"Kitbashed shipyard with movable construction assemblies" Topic

This is my latest creation. Its a shipyard that has movable lower construction assemblies. It can accommodate the largest ships, up to super dreadnought class. I am using the SSD for a large shipyard in my Fortress Command fleet book to represent it.

It was constructed with 1/8" square styrene strips, some 3/16" styrene strips, some 3/16 styrene flat strips, and a station miniature from Spartan Games (Dindrenzi Bastion class).

Construction information is also included in later pictures.

Rear view:

Underside with construction assemblies fully extended:

Underside with construction assemblies halfway closed:

Underside with construction assemblies fully closed:

NAC super dreadnaught under construction, rear view:

NAC super dreadnaught under construction, front view:

ESU super dreadnaught under construction, rear view:

ESU super dreadnaught under construction, front view:

2 NAC battleships under construction, rear view:

2 NAC battleships under construction, front view:

Federation Galaxy class under construction, rear view:

Federation Galaxy class under construction, front view:

2 Federation Excelsior class under construction, rear view:

2 Federation Excelsior class under construction, front view:

SSD from my Fortress Command fleet book:

Construction pics and details:

Plans: (made minor changes along the way)

Basic frame constructed from 1/8" square styrene strips:

Side assemblies to hold rods for movable construction assemblies, made from 3/16 x 1/8 strip styrene:

Side assembly from a Firestorm Armada Dindrenzi Bastion station, with a 3/16 x 1/8 styrene strip attached via pins:

Frame with some added bracing to accommodate the solar panel assemblies:

Some parts from Combatzone-scenery (4 fuel tanks, 2 misc):

Parts added to the rear of the construction assemblies:

4 PDS mounts added to the corners of the frame. I used 4 British missile batteries, sold by Brigade Models. I also put some square pieces at the corners to allow mounting of the PDS batteries.

4 NSL small gun assemblies from Brigade Models, to be cut down and used as thruster assemblies and attached to the frame:

6 freighter clamp down assemblies, made from the rear of some earring clasps:

4 pieces of 1/32" x 1/32" brass square stock attached to the frame to serve as a screen grid:

Center assembly and earring clasps attached. The center assembly is the main body of a Firestorm Armada Dindrenzi Bastion station:

Earring clasps mounted to allow freighters to dock:

Top view.

The black assemblies (solar panels) are from a set of motion detector lights – they are used to block certain areas from view to prevent false alarms:

Side view.

The black assemblies (solar panels) are from a set of motion detector lights – they are used to block certain areas from view to prevent false alarms):

Beam-1 (360 arcs) mounts, consisting of a stem and ball from a ball and socket mount (ship stem):

Solar panels and beam-1 batteries installed:

The construction assembly with center piece and rods to allow them to slide back and forth. I used ship mounting stems and 30mm round bases to support the shipyard:

The assemblies attached to the long strip running the length of the underside. There were 4 of them that came with the Brigade Models freighter, and I only used 2.

Underside, primed:

Top view, primed:

Finished view of the interior of construction assembly prior to installation:

Outside of construction assembly:

Installing the first of 2 construction assemblies. I used 1/16" aluminum rod – brass would be stronger, but the brass shininess detracted from the overall look. I had to use 1/16" hollow rod due to not being able to get any solid rod. I would recommend using solid rod if you can get it.

Second construction assembly installed, prior to adding the second outside piece that holds the rod. I had covered up the mounting area with some blue construction tape so it would not be painted/primed:

Second side piece added to hold the rods, shipyard is completed:

That is awesome!

That, sir, is a thing of beauty.

John T

Tha's
So
Pretty…

I must blow it up! *mua-ha-ha*

Doug

Impressive! Thanks for posting it!

Incredible work!

Thanks for sharing the details and WIP shots too, great stuff!

Its a giant outer space 3d printer! That is some nice work.

Very impressive scatchbuild, Bill. Very nice indeed, Sir!

Yep, can only add to the well-deserved applause. Bravo! great re-use of a rather 'meh' piece from the FA range, and it doesn't look out of place alongside ships from different fictions.

Actually, Bash' might have something there; it does remind me a bit of a 3D printer…

Thanks everyone.

I did kind of go for the "printer" effect; I envisioned the keel of the ship would be started between the 2 construction assemblies and they would move apart as the ship grew larger. One could make use one of the following assumptions: that the ships are modular and the parts are assembled via grapple arms on the construction assemblies, or that they serve as fabricators/replicators, whatever.

It took me about 3 weeks of on and off work on the shipyard. I would love to see it offered as a 3D print, but I expect the cost would be very prohibitive. Doing it in resin might be a challenge, especially in the rod hole areas where you need pretty precise alignment so the construction assemblies can move back and forth.

That is looking sweet. I always wanted to build something, that I think you might like to do. Build a carrier, with red LEDs blinking down the deck.

For ship yards, I envisioned a donut. Large pre-built components, even whole keels which appealed to me, slid into one side, smaller materials docked on the edge, the ship-as-built 'extruded' from the other side.

Donut could be sectioned, and sections added to increase the central cavity.

I suppose it would look a bit 'Stargate.'

Doug

Doug,

That could work. Lots of ways to solve the same basic problem. :)

I don't play that game, but wow nicely done. Makes me want to play…

Well the shipyard was intended for Full Thrust, but as you can see from the other pics, it works for Trek ships. It is more of a generic unit that could be used in a number of game systems if you were to make stats/ship sheets for it.

You can find the original Full Thrust rules at Ground Zero Games, or the widely used Full Thrust: Project Continuum rules at Emerald Skunkworks.

Fantastic work.

It being articulated is even more impressive.

At first, I wasn't sure if I wanted to try and make the underside sections move back and forth, but I decided to not play it safe and went for it. I'm glad I did; it really adds to the usability of the shipyard. :)

This is one of the best 'I made this' articles posted to this site in the years I've been here. You should submit this to Bill for a Workshop focus article.

Wow, thanks for the compliment, nvdoyle. I wasn't aware there were such articles as I don't browse the website as much as I probably ought to.

How do you do that?

That is one top notch build !

After going back and looking at the build instructions, I noticed that I didn't get photos of certain steps/parts that I later added (the initial plan doesn't show the support structure for the station on top of the shipyard, nor the "landing" platforms adjacent to it, which I decided to part way through).

How do you do that?

Bill's pretty good about answering mail, as I doubt there's a separate mechanism. Also, I know the [!] button is labeled 'Complain', but I know others have used it to get his attention on things that weren't strictly complaints.

You could use the one attached to this note, and if he deletes it, no problem… ;->=

It really IS that good.

Doug

I found the leave a comment link, and so sent him a note asking his opinion. :) As I mentioned to him, I forgot to photograph a couple of steps, and so would have to modify the sequence of events, telling the builder to do such and such here, etc.