After that, it was time to move on to the transverse corridor. The first thing I needed to do was to figure out the dimensions of the corridor. I wasn't going to have a repeat of the Cargo Loading Room Incident of 2023, so this time around I decided to be a lot more careful and actually build the room's wall panels by fitting them to the existing sections. This did require me casting multiple copies of the standoffs that are mounted under the corridor, of which DeAgostini nee Fanhome only provide one, but after I got them mounted to the underside of the corridors and then pins glued to the interior of the hull that they fit onto, I was ready to do some cutting and fitting. To make things easier on myself, instead of trying to get the hole that the portside corridor fits into sized perfectly, I simply cut the original main hold wall that I'd glued a Shapeways ring segment into, separating the socket from the wall and then gluing that to a piece of styrene which was cut to the desired interior height. I then used the engineering corridor's location to determine where I should cut the end, and then after that I cut a duplicate for the other wall, then cut the floor and ceiling panels. I used a piece of ABS piping that was close to the internal diameter of the corridors to form a piece of curved styrene for the end of the corridor, then I added clips to the sides which would hold the panels together while I worked on them in order to ensure everything fit together smoothly. Before I did any further work, I stopped and cut open one of the circular greebles on the portside docking arm, then assembled the corridor, put the outer hull on, and inserted a pencil into the hole in the top to mark where I should cut open the ceiling for the top hatch elevator mechanism. After making some internal ribs for faux framing, in order to match similar elements in the main hold, I began detailing the panels.
I also wired in some LEDs into the ceiling lights for interior illumination.
When all the detailing was complete, I painted the interior panels, then weathered them using the same techniques I used on the main hold, including spattering with black oil paint to break up the surfaces.
While this was all going on, I was also working on a tiny little R2-D2 to place in the transverse corridor. Since it was going to end up being sort of like a shadowbox in the model, I wanted there to be more than just an empty corridor to look at when you peered into the hull. So I bought an R2-D2 off Shapeways which had separated components, and the seller was even kind enough to offer modifications, so I had him put in an open side panel for the welding arm and sockets and guide holes for a steel piano wire that would go up the center of R2 and move his dome. And since there was a steel rod going up the middle, I also decided that it could serve double duty as a mechanism to tilt his body and add even more life to the little guy. Unfortunately, the seller didn't provide any art for decals, but the droid is just big enough that I felt confident in painting him, especially since he'd be placed further back into the hallway and therefore not subject to close scrutiny. So I painted him up, then I added an LED to his dome to light up his dome lights, and then installed a steel rod and a light blocking disc. After that I threaded the rod and wires through an opening in the top of his body, then glued in a stabilizer which a washer could ride on top of in order to lock the head in place. I then cut a hole in the floor for the control rod and wires, then glued him down on the floor. I later added a door to his body because somehow I forgot to do this during the build process... I also worked out where he'd sit in front of an open panel in the all, then glued in a small bit of wire for his welder arm which I painted silver and black, as well as a super bright LED which will later be hooked up to a welding torch circuit board.
This is what it'll look like from the outside:
While I was building the transverse corridor, I also realized that the maintenance bay (or as we in the industry like to call it, the "snogging closet") needed a bit more detail in there. It looked weird having this big open space behind the wall with only wall details, plus you can see in the movie that there's quite a lot going on in this room, so I glued together some random bits from the bits box and painted it in various metallic and gray shades, then glued it down in the maintenance bay to fill it out some.
Overall, I'd say the internal layout is really coming along!
I'm still working on the transverse corridor, and I'll update on that later. Mainly I'm making the airlock leading to the port docking ring, as well as the retractable elevator leading to the top hatch and the iris valves, which will actually work and allow you to see down from the top of the ship. I also need to add servo motors for all these movable components. But I just really needed to post about this so you guys would know the project wasn't dead.
