Wow. Has it really been since January that I worked on minis? I guess so.
Lots happened in life since then, but I'm glad some balance is returning.
I finally put the new workspace to use last night, putting several hours of work into the Federation Old Heavy Cruiser master. Made great progress - it's ready to do final assembly on it tonight. Then off to Texas it goes (hopefully in-time).
Once that guy is off my bench, I need to finish taking stock of what I had in-progress a year ago and start working again. This thread has been useful for that.
Will McCammon's Minis (Formerly: My wallet hates me, but...)
Moderators: mjwest, Albiegamer
Back in the saddle again.
Finished the sculpt (more of a "kitbash" really) for the Federation Old Heavy Cruiser, and got it into shipping yesterday. I've since been informed that it should get there in time to go into the current mold (assuming it gets approved by SVC and SPP).
(all the in-progress pictures are HERE)
During the mad rush to finish the oCA, there were times where I simply had to wait, for putty and epoxy glue to set up. I took advantage of the time to make some progress on other projects.
The Klingon FD7 go its "wings" puttied. Once that putty had set up a bit, I carved the "cooling vanes" into it with my redneck comb tool:
Since I had putty mixed-up, I also added the centerline plasma launchers to my Gorn HDD and CM minis (this was done over short pins I had already drilled and epoxied in-place, late last year):
I had already added a launcher to one of them (in beige Tamiya putty), but I enlarged it with greenstuff, as it is supposed to be a CS and it's literally built around a massive type-R plasma.
Now that I have a nice place to work undisturbed, I should be able to be much more consistent in my progress (I hope!).
Finished the sculpt (more of a "kitbash" really) for the Federation Old Heavy Cruiser, and got it into shipping yesterday. I've since been informed that it should get there in time to go into the current mold (assuming it gets approved by SVC and SPP).
(all the in-progress pictures are HERE)
During the mad rush to finish the oCA, there were times where I simply had to wait, for putty and epoxy glue to set up. I took advantage of the time to make some progress on other projects.
The Klingon FD7 go its "wings" puttied. Once that putty had set up a bit, I carved the "cooling vanes" into it with my redneck comb tool:
Since I had putty mixed-up, I also added the centerline plasma launchers to my Gorn HDD and CM minis (this was done over short pins I had already drilled and epoxied in-place, late last year):
I had already added a launcher to one of them (in beige Tamiya putty), but I enlarged it with greenstuff, as it is supposed to be a CS and it's literally built around a massive type-R plasma.
Now that I have a nice place to work undisturbed, I should be able to be much more consistent in my progress (I hope!).
I didn't realise you were adding that bulked-out dorsal hull module behind the nav dish on the OCA. Not sure if I'm too sold on the idea, personally - I'd prefer the dorsal hull to retain the CL's smooth features - but it's not a deal-breaker.
I'll still be glad to see it enter production, not least so I can use it as a stand-in for the Auroran CLA!
I'll still be glad to see it enter production, not least so I can use it as a stand-in for the Auroran CLA!
There was discussion with SVC on how to approach that feature.
The oCA has a pair of 360-degree phaser-1s, along with a pair of pair of 360-degree phaser-3s. These needed to be on the bottom to avoid blowing the engines off.
The sensor dish would also be an impediment.
My solution was to enclose the sensor dish in a vestigial lower hull, which then could mount the phasers on the bottom, with a clear field of fire.
The oCA has a pair of 360-degree phaser-1s, along with a pair of pair of 360-degree phaser-3s. These needed to be on the bottom to avoid blowing the engines off.
The sensor dish would also be an impediment.
My solution was to enclose the sensor dish in a vestigial lower hull, which then could mount the phasers on the bottom, with a clear field of fire.
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Savedfromwhat
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Rick Smith
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I like the secondary hull idea. I've found that many of the SFU ships tend to suffer from a certain flatness. Ships like the early cruiser this model was built from and the lack of detail on the flip side of Lyran ships are a case in point. I understand why this happened; it's difficult to take a two dimensional SSD line drawing and turn it into a three dimensional form, so I'm not trying to be combative to the sculptors. But I definitely like the addition of the secondary hull on this ship.
Now if only the nacelles didn't have to be part of the model. Again, I know why this is the case. Ease of casting and to avoid breaking them off during play. But this could be avoided with careful pinning of the components.
Now if only the nacelles didn't have to be part of the model. Again, I know why this is the case. Ease of casting and to avoid breaking them off during play. But this could be avoided with careful pinning of the components.
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Rick Smith
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In the case of the OCL, I thought the flatness on the dorsal hull was intentional - to make it easier to lower onto a planet's surface.
