a little help with scratchbuild Hydrans

mearsa · Post by **mearsa** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 2:31 am

mjwest wrote:In his defense, he did say he was playing with the sizing. Ignoring the sizing issue, he looks to have build the Archeo-Tholian ships correctly, including the CA, DN, and BB. (Incidentally, the BB is five PC hulls, not six.) Once he decides on the scale for the base PC hull, I figure the other ships will fall into place on their sizes.

Your right about the Archeo-Tholians. I had already re-sized them but those were the better pics to show their designs and patterns.

One of the problems I had was that the destroyer is just like the patrol cruiser (or corvette, I've heard it described both ways) just thicker. I really didn't see a way to do that(at least not one I liked) so I opted for making the destroyer just a little bigger. I didn't think that would be too noticeable considering the differences in 2200, 2300, 2400, 2500 and other odd size differences depending on line or manufacturer. I guess really what I did was base everything off the destroyer hull and make the pc a little smaller.

pc 1 hull 25mm
destroyer 1 hull 30mm
warcruiser 1+ hulls 35mm
CA 2 hulls 30mm
DN 3 hulls 48mm
BB 6 hulls 70mm

The main reason I started this thread was to get more accurate sizes for ships I no longer have or never have owned. I haven't actually played SFB in years and don't have any ships except these right now. If anyone has a more accurate measurement for anything you see, please feel free to let me know.

mjwest · Post by **mjwest** » Tue Aug 13, 2013 4:01 am

mjwest wrote:(Incidentally, the BB is five PC hulls, not six.)

Whoopsie! The BB is made with six PC hulls, not five. Oh well. The larger point is still valid, and you can see from his new pics that he did make the later BB with six hulls.

Scoutdad · Post by **Scoutdad** » Sun Aug 18, 2013 2:46 pm

I still think those are superb. And the later Archeo-Tholian images are spot on.

Great job.

mearsa · Post by **mearsa** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 11:11 pm

Thanks. I appreciate all the input. Work has picked up and it may be a few weeks before I can get back to correcting a few things and continuing on with the Hydrans. Is anyone interested in getting the pdf files to print their own Tholians and Kzinti fleets?

Maxwell Luther · Post by **Maxwell Luther** » Tue Aug 20, 2013 12:37 am

mearsa wrote:Thanks. I appreciate all the input. Work has picked up and it may be a few weeks before I can get back to correcting a few things and continuing on with the Hydrans. Is anyone interested in getting the pdf files to print their own Tholians and Kzinti fleets?

Most definitely. One of my campaign players is keen on Cats and I'd personally be keen on seeing what you can do for the Lyrans as I'm looking for a cheap substitute until the 2500 versions come out.

If you managed Klingons as well, I'd run a 4 powers war campaign in a heartbeat.

As I am also a graphic designer, maybe I can take cues from your designs and design some ships as well...

mearsa · Post by **mearsa** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 6:44 pm

Here are some early mock ups of the Horseman/Traveller/Mongol/Tartar cruisers. I'm a little iffy in the differences in appearance. any help there would be appreciated.

If you go to http://www.papermodelers.com/ there is a thread called Itty Bitty Trekkie Ships where I've been posting there for a while. Where they have a great many fed ships of this size. Most of them are of the FASA style but very usable for minis. My Kzinti are also available for download there. I will upload my Tholians there also.

mearsa · Post by **mearsa** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 8:13 pm

Status Update
The Horseman light Cruiser,Traveler light cruiser, Mongol med. cruiser, Mohawk new Cruiser Advanced, Liege lt. dreadnought, Paladin dreadnought & Monarch Battleship.

mdauben · Post by **mdauben** » Wed Sep 25, 2013 2:46 pm

Some amazing paper modeling skills! In photos (and I imagine at normal gaming distances) its hard to tell with many of them that they are not conventional, cast models.

