Pioneer 10 Spacecraft 1:12 Scale

[jagolden01]

Model: Pioneer 10 Spacecraft
Designer: Ton
Scales: 1:48 and 1:24 as published. Build at 1:12
Cost: Free
Available from: The Lower Hudson Valley Challenger Center (Jon Leslie)
http://jleslie48.com/gallery_models_real.html

This is a nice model. Cleanly designed. Fairly easy build. Nice pictorial directions. I'd like a few more pictures but what's there is sufficient.

I don't know if it's because I've passed 50, but I'm starting to think of these as "retro" spacecraft.
Like the Ranger Block III I just finished, I scaled this up to 1:12.
I know I tend to overkill with the pics but I think it really helps spell things out.

High Gain Antenna is about 10" across when scaled up - just a nice size.
I laminated the print of the antenna to a nice white board I bought at A.C. Moore. It's thicker than poster board, cuts very clean. I also laminated a sheet of clean white bond paper to the opposite side for a nice bright white finish (these antennas always seem to "glow" they're so bright).

I printed a second set of the gray blocks, laminated to illustration board (board ~3/32" thick) and glued those over the printed blocks for some depth.

Because of the thicker board, I was nervous about creating the cone - it's much stiffer + the two layers laminated to it. I didn't want to crease it anywhere and I wanted to keep it clean.
Worked it slowly into shape and glued. I don't have decent clamps so I held it until the glue set up enough to put it down.

[dhanners]

Looks good so far. Always loved the look of the later Pioneers.

[jagolden01]

Thanks, D. As with the Ranger, I'm enjoying these side trips from the sub. There's something about a spacecraft that has left "home" and gone off to travel millions upon millions of miles into the unknown.
I have a pretty good chunk of iron meteorite (about 6 lbs US). And I always wonder where it came from and where it's been.

Pioneer Update.
I've actually done a lot on theis model but want to post pics and build in a logical order.

After the High Gain Antenna, the next part is the Main Bus. It's one piece with lots of cutting and folding. I made sure to completely pre-fold everything that needed it before glueing up. You can see in the third picture how there was a little delamination at some of the folds. The board I used was thicker than I normally use. I scored with the knife from the front and that's what happened. For this build not a big deal. I glued back the major ones. The whole bus will be covered over in silver and gold foil so these things will not show.

Before glueing the Bus closed, I added in 3 things - 1) a circular support in the middle to keep any cupping at bay. 2) a support at the outer end simply for support and weight, and 3) a glue tab on each side that could not be on the drawn part because it was one piece. These offer a lot of body to the piece overall.

Next was to start the foil covering. Since I wanted to use spray mount or white glue, I wanted foil that had a paper backing. For the silver I bought a large Hershey's Chocolate Almond bar, I've found this to work fine. I didn't want to, but I sacrificed and had some of the chocolate.
I cut into strips and worked around the sides of the bus. I made the strips tall enough so they could be wrapped over the edges just a little.

I could have sworn that there was another Hershey bar that used gold foil but I couldn't find it. Guess I'll try the craft store, but I'm sure theirs won't be wrapped around chocolate - bummer.

Thanks for checking in!
Joe

[Retired_for_now]

You are amazing!

A little late, since you've already closed, but give some thought to the eventual support of the magnetometer boom. It looks like you'll have enough inside structure to drill through and get support (I ended up using piano wire for the mag boom on my 1:48 version, mostly because I used the boom as the display mount).

Yogi

[jagolden01]

Thanks, Yogi! You know, I've been looking at the boom from an appearance perspective (I like the non-symetrical look), but hadn't really though a lot about mounting it.

I'll have to figure out how big the diameter should be and get something close to it. Hollow brass tube should be light. Maybe just a solid wire.

P.S. I've been cleaning up the Ranger re-color. Added a screen to the High Gain Antenna. Should be ready soon.

[Retired_for_now]

ja - food for thought. I mounted the Pioneer thusly:
26418
Mag boom is a piece of coat hanger wire.

Same with Galileo.
26419
Paper triangular boom has dowel inside.

On both, the mag boom seemed a natural pedestal.

Yogi

[jagolden01]

Ah, good thought. I went through your thread on the plethora of builds you've been doing. Extraordinary!
Your mounting and displays methods are great. They highlight the model and provide information at the same time.

Coat hanger is a good idea. Before covering with the gold foil I'll cut open the large center section (the one that's covered with the round girder support) and fill it with insulation foam. That will support the mag boom.

[jimkrauzlis]

Really looking great, Joe!

You did a masterful job on the High Gain Antenna, particularly given the thickness of the card you are working with. I saw the posts on the other paper model forum about gold foil, so you do have a few possible sources, and fine confections to boot!

Those are two marvelous builds, Yogi! I love the way you worked the model into a base providing further information about the two models, quite clever.

Cheers!
Jim

[jagolden01]

Yogi, Jim, Thanks so much for the feedback and support, means a lot.

Well, after searching through two large chain craft stores and a local Hallmark card store for gold foil (they had nothing!), I settled on the Rollo's. Hey,they taste great too!
with 3 packs I got just enough foil to do what I wanted. Unlike the foil from the Hershey bar, the Rollo's foil is not paper backed fso I had to use spray adhesive to attach it. I could have used a contact cement but do not have any and did not want those fumes around, anyway.

foil went down very easily. I did it in pieces to maximize the foil I had.

