"Pinzgauer Heavy Shuttle" Topic

A little experiment in paper ships:

More on the blog, of course. But you get the idea. It's a little boxy, but even with my decidedly hasty and inexpert build it's not unusable. Works well in backgrounds.

Looks pretty good to me. Did you reinforce the paper, or do I need to read the blog to find out?

Rob

I didn't really do anything special at first. I printed most of it on slightly heavier paper than your standard copy paper, but that's all. And it's sturdy enough I'm not even sure it was necessary. Later on I added a bit of cardstock to the back of the chin where it tucks up to give access to the bay. That one spot seems a little weak, as it provides support for the pedestrian ramp in its down position. But that's the only real flaw I've found so far. There is, naturally, more on the blog, but I'm happy to answer questions here.

IIRC, it has internal reinforcement, but looking at the instructions I can see they do more for keeping the general shape and less to support the ramp.

That look like an excellent build, you make me want to get this model printed out so I can try to do as well.

Thank you both! :)

Yeah, the support is mostly for the large flat surfaces of the shuttle. The ramp is perhaps three layers of paper with some L cuts glued on. Those make for good support. The ramp itself isn't too bad, actually. It'll hold a metal 28mm miniature, which I count no small feat. But the chin from which it hangs is just a large double sheet of paper. With a hole cut in it, no less. At the front it's supported by the hinge where it attaches to the body, but at the back, where it's skinny behind the hole and where the ramp attaches, there's no special support. It's a minor flaw in the design. In order to allow the chin to raise so you can get a vehicle onto the elevator floor without obstruction you really couldn't do a lot there. Maybe some L or C channel on the exterior side of the chin behind the ramp would work. Of course, that would disrupt airflow, if you were worried about aerodynamics. (With a flying brick.) Still, it's such a small flaw I can live with it. (And a little discreet cardstock on the inside seems to have fixed the issue.)