Cforrest900
Well-Known Member
the wide end of the ring is far too small to fit over the hole in the back of the pressure sphere
2001 ASO USSC Discovery One
- Thread starter DanBKing
- Start date
Mmmmm... I can think of only two reasons why that is happening:
- The flange ring is assembled incorrectly and is not 'flared' enough, and/or,
- The command sphere is assembled incorrectly and the shape is incorrect at the rear.
As I showed a little earlier in the thread, adding a former ring inside the flange seems to of worked for me.
Admittedly, I have not fitted the sphere to the flange on my model yet, so I don't know if it is going to turn out ok or not!
But the test fit is looking promising....
A small update .......
I have at last worked out in my head, how I am going to run the wiring for the cockpit lighting.
As I have mentioned, I am going to put Discovery in a display case, with LED's to light up the model, (without creating shadows
,) and to have the model suspended so as to depict it floating in space.
And the suspending part of the plan, is where I had to make decisions on how I was going to run power to the LED's in the cockpit.
At first I thought of a battery pack housed in the engine module with a remote switch, triggered by a small remote control key fob.
The remote switch system would save on having to run wiring external to the model to an external power source.
But, the receiver circuit, which would also be housed in the engine module, would be constantly powered up waiting for a signal from the transmitter. After a few calculations, I worked out that the drain on the battery pack would cause me to have to change battery packs more times than I would switch the cockpit lighting on! So, I scrapped that idea.
What I have decided to do is suspend the model from the top of the display case using very fine fishing line. As previously shown, the spine of my model has a metal tube instead of a wooden dowel. I can use that to my advantage to run wiring out of sight.
As previously stated, I want to be able to dismantle the model for transport purposes, as four separate components: The sphere and neck assembly, the spine and modules, the antenna array and lastly the engine module. With this in mind, that means I need a wiring connector between the sphere and the spine. Once I run the wiring in the tube, I am then going to connect these to very fine wire, sprayed black. These fine wires will then run from the spine tube to the base of the display case and then to the power source. Having these wires will also help stop the model swinging on the suspension lines.
The white lines in the pic are the suspension lines and the red lines are the power lines. Hopefully that makes it a little clearer.
Anyway, my idea should work, but that remains to be seen!!
Now that I am relatively confident that my wiring plan is going to work, I at last fitted the light box to the cockpit windows.
I used black silicone as a glue and a sealant against stray light. I used the beermat jig to keep the cockpit window aperture square and true, and clamped the light box in place and left it to dry/cure.
Also, to make sure that the cockpit lighting wiring does not snag anywhere when removing/fitting the sphere and neck assembly, I decided to add a tube to the neck assembly to smooth things out and make a passage for the wiring. I also coiled the wires to give them more freedom of movement.
I am pleased with the cockpit lighting now, it looks much better than the test I did earlier.
Oh, and you can also see in the pics, that I have detailed up the dark equatorial band of the sphere.
See you all soon with more....
I have at last worked out in my head, how I am going to run the wiring for the cockpit lighting.
As I have mentioned, I am going to put Discovery in a display case, with LED's to light up the model, (without creating shadows
,) and to have the model suspended so as to depict it floating in space.And the suspending part of the plan, is where I had to make decisions on how I was going to run power to the LED's in the cockpit.
At first I thought of a battery pack housed in the engine module with a remote switch, triggered by a small remote control key fob.
The remote switch system would save on having to run wiring external to the model to an external power source.
But, the receiver circuit, which would also be housed in the engine module, would be constantly powered up waiting for a signal from the transmitter. After a few calculations, I worked out that the drain on the battery pack would cause me to have to change battery packs more times than I would switch the cockpit lighting on! So, I scrapped that idea.
What I have decided to do is suspend the model from the top of the display case using very fine fishing line. As previously shown, the spine of my model has a metal tube instead of a wooden dowel. I can use that to my advantage to run wiring out of sight.
As previously stated, I want to be able to dismantle the model for transport purposes, as four separate components: The sphere and neck assembly, the spine and modules, the antenna array and lastly the engine module. With this in mind, that means I need a wiring connector between the sphere and the spine. Once I run the wiring in the tube, I am then going to connect these to very fine wire, sprayed black. These fine wires will then run from the spine tube to the base of the display case and then to the power source. Having these wires will also help stop the model swinging on the suspension lines.
The white lines in the pic are the suspension lines and the red lines are the power lines. Hopefully that makes it a little clearer.
Anyway, my idea should work, but that remains to be seen!!
Now that I am relatively confident that my wiring plan is going to work, I at last fitted the light box to the cockpit windows.
I used black silicone as a glue and a sealant against stray light. I used the beermat jig to keep the cockpit window aperture square and true, and clamped the light box in place and left it to dry/cure.
