Projects underway for NASM transformation project in Washington, DC

[jetfool]

Davegee,

Although it would take some work on your part to write an article I really think it would be to AMAs benefit to showcase modelers working on projects for all people to enjoy in the future. Often, we are accused of playing with toys that the uninformed person doesn't realize that models in museums have been made by craftsman who also enjoy flying models.

Congrats on 42+ years of marriage! I'm on our 41 yr together Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Davegee.

You might contact your AMA rep or call the AMA Nat'l office. They should want to present it in the AMA magazine. I think it would be a very interesting article on How, Why, and Where a project starts and how a modeler is responsible for it all coming together. Something that will be displayed in our National Museum should be publicized.

Best Regards, Rex

Thanks, Rex. I'll give it some thought.

Cheers

Dave

[davegee]

Just re-watched that film after about 50-years . It's on one of the streaming networks (?) don't recall which. Merry Christmas to you and yours, too. Steve

Great! My wife and I watch that movie every 23rd of December. Been a regular staple of our Christmas movies we've been watching together for the 42+ years we've been married! I love little quotes in there like when they discover that horrid and despised Cousin Andre (Basil Rathbone) has suddenly died in his sleep in bed (actually bitten by little Adolph, the pet snake of Aldo Ray's). When discovered the next morning, Peter Ustinov's character says something like "We can't in all decency bury him before lunch!"

Best,

Dave

[jetfool]

Davegee.

You might contact your AMA rep or call the AMA Nat'l office. They should want to present it in the AMA magazine. I think it would be a very interesting article on How, Why, and Where a project starts and how a modeler is responsible for it all coming together. Something that will be displayed in our National Museum should be publicized.

Best Regards, Rex

[Elbee]

Compliments of the Season! (from Peter Ustinov, 1955 movie We're No Angels, one of my wife's and my all time favs.)

Just re-watched that film after about 50-years . It's on one of the streaming networks (?) don't recall which. Merry Christmas to you and yours, too. Steve

[davegee]

Ditto for what LB said, just beautiful work.
Merry X-MAS, Rex

Thanks, Rex. This shuttle project redo is a collaborative work of several very skilled people in Cody, Denver, Phoenix, and other places too. Although I'm doing some direct work on some parts of it, I've engaged people like those in the body shop to do the expert fiberglass repair, prepping, and painting, etc. If it all pans out ok, I think I'll check with our local paper to see if they would like to do an article showcasing the immense talents of some of our people in this very small town of Cody, WY.

This has really been a lot of work this past year repurposing this huge 40 year old model for a job it was never designed to do: hang 12 feet above the museum floor with cargo doors carefully cut out and opened (without destroying it!), adding a cargo bay interior and a scratchbuilt spacecraft inside it that has almost NO design drawings or backup information available. We cobbled together enough through poring over the internet for what we could use to make the TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite) and IUS (Inertial Upper Stage) booster that goes with it. I, for one, will be very pleased and relieved when it moves out of here in its crate to Washington, DC! I might go out there next year to help install it in the museum, not sure yet.

Have a very Merry Christmas and New Year to you and your family, Rex!

Dave

[jetfool]

Ditto for what LB said, just beautiful work.
Merry X-MAS, Rex

[davegee]

Beautiful work, Dave. Craftsman extraordinaire. Great workspace. Enviously, Steve

Thanks, Steve. That's about a $200k Alfa Romeo being lovingly restored in the background, so it is in good company! We're getting there in fits and spurts, hope to have it finished, approved by NASM, and shipped out by the end of the year. I know the owner of the auto body shop can't wait to see it go. It takes up as much floor space as a car!

Thanks for your nice comments, Steve.

Compliments of the Season! (from Peter Ustinov, 1955 movie We're No Angels, one of my wife's and my all time favs.)

