Far Trader ready for paint but not quite done yet.

I have been working on building a Far Trader based on the floor plans from Traders and Gunboats.  This will be used in some future wargames.  There will not be an interior to speak of.  I am planning on a bridge and captains cabin windows made of picture hanging wire.

First steps.  I already had a floor plan drawn out so I just traced the shape onto some chip board then cut it out for the bottom of the ship.

Since the ship is two decks tall I used one inch per level so the ship will be about two inches thick.  I used a cardboard box to make the internal supports.  I used the dice boxes to keep it vertical while the glue sets.

More of the supports and some spacers to help keep the ship rigid.

The full internal structure.

A view from the other side.

Here is the outer hull wrapped around the supports.  I used a cereal box.

Another view.  There is a small gap which will be addressed.

Here the right side fuel scoop has been added and also the front hull top and the front cargo/air raft door.

Front view of the cargo door and front hull top.

To cover the stern of the ship and make it look smooth I stood the ship on end on a piece of cereal box and traced the shape onto the cardboard.  Then cut it out and glued it in place.

The right side of the forward hull in place.

This shows the left forward hull in place and some pin striping tape to cover the joint between two pieces of cardboard.

The thrusters are a couple of medicine bottles and the little hatch is from my extra parts box.

The landing gear are made from another medicine container cut flat.

A view of the right side.

Now the left siode.

Many of the artists renderings of this ship have some sort of top fin.  So here is my version.

There is a little gap between the fin and the hull top which will be filled with glue to help hide it when it gets painted.

An aft view.

For the bridge I have a control console and two chairs.  There will be a printed color background covering the cardboard before the window goes on.

For the captains cabin I have two sets of benches and a table.  This room also gets a printed background.

This is the wire that will make up the windows.  Nice and stiff with a plastic coating.

Now all that remains is to paint the ship then the interior parts and last the windows.