2001 ASO USSC Discovery One

[DanBKing]

I first saw 2001 ASO when I was 9 yrs old. It made a very big impression on me, (and still does,) and was pivotal in the decisions I made later in life about my career and personal interests.

Out of all SciFi films I've seen, the 'hardware' in 2001, is for me the most realistic.
The Discovery was, and still is, my MOST favourite SciFi spacecraft.

I have always wanted a model of her, but have never really found one that satisfied my yearning! Or, prices were not in my budget......!!
So, after a bit of searching and detective work, I found the card version from UHU02. (And NO, I am NOT telling how I got it! (at the request of the designer))

The size of this model and the detail is spot-on for me. And, without the need for the airbrush, that keeps the missus happy, because there are no paint fumes in the home.....

Here in Holland, we use gsm as paper weight measurement. (The imperialists lost the battle ...

)
And reading comments and the few blogs/forums on the subject in hand, I decided to print out the whole model in 3 weights: 80 gsm, 120 gsm and 160 gsm. These weights should accommodate load-bearing structures, structural forms and the more delicate parts.
I have to say: It sure helps to have my good lady running her own sucessful copy/print business ....

Anyway, I figuered there were going to be a few instances of FUBAR's occuring, so in some cases I decided to print a couple of extra copies of a few of the pages in the model. Especially the nutty nuts......

So, with straight edge, scalpel, a beer and some of Amsterdams finest

, I went nuts on the first one......

It was at this point that I discovered that my eyesight and hand control is not what it used to be....(Grand old 50 next year..... )
Basically, the result of the first nut was not exactly brilliant......




I sat there thinking and wondering how long my sanity was going to last on this project, let alone the consumed liter-age (<--note: more metric stuff!!) of beer and full ashtrays.... I have to mass-produce ,was is it, 33 of these things????

CLICK!!! 3 earlier (a lot earlier,) years of Production Engineering experience switched on a brain-cell somewhere screamed: JIG !!!!

So, spending most of the evening and 2 attempts to get it right (I think), I made a simple jig, in the lateral shape of the nuts, out of a few laminated pieces of thick card. I made sure that all the curves, angles and straight edges were 'spot on' at the bottom edge of the hexagonal 'pit'. That should give a good firm, square, correctly shaped form to push against when gluing down the tiny tabs.

Using the 160 gsm paper, I used the jig for the second attempt.
The system worked really well for the gluing process. Until I tried to get the nut out of the jig............... The model is card, the jig is card, the glue is white glue..... You dont need to be an engineer to work out the result.

Muttering to myself in frustration (already) ,and looking for more rolling papers, I suddenly thought of a colleague of mine from long ago, who's nickname was TEFLON; Because nothing stuck ....

"What a silly **** I am!", I exclaimed. SILICONE !!!!! Not a lot sticks to that either, AND it is waterproof (marine grade). That should solve the problem of the glue soaking into the jig and gluing the nut to the jig.........

So, here is a pic of the jig, now coated in a thin, well worked silicon 'shield'....



So, I will let you ponder over the stress created, when I discovered about 50 items in my bits box (my whole attic is a bits-box, to be honest),.............






But then it wouldn't be a true paper model......

Would it.........
No, but the nuts are exactly the correct size....

Yeah, but IT'S NOT PAPER!!!

But, the angles of the metal nuts are exact, ensuring a true linear spine ....

Yeah, BUT IT'S NOT PAPER!!!..

I know, but, NOR IS THE WOODEN DOWEL STRENGTHENING THE SPINE, Ok it is the same material, but, ......

You get my point ........

 

[DanBKing]

Test!

 

[dnalor]

and?...did it work?

 

[DanBKing]

Haha. No.

