Firefly - Serenity

Gandolf50

Researcher of obscure between war vehicles...
Staff member
Moderator
Agree with all the above.. Great work Sky!
I do a Marathon about once a year and watch it beginning to end, never gets old!
 

Sky Seeker

Well Established Member
Agree with all the above.. Great work Sky!
I do a Marathon about once a year and watch it beginning to end, never gets old!

Thanks Gandolf! Yes it was great to watch the series and the movie again for reference material. Can't get the song out of my head. I guess the whole thing that's there is the meaning of freedom, independence, and survival. Never gets old.:)

Thanks for stopping on by.:)

Sky Seeker
:tank:
 

Sky Seeker

Well Established Member
New pics

Here are the main fuselage and the cabin section.
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Gluing the main fuselage to the cabin section. Note that the center tab is glued first.
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The other tabs are then glued together from the fuselage to the cabin.
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A silver marker was used to color the underside of the docking areas. Otherwise they are just white which you can still see even when the cabin section is mounted to the cargo bay with the wings.
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Fuselage and cabin joined together.
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That's it for now.

Sky Seeker
:tank:
 
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Sky Seeker

Well Established Member
More pics - cargo bay

Cargo bay - I was just about to put the assembly above onto the cargo bay when two things were realized
1. The wings should be installed and
2. There's a big blank white spot on the sides.
Realizing this, work proceeded on the side supports which originally (I thought) were just for the landing support pads.
Also after looking at the Serenity from the series there's a series of support under the wings.

Side cargo bay supports. Note the two supports on either side are glued first. Then you work inwards. The top of the template is folded backwards to give a black covering to the support.
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Side supports ready to be installed. Note that tabs were added to the engine / wing assemblies to help reinforce and keep the wings onto the cargo bay. There is no special reason for the tabs beings colored. They were just cast off pieces that became not so cast off. Make sure that you make a pair of incisions within the wing area on the cargo bay.
upload_2018-6-7_22-28-13.jpeg

As a test fitting was being done I realized the following.... Houston we have a SERIOUS problem!!:hammerhead::hammerhead::hammerhead::frak::fireguy::flag::headbange::headbange::headbange::robot3::robot3::robot3::robot3: :exterminate:

Yes those wonderful side supports that I thought needed to be added are now causing all sorts of havoc!:headbange::headbange:
upload_2018-6-7_22-31-16.jpeg

However, never fear we look at these little mishaps in life as challenges that need (no they are begging) to be overcome!:biggrin:

This is what was done.

Remove the center support as shown below. Next cut the edges between the other two supports to form a flap.
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Glue the area under the flap then fold the flap down.:noteeth: That's it. :biggrin: Note the incisions made in the wing area on the cargo bay.
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Before adding the wings I was debating weather or not to add the engine cowls. After doing more research the engine cowls were finally added. The hard part about this was trying to figure out where to start the cowl. As you can see below you start at the edge where the wings connects to the engine then overlap the cowl about the engine until it contacts near some "yellow squares".
upload_2018-6-7_22-40-15.jpeg

Now you slide the tabs into the incisions on the cargo bay. Make sure to add glue onto the tabs and to the wings adjacent to the cargo bay. Note that wings slide in pretty well now. Note the area with the "yellow squares".
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After the wing is inserted for additional strength overglue as shown below to add additional strength to the wing.
upload_2018-6-7_22-43-44.jpeg

That's it for now.:)

Sky Seeker
:tank:
 
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Sky Seeker

Well Established Member
More pics - wings and cargo bay

Front view - Wings installed on the cargo bay - I can't believe they line up!
upload_2018-6-8_19-3-57.jpeg

Rear view - Wings installed on the cargo bay - the silver color seems to act as a mirror when the flash goes off
upload_2018-6-8_19-4-22.jpeg

Right rear view - Note the actual coloring of the rear. This is done because you will be fitting a circle (the engine) on to a square body (the cargo bay).
upload_2018-6-8_19-5-59.jpeg

That's it for now.

Sky Seeker
:tank:
 

Sky Seeker

Well Established Member
More pics - we're going tubular (engine conduits)!

