Simplest. Apollo model. EVER.

[jparenti]

Do any of you guys ever build a really simple model when you start getting fatigued with a harder project?
I was working on more of my Voyager project, but I needed a short break with something simple. Something extremely simple. Sometimes it's fun to just hack something together randomly to hone your cutting skills, or to finish a short project to bolster your confidence while doing another model that's testing you.
I lived in Melrose Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, until I was 7. There's a community college nearby, Triton College, that has a planetarium and a decent collection of space exhibits (including Gene Cernan's Apollo 10 spacesuit). TRITON (http://www.triton.edu/cgi-bin/r.cgi/department_detail.html?ContentID=119/)
Outside, there's a boilerplate Apollo command module, BP-213.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j136/jparenti/My%20Photos/a00091.jpg

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j136/jparenti/My%20Photos/a00089.jpg

As a child, I used to examine the capsule intently, the closest I'd been to actual Apollo hardware until years later in museums. I actually remember noticing the lack of windows and strangely plain exterior. I found out later what a boilerplate was and that this capsule was used in drop tests.
Just for the sake of novelty, I resolved to build one.
I printed the plain white version of Surfduke's 1/32 CM, and simply turned it inside out, leaving a plain white exterior. I cut out the hatch (actually the frame around the hatch door, since it fits the appearance better) and duplicated the handles present on the top and bottom. I mounted the hatch permanently since it doesn't open (I was always disappointed I couldn't see the inside of the capsule).

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j136/jparenti/My%20Photos/DSCF0185.jpg

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j136/jparenti/My%20Photos/DSCF0187.jpg

Then I added miscellaneous fiddly bits, like the circular plates and the small triangular grapples (although I didn't put a hole in them).

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j136/jparenti/My%20Photos/DSCF0189.jpg

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j136/jparenti/My%20Photos/DSCF0190.jpg

Not quite done yet. I'm going to print the heatshield on black cardstock and mount it, then perhaps a stand. I'll post a finished pic when I'm done, hopefully tomorrow.
It's not the most complicated model, but it fills an interesting niche, and it brings back pleasant memories. I don't think I've seen anyone try to duplicate a boilerplate capsule before in model form. I admit that they are somewhat boring to most people. I credit this particular capsule with starting me on the road toward pursuing science, though, so it's not so boring to me.
Now back to the slightly more complex Voyager model. :D

[KieferRhys]

Yes, the Heat shield... I've made up mos95s' CSM, and nothing againest the guy, it's more to do with my lack of skill, but I've never been satisfied with the final shape of this iconic component, either by the conic sections method or by the "pie section" method of the apollonia model. Can you offer any advise on this please?

[lancer525]

Back when I was working on a ginormous 1/4 scale Mercury capsule, the idea of vacuum-forming the heat shield out of paper came up. At this size, I think it would be pretty easy to make a plaster form, or some other material (wood, plastic, etc) in the right shape, and use it as your former block. My method would have been not unlike papier-mache, in that I would have used paper pulp to make the paste, which would have been laid over the form block, and then vacuumed to shape. This might work for you, and it would still be paper! If you made your own pulp out of black paper (cuisinart or blender) then you wouldn't even have to color it. YMMV, and HTH.

[Retired_for_now]

Historical note - boilerplate Apollo capsules were scattered at US Air Force bases around the world for training purposes. The local rescue choppers would haul it out to sea, drop it in the drink, then practice doing a recovery - just in case the Apollo guys got lost (or had problems) and couldn't make the planned recovery location. Saw one at Wheelus AB near Tripoli, Libya way back when.

Yogi

[KieferRhys]

Thanks for the advice, Lancer, I think that your plan sounds very doable, and I shall start making steps tonight, then off to Hobbycraft for black sugar paper. If I can tap you again for advice, can you see any shortcomings with using posterboard for stripings, so as to reduce PVA glue deformation, on Greelts's stack?
Of course, I appreciate that I'm a shameless newbie.
Just one other thing though "YMMV, and HTH"?:)

[mhvink]

Kiefer

YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary - it means your results will depend on how you do it and how good of a job you do.

HTH = Happy To Help - that one is self-explanatory.

HTH can also mean Hope This Helps and I do hope this helps :D

Mike

[lancer525]

Kiefer:

I am so sorry about dropping the forum-speak abbreviations on you. I sometimes forget that not everyone knows all the little tidbits that others know. I hope you'll forgive me.

I would actually recommend something like construction paper to shred up for the forming. It shouldn't be cardstock, because it won't dissolve into mush that easily, and posterboard is generally white core with exterior laminations of colored paper. You need some paper that is homogeneous. Made from colored pulp so that it is the same color through and through. Construction paper is not as stiff as cardstock, but slightly stiffer than regular bond/printer paper. So that would be better. Plus, you can mix reds and browns in it if you wanted to go for the more "mottled" look that I have seen some boilerplate spacecraft have. Just make sure you shred it up into really fine pieces, so it will dissolve into a mush-like, pasty consistency. I also mixed mine with a few drops of white, Elmer's type glue included in the tablespoon or so of water. It made it sticky and more able to be formed. Just be sure to paint your form block with liquid soap and let it dry or it will glue itself to your papier mache. :)

Hope This Helps!

Let me know how it works for you!

[lancer525]

After re-reading my posts, I see where I didn't answer what you asked.

I presume you're asking about the corrugations on the cylindrical "tank" of the stage? If I were to do that, I would go to an art store and get some "artboard". The stuff I use is made by Canson, called "Mi Tientes" and it comes in 19" by 25" sheets. It's about equivalent to 60 lb cardstock. I would cut it into strips the right width, and just glue them on. If you can find a posterboard that is solid-color core, and not laminated, you could use that too.

I think I got it this time....

[jparenti]

Finished. The heat shield wasn't as clean a build as I had hoped, but it really doesn't matter all that much on this model -- it looks like a heat shield enough to represent what was supposed to be the shield on a boilerplate.
For completeness of the thread, a photo. Unfortunately the flash was on, and it's not the best angle, but the batteries on the camera were dead.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j136/jparenti/DSCF0191.jpg

[KieferRhys]

Thank you for the advice, when I produce a result that I'm happy to display, I will be sure to post pix.
The stripings were corrugated sides of the saturn stack at any point that didn't contain a liquid tank directly beneath it.
Thanks Again, Happy to Learn:)