[Elbee]

Beautiful work, Dave. Craftsman extraordinaire. Great workspace. Enviously, Steve

[davegee]

Here's a few update photos of the shuttle project. It is getting closer to being completed, still many minor but important things to add like the thermal blankets that will line the interior of the cargo bay which is now blue. On one pic you can see the tilt table with the round hole in it near the rear of the cargo bay. The satellite has been removed to put the mounting mechanism in for the tilt table. The TDRS satellite and booster will be installed again after all the interior details are completed. The tilt table is positioned in a 30 degree up from the lie flat position it was in for launch into orbit. This is the position we will use for display. The shuttle will be upside down suspended from the ceiling about 12 feet above the gallery floor. The cargo bay doors will be locked fully open and the 29 inch long satellite will protrude out of the cargo bay at that 30 degree angle.

This was the "checkout" position where they tested all the connections and electronics before raising the tilt table to the 58 degree up position for release into orbit from shuttle. They used some springs to gently push the satellite away and it maneuvered away from the shuttle about 100 miles or so. At the right time, the two-stage solid propellant booster would push the TDRS up to an eventual geosynchronous orbit of about 22,000 miles above the Earth.

These satellites worked very well and they are still using newer and more advanced ones for communications enhancement for spacecraft zipping around the globe at 17,500 mph!

Here's a few shots taken in the past few days. I am hoping we will wind this project up in the next few weeks and ship it back to Washington, DC when we get final approval by the staff at the NASM to do so. I am still working on completing the TDRS satellite with some colleagues in Denver and Phoenix, as the decision from NASM as to which satellite they wanted in the shuttle for display came relatively late in the game.

[davegee]

Davegee,

Amazing what you have created. Photo's and a minds- eye can do wonders. The ripple effect in the gold covering looks like the real covering on the satellite's in the AIR FORCE MUSEUMN. Keep up the good work. Happy Thanksgiving Rex

Thanks, Rex. Looking forward to getting the parts for this final part to complete the model. It's been a busy year, but I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel. And, hopefully it is not an oncoming train!!

Have a great Thanksgiving, too!

Cheers

Dave

[jetfool]

Davegee,

Amazing what you have created. Photo's and a minds- eye can do wonders. The ripple effect in the gold covering looks like the real covering on the satellite's in the AIR FORCE MUSEUMN. Keep up the good work. Happy Thanksgiving Rex

[davegee]

Been making some progress on the 1/15 scale TDRS satellite and its booster, called an IUS, or Inertial Upper Stage. I am hoping to wind this project up completely by the end of the year, if at all possible. Painting continues on the shuttle, and I look forward to dropping over to the shop to see how it is looking now. Several areas should be painted black now, and then the final detail black areas around the nose will have to be masked off and painted. A seamstress here in Cody who normally sews wedding dresses consented to being contracted to make scale looking thermal blankets for the entire cargo bay. Those will be one of the last things to add to the model before we finish it.

Regarding the TDRS/IUS,that's coming along. In the previous post, I put up a photo taken of TDRS/IUS just after it was released into orbit by Discovery in 1998. They let it drift off about 100 miles or so from the shuttle, and then ground controllers ignited the two-stage solid rocket motors that propelled it up to a geosynchronous orbit 22,000 miles above the Earth.

I'll attach several pics from earlier today. The top half of the model where the solar panels and antennas sticking out the top is still being designed and built by colleagues in Denver and Phoenix. When all is done, we'll need to test out how it sits in the shuttle in aluminum brackets one of the guys at the shop designed and fabricated. The curators at the NASM want the model to be angled up 30 degrees from the lie-flat position it was in for liftoff until orbit. This was the "checkout" position where they tested all the TDRS systems. Then they further raised it up on its turntable mount to 58 degrees, and released it into space with the assistance of some springs.

There was almost no information to go from for making this model. Mostly pictures from space, and one small design drawing I found online from several years ago. In this scale, once the TDRS is mounted on top of the silver transition section in the photos, it will be just over 29 inches long, but will only weigh about 4 pounds or so. I've been trying to keep the weight as low as possible for this display. The shuttle will be upside down with the payload bay doors open, and the TDRS ready to be released into space for this display. I've done totally scratchbuilt projects since I was a kid, but this one has been a challenge. Still, I think it will come out looking good on display with shuttle.

