New Scratch Builds

newozbuilder · Post by **newozbuilder** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 7:32 am

Hi, I'm new to this forum and new to scratchbuilding. I'm going to be starting a new build soon, which will be a freighter/smugglers ship of my own design. Have built lots of kits in the past, mainly aircraft, so want to try something new and use my own 'vivid' imagination whilst doing it!

Just wondering how many others are out there like me? Would be useful to know a few going forward, as I'm sure to have lots of questions/problems arise, particularly during my first build.

Anyway, hope to hear from some of you as time goes by and look forward to starting the project and posting build updates as I go.

Mr. Badwrench · Post by **Mr. Badwrench** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 5:15 am

Hi newozbuilder, welcome to the forums. There are quite a few scratchbuilders here, some of them are so good they make me want to quit modeling forever. Be sure and show us your work in progress. Good luck!

newozbuilder · Post by **newozbuilder** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:05 am

Thanks for that. I'm certainly no pro myself, so it's going to be a big learning curve!

Anyway, I'm starting off small and have already been out today to the hardware store to price up a nice little rotary tool set and a spray gun kit. Picked up a new mini filing set whilst I was there, so I can start to prep up some parts I have.

The main 'shell' of my build is a small plastic spray bottle, that I have stripped and cleaned. Removed the spray nozzell and internal feeder, which leaves the screw cap hollow, which gave me the starting point for a nice thruster outlet. The internals of which are two old wheel hubs which fit perfectly inside the cap, one of them already finished off in alloy colour.

I'll post some pics later this week so you can get an idea of what little I'm starting with!!!

ajmadison · Post by **ajmadison** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 8:26 pm

It was interesting that I had written this some 12 years ago. But for the most part, its still very applicable.

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/tech/aj_scratch.htm

This article also has some great ideas.

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/tech/my_scratch.htm

Scratchbuilding is a mix of planning and problem solving. Though sometimes the problem to be solved is to suppress your own desire or enthusiasm to replicate certain features of your subject. Some construction elements, especially those that involve building frames and skinning them, come so naturally to me, that applying them require little thought on my part. Where I do spent a lot of time, is interpreting the spotty references for a subject new to the scene, but even this problem is disappearing thanks to the depth & breadth of enthusiasts participating on the internet. But another area that consumes a lot of time, is figuring out how to replicate certain details. I spent two weeks detailing the bridge areas on a 1:1000 K'Tinga I am working on.

As the years have gone by, the only big revelation I have made is that the smallest piece I can make is 1mm square. Though for the most part, there are few details that small that you couldn't or wouldn't want represented through a decal, paint, or something in between (e.g. a dry transfer).

In terms of the future, the one thing I'm keeping my eye on, is either contracting someone to laser cut detail parts for me, or to purchase a desk top laser CNC machine. The US made machines are still in the $5K and (way) up range. Chinese machines are affordable for the so called 'pro-sumer' market, but are around $2K.

newozbuilder · Post by **newozbuilder** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 1:29 am

Many thanks for posting those articles for me, very informative reading. Think I will be referring back to them as I go!

Going to have to try and sketch out some design drawings, which is going to be hard as I'm making an original, so don't have any reference points as such. I do however really like the framework designs on the Space 1999 craft and I'm looking at incorporating some of this into my build to cover the central cargo area which I'm thinking of building in a pod style.

That's as far as I've got so far, the main area I was initially going to concentrate on building first was the rear pod for the thruster. It's cylindrical in shape, so an easy one to cheat with first up with the small plastic bottle I'm using. Got lots of spare circuit boards, cabling and computer components, as well as the usual box of 'kit bits' which I'm planning on using to cover this rear pod with to get the look I'm after.

Can't wait to get started!!!!

en'til Zog · Post by **en'til Zog** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 12:08 am

May I suggest: http://www.starshipmodeler.com/basics/cj_pcg.htm

newozbuilder · Post by **newozbuilder** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:51 am

Thanks for the suggestion, but not what I had in mind for an overall build!

Although this technique would possibly suit a basic pod design for the cargo hold, so will definately look at it further when I get that far into it.

Yokyun · Post by **Yokyun** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 11:35 pm

I'm currently working on a space freighter, Loosely based on the work of Leiji Matsumoto. It has a submarine in space look to it.

Ziz · Post by **Ziz** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 11:47 pm

Mock it up in cardboard and masking tape. That will help you work out the basic shapes and proportions, as well as work out a construction order of what needs to happen before or after something else and how the parts relate to each other.

Make as many mistakes and changes as possible in prototype form so that when you get to the real build it will go that much smoother.

AbsoluteSciFi · Post by **AbsoluteSciFi** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 10:01 pm

Welcome! This is a great forum to gain info on how to do the basics! You will find just about anything on any level of your build!

Here is my first totally scratched (and finished) model:

http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad27 ... tail-8.jpg

You can use just about anything you need to make your model come to life, for this one I used a sheet of plywood for a base.