The Starfleet Museum group build

Wow, that is a beautiful image! The DY-100 freighter is a nice touch.

That IS a cool station! Maybe I'll build one, now where did I put those frisbees..............
Just kidding.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Masao Larry, the Starfleet Museum is my site, so I'll explain. Of the ship in the museum, only Daedalus, Constitution, the Klingon D-7, and the Romulan Bird of Prey are "official" ships, appearing on screen. Everything else was designed by me, except Hyperion and Asia, which were designed by Paul Cargile and Bernd Schneider, respectively.

Hey, what a great job! Awesome work and very thorough.

Say, when I was younger, I had a book by the Star Trek folks that had all kinds of other Federation ships, including a destroyer with one warp engine that the dish was directly attached to, but otherwise looked like a Constitution class ship. Has that storyline since been discarded, or did you just decide to go your own way?

I may join the build, depending on what I can conjure up. I'm not a fan of the Federation (too nicey-nice for me!), though the ships are ok. I'm more a Klingon guy myself, though my spine does not reach over my forehead. I'll look around a bit for a kit and duly update. Thanks.

Very cool station Masao. I keep thinking about building a 1:1000 scale station with ships docked...but where to put something that size hmmmm.

Matt

At 1/1000, this station is ONLY 85 cm wide and 1 m tall. Not that much bigger than the 1/350 Refit E at 82 cm long. :) It's also much smaller than a Doomsday machine (2.6 m)

Will I know I've got room for the new refit soooo hmmmm

Matt

QUOTE: Originally posted by Larry_Dunn Say, when I was younger, I had a book by the Star Trek folks that had all kinds of other Federation ships, including a destroyer with one warp engine that the dish was directly attached to, but otherwise looked like a Constitution class ship. Has that storyline since been discarded, or did you just decide to go your own way?

You probably had Franz Joseph's Starfleet Technical Manual. I decided to use ships that appeared onscreen so that even people who had never seen a Trek book or game could still enjoy the museum. Franz Joseph's actually did appear onscreen, but only as background schematics in STII (and maybe in TNG) and not as actual models. So, althougth they're onscreen in a way, they're also sort of in Starship Limbo. So as much as I like the SFTM, I decided not to make those ships part of the museum, except for including my revised versions: http://www.starfleet-museum.org/fj-sftm.jpg

Can I build a Constitution class ship. I saw them on the site but have no time to scratch build and no space to set up so the Polar Lights kit will have to do. Or a Klingon bird of Prey. By the way does anyone know the color in Tamiya paint to use on a Bird of Prey?

QUOTE: Originally posted by tanker42 Can I build a Constitution class ship. I saw them on the site but have no time to scratch build and no space to set up so the Polar Lights kit will have to do.

Hmm, maybe I misunderstood this build. Is scratchbuilding required?

I beleive I missread the rules. It seems that scratch building is not required in this
build So put me down for a Constitution class.

QUOTE: Originally posted by tanker42 Can I build a Constitution class ship. I saw them on the site but have no time to scratch build and no space to set up so the Polar Lights kit will have to do. Or a Klingon bird of Prey. By the way does anyone know the color in Tamiya paint to use on a Bird of Prey?

Yes you can. Scratchbuilding isn't a requirement. The only rule, really, is that it must be on the Starfleet Museum site.

Here's a couple more pics of my saucer section.

Woody, a quick question. How are you forming those shapes? Did you laminate some sheet stock and then carve and sand the block or what?

Masao, I'm using a length of ~169 metres.

Woody, I hope that you will be kitting that Avenger. Seems like something Starship Modeler might be interested in selling. BTW, how's the Baton Rouge?

QUOTE: Originally posted by Masao Woody, a quick question. How are you forming those shapes? Did you laminate some sheet stock and then carve and sand the block or what?

