Model Of The Month: USS Kelvin
By: Foxbat
June 15th, 2011
4:28 am
This is the prototype build. Now I can start redesigning it. Overall length is 59 cm from the front end of the main circular disc to the back end of the engine, and I used regular old 80g paper for the build.
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32 comments on "Model Of The Month: USS Kelvin"
June 15, 2011 at 4:39 am
WOW!
That's really impressive!
I love the gentle curves on the nacelles!
Your choice of doing sections for the disc is interesting. Normally, I would have done that as concentric rings. But they turned out really really well.
Congratulations!
It's texturing time.
EDIT: Oh silly me.... I forgot about the scale you were working with. Had you done the disc using concentric rings, it would not have fit within an A4 sheet.
June 15, 2011 at 8:28 pm
That's one heck of a prototype, my kid sees that and he'll bug me till he has it! One to watch!
June 15, 2011 at 11:11 pm
interesting design method on the primary hull, cant wait to see it textured!
June 16, 2011 at 1:12 pm
I'm not sure what is considered the primary hull, but if you mean the saucer section, I would have to agree. I am starting to wonder if a combination radial and petal design should be investigated. This offers an exciting alternative.
June 17, 2011 at 11:04 pm
Rather than construct the main disc using concentric circles, which would restrict the model's scale to what fits onto an A4 page, I decided to go with these radial sections. This approach gives the disc much more structure and stability than concentric circles, the smaller elements are easier to handle, there is less likelihood of warping (please insert Star Trek pun here), and printing out large models is cheap and easy, since one petal per A4 page results in a truly huge model. Even when the parts pages are printed out so that two pages of parts fit onto one sheet of paper, the finished product still measures 59 cm in length overall. The main disadvantage of the radial section/petal approach that I have discovered is that a) it is a fairly monotonous affair, and b) one needs to pay a great deal of attention to maintain proper alignment. Obviously, the more parts there are, the greater potential there is for the disc to go out of true when all of the mistakes in each individual piece are added up. Right now I am experimenting with different radial section angles to see what the ideal proportion is balancing on the one hand the desire to avoid the monotony of repetition and on the other hand the desire to achieve a flat disc. In both cases, of course, I am limited to what I can squeeze onto an A4 page.
June 18, 2011 at 5:21 pm
Love it very well done looking forward to seeing more.
June 19, 2011 at 1:30 pm
Very cool! I can't wait to build this one!
June 22, 2011 at 7:47 pm
Nice model!
I can't wait for the texture,
June 25, 2011 at 11:42 am
I can only admire your fortitude in using 80g paper, Foxbat.
I have nowhere near the skills required to attempt such a large model as this, let alone in so light a material. I'm just starting out learning in paper models, and builds such as yours here serve to educate me greatly, for which I Thank you.
The model itself looks extremely good, and very neatly built.
Kind and Respectful Regards Foxbat, Uyraell.
June 25, 2011 at 1:16 pm
Wow! I really like the way you used wedges for the main saucer!