Star Trek: TNG:- Wolf 359 Diorama - micro build log

[linweseregon]

First up here's the Ahwahnee 'refit'

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For my next trick I'm going to have a go at Clever Santoro's Excelsior class - the registry doesn't matter for this one as almost the entire front half of the primary hull will be obliterated. This one will be my USS Melbourne. I'm building it in no particular order, again connecting parts which are easily recognisable first.

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I thought that the nacelles would be the most awkward parts to construct (boy was I wrong!) so I started with them. I then moved on to the primary hull and sat staring at these pieces for faaaaar too long:-

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I can see which parts go where, but at this stage I'm damned if I know why! I've done some limited connecting of these rings and then I started looking at the secondary hull trying to puzzle out how the parts fit together:-

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sums things up just now - lol. The solution is probably staring me in the face, but if I don't have a major breakthrough soon then I might have to abandon this one and look for an alternative design. Then again, I could take some inspiration from Robert The Bruce - if at first you don't succeed, try again...

 

[spaceagent-9]

well I know one part is missing, the neck. and the shuttle part in the backend it missing, it has a hanger on top shaped like an arrowhead , and below phasers.

 

[D-WHALE]

I i see the parts for the nacelles, i have a question: why did you not used the reworked version???

 

[linweseregon]

@spaceagent-9 I hadn't cut out all of the parts as I was trying to figure out where they were supposed to go, but even with all the parts cut it was still totally unworkable this small.

@D-WHALE I had the Enterprise B design on my laptop and went with that first. I downloaded and printed out the Excelsior today, but got the scale a bit off and it was going to be too big when built.

To be honest, I'm sick of the sight of this ship . I never did like the Excelsior class and the only reason I picked it for the USS Melbourne was to avoid having two Nebulas/Nebulae. I've cobbled together a passable approximation (good enough for my purposes) using parts from the Enterprise kit and fiercely trimmed parts from the Excelsior kit. I also had to edit the USS Excelsior parts to bring the colouring closer to the Enterprise by zapping the gamma saturation a few times. There are no more build log photos, just a few end results:-

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I'm far from happy with this one so I've decided that it will the the target of the tractor and cutting beams from the cube. If the light show doesn't pull attention away from the flaws then I suppose I'll have to resize Marko's USS Excelsior design (again! lol) and start from scratch - then I can feed this one to the Doomsday Machine . Nah... I'll just angle it so that the mess on the underside isn't seen.
And move quickly on to the Miranda class USS Saratoga. I've used the USS Reliant design from the SF Paper Craft Gallery and amended the registry. I'm on firmer ground here as I've already built a micro of the Reliant - this one will be a wee bit smaller though.

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I should be able to finish this one tomorrow and hopefully mount the Melbourne, the tractor beam LED and the cutting beam fibre optic filament.

 

[linweseregon]

Continuing the hull:-

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Then the finishing touches for the hull:-

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Just leaves the nacelles:-

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And here is the USS Saratoga:-

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This one measures 1 1/4" (32mm) from bow to stern.

 

[spaceagent-9]

i think you are doing a fantastic job! these are great and I cant wait to see more!!!

 

[linweseregon]

@spaceagent-9 Thanks yet again Jim . I'm back in my stride now - lol. Only seven more to go

I managed to get back to the cube today and I've fitted the tractor and cutting beams. The fibre optics are playing at 'Silly Buggers' and the only way I could get rid of the curve was to lead it along a length of wire:-

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Sanding the filament has done the trick with the blue LED - it is the strongest of the bulbs that I have:-

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And from an angle that shows the tractor beam lighting up the Melbourne a bit better:-

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I've also connected seven filaments to the yellow LED. The beam effect is proving to be a wee bit more awkward with it because the bulb is quite weak. I'll persevere with the sanding for a while yet and if it's not strong enough I'll replace the yellow LED with a stronger (more expensive) bulb. Seven filaments should be more than enough. Two each for the Yamaguchi and the Bellerophon still leaves plenty for the other three undamaged ships, especially if I have one not firing - which I suppose is statistically more likely and the Bonestell is probably too small for a 1mm filament to look good anyway. A green LED has been ordered for the Borg fire along with some more 1mm fibre optic filament.

 

[spaceagent-9]

man that's a mean looking borg cube!!! the Melbourne doesn't stand a chance!!!!

 

[zathros]

Very impressive! Have you ever thought about mounting the "LED" on the ship, then running back to the Borg Cube? It might give the appearance as the ship being hit with the energy burst instead of the Borg Cube. If you splice fiber optics, there is (if polished) a 20 decibel decrease in strength. You could use this to your advantage. You could also fray the end of a fiber optic cable and gets crazy effects by painting some of the painted strands, leaving the tips to shine, like blown away debris, frozen in time. Just some ideas. You are kicking but with this project!

 

[linweseregon]

@spaceagent-9 Aye, the Melbourne is toast! lmao

@zathros Many thanks . I did think about mounting a red LED inside the Melbourne - there just wasn't enough space, unfortunately. There might just be room inside the primary hull of the Firebrand though... And I could use up some of the 0.25mm fibre optics on it too. You've given me plenty to think about .

In the meantime, I had a bit of a rough day with both my folks being unwell. So all I've got done is some preliminary work on the New Orleans class USS Kyushu:-

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This is another of Paragon's designs. It always seems a shame to wreck these ships, but the Kyushu has extensive damage to the secondary hull and both nacelles, as well as a chunk missing from the primary hull and a lot of scorch marks.

