Scratchbuilt Lambda Shuttle

[MonsieurTox]

Hey guys, Ive started this one more than one year ago... I'll post more pics soon !

I think it's time to finish her. I dont know why she's not done yet, I just have to get the wing hinges machined.

I think it's time to finish her. I dont know why she's not done yet, I just have to get the wing hinges machined.



The plating was quite fun to do :



















The plating was quite fun to do :

















I've started to ID leading edges, morser karl are parts are missing (Im doing a mold) and I still have a part to find...

[JAWS]

WTF! julien didn't you already build one of these? Was that the Ellis/Niesen kit you built? This is awsome mate. Adopt me......

[MonsieurTox]

Nah Jase, I restored the Neil's V1 Shuttle he scratchbuilt before making the kit. The V1 was bought by the greek guy then he resold it, but wings, cockpit etc were damaged and some parts missing when she arrived to her new house in Italy. So I repaired her !

I've started this one more than one year ago and stopped (too much work on the ISD :p) but I'm so close to get her finished, that would be a shame to let it in that state !

[dbhs]

Beautiful !!

[Cylon-Knight]

Amazing work!

[JAWS]

Julien is one of the Kings of SW Scartch building. It is trult=y remarkable what effort he has put into reingineering the SW studio models. Hats off to you Sir Tox!

[427 Cobra]

(10-12-2010, 09:34 PM)MonsieurTox Wrote: Nah Jase, I restored the Neil's V1 Shuttle he scratchbuilt before making the kit. The V1 was bought by the greek guy then he resold it, but wings, cockpit etc were damaged and some parts missing when she arrived to her new house in Italy. So I repaired her !

I remember that - I'm the one that alerted Neil to the fact. That's the same guy that's been trying to sell Kenny's (darkimmitator) X-wing on ebay after only having it a few weeks. I guess he buys these, copies them, then resells the originals. This would explain the damage to the dorsal fin of the shuttle Neil made. I definately WON'T BE SELLING MY STUFF TO HIM! For some reason I believe this guy's a recaster, maybe that's part of how a lot of kits are being poorly copied/recast in China, then resold all over the world. If he's recasting them, then selling them under a different name locally, it would be hard to trace it to him without someone turning him in. The other problem is, if he's selling recasts to everyone regardless of social standing - they won't care if it is recast, especially if they're doing it themselves!

If you see your kit being sold overseas in unassembled form - you'll know why. The restoration was good, and I know that the new owner appreciated it. I just hope it's found its' final resting place. All the tedious work you guys are doing is phenominal - I just wish I had the motivation, and the backing to keep going with these myself. I've taken enough breaks, it's time to get back to work! This is just the inspiration I need. Thanks, Julien!

~ Cobra Chris

[MonsieurTox]

Thanks guys !

Yeah Chris this guy is really to avoid !

Unfortunatly I had to make a whole new cockpit When I put a pic of my shuttle over a pic of the original, my cockpit was way undersized (was missing more than 20 mm in lenght and at least 7-8 mm in width) :



I think I haven't trimmed well the parts you sent me because on pics of the shuttle pics, the cockpit doesnt seem to be as short as mine was.

Well I tried to add some strip of styrene to enlarge it :





The result was good and proportions OK :



Unfortunatly the front was uneven and after all those modifications it was weak and the underside was ugly (and it can be seen :/). I was close to give up.

So I decided to make a new plug and vacform a new cockpit :



Pull done :



Roughly cut :



I'm quite happy with the proportions, unfortunatly I havent nailed the horns areas as good as Neil did. But well nothing is perfect...

Found all the parts of the rear bulkhead, the small barrels between the turrets are missing, I know I still have at least 4 of them (used the other to build the shuttle guns) but once again I don't know where is the sprue... There're are 2 sprues with those parts in the kit, and of course in the box I have only one sprue where all the barrels are missing.



Thanks for looking !

[MonsieurTox]

Close enough for my taste

[dbhs]

That's awesome. Are you using soldering wire for those metal loops?

I need a vacuum former. So useful for stuff like this.

[MonsieurTox]

(10-23-2010, 12:10 PM)dbhs Wrote: That's awesome. Are you using soldering wire for those metal loops?

I need a vacuum former. So useful for stuff like this.

Thank you !

