U.S.S Cygnus 1/700 scale… a study in insanity

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And this thought came to mind a few weeks ago…how does this dome on the bottom work? Is it like the Battlestar Pegasus’ landing bays? If there were supposed to be crewmen working there, how? And what kind of ‘ Observation’ were these domes doing. Okay, it’s late, I’m getting punchy.
 
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Greetings again, I’m making the push to finish this by Wednesday… just in time for Milton to pound the crap out of my state. I plan to hide this in my wife’s room during the storm. I’ll give the Modelpalooza folks this much, their attitude is ‘let’s see how things are Thursday afternoon’ before deciding yay or nay. Lots of tiny stuff and a mess of pictures upcoming.
There was a small gap in the rear/bottom of the stern decking. Easily solved with a piece of 1mm half round.
 
I’ve been doing small details and prepping my yard for Milton at the same time. I decided to take a crack at painting the transport tubes in a shade of silver. I started a couple of section with acrylic but my brush skills suck. Since the ship has a distressed finished ( I used a container of activated charcoal in one of my wife’s makeup kits to do the base work) I hoped I could hide the questionable results. Then I remembered what I saw on the HPIGuys modeling channel. I busted out my silver sharpie and went to town. The hardest part was getting all the under side stuff that can be seen (I’m not laying this thing on its side).
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There are a bunch of tiny antennas all over this thing. The Transport Tube assembly has stepped rods mounted to each cross tube (10 total). These are included on the Command Tower antenna sets (2 needed but I got a spare set in case of damage). There are also 10 short point spikes that mounted under the rods. I made these from 1mm brass rod. There are 12 holes in the sides of the Command Tower (3 per side on 4sides) that are not on the picture of the shooting model reference that I have. However, they are on that crappy, hateful ( thanks Jeremy Clarkson) MPC model. I opted for straight studs that was also made from 1 mm brass.
 
There are two Command Tower has two more antenna sets. One includes eight stepped cones tha are placed around the top and four flat tube assemblies that are placed around the base. These four are tricky because they have small feet and surface mount onto the lattice work. All of these got Metallic Gold with a black wash. I used my UV resin pen set to attach the lower set and white glue for the upper arrays. At this time, I secured the Command Tower dome and lower Spire frame. The way the movie shows the interior shots from the inside of the bridge, we see Cygnus stretching out the front window. I placed my frame to ‘allow’ for this shot. I can’t locate my copy of the movie at the moment to put my mind at ease. However, the white glue tactic will come to play if I change my mind.
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Looking ahead to taking this thing a couple of counties away for the annual model show. I will fall back to a design I used in 2014 when I showed both versions of Moebius Models big Seaview. It’s simply a piece of wood with a metal handle reaching up above the models. Small wooden blocks are glued around the stand bases. They were both Zip-tied to the board to hold the models down.
 
With Cygnus, I had to rethink the handle situation. In this case, I have mounted the handle at a diagonal high above the ship’s antennas. This model is 19” tall to the tip of the Command Tower Spire. Once again there are blocks on the board to keep the model from sliding on the board. And, since the board is wider than the model base, it will add more stability to the finished setup (along with more mass in the base). I’ll probably do the zip tie thing again.
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Well, I’ve found a picture of the shooting model’s Command Tower (we’re looking aft from the right side of the ship) it appears with the tiny antennas that are not seen in the Probe Ship landing still. The studio Cygnus models were modular to accommodate the A.C.E.S. Shooting system. The biggest offender is the Palomino flounder at the beginning of the film. Also. The picture shows the Command Dome frame sitting askew. The frames should either line up with the big antennas that are just below. Or, the frames land between the antennas. The picture shows something that indicates that the tower top can be turned to accommodate the desired shot. I’ll change the side antennas after the weekend. I’ll pass judgement on the dome frames the, too. Sorry for the old Black and Whites… and my crappy handwriting.
 
I love how Cygnus came alive with all its lights coming on...but there might a way to photograph an unlit Cygnus.

I always thought the Auriga from ALIEN: RESURRECTION was CG, and was pleasantly surprised to learn it was a physical model---and that it was lit by reflecting light off black plastic so it would be visible but still dark. Maybe an option here?

Something else to ponder-

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a computer program called "deepSPACE" that is like a Large Language Model for aerospace images... described by phys.org recently..with an illustration of a series of twinjet iterations.

I wonder if it might be better than stable diffusion or other tools.

The reason I bring all this up--then Ellenshaw painting of Cygnus looks wider and more detailed than the filming model(s).

