Federation Commander

Saw that.

Notes From the Workbench:

My SL2400 CVA was damaged beyond repair, due to some poor storage case choices (it's a *really* tall mini). The upper engine pylon cracked nearly clean through - difficult to fix in a durable way.

As I was never thrilled with how the stock mini looked anyways, I decided it was easier to scrap it and and convert it to what I wanted in the first place.

(Not knocking the sculpting job Jessica Orsini did on the CVA, it's a very cleverly thought out model, just not to my taste aesthetically).

The existing mini tries too hard to include the classic CVo mini, shoe-horning it into the current "must be a dreadnought-conversion" version of the CV.

I want a mini that "cuts the cord" a bit more, looks more like it was rebuilt from a dreadnought (especially in the saucer), but still has the unique "carrier" features of the old design.

More pics of this build are HERE.

I've started work on a Romulan FastHawk, to complement my Klingon FD7 and Gorn Fast BC conversions, along with the stock Fed CF.

This mini will have engines lengthened (using brass rods) and a slightly pointed "beak" (like some of the DemonHawk conversions I've seen.

More pics of this build will be HERE.

Also wrapping-up are two Kzinti tugs (one a modern SL2400 pewter, one an old SL2200 lead). Both have had brass rods and greenstuff added as needed to assure solid attachment to their pods. I haven't yet glued the pods and I'm rethinking them right now. I might switch to using rare-earth magnets and leave the pods removable.


Finally, I recently completed two conversions of Fed Fast Destroyers for a client (note sensor posts and added impulse engines). These were started before the official ADB mini was even planned - it took me way too long to get these finished. Sorry about that (you know who you are).

Meet the Klingon SD7 strike cruiser:


Still a little clean-up work to do on this one, but at least it is assembled now (a year after it was started).

Cool!

Did you do something with the impulse engine? It seems like it was pulled apart and then reconstructed from three pieces.

Maybe I just missed it, but how did you decide how long to make the shortened boom?

No changes to the rear hull, other than drilling some holes for pins. The deckhouse just had some filing done on it, as-per usual for my clean-up process.

For the boom, I spent a lot of time staring at the line-art on the ship card and tried to interpret the proportions of it, back into the mini. I used the same methods to bring what I felt was the "spirit" of the design into the available minis when I did my kitbashes for the F5W and the oCA.

Looks good! Can't wait to see it painted up!

Chugging right along on the FastHawk.

Interesting treatment on the nose ofhte Fasthawk.

I guess if it doesn't work out the way you intend, that'll make it easy to repurpose for something useful... like a sinking for your next fishing trip!

Hmmm, a cloaking fishing lure.

The idea has merit.

Will, do you have any sketches for your plans for the Fasthawk like you had for the FD7? Just curious to see where you're headed with it - especially how you will be handling the bow of the ship.

Great stuff as always.

The holes in the nacelles are smack dab in the center--that's some accuracy!

I can't help but see a bull with a nose ring when I see the ship though...

I'm going to have to use that idea when I get around to making my Demonhawk.

@Rick -

Nope. No drawings this time. I'm kind of making this one up as I go along, since there's pretty much nothing out there describing the FastHawk as looking any different than a stock FireHawk. I want all my fast cruisers to look at least a little different, so it's all on me to make decisions on what I want.

It's kind of liberating to just "free form" something for once, before I start my next "for ADB" project (the HF5).

@Paul -

Thanks. I've gotten a lot better with a pin-vice over the years. "Center-punching" the intended hole first really helps (I use the tip of a small X-acto knife and spin it a few times).

As I'm sure folks have gathered, the "bull ring" in the front is only there to act as a "scaffold". I will be building up the nose into a pointy shape using putty. Since minis tend to go nose down if they tip over (and they all tip over sometimes, no matter what you do to the base), I'm reinforcing it to make sure my hard work doesn't get popped off the first time she takes a faceplant.

On the walk in to work this morning, I had another idea for the nose on this one. I want it to be mass-neutral to the stock FireHawk, or (ideally) slightly lighter. I'm going to "thin" the profile of the nose a bit, before I add the pointed beak. One more way to give it a "go fast" look and keep it in-keeping with my other fast ships (Fed CF, Klingon FD7, Gorn CF, and a soon to started Kzinti CF).

I'm hoping to work more on this, tonight.

Sounds cool. Nice to be able to "wing it" from time to time. Can't wait to see the HF5 as well!

Putty work on the Romulan FastHawk is finished. Just need to assemble the engines and it will be complete.

I did some final finishing putty work on the Klingon SD7. Once I add the wing phasers with epoxy, then it will be done too.

Over the weekend, I started a Romulan JayHawk battle frigate and a Romulan SaberHawk heavy war destroyer.



Both of the new Romulans involved some tricky drill work to add stand-holes in the new third engine.

For the JayHawk, this engine and supporting structure was created from scratch in brass and greenstuff. The ship's description says this engine was taken from the ancient Snipe-B frigate.

I originally made an engine that matched the Snipe mini (which is actually the old SL2200 WarBird mini) by filing down a spare Klingon D-hull boom I had lying around. However, it was just too small and looked out of scale when placed on the SeaHawk mini.

I chose to scale the engine up slightly to better match the scale of the SeaHawk and fabricated it from brass (small rod, sleeved in a slightly larger cylinder) with greenstuff for the "bulb" and small supporting structure (which also "pads" out the area surrounding the stand hole). There is a tiny brass pin stump to represent the phaser mount, just forward of the stand hole. Brass pins help locate the engine in holes drilled into the mini's main hull.

The engine for the SaberHawk is similar. The one in the photo is a spare SparrowHawk/FireHawk engine from the kitbash packs. I had it all completed, with standhole drilled, greenstuff stand-hole pad, and plasma mount filed off.

However, the engine looks quite a bit different than the ones on the SkyHawk mini (which have a "beefier" look to them, especially in the aft end). Considering how much work I have put into sculpting greenstuff on the main hull (three different approach now), I don't want to stick an engine that detracts from the complete look on it. I will be sawing a better-matching engine off a spare SkyHawk tonight and use that instead. I'll also be filing and sanding the greenstuff putty on the main hull and adding the option-mount hatch with a thin brass sheet.

dj, what is the actual trade name of the green stuff that you use? I am having difficulty finding it. Thanks.