Sneaky Scot · Post by **Sneaky Scot** » Wed Sep 25, 2013 9:42 pm

Superb stuff - is that the kind of thing ham-fisted gamers (i.e. me) would be able to make from a kit if it was ever manufactured?

mearsa · Post by **mearsa** » Thu Sep 26, 2013 4:04 am

Sneaky Scot wrote:Superb stuff - is that the kind of thing ham-fisted gamers (i.e. me) would be able to make from a kit if it was ever manufactured?

Thanks

manufactured kits, you say? hmm...Your the second to suggest that this could be the start of a new product. If I thought I could make a little off my hobby, I would seriously consider it, however, the problem with that as I see it is this.

I get the attention of Amarillo Design and they like the idea but they would definitely want a more polished product so the next thing you know, there are professional artists making a better product than I could manage as a part time amateur and as that it's their copyrighted material...

Or

I create a fleet and try to sell it as a pdf on wargamevault, rpgnow or drivethroughrpg and I have to worry about the legalities of the freeware software I've used to create the images, the copyrighted subject matter etc. Then I sell a fleet package for about $7 to $15 minus whatever expenses and after someone buys it, they share it with one of their gamer buddys and the next thing you know, there's no need to buy it because everybodys got it anyway.

Or

I attempt to have the fleets printed and sell it as a kit. I have all the same issues plus new ones. Somebody scans it and the same result.

If anyone truly thinks this is viable, please convince me.

Besides, every time I get the big head about my models, I take a look at

http://desktopwargames.com/blacksun-starship-video/

http://desktopwargames.com/the-black-su ... -fighters/
or

http://maker.e2ogame.net/babylon-5-paper-ships

and I deflate a little.

All I'm really hoping to do is enjoy the challenge of designing the models, allow someone to try our some ships they haven't been able to, and hopefully get some positive feedback.

You mean ham-fisted like me? it's a little challenging at first but after you've done a few, you get a feel for it. I actually use tweezers to make some of the folds. I completed most of the seven in the pic in a couple of hours. I usually trim out the edges with an appropriate colored marker to get rid of the white edges. I haven't finished the Hydrans yet but earlier I posted the address where you can give my Kzinti fleet a try. I also have most of the Tholians but I want to go back and flesh them out a bit.

If you go to http://www.papermodelers.com/ there is a thread called Itty Bitty Trekkie Ships where I've been posting for a while. They have a great many fed ships of this size by other modelers. Most of them are of the FASA style but very usable for minis. My Kzinti fleet is available for download there. I will upload my Tholians there also when I finish it.

Sneaky Scot · Post by **Sneaky Scot** » Sun Sep 29, 2013 7:42 pm

Positive feedback - definitely!

Appreciate your points on scanning and illegal sharing - I know that ADB went through a lot of heartache before releasing stuff via e23, which (I hope) is working well for them.

I'll just sigh jealously at your skill and continue to (badly) paint my 2500 miniatures!

mearsa · Post by **mearsa** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 9:20 pm

Another update. Here are test builds of the smaller vessels. The Stinger fighter, Harrier fast patrol, Gendarme Police cutter, Hunter Frigate, Buffalo/Rhino Hunter War destroyer and the Lancer/Knight destroyer.

I've enlarged the hunter and Buffalo hunter to about 30mm. I'll also have to enlarge the Gendarme Police cutter to about 30mm, it's just too darn small to build at that size.

mearsa · Post by **mearsa** » Wed Oct 30, 2013 3:16 pm

Does anyone know much about layered pdfs? I am getting close to finishing the Hydrans and I wanted to create a pdf file with layers so the different fleet colors may be displayed and printed? I've managed to make a test one that works but I've lost some of the details in doing so.

mearsa · Post by **mearsa** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 4:07 pm

Here are some test builds of the Overlord and the Pegasus original and the re designed model

djdood · Post by **djdood** » Fri Dec 13, 2013 6:31 pm

Cool that you pulled off the curves on the Pegasus. That's certainly not easy!