[1.12.5] Bluedog Design Bureau - Stockalike Saturn, Apollo, and more! (v1.14.0 "металл" 30/Sep/2024)

[Pappystein]

21 minutes ago, Socowez said:

I see this word everywhere to refer to a shade of red, but why is this word only used around BDB? did you guys just make up a word for a color? Google only returns KSP stuff

 

In case no one beat me to answering this

It is the same color of red that DylanSemrau uses in his Chrayol mod for the Indian ISRO.

[CobaltWolf]

17 minutes ago, GoldForest said:

And wait... White Ablator? Really? 

It was actually the color and texture of a pencil eraser, but was painted over with several coats of a white "wear layer". Partially for aesthetics, partially because the MA-25S ablative material exploded on contact with liquid oxygen.

[DaveyJ576]

30 minutes ago, CobaltWolf said:

Finally started work on the switches for X-15. Here's the black inconel variant, which will be joining the default blue.

 

And here's the ablative-coated version for X-15A-2, perhaps better known as the 'white X-15'.

There's a lot of work left to do for the ablative version to really nail the look of the real thing, but this is a good start I think.

A small detail, but my copy of Hypersonic noted that there was a different pitot tube affixed to the ablative-coated version. I've included that in the switch. I'll have Rodger look into increasing the thermal tolerances of these part variants; I doubt adding ablative to all the parts would be good in game but might be fun for recreations...

     

These switches aren't available for all parts yet, and as I said the ablative version is subject to further improvements. Things like multiple drop tank paint variants will come later down the line.

 

Excellent! I figured you were working on that. Here is another small part to consider… how about the “eyelid” shutter for the port side wind screen?

[Pappystein]

39 minutes ago, GoldForest said:

It's a reference to Dylansemrau's mod Chrayol Design Org. - ISRO Mod, which adds India's rockets. The Chrayol has a red and white paint scheme. 

Looks great! Great job as always!

And wait... White Ablator? Really? 

Actually the Ablator is PINK and has a White "overcoat" to protect it during the climb up and out.

This picture kinda clearly shows why through the White the seams look "Blackish"

42 minutes ago, CobaltWolf said:

Finally started work on the switches for X-15. Here's the black inconel variant, which will be joining the default blue.

And here's the ablative-coated version for X-15A-2, perhaps better known as the 'white X-15'.

There's a lot of work left to do for the ablative version to really nail the look of the real thing, but this is a good start I think.

 

Both the Inconel and the White variants are looking good.   I can't wait to see their final paint.
 

Also please NO ONE request the Pink color for the X-15.   That material oxidized/off-gassed  (As I recall) enough that it had to be sealed (hence white)    Looking that fact up right now!

*EDIT*  So followup.   NASA's Modern web pages on the X-15 imply that the Pink offended the potential pilots.   However Older NASA documents, including those per-dating the application, state that it was a sealant to prevent moisture from getting in the porous "Pink eraser" like rubberized material.       So take off with a pink X-15... Be missing much of the Pink before the drop.  

Edited July 6 by Pappystein

[CobaltWolf]

16 hours ago, DaveyJ576 said:

Excellent! I figured you were working on that. Here is another small part to consider… how about the “eyelid” shutter for the port side wind screen?

I can't the windows aren't flat planes like IRL

Edited July 7 by CobaltWolf

[Pappystein]

23 minutes ago, CobaltWolf said:

It was actually the color and texture of a pencil eraser, but was painted over with several coats of a white "wear layer". Partially for aesthetics, partially because the MA-25S ablative material exploded on contact with liquid oxygen.

Oho!  Didn't see that in my quick and dirty dive on the few X-15 papers I have

 

[GoldForest]

18 minutes ago, Pappystein said:

Also please NO ONE request the Pink color for the X-15. 

