Space Tug
MODEL DOWNLOAD
Difficulty Level : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Publisher: TinPAPER http://www.tinpaper.net
Model Designer: Joseph A Golden
Cost: Free
I have always been a fan of the old Wliiy Ley Space Taxi model - that's why you'll find a paper model of it on the home page of this site.
After creating that version, I wanted to design one that was more moden in concept and adressed a couple of the shortcomings and odd things about the original space Taxi design.
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An apparent shortcomming on the original is the placement of the propulsion thrusters and the access hatches. it didn't seem proper to have to climb through that tight cage and over the thruster nozzle to get in and out. A tricky and potentially dangerous move. Another problem was the original design only offered propulsion in two directions - forward and reverse. What about turning? I've added thrusters for pitch, roll and yaw. Also have removed the hatches from the ends as well.
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The cupola on the original was nice with that full wrap around window, but it seemed like a structural weak point. I've changed that by changing to multiple viewports with stantions in between. Also, the glass is noww mirrored.
The cargo bay had some issues as well. The opening was rather small and therefore could be easily damaged by cargo handling. I have enlarged the payload bay doors and moved the location so any operations can easily be viewed through the cupola windows or by the windows i nthe new designed bulkhead that also has a hatch in it for direct access to the payload bay.
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The original models cargo bay had a flat floor and the materials were held down with ta net (!). I've added some lattice-work to the floor of the new design to be used with tie-downs. Not the ultimate solution but I ran out of steam.
The end cages have also been shortened and straightened. The fore and aft thrusters are now designed more along the lines of traditional propulsion rockets/jets.
I really can't review my own model. I'm very happy with it (of course!). It is easy to build, I think more so than my paper model of the oiginal Space Taxi.
I am certainly not an engineer of any sort and do not offer any disrespect to the great design by Willy Ley. These changes are just basic observations, and I've had the benefit of being able to think about them for 30-plus years AFTER building a plastic model kit of the Space Taxi. That's surely a whole lot more time than WL had to work with from concept idea to kit.
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