My 2nd ever Kitbash attempt - custom ship!

[jusdrewit]

This ship will be the death of me lol. Still working on the shape (again). I think it's finally looking like something that I like. It's still not there yet, but it's much better. I tried to emulate some of the feel in the nose that my kitbashed Speederbike had and I think it helped. Something about it reminds me of the predator mask which I like.

Next, I need to figure out where I want to put the cockpit windows, and paint scheme for the front of it.

 

[publiusr]

Now you’re talking…part Anime, part Lockheed Super-Constellation

 

[joberg]

This ship will be the death of me lol. Still working on the shape (again). I think it's finally looking like something that I like. It's still not there yet, but it's much better. I tried to emulate some of the feel in the nose that my kitbashed Speederbike had and I think it helped. Something about it reminds me of the predator mask which I like.

Next, I need to figure out where I want to put the cockpit windows, and paint scheme for the front of it.
View attachment 1704228View attachment 1704229View attachment 1704230

Very Chris Foss

 

[jusdrewit]

Like many projects of mine, this has been on hold awhile as the Force clearly wasn't with me like it was for my kitbashed speederbike and probe droid. I've finally made headway again, but it involved pretty much starting over again from scratch. I bought new models at Hobby Lobby for the sole purpose of kit bashing. Anyways here is where I am now:

I've always loved the EU Skipray Blastboat, and EC Henry's Imperial version of that on his YouTube channel also inspired me as did the Rebel transport and Nebulon B.

This is still a WIP, but I rather like the daggerish, sharp silhouette of it so far. Thanks for looking!

 

[cloudborn]

Looking good so far!

 

[starks]

This is really cool. It's just dripping in sci-fi concept art. You have a very good eye for this, very artistic.

Cheers,
Josh

 

[jusdrewit]

Looking good so far!

Thank you kindly!

This is really cool. It's just dripping in sci-fi concept art. You have a very good eye for this, very artistic.

Cheers,
Josh

Much appreciated, thank you Josh!



I've been chipping away slowly at it, added a bit more styrene of late to give it more depth. Now I'm debating removing the rear radar tower/conning tower completely or greatly reducing its size as I think it might give it a sleeker profile. In my mind, the ship is 40-50 meters long so it's not huge. I'm also debating shaving a few millimeters off the top of the main body for further sleekness. Thanks for looking!

 

[joberg]

Yep, the radar tower is in a weird position, near the engines...saying that, maybe just a radar array (without the base) could be the answer, but on top of the ship's hump.

 

[jusdrewit]

Yep, the radar tower is in a weird position, near the engines...saying that, maybe just a radar array (without the base) could be the answer, but on top of the ship's hump.

Yeah this morning I popped off the radar tower lol. I still might attach a radar dish on the side somewhere but I definitely like the slimmer profile now. I think next I'll take a few millimeters off the top of the main hull so it will look like this digital edit:

 

[jusdrewit]

Well, the rear radar tower is gone and I also shaved off a bit from the top rear portion of the main body and sanded it straight. This left a hole, so I decided to turn it into a maintenance pit, in a similar vein as the one an X-wing has on top of it's fuselage, or the ones the Falcon has. You can see it in the pictures below.

I'm not done as there's still a hole near the front of the maint. pit that I need to clean up. I am pretty pleased though. I still plan on reattaching the blaster cannons on the wing tips (they kept getting knocked off) adding more panel lines, and perhaps a few more bits of styrene with notches cut out before I'm satisfied and can finally weather this bird. Thanks for looking!

 

[stevielewis]

Looks a lot better in this configuration. Unless your ship is going through atmosphere it really doesn't need to be sleek.

 

[Searun]

I second the comment from starks above regarding sci-fi concept art. Basic design really works.

 

[jusdrewit]

Looks a lot better in this configuration. Unless your ship is going through atmosphere it really doesn't need to be sleek.

Thanks mate! And yeah the sleekness is just my personal aesthetic preference. Kinda like how I prefer the curvier ANH 3 leg Falcon over the 5 leg ESB Falcon lol

I second the comment from starks above regarding sci-fi concept art. Basic design really works.