Also, to make sure that the cockpit lighting wiring does not snag anywhere when removing/fitting the sphere and neck assembly, I decided to add a tube to the neck assembly to smooth things out and make a passage for the wiring. I also coiled the wires to give them more freedom of movement.
I am pleased with the cockpit lighting now, it looks much better than the test I did earlier.
Oh, and you can also see in the pics, that I have detailed up the dark equatorial band of the sphere.
See you all soon with more....
AMAZING!!! :Bravo:
You could use 3.5 mm ear phone plugs and jacks to connect the wiring from one module to the other. Also, magnets should be effective in holding the parts together.
Yep, I've already worked out which connectors I am gonna use.
These .......
PCB Headers ......Two of these fit nicely inside the spine tube.....
Also, I am going to use a magnet to hold the antenna array in position. The other modules will fit to the spine tube with an interference fit, so shouldn't require any magnets. I'll show some pics when I do final assembly so you can see how I intend to fit everything together.
Thanks for the nice comments guys!
Again this week, I haven't had much time for modelling but the build has progressed a way ...
I started finalizing parts of the model.
The engines needed to be fitted properly to the engine module. I started thinking that the removing and replacing of the engine module, would create stresses here and there and may weaken the parts over time. So, I decided to strengthen the parts that needed it. As I have shown previously, the centre engine stem fits over the end of the spine tube with a light interference fit. It is because of this interference fit, that I needed to strengthen some places.
I used 3mm thick cardboard and attached the engine tubes with plenty of glue for a strong joint, after of course making sure everything was lined up properly.
The module is then slid over then end of the spine tube and through the formers and then connects to the centre engine pipe. The interference fit of the connection holds everything firmly together without the need for glue or magnets.
The pic below shows the strengthening plates and the attached tubes more clearly and shows how the tubes are fit together.
So, for transport purposes the engine module, complete with engines, is now removable.
With the engine module now complete, I moved on to the neck and command sphere.
The tube that I fitted in the neck for the wiring was too tight on the spine tube and required unnecessary force to remove it. So, this tube was removed and another fitted. I also strengthened up the back of the neck cap with thick card too.
Inside the sphere, I made a loose knot in the wire and added a protection piece with glue. This protection piece will jam up against the tube in the neck, preventing the wires from being ripped from the light box if the wire is pulled too hard by accident.
I decided to do this because once the neck is glued to the sphere, I have no way to get inside the sphere again.
I fed the wiring through the tube and also made a stopping piece to stop the wire springing back inside the sphere. If it did spring back in, I don't think I would ever get it out again.....
I did some final adjustments and checked everything thoroughly including that the lighting works, and then glued the neck to the sphere.
It is not a 100% perfect fit, but it is the best I could get it. Once the glue has dried thoroughly, I will burnish the joint to improve it a bit.
I am relatively pleased with that.
In my next instalment, I should have the wiring finalized in the spine.
I am also having a bloody nightmare with the antenna dishes, but that saga I will explain in a later post.
Take care everybody.
Again this week, I haven't had much time for modelling but the build has progressed a way ...
I started finalizing parts of the model.
The engines needed to be fitted properly to the engine module. I started thinking that the removing and replacing of the engine module, would create stresses here and there and may weaken the parts over time. So, I decided to strengthen the parts that needed it. As I have shown previously, the centre engine stem fits over the end of the spine tube with a light interference fit. It is because of this interference fit, that I needed to strengthen some places.
I used 3mm thick cardboard and attached the engine tubes with plenty of glue for a strong joint, after of course making sure everything was lined up properly.
The module is then slid over then end of the spine tube and through the formers and then connects to the centre engine pipe. The interference fit of the connection holds everything firmly together without the need for glue or magnets.
The pic below shows the strengthening plates and the attached tubes more clearly and shows how the tubes are fit together.
So, for transport purposes the engine module, complete with engines, is now removable.
With the engine module now complete, I moved on to the neck and command sphere.
The tube that I fitted in the neck for the wiring was too tight on the spine tube and required unnecessary force to remove it. So, this tube was removed and another fitted. I also strengthened up the back of the neck cap with thick card too.
Inside the sphere, I made a loose knot in the wire and added a protection piece with glue. This protection piece will jam up against the tube in the neck, preventing the wires from being ripped from the light box if the wire is pulled too hard by accident.
I decided to do this because once the neck is glued to the sphere, I have no way to get inside the sphere again.
I fed the wiring through the tube and also made a stopping piece to stop the wire springing back inside the sphere. If it did spring back in, I don't think I would ever get it out again.....
I did some final adjustments and checked everything thoroughly including that the lighting works, and then glued the neck to the sphere.
