MPC Cygnus

Re: MPC Cygnus
Good lord. Does it really need pressure? These would be open moulds, no?
Yes and Yes...when I first started the copying process, my castings were plagued with air bubbles. I almost threw the model away (no lattice , no model). Since the parts of the casting that was needed were so delicate, an air bubble in the right place would ruin a piece. I tried different approaches to the art of mixing the resin but alas, air bubbles. Compression has cured the problem (thank you Dave Merrriman)... for the most part.
As for the tanks... anything close will do. What you're offering is much better than what I was originally going to do. The cost is no real issue ( considering how much I've got wrapped up in this so far).
 
Thanks Martyn, just went to Shapeways...very nice. I will order a copy this week. :cool Do I need one or two of these assemlbies (I've been focused mainly on lattice).
 
Cool beans dude. You need two of this type, and two of the other type. The shipping price from SW is always a flat $20 for any size order, so you might want to wait a bit - I'll get the other set of tanks done this week if possible.

I should have some better renders of the bow end arrangement posted in my/Dave's thread this week so that will give you a good idea how it all works. Or how I think it works, it's pretty difficult to be certain!
 
Thanks for that bit of info, Martyn. Must be those platinum lined shipping boxes they use. Take your time...I can wait. Many panels to prep...I might have a model someday.
 
Have cleared the financial hurdle with Madam Bookkeeper.:) Things be looking up. Now I have to figure out how to earn street cred on this sight...My 45 days have passed. Oh, thanks for the tank work Martyn.
 
Still working out the lattice for the antenna boxes. I went ahead and cut a couple of latticeless boxes out of aluminum. I'm thinking about vac-u-forming them (which I've never done). I have a theater prop making book at my disposal. The picture
I'm still casting new panel sections, since they use small amounts of resin, I put the excess into other molds (mainly extra Dalek parts). However, I decided to copy the Command Tower and Observatory domes...the resins color is closer to the movie model and you came (kinda) see through them.
 
A quick update... I made up tooling and with some trial and error, I've vacuum-formed the five light boxes for the antennas. Pics soon. I've almost got the lattices for the boxes almost finished.
I've been getting ready for my wife's next surgery. A torn tendon in the foot I'm afraid. Just for fun try doing simple things without putting both feet on the ground... not so easy.
 
Okay, update time. The wife actually shredded her tendon in her foot... surprised the doctor, too. Her healing time has taken me away from modeling... but, here's what's happened.
Here's pictures of the vacuum forming tools I made up for forming the five antenna (inner) boxes. The two burner hotplate worked perfectly... never got the plastic hot enough to drip on the burners.
The second picture is 4 of the 5 boxes and the aluminum master.
The third picture is the lattice that I had to scratch build. The top panel started with the small square (with the X in the middle). I cast up four pieces to make the next piece, then I cast up four of those to make the final 4 x 4 master ( I still have to finish dressing that). The rest are the side panels which were made from .030" stick styrene. This has taken more that a month to do...Life happens.
 
Yow, that's nasty, hope she's all better soon.

This is great! Love what you're doing here. Really, this is just a heroic effort!!

Sorry by the way, I've been held up on modelling parts for a bit; my old system just can't cope with the size of the CG models any more and has been dying on me.

On the plus side I finally got the troublesome new system to boot last night, after a LOT of troubleshooting. It's not yet 100% but I should be back in the game soon.

What I might do first is double up the first set of tanks I did - I think that will give you both "A" module tanks for a slightly cheaper price because of the Shapeways discount on models above a certain volume.
 
New poster to your thread. Looks excellent so far! Always loved this vessel. A big fan of Harper Goff's Nautilus and this vessel and it's Captain have parallels. Very cool. Also 'very' interested in the 3D version...gotta project of my own that requires 3D Models. Always on the hunt :D
 
Welcome aboard RobertH, Hope you enjoy this foray into insanity. Back in 1976, in the predecessor of Fine Scale Modeler, there was a fine article about a scratch built Nautilus and the story of Harper Goff's design of Nautilus (including the fact of the he was to show the model design to Walt, he found the brass model was missing from his desk. Dejected, Goff went to the meeting only to find Walt sitting there playing with his model. The rest is history).
Now for Martyn, the wife is doing better. She came to work today (family business has its advantages), stitches come out tomorrow. As for the tank stuff I was going to take your advice and let you finish out both types of tank assemblies, then order them all at once. Thanks again.
 