I remember the FRA R-section mentioning they had been intending to use the old CLs parked at Aurora in Y130 at the new coreward colonies they had been expecting to settle - by landing the ships and gradually stripping out their parts to help set the colonies up. (When Aurora vanished, one CL was rushed back into service, another was reverse-engineered so they could build more, and the third went off to try and re-contact the Federation, but was never seen again...)
Plus there are commando and hospital CL variants that (I think?) can land.
Actually, it occurs to me that once the OCA is up and running, you could put together what might about to an unofficial 'early Republic' Auroran fleet box. An OCA, two OCLs, two POLs and an Orion CR could represent a CLA, two CLs, two FFs and the Throne of Ozymondas!
I remember the FRA R-section mentioning they had been intending to use the old CLs parked at Aurora in Y130 at the new coreward colonies they had been expecting to settle - by landing the ships and gradually stripping out their parts to help set the colonies up. (When Aurora vanished, one CL was rushed back into service, another was reverse-engineered so they could build more, and the third went off to try and re-contact the Federation, but was never seen again...)
Plus there are commando and hospital CL variants that (I think?) can land.
Actually, it occurs to me that once the OCA is up and running, you could put together what might about to an unofficial 'early Republic' Auroran fleet box. An OCA, two OCLs, two POLs and an Orion CR could represent a CLA, two CLs, two FFs and the Throne of Ozymondas!
Re: the oCL landing on planets - Only SVC could answer that.
The flat bottom certainly facilitates things, but the sensor-post would still be a problem.
You're right though, in that the minis are what they are, for a number of reasons.
I have a feeling that casting-limitations have always been a factor in some of the SFU designs. The Lyrans, in particular, probably benefit from their flat bottoms, when it comes to making a mold and having that mold last. The Fed oCL also was probably fairly easy to mold (before the sensor was added permanently in the SL2400 version).
When the bulk of the object has a nice natural parting plane, it makes the mold-maker's life easier.
With the oCA sculpt, I was trying to strike a balance between a bunch of competing things. If I was making it as just a kitbash for my own use, I would have flown the engines up on struts, etc. As you note, things like that don't fly with the current production directions, etc.
As it is, the sculpt didn't arrive in Amarillo until today (at least FedEx's website said it was on a truck for delivery today [I love the internet...]). It's all really a moot point until the thing gets approved by SVC and SPP. I'm assuming everything will be fine, but sometimes the unexpected can happen and I missed something.
BTW - now that I'm unpacked, I found the stuff we've been discussing for over a year now. I'll be emailing to confirm things and then finally get stuff shipped.
The flat bottom certainly facilitates things, but the sensor-post would still be a problem.
Nah. You were just stating an opinion, and a valid one.Rick Smith wrote:...hope that didn't come off sounding hyper-critical.
You're right though, in that the minis are what they are, for a number of reasons.
I have a feeling that casting-limitations have always been a factor in some of the SFU designs. The Lyrans, in particular, probably benefit from their flat bottoms, when it comes to making a mold and having that mold last. The Fed oCL also was probably fairly easy to mold (before the sensor was added permanently in the SL2400 version).
When the bulk of the object has a nice natural parting plane, it makes the mold-maker's life easier.
With the oCA sculpt, I was trying to strike a balance between a bunch of competing things. If I was making it as just a kitbash for my own use, I would have flown the engines up on struts, etc. As you note, things like that don't fly with the current production directions, etc.
As it is, the sculpt didn't arrive in Amarillo until today (at least FedEx's website said it was on a truck for delivery today [I love the internet...]). It's all really a moot point until the thing gets approved by SVC and SPP. I'm assuming everything will be fine, but sometimes the unexpected can happen and I missed something.
Thanks for the kind words Paul. That "comb" idea came to me in the shower one morning, just out of the blue. I was trying to figure out how guys like Bellflower and Kerr did "grille" details in the legacy sculpts. I'd never seen tools that would do the job - it dawned on me that they probably made their own tools. Now I have one too.OGOPTIMUS wrote:...the "comb" was a cool idea for the Klingon engines.
BTW - now that I'm unpacked, I found the stuff we've been discussing for over a year now. I'll be emailing to confirm things and then finally get stuff shipped.
The only OCL that is stated that can land is the commando variant. And it takes a lot of work and time to get it back into space.
So, no, the base OCL (and the rest of the variants) cannot land. Or at least they cannot land in such a way to allow them to take off again.
(This is all for SFB. Of course, in FC any ship can land on a planet!)
So, no, the base OCL (and the rest of the variants) cannot land. Or at least they cannot land in such a way to allow them to take off again.
(This is all for SFB. Of course, in FC any ship can land on a planet!)
Federation Commander Answer Guy
