Shooting Star — My contest entry that never was...

karim · Post by **karim** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 3:51 pm

I finally managed to document the build for the model I started for the Starfighters Contest. While I did finally finish the model, it was too late both for the SSM contest and for Wonderfest (and there was a major finishing flaw that occurred while racing to finish at the last minute, so it will never enter any other competitions).

I've finally gotten around to putting together all the pictures I took. Hope you all enjoy it:

http://www.karimnassar.com/makery/scale ... oting-star

Dr. Yo · Post by **Dr. Yo** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 7:28 pm

Karim, that is one of the most elegant, simple and comvincing 'space
fighters' I have ever seen. Well done, sir, well done. If you do get around to
reprising the design in a larger scale, the only suggestion I'd make would be to
add a cockpit. The missile bay and the open laser and sensor hatches are
great, but I don't see anything that really gives it a strong sense of scale.
Just sayin'.

I hope you'll be submitting some of the finished shots to the gallery.

karim · Post by **karim** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 12:18 pm

Thanks Dr. Yo. Your comments are much appreciated, as that's exactly what I was going for.

I really struggled with the cockpit notion, as I definitively don't want a canopy... I briefly considered building it as a pre-launch scene, with the cockpit open and a pilot climbing in, but I wanted to show the maneuvering boom extended and sensor and weapons hatches open.

I think that if I rebuild this in a larger scale, I might depict it in a maintenance diorama, with all hatches open, and mechanics working on the engines or something. I could then have a large stack of Shooting Stars as a backdrop... sort of like a stack of cargo containers which was the initial inspiration for the design.

homyakchik · Post by **homyakchik** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 6:03 pm

Karim

I liked it, and I thought it well-designed for a completely airless battlefield. (The space opera nut in me immediately wondered about the fate of one sent spiraling into an atmosphere, but that's neither here nor there.)

I laughed (with delight, not derision) at the comment about having fighters sitting around on a flat field wasting space. Stacking them certainly does make more sense--but doesn't that increase the amount of time that it takes for maintenance and 'ground' crews to perform repair work on the things? Gotta crane it out of its squarish 'hangar', lug it over to the field, work on it, lug it back, carefully reinsert it into the takeoff tube--doesn't that negate a lot of the benefit of not having a 'vast internal landing field' to keep the fighters in?

In any case, I loved the design, and was sorry it didn't make it done in time for the contest. I'd've voted for it.

Davey

Go Flight · Post by **Go Flight** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 8:51 pm

Great looking build!
Could certainly picture that in real space.

southwestforests · Post by **southwestforests** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 9:05 pm

In the time-honored way of saying it, "That'll fly!"

karim wrote:Pure CSS Glossy Button (with a "Sliding Doors" fallback)
... The typical solution to this problem is a sliding doors approach.

I'm glad you know what you are talking about!

I haven't a clue.

Lt. Z0mBe · Post by **Lt. Z0mBe** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 12:14 am

Loved it karim! Bring it to WF!

Kenny

Mr. Badwrench · Post by **Mr. Badwrench** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 12:22 am

Very impressive Karim. Your design work is outstanding.

karim · Post by **karim** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 12:49 pm

Thanks guys!

It feels really good to actually finish a model for once and get good feedback. Something I'd love to explore in the future is extending this design philosophy and aesthetic to a small universe of related craft, a' la MaK.

Kenny: I had it at WF last year... I might bring it again if people want to look at it up close... but it will never enter a contest... it has a pretty nasty finishing flaw.

homyakchik: It's true that maintenance/logistics of this approach would make for some heavy-weight (no pun intended) process, but I look at it this way: These ships are mass-produced, and get stored in a very compact way, so a carrier can carry lots of spares. If one breaks down, it gets shunted over to a maintenance bay, and a different one gets used. Far from being the domain of "Hotshots" these craft are mass-produced and somewhat expendable. I figure that 90% of the time, the ships are either stored, or operating. Moving/storing/packing/unpacking large containers is a fairly well solved problem in the warehousing sector. And the image of one of these helplessly tumbling into atmosphere is where I came up with the name

Ultimately, that scenario is fairly unlikely, tho, as the principle of space warfare that underlies the design philosophy of this craft is: "If you can see it, you can kill it."

southwestforests: Thanks for the comments. Is it the general topic of CSS, or more specifically "Sliding Doors" that stumped you? I'm happy to provide more info if you're interested

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 2:02 pm

So fix the flaw and bring it.

Looks very interesting.

karim · Post by **karim** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:22 pm

Kylwell wrote:So fix the flaw and bring it.

Looks very interesting.

I've pretty much reached my frustration tipping point with this model. There's only so many times I can strip down a paint-job and repaint, especially since painting is my least-favorite part of a build.

I still love the subject, but I don't think I'll ever address this particular model of it again.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:35 pm

Well fine, send it to me and I'll paint it.

karim · Post by **karim** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:44 pm

Kylwell wrote:Well fine, send it to me and I'll paint it.

But who would take home the award?

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Mon Feb 27, 2012 8:49 pm

karim wrote:
Kylwell wrote:Well fine, send it to me and I'll paint it.
But who would take home the award?

We'll just have Blappy make a copy...

Scratchawan Learner · Post by **Scratchawan Learner** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 1:53 am

Just got a look at this, today. LOVE the double hulled idea. Definitely adds believability to the finished build. You've achieved the illusion of additional depth, and functionality to your design. Everything tucks away neatly, and your hatch extension and retraction linkages are present. Just amazingly awesome! Karim, you do fantastic work. Your attention to detail astounds me. I'd say you are definitely in the league of Randy Cooper, Albert Wong, and Lasse Henning. Each one of these gentlemen excels at what he does uniquely...and all of them are fantastic scratch builders. I don't think any of them have built a craft with the "double walled" look. This design was exceptionally well thought out. I look forward to seeing more uniquely inspired designs on your site. Thank you for sharing... and please share your future projects as well.
Respectfully, Scratch

Splatcat · Post by **Splatcat** » Tue Feb 05, 2013 8:38 am

Very cool amd believable design. I enjoyed looking at the ret of your website too. Nice work!