Ariane 5 1/96, pt. 18 - the EAPs [part 4]

Almost back where I left off.
The first EAP is finished again. It already has the engine back on and stands tall, awaiting its twin.

There hasn't been an engine glued to the stove pipe here on this photo but in the time between I took this photo and I wrote these lines I did attach the engine and the retro rockets on the skirt.

After the jump more pictures of the rebuild.

Now here is how it should have looked from the beginning. There's no seam on the inside facing side of the booster. Just the top has a seam left and most of it will be hidden from view by the attachment system that hooks the booster to the core stage.

No seams. Wonderful.

The rather grotesque looking seam now is on the outward facing part of the booster. Odd as is may seem, it is the better place because it can be completely covered with the cable run that goes all the way down from the nose cone.
 

But berfore the cable run is made, all the reinforcements and rings around the body had to be glued on. These all ended on the seam line too, of course. This way all seams will be camouflaged.

The thickest ring is where the struts will be that hook the EAP to the lower attachment points of the core stage. It was made from a couple of strips wound around the hull and an outer layer of photo paper. The transition ring was calculated with the online shroud calculator.

Oh such ugly seams. These were made to be hidden. I really wish more designers would make the effort and incorporate hidden seams into their beautiful models. Beneath this text you can see the rebuild of the thrust vector bottle that sits on the side of the EAP. It contains either a compressed fluid or a gas that drives two pistons on the engine bell. These pistons make the engine swivel and can steer the rocket while it is ascending.

Of course, the seam of the skirt the thrust vector bottle rests on is hidden underneath.

And there it is. A seemingly seamless booster.

Old and new next to each other. An unhidden seam and the same part of the booster without any seam at all. 

And here is the seam. Hidden from sight underneath the cable run. (the right one)

Another addition: the inner skirt. The outer (white) skirt has a small inner ring that hides the insides from view. I made it from aluminium coloured paper.

In the meantime, the engine bell of the first EAP has been added, just like the retro/s at the skirt. Parts for the other EAP have been cut out and rolled up to take their shape.
Tomorrow hopefully I will get the other EAP done - or at least a big part of it.

See you soon.

--PK