 

[zathros]

Just in case you did not know, as long as you do not expose the filaments, you can shape the LEDs by heat, or cutting. Heating them up, then flattening them gives interesting results. Take a cheap one a give it a try. You can also trim it after you have flattened them a bit. With some orange tissue, or plastic painted, etc. you have a ship that looks like it is glowing on fire.

 

[mchale]

This is so cool keep it up

 

[spaceagent-9]

thinking about what zathros said,...........those flickering e-candles or tea lights would look pretty cool behind some painted orange tissue or plastic. don't know if they are 20 dollars apiece in England! lol!
here they are 3 for a dollar. I wouldn't mind sending a birthday cake in a file inside it if you know what I mean......
tally ho! I say,...blimey

 

[linweseregon]

@zathros I'm not sure if I quite have the confidence for that yet - lol - but I'll keep it in mind

@mchale Thank-you very much

@spaceagent-9 I dunno what they would cost in England either Jim - I'm from Scotland Jings, crivens, help ma boab! lol The USS Buran would be a great candidate for some flickery stuff. I might be able to fit it in the chunky nacelle supports. Then there's the question of how to disguise wiring that's as thick as the nacelles are? That's another thing that's put me off electronics inside the ships.

While I'm thinking about internal ship lighting I'm getting on with the Kyushu. Today has seen the primary hull built - still intact at this stage:-

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My damage photos are conflicting now - one shows the bridge scorched and another shows it gone. Considering how fiddly it was to build I'm going to have it scorched. So there! I'll have another search through interwebland and see if I can find some reasonably priced tiny lights. A mains adapter might be an idea too...

 

[spaceagent-9]

Scottish it better for sure.
there is micro wire for computers it called ribbon wire. but I don't know even how to order it. this is sure looking good!! I have never seen what a whole Kyushu looks like, only some small far away shots. this is my favorite thread online. I check it first thing every morning!
keep up the good work!

 

[linweseregon]

@spaceagent-9 Aaw shucks, I'm dead chuffed now .

Unfortunately, life is getting in the way of things at the mo'. My mum is chronically ill and I help my dad out with looking after her, but my dad is also ill just now so I'm run off my feet! I don't have any photos today as I didn't get enough done to justify it - the nacelles and secondary hull are formed and awaiting 'demolition' before I attach them. A lot more research has led me to some online electronics sources. From them I found the terminology to use on a famous auction site to find prices which are 50% of the specialist model retailers' transformer and screw terminal prices and 10% of their bulb prices. I also found out that my dad had some tealights lying around and I spent a barrowload of time dismantling and rewiring one of them. Now that I've found suitable wire (from a car lighter phone charger) I can dismantle another tealight and have one bulb flickering away in the hull of the Firebrand and another in the nacelle. The Kyushu has internal supports that prohibit fitting anything much inside it - I'll concentrate instead on trying to build out some kind of debris field from the secondary hull.

 

[spaceagent-9]

yeah! you found a way, that's great!
I'm sorry about your parents.
I wish that you can find happy paths during all this and that they feel better too.

I took care of mine from 1987 to 1996.
it was a full time chore with moments of love and greatness.
I took the ten free minutes I had every hour, to watch comedy, which helped greatly, and to start things I never really had the time for.
self hypnosis tapes, relaxation meditations, making Jupiter 2 fusion core electronics for lunar models, and sound effect boards. skateboarding on my small half pipe, walks with my dog in the parks, surfing before dawn, learning musical instruments I rented from the library, and of course among many other things like juicing for life, purified water, and upkeep of the house and some gardening, mostly weeding, some deep reading.
I hope this sparks some ideas for your heavy schedule.
I found that things work better if I sing a song that keeps my work at a slow steady pace to avoid mistakes.
and to break up my own activities into ten minute blocks and a few hours early morning when they slept.

my best wishes for you, and good luck.
we can all wait for this thread to continue when you can.
sincerely,
jim

 

[Danscrew]

Your Diorama will be very cool Linwe from Scotland.

Hope that all thing will come soon normal for you.

Keep going and like the Borg said... "resisting to papercraft is futile"

 

[linweseregon]

@spaceagent-9 Many thanks for the good wishes and suggestions - they're greatly appreciated . My Maw is the main one in need of care as she has an encyclopedia worth of illnesses. My dad has just pulled a muscle in his back so I'm doing all the heavy lifting that he usually does as well as the other chores that I'm responsible for - a week or two should see him back on his feet again .

@Danscrew Thank-you very much . I've certainly been assimilated .

With my old mum being bedded for most of the day I've done a bit of catching up on the Kyushu. Here are the parts with their scorch marks and cut lines:-

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After cutting I have this:-

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Then with some filling in the holes I get this:-

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After which I joined everything together:-

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And from the top:-

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Tacking on some strands of wire wool and offcuts gave a passable debris field effect:-

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I'll be blackening the wire wool and offcuts - unfortunately, I left my pen on the laptop and it dried up! lol I'm now off to wire some bulbs to a 'chocolate block' and link the blocks in series. The inside of the Borg cube is starting to look like ground zero for the Manhattan Project!

 

[linweseregon]

On with the show... I'm doing well today - lol. My next build is D-Whale's USS Firebrand (Freedom class). This is the progress so far:-

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This one has a massive amount of damage so (as previously mentioned) I'm going to try fitting flickering yellow LEDs inside the hull and the nacelle. The black areas in this diagram show what chunks will be removed:-

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I should be able to thread the wiring through the neck and out the hole at the back of the nacelle - it has a black coating so (hopefully!) it shouldn't be too obvious.