Sith Infiltrator mechanical junk bays ...

[sbaxter]

I debated whether to post this in Star Wars Modeling or here and finally decided that this is the best place, since it is about scratchbuilding part of a model.

I have a Sith Infiltrator (mine is the Hasbro toy, but the model kit I have seen has the same issue I am addressing here) I want to accurize. There is an area of exposed machinery on each side, just forward of the cockpit ball. In the film, there is never a clear view of that area. The best (only?) reference for it are a set of photos of the studio model/reference maquette, which was used in the film for the shots of the ship as landed on Tatooine. The photos in question are mostly seen here -- http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=2348. They are, best I can tell, five of the only six existing available photos of this model showing the areas in question, and as you can tell, the focus on some of them is less than ideal. The sixth photo is maybe a bit more informative -- I am virtually certain it is the same model, even if the same area in question appears to have been repainted a darker color. See it here:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Cou ... r_SWCT.png

So what I can tell from these images is that the standard approach taken by many scratchbuilders and by the toy and model kits that exist -- of some greeblies half-embedded into a more-or-less boxy surface -- is not accurate and is much less interesting to me to try to recreate. Of course I can't do it the easier way! It appears to me that there are layers of parts here, giving an almost clockwork/steampunk effect from some angles. It looks like a person could easily lose a finger or an arm in there with a quickness (apparently, the Old Republic had no such thing as OSHA anymore than the Empire did). So what I am looking for is possible suggestions as to how to build as good an approximation of this as I can manage. I expect to use some styrene tube/rod and other styrene stock pieces, but if I use kit or toy parts, they need to exist as mirrored pairs. I don't have a lot of confidence in my ability to extensively alter several kit parts into one piece or scratch complex mirrored shapes twice that look the same. I was thinking construction equipment or maybe even farm implements for some of the pistons, attachment arms, detailed cylinders and other things they might contribute (not that I can find much in the way of model kits of such things; one bulldozer is pretty much it unless there are military versions that I have missed, but in any case I will be assassinated by my wife if I spend what would be required to obtain said kits anyway). Looking at that sixth photo above, however, makes me think that it might be worthwhile to tear apart some analog alarm clocks or something similar to find smallish metal parts that might work for an "artful pile of dangerous junk" look.

Just for the record, using Lucasfilm's offical numbers for the ship as being 26.5 meters in length, the Hasbro version at 14 inches long is 1:75 scale.

What I am looking for are any brilliant suggestions for inexpensive sources of parts that might work for rebuilding this area, and any advice that might be helpful in actually building it, such as what to use as a base around which to build it in place (I am thinking a decently thick piece of sheet styrene spanning the area front to back and a little small to the outside, so as to leave room for parts to conceal said sheet). Even if the advice is just to echo one of the ideas I laid out in the above text, I'm fine with that. I've had this thing for years and want to finish it while I can still use my hands, which may, in fact, be an issue in the future thanks to this neuropathy I have, which affects my feet and hands -- see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charcot%E ... th_disease

Qapla'

SSB

[Andrew Gorman]

Check on eBay and Etsy for lots of watch parts- "steampunk watch parts" finds a lot of loose pieces.

[sbaxter]

Check on eBay and Etsy for lots of watch parts- "steampunk watch parts" finds a lot of loose pieces.

I will -- I already have a bag of watch parts and another with even smaller parts; the package on the latter calls it "steampunk dust." I am also thinking that some larger parts might be in order for this, so I am going to locate some old analog alarm clocks.

Qapla'

SSB

[naoto]

Model railroad supplies could be useful too. Useful stuff like cylinders of various sizes, tubing for pipes, ladders, stairs, chairs, railings, structural elements like trusses, etc. I do recall seeing on occasion photoetch truss beams that could probably be repurposed as a structural element for spaceship or space station.

[sbaxter]

Model railroad supplies could be useful too. Useful stuff like cylinders of various sizes, tubing for pipes, ladders, stairs, chairs, railings, structural elements like trusses, etc. I do recall seeing on occasion photoetch truss beams that could probably be repurposed as a structural element for spaceship or space station.

Cool! Thanks, naoto! I'll have to look into that; it is a source I had not considered.

