Building Bridges

[Sulla]

Anyone tried to scratch build a scale Federation ship's bridge of any kind? Replica or custom?

I have been sketching out a custom bridge for a while now and have been toying with the idea of making a 3'-4' light-up model kit from my drawings. This would of course end up most likely being a years-long kind of project.

Other than the old TOS bridge model kit, has anyone made a bridge before? I would like to hear from you and see any pix, construction photo's etc... I found star-art's book in his post here (I missed the pre-order ) : http://www.therpf.com/index.php?showtopic=120371 and hope that it becomes available soon. I also have had these sites book marked for a long time now and will begin to pursue them at leisure after work:
http://www.starshipmodeler.com/
http://www.starshipbuilder.com/

I'll be posting pix of my sketches here soon.

 

[Jediscum]

I have a few pictures of a refit bridge a guy on starship modeler was scratch building a while back. This thing looks fantastic. The threads long gone and I dont think the poster is around anymore but I grabbed a bunch of the progress pictures he posted. I want to say his name was dave or james but I dont remember. I could zip them and email them to ya if you'd like. Also, over at SSM, I think it's 'Ziz' who's been working on a TOS bridge for quite some time. You could PM him over there and see if he could help you out.

 

[greatwazoo42]

http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/gallery/bridges1.htm
http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/gallery/bridges1a.htm
http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/gallery/bridges2.htm

 

[Sulla]

Yeah, Jediscum, those zip'd pix would be most welcome. I'll PM you with my e-mail.

And thanks for the links greatwazoo42. I appreciate them. i had a handful of bridge pix from image searches. I knew that site existed but I lost my bookmarks when I got the PC.

I hope to get some of my perlimenary sketches up over the weekend.

 

[Sulla]

Here's some varied sketches I made. A lot of them are copied wholesale from various existing media on ship's bridges I've found with a smattering of original crap of my own. I started with the idea of copying things and tweeking them in the hopes that a more original design would show up in my hours of sketching. These are the choicest drawings:

Here's my final choice and the VERY rough sketch of the bridge. I am still working on the consols for conn and opps. I like honoring the original 1701, but a single "shelf" for the two stations looks wrong to me on this bridge design.

And with as much of an influence as the Nemesis Enterprise has been on this bridge of mine, I don't want to copy their consoles exactly (though I do plan on copying thier side stations (science, env., etc. with no shame - see above.)

I originally wanted to make a "refit bridge" for the Intrepid (my fav Trek ship), but I could not console the existing space with what I wanted to see in my bridge. So I went with a custom design without thinking of what ship it'd fit in. That's why the MSD is missing in the 3-D sketch.

I also liked the idea of the captain sitting at the same level as the second officer and the counselor. I never liked the idea of a counselor on the bridge, but it looks good. And I wanted all the regular duty stations to be within sight of the captain's chair from left to right to center without having to turn around.

 

[Jediscum]

Looking good Sulla.

 

[Sulla]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jediscum @ Jan 4 2007, 12:43 AM) [snapback]1390167[/snapback]</div>

Looking good Sulla.
[/b]

Thanks. I haven't gotten much done since these sketches. I am toying with creating a free standing science station with back lighting for practice - maybe 6 or 7 inches tall with side pillars that have light bars on them. Pretty much the one I drew above from the Nemesis Enterprise. My local hobby store is closing so I am shopping around for a new one that carries styrene, so I can have enough for a few more practice items and the rest of the bridge.

 

[greatwazoo42]

This has all the makings of something really cool. Keep us informed as you go.

 

[Sulla]

VERY small update... More of a question t help me along. I have not forgotten this project.

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?p=349205#post349205

 

[t2sides]

Sulla, you can see mine here. I did a large Science Station.
http://squaremodels.com/trek.htm

And Sulu gave it a look over at the last con....

http://squaremodels.com/images2/sulu5.jpg
http://squaremodels.com/images2/sulu6.jpg

I've always wanted to 'complete' the bridge in this scale, just never found the time.

Good luck!

 

[Sulla]

Sweet! Good job!

Sulla, you can see mine here. I did a large Science Station.
http://squaremodels.com/trek.htm

And Sulu gave it a look over at the last con....

http://squaremodels.com/images2/sulu5.jpg
http://squaremodels.com/images2/sulu6.jpg

I've always wanted to 'complete' the bridge in this scale, just never found the time.

Good luck!

 

[Sulla]

I spent some time last night making the captain's chaire and the command platform for it for the Defiant bridge last night.

I did this as a test just to prove a few construction I deas I had and to see if I wanted to continue with this project.

It's a bit rough, but for never having scratch built anything model-wise, and working with no measurements and only screen shot reference materials, I am happy with my results.

BTW, I had just rough cut the side panel support leg when I noticed it was three AM, so it still looks rather rough.

Whaddya' think?

 

[Sulla]

OK. Here's an update. I did the console pylons a different way and here is the result. I am painting the base and adding the carpet tomorrow.

 

[Jediscum]

Sorry for the almost 4 year bump but what happened with this project? This was looking great!

 

[Sulla]

On hold until just recently actually... I got my hands soon some stage 18 blueprints that show the defiant bridge to scale with some corridors, the engine room and quarters. I also have the runabout plans that show in great detail the bunks that were re-used in the defiant crew quarters so I have wonderful reference to work with. I think there's also the Defiant mess hall and transporter in the stage 18 plans.

I have to wrap some other projects up over the summer but I do want to build the Defiant bridge as a to-scale model, maybe starting it back up in the fall of 2011.