record I wasn't making fun lol. That's just the first thing that came to my mind lol.

I love that astronaut.  :)

Hi,

That turned out great.  Fortunately it looks like the part didn't get damaged too much.   The astonaut does help really put the size into perspective.

Pat

OK, I think you guys are making fun of me for the last big mistake on paint, LOL. Actually I've been missing the last few days getting some real acrylic paint experience on the end of a six inch brush as I'm redoing part of the house exterior. Not near as fun as airbrushing but I have moved some gallons of paint lately.

Back to the shuttle and undoing the minor disaster. All is well and covered acrylic flat black. I also painted up the little guy to add some scale to all of this and oversee this build from a small view as he does actually have to ride this thing when finished. The instructions show the little guy doing a space walk in the cargo bay but this suit is for launch and re-entry. Maybe he will be standing in the cockpit.

Quick report here, looks like one more day of 1/1 house painting tomorrow unless it rains.

Max

Real Space,  here he comes.

"D'oh!"

Yikes,

Hope everything turns out OK.

Pat

Here's some paint info to put in your "Don't do book". I've gotten lazy on getting out the airbrush on this project because everything is large. The Krylon Fusion white really worked good for this project. I then tested Krylon Metallics and sucessfully painted four large panels a nice silver. It's time to install the engine mount which will be flat black and I grabbed a can of gloss black Krylon Dual Superbond which on the label lists plastic. I did a test on a sprue and all seemed well. I masked off the engine mount areas which are to be white and began to spray the gloss black. After about a minute crazing started to form as the paint was reacting to the plastic. I grabbed a hair dryer to quickly cook off the volatiles and stop the process. Now that I've learned that lesson I thought I should pass it on. All saveable but scary!

My report for the day,

Max