Not long ago, I was asked by the team who are developing the DIRECT alternative SDLV system, to model their vehicles for a presentation at NASA HQ in Washington. I built a pair of models in 1/144 of the Jupiter 120 and Jupiter 232 for this presentation. The models were a big hit at the meeting, and the members of the group have told me that they're since on display in the main library at NASA HQ. Those models were the vehicles from DIRECT 2.0, and are shown here:
\
L to R: Chuck Longton, Ross Tierney, Steve Metschan at NASA HQ with my models.
The team members just recently asked me if I would build a new version of these models for the International Space Development Conference in Orlando, that was held last May. There was a catch. They wanted the models to be done at 1/72 scale, and both models had to be redesigned to show the DIRECT 3.0 configurations of the Jupiter 130, and the Jupiter 246. I designed and built them over a nine day period in mid May, and shipped them to the conference the day before it opened.
Here are some photos of the build:
Engine Skirt assembly, side view.
Skirt Assembly showing J-130 configuration, with fourth SSME bell separated.
Skirt Assembly showing J-246 configuration, with all four SSME bells in place.
RSRMs. Geesh these things were big...
A view of the completed core.
Another view of Core, showing scale. Note the Soda can next to it.
J-130 Payload shroud with Orion CEV. Soda can for scale.
J-130 Payload section, with J-246 Upper Stage, Payload Shroud, and Interstage.
Completed and assembled J-130.
Completed and assembled J-246 with 12m Payload shroud.
When I started out with this build, I had no idea conceptually, just exactly how BIG these models were going to be. It was only after I started actually putting things together and seeing their physical sizes that I began to fully realise just how big these things were.
I'd love to say that plans are available, but they aren't. I just didn't keep any of the parts I designed for one thing.
Anyways, I just wanted to share... :D