NASA Shuttle Atlantis (by paper-replika)

[gogu13]

After a long week, filled with social commitments, and after a Saturday away from home, Sunday finally came with some free time.

I started with the SRBs and soon found out that they should be built from the top and going down, as one of the pieces is conical so it needs to be glued before closing.

 

[gogu13]

I discovered that the upper (conical) piece of the SRBs are not fully closed so i glued a piece of paper to close it.
I also discovered that i glued the very end piece of the SRBs on the wrong side, so i added another paper layer to hide the markings.
And so, both SRBs are finished.

 

[gogu13]

I reprinted the main tank and chose to only redo the main cylindrical section and keep the upper and bottom pieces.
As you'll see later, the seams on the upper side did not align as well as they did on the 1st try, mainly due to cutting/pulling the paper while trying to remove the old gluing tabs.
Also, i prepared the supports connecting the shuttle and the SRB, and the beams holding the SRBs and the main tank together.

 

[gogu13]

And glued all tanks together.

And here's the shuttle next to the tank+SRBs assembly

 

[gogu13]

And the shuttle mounted on the tank+SRBs assembly

 

[gogu13]

The stand - i know the 2 lateral (grey) elements look a bit crooked, but i straightened them after taking the pics, as the glue was still liquid.
I filled both base parts with a ton of cardboard to give them strength. I realized this was needed before closing each piece and i'm glad i realized it at this point as the base parts don't seem to be able to hold the weight of the assembled model.

 

[gogu13]

And the final, assembled model on its base.
Unfortunately, after assembling everything, i remembered Revell-Fan's suggestion to repair the drooped wings. I wanted to (at the time of reading his comments), but when i resumed working on the model a couple of days later, i totally forgot

I hope you enjoyed this as much as i did and excuse the building/aesthetic mistakes.

Have a great one!

 

[Chuffy70]

A good build throughout and always good to see warts and all.

We all learn from mistakes, but with paper these can be simply rectified.

A solid looking model, now you just need to build the rest of the fleet

 

[Rhaven Blaack]

You did a GREAT JOB on this project!

 

[mijob]

You have done a great job. Thank you for your comments and thoughts during your build.

 

[Revell-Fan]

It does not look too bad though. Great to see that you have reprinted the tank. The model looks very nice!

 

[gogu13]

Thank you all for your kind words!!

 

[gogu13]

It does not look too bad though. Great to see that you have reprinted the tank. The model looks very nice!

Tbh, in natural light, the model looks better, and the flaws are not so obvious

 

[Revell-Fan]

I can barely see them in the pictures, no kidding. The mounting hides a lot. Very well done.