No, those are not metal but original kitparts (Tamiya 1/20 ford engine exhaust pipes).
I built this vacuum former for the cockpit, I would love to buy a true tool though !

[JAWS]

Yeah that is so kool to be able to vaccuform parts like that! Nice work J. Love your work mate. I thought the cockpit might have been made from a vaccuum head or something like a 'Dust Buster'!.

[MonsieurTox]

Wings done !!

Was not easy, I rebuilt new wings because I was not happy with my first acrylic wings :

[dbhs]

Is the bend joint in the wings just a glue joint in the acrylic sub structure?

[JAWS]

Wow Julien....

[MonsieurTox]

(11-04-2010, 07:02 AM)dbhs Wrote: Is the bend joint in the wings just a glue joint in the acrylic sub structure?

Sorry I don't understand what you mean By joint you mean the acrylic hinges ? Or where the wings are bend ? There's no acrylic in the lateral wings.

The cockpit is more or less finished, I still have to add some details



See the difference between the part of my old cockpit and my new :







My cockpit is crowed now with those guys :







The front grill was -as always, that's the fourth I build)- a b**** to do, as the front fines.

[dbhs]

I'm asking about the bend in the wings in the side wings. What's the internal material there?

[427 Cobra]

I'd hate to be the one to say it first, but the cockpit is just a hair too high. Neil hit it right on the head when he made his version of this. Did you get a chance to measure his before surrendering it back to its' owner? This is the Shuttle Tyderium which is a "Lambda class shuttle" - not a "Lambda shuttle". But I guess that means it's qualified enough to go to college? This is an inside college joke for those who never went. LAMBDA was one of the houses on campus.

The head (cockpit) also looks a litte too thin. I'll have to check the studio model again to be sure, but I think this is just a liitte smaller, and less angular than the original. I know the life sized studio version is angled down a little more. Take a look at the actual studio model, and see what I mean.

~ Cobra Chris

[MonsieurTox]

(11-05-2010, 06:08 PM)427 Cobra Wrote: I'd hate to be the one to say it first, but the cockpit is just a hair too high. Neil hit it right on the head when he made his version of this. Did you get a chance to measure his before surrendering it back to its' owner? This is the Shuttle Tyderium which is a "Lambda class shuttle" - not a "Lambda shuttle". But I guess that means it's qualified enough to go to college? This is an inside college joke for those who never went. LAMBDA was one of the houses on campus.

The head (cockpit) also looks a litte too thin. I'll have to check the studio model again to be sure, but I think this is just a liitte smaller, and less angular than the original. I know the life sized studio version is angled down a little more. Take a look at the actual studio model, and see what I mean.

Thanks for the comments Chris, some clarifications though :

The cockpit is just hold by tape right now and it's too horizontal because of the tape on the shot.

As for Neil's shuttle, unfortunatly the cockpit was undersized (see this pic, I used a styrene pull made by Neil for my first cockpit)



But regarding the measurements, the new cockpit I made is accurate, it's 25 mm longer than the old one, I used the ortho production pics (with ruler) ILM took, hundred of ref pics of the original and the kitparts so I'm 100% positive my measurements are correct (and they are proportionned to the whole model).

Now the shape of the cockpit itself is not 1% correct, the original was handmade as mine is, so it's impossible to be perfect. Just look at the MR AT-AT which was 3D scanned and was still way off in comparison of the original. That's because the original (AT-AT and shuttle cockpit) were hand carved and were not symetrical, my cockpit is probably not symétrical either. The biggest problem is that my cockpit was too rounded at the canopy location, which is now corrected, more flat, more accurate. The horns should be curved too, mine are not enough and maybe the side "jaws" are not set at the correct angle, but I'm not sure, it depends of the pic I'm looking at and on the original model those jaw parts are not at the same angle... I made the choice to put mine the symetrical way.

Regarding the fact mine is less angular than the original, I know it doesn"t show on the pic of George weathering the Shuttle, but the original it's well rounded.

Anyway thanks for the input, I appreciate any kind of criticisms.

---

(11-05-2010, 04:02 PM)dbhs Wrote: I'm asking about the bend in the wings in the side wings. What's the internal material there?

The wings are built a bit like a Vought Corsair wing, those are not too parts -the wing root and the bend wing- glued together, it's a whole part. It's all styrene and forex and since it's built like an airplane wing, it's very strong ! Of course there're a lot of reinforcement parts and several laminated parts to avoid any waring or sagging... I reckon they're a bit heavy, but stronger than my old acrylic wings !

