Atlas D in 1:240 scale printed on silver paper

[dhanners]

Originally Posted by Willard11

Hi dhanners, Thanks for the information and your models are very impressive. I like your method of wrapping “skins” of thinner silver paper around thicker cylinders. This is sort of like what I did with the Saturn 1B tanks Aries project. I used thinner printed paper instead of silver paper glued to card stock. I am going to put this on my list of techniques to explore in the future. I did a Google search of "Rick Sternbach" "Saturn V Clinic" and this was listed: The Saturn V Clinic - Rick Sternbach
http://ricksternbach.com/SatV/Saturn...ickfind.com.au. When I clicked on the link, I received this message: “Not Authorized to View This Page [CFN #0004]”. Is this the same message you received?

Yep. That's the message I got.

This explains the same process: https://www.nar.org/contest-flying/c...bes-for-scale/

I found that if you cut down the tube and rejoined the edges with a butt joint, you could generally fill the seam with a woodworking glue and sand it smooth. Depending on the thickness of the tube, the cardboard wants to return to a circular shape. If not, rolling the tube on a flat surface generally brought it back to a cylindrical shape.

[Willard11]

I am building the Agena payload from its template. It may have silver somewhere on it, but I haven't researched it to know which surfaces need to be silver. This may be a good model to try wrapping 'skins' around it in the future.

The photos show the printed pattern, parts and assembled Agena. The next photo shows the Atlas rocket and the 2 Agena parts. My wife found a wheel and axle from one of our grandson's broken toy cars and it is in the next photo of the assembled Atlas Agena rocket. I will be using this as a temporary stand until I find a better one.

The last 2 photos show the Atlas Agena rocket upright on the stand with a ruler and a penny. I have seen other modelers put coins with their models to show scale, so I decided to try it. I wish the silver paper could be as shinny as the penny.

In this 2nd test build, I learned a lot and received many tips and good ideas from other modelers. I am disappointed I didn't get the line and lettering aligned better between the Main Tank and the Tapered Section. This is something I will do a better job checking in the future.

[beckychestney]

Nicely done! That's a lot of detail for such a tiny model!

[Paper Kosmonaut]

at such a scale, and considering using thin paper, one could tjhink of making a diorama of a very interesting and special event which happened now and then; the collapsing of an Atlas-Agena on the pad.

The Atlas was like a soda can, when it was pressurized it could hold its shape but without pressure, it would collapse immediately.

[Willard11]

There were times in the 1st test building using mostly silver gift wrapping paper that I almost had the same results as the video. In my 08-13-2020 post at the end in the random thought category, I jokingly suggested that modelers of larger scales using silver gift wrapping paper would have to inflate a balloon inside to keep the models shape.

After looking at the video, maybe we should add how prototypical is the results when the balloon is deflated. A video needs to be taken of the deflation of the balloon. Maybe this should be a Modeling Challenge to see how big the scale needs to be and how thin the silver material is to achieve prototypical results. This should be filed in the random thought category.

[Willard11]

The 2nd test build of Atlas D rocket was to test building techniques to correct problems identified in the 1st test build. I didn't use some of the techniques I planned on using when half way during the test build I started using labels on the back of the silver gift wrapping paper. Also, I used parts from another model pattern that I found in the download section of the forum.

The 3rd test build will continue using labels on the back of the silver gift wrapping paper and more parts from the other model pattern. I will test the building techniques I hadn't use in the 2nd test build. I plan to not fold and handle the silver paper as much as I did in the previous test builds.

I have had to learn to use the Gimp and Inkscape software to make sure the kitbashing parts fit together from the different model patterns. I have been building several bond paper models to adjust the parts before starting the silver paper models.

While I was doing this, my son got me a package of 8 ½ x 11 inch labels(see 1st photo). We used the same brand as the labels in the 2nd test build. Also, I found some silver paper that would go in a laser printer on the internet and requested some samples to try. The next photos show the samples I received and a printout on the silver gift wrapping paper. I used diffused and reflective light for comparison of the samples.

The samples with the circle label in the corner are from SHEETLABELS.COM and are available in both gold and silver. The sample without the circle label is from Desktop Publishing Supplies, Inc. and looks to have some surface texture on it. I haven't tried them in the laser printer yet, so I don't know how well they will take the toner. I do find the SHEETLABELS.COM interesting in that they are labels with sticky backs and can be attached to different weight paper like bond, card stock, etc. This may give the modeler a choice when building the model. If anyone tries the samples before I do, let me know your results using it.

