INTRO PAGE
(1) WHAT YOU'LL NEED
(2) DOWNLOAD PARTS SHEETS
(3) ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
(4) ABOUT YOUR MODEL
At this point you have a completed alidade structure with waveguides in alignment. Congratulations. You have accomplished in days or hours what took months in reality.
When you set the completed alidade on a flat surface, all four wheel-assemblies should be in contact, and the structure should not rock. If it does, try to make adjustments to the alidade base. Note that re-wetting with white glue can help remove a warp, provided it is held flat to dry.
With the actual DSS construction, much work goes on in parallel. The main reflector and its counterweight, as well as the quadrapod and subreflector have been delivered to the work site.
No need for the model builder to temporarily mount the counterweight in position on the alidade, because paper at 1/250 scale is lightweight. If you're using this website to build a larger scale model of different materials, you'll need to consider joining the main reflector and counterweight before installing on the alidade.
Assemble and Install the Main Reflector*
View this stage of DSS construction.
 BURNISH SEAM IN MAIN REFLECTOR USING METAL RULER |
From Parts Sheet E (which must be printed on lighter weight paper such as regular copier paper) cut out the MAIN REFLECTOR.
Place the MAIN REFLECTOR printed side up on a piece of cardboard. Set a couple pieces of scrap paper down on top of it to mask everything except the wedge marked LIGHT SPRAY GLUE.
In an appropriate environment with lots of ventilation (and away from any source of ignition), give a VERY LIGHT application of spray glue to the unmasked wedge. Too much glue on the seam will soak the paper causing it to deform unacceptably.
Discard the scraps of paper used to mask the MAIN REFLECTOR.
Keeping the print outside, carefully bring the spray-glue coated wedge around to the part's opposite end. Carefully match the end onto the glued wedge, forming a cone, and aligning the end with the guide line on the wedge. Make sure you have a fairly regular-looking cone. Press together to make the glue adhere.
Insert a ruler beneath the glued seam and carefully burnish to press the glued surfaces together strongly, while being careful not to introduce any folds or creases. With scissors, trim any small irregularities at the cone's edge near the seam.
A good final appearance of your model depends on making sure the MAIN REFLECTOR cone has no deformations. If at this point it is not a nice smooth cone, discard it, re-print Parts Sheet E, and repeat the previous steps.
From Parts Sheet C, cut out the REFLECTOR CENTER. Make a near perfectly circular cut, following the dark black outline, cutting through any small irregularities in the gray pattern.
Cut out its central hole.
Flatten the piece by bending as needed. If your result is not very neat, flat and circular, re-print Parts Sheet C and repeat this step.
MAKE ONE LAST WAVEGUIDE
From Parts Sheet C, cut out UPPER WAVEGUIDE #1. Wrap it around a pencil to make a ring about 1 cm in diameter. Apply white glue where marked, and press the seam together using a pencil inside, while adjusting to make a neat ring 1.1 cm in diameter. Let the glue dry.
Insert one end of the waveguide into the REFLECTOR CENTER's central hole, going in the un-printed side. It should be a snug fit, but not so snug that it deforms the REFLECTOR CENTER piece at all. Insert about 1/4 of the way in, and straighten it to be approximately perpendicular. Do not glue yet, this is for temporary use as a handle.
SET REFLECTOR CENTER
INSIDE MAIN REFLECTOR
AND STRAIGHTENSet the MAIN REFLECTOR down into the mouth of a plastic drinking cup, unprinted side up. Center it in the cup.
INSTALL THE CENTER PIECE
Pick up the REFLECTOR CENTER by the waveguide. Set this assembly down into the center of the MAIN REFLECTOR as shown.
Take some time and care to repeatedly rotate the cup containing the MAIN REFLECTOR and REFLECTOR CENTER, adjusting as needed to be sure the center is sitting evenly at the cone's center.
When you're satisfied the assembly is evenly centered, carefully apply tiny drops of white glue around the seam at about 1-cm intervals. Avoid moving the parts out of alignment. Carefully hold the REFLECTOR CENTER, withdraw the waveguide, and set it aside.
The white glue you use to connect the REFLECTOR CENTER to the MAIN REFLECTOR needs to applied with some precision. It has to be a light and even bead. If the bead is too thick, it will soak too deeply into the MAIN REFLECTOR and deform it, instead of locking it into its proper shape. Use of the plastic drinking cup to hold the reflector helps minimize deformation.
SET REFLECTOR CENTER
INSIDE MAIN REFLECTOR
AND STRAIGHTENVery carefully balance a second small plastic drinking cup atop the REFLECTOR CENTER to hold it down. Add a weight inside the cup if needed (the image shows an eraser being used). Apply a small, thin bead of glue around the entire seam. This will lock in the reflector's proper shape.
Wait for the glue to dry on the reflector assembly, rotating if necessary to ensure even drying without any of the parts warping.
INSTALL THE REFLECTOR'S ELEVATION BEARING
From Parts Sheet D, cut out the two pieces marked ELEVATION BEARING. With printing outside, fold one at the center, smear the inside with a little white glue, and close it down upon itself. Squeeze and let dry. Cut a hole through the piece at the dot, about 3mm in diameter, using a small punch, drill, or art knife. Repeat these steps with the other piece.
SET REFLECTOR CENTER
INSIDE MAIN REFLECTOR
AND STRAIGHTENPlace the main reflector assembly down, printing up, on your work surface. Dip the bottom of an ELEVATION BEARING piece (the end opposite the hole) in white glue, and set it on the REFLECTOR CENTER where it will rest upon the MAIN REFLECTOR, at its seam, as shown. Adjust to be vertical, and add a drop of glue where it touches the reflector.
In the same way, install the other ELEVATION BEARING piece diametrically across from the first. Check its position carefully; it must be right across the center from the first one. Let the glue dry.
GLUE EACH ELEVATION
BEARING IN THREE PLACES
& ALIGN DIAMETRICALLY
NOW BACK TO THAT WAVEGUIDE
Take the outside swiveling half of the UPPER PERISCOPE that was set aside earlier, and the UPPER WAVEGUIDE #1 that was just used to handle the reflector center.
Fit the UPPER WAVEGUIDE #1 into the hole on the SIDE of the UPPER PERISCOPE part. It should be a snug fit. Don't glue yet.
Fit the other end of the UPPER WAVEGUIDE #1 into the back, printed side, of the main REFLECTOR CENTER.
Once the reflector has completely dried, and the bead of glue has completely hardened, re-insert the UPPER VERTICAL WAVEGUIDE #1 in through the printed side. Place it in a minimum distance for it to remain in place, and straighten.
ALIGNMENT IN ELEVATION
THRU WAVEGUIDE & BEARINGFinally, you're done with the main reflector. Next step is to put all this together.
The DSS's main reflector has a parabolic surface inside, which of course your model's main reflector does not have (but the fact that it's all white on the reflector side helps visually).
The structure that supports the DSS's main reflector does indeed, though, have on its outside, generally the shape of the printed graphics outside your model's reflector. The important visual cues of the DSS are preserved.
The model's reflector connects with the alidade, mechanically and in microwave radio waveguides, just the same as in the actual DSS.
Click below to build your 34m BWG DSS 1/250 Scale Model.
INTRO PAGE
(1) WHAT YOU'LL NEED
(2) DOWNLOAD PARTS SHEETS
(3) ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS
(4) ABOUT YOUR MODEL