It is not a 100% perfect fit, but it is the best I could get it. Once the glue has dried thoroughly, I will burnish the joint to improve it a bit.
I am relatively pleased with that.
In my next instalment, I should have the wiring finalized in the spine.
I am also having a bloody nightmare with the antenna dishes, but that saga I will explain in a later post.
Take care everybody.
Wow! I'm trying to imagine what if you had A LOT of time for modeling!!! :wideyed:
Well, for one, indirectly, I would not have time to work so much, and I could live with that arrangement!!
I have been getting VERY frustrated and grumpy with the antennae array (and myself.) Things are not going as plan. Back to the drawing board..... 
Anyway, I took a quick sabbatical ............ http://www.zealot.com/threads/papermikes-smurfette-by-danbking.178560/
I'll be back on this very soon....... It will not beat me........!! I WILL win ...... :finger:!!
Anyway, I took a quick sabbatical ............ http://www.zealot.com/threads/papermikes-smurfette-by-danbking.178560/
I'll be back on this very soon....... It will not beat me........!! I WILL win ...... :finger:!!
Ok, let me explain why I have been getting grumpy ..... :grumpy:
Very early on in the thread, I made an attempt at making the main antenna dish, but I was not happy with the outcome of it....
I built this first version using the provided tabs. Due to finger pressure, (and probably too much glue,) I had the impressions of the tabs on the dish surface, which looked terrible.......
So, I decided to try another approach .......
Which is where my frustrating nightmare began .......:wacky::rage::grumpy:
I decided to do the job without using tabs and also tried to "kill 2 birds with 1 stone"....
The main antenna dish is made up of an outer and an inner set of three rings, (two for the smaller dishes.) Each of these inner and outer ring sets have textures that need to be accurately lined up to each other.
So, to save time, (I thought,) (and this is where the bird-murder part comes in,) I decided to first glue the corresponding inner and outer ring pieces together back to back. This would give me three complete rings, with texture on both sides. These three rings could then be edge glued together to create the dish.
I used my light table to accurately align and glue the two ring halves together. Please believe me when I say that the parts need to be SUPER ACCURATELY ALIGNED, and that is no under-statement! Taking into account that we are dealing with circular (ring) shaped parts, which have radii texturing, and also angled joints between each ring, plus the fact that I needed to make sure that the black cutting lines of each part were completely removed. To compound things even more in the process, the parts layout for the inner and outer ring pieces were unfortunately not good reverse-mirrored images, so the centre, the middle and outer parts had to be separately aligned.
Once the glue had dried, I cut out the now two-sided parts. Cutting out an outside diameter is straightforward, the cutting of the inner diameter requires more skill with the scissors! I used a very fine sandpaper to smooth any bumps and roughness of the circular edges.
Over the last week or so, I have done that whole process SIX *#@**#** times!!!
In theory, if the parts are correctly aligned, if I trim the part from one side, the reverse side should match exactly......
Attempt 1: Alignment mismatch between sides, only noticeable during/after cutting. Parts Scrapped. :meh:
Attempt 2: Alignment mismatch between sides, only noticeable during/after cutting. Parts Scrapped.
Attempt 3: Alignment mismatch between sides, only noticeable during/after cutting. Parts Scrapped. (More beer and rolling papers purchased) :grumpy:
Attempt 4: Alignment mismatch between sides on one part, only noticeable during/after cutting. One part Scrapped, two are good. Bad part successfully remade.
We are talking pixel-level alignment here!
Once I had a good set of inner and outer texture aligned parts, I used the water shaping method as used similarly before.
Attempts 5 & 6: Re-making, cutting and shaping the parts twice, due to gluing errors, and/or texture alignment issues, and/or dirty (finger) marks, and/or bad joints, when gluing the rings to form the dish.
:sour:
By now, I was swearing a hundred times without repeating myself, and also, I had a fist full of hair from tearing it out in frustration........... :rage:
:finger:
I just could not seem to get the inner and outer textures aligned, nor the correct angles between the rings or good edge-glued joints.
This build process just was not working for me. So, in frustration with it all, I called "TIME OUT", stood up, downed a beer, rolled a fat one and calmly walked to the manicurist for a haircut.....
So, I decided to scrap my idea of a tab-less dish and again made the dish as designed by Master UHU, using tabs.
First, I cut out and water shaped the outer rings and glued these together. Even with the tabs, this was not an easy task at all.
In the pic the dish looks 'grubby', but most of this will be covered up anyway, so I am not too worried.
Next up, the inner rings were cut and water-shaped. But these rings would not fit into the outer dish shell because of the thickness of the paper, so I had to carefully remove a few layers of paper from the inside of the outer shell to make the inner rings fit properly ......
