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Scythe-class Main Battle Cruiser


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After a few weeks contemplating this project, I finally just jumped right in. I've wanted to build this for a while, so I figured I'd just get started already. The scale is 1:2222, roughly.

After accidentally stumbling upon this page I immediately knew I had to build this ship. So, I got started pretty soon on drawing up plans. I found a set of plans online, but I didn't like them. It looked to me like the 'blade' shape was off compared to the Legacy comic book illustrations. It had a curve that came to a really sharp point for the front of the blade, which didn't seem to fit the comics. My plans have a blade with a straight (when viewed from above) forward part. I've built the blade a tad thicker than what's shown in the comics, though, mainly because otherwise it looks too thin to house the three hangar bays that are located in the bottom section.

Length: 535 meters (roughly a third of an Imperial Star Destroyer's length)

Weapons:

30 Heavy Turbolaser Batteries

30 Turbolaser Batteries

20 Ion Cannons

20 Proton Torpedo Launchers

10 Tractor Beam Projectors

Crew: 2,495

Top Speed: Unknown

Troop Capacity: 1,152

Cargo Capacity: 48 CF9 Crossfire-class Starfighters

Passengers: 1,152

Blade with all bulkheads fitted:

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Lower blade section showing three hangar bay cutouts next to a photocopied set of plans:

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Plan cutout glued with white glue to thin sheet styrene and cut out:

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Styrene plate glued to the blade and mostly scribed:

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So far, I've only started on the blade. I'm still in the process of working on plans for the main, round hull. I've never scratchbuilt a curvy object like the hull will be, so this is definitely going to be an adventure. I'll be documenting this build much more thoroughly than my previous ones, so watch for new updates and pics.

The build album has a lot more WIP pics and details.

Thanks for viewing! Comments, questions, and critique are appreciated!

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Now that's something different! :monkeydance: Very nice work so far!

I really like the design of the ship, but I'm not so sure about the fighters it carries. They don't look like an evolution of the X-Wing, rather like a predecessor. :touche: It looks like it should have been around in or before Episodes I-III, not long after Episodes IV-VI.

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Now that's something different! :D Very nice work so far!

I really like the design of the ship, but I'm not so sure about the fighters it carries. They don't look like an evolution of the X-Wing, rather like a predecessor. :worship: It looks like it should have been around in or before Episodes I-III, not long after Episodes IV-VI.

Thanks!

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the Crossfire fighters. They're like a bad cross (pun, ha!) between the B-wing and X-wing. It was kind of a cool concept, but it didn't get pulled off very well. I do like the Predator TIE fighter the Empire uses in the Legacy series though.

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Whoaaahh...that site is just amazing...for a star wars geek is really cool!!!

As it is your idea and build dude...Can't wait for more...this when finished it's gonna look awesome!

are you gonna put LEDs inside it?

Ohhhh the good ol' calamari ship....I loved it!!!!

This "upgrade" is gonna be awesome indeed!

Cheers mate and keep it up

B)

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Wow! Another cool scratch build!!!!

Heh, I always think of the mothership in "Home world" when I see the scythe class :D is it just me... or?

:D

Thanks! I had to look up Homeworld, but there's definitely a resemblance between the Scythe and the mothership.

Whoaaahh...that site is just amazing...for a star wars geek is really cool!!!

As it is your idea and build dude...Can't wait for more...this when finished it's gonna look awesome!

are you gonna put LEDs inside it?

Ohhhh the good ol' calamari ship....I loved it!!!!

This "upgrade" is gonna be awesome indeed!

Cheers mate and keep it up

B)

Thanks! This one won't have LEDs and fiber optics, unfortunately. I've got no experience with lighting models, so I'll wait to try it with a cheap kit so it won't be any great loss if I screw it up.

Oh yeah, I love Wookieepedia. It's got a bunch of great ship designs that I'm planning on building, especially some of the starfighters.

I'll have an update posted soon!

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As promised, here's a quick update.

Spent most of my model time today scribing the lower section of the blade. Scribing around the hangar bay openings was the most tense part. Making sure everything was straight and parallel took some work, but a bit of care, a steel ruler, and spending plenty of time preparing and measuring before putting scriber to plastic ensured that everything would turn out okay.

