SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS WITH LAUNCH PLATFORM. 1/60 SCALE.
After completion of the 1/60
scale Saturn V for the Chappy's,
I reckoned that the Space Shuttle at the same scale would really look
great in their space display as well... and I do love a challenge.
I found 3D printer files on the NASA website and went about scaling them up and adding several mods to them.
The main tank I made with
poly-carbonate plastic wrapped around some 3D printed braces and the
rest made on the printer.
The SRBs have printed tops and bottoms with 60mm OD PVC tube in the gap.
The orbiter was split into
several pieces to fit the 3D printer platen and glued together with
numerous tabs and braces.
More rings and custom parts and the stack is coming together.
A bit of putty fill was needed to make the curves nice and smooth.
Most of the other parts are
printed awaiting paint.
The platform I again made from wood the same as for the Saturn V... its
much more cost effective.
For this model I opted for the
stands rather than the crawler tracks under the platform... something a
bit different.
The orbiter needed a fair bit of bog to smooth out some printing
ripples.
I had to learn how to bend pipes
and several other little tricks in the 3D CAD program for the water
system around the SRB pits
and many other parts. The orbiter is now taking shape nicely.
A coat of undercoat/primer and
its looking good.
I love this front-on shot of the
orbiter. 
The extra levels and stairs on
the front of the platform.
Some detail painting on the
orbiter. 
The underside is nice and
smooth now.
The platform painted with piping
and service domes. 
More markings and some of the
stickers, again from our friendly local sign shop in Mudgee (Image Signs
in Gladstone St.).
I wasn't really happy with the first attempt at the windows and they
were not usable again, so I cut them out again from 1mm thick plastic
sheet and painted the back of them before gluing on.
All the extra bits coming
together.
The finished model. 
Well... almost finished! After
setting the platform on the ground it seemed to lack presence.
I decided to add some height to the model with some box platforms to
mimic the flame trench under the launch platform.
The flame trench with deflector
walls and extra water pipes.
Me and the new baby. 
A close up of the stack.
A view from above.
The finished model after 210+
hours construction spread over 10 weeks. 
Atlantis joins big brother
Saturn at Chappy's.
A few more of my 3D printing efforts:
1/60 scale Saturn V on platform with tower and gantries
Sci-fi models, other Rockets and Telescope model series
