lancer525
11-08-2008, 09:33 PM
Well, talk about jumping in with both feet, but I've gotten to a point where I can post on this build.
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Scott did a fantastic job drafting out all the pieces, and at first, it looks really daunting. However, the instructions are pretty well laid out, and although there are a couple of rough spots, it is doable. I'm using Color Mates 65# card stock in Light, Medium, Dark and Deep Morning Mist. Although I should have ordered the Deep Morning Mist sooner. :rolleyes:
I started with the Antenna Fairing, since it seemed to me to be a good place to begin.
Here are some photos of the build so far:
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/lancer525/Mercury%20Spacecraft%20Project/0109.jpg
Top flange. I decided to use large nuts, instead of coins, as they have a larger flat surface.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/lancer525/Mercury%20Spacecraft%20Project/0112.jpg
This was the second attempt at the main base structure of the fairing, and as you can see, I had some serious warping going on. I never did figure out what caused it, so I had to build four of them before I got one that didn't warp.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/lancer525/Mercury%20Spacecraft%20Project/0114.jpg
I think that building the bottom structure on waxed paper to keep it from sticking to my cutting mat and leaving it there until I added the inner dielectric structure and antenna cone, had something to do with eliminating the warping.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/lancer525/Mercury%20Spacecraft%20Project/0117.jpg
Here, I'm adding the inner dielectric structure. You probably can't tell from the photo, but I've used a bright-white textured paper for the dielectric. It's a very fine ridged pattern, and it looks pretty good.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/lancer525/Mercury%20Spacecraft%20Project/0120.jpg
I found a really neat metallic paper to use for the aluminum antenna reflector inside the dielectric structure. It's "The Paper Company - Metallic Cover 12"x12" - Silver - #10205-030" in case anyone's interested. It works just fine with my HP Inkjet printer.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/lancer525/Mercury%20Spacecraft%20Project/0121.jpg
Here's the antenna fairing to date. The build is progressing, when I have time to work on the thing, and I think this is going to be a pretty good project. It can get a little frustrating, and it takes a while to cut out all those parts, but it's going well, I think.
---------------------------------------------
Scott did a fantastic job drafting out all the pieces, and at first, it looks really daunting. However, the instructions are pretty well laid out, and although there are a couple of rough spots, it is doable. I'm using Color Mates 65# card stock in Light, Medium, Dark and Deep Morning Mist. Although I should have ordered the Deep Morning Mist sooner. :rolleyes:
I started with the Antenna Fairing, since it seemed to me to be a good place to begin.
Here are some photos of the build so far:
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/lancer525/Mercury%20Spacecraft%20Project/0109.jpg
Top flange. I decided to use large nuts, instead of coins, as they have a larger flat surface.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/lancer525/Mercury%20Spacecraft%20Project/0112.jpg
This was the second attempt at the main base structure of the fairing, and as you can see, I had some serious warping going on. I never did figure out what caused it, so I had to build four of them before I got one that didn't warp.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/lancer525/Mercury%20Spacecraft%20Project/0114.jpg
I think that building the bottom structure on waxed paper to keep it from sticking to my cutting mat and leaving it there until I added the inner dielectric structure and antenna cone, had something to do with eliminating the warping.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/lancer525/Mercury%20Spacecraft%20Project/0117.jpg
Here, I'm adding the inner dielectric structure. You probably can't tell from the photo, but I've used a bright-white textured paper for the dielectric. It's a very fine ridged pattern, and it looks pretty good.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/lancer525/Mercury%20Spacecraft%20Project/0120.jpg
I found a really neat metallic paper to use for the aluminum antenna reflector inside the dielectric structure. It's "The Paper Company - Metallic Cover 12"x12" - Silver - #10205-030" in case anyone's interested. It works just fine with my HP Inkjet printer.
http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n59/lancer525/Mercury%20Spacecraft%20Project/0121.jpg
Here's the antenna fairing to date. The build is progressing, when I have time to work on the thing, and I think this is going to be a pretty good project. It can get a little frustrating, and it takes a while to cut out all those parts, but it's going well, I think.