Thanks man, I appreciate it. I really wrestled with the design of the ship as you can see by looking at the beginning of this thread lol, but I'm finally happy with it. Just took a few years haha

 

[starks]

This is really looking fantastic!... I want to see it pop up in a movie now.

It's nice to have thoughts an input from fellow members but what really makes a scratch build like this special is that It's an expression of you, and what looks right to you, and being able to share that concept with others.
And nothing wrong with it taking a while, you need that time away from a project sometimes to think and get that creativity going.
Amazing work going on here.

Cheers,
Josh

 

[Madhatter]

Its gone from fighter to freighter definitely suffering from an existential crisis. Personally, I really liked the later rendition fighter with the modified cockpit. That looked super cool - really aggressive, despite the detail issue. The freighter (?) is cool in its own right too. Its a massive departure from the first prototype. It's crazy how the mind switches between ideas whilst building it. Regardless of the final form, its super cool to see some real kit-bashing as opposed to 3D printing. Keep it coming

 

[joberg]

Looking sharp now that you have removed the excess "hump"...sleeker for sure

 

[jusdrewit]

This is really looking fantastic!... I want to see it pop up in a movie now.

It's nice to have thoughts an input from fellow members but what really makes a scratch build like this special is that It's an expression of you, and what looks right to you, and being able to share that concept with others.
And nothing wrong with it taking a while, you need that time away from a project sometimes to think and get that creativity going.
Amazing work going on here.

Cheers,
Josh

Thanks mate! Yeah that would be amazing to see it in a movie, fan made etc. And yeah I can't believe how long it took but glad the end is finally in sight and I get to share it with my fellow RPFers

Its gone from fighter to freighter definitely suffering from an existential crisis. Personally, I really liked the later rendition fighter with the modified cockpit. That looked super cool - really aggressive, despite the detail issue. The freighter (?) is cool in its own right too. Its a massive departure from the first prototype. It's crazy how the mind switches between ideas whilst building it. Regardless of the final form, its super cool to see some real kit-bashing as opposed to 3D printing. Keep it coming

Haha yes, she kept getting bigger every time I redesigned it lol I loved the idea of the fighter, but in my head canon, this ship was a ship for my custom bounty hunter who rides the kitbashed speeder bike I created. I rationalized she would need a place on her ship to store her speederbike, a place to eat, live, store bounties etc, thus the size increased. Then I created my kitbashed probe droid, and in my head cannon it again was for her to deploy and use. Anyways, this partly explains my reasoning for the increase in size of the ship.

Looking sharp now that you have removed the excess "hump"...sleeker for sure

Thanks joberg! Yeah, silhouette plays a big part in my designs, and after eyeballing and thinking it over, it I decided the extra 'hump' needed to go and out came the dremel for surgery.

 

[jusdrewit]

I forgot I had taken pics of my latest version a month ago. It's surprising how different it looks now despite being somewhat similar.
Since these pics, I've changed the front completely, flipped the engine block 180 degrees then rotated it 90 degrees, added styrene panels all over, and also changed the layout/shape of wings.



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Here are the latest photos as of today, 4/13/25. This is still a WIP as I need to tidy up the engines, add a few panels of different shades of grey/different colors and maybe add a splotch of color here and there, we will see. And of course figure out where the cockpit canopy will go. Last time I did the cockpit I hated it, so 2nd time's a charm once I tackle that. Also need to eliminate the engine leaks caused by the led lights in the 2 smaller engines.

 

[Madhatter]

mate - that's awesome! Definitely keeping going with hiding the origin of the Marauder fin a bit more.
This is really quite spectacular. Keep going!

 

[jusdrewit]

mate - that's awesome! Definitely keeping going with hiding the origin of the Marauder fin a bit more.
This is really quite spectacular. Keep going!

Great advice! Thank you. I ended up trimming the big fin so it's not an exact replica of the Marauder but unique, plus it's now similar to the smaller fins on the side. Already added some panels via masking. I'm getting there!