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I also built a structure that'll be going in the bottom of the blade. I had to cut it just right so it wouldn't affect the hangar bays, but so it would still fit with no holes or (hopefully) big seams.

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I'll start work on the hangar bays soon, but until then, I'm working on another ship, in the same scale of 1:2200, to fit inside the larger hangar bay. My favorite freighter style of ship is the YT-2400, so I figured I'd build one. Eventually I want to convert one from the Fine Molds Millennium Falcon, but until then I'll console myself with this little 1:2200 one.

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Thanks for looking! I appreciate your comments and critique!

Edited by illithid00
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That looks awesome Chris. I am quite jealous of your scratchbuilding skills.

Where do you get your sheet styrene? Do you have a good source? Or is it just the LHS stuff? :wacko:

Good luck on the progress...will be checking back B)

=Awan

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Great progress Chris!

Looks like this build will eat through tons of plastic sheets :P very inspirational!

Thanks! It really does eat up my sheet styrene, but it's all worth it.

That looks awesome Chris. I am quite jealous of your scratchbuilding skills.

Where do you get your sheet styrene? Do you have a good source? Or is it just the LHS stuff? :wacko:

Good luck on the progress...will be checking back B)

=Awan

Thanks AWan! I get all my sheet from my LHS, Dansey's Hobbies, here in Vegas. Pretty decent price, $1.25 for the thickest stuff, $0.69 for the thinner stuff I use for most of my details. I've got enough to finish the blade, but I'll need to get another couple sheets of the thick stuff when I start the complex, curved hull.

I'll have an update sometime soon, I'm almost finished with my quick build of the tiny YT-2400.

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Thanks AWan! I get all my sheet from my LHS, Dansey's Hobbies, here in Vegas. Pretty decent price, $1.25 for the thickest stuff, $0.69 for the thinner stuff I use for most of my details. I've got enough to finish the blade, but I'll need to get another couple sheets of the thick stuff when I start the complex, curved hull.

For the curved hull, I'd recommend first sculpting a shape from balsa wood or foam, sealing it with some sort of sealant and then skinning it with sheet styrene or even possibly vacuum-forming over it to create a hollow disk.

Just some ideas :coolio:

=Awan

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For the curved hull, I'd recommend first sculpting a shape from balsa wood or foam, sealing it with some sort of sealant and then skinning it with sheet styrene or even possibly vacuum-forming over it to create a hollow disk.

Just some ideas :coolio:

=Awan

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I think I'm going to build up a skeleton of sheet styrene and use balsa blocks to get the right shape. I might try vacforming, but I'll probably just skin it with more sheet styrene.

I've still got to draw up some plans for the hull, and I'm not going to start building it until the blade is finished, so I've got some time to get things planned out.

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No update tonight, but I've been doing some thinking on how I'm going to proceed with this one. First off, after reading through some of the Legacy comics, I need to make the front of the blade at least a little bit curvy. I'll probably just add sheet styrene and sand to a shallow curve. I think the curve will help blend it in, visually, with the rest of the curvy, typically-Mon Cal shape of the main hull.

I'm going to have to get some half-inch styrene tube for the two main engines, plus some quarter-inch tube for the smaller thruster engines. That's not urgent, though. I've got plenty of time until I get started on the engine section.

Paint-wise, I'm thinking of a neutral gray, with details in a lighter shade, and certain stuff like the hangar bays in white. I plan on drilling a bunch of indents, like rivet marks, in certain areas to represent viewports. They won't be lighted, but I'll try to accentuate them with a pale blue or yellow wash. These will mostly be concentrated in the bridge area and certain sections around the engines. I'll also add in very minor battle damage, along with dark red Galactic Alliance markings.

Very cool!

Thanks!

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Update time!

Most of my modeling time in the past few days was all dedicated to scribing. I cut out new copies of the hull plating for the starboard side, replicating what I've already got on the port side, and I've been working on scribing those like I've scribed the first set.

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Where the hangar bays are on the port side, I added a bulge on the starboard side and scribed a few lines onto it. In keeping with Mon Cal modular ship design, the starboard scribing around the hangar bulge is a mirror image to the panels on the port side. I figured that would show that Scythe-class customers could choose which side of the ship the hangar bays would be on.