I wrote a long thread with pictures and all yesterday on my build of the Discovery from 2001 (UHU02 <-- I bow down to you!!) , but it seems to have dissappeared into the lost regions of the outer spiral arm of the Andromeda Galaxy....wall1

 

[Zathros]

I approved all your posts yesterday, I have no idea what happened?hamr

 

[dnalor]

Ben je het vliegtuigje 1 op 1 aan het maken dat je nu de moeren bent aan het maken?
En een beetje vals spelen met hout en andere materialen dat moet vind ik.
Volgens mij gaat het niet anders...of je moet erg dik papier gaan gebruiken als versteviging..

ik heb het geprobeerd maar duw er nu in wat ik nodig heb zodat ie niet inklapt of verbuigd.

ahum..engish verison

Are you building the ship 1:1..folding the bolts and nuts
And its hard to be an purist...you have to use very thick paper to stabelize the ship..so that it doesn't collapse..
a piece of wood or so would be easier..

I tried the purist version of the projects......but it didn't work and now i use what ever makes the ship fly....uh..hold together..

 

[DanBKing]

Seems all fine now Zathros.
Thank you, and sorry for the trouble !!!

I warn you... I am going to now post the second installment ....Haha

 

[DanBKing]

And we continue.....

Lately, I am dreaming about nuts, my missus says I'm nuts, my life is becoming hexagonal......



I'm plodding away at the spine, doing a few of the damn nuts, a few couplings, and doing some other sub-assemblies to break the repetitious boredom of the spine...



I started a few of the fuel modules, and again made a jig to speed up the assembly process, which works really well....
I really want to make sure that all the modules are exactly the same and perfectly square. I think if there is any 'waviness' or un-straight lines on the spine, it will stick out like a sore thumb. The jig should help to achieve consistency in the modules...

The two edging pieces on the bottom are cut to the exact angle of the two small side 'rails' along the side of the main face of the module.



I made a former to place at the end of the module to hold the faces true and in shape whie gluing the end cap.




While I was making the cone shaped connectors for the spine, I found something in my kitchen that works really well as a mandrel for the cones......A modern wine bottle stopper!



And to please me even further, the ball at the end of the thing has the exact profile of the small dishes in the radio array.......



Ha, and to add to that, a top from a glass storage container, again from the kitchen, is perfect for shaping the main dish .......




Anyway, apart from that, progress has been slow, to be honest.
I've gotta keep the missus entertained and make sure she doesn't feel 'left out and ignored'...... My work as a Database Administrator is very busy and takes many of my hours. Also with summer on its way (?) I am busy with a major re-landscaping of my garden.... The garden has sunk about 1/2 meter in 5 years.... But when you live in the Netherlands you get used to that.... That's what you get for having your house built on an old seabed.........( If anybody is interested, I live in Almere, Flevoland, The Netherlands



I will report back soon with some progress pictures as things start to come together.



Bye for now!

 

[Zathros]

Did you wet that dish to get the shape? If you use a printer with pigment ink, you can get away with that (make sure the ink dries). I love to see people sharing their technique. I am not a paper purist. It would be silly to all the time and effort into a model that would sag and fall apart. Use all and everything you need to make it come out right. UHU used a wooden dowel. I would consider using pipe. That would give you the option of running wires and lighting later if you become so inclined.

 

[DanBKing]

Pipe..... (And not the type you smoke with!!)

Instead of a wooden dowel, I used an 8mm aluminium tube/pipe.
It is lightweight and incredibly strong in comparison to a dowel.
I dont think I will be having any 'sag' problems with that. (I say, hopefully!)

 

[DanBKing]

Dishy!

The dish I formed dry.
The dish itself is comprised of three paper rings, and due to the accurate design, it seems to form the correct shape naturally during the gluing process.

But, that one was just a test. I will try your suggestion and see if the end result is more satisfactory! :thumb:

 

[scifimodelfan]

I have so wanted to build this one but I have so many others on the burners. Will be watching this thread. Well done thank you for sharing your technique with us all.

 

[Zathros]

You get to see any Flevo-bikes there, or any Velomobiles? I make recumbent trikes now and then, as a hobby.

 

[DanBKing]

You get to see any Flevo-bikes there, or any Velomobiles? I make recumbent trikes now and then, as a hobby.