This is the start of the conduits. The templates don't include the templates for these. You have to make them from scratch. First you roll the paper to "break it in". Then you add glue and roll again.
upload_2018-6-9_17-14-33.jpeg

This is what the rolls look like after you cut them out. For the angles you cut at a 45 degree angle or less. The conduits were then colored with a silver marker.
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Back view - Conduits attached. Please ignore our overly anxious friend in the corner trying to dock with a half finished ship!;) (He'll be talked about later!)
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Left side view.
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Left rear view
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Back view.
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Right rear view.
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Close up shot at the top. Earlier in the post there was a mention of deforming or crushing to top when aligning the legs of the cradle. Note the upper portion of the cradle.

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Here is the correction. A reprint of the original template was done for greebling on the side of the cradle. The greebling sections were glued on top of another scrap piece then cut out and glued onto the cradle legs in the desired areas.
upload_2018-6-9_17-38-54.jpeg

The bend or crushed section was cut, flattened, and replaced with another template piece as seen below. Mistakes what mistakes..;)
upload_2018-6-9_17-33-40.jpeg

Back view - more conduits.
upload_2018-6-9_17-40-57.jpeg

Right side view
upload_2018-6-9_17-41-25.jpeg

Left rear view
upload_2018-6-9_17-41-51.jpeg

That's it for now.

Sky Seeker
:tank:
 

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Sky Seeker

Well Established Member
More pics - Docking bay

Our overly anxious friend featured above wants a new home. Our job here is certainly to oblige him (or her)!

First we apply some glue along the area underneath where the docking bay is to be. Then sprinkle some metal filings on the glue then add some more glue on top of the filings to create and sandwich effect. If you want a stronger bond either add more layers of filings or use a stronger magnet.
upload_2018-6-9_18-11-49.jpeg

Area once dried.
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Once this area is dried you can flip it over and test out if you can stick your magnet on. If it stays on you are ready to go, if not see above.
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Sky Seeker
:tank:
 
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Sky Seeker

Well Established Member
Say hello to our little friend - the birth of a shuttle!:)

Template for the shuttle (stock)
upload_2018-6-9_18-23-21.jpeg

Partial assembly of pieces - left to right - wings, tail, top, fuselage, and cockpit.
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Underside view - note the underside of the cockpit - this is what it will look like if you go with the stock design.
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In the original design the wings are either fixed in the open or closed positions - thinking that our friend needed to feel the need for freedom a decision was made to make the wings movable. Using the technique learned from making the conduits for the engine, a post was made and glued to the underside of each wing near the thickest end. The end of the post was split into three pieces at the end and splayed 90 degrees from the base of the post. Holes were created at the top of the fuselage of the shuttle.
upload_2018-6-9_18-26-40.jpeg

Wings installed. The top portion has to be cut out along the sides to accommodate the clearance of the wings. Also the tail was cut down to allow the wings to fold.
upload_2018-6-9_18-31-18.jpeg

Posts extending through the bottom.
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The top of the body and the cockpit has been colored in with a silver marker..
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Note the wings opened.
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Circular stops made to prevent removal of the wings.
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Stops installed.
upload_2018-6-9_18-41-40.jpeg

Posts trimmed.
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Magnet positioned and glued in place on the bottom piece. The piece to the right is for covering the bottom of the cockpit.
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Bottom glued in place on fuselage and cockpit.
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Side view.
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Bottom of the cockpit has been trimmed and colored silver.
upload_2018-6-9_18-48-57.jpeg

Wings closed.
upload_2018-6-9_19-7-27.jpeg

Shuttle complete - Wings Openedupload_2018-6-9_18-49-37.jpeg

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Next template group for the second shuttle. Note the modifications. Additional tabs for the cockpit. Cut out sections for the top piece. Shortened tail section. Holes will be made in the main body after the wings are glued to line up the exact location and spacing of the holes.
upload_2018-6-9_19-5-32.jpeg

Hope you enjoyed the assembly of our friend the shuttle.

Sky Seeker
:tank:
 
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