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I had to do some major sanding on this part to make sure my hangar bay fits correctly. The little rectangles will eventually be some kind of weapon mount.

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Scale-wise, I'm having some doubts. The YT-2400 is too big for the hangar bay on the blade, so I've been debating adding one more, larger bay on the underside of the main hull when I build that. I'm still on the fence about that, though. All my refs point to the Scythe-class only having the three hangars on the blade, but the ship itself doesn't seem large enough to hold the YT-2400 in the hangar without it being extremely cramped, especially because I screwed up my scale calculations. Instead of 1/2222 scale, it's closer to 1/1670. I'll try to get a pic of the YT-2400 with the hangar bay when I get the hangar all finished up.

"Blueprints" of the main hangar bay to check for how much space I've got to play with.

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The finished (except for painting) YT-2400.

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Don't forget to weather like crazy - battle scorching, hull craters, etc :cheers:

Good luck man :D

=Awan

You know it! I'm actually considering building a section of the hull all torn up and destroyed with crumpled sheet styrene and aluminum foil. I might even turn it into a diorama with the ship sitting in a shipyard being repaired after a major battle.

Thanks for looking! Comments/critique are always appreciated!

EDIT: I forgot to add a link to the build album: http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/tt144/K...ttle%20Cruiser/ There are a lot more construction WIP pics there.

Edited by illithid00
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Very interesting and very well done!

People like yourself with such scratchbuilding ability really have my respect.

:unsure:

MikeJ

Thanks Mike! I really appreciate it.

Very cool indeed! Nice seeing the build progressing :thumbsup:

Interesting idea with a battledamaged one! That would look awesome!

Thanks! I'm going to have to scratch up a really fast little model to test some battle damage techniques on before I commit to testing them on the Scythe, though.

I do have a really quick update today, and I'll have a bigger one this weekend, probably.

I spent an hour or so constructing the bigger hangar bay last night. I didn't cram very much detail in there, since I plan on having the YT-2400 in there anyway, and that would block most detail I'd have added. So, just a few bits of styrene strip is plenty of detail for me.

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Sorry if it's hard to see. My camera isn't very good at taking good pics of small items.

This weekend, I should have an update with some solid plans for the main hull, the finished smaller hangars hopefully with a couple Crossfire starfighters in them, and with any luck, a closed-up blade and preparations for starting on the main hull.

Thanks for looking!

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Perhaps add some wiring in the bay? (you could use human hair and some thicker wire for 'ducts')

:wave:

Not a bad idea. I'll probably try adding some wires if I can. I already glued the bay onto half of the blade, so it might be tricky, but I can probably reach in with a pair of tweezers or something.

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Not a bad idea. I'll probably try adding some wires if I can. I already glued the bay onto half of the blade, so it might be tricky, but I can probably reach in with a pair of tweezers or something.

If your using hair or any other wire, i'd cut/test fit before hand, paint it up, then after the bays are painted/weathered, dip the wire/hair into CA, and then position :worship:

=Awan

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If your using hair or any other wire, i'd cut/test fit before hand, paint it up, then after the bays are painted/weathered, dip the wire/hair into CA, and then position :)

=Awan

Yeah, I think I'm gonna get some small copper wire and add in some tubes and stuff to the top of the hangar. Still not sure if I should leave it unpainted or paint it black, though.

Detailing with hair?! Isn´t that just an excuse that cat owners make to cover upp hairy messes? :salute:

Hm, that's a whole new use for hairballs that AWan's found... :wave:

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  • 2 months later...

Long time, no update! :whistle:

Unfortunately, there's not much to say about this at the moment. Scribing continues, and I've got both halves of the blade glued together. But, I apparently made a measurement mishap and the leading edge doesn't line up perfectly <_<. However, I didn't notice this until after I glued on a strip of styrene to close up the blade. :woo: :woo: Now, I've got to cut that off, sand the edges, and make sure that everything's all lined up.

Sorry, no pics, but I wanted to bump this and add a little update.

EDIT: 3000th post, WHOO!

Edited by illithid00
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