[davegee]

Don’t think that a time or twoI Did want to throw it off a mountain! But I think we are getting closer to the home stretch with this project!

davegee

[jetfool]

Davegee,
Thanks for posting your updates, Shuttle looks good from your start to now. Going to be a real asset to the National Museum. Your last photo looks like you could throw it off one of your mountains and dead stick on your landing field, just so NASM would have proof that it flys. LOL Go ahead I know you want to!
Keep posting your work and pictures

Best Regards, Rex

[davegee]

Been working on many issues, like getting set up on designing a hanging mechanism for this very large and heavy (135 lbs) model. It will be hanging over the heads of probably millions of museum goers over time, so ensuring an extremely reliable system was of the highest order. We got that approved recently, won't drill the hole for the eyebolt until the entire model is together to see where the exact CG is to place the hole. The eyebolt is a Crosby forged piece, in-line hanging strength of 1200 pounds, which is overkill, but I didn't want to leave anything to chance with this model.

We have completely sanded, patched, and smoothed any imperfections in this 40 year old model. We found many, including some delamination of the fiberglass at the seams in a few spots. Everything went into primer, and then sanded and checked for any small imperfections still needing a bit more work. On Monday, (this is Saturday) we will start spraying the entire model white, and after that work on all the black patterns of the model. Callie made up the graphics for me, although we are thinking we might use some of those vinyl transfers as patterns and paint all the black patterns on. Things like the USA flag, Discovery name, etc., we'll use Callie's transfers when we come to that point.

I am working on a 1/15 scale model of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) that was released into space from this STS-26 mission of Discovery in October 1988. This was the "Return to Flight" mission, the first shuttle flown after the Challenger accident over 2 1/2 years previous. It had a simple job to do on this first flight, covering 4 days: Make sure everything operates normally and safely, and release the TDRS satellite into orbit. It had a booster on it that carried the satellite up to a geosynchronous orbit around the Earth at 22,500 miles high.

I'm very much looking forward to getting this last project completed that I am doing for the NASM. It's been a very busy year!

I'll attach a pic of the fuselage taken last week in primer, and a photo of the real TDRS launched on that mission. My version will be about 29 inches long in that scale.

Davegee

Today we started painting the shuttle model. We're starting with a coat of white over all the parts, and then will mask off the parts that will be sprayed black, and some grey, namely the wing leading edges and the nosecone. I'll post more pics soon. I'm hoping we can wind this project up in the next several weeks and get it shipped to Washington, DC. It will remain in strorage in its crate until sometime next year when they are ready to install it in the new gallery.

I'll attach a pic at the auto body sho p today where we have been doing most of the work on the model since we got it last May. It is 8 feet long, wingspan of 4 feet, and weighs about 135 pounds. Been quite a project! Looking forward to getting it painted and completed, for sure!

[davegee]

Been working on many issues, like getting set up on designing a hanging mechanism for this very large and heavy (135 lbs) model. It will be hanging over the heads of probably millions of museum goers over time, so ensuring an extremely reliable system was of the highest order. We got that approved recently, won't drill the hole for the eyebolt until the entire model is together to see where the exact CG is to place the hole. The eyebolt is a Crosby forged piece, in-line hanging strength of 1200 pounds, which is overkill, but I didn't want to leave anything to chance with this model.

We have completely sanded, patched, and smoothed any imperfections in this 40 year old model. We found many, including some delamination of the fiberglass at the seams in a few spots. Everything went into primer, and then sanded and checked for any small imperfections still needing a bit more work. On Monday, (this is Saturday) we will start spraying the entire model white, and after that work on all the black patterns of the model. Callie made up the graphics for me, although we are thinking we might use some of those vinyl transfers as patterns and paint all the black patterns on. Things like the USA flag, Discovery name, etc., we'll use Callie's transfers when we come to that point.

I am working on a 1/15 scale model of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) that was released into space from this STS-26 mission of Discovery in October 1988. This was the "Return to Flight" mission, the first shuttle flown after the Challenger accident over 2 1/2 years previous. It had a simple job to do on this first flight, covering 4 days: Make sure everything operates normally and safely, and release the TDRS satellite into orbit. It had a booster on it that carried the satellite up to a geosynchronous orbit around the Earth at 22,500 miles high.

I'm very much looking forward to getting this last project completed that I am doing for the NASM. It's been a very busy year!

