Jan Rükr Startcraft II Terran Marine Cannon

[juntopi]

Hi everyone. I recently joined the forum and wanted to share my first project which is Jan Rükr's Terran Marine Cannon I got from his website. I only started building paper models a few months ago and I'm hooked. I've completed the gun muzzle and have started on the cooler. I'll post some pics of my progress shortly. Based on the quality of work I’ve seen here I have a lot to learn.

[juntopi]

Here's a picture of the completed gun muzzle. It's a little gimpy, however I'll cut myself a little slack since it's my first model. I got tripped up on some of the pieces as they need to be folded inside out. Oh well, onward and forward.

[juntopi]

Here's some pictures of the cooler assembly. To get the curve on the piece in the first picture I rolled it over the handle of my knife.

The piece in the third picture is supposed to be glued to the inside of the larger piece with its color side facing in according to the diagrams for the model.

[juntopi]

These are some pics of the forward gun body detail. In the second picture I used a circle stencil to try and get a better circular shape for some of the pieces. In the third picture you can see the pieces installed. I think tripped up again though and this piece should be folded inside out and internal to the larger part.

Lastly I'm using a Crayola black marker of my daughters to touch up the folded areas. It has a bit of a blue tint that makes it perfect for this model.

[juntopi]

Here are some last pictures of the completed forward gun body. I'll have another update in the next few days.

[juntopi]

Here are some more progress pics. This part is called the front profile and fits underneath the cooler assembly. I'm working on the middle part of the gun body now and will have some more pics in a bit.
BTW if you are looking for the plans you can find them at http://aliens.humlak.cz/ in the extras section of his site.

[juntopi]

Here are some more pics of the gun body. This segment is the largest piece in the model and I've been struggling as to how to best approach the order of assembly. I decided to simply go from front to back however I think this was a mistake as I explain here.

I continued by putting together a top section of the body:
top_1.JPG
top_2.JPG

It looks OK except that the seam shows up a little too much. The problem came when I attached this to the cooler section with a few
side pieces.

top_3.JPG

The curve of this top piece doesn't completely match the curve of the top of the cooler. There is a big gap where the two parts meet and I'm not sure how I'm going to fix that without taking it off and starting over. In hindsight I think I should have built up the gun body in three segments; top, sides, and bottom and this is how I'm going to proceed going forward. For now I'm going to set this piece aside, pretend it didn't happen, and hope it fixes itself.

[juntopi]

Moving on. Here are some more progress pics of the lower section of the gun body. I've included a reference picture from the instructions file for the model.

lowersection.jpg

lower_1.JPG
lower_3.JPG

I like the detail in this little piece. I'm getting a little bit better at cutting out the circular parts.
lower_4.JPG
lower_5.jpg

And here is how it all looks put together.

lower_6.JPG

[juntopi]

Here's another quickupdate/ This is the forward part of the trigger guard.

fwd_trigger_location.jpg

fwd_trigger_1.JPG
fwd_trigger_2.JPG
fwd_trigger_3.JPG

And here it is attached.
fwd_trigger_4.JPG

[silveroxide]

Great build on this one. Picking this one for your first model is an undertaking. If you can build Jan's models, you can build any model out there. Jan is known for his intricate models and folding patterns. There are many of his models built out there but few tutorials on how it was accomplished. thanks for your build sequence. One thing about the size of this model. is that I would use 110 weight paper. I would also laminate key areas and make/scratch build formers or bulkheads for added strength. As you build more, you will know what I mean. Enjoy and see you around the forums.

[juntopi]

Thanks for the post Silver, I appreciate it. I know now what you mean about formers, i just wish I had thought of this earlier. Some of the pieces that make up the detail of the rear, top gun body do this to a certain extent but I'm adding some modification to hopefully make it easier to assemble and provide some extra strength.

For now here are a few pictures of the magazine. This assembly is comprised of three pieces which in turn need to be glued together. The largest piece is pretty straight forward. There are a couple of curved parts however they are easy enough to cut, fold, and put in place.
Magazine_1.JPG
Magazine_2.JPG

The middle piece is also straight forward. Take the time to round the small section. This is important for both the side of the piece as well as fitting it to the top section.
Magazine_3.JPG

And here the middle piece is attached to the top.
Magazine_4.JPG

[juntopi]

The final section of the magazine is made from a single piece. I had the most fun folding this.

Magazine_5.JPG
Magazine_6.JPG
Magazine_7.JPG

And here is the final magazine all put together.
Magazine_8.JPG

[juntopi]

The trigger is printed on one of the same sheets that contains pieces for the magazine. Since I had it printed out I went ahead and assembled it even though it is being made out of order. The red of this really pops compared to the blue textures that are present up to this point. Trigger_1.JPG
Trigger_2.JPG

This is the final assembled piece.
Trigger_3.JPG

P.S. Jan if you read this, thank you for making the circular cutouts on the trigger the exact same size as my hole punch!

[juntopi]

This is the side of the rear gun body and contains the breech.
breech_location.jpg

The breech itself consists of five pieces that are glued together back to back. The end result gives some nice detail and depth to the assembly. The name of the game here is straight cuts and gluing all the way to the edge. Depending on the glue used you'll want to make sure to have some weight on the assembly as it cures otherwise you'll end up with a warped piece like me.
Breech_1.JPG

Here it is with all the pieces assembled.
Breech_2.JPG

And lastly the whole side piece. I touched this up with a black and blue marker and as you can see it got away from me in a few places. I need to decide if it's worth printing, cutting, and folding the breech and inside circular pieces again vs. leaving it as is. I can hear the perfectionists on the list groaning as they read this. I’ll let you know.
Breech_3.JPG

[juntopi]

Hi everyone. I hope you all made it through the holiday season intact and with some new, shiny craft supplies. The last part of the gun body is giving me fits; I've already made three attempts so I'm stepping back and figuring out the best way to assemble it. In the meantime I've started started on the handgrip.

This piece is comprised of several sub-assemblies and I've completed the three circled in the picture. Also for anyone who is building this, the part# 114 I've circled is actually part# 127.
Handgrip_Inst.jpg

I've taking Silveroxide's advice and I'm reinforcing the pieces with additional 110lb cardstock, specifically on the areas where one assembly attaches to another.Also I'm not building each subassembly by itself and then putting them together after they're complete. Rather it's more of a rolling assembly so there's a nice clean joint between the pieces.
Handgrip_1.JPG
Handgrip_2.JPG
Handgrip_3.JPG

And here is the what I have so far.
Handgrip_4.JPG