2001 Space Station by Uhu

[rgmarine]

Back in the 60’s I traveled to Pittsburg from my home in the mountains of West Virginia to see 2001- A Space Odyssey at the Cinerama Theater. I was fascinated by the sequence where the Pan Am transport approached the space station with the Blue Danube Waltz playing in the background. That movie still gives me a thrill every time I see it. When I discovered Uhu’s site I couldn’t wait to build his space station. The model consists of 30 pages with an additional 9 pages of optional extra detailing. Uhu has provided a highly detailed model that includes alignment templates to assist in building.

The model is approximately 12 inches in diameter when complete. Construction starts with the back side if the front wheel.
The first step is to poke small holes through the center point and along the guide lines near the edges of the ring as shown in the picture below. I used a dental probe which is very sharp and backed up the paper with a mouse pad.
Now the four pieces are turned over and a line is drawn radiating from the center point using the guide holes previously punched. This will provide guidelines for placing the internal formers as shown in the photo below.
After the four pieces of the back side of the front wheel are aligned and taped together a backup piece is glued on the backside of the joints between the four arcs of the wheel. Then the wheel can be cut out.
After the four pieces of the back side of the front wheel are aligned and taped together a backup piece is glued on the backside of the joints between the four arcs of the wheel. Then the wheel can be cut out.
After completely cutting out the wheel it is placed face down on the work table to begin installing the formers. Formers are cut out. Note, make sure the formers are all the same size and be sure to check the width in comparison to the skins that will be overlayed on them. You can see how the guidelines drawn on the back of the wheel help in alignment. Be sure that each former is flush with the outer edge of the ring.
I used Aleens quick dry glue to speed the process of former installation.
This work took two days. I have jury duty tomorrow so will continue when I get back.

[SCEtoAUX]

Seems like you are off to a good start. Unfortunately the photos did not show up in your post.

I remember when they started advertising for the release of that movie in the late 1960's. Couldn't wait to go see it.

[Chris Knowlton]

I will enjoy following this one. Hope you can post the pictures.

Chris

[rgmarine]

I don't know what happened to the pictures. I uploaded them and they seemed to go OK but they disappeared somehow. Here is a repeat.

Back in the 60’s I traveled to Pittsburg from my home in the mountains of West Virginia to see 2001- A Space Odyssey at the Cinerama Theater. I was fascinated by the sequence where the Pan Am transport approached the space station with the Blue Danube Waltz playing in the background. That movie still gives me a thrill every time I see it. When I discovered Uhu’s site I couldn’t wait to build his space station. The model consists of 30 pages with an additional 9 pages of optional extra detailing. Uhu has provided a highly detailed model that includes alignment templates to assist in building.

The model is approximately 12 inches in diameter when complete. Construction starts with the back side if the front wheel.

The first step is to poke small holes through the center point and along the guide lines near the edges of the ring as shown in the picture below. I used a dental probe which is very sharp and backed up the paper with a mouse pad.

Now the four pieces are turned over and a line is drawn radiating from the center point using the guide holes previously punched. This will provide guidelines for placing the internal formers as shown in the photo below.
After the four pieces of the back side of the front wheel are aligned and taped together a backup piece is glued on the backside of the joints between the four arcs of the wheel. Then the wheel can be cut out.

After completely cutting out the wheel it is placed face down on the work table to begin installing the formers. Formers are cut out. Note, make sure the formers are all the same size and be sure to check the width in comparison to the skins that will be overlayed on them. You can see how the guidelines drawn on the back of the wheel help in alignment. Be sure that each former is flush with the outer edge of the ring.

I used Aleens quick dry glue to speed the process of former installation.
This work took two days. I have jury duty tomorrow so will continue when I get back.

[rgmarine]

Continuing installation of the formers.

Here the installation of formers is complete.

Next we start on the front side of the front wheel. You will notice that the sheets are slightly different in that this one has cut lines for making an installation jig for installing the wheel spokes. Do not throw these pieces away. The process is the same as that for the back side of the wheel.

Next we start on the front side of the front wheel. You will notice that the sheets are slightly different in that this one has cut lines for making an installation jig for installing the wheel spokes. Do not throw these pieces away. The process is the same as that for the back side of the wheel.

We have added the outer skins on the ring. I use a small piece of blue masking tape to mark the 12 o’clock position since the internal markings will be covered up when the rest of the skins are installed.

[rgmarine]

Now starting at 12 o’clock we put on the lower portion of the wheel. Again I am using Aleens Quick Dry glue.

The lower sides if the wheel are installed and now we install the inner rim. These pieces are marked with clock locations so the blue tape added previously can be removed.

[Maverick65]

Looks like your off to a fine start. I'm glad to see someone post a build of this one. It's in my pile somwhete, not sure when I'll get around to it. Will use yours as a reference if you don't mind. Well keep up the good job and thanks for sharing your build with us.
Regards,
Rick

[rgmarine]

Finally, the outer wheel is finished. I will add some greebling later to enhance the detail. Uhu thoughtfully included some extra pages of parts to facilitate this.

Now we start on the rear wheel which is the hard part. Preparation is similar to the front wheel. We start with the back side.

After marking positions of the formers on the backside of the rear wheel the four quadrants are aligned, taped together then turned over and marked at the 12 o’clock position. Note that the pages are printed on the reverse side as well as the front to provide color to the back of the beams. You will need to find a marker that matches the reddish color to blend in the cut edges and eliminate white lines.

Cutting out the beams of the rear wheel is an exercise in patience. Go slow and easy. Use a very sharp blade and change it when it starts to drag.
Almost finished cutting out the rear wheel. I colored in the edges as each quadrant was cut out.

[rgmarine]

Now the entire rear wheel is cut out. What a relief! There is a lot more like this to come though. It took about 4 hours to complete this cutting.

Next the wheel is flipped over and placed face down on the building board.

Ready to begin installing the formers. If you remember from the movie, the rear wheel was still under construction so it consisted mostly of exposed beams and bare bulkheads.

As each former is glued in place an alignment block is used to ensure 90 degree angles. Take special care cutting these formers as they are very fragile. Use multiple light cuts with the knife to prevent distortion.

The first quadrant of formers is now complete. Three more to go.

[Vermin_King]

Oh, my. You are doing excellent work.

I'm glad it is you and not me doing this.