Probably only about 2500 miles Pete. He could load it onto the SR-71 and have it there in about 1.5 hours.
Last week involved fam reunion, and this week was partially spent on a completely different family event. We traveled to SC, and had the honor of witnessing our middle daughter graduate with a thousand other new US Army soldiers at Fort Jackson.
Family day (Wednesday) ceremony, presenting the new soldiers.
Graduation day (Thursday), with the new soldiers being reviewed to the approving higher-ups.
I don’t want to publicly post anything specific, but I can guarantee that my beautiful daughter was in there, and strongly succeeded in this brutal 10-week training. And we’re so proud of her.
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Thank her for me for taking up challenge Hoo Rah 
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Thanks David, I will.
Pete, thanks for your suggestions. BTW, the model sections will be shipped in individual cases. These will be surrounded by foam rubber, and set in an outer case for shipping.
Work on the model’s cover progressed today, starting with notching and drilling the three main polycarb panels. Here’s the end pieces.
These will be screwed to interior plywood panels… the black finish of which, after numerous coats and sandings, sucks. So I changed course, and am going to put the black vinyl on those interior plywood parts, and leave the outer polycarb clear and free of vinyl. This is because:
- Kiddies picking at it (as Jon pointed out, thanks Jon)
- Outer cleaning / dusting would cause exterior vinyl to peel up (the main thing that hit me tiday)
- I didn’t want any knife marks on the PC due to the vinyl cutting
But, that inner plywood was all crappy and bumpy; the vinyl showed every molecule of squirrel dander that blew into the garage while the paint dried.
So, back to sanding.
I forgot to wear a mask, so I probably have black lung now.
The good news is that the ceiling assembly went (eventually) well.
More tomorrow…
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What’s the gauge of that sand train?
Hi Ray, it’s .06"
Regarding the graphics in the surrounding display panels, I received markups from the main historian there (Dan Webster), a very good friend. This evening I’ve folded in his comments into the text of the graphics, and will hopefully start printing them tomorrow.
Here’s an example. There are 8 of these sheets. The upper intro paragraphs will always be lit. The larger panels will light up when the pushbutton (located near the #number is) is pressed.
LED’s in the model will light up correspondingly.
I’m very relieved to have found a good printing medium for color laser prints:
It prints super-crisp, no streaking. Unfortunately, the ink rubs off very easily. However, drum roll, a couple light sprays of Krylon Colormax clear preserves all, and doesn’t bleed or haze anything (when sprayed indoors, and low humidity at least).
This week I’ll be dealing with these prints and their installation into the consoles. Also trying to manage the cover construction, which, though very flawed, seems to be slogging along.
Cheers,
Cliff
Will these then be under glass when in place ?
Marching out of the smoke was awesome! Huzzah to you and to your daughter! As long as we have volunteers, the Republic is in good hands!
My heartfelt thanks to your daughter for taking up the watch!
Eric
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Hollywood, they’ll be under a piece of plex, supposedly ok for framed pictures. We’ll see how long it takes to scratch them up…
The reason I needed to “fix” the ink on the transparency is that it smudged even in handling. Even light sliding / abrasion against the plex lens was scratching it. I was concerned that everything would be blurred after shipping, but I feel better now with the Krylon clearcoat.
Thanks Eric! Yeah, when they finally emerged it was really a thrill for me. And judging from the 3,000+ family members and friends going ape, I wasn’t alone. 
The cover subassemblies are going ok, more on that this weekend hopefully.
After finalizing the content (and I’m grateful to historian Dan Webster for helping my with this), yesterday I was able to finish the graphics. Today I printed, clear-coated and cut them out. So at long last, the consoles are getting completed, yay!
Empty (mostly) boxes:
With diffusers and a light check:
Adding the graphics:
And outer lenses:
And finally the bezels:
That last pick doesn’t have the screws in yet, because I just found that they and the washers are oily. So I’m giving them an alcohol bath and will install when dry.
Here’s an almost-complete station.
Cheers,
Cliff
Edit: I got the screws in. I wanted hex heads, but switched to torx button heads for some reason, maybe at some point I thought they’d be more tamper-proof.
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Gheeze Cliff, this whole project has been and is just amazing. Very professional results.
You should be very proud of your efforts.
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Amazing work all around. Love the consoles!
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Rick, that means a lot, coming from you. I’m not quite at the proud point though, I suppose that will be after it’s all assembled and working on the other side of the country. But you’ve given me a good star to aim for, if that makes sense. So thanks, very much appreciated!
Thanks very much Jon, I’m glad you like them. With all the scraps you’ve given to me over the years, I’m sure there is a good bit of Radder somewhere in those assemblies. 
Cliff your thought and attention to the obscure finer details made you the perfect person to make this happen.
Words like amazing are not enough the museum will be so proud to have this exhibit
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Thanks Pete, I really appreciate it!
Cliff,
Modesty is a great virtue but when ya done good ya gotta fess up
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Rick, the word professional was exactly what came to mind as I read Cliff’s last post too.
The detail and finish are what you’d expect from a high end shop, and are a testament to you Cliff. Boy, that museum is lucky to have you on board and so engaged. 
Cheers
N
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