CosmicQuest
Sr Member
Beautiful work!!
Mystery Thumbnail Spaceship
- Thread starter mung
- Start date
TheBeast
Active Member
A build like this always has a certain Klingon voice in my head.... 'Impressive'
The scale surprised me a bit as the sketch reminded me of some miniatures game art, but of much a larger ship.
THEN I saw the cockpit...
Am I bad to have a faint longing for some of the holly to have survived?
The scale surprised me a bit as the sketch reminded me of some miniatures game art, but of much a larger ship.
THEN I saw the cockpit...
Am I bad to have a faint longing for some of the holly to have survived?
mung
Sr Member
I have nearly completed the detailing on the rear and the engines of the Jan Buragay Spaceship project with a start made on the detailing of the top surface and skinning the sides.
I have also nearly completed the detailing on the front panel. It is going to be a quite heavily nurnied surface.
Thanks for looking.
More soon...
I have also nearly completed the detailing on the front panel. It is going to be a quite heavily nurnied surface.
Thanks for looking.
More soon...
stevielewis
Sr Member
Really nice progress! 
mung
Sr Member
I made up the "wings" from 6mm foamed PVC sheet, bent using a heat gun and some scrap wood formers.
The material is oversize and then trimmed back to shape once bent and cooled.
Once happy with the fit and placement I started paneling the surface with 0.5mm styrene and evergreen strips and textured sheet.
I also completed the skinning of the hull with the flat plates of 1.5mm styrene.
The edges were beveled with a sanding stick so the edges meet snugly.
When fitting plates around a protrusion or hole I always fit the hole first with an oversize plate and then trim back the edges afterwards.
It is a lot easier this way than to try and locate a hole in exactly the right place on an already sized plate.
The protruding PVC conduit of the cabin side windows was dealt with in exactly this way and then the PVC sanded flush with the skin after fitting the plate.
Part of the skinning process involved adding a space for a crew door (I have yet to design and make the actual door) and roller style cargo door to each side.
I always try to overlap styrene sheet where possible leaving it oversize and trimming and sanding back flush after drying. It results in a neater seamless join.
Finally just the bottom was left to skin.
Where the angle between plates was shallow I just bent the styrene cold for a stronger result by placing it in a vice along the bend line and gently pushing the styrene over.
Styrene sheet has a side which is more glossy than the other.
This glossy side is due to a thin layer of quite brittle transparent styrene.
I have found if you cold bend styrene sheet away from the gloss side it can split as that brittle layer does not like to stretch.
Bending it with the glossy side to the inside of the bend does not have that effect and it can be bent without stressing the surface.
If you have styrene that has been exposed to sunlight for a period of time it will also become brittle and is much more likely to crack.
I added a couple of tanks made from PVC plumbing parts to each side of the top surface.
This was how I decided to interpret the vague boxy shape thing on top of the ship in the concept sketch.
Thanks for looking.
More soon...
The material is oversize and then trimmed back to shape once bent and cooled.
Once happy with the fit and placement I started paneling the surface with 0.5mm styrene and evergreen strips and textured sheet.
I also completed the skinning of the hull with the flat plates of 1.5mm styrene.
The edges were beveled with a sanding stick so the edges meet snugly.
When fitting plates around a protrusion or hole I always fit the hole first with an oversize plate and then trim back the edges afterwards.
It is a lot easier this way than to try and locate a hole in exactly the right place on an already sized plate.
The protruding PVC conduit of the cabin side windows was dealt with in exactly this way and then the PVC sanded flush with the skin after fitting the plate.
Part of the skinning process involved adding a space for a crew door (I have yet to design and make the actual door) and roller style cargo door to each side.
I always try to overlap styrene sheet where possible leaving it oversize and trimming and sanding back flush after drying. It results in a neater seamless join.
Finally just the bottom was left to skin.
Where the angle between plates was shallow I just bent the styrene cold for a stronger result by placing it in a vice along the bend line and gently pushing the styrene over.
