Container Spaceship part 11

It's finally time to push this project through to completion.

Its been more than a year since I last worked on this and the remaining job was to detail the container hanging deck.

I came up with an idea to detail the hanging fingers with a sort of T section. As there are 24 of these fingers I wanted to automate the process so decided to model the parts in Onshape and 3D print them using my FDM printer. Ordinarily I am not a fan of the layer effect you get with FDM printing but figured in this case given that it is just a small shadow casting detail I will probably get away with it.

There were two different versions to make along with mirror images of each. They were superglued to the white foamed PVC the hanging deck is made from. 

24 small kit part wheels were also added to the ends of the fingers.

A plethora of kit parts was added to the interior of the truss along with some tubing which hides the electrical cable for the lighting. Around the centre of the truss I made a trapezoidal box to hide where the electrical cables meet at a terminal block. This was quite difficult to fit as I had to get from one end of the truss to the middle section through the truss centre every time I needed a test fit. The styrene box was also covered in kit parts.

Similarly where the ends of the truss join to the front and rear pod I also added a cluster of kit parts.

Then as is customary, to check the work, I sprayed some grey primer.

The following pictures show the pods in position. They can be put in any spot on the hanging deck and removed just as easily as they are just held on with strong magnets.

The picture below shows the engine lights turned on. They are shining through a layer of masking tape and grey primer.

The only task left to do is paint the ship and the six containers.

Thanks for looking.

More soon...

Jan Buragay inspired Spaceship part 8

 I have fooled around in photoshop and come up with a rough paint design for the model.

The next step is to see if I can achieve anything close in reality. It is always tricky masking over the top of surface detail.

Thanks for looking.

More soon...

Jan Buragay Spaceship part 5

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...

Jan Buragay Spaceship part 4

 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...