Firefly Serenity Cargo Bay

[charlie98210]

I recently purchased a set of three Serenity figures and decided to
create a display to show them in. Of the Serenity's cargo hold, or
cargo bay. The basis for the structure will be several sets of "Mechanical
Chain Bases." These were sold here about a year and a half ago. They
were made in Japan and marketed as stands for the Gundam figures. But
I thought they would made great interior building walls for small scale
Science Fiction dioramas.



Here's the idea for the cargo hold, using two bases and three walls.



Here's two stills from the show.




The bases have not been availble inside the US for a year and a half, but
by Googling I fould that they are still available for purchase in Japan. So
I ordered two and am saving for the third (shipping is a killer!).

While I was waiting, I repainted the figures redoing the skin tones and
adding silver to Jayne's buckles (and dirty'ing up his shirt) and changing
the color of Mal's pants to the light brown of the TV series. Also changed
the color of Mal's pistol from black to bronze.

Here they are:




And this weekend I made some pallets with cargo-type things on them,
plus a long compressor-type thing which will go along one wall.

 

[Styrofoam_Guy]

Very neat project

 

[Lutso]

Super sweet! Can't wait to see this finished...a very unique idea!

 

[Maelstrom]

Where did you get the figurines from? Were they a marketed item or a fan piece?

 

[charlie98210]

Where did you get the figurines from? Were they a marketed item or a fan piece?

They're an item Dark Horse comics. They are still available through Amazon (from, I
think, Gentle Giant). They came in a windowed box with the Serenity movie logo on the
outside. And they are mounted on cool bases which are painted to look like the Serenity
logo painted on the ship (minus the word "Serenity") with the Chinese characters on a
yellow circle inside the larger circle which shades from yellow/red on the bottom quarter
through a dark blood red to black at the top.



I found them by doing a search for "Firefly Serenity" in the Amazon Toys and Games section.
$19.95 plus shipping.

You can also find them on ebay, but they seem to be running ten to thirty dollars more. There
was one set going for $52.00

 

[Chrisisall]

Oooo, this is a very cool project! Dong ma?

 

[charlie98210]

Oooo, this is a very cool project! Dong ma?

Thanks. I was hoping it was cool enough for here.


A couple of months ago I completed a mashup of the 5th and 9th Doctors
Tardis interiors, starring both of the Doctors.

 

[charlie98210]

I got the first set of the mechanical bases. I gave them a light wash of black paint and put them together. These bases also came with a set of containers, which I also painted and then glue together like a stack of "liberated" Alliance cargo containers.





The bases seemed smaller than I thought they should be, so I measured them. They were exactly the size stated on the box and website. My wife made the comment that they looked like little laptops and maybe that was where I got my proportions mixed up. Looking at the website picture, I must have gotten it into my head that they would be bigger. Anyways, I've odered two more instead of just one, to make up the difference. :$

 

[xingshen]

What a cool idea!
Way better than just displaying them in their cardboard box.

:thumbsup

 

[charlie98210]

Started figuring out the layout of the figures and crates. This is the way I think I'll do it after I've gotten the extra base pieces and walls. Same general positions, but more space to place them in. Not so crowded.

 

[Chrisisall]

It's lookin' great! Wait- was somethun' livin' in there...?

 

[charlie98210]

It's lookin' great! Wait- was somethun' livin' in there...?

Ever wonder if there were small rodents running around inside Serenity?

 

[Chrisisall]

Ever wonder if there were small rodents running around inside Serenity?

It may be bunnies...

 

[VariablePenguin]

Looking like a good display so far.

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Nice display. Note that the figures are also in a scale pretty close to the QMX Mule model... I've got mine displayed together and will be modding the figures eventually...

 

[charlie98210]

Nice display. Note that the figures are also in a scale pretty close to the QMX Mule model... I've got mine displayed together and will be modding the figures eventually...

Cool. I didn't know they were in the same scale. I guess I just figured
that the QMX Mule was in a larger scale.

 

[JOATRASH FX]

It is a tad larger actually, but it works pretty well. It's a lot closer in scale than the action figures that were released. Those are much too large.

 

[charlie98210]

It is a tad larger actually, but it works pretty well. It's a lot closer in scale than the action figures that were released. Those are much too large.

Oh. Okay. I've always had trouble judging relative scales. What will fit with what.

I have my eye on an ERTL diecast Polaris Sportsman atv in 1:18 scale. I'm going to stick it
in my display, somewhere, if it will fit. (For those who don't know, the atv was the original
Mule in the TV series. The budget wouldn't allow for a hovercraft Mule. That had to wait for
the movie).

 

[charlie98210]

I finally got the rest of the stuff. I put the final walls together and then I weathered the
diecast Polaris ATV I purchased on ebay. I also made a few more crates.

Here's the completed cargo hold diorama.








and an overhead shot.

 

[Chrisisall]

That's so shiny, I'm gonna need... shades.