Shuttle Endeavour & ET & SRB's last build report

Well, after the single photo of yesterday, here a more in-depth story on the last leg of the build. First a photo to better estimate the size of the model, the rest of the story is after the jump.

With one booster finished, it was time for the second one. Since I wasn't  building them simultaneously, I had to carefully look at the finished one to get it similar. But some features on the SRB's are mirrored on the other one, other stuff is the same. The cable run, for example is not mirrored. The struts that connect the boosters to the External Tank are mirrored, though. Anyway, this is how it went.

The SRB's are printed on semigloss A3 photo paper. Then they are cut on the white horizontal lines, which are the actual segment dividers. The separate segments are rolled, glued with an inner glue strip and joined. They share a sturdy card reinforcement inner wall with cut-out circles. The lower ones have 5mm holes in them to support a knitting needle to keep the stack up straight without the risk of it falling over.

An eleven-point star shaped opening for the exhaust chamber.

The protective skirt in which the SRB nozzle can gimbal is made from a cream coloured type of paper.

A tedious little job but with a satisfying result.

Quod erat demonstrandum right here! Credits to Bill Spencer for the design of this piece.

tripled, no, quadrupled yellow card strips, sanded to roughen the texture a bit, being bent when still wet from glue.

They go around the lowest segment, representing the insulation foam.

While working on the SRB's it suddenly dawned on me the model of the shuttle I made wasn't up to the period of the stack. A quick bit of research showed I was right. Since the shuttle was based on the old Mars Centre shuttle, it lacked the later in time modified tail with the brake parachute canister. So I carefully ripped off the tail of the shuttle, which luckily went all right and made a new tail using drawings and photos to represent the later appearance of the shuttle tail. This was all scratch building.

So, let's join the stack now. The struts of the SRB's were hard to research but I found some good shots in the end. The upper attachment wasn't easy too and in the end I decided to just use the found pictures as a guide and create a simplified version, since not all of it is clear to see. I already decided long ago that this one would be just for me, The stack isn't meant to go to the Dutch museum of spaceflight. (they didn't ask for it anyway but in the case they would, I would say no.) Because I just want to enjoy it myself. 

These struts and mechanisms also all were scratch built. Apparently that was how it had to be because this work was really clearing my mind and the end results were nice.

The paper parts of the struts were all made from rolled 80 gpm2 paper. Inside is a piece of brass.

I was very pleased when the stack finally stood upright on its own 'feet'.

With that done, Endeavour was finally glued to the stack. I also never was my intention to make this a model which could demonstrate the separation of the parts so everything is just glued together. Knowing this one would be a single piece, gave me some peace of mind in this build. I remember the whirling thoughts in my head when I was building the Ariane 5 and wanted it to have separate parts from the beginning. Still, that is my most detailed and best constructed model ever. Glad it's in a museum. Now. Let's get Endeavour glued to her stack. Front end a dab of CA. Rear end some serious drops of PVA glue, having dried a little to increase the stickiness.

I actually am really chuffed with how it all came out. Reason enough to keep it for myself, I guess. The detail and scatchbuilding in it is nice, the different types of paper, the look of the 'photorealistic' skin of the shuttle, this one, in spite of the little imperfections, will be one of my favourites for a long time to come.

 

And that was that. Just over two years after starting it, the stack is finished. But the presentation isn't. I really want this one in a perspex case to be placed in my bookcase one day. But it needs a large casing. 35 x 35 cm for the base and 65 cm high. That's quite the proportions. And I also need a solid pedestal for the stack as well. That all will come after the crazy times we're in now, the model isn't that hard to clean and it has a nice temporary place in the model bookcase.

Now what is next?

I have a couple of builds in mind I want to do. An X-15 in a large scale, (Ken L. West's model) but I also want to make it in 1/72 to fit in with the large group of planes I already built. I have some diorama ideas, I also want to make another two 1/400 shuttles (if I still can manage that size) to complete the series of shuttles in that scale, Discovery and Challenger. And there are countless inbetweenies waiting of but I do not know yet which ones. There are some other non aerospace things I'd like to build but I guess it first is time to clear up the workspace for the coming projects.

Thanks a lot for reading and stay safe and healthy.

--PK