I just got back (virtually speaking) from a short surf into eBay's listing for vintage clocks and parts thereof. There are listings for bags of parts, some with halfway reasonable prices. However, in looking at the contents I realized that getting two of the same part (to do mirrored arrays on either side) are fairly low, so I may have to concentrate on trying to get a couple of examples of the same clock for that sort of thing. For the most part, these things are not cheap. I will have to haunt Goodwill and other such places looking for deals on old clocks. I would include yard sales, but getting those isn't very practical with my wife, who rarely gets out of bed before 10 am on weekends. I don't need anything particularly noteworthy, and am not eager to pay a premium for an especially collectible clock just so I can tear it to pieces. Lots of the listings even have terms like "steampunk" in the title.

Qapla'

SSB

[naoto]

Could this be of use for some folks?
https://www.dospara.co.jp/5shopping/det ... 55196&lf=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA

[sbaxter]

Could this be of use for some folks?
https://www.dospara.co.jp/5shopping/det ... 55196&lf=0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA

I imagine so, though it would have limited use for me in this particular case. But that provides a segue as to where I am now with the Infiltrator ...

I have decided that for various reasons, I'm not going to pursue clocks as a source of parts for this. I would still grab any old alarm clocks I might find as a source of parts, as long as the price is reasonable as I define it. However, for this case, I don't really know what clocks have parts that would seem to be the right scale for what I'm trying to do, and I cannot afford to buy these things unless I'm really sure it will solve problems for me.

What I have decided to do is raid my spare parts stash, and doing so has provided several good candidate parts from car models and, IIRC, an old Revell PT 109 kit. In addition, I rifle through the Hot Wheels cars at any store I find that sells them, and this has also yielded some interesting parts I will probably use -- it's funny because I usually find such parts on cars that I would never want to buy as-is. There was a series of dinosaur-themed cars from which one model has yielded two pairs each of what look like manipulator arms (once they are liberated from the rest of the car and the "chrome" is stripped). Another find is a "Darth Vader car" that has a module on top of the engine block area that I plan to use, and I figure there's something fitting about a car inspired by one Sith Lord contributing parts for a model ship belonging to another Sith Lord. I've found other cars that have great looking little things as well. Of course, it really helps that each one costs only 94 cents, so if I need four or even six of one car, it isn't expensive to pick them up as long as I can find them at retail. I found some similarly-sized construction equipment toys at Dollar Tree that might contribute some pieces as well, and I plan to also use some brass and styrene rod pieces. I am planning to use a couple of pieces of old car model undercarriage parts to make a basic platform around which to build that will have a little more detail built-in than simply using styrene sheet. And while the old clocks are too expensive for me, I do have access to many more esoteric gizmos through my job. I work in a physics department, and our building is right next to one of the university's biology buildings. Both departments sometimes throw out machines that may have a plethora of interesting parts that I can get for nothing; all I have to do is get them (sometimes they are very heavy) before the garbage truck comes and be willing and able to disassemble them. One I picked up a week or two ago is filled near to bursting with what looks like lightsaber parts as well as gear wheels and all sorts of metal gizmos, not to mention enough hex screws to choke a ... well, whatever eats hex screws. I think I have nearly enough already, but I will keep looking. I'm currently refining the parts from the Hot Wheels cars for use with the ship.

Qapla'

SSB

[naoto]

Amongst some of the odd doo-dads that I found while rummaging through hobby shop bargain bins -- small resin Moai -- haven't yet found a use for them yet... Also found in bargain bins were small plastic detail parts that Quest Aerospace was selling for their model rocket kits (if I'm not mistaken these are the same ones that MPC had included in some of their model rocket kits). see an image found here: http://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com ... parts.html
(look for item described as chromed parts)

[blakeh1]

Maybe some unused Landing gear parts from model kits?

Lots of great hydraulic looking stuff in them.

Personally I rarely ever build aircraft with the landing gear since I prefer them in flight but have often found great greeblie bits in them

I recently cut some parts to use with my small AMT Eagle from the landing gear of Bandai's Cosmo Zero for example

[sbaxter]

Oops!

[sbaxter]

Maybe some unused Landing gear parts from model kits?

Lots of great hydraulic looking stuff in them.

Personally I rarely ever build aircraft with the landing gear since I prefer them in flight but have often found great greeblie bits in them

Yes; I plan to sift through some of my aircraft kits as well. Like you, I have always preferred aircraft/spacecraft to be displayed as if in their element, not on the ground. I am also considering picking up one or two of the "Metal Earth" photoetched kits for the textures they could provide. Haven't decided on that yet.

Qapla'

SSB