Refit USS ATLANTIS build

[Jim Hinton]

Hi Joe; I should have already posted them when we started talking about this. I will take a few pictures and get them posted by this evening. Your work is looking really good.

Jim

 

[les]

Jim it'd be great to see a picture or 2 of your refit engine pods. The more I look at it the more I'm considering flattening out
(running a band around) the pods.

When I built this I really hacked up the pods

But after cleanup (using scrap strips). The last picture I was just starting to do a light coat of primer but it shows the strips on the underside better

 

[Jim Hinton]

Hi Guys; Here are a few pictures of my finished model. I tried to get some good detail shots of the pods. The pods can be rounded but it takes a lot of filling and sanding. You can see some flaws in my fill and sand. I think the rocket will fly about the same regardless of how rounded the edges are.

Jim

 

[Bill S]

Wow, nice job. I had one of the originals back in the '70s, thought about getting one of the new ones, but those engines made me pause.

 

[JJSR]

Thanks guys for the pictures, now I'm really torn on what I want to do. I like both of your ideas on how the pods should/could look like.


I wonder when 3D printed parts will make it into kits? This would be a good kit to it in.

 

[mg444]

Very cool!

 

[BBowmaster]

It’s those vacuum-formed nacelles that keep me away from this kit. I would love the kit, but would hate having it come out like crap.

 

[Nytrunner]

wonder when 3D printed parts will make it into kits? This would be a good kit to it in.

That would be really heavy for parts like these nacelles

 

[JJSR]

I'm going to try Ies's approach, wrapping the engine pods with a 1/4" strip from the supplied piece.

 

[ThreeJsDad]

That is a sweet looking rocket. It would be nice to mold the nacelles were a bit more precise but vacuum forming is not the most precise method when it comes to fine details.

I love cool looking sci-fi rockets. I have a scratch sci-fi rocket in my head I want to do.

 

[JJSR]

Well I've been sanding and sanding gluing and waiting for glue to dry.

I'm still not happy with the way their coming out...

 

[Jim Hinton]

Hi Joe;

You are doing better than you think, this part gets pretty laborious. Once you have the seam gaps closed with strip, and it looks like you are there, it's time to start removing excess styrene strip. You start by sanding away material, but you will soon start to see areas where you can get a smooth outer finish by building up rather than sanding down. I used the Tamiya plastic model putty. It applies smoothly, adheres well and sands out nicely. Allow plenty of drying time before sanding with both plastic strip and putty. I use a small spatula to apply the putty, the dull edge of a modeling knife frequently works well for this.

Jim

 

[JJSR]

Hi guys, I didn't forget about this thread life seems to have gotten in the way some. I'll start up again as soon as I can.
I appreciate your patience.

 

[Jim Hinton]

Hey, no problem Joe. Might be a lot of folks stuck at home building rockets real soon. Won't be me though. I have been told, by those on high, in no uncertain terms, that I am both essential, and expendable. That's a twofer. At my age, I'm also endangered. Another 'e' word and I'll have four of a kind.

Jim

 

[neil_w]

Hey, no problem Joe. Might be a lot of folks stuck at home building rockets real soon. Won't be me though. I have been told, by those on high, in no uncertain terms, that I am both essential, and expendable. That's a twofer. At my age, I'm also endangered. Another 'e' word and I'll have four of a kind.

Eccentric? Enthusiastic? Effervescent? Empathetic? Or maybe just plain old Evil?

Gotta be at least one that fits.

 

[ebruce1361]

I have been eyeballing this kit for quite some time because I love anything Star Trek (or almost Star Trek in this case), but I have been fussing with the vacuform warp nacelles on my 25th anniversary Klingon Battlecruiser and am having just about as much fun.

A thought did occur to me though; if one could align the nacelle halves before any gluing or trimming at all, and if a suitable hole were made in the side to allow for expansion, what about filling the interior with expanding construction foam? It would serve as both an adhesive to hold the pieces together, as well as a gap filler that can easily be trimmed, sanded, and covered up with styrene pieces. Of course, this would increase weight in the tail and would likely be comparable to a 3D printed nacelle with 25% to 50% or so infill, but I wonder how well it would work. Anyone ever try something like this?

 

[Claviusbase1]

Just my thinking.....I always classified the Atlantis as a Federation Blockade Runner....

 

[BBowmaster]

Those vacuform nacelles are my worry. Are there alternatives out there? A couple people have suggested 3D printed versions.

 

[Onebadhawk]

Hi guys, I didn't forget about this thread life seems to have gotten in the way some. I'll start up again as soon as I can.
I appreciate your patience.

Hey, comon man,, we don't have all day..
What's taking you so long..

lol..

Teddy