Model of the Week: Another 1/4 scale Merc..the journey begins

[Closet Astronaut]

No sweat....a little adjusting, a little photo checking and every thing came out. I didn't have the scope pushed down on the shaft yet or rocked back at the proper angle. But after all that every things good to go.

Moving on to the aft bulk head.

Thanks Scott for the pics, these will help the fine tuning befor gluing.

 

[Closet Astronaut]

a

 

[Closet Astronaut]

Ok gentlemen this should end any debate. After searching the net for a couple of hours and looking at hundreds of mercury earth view photos, this one and ONLY one photo of earth view through the mercury scope I found. I'm not wholy convinced it an actual photo but more of a training photo. It would seem you are both correct. With the type of lenses used the view would be a fish eye look, when flying level you would see the horizon in front. To see the rear horizon the craft would have to pitch nose down. This photo is actually of florida, although its really hard to tell.

 

[Closet Astronaut]

Aft bulk head comming together.

Excellent...guess whats on TV wile postig this, The Right Stuff

 

[DWest]

Great job! Everything looks awesome.

 

[Paper Kosmonaut]

easy there on the quotes "You absolutely cannot see the earth like that...". If you look through the familiarization manuals, you will see the periscope had a special lens on it that could show the entire horizon similar to what Closet shows. it would be a fish eye look but you could see it all.
Scott

In other words, Scott, you say the same as what I said. :mrgreen:
One was able to see the horizon and curvature of the earth but only with having a very distorted view of it all... A full view of the whole earth was impossible in any way.

Good work on the scope, Closet Astronaut. The Instrument panel and scope inside the hull look spot on. Almost too good to be true.
Scott has made it a really good design. Great to see it come alive.

 

[Mercsim]

I love discussion boards. I always get enlightened. Hopefully others do too...

I merely thought that "absolutely cannot..." was a bit harsh. The glass is either half-full or half-empty. I always prefer to see words of encouragement instead of discouragement.

Maybe something like "That photo is neat. Its a cool idea to put one there. Maybe you could find one that resembled the distorted view you would get so close to the earth?" Same message but a little softer.

Thank you for supporting Closet. He (and Paul) are doing great work. I get e-mails from other builders but I can't get them to post or share in the forums. Its good to see these guys and other readers (like PK) posting and participating.

It always gets my day stated with a smile


Scott

 

[Closet Astronaut]

Bulkhead progress

Don't worry there PK I've read your postings on other models and your cretiqueing is always spread out evenly,99.9% of the time I agree with you. I've seen models on here that are absolute works of art and others that I would be embarresed to post. When using written word there's no voice inflection, no facial expressions or body language so things could be taken the wrong way. But have no fear I have thick skin and I know your trying to help. I appreciate your opinions.

Yes Scott has done an outstanding job on this design. EVERY THING fits, EVERY THING goes together perfectly. Many mods I have built have been a royal pain in the behind, poor design, parts don't fit right, parts too big or too small ect



Do you think we could get Scott to make just one more piece, it would take a good designer to make, it's something that would be tough to make from scratch, somehting that would really make or break this model if done badly......? The seat.

.

 

[PaperAir]

Nice job. Are you going to make the heat shield removable. There is a lot of detail between the heat shield and the aft bulkhead.

 

[Closet Astronaut]

Actually I'm going to have to make the BH and heat shield removable, I will be detailing the inside and don't have anywhere to store these large parts so I will be assembling and (desembling) it often. I plan to start the detailing next in the recovery section once thats done then I'll glue in the front BH then work my way back.

And yes there is ALOT of stuff between the aft bh and heat shield. I found some great photos the other day of this.

 

[PaperAir]

YA! See the dimples I read they are only on one side.I might be wrong.

 

[Mercsim]

The dimples were only on one side so to speak...It was actually two sheets welded together. The outer side was a dimpled sheet and the inner side was smooth. Thus the appearance of dimples on one side. So my printed sides look right; dimples outside, smooth inside.

As a side note, when the Liberty Bell was recovered, the dimples were all smashed flat due to the pressure as it sank!

Scott

 

[PaperAir]

that,s a lot of pressure to do that to titanium.Where they smashed or do to greater pressure on the outside imploded.

 

[Closet Astronaut]

Got the aft bulkhead complete. I doubled up on the paprer so there was a little warping so to counter this I applied a strip around the exterior to straighten the edges, I found a photo that shows this.

I used shelf tabs as a temporary hold ins

 

[Closet Astronaut]

Wanting to move on to the excape tower I need to get the foundation done first, so making outer skin for the recovery section and trimming out the top for the antenna to set in properly, started experimenting today, making and test fitting parts.

 

[PaperAir]

shelf tabs what a cool idea.Are you going to make the shingles removable?Also this is turning out really cool!!!!

 

[Closet Astronaut]

Well I have to get some shingles first, but I'm going to look for some really small black anodized screws if I can find some that will determine wich way I'll go. I also think covering 2/3rds of the main with shingles and leaving 1/3rd exsposing the stringers would be a nice touch.

I'm not going to worry about the deatil between the bulkhead and heat shield, I'm going to consintrate on the retro pack and excapetower.

Things are going well on the recovery section covering, should post photos next day or two.

 

[Closet Astronaut]

Got the divider and parachute trays done.

 

[Closet Astronaut]

a

 

[Closet Astronaut]

recovery sec covering