Perhaps a scan of a completed Cygnus like yours can be input into a computer and morphed into the painting.
 
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I do have a back drop that I use for certain special models (see my thumbnail). I know there’s a lot going on in my qarage and kitchen. I plan to do some shots with a black background or better if I can get a spread of the movies star field with the black hole in it. This one will get a custom display case to deter dust issues. Got to get past the pesky hurricane. The model is riding out the storm in my bathroom. Reverse lights do work… they are blue. Not sure why my IPad sees them as purple.
 
WOW< well mrchester, what a mind blowing project, it look superb, and you have got a lot of work and you are going to have to posting updates,
I am hoping that the museum guy I build for does not ask to to produce a BIG version, if he did do you have any drawings or plans of the craft ?.
if he asked me to build one I might run for the hills and hide. Keep up the great work. Take care stay safe,



best regards Barrie ( the old guy who still has a few marbles left )

here is my last scratch build for the museum,

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Thanks Barrie, good luck with your endeavor, however, I really like that Colonial Viper that you’re holding in your thumbnail. In other news, I survived the hurricane . It was lot’s of scary noises on and off during the storm. I wish Monique were still alive to help in these situations. House survived but, once again, there’s a half ton of wood in my yard from my one oak tree. There is an Orchid Tree that was about 30 feet tall that got pushed over to a 30 degree angle. I was out reducing its canopy and will have it removed. No power for the next couple of days however, our first official cold front is on the way. It seems that the Modelpalooza came out unscathed and the show is on. I’m going (if I can get to the main highway ). Let me rephrase, I’m booked to stay the weekend. I’m 45 miles away and the storm’s main destructive corridor is between me and the venue. Cygnus survived in the bathroom, there was much rejoicing.
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Thanks Barrie, good luck with your endeavor, however, I really like that Colonial Viper that you’re holding in your thumbnail. In other news, I survived the hurricane . It was lot’s of scary noises on and off during the storm. I wish Monique were still alive to help in these situations. House survived but, once again, there’s a half ton of wood in my yard from my one oak tree. There is an Orchid Tree that was about 30 feet tall that got pushed over to a 30 degree angle. I was out reducing its canopy and will have it removed. No power for the next couple of days however, our first official cold front is on the way. It seems that the Modelpalooza came out unscathed and the show is on. I’m going (if I can get to the main highway ). Let me rephrase, I’m booked to stay the weekend. I’m 45 miles away and the storm’s main destructive corridor is between me and the venue. Cygnus survived in the bathroom, there was much rejoicing.View attachment 1867848View attachment 1867849View attachment 1867850View attachment 1867851
I'm sorry about your yard but glad you and the Cygnus are safe!
 
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Thanks Modelerdave… but to quote Hebert Farbsworth…” good news, everyone!”. My power is back, my yard man made a pass by my house and it going to remove the offending lumberyard tomorrow. Then it can return to the wonder that my wife had laid out (she loves working in her garden… and I haven’t killed it yet’. And Modelpalooza is on. I made a final modification to my carry board to make sure that my Cygnus doesn’t meet a similar fate that the original shooting models did. Some history. Two 15 foot models were built, one more detailed on the top and one more detailed on the bottom. The top ship was destroyed for the final scenes in the movie. The bottom ship was displayed in.a museum in New York for a while but then returned to West Coast Disney. It was unceremoniously left in a back lot and eventually lost a street fight with a fork lift. Sad. I added some ‘fingers’ to catch any sway that may occur.
 
Model build of the year, as far as my opinion.

Gorgeous.

The Cygnus always reminded me of the Eiffel Tower, in space.

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Well, I made it to Modelpalooza…and so did Cygnus. Friday night is light but a couple of the local heavy hitters were impressed with the model. Especially that it is printed from that ‘Flexible PLA’ , I think that what Shapeways called it….still frazzled from the damn hurricane. Got hooked up with a local plastics guy who can hook me up with a proper display case. I knew Cygnus would grab attention mainly because everyone knows that hateful, silver abomination that MPC foisted on us. Side note: On old Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson was chatting with a BBC news babe and when she revealed a certain car that she had, he makes shocked face and then tells her that ‘It’s a hateful car’. That stuck with me. Meanwhile, I notice that Cygnus lights work well in the venue room, I’ll take that.
 
Keep this under your hats but Round 2 is supposed to be reworking the old abomination into a proper length Cygnus that can be lit. I think I proved (see my old MPC Cygnus thread) that the old kit has enough meat on the bones that the models lattices could be molded and have clear panels molded to build the inside.
 
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