Sigma 7... With a Little Bit More!

**WeeVikes** · #1 01-22-2011, 10:40 PM

Here's my build of Delta 7 Studio's model of Sigma 7, with a bit of a twist.

I took a shot at including Surfduke's interior. I have absolutely no idea if I did it completely correctly -- unfortunately there were no instructions, but I looked as closely as I could at the accompanying drawings, and I think I got it mostly right.

It's a little tough to see in there -- the hatch doesn't leave great angles for photography, but hopefully you get the idea.

The only thing I wish I'd done significantly differently was the fit of the heat shield. Surfduke's interior has a back bulkhead that interferes with the Delta 7 heat shield. I thought I had it properly fit, but when I went to glue it on, I found out differently. As a result, the spacecraft/heatshield joint is a little rough, but you win some, you lose some.

I also was able to fit a clear transparency from a flexable CD envelope for the window. In fact, I was able to fit one for both the outer and inner shells, so it's actually double-paned! When the hatch is off, and light can get in the cockpit, you can see thru it very well. That I was really happy with.

Overall, I'm happy with how it came out.

Mike

**ennder** · #2 01-23-2011, 12:42 AM

Great Build! I've been thinking about doing that. I want to have the
Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and the LEM with interiors. I bought the
Delta 7 CDs for the Mercury and Gemini, and have been waiting
for the Apollo CD to be done. Hopfully that will be soon (crossing fingers).

**chicharrero** · #3 01-23-2011, 03:00 AM

Excellent, WeeVikes.
I have also the Surfdukes interior in 1/24.
Your model is a inspiring for me.
Have you added any extra to the interior pieces, please?

**umtutsut** · #4 01-23-2011, 07:21 AM

Most excellent, Mike! I wouldn't worry about the heatshield fit. I had problems with mine without an interior. Just doesn't want to line up all the way around.

Les (Friendly Airplane Asylum & ex-NASA flack)

**peter taft** · #5 01-23-2011, 07:26 AM

Excellent job, like the other guys have said, the fit issue really isn't your fault - it looks great anyway.

**Swampfox** · #6 01-23-2011, 11:38 AM

Well done. I've thought of doing the same thing.

However, "Thinking about doing it", doesn't get it done.

Nice work,

SFX

**cardmodeler** · #7 01-23-2011, 02:46 PM

Love it! Great building job. I am a big fan of the Mercury program and really enjoy seeing any models from that period. Makes me want to get the Mercury spacecraft CD.

**WeeVikes** · #8 01-23-2011, 03:39 PM

Thank you, guys!

chicharrero, I did not add anything additional. I thougth about it, but I was mostly interested in finding out if Surfduke's parts would work with this model. If I ever do this again, I may do a redesign, may do tweaks... I don't know. But Surfduke's interior is pretty good, so I'm happy with it.

Swampfox, you should give it a shot. It wasn't all that tough -- I just had to pay close attention to the drawings on the part sheets, and make some educated guesses where the parts went. I think I sussed it out about 80%-90% correctly. When I attached the heat shield, I left out the center portion, then further cut the interior of the outer section, almost as big as the retropack, to let Surfduke's real bulkhead poke thru the center hole. Had I dry-fit it once more, I'd have probably caught that it wasn't quite fitting, and as a result I had to tweak it once I'd started to glue it up. That slopped things up for me. Just watch that and account for it, and you should be ok.

I also hope one day to have Dan's Apollo collection. I have the Gemini disk, and am thrilled with it. I can't imagine what he might do with the Apollo program.