The lower outrigger trusses on Eagle where covered with 2-mil VDAL kapton with a layer of Clear 5-mil Kapton. I do not have any clear 5-mil Kapton (exept for a small reference piece that Vincent so gratiously sent me) So I have to cheat a little. I covered the trusses in 1/2 mil kapton (because it crimples better) and then i used a combination of some colored theater lighting film and kapton tape to get the desired color of the struts.
The upper trusses have a primary coating of 1/2-mil VDAL kapton and then three cuffs made out of pyromark painted inconel foil wrapped over that. I used some of my 1/2 mil VDAL kapton and some blackwrap for the cuffs.
The left strut only has its initial 1/2 mil kapton layer applied so far. hoping to get that fixed tonight.
I have made a bit of a blueprint for the blackwrap bits but this time it was not done on the computer. …the old pen and paper… will scan and put it with the others.
Added the last blackwrap on quadrant 2. I also added the Beta-cloth around the ascent stage attachment points. As Beta-Cloth I used the completely faded care instructions from an old over-washed pair of boxers because that was the only white synthetic fabric I could find around the house. 🙂
Could not resist taking a few pictures with the one finished leg attached.
Outrigger strut assembly coating is the next step.
If anyone have good references of the outrigger ventilation flange thingy on the top struts I would be grateful if I could have a look!
The quadrant top caps are relatively straightforward to assemble. The great thing with blackwrap is that it easily can be detailed by pressing a tooltip against it. I created a bit of a ribbed pattern with a screwdriver on the extruded thresholds on each side of the nickel foil.
Quadrant 3 have a couple of interesting details that took a little extra time to manufacture. I made the square protrusions by simply wrapping 1milimeter styrene squares in blackwrap and gluing in place. Rivets made with ballpoint pen.
Does anyone know what the two squares on quad 3 are for?
A couple of aluminum takeaway trays have found a new life masquerading as nickel foil on the top of the descent stage. Cutting the aluminum with my Exacto knife turned out to be a little tricky. The blade lost a lot of it’s sharpness almost immediately so I had to be careful not to cut it unevenly. A few failed pieces had to be scrapped.
The rivets are made by denting the blackwrap with a ballpoint pen and then gently scraping of the black paint on the bumps. by resting the knife on the tape next to the bumps I could ensure that i did not scratch the rest of the blackwrap.
Behind the blackwrap i usually tape on some crumpled pieces of blackwrap to make the surface a little more uneven.
Finished the kapton coating of the bottom of the descent stage. The 5 mil kapton is hard to shape but I’m almost getting the hang of it now…maybe It will be perfect next time I build an LM… J-series perhaps…
The 5 mil Kapton foil is a beast to handle. Very stiff and hard to shape. It was a bit of work to bend it into a nice shape and getting it to stay that way. I’m not 100% happy with the result.
I think I need to come up with some clever solution to this…