[jagolden01]

The next piece is the "round thingy". Every picture or illustration of the spacecraft shows this looking a little different. Apparently thesefolkssent thier child off into space, never to be seen again, without taking even 1 "goodbye" photo.

There's only 4 parts to this. The "winged" part I laminated to thick illustration board to give it some depth. It look good at this scale.

For most of my edge coloring I use colored pencils. I still have my original 60 pencil set from art school '79-'82. Berol Prismacolor pencils. This works well.

There's a cap that goes on the "winged" part. sidewall, cap and a base that's glued down and then the sidewall is slipped over it. When building these sorts of tubes or barrels that have a cap on them, I prefer to attach the cap by sliding down on the inside instead of trying to glue to the top on the outside. This is much more secure and also helps the tube maintain shape.
So, pushed cap in for a test fit, removed and sanded down slightly for fit and glued it in.

Glued base piece to the "wings". glued cap over that.

Still using the foil from the 3 Rollo candies, it was applied in the appropriate spots to the cap and "winged" part. looks like the edges of the wings were supposed to be covered in gold, so I did this.

"Winged" part mounted to Main Bus.

PICTURES ARE IN THe FOLLOWING POST

[jagolden01]

Sorry, forgot to add photos before posting.

[Gideon]

Wow, Rollos... whoda thunk it...

Looks great! Keep 'em comin'.

[jagolden01]

Moving along to the antenna support and the Asteroid-Meteoroid Detector.

I'm glad I decided to use the foil. I almost skipped it but think it brings this alive. Every picture or illustration hows a lightly different arrangement of the silver vs. gold foil so some of it is a best guess.

Trimmed out girder and bottom plate. Glued the girder to the plate by "walking" it around the round plate. The plate is double-thick illustration board.

There's an upper plate that a shallow cone attached to. Built those up as directions showed - simple.
I believe the entire cone of the antenna shoul be one piece, but in this model it's been broken up between the large piece (see post #1) and this smaller cone. When the parts are glued in place, it will look like one cone resting on the support. If I'd studied the directions and the pieces longer, I might have built this differently but it's no real matter. Built up the top plate and shallow cone, glued rtogether. After that glue dried, I mounted the top plate by fitting it inside the ring formed by the girder. This gives it much strength and helps hold the shape.
Before glueing to the Main Bus, I cross-sliced the area to be glued. #1 it's not necessary to glue the entire surface #2 it's harder to get a flat join.

I built the Asteroid-Meteoroid Detector as per the instructions. Inside the supports, I glued in wire pieces for strength. The wire protrudes from the ends of the supports and stick into the Main Bus. Used CA glue to attach.

Thanks!

[Retired_for_now]

Don't forget the "license plate." Near as I can tell, it mounts outside the circular truss structure below the HGA facing inward.

27367

Yogi

[jagolden01]

Don't forget the "license plate." Near as I can tell, it mounts outside the circular truss structure below the HGA facing inward.

27367

Yogi

Thanks Yogi, will inclde.

[jparenti]

Great job so far! I need to detail my own model like this. With inspiration, from you, I just may get to it someday.
Here's another picture detailing the plaque placement. Just like Yogi showed, the graphics face inward (apparently this was done to protect the etching from the erosion of interstellar dust over the eons). The backside is blank. The actual plaque is gold-anodized aluminum, so it should have a gold tint to it.

[jagolden01]

Great job so far! I need to detail my own model like this. With inspiration, from you, I just may get to it someday.
Here's another picture detailing the plaque placement. Just like Yogi showed, the graphics face inward (apparently this was done to protect the etching from the erosion of interstellar dust over the eons). The backside is blank. The actual plaque is gold-anodized aluminum, so it should have a gold tint to it.
Excellent photo, thanks! See places where I can add some more detail.
The little blocks on the rear of the HG antenna do have some subtle detail on them and the "straps" on the rear of the antenna also.

[Retired_for_now]

Mag boom attachment detail.

27442

[jagolden01]

As with other frames, internal wire bracing is my friend here.
Cut and bent the lengths, used CA glue to tack in place. Left a little sticking out the ends to push into the Main Bus for strength.
Folded and PVA glued shut.
Trimmed out
Covered with gold foil (I'm keeping Rolo's popular).
Poked tiny holes in the Main Bus, inserted the wire and CA glued in place.
I'll touch up the joins later.

[jagolden01]

The title says it all...wphew, what a mouthful!

These are the two structures that stick out from the sides of the craft. I presume so any stray radiation does not affect the on-board instruments.

I've seen the fins straight, notched, split, etc. I notched them for this model.

I'd been avoiding these as they looked difficult to build but so far they've been easy. I now think the attachment to the craft will be the hard part. I'll paint white when they're together and the glue has dried.

At this scale, the part rolled around a AA battery quite nicely!

[Gideon]

This is looking amazing! My hat's off to you! Keep 'em comin'.

[jagolden01]

Thanks, Gideon. Taking the final parts in baby steps. Would like to finish before Christmas!

[SAustin16]

Joe, Your model is a real jewel. Beautiful job.

[umtutsut]

Thanks, Gideon. Taking the final parts in baby steps. Would like to finish before Christmas!

I know whereof you speak! As a longtime plastic modeler, I'm surprised that building a card model takes every bit as much effort and just as much time when I add details and redo parts I'm not satisfied with.

:cool: Les (Friendly Airplane Asylum & ex-NASA flack)