There's just a bit of progress to report on both fronts since the
last post. First the model kit.
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Dremel with carbide bit (left),
pin vises, files, knives, pin vise. |
I was hollowing out the windows and the slots around the photon torpedo launcher (and navigational deflector?). I started with drilling a series of holes using bits from my #61-80 set in my pin vise. Fine work like this (for someone at my age with presbyopia) is best done with a jeweler's loupe. Since this lets me focus about three inches away from my eye, it works pretty well to steady the end of the pin vise against my forehead or chin. Then I milled out the holes using the dremel at its lowest speed with micro size carbide bits that have a 1/8" shank, so they fit in a collet. (No mini chuck! Those things aren't totally useless, I guess, but they always have a bit of wobble, no good with tiny drill bits.) Square and triangular files and a #11
blade were useful for cleaning up the holes. The windows come in pairs, with a narrow bar between them, and I ruined the bar between the pair of windows on the port side of the bridge. No matter, it can be fixed with sheet styrene.
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| Bridge, port side. |
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| Starboard side |
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| The filigree around the torpedo launcher/main deflector. |
The landing pad is coming along slowly in AutoCAD. I keep adding detail, trying to keep the appearance Klingon-like. Form follows function, too, and Klingons are warlike. Whenever they aren't taking on the Federation or the Romulans or whomever, or brutally suppressing slave revolts, or fighting a major civil war, one of the major houses is probably fighting another. To that end, a landing pad is a valuable tactical prize, and needs to be made defensible against capture. A ship landing there might bring enemies, and the Klingons manning the station will be wary. Ramps and platforms around the perimeter provide defilade for defenders against enemies coming out of a landed ship, so they can be enfiladed with small arms fire, like disruptor rifles. A heavily armored control bunker projects slightly above the platform, and is built with its entryway facing outward from the platform. My inspirations for this are images of Klingon stuff, especially in TNG, offshore oil rigs, aircraft carriers (wait, there will be lifts), the windows from the super star destroyer in TESB and RotJ, and of course the landing platform in RotJ. I tapered the sides and added external stucture to support the ramps and any conduit that I add later. You can also see a few stick figure Klingons I added for scale.
There will be more in the
next post.
The landing pad is coming along slowly in AutoCAD. I keep adding detail, trying to keep the appearance Klingon-like. Form follows function, too, and Klingons are warlike. Whenever they aren't taking on the Federation or the Romulans or whomever, or brutally suppressing slave revolts, or fighting a major civil war, one of the major houses is probably fighting another. To that end, a landing pad is a valuable tactical prize, and needs to be made defensible against capture. A ship landing there might bring enemies, and the Klingons manning the station will be wary. Ramps and platforms around the perimeter provide defilade for defenders against enemies coming out of a landed ship, so they can be enfiladed with small arms fire, like disruptor rifles. A heavily armored control bunker projects slightly above the platform, and is built with its entryway facing outward from the platform. My inspirations for this are images of Klingon stuff, especially in TNG, offshore oil rigs, aircraft carriers (wait, there will be lifts), the windows from the super star destroyer in TESB and RotJ, and of course the landing platform in RotJ. I tapered the sides and added external stucture to support the ramps and any conduit that I add later. You can also see a few stick figure Klingons I added for scale.
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