I've always wanted to see the Cygnus again. I loved the movie as a kid. I wished that they had made a proper model kit, when I was younger. Glad your wife is doing better.
 
Another newbie...welcome aboard raif79. You've just set up my story about my first encounter with Frank Winspur and Moebius Models. The year they came out with their 4 window Seaview (This is the finest large model I have had the pleasure to mostly build and partly paint...no, really, IT IS A Damned Fine model!!!) I met Frank at Modelpalooza in Orlando (guess that Marineville location doesn't really hold up now). I found that they are located in Glenwood, which is about 40 miles from where I lived when I was in high school. I would go there to date the girl who would become my wife. Common thread since I knew the town (and the part of Moebius that is located there... his laptop. Loose that lppy and Moebius folds.). Anyway, we talked Seaview for a while, but then we got around to "fantasy" subjects. I had mentioned that I would like to see Cygnus done a little bigger and a little more friendly. He replied, " I have one of those ...somewhere. I'll have to get to it someday (the MPC model, not my suggestion). We both did agree that jumping through the Disney machine's legal hoops would be a nightmare. Well, there you go... you won't get that time back. More pics soon...I'll get around to my Arvey and SBB Yamato stuff soon.
 
Nice work.

I won a Maximillian model on eBay yesterday, but this ship went up to almost $130....so backed out. Patience..........it can be important on eBay.
 
Welcome aboard NCC1968, and congrats on the Maximilliam win. Ebay can be a fickle mistress when trying to acquire that special piece. I shelled out big for my first Cygnus, but got my second and third kit from one guy (who had two kits with the goal to make the model the correct length and possibly light it) in one auction. The third kit was missing a couple of antennas.
Back to Max for a minute, Scifi and Fanatasy Modeller vol.17 (page 61) had an article about that kit. Unfortunately, it was more about the art of plastic welding with the old kit sprues than about finishing the model. However, the pictures show what the finished product should look like (I put the modifications into mine, but, have yet to finish him).
By the way, whose car do I have to wash to get a copy Of Scifi and Fantasy modeler vol.26? I can't believe that it sold out.
 
mrchester said:
Another newbie...welcome aboard raif79. You've just set up my story about my first encounter with Frank Winspur and Moebius Models. The year they came out with their 4 window Seaview (This is the finest large model I have had the pleasure to mostly build and partly paint...no, really, IT IS A Damned Fine model!!!) I met Frank at Modelpalooza in Orlando (guess that Marineville location doesn't really hold up now). I found that they are located in Glenwood, which is about 40 miles from where I lived when I was in high school. I would go there to date the girl who would become my wife. Common thread since I knew the town (and the part of Moebius that is located there... his laptop. Loose that lppy and Moebius folds.). Anyway, we talked Seaview for a while, but then we got around to "fantasy" subjects. I had mentioned that I would like to see Cygnus done a little bigger and a little more friendly. He replied, " I have one of those ...somewhere. I'll have to get to it someday (the MPC model, not my suggestion). We both did agree that jumping through the Disney machine's legal hoops would be a nightmare. Well, there you go... you won't get that time back. More pics soon...I'll get around to my Arvey and SBB Yamato stuff soon.
Click to expand...


Love it! Great story. Yeah I'm a long time lurker. Now that I have a little money to throw away I figured that I'd get more involved in this hobby and build up my collection and make up for lost time. I wore out/VCR ate 2 tapes of The Black Hole when I was a kid back in the early 80's. I cannot wait to see this progress.
 
Okay, I'm afraid I have to stop my Cygnus project for a few days...nothing serious (wife started physical therapy this week). However, something from my past has come back to "haunt" me. I have mentioned that I am a recovering rocket scientist. I was going to reference the project that had taken longer that the time I have invested in this project. A few days ago I was contacted by someone who is building a copy of a rocket I built and flew twenty years ago. His model is to be 7" (feet) tall and is...1/6th scale. For those who are curious, google "Project 463 rocket" ( there are several sights about this...I'm the one dressed as a blue collar worker). I'd stick a picture or two on this thread, but I am scannerless and my camera broke today. Yes, that's a big rocket...and it made a big impact, literally.:eek
 
sackett-horiz.gif
This is what I was talking about in the last post. Go here for more detahttp://rocketdungeon.blogspot.com/search/label/Project%20463ils. It was fun to own an ICBM for a short time.
 
For those who haven't done it yet...check out the renderings that Nwerke has done. The plumbing pics are incredible.:eek
 

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