MPC Cygnus

mrchester

mrchester

Well-Known Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
I started this a couple of years back. The hardest part was (is) not to be intimidated by the model. I wanted a way to make the frames stand out cleanly, and my hand painting skills suck. I finally decided that I would mill out the back of the pieces leaving just the lattice work. I have also made molds of some of the parts and vacuum cast them with marine epoxy. Thats some stong stuff.

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Sweet! I have a couple of Cygnus kits waiting for me to do something with them. That's an excellent idea!
 
Forgive me but I am a posting newbie. The problem with back milling is that the plasic has a slight rubbery density to it. I has a couple of break throughs in the lattice. The good thing about the parts is that each piece had a rectangular or sqaure section to clamp on to. After machining, I cut the bow and rear sections into individual flat plates. After that there was a lot of time finishing with large lathe and mill files ( by the way, I am a machinist). When the backing gets thin enough (it is actually somewhat transperant) You can blow out the offending pats with an airhose. However, there were a lot of knife skills used in this part. Coming soon, molds, resins and custom made vacuum chambers. Also, if you want something done right, do it several different ways.
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Ambitious work, looking forward to seeing it progress. I read somewhere that the kit is a bit short, while you're casting you may want to make an extra hull segment to lengthen it.
 
Hoo! This is looking great. Were you posting on Hobbytalk or somewhere a while back? I came across that build but didn't stay tuned. My mistake!
 
Thanks guys fir the kind words,
This stuff that I'm covering now is about six months of testing and work. It got stopped when my wife had the first of two spinal fusion surguries (a few years ago). I then got FIRMLY wedged into Space Battleship Yamato stuff (mainly the 1/350 scale models from Arvey models).
First Robn1,I was inspired by the first really incredible Cygnus that was done by James Small. That had the info about this being a short kit. At one time I had three of the kits, but am now down to two. Sorry Newrke, This is the first time that I have posted to a site (I'm a member of Project Dalek but that was so I could get some decent Dalek plans). You are partially right, crackerjazz...The cast parts also save me from cutting up the second kit. I will cover later, the pluses and minuses of marine epoxy.
 
Here's another Cygnus model that is well done:CinemaFictions: Capital Ships Gallery - U.S.S. Cygnus
The detail of the docking bay and the engine horns were nicely executed. I decided that I would turn the kit parts into pieces that are the thickness of the lattice. The parts that I milled out were cut apart dressed to the proper thickness (The first piece was a learning experience that took a few hours to get right). Molds were made to duplicate certain pieces and sections that would add more detail to the model. So the the next step was to make parts... enough to put lattice into areas that MPC made into flat panels. The front two modules of the center sections were molded for their details and for construction of the missing section later.
Above you can see bow panels (top and bottom), the platform for the command tower, stock lattice made from a section of the bow panel (blue piece made from several copies of the panel behind the docking elevator, glued together and then molded), platform for one of the observatory's (top), and several center section panels.
 
mrchester, I tried to edit my post but got called away by something - I meant to add "or one very like it" as I wasn't sure. Anyway, quality work to be sure.

Small world isn't it; asides the Cygnus I also have a Dalek project happening, and am very keen to pick up some Arvey Yamato stuff at some point, gotta do that.

Hope your wife is better, I need a fusion myself.
 
I'll be starting a thread on my Comet and Reshape Dalek projects soon...

Nwerke...my wife is doing great. Thanks for asking. She did a really honest day to day blog about her second spinal fusion surgery in case you are interested in what you can expect...Back to Basics: SOME 'BACK'GROUND
 
When you deal with Arvey, E-mail them for a price for shipping and you get a nice discount. More for multiple kits (don't let the webpage prices scare you). A thread coming soon about the Koenigberg, Hood and Lexington from Arvey.
Here's a link to the Cygnus model that really took the wind out of my sails. Starship Modeler: Gallery (Other Sci-Fi)
Though its the short version, it is nicely executed and lighted...Oh man, he did the detail at the bottom of the command tower. Oh well, nice model (my only expirience with Corel is the sub-spiecies of dinnerware from Corningware).
 
Cheers for that. Glad to hear your wife is in good shape. To clarify I need the fusion but won't be going ahead with it; some complications arose the first time around which I could expect to kill me; it's a hereditary thing which did kill my mum. I'm stuck with my injury, but it was self-inflicted and could be far worse.

Corel is a good program to learn, but there's a fair learning curve. Ditto Adobe Illustrator, which does more or less the same thing. If you were looking to invest time in learning something like that, I'd suggest a 3D modelling package rather than a 2D drawing one.

Yeah, heck of a job that chap did. I've always wanted to see a combo approach; lengthened plus transparencies. Looks like you're gonna deliver. :)
 
mrchester,
Just wanted to say what an awesome job you are doing. This will be the best MPC Cygnus ever built.

Mark
 
Thanks for the support Nwerke (sorry about your Mum). Thanks for your support too, MWB. However, I am still having to make some parts. I did remember some pluses about making resin screens... they are tougher and they clean easier. Check the photos. The kit parts have to be deburred, but the resin duplicates sand out cleaner.
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Here's some shots of what I had to go through to work off the excess resin. This imposing belt sander is meant for metals. However, I escaped with all of my fingers (this things worked at my shop for 35 years). Check the action shot...yes, it was running while I did both sand the part and shoot the picture! With resin, however, warps when it gets too warm.
 
A shout out to Nwerke ( can I call you Martyn?). Thanks a bunch for the work you and PrimitiveDave are doing. My project is limited by the small scale and looking at the hero models can be overwhelming. However, seeing your (both of you) work section by section has offered some clarity. Big thanks, Chuck
 
I have a stalker. :lol

Yeh, call me anything, just not late for dinner. :)

Glad our stuff is helping other builders; music to my ears that is! Oh, resin can be made to un-warp via heat too - hot water or heat gun
 
You're getting ahead of me Martyn, I do have one of those red aluminum hairdryers by Dayton at my disposal. Thanks for you imput Jedimaster,,,as a newbie, I'll mind my P's and Q's around the forum elders.
I got some pics of the making of some spare bottom panels (center section). I cut the piece into two segment sections and put them into the mill for some creative backcutting (this is part of my extreme modeling series). Hope to get the bottom sections extended soon...then to work out the holes in the sides.
 

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