Edited July 6 by GoldForest

[DaveyJ576]

1 hour ago, CobaltWolf said:

I can't the windows aren't flight surfaces like IRL

For those without a copy of Dennis Jenkins' book Hypersonic, we should note that the X-15A-2 had a "eyelid" shutter that covered the left side windscreen window. It was found that as the ablator torched off the forward surfaces of the aircraft, the burnt material tended to reattach to other surfaces downstream. From the nose area it tended to reattach to the wind screen for the cockpit, quickly rendering it opaque. The pilot needed to see in the first few seconds of flight as the X-15 detached from the B-52, and later as he lined up for final approach. Not being able to see out was a bad thing in those phases. The solution was to attach a hinged eyelid shutter to the upper edge of the left side window. It would be closed and locked during the early phases of flight and the pilot would look out of the right side. Later, during reentry the right side window would go opaque, but the pilot could open the left side and be able to see out for landing.

Testing showed that the eyelid actually acted like a small canard wing while open, providing some off axis lift that affected pitch, roll, and yaw. However, it was found that the effect was small enough that the pilot had no difficulty adjusting for it.

Two other methods studied to negate the ablator darkening the windscreen was providing a boundry layer airflow over the surfaces (too complicated), or explosively blowing the outer pane of glass! Yes, you read that right. They actually thought about blowing up the outer pane! Fortunately that method was quickly discarded as ridiculously dangerous. The eyelid was chosen as the simplest solution.

 

Edited July 6 by DaveyJ576

[hugoraider]

1 hour ago, CobaltWolf said:

Finally started work on the switches for X-15. Here's the black inconel variant, which will be joining the default blue.

 

And here's the ablative-coated version for X-15A-2, perhaps better known as the 'white X-15'.

There's a lot of work left to do for the ablative version to really nail the look of the real thing, but this is a good start I think.

A small detail, but my copy of Hypersonic noted that there was a different pitot tube affixed to the ablative-coated version. I've included that in the switch. I'll have Rodger look into increasing the thermal tolerances of these part variants; I doubt adding ablative to all the parts would be good in game but might be fun for recreations...

     

These switches aren't available for all parts yet, and as I said the ablative version is subject to further improvements. Things like multiple drop tank paint variants will come later down the line.

 

Damn, I didn't even know white X-15 was a thing .

[GoldForest]

@CobaltWolf Will you be making a texture switch for the external fuel tanks to make them silver with the black stripes like in that photo of the White X-15 photo? 

[Pappystein]

Ok So NEWS

Hypergolic patch is updated to current BDB LR87, LR91 and LR87(S) engines.   And everything works.  

HOWEVER I will not be PRing it yet because there are more changes comming to LR87, LR91 and the optional AJ-9 Patches.   I won't go into details on it (not my place.)   So in the interm, just run BDB without the Hypergolic patch please.

Like last time, the Chrayol Red tanks are The Hypergolic ones.  Orange is Hydrolox and White and Black are Kerolox (LFO)
Thanks much to @Rodger for putting up with my frustrations that quickly blew up yesterday while trying to fix/repair/build anew the HypergolicBDB patch for the Extras folder.   Thanks also to Zorg and CobaltWolf who each did their part yesterday talking me off the ledge (it wasn't QUITE that bad but it was not good either.)
 

***EDIT*** realized I didn't point this out.  The Arrangement are up-down, LR87 Twinbell as flown on Titan.   LEft of the twinbells are the LR87 Single Bells. And Right are ALL the LR91s.   This includes the LR87 AJ9 from the AJ9 patch. 

The RIGHT MOST LR91 is missing its verniers (my fault I didn't see it was named differently than all the other verniers) ... And this is just ONE of the things being fixed for a future update which is why the Hypergolic patch, while done for CURRENT updated files, is not being uploaded yet.

 

Edited July 6 by Pappystein

[Entr8899]

@CobaltWolf Do you think it would be possible at some point to refresh some of the 1.875m Gemini Ferry parts to look more like the Big-G parts?  Particularly the endcaps, they have little square windows on them so it looks weird when you attach an Apollo docking probe to them, because it clips into the window. Also, the Big-G docking tunnel just looks so much nicer than the regular Gemini one,

https://prnt.sc/1xwEuiO6kUFi

https://prnt.sc/GWSv9goW_ygg

[GoldForest]

@Pappystein 

UA1206F variant · CobaltWolf/Bluedog-Design-Bureau@0aef0dd · GitHub

I'm sure you saw this, but you got your wish. 

[Legolas5533]

17 hours ago, Pappystein said:

Also please NO ONE request the Pink color for the X-15.

