1/700 & 1/350 scale BH Cygnus builds

Hey Martyn -- those renders are looking good! Glad you don't have to spend half your life rendering them anymore! Hey, how hard would it be to show what's going on with the plumbing at the junction spheres. I want to compare what you've got to what I did at the stern. Even a screen cap would be good -- no need for rendered shadows...
 
Fantastic article. I love seeing all those photos of the crew working on effects the old fashioned way. So much creativity and skill.

Those few Cygnus model shots are great, too!
 
New photos OH MY GOD! Thank you *very* much! Great article!

Dave, no prob at all - I intend to document the lot for you. I've probably made silly mistakes so would value your feedback. :)
 
yeah,great article and i can't that believe rear shot of the cygnus model.haven't seen that one before.very nice.
 
OK Dave, here is the fuel system in full at last. From pic no. 6 on I've shown the speculative bits in girly pink (it's LIGHT RED!) :lol Sorry about the garish contrast.

I still have no really solid idea how the main crossovers hook up to the starboard junction sphere and/or fuel module; there is no good photo ref or movie shot showing it clearly. I've currently got them as connecting to the sphere only since it is difficult to see how they would include a connection to the module tanks given the large-diameter piping, but I could be flat wrong.

The forward engine connections are around 100% speculative but I wanted to have something, so that's what I've got. Similarly the paired inboard fuel module pipes on each side do exist, but what happens after they enter the superstructure? It doesn't really matter, I've just shown them as being what connects to the underneath of the junction boxes that sit just forward of the spheres for the sake of having *something* connect to them. But please LMK if you have better ideas!
 

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Wow, great work!

And thanks for posting the link to the article, there are some photos in it I haven't seen before!
 
Okay Martyn... you have outdone yourself. I'll be printing these renderings out tomorrow. I should be able to scale the plumbing for my MPC Cygnus. Will definitely have to tweak my construction plans. :unsure
 
Re: 1/700 & 1/350 scale BH Cygnus builds

Hey Martyn -- those look great! I'm going to have to think on them a bit and compare to what I did for the stern. My only question would be on the starboard: instead of bending back down, could the forward pipe be capped at the end and have a junction pipe that drops down? It seems to me something like that was going on at the stern, but I'll have to review. Anyway, thanks for this -- it's looking really good!

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, and after seeing that article with the new pics, I think someone is going to have to stalk Harrison Ellenshaw to get access to his slide archives. ;-) Must be a treasure-trove beyond imagination!
 
Thanks for the suggestion, Dave. Yes - it not only could, it probably does. Can't believe I missed an obvious symmetry like that! THANKS, exactly what I was after.
 
I reworked the pieces that were rejected last time and reordered them. They shipped today, so I guess I finally got them right! Now we just have to see if the printing is acceptable. If it is, that's a wrap for the stern!

I've started working on the bow again. Martyn, I think we've discussed this before, but are you planning to have a light box inside the bow? I'm thinking I might just build enough depth behind the windows at the front to fit a couple of LEDs and leave the rest open framework. What do you think?

Also, do you think the WSF material will support the engines by itself, or are you planning to put in some reinforcement? I'm thinking the trusses and fuel lines might hold the engines, at least at my scale. But I'd hate to be faced with embarrasing nacelle droop at some later date...
 
Dave - woohoo, can't wait to see!

We more or less know there were at least vertical sidewalls as a minimum treatment on one model and the other had a proper lightbox inside the mandible framing. I'm going to go with the vertical walls since we see more of that model in the film. For the top/bottom treatment I'm not sure. Would probably be simplest to just blank it partially with mesh. It's interesting to be able to see stars through the gap around the observatory and I kind of like that. But, I would like to do something with the transport tube station, too; resembling the marked-up drawing. Have the tube actually dive into the structure and carry on through to the right spot at the right (airlock) deck level.

That would only be possible if I go without a solid box; am thinking a partial slot arrangement might work though and would still accommodate the continuity from the airlock area through to the under-observatory and Main Corridor that we see in the interior sets. :)

LOL @ nacelle droop. But yep! I'm pretty confident the WSF will hold up the engines. I may be wrong, but I've thought it over a fair bit and it is low on my list of worries for now. My side module cages are awesomely strong for what they are, and the actual structural design is pretty good. :)
 
Hmmm -- I like the idea of referencing the interior set/matte painting of the tube station and between the observatories. At the scale I'm working though, I just don't think you'd be able to see far enough into the part for it to show. I might just go ahead and leave it mostly open, just side walls and a small built-in area behind the dock. Then maybe a few mounts for LEDs to simulate the spotlit areas beside the observatories and inside the mandibles...
 
Well, my reworked tower pieces came in today. They look good! What a relief! The only problem was a mistake that was my fault in the cage that goes on top of the tower. Fortunately it's a cheap piece so I can correct it without too much pain. I've been working on the bow -- here's my progress.

Bow render 1.png
 
Looking great, Dave! That is coming together very fast. Good to hear the new tower bits are good.

I have almost nailed down the bow section for mine. Still need to work in the transit tubes and some fittings and fettling for the fuel pipes then I'm done. Can't wait to have things in the pipeline with Shapeways again...the thrill of opening those boxes! The amazement that some complex part managed to print! The dawning horror and rueful counting of my screwups! Then the counting of Shapeways' screwups!! :lol
 
Here's my bow core as it stands, bare and with the fruit. Final parts breakdown yet to be determined.

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You'll overtake me soon I expect!

Edit - ah fixed it! Basic uploader for the win.
 
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Some bugs still in the image uploader it seems...fruit version...

...nope, "IOErrorEvent type= "ioError" bubbles=false cancelable=false eventPhase=2 text= "Error #2038"...??? Oh well, I tried. :p
 
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