Star Wars - K-Wing

[Sky Seeker]

I was going through some of my files the other day and found this gem among some other compressed files in the old archive..

It is in a pepakura format and needing a break from designing the small parts on the Vorchan I decided to give it a try. This is the first model I have made from a Pepkura design. The one thing about Pepakura designs is that keeping track of each piece is tougher than some other methods with pre-numbered pieces that make it pretty intuitive to assemble. Also, when assembling a model like this it is recommended that you tackle one page at a time for cutting or assembling. Organization is key and much harder with a Pepakura model. You MUST refer back to the virtual model when assembling other wise you WILL quickly get lost.

Here are all of the parts once they are printed and cut out.

Note that the parts at the bottom of the pic above have already been assembled.

The pic below is the upper body portion. The front section has been cut to allow for insertion of the nose portion. The original design had the front nose portion mounted on a slanted form of the upper body. It definitely was not going to work.


Top and bottom body portions joined together. Note the front cut section.


Nose section glued to the front of the upper body (bottom view). Note the alignment of of the gray engine intakes which align with the front of the upper and lower bodies.


Top view of the nose mounted to the upper and lower bodies which now form the main fuselage.


Upper engine intake added adjacent to the upper body.


That's it for now.

Sky Seeker
:tank:

 

[Sky Seeker]

More pics.

Top view engine nacelles attached to upper body. Note that the engine nacelles had to be cut in order to attach the engines to the upper body (see the rear of the ship). This definitely has become my new pet peeve :exterminate:with modeling and designing:robot3::flag:. Maybe it's one of those things that just happen when you graphically design something which fits great on the screen, but suddenly doesn't work too well in real life. I would prefer not to have to cut into a piece after it is glued together. The reason is that everytime you have to do so you leave an opportunity for Mr. Murphy to walk in and mistakes happen (e.g. you might have to redo your model).

Side view.


Rear view. Rear repulsor unit (?) similar to the snow speeder attache to the main body.


Wings are assembled with the wing laser holders attached at the ends.


Top view wings assembled.


In order to attach the front middle laser a hole was made with an xacto knife to receive the laser.


Laser attached and held in place by the "high tech stand".


Laser mounted to the wings. The same technique used for mounting the main central laser to the fuselage was done with the wing lasers. A hole was made at the front, glue was added, and the lasers were inserted. This makes for a strong assembly for normally very weak parts. The lower winglets below the model used the same technique with the exceptions that a paperclip was used to widen the tiny holes made with the knife.


Wings attached to the fuselage.


Side view.


That's it for now.

Sky Seeker
:tank:

 

[Sky Seeker]

Some more pics.

Winglet attachment to the bottom of the model. The original design had the winglets mounted to the side body of the model. I thought that mounting the winglets to the bottom would be better to hold up the model and to make stronger attachment points for the winglets with the fuselage. A cut was made at the bottom of the model about the length of the glue tabs. The winglet glue tabs are inserted into the hole with glue on the tabs and around each hole.


Once mounted to the lower body of the fuselage, glue is added for additional reinforcement of the winglets. In the photo the glue is still drying. This is one of the few times where a little more than a light dab of glue is added.


Side view.


Top front view.


Bottom view.


Canopy assembled.


Canopy attached. The canopy was left for last due to having the most intricate cuts and the number of glue points for one piece. Tough, but able to be done.


That's it for now.

Sky Seeker
:tank:

 

[Sky Seeker]

Final pics.

Front View.


Left side view.


Back view.


Right side view.


Right front orthogonal view.


Left front orthogonal view.


For those of you who wonder why is this called the K-Wing - this should explain it.


Lessons learned from this model:

When designing always try to be considerate of the builders and make assembly as easy as possible with out additional cutting into the model. Once pieces are assembled, they should be able to be readily glued onto the model.

Pepakura model pieces have to be carefully organized otherwise you will be playing the hunting for a piece game or the modelers version of "Where's Waldo".

For pepkura models try to work off of one page at a time for the reason as stated above.

Don't forget to pay attention to the virtual Pepkura model and don't be afraid to make changes as the virtual clashes with reality.

Outside all of this I found it was nice to take a break and build something by someone else. It's a nice model (outside of what was said earlier) and an interesting design. The ship was designed by Goozi . The pepakura file can be found here:

http://chomikuj.pl/Star-Wars-Center...+Pojazdy+i+statki/*e2*96*8cSojusz+Galaktyczny

There are lots of other interesting Star Wars models there some canon some not. All pretty neat.

Above all HAVE FUN!

Sky Seeker
:tank:

 

[bigpetr]

Nice build, thanks for the link. Poor eight-sided engines, but it is nature of pepakura models that round objects can not be done round easily.

 

[Revell-Fan]

but it is nature of pepakura models that round objects can not be done round easily.

Nope. It's the designer's fault not to make smoother curves.

 

[Sky Seeker]

Nice build, thanks for the link. Poor eight-sided engines, but it is nature of pepakura models that round objects can not be done round easily.
, but it is nature of pepakura models that round objects can not be done round easily.

Nope. It's the designer's fault not to make smoother curves.

Yes, but it is the builder that should make it round or "reinterpret" the design. I probably could have trimmed the edges and made it round. The ship is begging for a redesign in some parts - with instructions.

Still an intriguing design.

Sky Seeker
:tank:

 

[Revell-Fan]

I probably could have trimmed the edges and made it round.

True, but once you start trimming you change the diameter of the tube which may lead to gaps and further modifications. I guess it is an older model which was designed as a game model in the first place which might explain the blocky appearance and the low poly count. You have done a super job and I completely agree with you, a revision could make this model really pop. I also think that this one is not alone. I have many similar low-poly blocky models in my archive which could benefit from an update. From time to time I am thinking about assembling a "task force" of volunteers who have the time and resources to do the job, to take some of the earlier designs and update them to a more modern standard. IMO intersections are much worse than blocky tubes. Getting rid of these can be much more complicated, especially when the intersection is located in a spot which is difficult to reach / explore in the Pepakura window. Just thinking out loud..!

 

[bigpetr]

Nope. It's the designer's fault not to make smoother curves.

Well, you are right. I see it as lazy design when I see boxed cones, because it requires little more work to do them or correct them (on game model). And there are some great and skilled designers, who use polygon 3d soft and have no problem with rounded shapes (some plastic model company - Fan came into my mind).

Intersections in pepakura are real pain. It is chapter for itself.