Cheap and cheerful Sci-Fi Skiff

[Supercollider]

I'm going to make a low flying cargo skiff of some sort that fits in with the terrain I made for sci-fi gaming. http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=86856.0

I've had a riffle through the bits box and have come up with a promising piece to base it all on.  My plan is to make it up as I go along!

[OSHIROmodels]

My plan is to make it up as I go along!

Sometimes this is the best way 

cheers

James

[Wirelizard]

My plan is to make it up as I go along!

Wait, there's other ways to manage scenery projects aside from MSU Mode[1]?  Are you sure?

[1]Make S**t Up Mode, of course...

[Supercollider]

Wait, there's other ways to manage scenery projects aside from MSU Mode[1]?  Are you sure?

[1]Make S**t Up Mode, of course...

There's also [2] Cut twice, measure once. Which I am a master of!

[FramFramson]

Fire! Aim! Ready!

[Bergil]

My plan is to make it up as I go along!

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[Supercollider]

Made a bit of progress on this today.

I used the hull from a toddler's jet-ski toy for the main hull, a crows nest and a cargo door from an old pirate ship toy, and some plastic card and styrene ladders to make the basic shape.

I stuck the crow's nest on the back of the ship (I am using the blunt as the front, like Rey's speeder), and had to make a paper template to create a deck plate to cover it (as I'd already put the rails on - using the ladders, so it ws ticky to measure - textbook 'planning').





I drilled a hole in the bottom of the hull, and made a flight stand out of a 70s coaster and a thick cocktail stirrer.



The cocktail stirrer is held in place by a cunning bit of engineering



Realising this looked terrible. I decided to smooth off the interior of the cargo bay using a combination of plastic card and foam board.



When I installed the cargo bay, I decided to expose the hex like angles that sat under the deck of the pirate ship it originally belonged to.  But because it stuck up so much, I've used some more styrene to smooth out the height difference a little.  I also trimmed the nubs that create the hinge of the cargo door, so it can be easily removed and installed,  if desired.

So this is what I ended up with (on and off stand). Blunt is the front!  I intend to add some engines to the sides, similar to Luke's speeder in the original Star Wars, which should make it more obvious which is the business end - I'm imagining this is an industrial sized speeder



Finally, I finessed the ends of the ladders I'm using as rails, so they don't look so chunky.  The rails will still need a lot more work, I think.

[beefcake]

That's coming along very nicely.

[Vanvlak]

Looking good - and fast too 

[Mason]

That looks great already.
 

[AKULA]

Wow, looks like you got loads done, great job

 

[tomrommel1]

nice

[Andym]

Fantastic!  I can't wait to see this with one of your paint jobs on it! Have you thought of colours yet? Maybe the same as Luke's speeder or the same colours as Jabbas sail barge?

[Supercollider]

Cheers all!

Yeah Andym - definitely something grungy and worn I think, can't have it looking pristine, it's a working vehicle!

On that same subject, the front of the barge/speeder was bugging me. It needed something to aid the loading and unloading of cargo.  So after a bit of trial and error, I came up with this:

Using a piece of hexagonal granny grating and some plastic tubing, for hinges, a few cuts later, and I ended up with this.



It fixes to the front by slotting the tabs I left on one edge into a longer plastic tube glued to the front - this is what it looks like stowed.



Possibly slightly impractical looking maybe?  The pointy bit is a brace to keep it stiff when the ramp is deployed:



It needs a couple of plates and a couple more hinges, but I like that it's hexagonal, like the floor plates of the barge, I'm going to try and make it work better visually with the rest of the vehicle as I make more progress.  Still filling in the 'broad strokes'

I also started on some engines, but I think they need a lot more work, but the size/general direction is ok

[Sinewgrab]

Oh, I like where this is headed!