Ariane 5 1/96, pt. 22 - the fairing [1]

Two halves of the straight part of the fairing, with the second stage of the Ariane 5

So, it's time to get back to the Ariane 5! I left the project when I was trying to make the final part of the build; the fairing. I wanted it to be separable and yet it still had to look realistic. So, tongue and groove style, with a black inside with sound suppressors, a sturdy layer in between, providing tongue and grooves and an outer layer in semi-gloss white. My first efforts stranded when the outside layer came out all buckled and misshapen. It had to be done differently.

The new plan was to shape the three-layered shroud by wetting the two inside layers of card and rolling it around a mould to dry and fixate the shape. The outer layer, made from photo paper, will be glued as the last part. It all needs to be quite exact and fitting. That's why I shoved it aside for so long.
Yesterday I wetted the paper and let it take shape around the moulds. That came out surprisingly well. Yesterday, I joined them with glue and put them back on the moulds for curing. Now it's the time for the result.
For the time being I made a crude quick fairing, to give myself an idea on size and shape. It turned out I really disliked the pointy top. So that needed some extra attention, too. And well, uh, looking at the Vinci engine (the one that powers the 2nd stage) I wasn't that happy either with its looks. Too straight a cone to be an actual engine exhaust. So lots of things to do!

The rest of the story after the jump.

The innermost part of the fairing on its mould, all wet and tied up.

Well, I think it all went reasonably well, for this moment. As fas as the fairing parts, the black inside parts came out perfectly curved. They kept their shape after getting them out of the mould. I then did the same with the inner layer, the groove and tongue part, so to speak. It also was shaped around the same moulds and came out evenly and well curved as well. I carefully glued them together, using only the utmost necessary amount of glue (white) to prevent buckling and misshaping. They went back around the moulds and I let them dry. 

Result!

Having two cylinders that were perfectly fitting for this task was a happy coincidence.. 
The paper roll was cut  lengthwise to make it a tad smaller, the wooden cylinder was just what it was.

Then, after they came out and looked pretty much as I hoped they would,  I glued the outer layer in place. A little more glue this time, because photo paper. I usually use CA in these cases but I didn’t want to risk that here.

Here goes nothing... Fingers crossed!

A little peek just a couple of minutes ago proved it was going well. No buckles, no wrinkles, just a smooth surface and a good, pronounced groove. Hopefully it goes well during the next steps. I want to reinforce the insides of the groove and the tongue with some CA, strengthening the parts and making it all the more straight and sturdy.

Ariane 5 with its temporary fairing to get an idea of how it will look finished.

So the Ariane gets a modified Delta IV fairing to make it look more like an Ariane. I always scribble away in my sketch books. It often causes me to get a better grasp of dimensions and positions of things. 
It is like thinking aloud with my pen, as it were. It works for me, anyway...

In the time in between I started out redesigning the not so pretty pointy top of the fairing. I immediately thought of Mark Cable’s Delta IV Heavy nose cones. Looking over my shoulder I can see it standing right there on my shelf. The cones look really good and nicely curved. They just are a tad too small in diameter at the widest point. But they also are too short. So with one segment added below the original D-IV fairing it might come out as very usable. With the online available shroud calculator I quickly came up with an extra ring to add. On paper it all looks great but I still have to prove this in reality. I printed the cone and it awaits cutting. Now for that engine bell. Too straight. I have always thought that but it never occurred to me to redo it until now. Again Mark Cable came to the rescue when I took one of his Titan engine bells, lengthened the bigger part of the bell a little bit and created a new sleeker curved engine for the 2nd stage. Great.

I take it all a little slow but I want it to be good. This Ariane is my best model up til now and I want to keep it a looker.
To keep me occupied in the time the glue dries, I already started a new build. The last photo is the first bit I glued of it. Guess. This project will be further shown after Ariane is ready.

See you soon!
-PK