The main saucer is two 1/8th inch pieces that I laminated together. I then found the center of this and drilled a hole dead center to insert a mandrel that consisted of a machine screw, a nut and two washers. This mandrel was placed in a lathe and the outer edge was turned to produce the chamfer. Then I sanded the disc with 600 grit wet sandpaper followed by "0000" synthetic steelwool. I scribed the piece and then set it aside.
The convex top of the saucer was next. I used a piece of the 1/8th inch grey styrene sheet I'm so partial to(mainly because I scronge from work for free) laminated to a 1/16 piece of Evergreen brand styrene. I layed a piece of carbon paper on top followed by my scaled photocopy of the Avenger. I traced the outline of the convex shape onto the part. After removing the pattern I took the piece to the band saw and cut it out. The part was clamped in a drill vise and two torpedo tube holes were drilled to accept tubing with the correct inside diameter. The styrene tubing was glued into these holes. I next chucked a sanding drum in my trusty Dremel and carved the piece to shape. I sanded the part with 600 grit wet sandpaper followed by "0000" synthetic steelwool as before. The part was then scribed. I went to buy some half round styrene extrustion for the two conduit(?) ridges that run across this convex shape but the craft store was out so I improvised and pulled a piece of round stock under a chisel blade until I had a piece of half round stock. This was glued on and the ends trimmed flush with the bottom of the piece. Styrene tubing was cut to the length of the bulges on these conduits, shaped to a taper on both ends, split in half, and then applied to the conduits.

QUOTE: Originally posted by ProfKSergeev Woody, I hope that you will be kitting that Avenger. Seems like something Starship Modeler might be interested in selling. BTW, how's the Baton Rouge?

I would sure like to but I want to take this to Wonderfest so I'll just have to play it by ear. The Baton Rouge masters are ready as soon as I can swing the cost of RTV and resin. I'm seriously thinking of contacting "Starship Modeler" and seeing if they would be interested in a limited casting of it. I'm not sure yet as I really wanted to make this my first Sci-Fi kit.

Great job on the saucer section Woody! Very nice indeed! Thats quite a bit of work you put into the shapes.

I've got mine primered and scibed in the shuttle bay doors so I should have some pics up soon.
Matt

Those are some pictures I'm looking forward to seeing.

Thanks, Woody. That doesn't seem to hard.

It's not. I think the biggest hurdle to scratchbuilding is a preconceived notion that it is hard. I like to point out that plastic is very malleable to our will. Unlike stone, metal, or wood it is easy to work and forgiving when we make a mistake.

Anyone have suggestions for scribing in gridlines nice n straight like you pro's do?

I consider myself a fine builder, but when it comes to scribed details, I'm lost...

I use a compass and also a circle cutter with the blade turned so you are using the back edge. Works for me...

Matt

Remember, too, that the panel lines on the original 11-foot Enterprise model were just that, lines drawn with pencil. At the much smaller scale of the 1/1000 PL Enterprise, much thinner pencil lines would probably suffice.

If you scroll about half way through the pics on this page http://www.finescale.com/fsm/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24894
you'll see my method.

Hey Woody do mind if I include my Moskva class tug on this build? I finaly got the nacelle problem solved.

Matt

Please do Matt. That would be great.

Update time
Here are a few of the detail shots of the PV:
I was really happy with how the fantail came out. For the shape I cut out two pvc 90 degree elbows glued them together and then shaped the works with a sanding drum.



Shuttle bay, I added some griphite to the scribing so you can see it a little better:

Here is a good view of the topside shapes. Boy was this some work!

And the bottom with the widend sensor body:

Side view shows some of the shapes and detail of this beast:


Thanks for looking,
Matt

Truly amazing stuff, Matt. I'm very impressed, and can't wait to see the finished product.

Matt you are a fantastic scratchbuilder and this project is turning out beautifully.
You should really consider mastering some resin kits.

Thank you Larry.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Woody You sould really consider mastering some resin kits.

Thanks Woody. After looking at the PV today and some of the other designs like the tug I agree. I might look at building up another in kit form just to see. It sure would make for a cool kit

I'll get some pics of the Moskva tug up tonight.

Matt