More BFG?!? Strike Cruiser Conversion

[mangozac]

The latest progress has been a bit painful. I've been doing bits on and off over the weekend but nothing is coming together very well.

First up I've been working on the main antenna and it just isn't coming together. Looking at it in the photo the diameter of the forward section is still too large . I think I'll drive down to the local hobby shop and see if they have any 0.5mm styrene rod in stock (otherwise I'll have to place an order online from somewhere) so that I can provide a little more variation in the diameters of the stumpy antennae located around the main one.

You can also see a proposal for the bombardment cannon plug design. You see I started making up a plug piece (to use for the torpedo tubes) and as there are so many angles interacting there it's a real pain to make. It was turning out so badly that I decided to try having the barrels sticking straight out from inside the launch bay. What do you think? The final barrels will of course have more details added (this is just a test).

I took this latest photo with my relatively new phone - a Samsung Galaxy S II - since my digicam (a now pretty ancient Canon G5) just can't focus on details this close. I was amazed how well the Galaxy focuses and seeing things this blown up reveals all of the flaws in the model! Flaws that nobody would otherwise ever see! The phone did some strange things with the colour balance when focusing on the prow and although I did my best with the levels tool the shot is still a bit weird...

Thoughts?

[Vaaish]

hmmm.... I think you may be overworking the antenna. there doesn't need to be a huge cluster of stuff up there. If you look up at the original concept you can see there are two prongs on either side of a single, shorter "antenna" that look kind of like the prongs at the end of the flight deck on a nimitz class carrier. You can also see similar prongs on the front of the GW SC prow. I think that with a much shorter main antenna augmented by strip bracing would would much better than a cluster arrangement.

I also think the idea you have with the gun plug is a bit overkill. Remember it's still firing the same barrage bombs as the bombardment cannon up on the turret above so the barrels probably won't be larger, just more of them. I actually thought you'd cheat with making the plugs by gluing the barrels to a flat plate that fit inside the bay opening and then drill holes in a second plate to fit over the top of the first plate to manipulate to find the correct angle. Same for the torpedo one. drill the holes flat and once angled use the bit to manipulate the opening.

If none of this makes sense, it's because I've been up for nearly 19 hours today and I'll try to clarify after getting some sleep.

[mangozac]

[Deadmeat30]

these are looking great! you casting and selling? makes me want to get my BFG out , lol.

[Vaaish]

[Lane]

If I understand correctly his problem is making the faceplate fit over the bay and making it a plug as well.

I would focus on making the external plate. Either trimming a piece or starting a bit smaller and using green stuff to get the shape then using that as a template. Once the face plate was done I would just use green stuff to make the plug part and trim any excess.

[mangozac]

Ahhh OK I'm with you now Vaaish. Your idea would work well at a larger scale, but this is just too fine. I have attempted to do as Lane described but it's really fiddly. There's a lot of different angles interacting, and one wrong cut or stroke of the sandpaper too many and you have to start again on the plug.

I'm going to have to keep trying so that I can do the torpedo tubes anyway, but I just thought I might be able to get away with doing things simpler for the cannon

I'll give it another go tonight and see what I can do.

[Vaaish]

Ah well, I guess the scale complicates things a bit then. Once you get one made, cast up a blank before you start drilling or gluing so you don't kill yourself if something goes wrong!

[mangozac]

Casting it up would indeed be very tempting! I tried again last night and this time had much more success. I found that the best approach was to make the plug piece first and glue an oversized fascia to the front of it. Then it's simply a matter of shaving and filing the fascia down to the right shape.

It's a matter of patience!

I took a little too much off one side of the fascia so I've glued a thin strip to it before work this morning. It will be cured by tonight so I'll be able to file it back to shape then.

Maybe I will cast it - it would be unbearable if I stuffed up drilling the torpedo tubes and had to scrap it!

So this kit is going to be a few parts now: the prow, turret, torpedo plug, cannon plug and two side fins. Hypothetically what would you expect to pay for it?

[Vaaish]

I was thinking that it should be around $10 per kit so that if you paired it with a FW SC it would come out about the same or a bit less than the GW cruisers in hopes it would give the kit a bit more draw.

[mangozac]

Yeah $10 would be about right. Even though it's a few parts half of them are tiny so it would all still fit on a single sprue.

[mangozac]

Here's a quick update for tonight.

First up we have the torpedo plug installed. I could only fit the three tubes, so I did as Vaaish suggested and installed a torpedo nose in each of them. Now I just need to make another plug for the cannon...

I've also cut out a pair of side fins as per Xeones' design but to be blunt they look really terrible. Not by fault of the design (which I still think is fantastic) - I think the problem is my proportioning. They feel far too big, particularly when compared to the slim design of the stock FW model fins. I'll have to mull it over and maybe just take to it with a knife and start cutting it down.

[Xeones]

You know, actually my first reaction when I saw your picture was that it might not be quite large enough. --No really! It might need to be at least a little taller to balance the front. I know, call me crazy...

On a more practical note, do you have any card stock? Maybe you could cut out a few different sizes and proportions until you get one you are happy with. I always find paper proxies to be a big help in these situations. They help me to get a good feel for the final look without all the effort of creating actual plasticard bits.

I like the general look of the torpedo bank (and only three tubes is fine IMO) but it seems that your tubes are going slightly diagonally downward to the right. It could just be a trick of the light and shadow. Are they straight? Anyway, looks good!

Edit: Upon further consideration of the fin, I guess it's going to need to be at least a little shorter if you still intend to put any sensor spines sticking out the front since they would interfere with the weapons batteries. So, OK, you may be right about it being too big --particularly on the GW metal versions.

[Vaaish]

I think it's a pretty good start on the fin and that the plug is turning out nicely. As Xeones mentioned the holes on the torpedo plug seem misaligned slightly but it could be the shot. I think you are right about the size of the fins, but do you think we could see a shot on the GW SC? If you were adding the antenna, it'll need to be shorter not to interfere with the WB on the side which will end up making it smaller overall.

[mangozac]

Here's a shot on the GW SC:

The torpedo tubes are straight (although the one on the left in the picture is very slightly higher than the other two. I think it looks worse than it is because of the angle of the picture and the overall combination of a few other tolerance issues. In person it looks fine.

Yeah I've got some cardstock, but I've also got 0.25mm styrene which is IMO easier to use
I'll play around and see what I end up with. I think it also needs some of the angles adjusted. I can always shorten it (length and height) but leave the rear protrusion the same length it is now...