Omega 7 Columbia Helicarrier MkIV

[warped_one]

looking good so far

 

[JMac]

Great progress Q, she's really taking shape.

Jason

 

[cargoman5126]

Luv the concept... Great work so far..

 

[UncleDredd]

Pretty cool to see it go from concept to build like this. Definitely following your progress.

 

[Quaralane]

Thank you very much, guys.
Stepped WAYYYYYYY outside my comfort zone with this. I'm pleased it's coming along as well as it is

 

[amateurmodeler]

Looking good Q

 

[TRM]

I'd say you were pulling it off Q!! Nice choice and adventurous to boot!! Keep up the great work!!

 

[Quaralane]

Thank you, guys.
Next update should be in a couple of days

 

[Scrach]

Impressive project, great progress so far!

 

[Quaralane]

Thanks, Scrach

Update on the build.
Added more framing to the hull


Including the slope for the front of the ship.
The back is still mostly blank while I plan out the mounting for the thruster packs


Skinning of the hull has begun in earnest.
I'm using 1mm styrene and 5 minute epoxy


Work has started on the thruster packs in order to help me better plan out how they'll need to be mounted.
The backing is balsa, and the nozzels themselves are made from the caps on syringes



Youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z59PnY_Oxw

 

[edz280zx]

Too cool man...too cool!

 

[Grendels]

Nice use of the discards, I was wondering what they were until I watched the video. Keep up the good work!

 

[cargoman5126]

Looks awesome...

 

[TRM]

Keep up the scratch attack there Q!! Looking great my friend!! Cool looking thrusters!! ;D

 

[Quaralane]

Thanks, guys.
This one's been an interesting piece to work on

 

[Junkie]

Nice work Q. So much fun to just build from imagination.

 

[Quaralane]

Definitely is that. And I can always call any differences a 'planned deviation"

 

[JohnSimmons]

Very cool Q!

 

[Quaralane]

Thank you, John. Glad you're liking her

 

[Quaralane]

Sorry for the lack of updates.
Work on this has been progressing a pace, but I haven't been updating like I normally do.

Now, onto the actual work that's been done.

Using balsa, I built up a deck for mounting the engines to


Then, I went in with 1mm styrene and made the filler panels for the ship skin in that area



Again using 1mm styrene sheet, I finished skinning the bottom portion of the hull at the front of the ship



Seeing that I was going to need to start seam-filling fairly soon, I decided to go ahead and finish skinning the ship with 1mm styrene along the outside edges of the hull and fan mounts.
The electrical tape seen here was used for clamping the styrene to the sides



With the skinning complete, it was time to start seam filling.
Decided for the first time to use Bondo spot putty as my seam filler, and started with the top perimeter seams



When it came to working the bottom of the ship, the seams were nowhere near as tight.
So, the end result here was a ship that looks to be made mostly of Bondo at the front end of things


After sanding, though, it looks much better


On the main engines, I decided to lengthen the "pods" with a balsa frame


These were then skinned with 1mm styrene. Though the electrical tape banding was originally intended as a clamping mthod, I decided instead to keep the twin bands for a little bit of added detail.


I've also decided, after consulting with my son and taking another look, that I will only be using 3 of the four pods due to space considerations

Youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaaSlLWx44s