03-07-2013, 08:27 AM
Richard and I held another marathon building session last week. The bottom of the ship is now complete. We installed the coffin and pyramid assemblies that Richard had so elegantly built earlier. We then trimmed out the exposed armature pipes. That turned out to be quite a job!
The armature on this replica is made from rugged IPS pipe. It's a bit smaller in diameter than the muffler pipe used on the original. The typical solution is to wrap the exposed pipe in styrene sheet to make up the difference. Because the plastic needs to be rather thin to wrap onto the pipe, this can require many layers to get the proper thickness. I've also learned from experience that thin styrene tends to wrinkle when glued. Thus, keeping everything nice and neat could be a challenge.
This time, we chose a different approach. We crafted "sleeves" out of stainless steel tube that is nearly exactly the same size as what was used on the original studio miniature. This way, all the visible pipes have the correct diameter. Later, when all the parts get glued on, everything will be spaced correctly.
On the original studio model, they wrapped the lower longitudinal (i.e. length-wise) pipe in styrene while the bay cross arms simply had parts stuck on them. This replica also features exposed metal bay cross arms. And, just like the original, we wrapped the lower main pipe in styrene the exact same way it was done at Apogee in 1977/78.
Thanks to the sleeve, the pipe had the correct diameter. Thus, we had to apply only one thin layer of plastic. This was accomplished using epoxy. Since the sleeve could be removed, we were able to apply the plastic wrap with everything off the model. To keep from having any wrinkles or other surface blemishes, we hid the seam where it would not be visible. The result was a very clean finish.
We also made more progress on the engine section. The side boxes were built and the rear "thruster module" was fully assembled. All the cast resin "thruster vaults" were cleaned up, fitted, and installed. They are simply tacked together for now. In order to detail them, it will be necessary to split them apart again. Then, once they are fully detailed, they can be glued together permanently.
Richard also completed work on all six of the arms. These are built as shells that fit over an internal acrylic structure. The bottoms of each one are simply taped in place at the moment so the entire arm can be removed for detailing.
Right now, the entire ship is assembled upside down on the work bench. Next, we will start work on the landing bay interiors and we will also continue working on the engine section until it's done.
I chose not to install the landing bay bottom panels yet for a couple reasons. First, the rear end caps are rather complicated and I want to make sure we have full internal access to get those installed. Also, I decided to make a revision to the internal bay structure. That's because the client will be using circuit boards for the rear bay end caps supplied by Custom Replicas. These have surface-mount LEDs and a number of resistors that are likely to generate some heat.
To make sure the model stays cool, I was able to figure out a way to mount a small computer case fan inside each bay to blow air across the boards. The most important thing is access for future service and repair. Due to the number of components crammed in there, this was quite tricky to engineer. I got it all figured out, however, and the needed parts were laser-cut. I also ordered the fans themselves (quiet models with a stated noise output of only 12 dB each) along with some anti-vibration mounts like the ones we're using for the engine fans. These will keep the bay fans from sending vibrations into the structure over time. All those items should be here sometime this week.
Bottom line: Progress continues, but there is plenty more to accomplish. As always, no matter how much work you put into a project like this, there's always still more left to do. Even so, we are very excited to see it so close to being completed.
More soon. . .
The armature on this replica is made from rugged IPS pipe. It's a bit smaller in diameter than the muffler pipe used on the original. The typical solution is to wrap the exposed pipe in styrene sheet to make up the difference. Because the plastic needs to be rather thin to wrap onto the pipe, this can require many layers to get the proper thickness. I've also learned from experience that thin styrene tends to wrinkle when glued. Thus, keeping everything nice and neat could be a challenge.
This time, we chose a different approach. We crafted "sleeves" out of stainless steel tube that is nearly exactly the same size as what was used on the original studio miniature. This way, all the visible pipes have the correct diameter. Later, when all the parts get glued on, everything will be spaced correctly.
On the original studio model, they wrapped the lower longitudinal (i.e. length-wise) pipe in styrene while the bay cross arms simply had parts stuck on them. This replica also features exposed metal bay cross arms. And, just like the original, we wrapped the lower main pipe in styrene the exact same way it was done at Apogee in 1977/78.
Thanks to the sleeve, the pipe had the correct diameter. Thus, we had to apply only one thin layer of plastic. This was accomplished using epoxy. Since the sleeve could be removed, we were able to apply the plastic wrap with everything off the model. To keep from having any wrinkles or other surface blemishes, we hid the seam where it would not be visible. The result was a very clean finish.
We also made more progress on the engine section. The side boxes were built and the rear "thruster module" was fully assembled. All the cast resin "thruster vaults" were cleaned up, fitted, and installed. They are simply tacked together for now. In order to detail them, it will be necessary to split them apart again. Then, once they are fully detailed, they can be glued together permanently.
Richard also completed work on all six of the arms. These are built as shells that fit over an internal acrylic structure. The bottoms of each one are simply taped in place at the moment so the entire arm can be removed for detailing.
Right now, the entire ship is assembled upside down on the work bench. Next, we will start work on the landing bay interiors and we will also continue working on the engine section until it's done.
I chose not to install the landing bay bottom panels yet for a couple reasons. First, the rear end caps are rather complicated and I want to make sure we have full internal access to get those installed. Also, I decided to make a revision to the internal bay structure. That's because the client will be using circuit boards for the rear bay end caps supplied by Custom Replicas. These have surface-mount LEDs and a number of resistors that are likely to generate some heat.
To make sure the model stays cool, I was able to figure out a way to mount a small computer case fan inside each bay to blow air across the boards. The most important thing is access for future service and repair. Due to the number of components crammed in there, this was quite tricky to engineer. I got it all figured out, however, and the needed parts were laser-cut. I also ordered the fans themselves (quiet models with a stated noise output of only 12 dB each) along with some anti-vibration mounts like the ones we're using for the engine fans. These will keep the bay fans from sending vibrations into the structure over time. All those items should be here sometime this week.
Bottom line: Progress continues, but there is plenty more to accomplish. As always, no matter how much work you put into a project like this, there's always still more left to do. Even so, we are very excited to see it so close to being completed.
More soon. . .
Charles Adams | www.StarshipBuilder.com | Follow me on Facebook
Author, MODEL DESIGN & BLUEPRINTING HANDBOOK, Volume 1 SECOND EDITION NOW AVAILABLE
Author, MODEL DESIGN & BLUEPRINTING HANDBOOK, Volume 1 SECOND EDITION NOW AVAILABLE