It is

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horten_Ho_229

 

Where the hell did they find that????

Guns, got some goodies headed your way. Im going to send it to the school if that is ok.

Sounds good.  

Thank you!

Looks like an Ho 229 to me too!

Hey Guns, are those OSHA approved chairs that your students are standing on? Hate to have you fined for allowing it.............

The tennis balls on the feet automatically make them osha approved.  

 
They are restoring it now. There are some great videos on YouTube about it. That thing is amazing considering when it was built.

 
It was captured in a hanger when the allies overtook the area. It was boxed up and sent back to the US.

The front edge of these fairings look a little off.  although, they are relatively close.

these are some great pictures of the main thrusters, as well as the orbital thrusters

Hopefully once we get down to some of the details we can get them adjusted a bit.

your airbrush equipment up to the task?

looks like a entire semester would get burned up in the details

I think I know where we went wrong.   Kids weren't happy about a rework, but I think I've got most of it figured out.    The curved edge around the corner might have to wait for details, but the front edge was too high.   They look better with it lower, they will just need more of that detail trimming to make them mate up with the doors correctly.


Taking the cowlings off allows us to finish the burlap without having to flip the bird another time.   That is one plus.  

Let's hope it goes faster than that.  

We've got a few brushes and a new portable compressor.  Principal was good to me last year.  

Update 10/24

Cowling rework.  

We are going to lower the front edge, then detail around them to make them blend in correctly.  We hope.




Cargo doors are back on for correcting the cowlings as well as adding more thermal blankets.  The front wing edges are also almost complete.  


The new reference photos are coming in handy for the cowlings.  We have a couple spots that needed adjusted.  

Lots of kids sick today so we had a half crew.

You might need to run a night shift to get all those tiles glued on; no worries, by now most of 'em already have their height.  

Going out tomorrow along with an ACE HW gift card!




Ill PM you tracking info after its shipped tomorrow morning.

Wow!  Thank you!!!!!  We will definitely put all that to good use.  Incredible generosity!

I thought the nitrile gloves might come in handy as you get closer to the gluing of tiles!

We go through a BUNCH of  rubber gloves every year.  

If not all during this project, taxidermy will eat up the rest.  

Thank you, again.  

Update 10/25

We think we found a hood ornament for the shuttle.....

]

This here, is a lesson in how things done a second time doesn't always guarantee success.  Or, even 6 times.  The other wing edge looks great after the first time.  Matching it took 6 times.  




Skin is closer to being done.  We've discussed starting the tiles on the wings. Basic details have started.  Fine details are a ways off.  

Coming along nicely.

you guys are doing amazing work

I wanted to see how we were doing compared to last year, so I found the 10/26/15 update

It seems we are doing ok.  We hadn't even started skinning the stern section of the sub by this time.


http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1781084_ALARM___U_Boat_Type_VIIC_1_8th_scale_class_project_2015_16Update_8_22_Blue_Stripe_pg56.html&page=19

Is it just me or do the leading edges look a little sharp compared to these photos of Discovery and Atlantis in orbit?



Hi-Res 3032x2000 Original



Hi-Res 2560x1600 Original

They started yesterday overlapping a watercolor paper on the leading edge.  You can see about 3 pieces just off the back of the right wing tip.  We are hoping to blend the edge more.  At the front, there is a pretty decent edge to the wing.  We noticed it from the close up photos of the shuttles on display in the museums.


ETA: I will also warn everyone, we won't get them perfect.     That curve, without having the material crease, is proving to be very difficult.  I've got a few other tricks we will try to mitigate the edge a bit, but I know it will be more prominent than the real one.

From now on guns, when we post high resolution profile shots such as E-95s, we expect you to post an exactly similar profile picture of your model for us to critique to hell and back.  It's the only way to be sure you are doing everything right from our peanut gallery chairs.

Seriously, the photos you folks are posting are very, very helpful!!!   The different angles of the same area are extremely valuable.  

The constructive criticism is very welcome, and needed.    

Can you use the expanding spray foam for the front of the wings and then carve them to the correct shape???

Update 10/26

Today started off well, seemed to make continual progress, then utterly failed all over he place.


It started out well with a very difficult task taken on by an excellent student.  

He had to cut out the wooden ribs and even part of the main keel/contour frame of the shuttle.  We need the cut out for the thrust ports on the nose of the shuttle.

We used a Dremel with a cutting bit.  It sounded like a bad day at the dentist for most of first hour.  I did not make friends with other teachers this morning.  I heard at least one door slam.  






We didn't start any fires, and the structure held together.  That was the good part of the day.

This happy child ended up not happy, because after lots of work on the second bell, I discarded both and started them again.    The bells are not narrow enough, so this afternoon, we took the frame apart and cut the end down to only 5" instead of close to 8".  