But anyway, I have eventually got a semi decent dish. I am only 80% happy with it, but there is no way I'm gonna build another one.
I'm DONE with the damn thing!!!
At the moment, I am building up the other parts for the antenna array and am doing some improvements and detailing to the frame parts.
When I get a little further with these parts I'll post some more......
Laters!
Very early on in the thread, I made an attempt at making the main antenna dish, but I was not happy with the outcome of it....
I built this first version using the provided tabs. Due to finger pressure, (and probably too much glue,) I had the impressions of the tabs on the dish surface, which looked terrible.......
So, I decided to try another approach .......
Which is where my frustrating nightmare began .......:wacky::rage::grumpy:
I decided to do the job without using tabs and also tried to "kill 2 birds with 1 stone"....
The main antenna dish is made up of an outer and an inner set of three rings, (two for the smaller dishes.) Each of these inner and outer ring sets have textures that need to be accurately lined up to each other.
So, to save time, (I thought,) (and this is where the bird-murder part comes in,) I decided to first glue the corresponding inner and outer ring pieces together back to back. This would give me three complete rings, with texture on both sides. These three rings could then be edge glued together to create the dish.
I used my light table to accurately align and glue the two ring halves together. Please believe me when I say that the parts need to be SUPER ACCURATELY ALIGNED, and that is no under-statement! Taking into account that we are dealing with circular (ring) shaped parts, which have radii texturing, and also angled joints between each ring, plus the fact that I needed to make sure that the black cutting lines of each part were completely removed. To compound things even more in the process, the parts layout for the inner and outer ring pieces were unfortunately not good reverse-mirrored images, so the centre, the middle and outer parts had to be separately aligned.
Once the glue had dried, I cut out the now two-sided parts. Cutting out an outside diameter is straightforward, the cutting of the inner diameter requires more skill with the scissors! I used a very fine sandpaper to smooth any bumps and roughness of the circular edges.
Over the last week or so, I have done that whole process SIX *#@**#** times!!!
In theory, if the parts are correctly aligned, if I trim the part from one side, the reverse side should match exactly......
Attempt 1: Alignment mismatch between sides, only noticeable during/after cutting. Parts Scrapped. :meh:
Attempt 2: Alignment mismatch between sides, only noticeable during/after cutting. Parts Scrapped.
Attempt 3: Alignment mismatch between sides, only noticeable during/after cutting. Parts Scrapped. (More beer and rolling papers purchased) :grumpy:
Attempt 4: Alignment mismatch between sides on one part, only noticeable during/after cutting. One part Scrapped, two are good. Bad part successfully remade.
We are talking pixel-level alignment here!
Once I had a good set of inner and outer texture aligned parts, I used the water shaping method as used similarly before.
Attempts 5 & 6: Re-making, cutting and shaping the parts twice, due to gluing errors, and/or texture alignment issues, and/or dirty (finger) marks, and/or bad joints, when gluing the rings to form the dish.
:sour:By now, I was swearing a hundred times without repeating myself, and also, I had a fist full of hair from tearing it out in frustration........... :rage:
:finger:I just could not seem to get the inner and outer textures aligned, nor the correct angles between the rings or good edge-glued joints.
This build process just was not working for me. So, in frustration with it all, I called "TIME OUT", stood up, downed a beer, rolled a fat one and calmly walked to the manicurist for a haircut.....
So, I decided to scrap my idea of a tab-less dish and again made the dish as designed by Master UHU, using tabs.
First, I cut out and water shaped the outer rings and glued these together. Even with the tabs, this was not an easy task at all.
In the pic the dish looks 'grubby', but most of this will be covered up anyway, so I am not too worried.
Next up, the inner rings were cut and water-shaped. But these rings would not fit into the outer dish shell because of the thickness of the paper, so I had to carefully remove a few layers of paper from the inside of the outer shell to make the inner rings fit properly ......
But anyway, I have eventually got a semi decent dish. I am only 80% happy with it, but there is no way I'm gonna build another one.
I'm DONE with the damn thing!!!
At the moment, I am building up the other parts for the antenna array and am doing some improvements and detailing to the frame parts.
When I get a little further with these parts I'll post some more......
Laters!
Okay Dan... you deserve a break.... A lesser modeler would have 86ed the whole contraption and moved on.
In my case it would have been file 13G for it after the second FUBAR.
If you're only 80% satisfied then you must be a closet perfectionist. The dish looks fine to me
In my case it would have been file 13G for it after the second FUBAR.
If you're only 80% satisfied then you must be a closet perfectionist. The dish looks fine to me
Truly awesome Dan! Truly awesome. Sorry for not liking every post in this thread