[427 Cobra]

I understand what you mean. I saw the Scotch tape holding this in place for the picture. I was referring to the angle it was sitting at. I think Neils' got that part spot on despite a few inaccuracies that even he admitted where there. There's no way to ensure 100% accuracy in all these reproductions we're all making, but you, and I are perfectionists when it comes to this. I know you'll make it right. There is a way to make it as accurate as we can according to the pictures, it just takes some time, and effort where others wouldn't notice. I just don't want to state the obvious, but of course you already know that you've done a phenomenal job with this so far. What we're achieving is something that hasn't been done since these movies were first made.

This is reliving history through modeling. We're all going along for the ride. It is interesting to watch, I just wonder if the kit of this on the rpf is still going to happen? I'd hate have to make one of these from scratch after buying all the kits, and not realising I need more! I'm glad to see that you're doing this project. I wish there was a kit ID list for those looking to make their own. I'd love to make one for myself someday as well offer these as kits for those who can't make their own. This would make a great Christmas present for any Star Wars fan!

~ Cobra Chris

[MonsieurTox]

(11-06-2010, 02:34 AM)427 Cobra Wrote: I understand what you mean. I saw the Scotch tape holding this in place for the picture. I was referring to the angle it was sitting at. I think Neils' got that part spot on despite a few inaccuracies that even he admitted where there. There's no way to ensure 100% accuracy in all these reproductions we're all making, but you, and I are perfectionists when it comes to this. I know you'll make it right. There is a way to make it as accurate as we can according to the pictures, it just takes some time, and effort where others wouldn't notice. I just don't want to state the obvious, but of course you already know that you've done a phenomenal job with this so far. What we're achieving is something that hasn't been done since these movies were first made.

This is reliving history through modeling. We're all going along for the ride. It is interesting to watch, I just wonder if the kit of this on the rpf is still going to happen? I'd hate have to make one of these from scratch after buying all the kits, and not realising I need more! I'm glad to see that you're doing this project. I wish there was a kit ID list for those looking to make their own. I'd love to make one for myself someday as well offer these as kits for those who can't make their own. This would make a great Christmas present for any Star Wars fan!

~ Cobra Chris

Yeah the nose should (and will ) points down more than it actually does.

I've corrected the curvature of the top and it looks much better now !

Yeah Neil admitted some inaccuracies but we dont forget he built several Shuttle. I got one of the V1 (the one I restored, a one-off) pull for the cockpit, but he enlarged it for the V2 (the kit), but he also improved it more because I guess he built 1 or 2 more one-offs.

I think the kit is still produced by Steve Neisen, maybe you should try to catch him... if you can !

[JAWS]

The kit is still in production from Steve. I recently spoke with him about them. They are around the $7-800 mark + Shipping. Its on my list.

[427 Cobra]

(11-06-2010, 03:42 AM)MonsieurTox Wrote: Yeah the nose should (and will ) points down more than it actually does.

I've corrected the curvature of the top and it looks much better now !

Yeah Neil admitted some inaccuracies but we dont forget he built several Shuttle. I got one of the V1 (the one I restored, a one-off) pull for the cockpit, but he enlarged it for the V2 (the kit), but he also improved it more because I guess he built 1 or 2 more one-offs.

I think the kit is still produced by Steve Neisen, maybe you should try to catch him... if you can !

I didn't understand what you meant when you said curvature yesterday, but I know now. I didn't realise Neil made more than one, and all scratch made! That's something I wouldn't want to do personally.

(11-06-2010, 08:36 AM)jasonwright.1972 Wrote: The kit is still in production from Steve. I recently spoke with him about them. They are around the $7-800 mark + Shipping. Its on my list.

Thanks for the headsup, both of you! I'll put this on my list too - IF I ever get the funds to do it while he's still making it (come on lottery)!

~ Cobra Chris

[MonsieurTox]

I made a plug and vacformed the guns shields :



I finished the cockpit, 2 pics with 2 different focals... funny how size and proportions can change :





As I've said in my previous post, I've modified the radius of the top of the cockpit, is more flat now where there's the glass and much more accurate :



I've lost the cover plate I did last year... Not a big loss, the grills I used were not the right parts. I finally found them, unfortunatly it was from a kit I bought which was partially built, only a very few parts were glued together and those grills were glued like crap with huge glue blobs, I did my best to remove as much as I could, but that's not perfect... The irony is that I have 4 Ferrari 312T, I know I used some of those grills on the ISD, but only from a kit, so I should have more parts... somewhere, I was too lazy to look for them as I packed up most of my kits. Will do the trick once weathered.