Ah fine... So what about Lightish Red? 

[CobaltWolf]

Gonna work on getting Mariner 6/7 in game today. Come hang out!

 

Shown here with Mariner 8/9 on the left, which shares the new scanning platform.

 

[Pappystein]

5 hours ago, Legolas5533 said:

Ah fine... So what about Lightish Red? 

Ok Donut!    RedVsBlue!  (somewhere I still have a Church T-Shirt!)

12 hours ago, GoldForest said:

@Pappystein 

UA1206F variant · CobaltWolf/Bluedog-Design-Bureau@0aef0dd · GitHub

I'm sure you saw this, but you got your wish. 

Yep I got a notification... Too busy working on updating the Titan alternate engine patch to play.  But thanks for the call out!    I can't wait to try to build a multi-UA1206F first stage for Saturn IB.   I have to figure out how to start that so that it actually works too

 

 

[Pappystein]

21 hours ago, Entr8899 said:

@CobaltWolf Do you think it would be possible at some point to refresh some of the 1.875m Gemini Ferry parts to look more like the Big-G parts?  Particularly the endcaps, they have little square windows on them so it looks weird when you attach an Apollo docking probe to them, because it clips into the window. Also, the Big-G docking tunnel just looks so much nicer than the regular Gemini one,

https://prnt.sc/1xwEuiO6kUFi

https://prnt.sc/GWSv9goW_ygg

The actual drawings on those have that same window.  It is for the "Backup" pilot to guide the craft backwards.   There is a pilot station with RCS controller at that window.

Remember this was the days before computers control being anything near precision.  

 

[Entr8899]

2 minutes ago, Pappystein said:

The actual drawings on those have that same window.  It is for the "Backup" pilot to guide the craft backwards.   There is a pilot station with RCS controller at that window.

Remember this was the days before computers control being anything near precision.  

 

No, I meant the tiny square window right in the middle of the docking probe's endcap. The Big-G version uses the nice thermal-blanket Apollo endcap, but the older Gemini/MOL parts all use this older endcap with a tiny little square window in the middle.

[guest10985]

On 7/6/2024 at 4:54 PM, Pappystein said:

Also please NO ONE request the Pink color for the X-15.

Fine, then I'll figure out how to do it myself

[GoldForest]

@Rodger The interstage node for the LR-91 is too low.  Also, is the 1206F decoupler being worked on?

Edited July 8 by GoldForest

[GoldForest]

Teaser

[OrbitalManeuvers]

2 hours ago, GoldForest said:

The interstage node for the LR-91 is too low. 

Did I grab the wrong parts? Seems correct for me. Sync'd this morning.

[GoldForest]

34 minutes ago, OrbitalManeuvers said:

Did I grab the wrong parts? Seems correct for me. Sync'd this morning.

That's strange... I'll try re-downloading the latest commit tomorrow. 

Edit: Ah, I think I know what's wrong. The node thinks it's on the bare housing when it's not. I'll test this tomorrow. It's a common B9 bug where the nodes will be in places pf other part switches. I've even got the bug where all nodes for all switches appear. Idk why I didn't assume it was that at the time. Again, I'll test this later 

Edited July 8 by GoldForest

[DaveyJ576]

As a head’s up, for those that use Modular Launch Pads, @AlphaMensae has recently updated the Atlas launch base. You can now move the pipes so that they line up with the pipes on the Atlas booster skirt. Ver 2.7 is now available for download via GitHub. It is excellent work and the whole mod is a great compliment to BDB. 

[CobaltWolf]

So, first off - I'm sure many people have noticed the... instability of the forums these days. In the event of them fully disappearing, we of course will be saddened at the loss of years of conversation, comradery, and explosions. It will not be the end of BDB though. If the forums ever fully die and do not come back, please check my Twitter or the BDB GitHub for updates on where to find us. Just wanted to put that out there while I can.

 

In any case, work continues. I got the Mariner 6/7 parts in game yesterday on stream, but of course forgot to take some screenshots. I also put some more work into the ablative-coated X-15 texture. Still a lot of work to do, but I feel like I've figured out what kind of effects it needs to get the look I want.

Edited July 8 by CobaltWolf