Styrene sheet has a side which is more glossy than the other.
This glossy side is due to a thin layer of quite brittle transparent styrene.
I have found if you cold bend styrene sheet away from the gloss side it can split as that brittle layer does not like to stretch.
Bending it with the glossy side to the inside of the bend does not have that effect and it can be bent without stressing the surface.
If you have styrene that has been exposed to sunlight for a period of time it will also become brittle and is much more likely to crack.
I added a couple of tanks made from PVC plumbing parts to each side of the top surface.
This was how I decided to interpret the vague boxy shape thing on top of the ship in the concept sketch.
Thanks for looking.
More soon...
Have to jump on what was said above about the engines. Clever design & detailed construction a trademark along with the extra strong armature. You certainly did justice to the stern. Did I see a hidden toggle switch? Yes, kit part recognition. Some of us see these greeblies in our dreams.
mung
Sr Member
I decided to tackle the side windows.
I found some PVC conduit that fits inside the larger conduit I made the round ports from that sit at the side of the bridge.
I cut rings of the smaller conduit by parting them off on the mini lathe.
These rings were then stuck to small pieces of 2mm acrylic sheet (perspex).
The acrylic was then carefully sanded flush with the rings and then pushed into the existing larger conduit tube window being careful not to push them all the way through into the cockpit where I would never be able to get them out again.
In the recesses between the hull sections I superglued some of the rubbery tracks from Hasegawa 1/72 Morser Karl kits.
Next I tackled the crew door, knocking up a design in 2D CAD.
This was printed out fullsize onto paper which was cut out and stuck to two layers of 1.5mm styrene temporarily stuck together to make two doors.
I then went to town on detailing the remaining surfaces with many flat panel kit parts, 0.5 styrene panels, evergreen tiles, half circle profile piping and general nurnies.
This was done section by section laying out the largest flat panel parts first and then filling in the gaps with 0.5 styrene and nurnies, rather like doing a jigsaw and getting all the pieces to fit.
To be continued...
I found some PVC conduit that fits inside the larger conduit I made the round ports from that sit at the side of the bridge.
I cut rings of the smaller conduit by parting them off on the mini lathe.
These rings were then stuck to small pieces of 2mm acrylic sheet (perspex).
The acrylic was then carefully sanded flush with the rings and then pushed into the existing larger conduit tube window being careful not to push them all the way through into the cockpit where I would never be able to get them out again.
In the recesses between the hull sections I superglued some of the rubbery tracks from Hasegawa 1/72 Morser Karl kits.
Next I tackled the crew door, knocking up a design in 2D CAD.
This was printed out fullsize onto paper which was cut out and stuck to two layers of 1.5mm styrene temporarily stuck together to make two doors.
I then went to town on detailing the remaining surfaces with many flat panel kit parts, 0.5 styrene panels, evergreen tiles, half circle profile piping and general nurnies.
This was done section by section laying out the largest flat panel parts first and then filling in the gaps with 0.5 styrene and nurnies, rather like doing a jigsaw and getting all the pieces to fit.
To be continued...
mung
Sr Member
I added four whip aerials made from some 1.2mm diameter stainless steel fishing trace.
These were suggested by the concept thumbnail.
It was then time to glue on the engine nozzles which had been sprayed with grey primer some time ago.
This brings the construction phase of this project to a conclusion, although the bare bits of PVC pipe, just before the nozzles may need some further attention. I will know for sure when the rest of the surfaces get sprayed with primer which is the next step.
Thanks for looking.
More soon...
These were suggested by the concept thumbnail.
It was then time to glue on the engine nozzles which had been sprayed with grey primer some time ago.
This brings the construction phase of this project to a conclusion, although the bare bits of PVC pipe, just before the nozzles may need some further attention. I will know for sure when the rest of the surfaces get sprayed with primer which is the next step.
Thanks for looking.
More soon...
stevielewis
Sr Member
Great update! Your use of parts and pieces, sheet plastic and nurnies, really give the build scale.