Yes, I see both types regularly. A nation of cyclists produces some amazing machines.
I also enjoy rebuilding old bikes and reconditioning them to new. It provides great pleasure to pull a bike out of the canal, fix it up and sell it on...!!:thumb:

 

[DanBKing]

Bit by bit......

As I mentioned in an earlier post: I think with this model, the spine has to be modelled linear perfect, otherwise any irregularities or un-eveness will stick out like a fart in a perfume bottle!

I have tried to make the nuts in various weights of paper, but I am still not satisfied with the end results. I think it is mainly due to my inexperience with this medium. ops:

I am still playing with the idea of using the M8 metal half nuts instead.
The temptation is extremely great to use them, because it guarantees that the spine and fuel modules will be linear perfect.

But, 'That is cheating!', I hear you cry.
I know, I know......

But, I sooooooo want this model to be right, after waiting so many years to model her......
(On that point: Is the Discovery a 'Her' or a 'Him' ???? Most ships are duped 'Her', but HAL was a him.......!!)

In the pic below, you can see what I mean. I spray painted the metal nuts with grey primer. I am gonna make a few modules using these, and see how it looks .....



The square nuts for the antennae modules I am gonna make...



I started on the main module for the antennae base....



Will do my best to get more done this weekend....

Stay tuned.

 

[Zathros]

Raise some of those pieces on that last part, and the world will stand on it's end! Looks really good. The parts you have made so far truly are symmetric!

If those nuts fit, use them. That's always been my motto. Use the nuts God gave you! ......What were we talking about?...Oh yeah. Might complicate painting though. There is something about the paper nuts. I would try using thicker cardboard on the nut faces. That would help them keep the shape, also, a spiral on the inside would support and help hold them together. See pic below, by running a bead accros the spiral, it will prevent collapse, and separation.

 

[DanBKing]

Should my nuts be empty, or full of something ..... ?

Mmm, good idea on the insert, will give that a try.......

I tried various weights of card on the nuts (100 gsm, 140 gsm, 160 gsm and even 200 gsm).

I tried using 200 gsm for the faces and 140 gsm for the sides, but it seems that once the hole has been cut out, it weakens the face and is prone to collapse.......

I'm going nuts here................

 

[DanBKing]

Looking good!

Me, or the model .... ????? sign1

And speaking of going big on this..... When I was trawling the net researching this subject, (which was what inevitably brought me here :thumb I found this on the net.... You may of seen it..... But, WOW!...His poor wife...

http://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?30960-A-Big-Discovery

 

[DanBKing]

Potential life expectancy issues......

OK! I put my hands up in frustration here... Which I really do not want at the start of this ....... These nuts are making me nuts.... wall1

I've tried fingers, thumbs, fingers AND thumbs, tweezers, wooden pokey thingies of different shapes and sizes, different weights of paper, beer, a jig, different states of consciousness, more beer, swearing, moaning at the good lady for complaining that the first thing that she gets shoved in her face when she gets home, is me and my nuts...... (She should be so lucky ... sign1)

I just can't seem to get the consistency that I want to achieve....

I think the main problem is lack of experience in this medium, but this project has a steep learning curve.......

As I've mentioned repeatedly, my biggest concern is linearity of the spine. To me, it is the end result under the display case, that counts....

So, as usual lately, I have been mainly playing with my nuts, and doing some test and/or final assemblies, of the couplings and other bits and bobs.
As mentioned earlier, I hand-sanded each individual metal nut and sprayed them with grey primer. While these were drying, I used 80 gsm paper for page 2 (which contains all the nuts) and cut out the strips of the nuts without the tabs or the side faces. I then glued these to the side faces of the metal nuts, and burnished the paper onto the nut with my fingers and mainly thumbs.
The end result looks acceptable, but can be bettered.

Please understand that the pics below are not final build, but just a quick throw together to understand how it will look....

All constructive critisism is welcome ....



I am quite pleased with the similarity of the printed spine wraps and the aluminium 8mm tube, that I am using instead of the wooden dowel...

Here are a couple of other shots for your perusal......





Nite Nite.

 

[Zathros]

The nuts look great. None are hanging any lower than the others.