spacewolf Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Hey All With discussions ongoing about a vacuform group build I thought I'd dig out some pics of a build I did years ago (2002-2003) and put the build up here for the LSP community in hopes that it might help folks who are perhaps intimidated at the thought of this type of construction. Please note that this is how 'I' did it, I'm sure there might be other, better ways. Please feel free to watch, ask questions, make suggestions or observations. If someone comes up with a question that I can't answer or you feel you have a better one, feel free to jump in. Don't worry about hijacking the thread as we'll get back to the build after..lets have fun and learn something new. So, as I said I built this 10 years ago. While it is SI-FI much of the construction is relatively easy and compares limited run kits. !/24th scale Minbari Nial fighter. 26 inches long I love Babylon 5 and the ships ..O.M.G. the ships !!... The only models that came out were the station itself and the Starfury which had some major problems but still managed to capture the look of the fighter. For me however, I fell in love with the Minbari ships and I was overjoyed when I got my hands on the Security Manual... it had 3 views ! Derek B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 As with any kit or project you have to be inspired and do the research. Look at everything you can, check sources and pick peoples brains...but remember, no matter how hard you try you'll find out something right near the end of the build you'll wish you'd known before you got to that point !...so relax and know you're gonna screw it up. A chap I knew had a saying.."A scale model is never finished, you just stop working on it"....The model is just that..a model, a representation of the real (or in this case 'real' ? ) thing' The three views were first copied, then blown up to size.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek B Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 (edited) Brilliant idea Vaughn. Your Minbari Nial fighter is awesome, and I cannot think of a more fitting subject to use as a teaching subject, as the shape is not as easy as it looks (in fact, it is very complex as it is more sculpture than airframe). This will demonstrate how you had to tackle just about every type of shape and contour that you are likely to find on any aircraft type (including engine nacelles). Very cool subject Your appreciatively Derek Edited February 26, 2013 by Derek B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 (edited) Now this is where you have to sit down and figure out how the heck you are going to do this. A kit is just a collection of parts, right ?.. so, you have to look at the model and reverse engineer it..break it down into parts. Some parts are easy to envision, others will have you scratching your brain for weeks ! Sometimes you have to re think what you've decided and redo the part because you figured out a better way. Look for obvious parts and draw them out/ copy them from the plans. In this case with such complex shapes I had to decide how to construct the basic shape, body, wings, 'veins'... Edited February 26, 2013 by spacewolf radial 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 (edited) While figuring out how to build it, I took the time to start making parts. Shapes were made from medium/ hard balsa. If you have the basic shape and work carefully as well as use templates for side to side ref you should have little problem making complex looking parts. Here we have the parts (left to right) for the forward outer wing 'ray', the smaller rear 'ray', one half of the part that goes under the forward wing 'ray', one half of the reverse thruster for the forward 'ray' and last, one half of a main thruster. Edited February 26, 2013 by spacewolf Derek B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 Brilliant idea Vaughn. Your Minbari Nial fighter is awesome, and I cannot think of a more fitting subject to use as a teaching subject, as the shape is not as easy as it looks (in fact, it is very complex as it is more sculpture than airframe). This will demonstrate how you had to tackle just about every type of shape and contour that you are likely to find on any aircraft type including engine nacelles). Very cool subject Your appreciatively Derek Thanks Derek Cheers Vaughn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotsman Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 (edited) Beautiful work , on what many might regard as an obscure subject ... Entl'zar.. "we live for the one , we die for the one" "we stand between the Candle and the star.. we are grey" Obscure for some .. but not all of us...! Edited February 26, 2013 by Scotsman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 Beautiful work , on what many might regard as an obscure subject ... Entl'zar.. "we live for the one , we dive for the one" "we stand between the Candle and the star.. we are grey" Obscure for some .. but not all of us...! "we 'dive' for the one" ???...LOL.. just jerking your chain. Great to have another B-5 fan along ! Vaughn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotsman Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Corrected .... Fan .. hmm one of my bookcases contains all 15 15 books of Scripts from JMS, plus the other voices series.. nah .. what ever gave you that idea....! " why do we fight .....I am am purple Drazi.. he is Green Drazi" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 To make vacuform kits, you need a vacu former. They are not hard to make, a shallow box made from pine and plywood, the top plate full of holes drilled with a 1/16th drill and a bathroom sink fitting for the nozzle of your household vacum cleaner and edged with door weather stripping to make the seal. Make a plastic holder from bass wood, add sandpaper edging and a couple of drawer or door handles and you're good to go. Being that some of the parts were rather large I had to make a big one..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 To hold the plastic while it heated and to hold the heat in a somewhat uniform area I needed a heat box, so I took a cardboard box, cut it to size and lined it with several layers of aluminum foil. I had to add baffles to get the heat even but never had a problem with the cardboard over heating or catching fire, but then, I was never away from it. It was used, then removed as soon as I was finished forming. Remember, safety first ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 Sometimes, to make a part you have to get inventive. The main thrusters are wonderful shapes...but how to make them ? I didn't have a lathe so I decided to make a 'poor mans' version. A couple of bits of wood glued onto a flat plate, a length of piano wire run through a brass tube held down with R/C undercarriage clamps and wheel lock rings to keep it from moving back and forth.(remember to oil the wire and tube before using) The two parts (upper and lower) tack glued around the wire and a low speed variable speed drill on the other end. Add sandpaper and in minutes the part is smooth, uniform and can be carefully removed and split to give the two halves. After vacu forming the parts are trimmed and glued together.. Vaughn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacewolf Posted February 26, 2013 Author Share Posted February 26, 2013 Corrected .... Fan .. hmm one of my bookcases contains all 15 15 books of Scripts from JMS, plus the other voices series.. nah .. what ever gave you that idea....! " why do we fight .....I am am purple Drazi.. he is Green Drazi" Yup.. fan ! "Ivonova is God !".. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hartmann352 Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Awesome! (I liked Delenn and Ivanova -- ) But these and the Starfury, nice! Can't wait to see this one come to fruition. Cheers, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KallistiUK Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Oh this looks interesting! Another fan here - I got one of the special edition Starfury kits last year from ebay - the one with A BADGE woooo!!! I built it up as Sheridan's "Tigermeet" ship, enhanced with the lighting kit from Starship Modeller and it won a silver medal at the IPMS Nationals in Telford last November! Kosh was always my favourite - well after Ivanova of course! A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from the bristles. Derek B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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