I'll attach a pic of the fuselage taken last week in primer, and a photo of the real TDRS launched on that mission. My version will be about 29 inches long in that scale.

Davegee

[davegee]

Well, today was a big and good day in the progress of the 1:15 scale Space Shuttle model repurposing for display at the NASM. It's been a long sojourn fraught with problems and delays. The plan was to get one of these large (8 foot long by 4 foot wingspan, 100 lbs. of weight) overhauled and made into a hanging display of the space shuttle Discovery, the real one now on permanent display at the Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport in Virginia. There were several of these models built probably over 40 years ago by professional model builders for North American Rockwell (at the time). Some of these stood vertically and were connected to the External tank and the Solid Rocket Boosters sitting on a Mobile Launcher Platform (MLP). It was quite impressive to see on display. NASA sent us the wrong one and we have had to wait for a much better condition one to arrive, which did at the end of last month. Anyway, with a transformation of the entire National Air and Space Museum, the first one since it opened in 1976, most everything is being redone in one way or another. This model will have an important part in one of the new space galleries.

One of the exhibit galleries will feature among many other things, this repurposed Space Shuttle. It will hang upside down with the payload bay doors open with a satellite inside ready to be deployed into space. At first they were looking at putting a Hubble Space Telescope inside, but now they are leaning towards having a communications satellite called TDRS. The mission will dictate which orbiter and which payload to use. I am ready to make a model of either one they finally decide on. Eventually after we get everything completed, it will be put back in its crate and shipped back to Washington DC for display.

This first major step for this model was to cut out the cargo bay doors on the orbiter. I compared this to "cutting the Hope Diamond", as there was no room for a screwup! We wouldn't know exactly what lay inside until we made the commitment to those cuts. But it went very well today and we are now well underway and committed to the next step of planning out hinging the payload doors so that they can be opened for the display. We found an ancient piece of sandpaper that must have been there for over 40 years! It's still usable!

I'll attach some pics. I decided to sublet some of this delicate fiberglass work to two great guys who own and operate a body shop here in Cody. They have 30 years of experience working with things like precise cutting of fiberglass for cars and everything else. We will be working closely together over the next several months as we transform this model for a new life in the exhibit hall for many years to come.

Davegee

[davegee]

Well, I got confirmation today that the 15 B-17G models in 1/72 scale for a new display showing the Combat Box formations in WWIi arrived safely in Washington. I did a lot of mods to these diecast steel airplanes, the biggest one figuring out how to hang them on display from the ceiling so that they would not sway or move with the HVAC system or just hordes of visitors streaming through the galleries. These 8-32 rods coming down from the ceiling at various levels will attach to threaded tubes that I drilled holes through the CG of each airplane for a realistic display of bombers in flight. The rods will be painted black and they might have somewhat subdued lighting on them to make them look like they're actually flying, not sure on that.

The other good piece of news is that the 1/32 scale P-51 Mustang III flown by Polish Ace Eugeniusz Horbaczewski (pronounced Oon-GEN-oosh Horba-CHEF-ski) or something close to that arrived safely via UPS. We made up a double box to protect the model, and not a scratch on it when it arrived today. On Monday morning, I will do the same procedure with my local UPS shop here in town and have them ship the 1/32 scale Me-163 Komet model for another display in the new WWII gallery when it opens, I think next year sometime.

[davegee]

Amazing work Dave . Looking forward to seeing the Shuttle take shape.
Best Regards, Rex

Will do, Rex. Apparently several of these huge models were built by professional modelers at North American Rockwell, the maker of the Orbiter, about 40 years ago. The one that NASA sent me from storage in Houston is apparently the wrong one, and the surface looks like at some point someone started on a redo of the whole model. So it looks in pretty rough shape now. It could definitely be restored like you would an old Corvette as it is made of fiberglass. But they had a different model in mind that is in much better shape. As they sort all of this out, I think eventually the correct model will be sent to me and I can start my work on it.

The 15 1/72 scale B-17 bomber models for the Combat Box display are winging their way to Washington as I write this. Also, the 1/32 scale P-51 Mustang III plastic model is on schedule to arrive there tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything will arrive undamaged!

Cheers

Davegee