Cowboy Freight Hauler from Battle Beyond The Stars

Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 4:33 pm

From Battle Beyond The Stars, I started a Flicker page for my Cowboy Freight Hauler build:

http://tinyurl.com/m6v29tp

The goal (insert hysterical laughter) is to have this at Wonderfest this year. It's gonna be a race...

Minor note: while the 1979 model builders had cheap access to a variety of kits, me, not so much. I'm sourcing re-issue kits, e-vilbay scores of build-ups I can disassemble, and I am *still* going to be scratchbuilding much of this beast.

Dr. Yo · Post by **Dr. Yo** » Fri Mar 21, 2014 4:44 pm

Open that visor, amigo - its the lack of oxygen that's inducing hysteria - the build is already nicely underway. I'll be keeping a weather eye on this
one. Let me know if I can help with parts.

Rocketeer · Post by **Rocketeer** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 9:24 am

Wow, what a project! Good luck!

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 12:18 pm

Dammit, where the hell is the "Like" button...

Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 1:19 pm

Thanks, gang!

Progress this past weekend: not so much. I'm making the leg-cylinder tanks currently, and it's a slow, ugly process. I'm also crankin' on my Sekrit contest entry for the Departures 2.0 contest here, and dealin' with yard chores and house chores.

Actually getting a model finished... it's gonna happen, just not sure when!

Redfern · Post by **Redfern** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 2:35 pm

I've always liked the design of this craft. In fact, it inspired me when I designed the main transport for my old (and for all practical purposes, "dead") web-comic.

http://forum.cooltuna.com/uploads/FileU ... 60f4c8.jpg

Not a physical model, but one I cobbled together within a digital modeling suite sometime in 2000.

Sincerely,

Bill

Mr. Badwrench · Post by **Mr. Badwrench** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 8:32 pm

Kylwell wrote:Dammit, where the hell is the "Like" button...

Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Wed Apr 09, 2014 12:24 pm

Slowly I grind forth...

7 new build pics added, showing the solution I am applying to the leg tank cylinders, and also the 4 finned engines. Those are now all glued up *real good* and I added rings trimmed from Scotchtape cores at the aft end of the engines.

http://tinyurl.com/m6v29tp

Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Fri Apr 11, 2014 8:06 am

Added the leg struts to the engines: 6 more pics!

http://tinyurl.com/m6v29tp

DEC · Post by **DEC** » Mon Jun 02, 2014 2:10 pm

Hi Joseph

Love what your doing, great work in ID'ing the parts. Never would have guessed the 2 Quad tractors were used for the cockpit. Great seeing this come together using old skool modelling.

Dec

Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Tue Jun 03, 2014 2:57 pm

Thank you! That Quad Tractor shows up in the oddest places when you start looking...

The build is on-going, just slowed to a very slow crawl. Every season of the year presents challenges to the modeler: summer means tending the garden, and the yard, weeding the iris beds, and mowing the crab-grass. And feeding the deer and the friggin' raccoons... but every so often, I actually can get a few minutes of build time in.

AlabamaFan · Post by **AlabamaFan** » Sun Aug 10, 2014 2:20 pm

Sorry I am late to this party. I would like to say thank you. I love the step by step progress and the showing of what you are using. I wish more artiest would show their work in such a manner.

AlabamaFan · Post by **AlabamaFan** » Sun Aug 10, 2014 2:21 pm

Sorry I am late to this party. I would like to say thank you. I love the step by step progress and the showing of what you are using. I wish more artiest would show their work in such a manner.

Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Tue Aug 12, 2014 9:06 am

Thanks for the comments!

I was reviewing my build-log pics yesterday, and saw that the most recent one was from mid-June. Sigh. My summer distractions list should be amended to include topping off the hummingbird feeder, and a variety of mundane household repairs. Excuses, I know.

Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Thu Apr 23, 2015 11:28 am

And grinding along, into year Two of the build...

>insert appropriate modeling excuses, you all know 'em by heart<

Some progress. The Moonship (Glencoe or re-issue Hawk) parts 11 & 12 make up the leg cylinder tanks. You just trim the upper and lower flanges off, and they are a match.

http://tinyurl.com/lt35k5r

http://tinyurl.com/mbacqsy

The ones that I had made up from other bits now go into the un-sorted misc build supply box, since they are slightly too big for this model ...

The legs are now attached at a 45-degree angle to the central tube, and have their outer sleeve on. These will get strip-stock added, six 1-mm tall strips.

http://tinyurl.com/jw572ol

http://tinyurl.com/n82np6n

All build pics over in my Flickr album:

http://tinyurl.com/m6v29tp

Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Tue May 05, 2015 4:46 am

Added tee-rail strip to the legs. And the fuel tanks!

http://tinyurl.com/ls7fd9h

srspicer · Post by **srspicer** » Fri Jul 31, 2015 9:41 am

Getting there...

Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Fri Jul 31, 2015 3:19 pm

...slowly, yes.

I've had a ton of help from Lee Stringer, or else I couldn't have gotten as far as I have. Well, I *could* have, it just wouldn't quite be the same as what is in the film.

Since Wonderfest I've been on summer break from most modeling - summer in The South means yardwork, gardening, and home improvement work.

But I really do want to get this one finished so I can get going on even odder builds!

Patron Zero · Post by **Patron Zero** » Sun Aug 23, 2015 8:31 pm

Just discovered this thread and the amazing model it presents.

