Building the Jupiter 2 by Jim Piszar part 2
Back to part 1
No twin love seats in my Jupiter 2. I used an X-Acto saw to carefully cut the seats to size. Then laying the saw blade flat against the floor, I removed the unwanted sections. The resulting hole in the floor was backed from below with a small piece of plastic and filled with modelers putty.
For the flight deck control panels, I used images from the Alpha Control Technical Manual which were scanned and then colored using a paint program. I am not the artist that Ron is so I did not even try to do this by hand. Please note, when I photographed and scanned this image, the colors did not duplicate as exactly as the original.
I’m sorry about the quality of this image. It was very difficult to photograph let alone scan and E-mail. The colored image of the control panel was reduced in size onto a piece of transparent film using a color copier. The molded flight control panels of detail #9, upper floor, will be cut out and then replaced with this film. The panels will then be backlit from below. To enhance the color of these details, I will overlay two images of the same panel and secure together using double faced tape.
Here is the flight deck being prepared for the control decals. The molded panels were removed by drilling a hole in the center of each and then using a flat file to remove the material. The panel decals will be attached using double sided tape and lit from underneath. The bottom of the deck will be painted so light does not show through the plastic.
Here is my solution to the elevator tube (cage). First, I removed the upper disk from the assembled tube with a dremel tool. Be very careful not to nick the sides of the tube. Excess material can be removed with a round file if necessary. Next, remove three sections from the front of the cage with your trusty X-Acto saw making sure to leave the vertical rail portions in tact. This will give the appearance that the gate is closed. Next, since the cage is not supposed to form a complete circle, remove the entire back section. Finally, paint per the instructions provided.
Now for the fun part. To complete the elevator, a back wall must be constructed. Since I am not building the lower deck, there is a good supply of plastic to do this from. I first found a panel that was the same height as the cage and carefully heated it until it was soft. Using a metal tube, I formed it into a curve that matched the cage. After trimming the new panel to size, I glued it to the back area of the cage that had been previously removed. Next, I cut small panels to complete the left and right side of the new wall.
Also seen in this photo is the ladder opening to the lower deck. This was done by drilling a hole in the floor and then filing it to the correct size. After the hole is cut, use more lower deck plastic to frame it giving the floor a thicker appearance. I will glue lower deck panel #45 in place so the ladder will extend down to the floor
I decided to use the freezing tubes provided with the kit and since I don’t recall the tubes ever being closed when not in use, I built them in the open position. I did this by assembling the tube halves and cutting the front section off just under the upper disk. After the front portion was removed, I snipped the locating pins off and glued the disk halves together.
After gluing the upper disk halves together, fill the assembly gap with putty and sand smooth prior to painting.
For what I call the inertial guidance system ball (I’m not sure if that is what it’s really called), I simply used a small red bead glued to a push pin. After removing the panel where this instrument belongs, I built a box out of sheet plastic which will be painted black on the interior.
This picture shows the completed freezing tubes. The cryogenic mechanism was built using small oval shaped beads threaded onto a pipe cleaner. I used the flexible portion of a juice box straw to make the hoses. The pipe cleaner ends were fed through small holes drilled into the lower deck and rear panels.
The plasma tubes were cut from a 1/8″ dia. clear plastic rod purchased at my local hobby shop. For the base and the cap, I wound transparent tape around the ends of the rod and then painted them silver.
On to part 3
