Ranger 3 from Buck Rogers

Revell-Fan

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The year is 1979, and Universal Hartland launches another of their filming miniatures. In a freak mishap the Pumpkin Shuttle from BSG is blown out of its trajectory into another television show which should be remembered throughout the decades, and returns in paper form to Earth forty-somewhat years later.


When James E. Small offered his close-up pictures of the original filming miniature of Ranger 3 to the public I immediately put the model on my todo list. The previous pictures which were available on the web were only in black and white and lacked a front and rear view. James filled in this void with beautiful colour images and straight-on views of all sides. I can't say how long it will take to finish this one because I'm still working on the Viper mods but maybe this gives me the opportunity to switch projects to keep my mind fresh.

I have set up a first SketchUp model which will be refined. I already used very basic shapes to match the model's elegant curves and hope these will translate into paper well later-on. The goal is to create a sophisticated base model to make Ranger 3, the Searcher shuttle and the Pumpkin shuttle from BSG. And here is the first WIP picture:

1.jpg

2.jpg

3.jpg

You can see some deviations which need my attention because the images don't line up perfectly but so far I'm pretty pleased with it. Stay tuned! :)
 
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Rhaven Blaack

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This looks GREAT! Thank you for taking this project on! I am greatly looking forward to building them!!!
 

Rhaven Blaack

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You are really hitting the mark on this one! The overall silhouette is spot on. I do not see any issues with continuity or viability! I am really looking forward to seeing how this turns out!!!
 

zathros

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I think you need to curve up just a bit to follow the curves that are shown in the picture under the front glass. It will make it look a little less blocky too. Otherwise, getting there. ;)
 

Revell-Fan

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I think you need to curve up just a bit to follow the curves that are shown in the picture under the front glass. It will make it look a little less blocky too. Otherwise, getting there. ;)
Which areas do you mean? There must be visible folding lines in certain positions. I have marked them in red. You'll have to deliberately crease these to replicate the look of the studio model.

9a.jpg

10a.jpg
 

zathros

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Yup, that's the spot. If you made a template form, it could show people how much to curve the pieces, to give it that distinctive look. Picking hairs, but with someone of your talent, I know you take it with the good intent understood. ;)
 

Revell-Fan

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By all means, I highly appreciate infos and suggestions like this. In fact, I would have been glad if someone had mentioned the wrong turret design on the Landram when I was still working on it. So the template was around for quite some time until someone pointed out to me that my design was wrong because the blast shield was bolted to the turret and not to the gunner station on the original. That was a big facepalm moment. If you get totally immersed into a project you sometimes miss the most obvious. After all, this proves that we are all human. ;)
 
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