Free Trader build done. (Still need some final touches)

Free Trader almost done.

After several cereal boxes, a small shipping box, some chip board and copious amounts of Elmers non run white glue, the build portion of the Free Trader is done.  The other 2 Traveller ships I built were pretty straightforward.  The Scout was all straight lines and the Shuttle was a few items glued together with very little having to create things from scratch.  This ship was almost all measuring fitting gluing and clamping.  

Here I have clamped the starboard side of the ship with a piece of flat wood to keep the side straight while the glue dries.

The port side already in place.

A view from the top.

This is before I finished the nose.  I couldn't quite get the dome shape from the many drawing of this iconic ship.

The nose finished and the passenger section attached to the top.  The passenger section is about 1/4 inch taller than it appears in the side view from the dckplans and the nose is about 3/4 inches longer too.

A view from the other side.  I still have some finishing work to do before it will look the way I want it to.

A view from port aft.  (nautical terms)

Port aft.

A nice profile shot.  Landing gear soon.

Bow on view.  I'm glad I have the cockpit window actually in the ship and not just painted on.

The rear landing gear made from the end cap of one of the medications I take.

The front landing gear.

A view of the belly with gear attached.  I had reinforced the area where the front gear would be placed so the cereal box cardboard wouldn't collapse over time.

A bow on view of the rough finished ship.

Starboard view, ah the majesty.

A view of the aft with the thrusters in place.

Now a port view.

A crowd of onlookers has shown up.

Some figures for scale.

More figures for scale.  I think that Vargr is attempting an act of piracy.

Well this is the build so far.  Painting will have to wait for warmer weather.  I still need to smooth out some of the joints between the cardboard pieces.  I will be using a couple of glass beads for turrets since they seem to be about the right size.  I do have plans in my head for a couple more merchant ships and maybe one or two small military ships.  But for the time being I will be concentrating on getting the merchants done first.  I do have a game planed that will use all my ships built to date and it will be at Travellercon.  Til next time.

Back at the shipyard.

I know it's been a while since my last post so here is where I am and what I am doing in regards to Traveller stuff.

After my last build of an Imperial shuttle I decided to build another iconic Traveller starship,  the Beowulf.  So I put my best man, actually only man, on the job.  

Here I am trying to decipher the ship illustration against the deck plans.

 After looking and looking at the plans and comparing them to the illustration I decided they did not match perfectly.  Oh well another artist interpretation.  

FFE deck plans, my guide not blueprint.

A view of the plans that helped me get some of the dimensions so I could begin. 

 The first thing I would need would be a strong durable and lightweight material for the keel or base of the model.  I went with 1/8" plywood.

Plywood, what little starships are made of, well sort of.

Yes that is a real table saw with a 4" blade.  Scary little thing.  It excels at cutting plywood.

I cut a piece of plywood that is about 4 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches to be the keel.  This is the platform that the ship will be built around.  

Ah ha done!  No just kidding. This is a Free Trader from RAFM.  I am using it also for inspiration in the design.

The first part of the ship interior support structure.  I made them a bit bigger than the plans to make it look more like the RAFM model.  I also figure it ads room for fuel storage which the deck plans seemed to lack.

As you can see the ship is starting to take shape.  I am still trying to figure out how to make the nose for the ship.  

A side view showing the engineering section and some L bracket cardboard to support the forward part of the model since from the front of the cargo to the nose the ship tapers up.  

I placed the model on top of the deck plans to show I am trying to keep it within scale.

Yes I used a calculator to figure out some of the more technical questions about dimensions and such like what if half of  that measurement.  

Just a view of the ships aft.

I want to have the window viewport in the hull.  I may have to trip it down to fit in with the shape of the hull.

Well this where I am at with this build.  My next step will be to get the exterior hull over the frame.  Once that is done I will add the top section where the passenger staterooms are.  I do have pieces for landing gear and the thrusters.  I will have to wait for spring before I paint it.  Once it is finished it will be quite light since most of it is cardboard.  I would love to add led running lights to it powered by small solar cells.  I hope to have more on this within a bout 2 weeks.