Space Shuttle Launch Pad 39A with Challenger STS-6 (1:144)

[spacerunner]

Hello everybody,

let's continue, and with that to the Twin wheel sets, the structure of which, starting from this old photo, I only gradually got to understand.


Source: Space Congress Proceedings 2. - 1980 (17th) A New Era In Technology (W. H. Rock)

A bit of luck is part of it!

While browsing the KAMAG websites, I came across these principle sketches in an image brochure some time ago, wherewith I have a good chance for scratching the chassis of the transporter.


Source: tii-group.com



I first divided a wheel row in the middle, mirrored one of the halves,



and then scaled to my scale (1:160) and printed out in shades of grey, which therefore match the side walls very well.



Using this template, I can now produce the 48 wheels (Ø 6 mm, 2 mm thick) of the early transporter, which are then glued together with spacers, and hint at the 12 pendulum axles with two twin wheel sets each. The only things missing then are the hydraulic push rods, which I'll do without because you're unlikely to see them under the finished transporter.



In reality, this hydraulically supported Pendulum axle looks like this, whose construction principle was created by SCHEUERLE in 1956, which meanwhile, like KAMAG, belongs to the TII Group, which facilitated the arrangement of several axes in a row, wherewith the production of multiple-axle heavy-duty vehicles began. The hydraulic pendulum axle is still the main principle of modern heavy-duty transport worldwide.


Source: tii-group.com



In my modified Scratch concept, I planned to design the driver's cabs and the modules on the front and back as individual components, for which I rescaled all detailed views again based on the reduced width (40 mm) between the side walls.

These are the designs for the modules on the front (top) and back covered with the corresponding detailed views,





and these are the prepared parts for the modules, which can be glued under the ceiling between the side walls of the transporter after building.



And I will now still design a similar part for the two Driver's cabins.

[Revell-Fan]

Mani, may I suggest, please write down your progress and save all those drawings. I have checked the web and especially the axm site and did not found a model of this vehicle anywhere, so yours could be the first. I could help you turn this into a fully fleshed out paper model for the download section.

[spacerunner]

Thanks Marcell for your cool proposal, I'm always saving all my posts so nothing can get lost.

First let's see what the Transporter will look like when it's finished. The trickiest will be the Pendulum axles which I'm still brooding about.


Source: tii-group.com

BTW, these 12 Pendulum axles, each with two Twin wheel sets, would be predestined for 3D printing ...

But I haven't thought about that until now, unless an assistant can be found for doing this job.

Small bonus for the curious.

Anyone who wants to see such monster heavy-duty transports in action can watch this video.

[whulsey]

Once again just left amazed at your research and work. Thanks for the video link: heavy haulage is one of my interests and always interested in seeing it in action.

[spacerunner]

Yep, such heavy-duty transports are really incredible, especially since you not only have to use powerful Trucks but also Self-propelled platform vehicles in combination with Transport swivel bolsters, so that you can get around tight corners with those overly long colossuses.


Source: SCHEUERLE

Have a look at this monster transport of an Aluminum melting plant module on SCHEUERLE "SPMTs"!


Source: SCHEUERLE

The SCHEUERLE SPMT is a modular, self-propelled transporter that can be combined to form any size transport group and has completely changed the transport industry since its market launch in 1983.

[Revell-Fan]

Woooooooooooow! This is amazing and unbelievable. It looks like a part of a Borg ship..!

[spacerunner]

Yep Marcell, simply amazing, but nothing is impossible.

[spacerunner]

Hello everybody,

and this is now the layout for the Driver's cabins.



Then all edges and adhesive folds of the parts were carefully pre-scored,



folded,



and finally glued the parts together, like here the I&CS/F&GS Modules for the back side (left), as well as the ECS Module for the front side,



and here with the associated Driver's cabins.



And so the parts are then arranged under the ceiling panel and between the side walls of the transporter.





The next thing to do is to continue with the Pendulum axles and Twin wheel sets.

[spacerunner]

Hello friends,

and so now to the Pendulum axles of this 48-wheeled monster transporter, which inspire me with quite a bit of respect.


Source: Space Congress Proceedings 2. - 1980 (17th) A New Era In Technology (W. H. Rock)

On this image of a similar transporter one can see the arrangement of the axles with the twin wheel sets more clearly.


Source: tii-group.com

In principle, the structure is meanwhile clear to me, but now it's about the practical implementation by scratching, which I've been fiddling around for a long time ...

Finally I came up with the following simplified solution.

First of all, I need the 48 wheels, which I then have to conjure up somehow on the Pendulum axles.

For this I have the cut out wheel discs in a 1st Variant glued to balsa wood (2 mm) and laboriously cut off all around with a razor blade,



which is not exactly a cakewalk, which is why I have to think of another technique for this.



For the continuous holding of the twin wheel sets, I also transferred the wheel set contour under the side wall onto Balsa wood (2 mm),







and roughly sawed them out just as laboriously with a mini saw.





After that I have as a 2nd Wheel variant punched out small round blanks (Ø 7 mm) from cardboard (1 mm) with a hole punch and glued them together, which is easier to do than the Balsa carving.

For a more accurate prototype, I also punched round blanks out of Styrene (2 mm), which was quite an ordeal and therefore cannot be used for series production.



These twin wheel sets are provisionally placed on the holder, which looks too unrealistic to me, since this holder should already have a certain ground clearance.

[spacerunner]

So I shortened the lower part of the holder a bit so that the wheel sets protrude a little bit,



which I like already better.



And so I would try it now with twin wheel sets on both sides of the holder to see how it looks then.