Wow !!!!!

Really well-done and such incredible diligence to search-out the bits used on the original design.

Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 9:01 am

Thanks for the comment!

As was being discussed in some other threads, the "summer doldrums / lack of build progress" is upon virtually everyone. That is not an excuse, mind you, it's just the way life is. Well, my life

Actually, I have been slowly compiling parts and various bits of 'this-and-that' which will be attached to the model. Bending, measuring and cutting wire (and paper-clips!) to match some of the piping seen on the filming model has been goshawful slow, and a major pain. Me and my Optivisor have been getting a workout...

MillenniumFalsehood · Post by **MillenniumFalsehood** » Sun Aug 30, 2015 7:18 pm

It may be slow progress, but judging by what you've got so far as well as your past efforts, it should be well worth the wait!

Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 9:21 am

I've mentioned that Lee Stringer has been helping me out with parts ID's and advice ("it's not THAT scale, it's *this* scale

) and with lots of general encouragement as he was proceeding with his build of this ship. Well, he got it done, and it's AWESOME! Pics are up on his Flickr page:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lee_strin ... 5150719043

That is some serious inspiration to me to get my build completed!

Richard Baker · Post by **Richard Baker** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 10:03 am

That is a fantastic replica!
You really nailed it-

Bellerophon · Post by **Bellerophon** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 10:50 am

Great build. A couple of Lee Stringer's greeblies don't match those in the screencaps, so you can still improve on his work (i.e., stand on the shoulders of giants). Notice the rebel flag has only 11 stars instead of 13, reflecting the actual number of states that seceded.

Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 2:46 pm

Richard Baker wrote:That is a fantastic replica!
You really nailed it-

Thanks - but the link is of the build Lee Stringer did!

My build is still in progress. And in multiple boxes in the Modeling Cave...

----
...and some of the greeblies I'm using will not match the screencaps, either! Especially when I have to re-create them from scratch.

As I said before, Lee has been helping me with parts ID's and advice; sometimes we've exchanged 'best guesses' on what was used on which part of the ship. And we have both made decisions for our individual builds that had the other guy going 'huh?'
A link to a screencap of the flag shows that the flag on the filming miniature doesn't really match up to any real CSA flag that I have been able to find:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69562082@ ... 706754274/

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 3:17 pm

Seems to be missing a few stars...

Dr. Yo · Post by **Dr. Yo** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 6:52 pm

Sink me. The links above are the first time I've ever really looked at Cowboy's Star Semi...and the three pods just lept out at me. Those are
are the tops of the old, old Lindberg ( Ex-Strombecker? ) Lunar lander, aren't they?

I only know this because I put a couple of them together just like that a
few years back...and still have no idea what to do with it...

Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 9:11 am

Dr. Yo wrote:Sink me. The links above are the first time I've ever really looked at Cowboy's Star Semi...and the three pods just lept out at me. Those are
are the tops of the old, old Lindberg ( Ex-Strombecker? ) Lunar lander, aren't they?

I only know this because I put a couple of them together just like that a
few years back...and still have no idea what to do with it...

Dr. Yo, that is what actually motivated me!

According to Mat Irvine:

This (Round 2/Lindberg 2013) is the fifth issue of the kit from US companies. Lindberg itself issued it three times, in 1958 as the US Moon Ship, then in 1970 as the Mars Probe Landing Module, and finally in 1979 as the Star Probe Space Shuttle. Glencoe Models also issued it in 1993 as the Lunar Lander. This latest release brings back the original Lindberg name, and virtually the original box-art, although the box itself is larger in size.

I'd been seriously impressed with the studio-scale builds being done of some of the more obscure Star Wars and original series Galactica and Buck Rogers spaceships. Some of those modelers are freakin' geeky wizards at picking out which spaceship part came out of what model car (or battleship, or HO scale railroad) kit. And this was the first time that I personally had glanced at a side-view of Cowboy's ship and said to myself "hey! I know what some of those parts are from!"

The 2011 dvd release by Shout! Factory sealed my doom by featuring a cleaned-up print of BBTS, and several extras on the disk, including some nice spaceship model images, plus the interviews with the Skotak brothers who built many of the ships. I pulled a screencap of the side-view of Cowboy's ship, and printed it out to match the Tamiya Quad Gun Tractor and Lunar Lander pods. Took me a few tries to get that right...

But doing it that way helped me cheaply determine that the model was within the size range I could in fact handle. I fired off an e-mail to Onezero and asked if he could get me a case of the re-issue Lunar Lander, and he said sure. And merrily off I went...

...this will be a very cool model when completed. I'm looking forward to that!

Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Tue Apr 19, 2016 11:10 pm

What year am I up to now?

April 19, 2016
Final arrangement for the lights:
https://flic.kr/p/FPzTHj

All the panels to fill Quad Tractor holes:
https://flic.kr/p/GhCB5d

Another test-fit:
https://flic.kr/p/GqMHw8

Interior light-blocking primed:
https://flic.kr/p/FvvNaV

Good thing Wonderfest is later on the calendar than usual...

Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Fri Apr 22, 2016 1:30 am

And more:

Cabin sealed up and greeblies added between leg fuel tanks:
https://flic.kr/p/FyJgYP

All greeblies / leg braces / I-beam strip stock / piping wires to central leg tube and all piping by fuel cylinder tanks:
https://flic.kr/p/GoaDv2