Opps, I didn't just lose all that work...

For the last 72 hours I've been working on the handrails and walkways that surround the main structure of the Crawler Transport. I grouped all the parts and I thought I hidden them so I could see another section more clearly. I didn't. What I did was I collapsed the majority of the walkway, handrails and associated parts so that only a few faces existed. Adding insult to injury, I hadn't saved or backed up to the cloud or to my NAS.

Normally, I would of blown my lid off, moaned, had a monumental strop and restarted. However, this is a blessing in disguise. Half way through creating the rails, I found a better way of making the walkway and handrails. It also has the advantages of reducing the polygon count and improving model accuracy. But, I couldn't make the alterations then, as it would of clashed with what already existed.

I've restarted and it's taken fifth of the time to get the bare bones back on the CT. I might have everything back by the end of the night.

Crawler Transporter - (Part 6)

I've neglected the Crawler Transporter for too long. I've improved one corner and with the assistance of JayP (a forum member on NASASpaceFlight), I've got a better understanding on the JEL systems. Once I'm happy with one corner (lower left on the image below), I'll replicate that corner on the other 3. I've also started on walkway and safety rails. There about 70% done and the I need to mirror and flip to the other side.This is a low quality render as I need to get some sleep, but you get the idea.

More Old Space Shuttle Data Found - Switches, Buttons, Panels and Scans of Guillow's Space Shuttle

Today I've been as sick as a dead parrot, and there one thing I hate more than being sick, lying in bed being sick. So, late this afternoon I dragged my bones to the 'workshop/office/games' room and did a bit of house keeping. Festering in the bottom of a drawer was a small cardboard box containing old USB memory sticks. Going through them I found a surprising gem, files relating to the old Space Shuttle project...

The first image is of switches and other panel components that I've drawn to scale.

Using these switches, I planned to add them to the image below, which is the original CRT and MEDS Orbiter forward panels of the flight deck. Some time ago, I was in the process of adding the components to the panels, when a few days later the HDD died and the project was lost. For some reason I copied to a USB memory stick. luckily.

The MEDS version was obtained from the Shuttle Crew Operations Manual (SCOM). The CRT version I think I built it from various PDFs and DXF file that were available at the time, or maybe an older version of the SCOM. I can't remember. I've also have DXF files of the other forward panels (Left, Right and Overhead), but I have nothing saved of the rear panels.

Also on this USB Stick, I've found scans of the Guillow's Space Shuttle Kit No. 1201 which I had purchased a few years ago. My plan at the time was to re-create the balsa parts from the kit plans and keep the original kit intact. I still may do this, but I have other projects rat the moment and at best this is going to be a side line project.

Paper Model VAB & LCC, Version 1

The last version wasn't really a version, it was a quick test to see how fast I could transfer a 3D format to paper. I've updated the texture, simplified the Launch Control Center (LCC) section and scaled it to 1:2400, which gives it a height of 66mm. To download the PDF file please click here to download the PDF version. You'll need the latest version of Adobe Reader, as the first paper is a 3D model. I've also made it available as a Pepakura model (.pdo). This can be downloaded here

Space Shuttle Orbiter's HUD (Paper Model)

I've been using Pepakura Designer 3 a bit more and I've made a paper version of the HUD. So far it's low detail version and I'll add the switches later. You can download load it here.

Mobile Launch Platform - Space Shuttle Era (part 5)

I've now added the majority of the rails for Side1. I haven't checked the polygon count, but, I bet it's more than my prediction of 12,000. Oh well.

The rails that I've added may not be in the right place, as I'm trading off between polygon count, quality and interpretation from a series of photos and drawings, of which some are of a good quality, but most are not.... Best Guess™