Engines and Things Part 3

I have had a short break from this project after suffering what is the modellers equivalent to writers block. However I have managed to complete the detailiing to the engine area (I think)!

 I added some subtle piping and greeblie detail to the secondary engine mounts and filled the rest in with suitable 'stuff' from the spares box.

 With that lot done I will now be free to permenantly attach the engines with epoxy, and move on to the additional hull detailing and then those dreaded shield generators on the top of the bridge.

Till next time,

Cheers,

Engine Bits & Details Part 2

Well I have managed to find something more difficult to make than the secondary engine mounts.....

The structures outboard of the main engines with the lines on them were a REAL pain to make, in the end I had to compimise with them fitting sligltly less than perfectly... Just not enough room for them. However having said that I think that they look the part.

I have also started to add the myriad of piping that is found around the main engines on these things. I am using styrene rod and half rod of varying diameters and simply bending it into shape prior to gluing it into place.

I am also making use of quite a few parts from model car kits in this area, particularly intake manifolds and exhaust headders.

It is very important to constantly test fit the main engines as I go to make sure that none of the detailing fouls their fit.

The level of detailing required in this area is quite daunting, however I find that if you add a basic layer of detail, it then becomes easier to come back over the same area & add another layer of piping etc and pretty soon it is looking suitably busy.

It is also worth noting tat all of the engines are still removeable at this stage (the secondary engines are blutaked to place). These will only be glued into place at the end of detailing work.

Overall the ship is really coming together now, and I'm inspired to get her finished. However one major obstacle remains..... mounting the resin shield generator domes....... not looking forward to that!!

Cheers,

Engine Bits and Details Part 1

The complex box shaped that the secondary engines are mounted onto were the first items to be made in tis area as their size and spacing it critical to the finished look of this area. The whole layout was determined by using blutac to temporarily mount the main engines and the boxes and a spacing that looked right was determined.

The main engines were then removed and the boxes glued into place.

I then drilled and pinned the hull to accept holes on the main engines. this should make a much more seure bond and allows me to add the main engines after all the detail work has been completed.

Here as you can see I have begun adding the piping details to the main engine recess, lots of differing sizes of styrene half rod creates the pipework and other details from the spares box that look right.

There is a lot of piping tat will go in here so stay tuned for more progress....

Cheers,

Engine Area Preparation

I have made a mould and a cast of the modified AMT secondary engine for my model. Here is the first cast of the part.

Here is the secondary engine and the ARvey models main engine laid onto the plans for checking the sizes. The hardest part of the rear engine works will be making the structures that the secondary engines sit onto as there are quite a few odd angles to deal with.

Here is a view of the reah of the hull, all permanently glued up ready for the engine are works to begin.

Until next time,

Cheers,

Some Small Details

Its bell a little time between updates for some not easily noticeable works, but I believe the key to a great model is in the details and this is where my work has been concentrated recently.

Here I have added the vanes on the rear of the hull, there were made from strip styrene and they were detailed with fine strip and disks of styrene cut from a length of styrene rod.

They are added to both sides of the rear hull plates, I followed the reference pictures of the studio model for these details.

Next on the list is the detail on the hull plate extensions. I made strengthing webs from tiny triangles that I cut from strip styrene, placed them at regular intervals, symetrically side to side and top to bottom (one of the few details that is like this).

The gaps between were then detailed with tiny shapes cut from very fine stip styrene and place in a random way.

This work is still in progress on the lower hull parts.

After I finish this detailing I will be able to separate the top and bottom hull halves and prime the trench detail (and probably paint it as well). I think it will be much easier to paint it with the top off.

The top and bottom hull halves can then be joined woth glue and work can begin on the rear engine area.

Stay tuned,

Cheers,

Trench Completed & Other Details

Time for another update, the trench details have been completed. This part was a lot of fun, I was able to add heaps of parts from 1:1200 scale ship kits including an aray of cool looking gun emplacements of varying styles.

I followed the reference photos for the 'Devestator' from 'A New Hope' and added some cool guns to the small cut out in the trench. The 'Devestator' has some really cool gun turrets for the main guns - but more on that in a future post.

I also used a pile of parts from car kits in the trench including, brake cylinders, oil filters and carburettors....

I also finished the main hanger bay surround and details as well as the tractor beam projector emplacements just fore of these.

I was also able to permanently attach the bridge using epoxy glue and superglure to hold it until the epoxy dried.

Other detailing added was some to the area in front of the superstructure, AA gun mount from a 1:72 panther and an oleo leg from a 1:144 F117 giving the details.

The main gun emplacement base has also been added and the holes drilled so that the turrets can be centered.

The vane details on the hull rear have been added from various stip styrene lengths and the lower sloping peice for the engine area also added. At this stage the entire hull is still in 2 halves top and bottom and they will have to permanently joined soon so that work on the engine area can begin.

Thanks for reading,

Cheers,

Trench Details

Unfortunately I have been quite busy of late and as a result modelling time has suffered, however I have managed to ma a bit of progress on the trench details.

Random parts from 1:1200 scale ship kits have been added to the trench I just add stuff that I think will look cool.

I also add some styrene rod bent up to represnt pipework and some randon styrene shapes in the same manner as the superstructure.

I am just a little over half way now on the trenches and I hope to have them finished by the weekend, so stay tuned.

Cheers,

Bridge Neck and Details

The detailing on the superstructure has been completed, I started using some greeblies from kit parts on the rear of the superstructure to give this area more of an engineering, mechanicial feel as it will be close to the engines.

I added the Arvey Models bridge neck using epoxy glue and them shimmed and filled the gaps before adding somegreeblies on the joint to disguise it.

The Bridge section has only been added using blu tack for the photos as I am sure I will knock it off during the rest of the construction sequence. It will be epoxied into place nearer to the end of construction.

The next section that I have started work on is the trench detail. I decided to start at the nose as I thought that a logical place, as well as an area of the ship that would be packed with guns and weaponry.

I started using parts that I have been accumulating from 1:1200 scale ship kits, particularly the revell german WWII battleships and the Hobby Boss modern american cruisers.

That is all for now but stay tuned - hopefully I will be able to update again soon.

Cheers,

Shelving

I have begun to add the'shelving' greeblies to the superstructure parts, I have done this whilst the superstructure parts are still separate, for ease of access. Once this is finished the whole superstructure and bridge neck can be glued into place.

The key to this is to be totally random, I am forever catching myself thinking symetrically!

I will try to describe and illustrate how I did this. Firstly you need some evergreen strip styrene, a few different thicknesses and a few different widths.

The styrene strips are then cut into different sized peices - be random here with the sizes that you  cut.

These are then glued to the sides of the superstructure as randomly as possible, they are also re-cut as needed to get peices sized to fit any gaps.

When I have part of the superstructure side filled I go back over it and add another layer of smaller detail bits, you can notice it look more busy.

Till next time, cheers,