Scratchbuilding the Dove part 1

PART 1 -- AN INTRODUCTION

Around 1969 the Gerry Anderson movie, Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun was released to American theaters. Featured in that film was an intriguing spaceship design, the DOVE, a single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) two-man, lifting body shaped craft intended to ferry a crew between a planets surface and an orbiting mother vehicle.

From a practical engineering point of view this craft (as most of the hardware that has appeared in Anderson productions) made sense. The DOVE made use  of rocket motors and air-breathing engines, it was shaped to be maneuverable and survive the stresses and heat encountered during reentry into a planets thick atmosphere - and it just looked so damn NEAT!

When considering a subject to model for fun I ask a very simple question: Would a 'real' version of this vehicle, if built with our technology - the state-of-the-art as it stands today - would that vehicle operate as intended, even if at a somewhat reduced capability? Is the design fundamentally practical?

If the answer is yes, and I'm drawn to the aesthetics of the vehicle, then I 'm inclined to build a model of it.

SUPERCAR passes the test. If you kept it out of the water. So would the LUNA (the NERVA engine work realized a practical flight-ready nuclear rocket motor by the early 70's!). The SEAVIEW works as a model (many r/c models of this fictitious submarine patrol ponds throughout the world). The FLYING-SUB is also a good candidate. If you kept it in the water.

Basically, if a candidate vehicle design is intended to travel in  space yet does not have one or more rocket engine nozzles then I won't bother building it for my display model collection. Star Trek vehicles are not practical flying machines. I would only build a model of one if someone paid me. The 1701 and its kind have more in common with Aladdin's Carpet -  they both rely on magic to fly!

If we built a DOVE today as a practical flying machine, it would FLY. Lifting bodies were flying in the early 60's!

If we built a 1701 ENTERPRISE today, it would sit there, looking STUPID! Any practical warp engines out there, fellow space-cadets?

The above two paragraphs defines the 'why' of the subjects I choose to
model.

This series of discussions will be written as work progresses on my model of the DOVE; you will get my commentary fresh, shortly on the heels of the actual accomplishments. I'll tell you what worked, and what did not work and what was done to overcome building difficulties.

There are three major categories of tasks that present themselves to a competent Model Builder: methodology, materials choice, and technique choice. It is the

correct selection of tasks and the masterful execution of those many tasks that contribute to the creation of an award-wining model.

I'll break down the specifics of each task category:

Methodology   The establishment an order of steps. The Model Builder decide on a subject; we gather documentation; breaks the project down to a collection of sub-assemblies; then selects the fabrication technique best suited to the special needs of the subassembly to be built.

A carefully thought out methodology would direct the builder through the research/master making/tool making/jig making/part fabrication/assembly/scribing/priming/painting/markings/weathering/display phases of the project. A coherent methodology is demonstrated after the model is built. Did  it go together with the minimum of repeated tasks, and did any task interfere with the accomplishment of another task?.

Materials Choice   A rational methodology defines the shape (and sometimes function) of a model subassembly - will that  master/tool/model part be subjected to significant mechanical stress, heat, or chemical attack (putty, primer and/or paint)? These and other considerations will drive what specific material (substrate) the  object is constructed of. 

Today's model builder has a wide array of substrates from which to form a model (or the masters, tools and jigs used during model part fabrication): dense foams; seasoned woods; fillers; putties; primers and paints; styrene, Acrylic, Lexan, ABS block, sheets, and extruded shapes; epoxy and polyurethane resins; low melt metal alloys; photo resist and acid for  chemical machining; fiberglass and carbon fibers in various weaves. These are just a few of the many materials available to the serious Model Builder.

Technique   Just how do we render to the selected material that specific shape dictated by our documentation? We do so be  selecting and employing the fabrication technique best suited to working the selected material.

Experience gained through experiment will tell you what is the best technique for a given fabrication  task.
 

Some common techniques include, but are not limited to: wood and dense foam layout and carving; Lathe turning; screed'ing; plank-on-frame; bread-and butter laminate; armature/clay; Bondo build-up; tool (mold) making; GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) lay-up; resin and low temperature metal casting; acid etching; decal making; scribing; and other machine tool usage.

That's the introduction.

So, if you don't have your nose too far out of joint, join me for part 2. I'll outline the methodology to the DOVE model construction.