Silver Metallic Shimmer Paper (Laser Printers Only) Item # 56098
https://www.desktopsupplies.com/prod...aper-40-sheets

Silver Foil Labels For Laser Printers
8.5" x 11" Full Sheet Labels Silver Foil (SF)
https://www.sheetlabels.com/labels/a...oil-laser-only

[Willard11]

Now that I am ready to start building the 3rd test build, I have been thinking about Paper Kosmonaut's post about making a diorama of the collapsing of an Atlas-Agena on the pad. I have some ideas as to how to build the Atlas rocket collapsing, but I have limited information on the Atlas launch pads. I know there were 4 of them: pads 11, 12, 13 and 14. Launch pad 14 was used for the Mercury Atlas launches.

Does anyone know of any paper models of the Atlas launch pads? I may try to work this in with the 3rd test build.

[Willard11]

I have started the 3rd test build and this will be of the Mercury Atlas model. Initially, I will build two models testing different parts between them. The first will be the Mercury Atlas Precision Paper model with more parts from markcable's Atlas Centaur 10 model. The second model will use Bruno Vanhecke's Atlas model as a “skin” to wrap around the Precision Paper model and some parts from markcable's Atlas Centaur 10 model.

I purchased Bruno's 616 Mercury-Gemini Scissors and Planes pattern and had to use InkScape to remove his wonderful silver shading from the Atlas model to print on silver paper. It took me some time to learn how to do this using InkScape. I had to make several bond paper test builds to see if all the parts fix between the different patterns.

The 1st photo shows the patterns printed on silver and white paper. The pattern on the white paper is the same for both models. In the 2nd test build, labels on the back of the silver paper wasn't used until after the main tank was rolled. This time the label will be used on all silver parts. The 2nd photo shows the silver paper patterns with the label paper attached. The diagonal lines on the patterns are from the seam in the backing paper of the label paper. It should roll out in the rolling process, if it doesn't then better placement of the parts will be needed around it.

The next photo shows Doubting Thomas suggestion of using rubber bands to hold the tank while gluing. I am also going to try his suggestion of using Silver colored Sharpies sold as shake-able paint pens in gold and silver for the edge coloring. I also got the idea of digitally “wrapping” Bruno's Atlas “skin” from dhanners' post during the 2nd test build.

I will only show photos of what has been changed from the previous test builds. The last photo shows that now I am gluing the Instrumentation Pods to the tank before I attach the Aft Bulkhead. I learned from the fitting test that I can better press the glue tabs in place without the Aft Bulkhead in the way. The glue tabs are now bond paper glued to the silver paper. The photo doesn't show the different paper as well as I wanted, but they will also be in the Booster Skirt Fairing photos.

[Willard11]

The 1st photo shows that I am using the Aft Bulkhead from markcable's Atlas Centaur 10 model for both models. This is a direct replacement for the Precision Paper model part and did not require any modifications. I added the stand fitting as described in previous posts.

The next 2 photos show the Booster Skirt Fairing front and back with the glue tabs attached. The glue tabs are the same for both models. One set of Booster Skirt Fairing are from the Precision Paper model and have been used in the previous test builds. The other set is from markcable's Atlas Centaur 10 model and it overlaps the bottom side of the Atlas model.

The next photo shows a close-up of the Booster Skirt Fairings attached to the models. I am not sure how markcable's Booster Skirt Fairings should fit the model, so there may need to be some adjustments to the pattern. Also, I don't know when they were used on the Atlas rocket. This may be for the Centaur 10 version.

The last photo shows the Atlas rocket with the Main Tank Tapered Section and the LOX Pipe attached to the models. Bruno's pattern didn't have the lettering starting in the Tapered Section and I had to make the adjustment to the lettering when I “wrapped” his pattern on the model.

[Willard11]

I changed the process of building markcable's Atlas engines by enlarging the back glue tab and darkened it. I also glued it offset to allow a glue tab when rolled. The 1st photo shows the parts and the lower section rolled. The next photo shows the completed engines and the pipe on the bottom of the rocket. The pipe is an addition from markcable's Atlas model and is a challenge to roll and bend at this scale.

The next photo shows the engines and pipe attached to the bottom of the rocket. The next 3 photos show the rockets from the front, side, and back. I am looking for stands for the rockets, but are using a temporary stand so I couldn't do a side-by-side comparison. Next, I will start building the Mercury Capsule