Of course it can be removed (or placed the other way) :



I did my best to match the hosings of the underside of the cockpit :

[dbhs]

Beautiful work, Julien.

[LastBattlestar]

Simply fantastic work Julien. It's been a pleasure watching you build this, mucho respect!

Mike

[427 Cobra]

Very HARD work, Julien! I know that no one ever sees the bottom of the shuttle, but I can understand trying to detail it any way! These guys knew what they were doing, so they utilized all their knowledge about armour, and aircraft - hence the weathering techniques they used. Is this going to be lighted all the way around, the same as the studio model?

~ Cobra Chris

[MonsieurTox]

Thank you guys !!


Yes Chris, she will be lighted if I can find a way to do flashing lights !

After the first ligthing test more than one year ago, it was time to try again with some diffuser. The result is not as good as I would like but it's OK since I'll never turn the light on.





















There's the bulbs I'm planning to use for the wings and bottom :











They're running 12V, anyone has an idea how to make a flashing board ?



And I finally replaced my scratched parts with 2 original parts from the 1/32 Tamiya F-14. Of course there's only one part in a kit.



I had to move the outer 2 mm strips to be allowed to glue those parts are their place. Well basically I had to move most of the details of the bottom, it was tedious job but everything turned out well !

[directorcass]

You may not run the lights very much but I would go with LEDs instead of bulbs. You will have a much longer life span with them. Plus, there are several flasher kits on the market for LEDs. Something like this should wok for you.

http://www.culttvmanshop.com/Navigation-...p_344.html

[MonsieurTox]

(11-22-2010, 01:00 PM)directorcass Wrote: You may not run the lights very much but I would go with LEDs instead of bulbs. You will have a much longer life span with them. Plus, there are several flasher kits on the market for LEDs. Something like this should wok for you.

http://www.culttvmanshop.com/Navigation-...p_344.html

Thank you for the link, couldnt those flasher kits work with bulbs ?

Life span is not really a problem as I bought 200 of those bulbs and I prefer the look but well I could reconsider it if those flasher kits cant work with tungstene bulbs.

[LastBattlestar]

The flasher kit would be designed to run with the resistance of an LED, not a bulb which would have higher electrical resistance. But those are tiny bulbs, so they might work. There is only one way to find out!

Mike

[MonsieurTox]

(11-22-2010, 09:14 PM)LastBattlestar Wrote: The flasher kit would be designed to run with the resistance of an LED, not a bulb which would have higher electrical resistance. But those are tiny bulbs, so they might work. There is only one way to find out!

Mike

Thanks Mike !

Since that's a kit, I was thinking not to use the resistances included in the kit and replace them with wire, I think that would work, at least it is worth a try !

[MonsieurTox]

Some more work done today, while I'm still waiting for my KS brass tubes (almost 2 months now ).



I finished to detail the trailing edge of the lateral wings :







Ive sprayed a coat of primer on those wings, I'm still waiting for a kit to put the small guns to get them finished (here again, more than one month Im waiting ).





I did the wires cover, actually that's a strip sliding into slots. The wires are for the bulbs of the wing tips :







I like the part assembly George did into the leading edge :











Some pics of the wing in primer :

[JAWS]

Wow that is beautiful & clean Julien.

[MonsieurTox]

Thanks Jase

I built the rear gun assembly.

Originally I wanted to use a casting from REL (thanks Rich !) because I was out of 222, but last week I received a new 222 (I dont know why I bought one lol) so today I thought it would be too bad to not use the original part from this kit for the base of the guns... I didnt have any domes at the right size so I used those of Rich's casting.



After 7 hours of work, I can say it was not worth it, it would have took me only 5 min to glue the barrels on the casting and spray a coat of primer...



Not sexy before the primer coat :













Finally, I'm very pleased with the result :















Of course it can turn :







Thanks for looking !

[JAWS]

Pretty sexy now Monsieur!

[dbhs]

Wow - this is beautiful work.