1:16 Space Shuttle flight deck

blake7

Well-Known Member
I use jing for a lot of things including this screen grab of a PDO, which I put in a WORD 2007 beside my picture of a build I am working on. I then did a screen grab of both side by side, so that people can see how far I am, and how far I still have to go before I finish.

2016-07-15_1635.png

But you are right! That is one heck of a zoom function!
 

zathros

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I'm still considering which mission to choose for my cockpit.
I think I'll decide for the STS134, with the Endeavour. That was one of the last missions (the second-last) and the last one to have an italian astronaut on board (Roberto Vittori). I've found several images taken inside the Endeavour during that mission so I think I can have enough documentation to help my build.
View attachment 152789
Roberto Vittori on the pilot seat aboard Endeavour during STS134.


Tonino, remember that there is an inner and outer surface, so feel free to re-enforce that area, as it will not be visible, but leave room to simulate the thickness of the glass, you will probably need two pieces per window as the glass is ship, and the double Hull is something too many designers leave out. I would recommend building each window as separate assemblies,as in this size, they will be most noticeable.

I had to insert the images as for some reason I could not upload any?!?

Looking at this photo,you can get an idea of the thickness by the bulkheads on the outer shell being mated to the inner crew compartment.

S5000227-Mating_of_fuselage_and_crew_compartment,_OV-105-SPL.jpg


orbiter2.jpg


structure_sts_sm.jpg




tmp3C10_thumb_thumb.jpg
 

Nando

Designer Extraordinaire
I agree that the crew compartment is a separated structure from the rest of the Orbiter frame, simply because it is the only sealed part of the ship, maintaining the pressurized atmosphere needed for the human breathing beings.
Here some pics of the crew compartment during its assembly with the Orbiter structure.

space-shuttle-atlantis-construction-crew-module2.jpg

BI232097.jpg

space-shuttle-atlantis-construction-attaching-crew-module.jpg
ku-xlarge.jpg


About the second picture (first drawing) you posted, I think is not properly the Orbiter we know.
Here You can see that it's a earlier version dating at 1972, that differs from the final version in having a different shape of the fuselage and also an air-breathing propulsion system.
Tonino, I'm sure you can go ahead and complete this challenging project. For sure there are many way to design the interior, but the big scale that you choose adds more difficulties, requesting a major attention to the details.
My encouragements and compliments, Nando
PS: interesting bag for the tools ;)
 

Nando

Designer Extraordinaire
More about thickness.
The windshields are thick and double in the Orbiter.
This is given for the different challenges the interior and exterior part have to withstand.
The interior have to maintain the pressure and the temperature that the astronauts need.
The exteriors need to withstand the pressure and the heat of the reentry and the shots of the micro-meteorites and space junks.
In the pics below you can see the difference between the interior (thiner) seal and the exterior one (ticker ).

8hedBCA.jpg

KSC-00PP-0990.jpg


Only the rear windows, facing in the payload bay, are simple (thiner) because they haven't to face the reentry challenge.

Solar-panels-on-the-Hubble-Space-Telescope-make-for-some-unique-window-shades-in-this-scene-photographed-from-the-flight-deck-of-the-Earth-orbiting-Space-Shuttle-Atlantis-2009.jpg


Here you can read that "In 54 missions from STS-50 through STS-114, space junk and meteoroids hit the Shuttle’s windows 1,634 times necessitating 92 window replacements."
A menace that you haven't to underestimate, and Thales Alenia Space, here in my town, didn't underestimate it with the Cupola.

Best, Nando :)

shuttle15.jpg
 

zathros

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Sharp eyes Nando!! I always like when you chime in on a thread as I know good info is coming. I was trying to stress the thickness. Those foil looking sheets are for X-Rays, and other types of rays that could seriously injure the crew. The thickness of the glass has almost been compromised by some pretty hard hits. It's this thickness which will allow for a very solid model to be build, and give it the "meaty" look it deserves. :)
 
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Tonino

Well-Known Member
Note: this post lacks its images due to temporary site problems. As soon as possible I'll edit it to add the figures. I hope you can equally understand my questions...

Edit - 02 august: finally I've managed to upload pictures... now I wait for your feedback!

Thanks @zathros and @Nando beautiful images! I didn't see any of them before.
Especially the first one with the coupling of cabin and external structure is very close to the operation that I'm planning to do with my actual model.
In the close up images of the front windows is evident the existence of two concentric hulls as the inner windows edges doesn't match with the outer.

