Homeworld Ion Cannon Frigate (Panning a build)

I'm thinking of attempting my first scratch build, and have decided to try a Homeworld 2 ion cannon frigate. Here are some pics of a computer model I made trying to make a mode for Sins of a Solar Empire. I figure since it's all flat surfaces I should be able to build it out of sheet styrene almost like a pepakura model. Is that a reasonable assessment?





Unfortunately I can not find the files for this model any more. So I'm going to make a new one in google sketchup that way I can make it to the scale of what I would like the finished model to be. And if I make all the facets separate pieces it will be a blueprint for the styrene and I'll have all the measurements done. So all I will have to do is measure and cut the pieces. Does anyone else do it this way? or are there any complications that can come up with this method?

For those that are unfamiliar with the Homeworld games here is a concept drawing from the Homeworld wiki.

This is the way I am tackling the studio scale Narcissus Body. Seeing as I am crap with drawing anything on a computer I have some very talented folk working on that for me. One is building the 3d model as you have and the other is working on the full scale plans. Between the two we should have a pretty good model to work from. I will build the model in styrene sheets so I can make any adjustments to the 3d model before printing in the final master in acrylic. If that makes sense? Don't forget you will need a frame/skeleton for the styrene to sit on so draw that up too. Good luck.

I never heard of Homeworld but I like the look of this.

Thanks Jedimaster I would have overlooked internal stucture, so I will definitely plan that out in the sketchup phase. I thought of another question though. What goes into the decision of what scale to use? Obviously you'll have an idea of how big of a model you want to have but do you use a "standard scaling like 1:100 ect? Or just scale down to the length that you want and end up with an odd scale like 1:234? I have measured the ship in game using the move command that displays the distance to be moved in meters and have gotten an approximate length of 165m. If I make it 1:250 scale it comes out to be 25" which will be a good sized model. However if I ever want to build the rest of the fleet this would probably be to big as the mothership is well over a kilometer tall in game. Sorry to ramble but this is my first scratch build so I have lots of questions.

Wes R I highly recomend looking this game up the story is really cool and I've always thought that the ship design was phenomenal(obviouslyi might be biased lol).