The texture looks a little rough, but I think with some caulking, and details, they will be fine.  The shape is what really needed fixed.    The new pictures really helped us nail down the true shape.



I spent another $75 dollars today for a T 50 stapler, thanks for the suggestion, trim for the doors, more screws, and another sheet of 7/16ths for the satellite.

Bad news is, after my bad judgement, we have to redo the trim again, and I need to go buy new pieces as these are wrecked.    They ended up too narrow to close the gap.    They did fine in some spots, but we're short in two spots.  Taking them off ruined them.



All this effort and we had to rip it off.



Students working a plan to finish around the cowlings.  Seems to be going well.  



For the wing edges, it seems to be going well.  I love the idea of using spray foam.  We might try that tomorrow for the difficult front edge.




The wing edge finishing up.  It looks pretty good.



Finally, tiles.

We started on the left wing to see how they would go.  Not well.  We got around a square foot done and I scraped them all off this afternoon.  We will do them again, and try for a better result.  I realize it will not be visible, but it just looked too messy.  I'm hoping with better instruction, and a better plan, the kids can be more successful .    I hope it works.

Bag full of tiles



Tomorrow will be a better day.

+$75.00 T 50 stapler, door trim, screws, and a 7/16ths sheet of chip board for the satellite.

--------------------
$772.00 sub total for the project.

The best way to build those engine cones would be too get someone to weld them from wire, and then fill in the inside with your paper product.


Alternately, you could probably use the bendable copper tubing along with some tees and fittings,  to make the cooling tubes


 

Wanted to give credit for this idea.     I like it.  We might try this today.

I forgot the funny part of the day yesterday in my update.  My lead student on this project is a pretty funny kid.  He gives me shit when I get too grumpy and always asks if I need a Snickers.  I of course ask him the same when he gets ranting about work on the shuttle not going well.

Yesterday he got ranting about the wing edge as he was working, and I reached in my pocket and pulled out a snickers bar and threw it to him, saying "you seem to need a snickers." This was in front of 8 other students.  Everyone laughed,  and I passed out snickers to the rest of the class too. My wife went and bought a bag on her day off for me and delivered them .

When we get to the tubing, we might try straws.  

I recently helped my sixth grader with his ocean floor model project.  I had used expanded foam extensively on a prior project with my oldest son.  

This time I used floral foam which is denser, more uniform and phenomenally easier to contour.  

The downside was how brittle it was when handled.  To mitigate that, I used Flex Seal (as seen on TV) to spray the entire part before painting it.  This made it as rigid as Styrofoam and a lot more forgiving when handled.  

I wish I had pics, but I forget to snag one before he took it to school.  He later told me the science teacher was keeping it to put on display.

Not sure where you could apply this concept on this project, but just an idea.  I think the expanding foam is a lot sturdier for the wing area considering it would likely be bumped periodically while the kids are working on the project.  The only downside being the air bubble pockets needing to be filled.  Maybe Bondo to fill after contouring?

The shuttle looks fantastic so far.  Those kids are doing great.

I call  


You mean the bars with "Gasp" peanuts!!! What is your school going to.  You let students use sharp objects, kill and then handle the dead animals all while eating peanuts??

Aint no school going to let that kind of stuff fly.

It's a conspiracy to make us believe there is sanity out there in Wyoming I tell you!!



EBR

Can you get those compound funky edges reproduced digitally? I can 3D print you the most complex of those parts out of ABS plastic. The printer doesn't care how complex the shape is, it does the job.

My limits are 7.5" x 7.5" x 8" - it's better to design smaller parts and assemble them after printing.

Let me know if I can help!

I'm still waiting for my curiosity rover

We might have to label this whole week, "Concept Failure Week, CFW".    

Update 10/27

With the failure of the door molding to work yesterday, and it's destruction getting it off, I purchased three more pieces today to try again.   I used my personal money this time...don't tell my wife.   It was my mistake yesterday to glue them, so I replaced them.    And..........  we couldn't make them work.   Just too stiff  and they don't flex enough to make the doors close properly.  We tried 3 different ways, and all failed.

Good news is we have a plan...again.      Bad news is, it doesn't involve the door strips.



The wing edge coming along.  We went ahead and added a little foam in the gaps as they put some of the last few pieces on.  Hopefully, it will help keep the structure more secure and not dent too easily.







I'm not sure what this is or isn't going to be.    We covered the sturcture with watercolor paper, now are adding the "piping".    I figured at this point we will finish it, and see how bad it looks before we start over.  I had little hope for it this morning, but by this afternoon, it may just work out.   We will see what it looks like with paint.   Can't hurt.

Nice.

That sure as hell looks like an SSME to me!  Looking great Guns!

I bought it on your suggestion.

Works very well.  Too well.   We had to pull a bunch of staples over the last few days.

We will see how it takes the paint.  Hopefully it doesn't end up as the 5th cast away prototype.  Haha.