Now I have a question for you shuttle experts:

those pieces, simple quadrangolar panels, provided with the original model
window.jpg
are clearly supposed to reproduce this particular object
sts-128-kevin-ford-discovery-windows.jpg
I cannot figure what is the exact appearance of this thing seen from inside.

Is the same object as this sort of curtain?
tendine.jpg
So this is a soft tissue curtain (as it seems to be from inside) or a hard, rigid panel (as it seems to be from outside)? Or a combination of both? Or the objects I'm referring to are two different and distinct things?

One more request: do any of you have a good Shuttle diagram or blueprint with a detailed cross section in longitudinal direction? (in anatomy we should say "sagittal section") to start defining a good "cutting plane" for my flight deck model? (I want to set a cutting plane just under the cabin floor and see where it encounters the external "nose" surface...)
 
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Nando

Designer Extraordinaire
Here a lot of original NASA drawings from the "Shuttle Operational Data Book".
Someone could be useful, all are interesting.
Best, Nando :)
 

zathros

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The framing was made from Beryllium, a thing that has ruined my lungs!

Let me know if these two .pdf's will help. :)
 

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Tonino

Well-Known Member
Thanks @zathros , very nice reference material. All the images can be very useful, although I've already seen some of them as they are included in the "Shuttle Operational Data Book" linked by @Nando in the post #32 above.
But the last one, particularly, is very, VERY interesting! That is exactly the section I was searching for. It clearly shows that a line running under the flight deck floor intercepts the avionics bulkhead in its very upper edge. So, after all, my first sketch can be very close to what the finished model will be actually. Where is this drawing from? Do you have any other picture from this source?
 

zathros

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I can't remember where I got that, but this .pdf, "28-a" shows the wire bus. The computer housing for the shuttle is a structural piece, not some case like a home P.C. Everything must be able to be accessed from the inside. If you look at this pic closely , you will see the bus termination points, and where they hook up to the computer/control system, and you will see that not onl does that floor line go through, but it is structurally attached the computer housing, which is probably at least an inch thick, and this forms the structural section of those nose. The floor framing, the cabin bulkheads, all of these end up with their center structure connected to the computer case structure. The neck bone is connected to the head bone, and so on.........:)

.pdf 2-2e" shows this even better. You should be able to scale the one drawing over the other and see what I mean, like this (the pics don't line up perfectly, but that is not necessary to show the relation o the circuit bus through the nose section terminating to the computer. The curves let you know where the solid areas are, everything must be accessible from the inside):

N1.jpg N2.jpg N3.jpg
 

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Tonino

Well-Known Member
Hi guys! I'm back to work after summer vacations! I've just concluded test build of internal structures. In the meantime I've started also the BIG redesign work on the instrument panels, I'll post some preview soon.
Here is what I've done recently.

Please excuse the bad quality of those photos. I'm experiencing some kind of (electrical? magnetic? radio?) interference that causes big horizontal bands to appear on the LCD screen and in the actual pictures. I don't know where they are originated... I'm still investigating...

IMG_20160912_170921.jpg IMG_20160912_170944.jpg
The pilot seat is just a rough shape, basically correct but it needs big improvements (and I've just started thinking about....) The joystick and his base will receive same treatment obviously. The control box behind the seat should not be sitting on the floor but is to be fixed on the lower backside... well, lot of work to do here around...

IMG_20160912_171008.jpg IMG_20160912_171038.jpg
The HUD structure is another piece of work to be redone from scratch. At least lateral mounts. The various switch boxes can be saved cause they are just basic shapes. A good re-texturing will be enough.

IMG_20160912_171102.jpg
All the remaining aft details was added. I'll not talk about the joysticks that was good for the little scale but not acceptable in this one. Camera monitors on the right have a strange shape to keep them in the correct angle but that's not their real appearance so will need some redrawing. Other shapes are good (they are only simple boxes, I'll just have to check their dimensions and relative proportions...)

IMG_20160912_172116.jpg
The seat in place. Dimensions seem to be pretty correct except for the Joystick box... Perhaps also the headrest is just a little too "tall and thin"...

IMG_20160912_172127.jpg

IMG_20160912_172152.jpg
Other views of the pilot seat in place...

Now I'll have to start the conversion work (enlargement) on the parts needed to build external walls of the front fuselage. This won't be an easy task, I should think about how to cut the parts and let them find a place in A4 pages... See you soon: I'll be back in a flash! ;)
 

Nando

Designer Extraordinaire
Welcome back Tonino! Reading your plan, it seems to me that every part you are reworking is a project by itself. I'll follow your progress with interest, because i'm sure that the final result will be astonishing.
Best, Nando :)
 
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