Type-S schematics

[Blue Ghost]

I just got off the phone with TAP Plastics, and am thinking I might go the wood route. I found some press board a local art store with a flakey staff that didn't know what I was talking about when I asked for it. High strength press board is what we used to use in architecture to make models out of the buildings we designed. They only had the flimsy stuff. So I thought about plastic, but the person on the other end of the phone was clueless. I asked the TAP Plastics rep if they could cut at specific angles and dimensions, but I essentially got a "huh?" response.

I don't want to go out of the way to buy a table or miter saw just for this one project, so I'm thinking a thick balsa wood. It might prove easier to make the windows too.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Update, I called the old Tap Plastics near where I used to live, and I got an immediate response. Yes and yes to all questions. Whatever.

 

[whartung]

What scale are you thinking of?

Have you considered a prototype simply using like cardboard/card stock? Easy to cut with a razor knife. Cheap and forgiving while working out dimensions. Easy to transfer plans to it using an off the shelf printer (depending on scale, of course).

At "HO Scale" (1/87) it almost 18" long. Over 21" in 1/72.

N Scale (1/160) is just over 9.5 inches.

 

[Blue Ghost]

Well, pressboard is a kind of heavy card stock. It's not corrugated like regular cardboard, but has the same thickness. An ... (just bought a new split keyboard to improve my gaming...it's hard to get used to) ... what was I going to say, oh yeah, a prototype might be interesting and useful. I may start on it tonight or tomorrow.

 

[kilemall]

Hmm followed the pics and got led back to this earlier COTI thread with a killer ship.

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?t=23183

 

[flykiller]

is that a model or a graphic?

 

[aramis]

is that a model or a graphic?

Model.

 

[Terquem]

Lego Main Deck

I went back to my AutoCAD work on a Lego Main Deck for my version of a Type S using 4x4 plates as 1.5 meter squares, and single brick (8mm) wide walls for interior details and finished it up

It gives a model 632mm (25 inches) long and 400mm (16 inches) wide)

there are only three staterooms on my ship (one is a bit larger than the others and the forth is converted to an office/ship locker. The lounge area is reduced to create a 3m x 7.5m long range scan station area directly behind the bridge.

I can produce PDF files of the dwg files and as soon as I can figure out how to attach them to a post I'll show my work

It is crude, but works for me.

 

[infojunky]

So I thought about plastic

Ah, you said the magic word. Plastics.

Mr. Plastics has got a 4x8 foot sheets of 0.020 (0.5mm) for like $20.

And last I checked Talbot's has a good selection of Evergreen Plastics for detail bits.

0.020 is easily cut with a utility knife. And is fairly flexible, but the trick is to work in laminated layers.

 

[infojunky]

Ok, I build a lot of models and my prefered material is Styrene plastic.


But,

I have been known to use found materials as well, I have a Trader that is built out of Old Cigarette boxes, chipboard and wooden shapes from the craft store. All held together with a combination of Hot Glue and masking tape.

Cheap Foam Core, masking tape, White Glue and toothpicks are also pretty good as well. The toothpicks are used to reinforce the joins in the Foam Core.

 

[Blue Ghost]

I haven't been to Talbots in a few years. Thanks for the reminder.

I thought of using foam core. We'll see.

 

[infojunky]

I thought of using foam core. We'll see.

Check your local Dollar Stores They often have it cheap.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Did a little experimenting, and came up with this:

That is neat looking. Very cool.

 

[ffilz]

I went back to my AutoCAD work on a Lego Main Deck for my version of a Type S using 4x4 plates as 1.5 meter squares, and single brick (8mm) wide walls for interior details and finished it up

It gives a model 632mm (25 inches) long and 400mm (16 inches) wide)

there are only three staterooms on my ship (one is a bit larger than the others and the forth is converted to an office/ship locker. The lounge area is reduced to create a 3m x 7.5m long range scan station area directly behind the bridge.

I can produce PDF files of the dwg files and as soon as I can figure out how to attach them to a post I'll show my work

It is crude, but works for me.

I'd love to hear more and see pictures. I'm big into LEGO and have contemplated building set pieces for Traveller.

And someone mentioned their preferred medium was styrene, well, that's mine too, no cutting or gluing for me though... (LEGO is ABS, a form of styrene...)

Back in the day though I did my share of styrene model kits

Frank

 

[Enoki]

Well, I just ran a quick check on doing this ship in styrene at 1/35th scale. The hull would run about $90. I'd guess with a full interior and everything I could probably do it for under $250.

.125" styrene for the hull is just $62 bought from a wholesale house. The ship would be about four feet long and about 3 feet wide. That's doable at .125 given the internal reinforcement of decks and bulkheads.

 

[Ishmael]

I would use cardboard.
Its cheap, easy to work with and accepts a wide range of adhesives.
Coating it with polyurethane dilutes 3:1 with denatured alcohol makes it water resistant to some degree and makes cuts using a knife clean and crisp. Finished models can be sealed prior to the first primer coat.
Models can be constructed with several methods; pepakura, tab and slot, or layered slices.
Unfinished edges can be filled with paper-mache' or bondo or even light-weight spackle. ( I've used adhesive paper tape in the past ).
If nothing else, it provides a cheap way of making and testing templates/patterns for other materials.
Its stronger than people think. It can be laminated with the corregation 'grain' running perpendicular to each other for stiffness. Flying, gas-powered RC planes have been built with it.
Others have done some cool work with it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0CCiSE29lg

 

[Terquem]

Files

I've tried to post links to PDF files of my (Revision 2) Type S, and the first stage Lego (Deck Plate Layout) AutoCad DWG file (for anyone who has AutoCad and is interested in the process I used)

Using 4x4 plates (which are 32 mm) and using Minifig Scale (approximately 1:48) this makes the 4x4 plate a 1.5 meter square. I have 87 plates in my inventory, and I need 99

Dang it, guess I need to go back to the Lego store

https://www.dropbox.com/s/d3ue5m289w29t8m/100dT_S_r02.dwg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/otkv380exeksoid/100dT_S_r02-Layout1.pdf?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nbp5skdrj4v11vt/100dT_SLego.dwg?dl=0

 

[whartung]

Well, I just ran a quick check on doing this ship in styrene at 1/35th scale. The hull would run about $90. I'd guess with a full interior and everything I could probably do it for under $250.

.125" styrene for the hull is just $62 bought from a wholesale house. The ship would be about four feet long and about 3 feet wide. That's doable at .125 given the internal reinforcement of decks and bulkheads.

That's...REALLY big. If you're in to that level of detailing, more power to you.

Traveller historically used 15mm figures (15mm == 6 feet), and that works out to 1/100 scale. 25mm is about 1/72 scale (I always wondered where some of these scales come from. 1/72 is 1" of model = 6 feet). There's the train scales, those will have a large aftermarket of little parts and, notably, people. 1/35 is great if you're crewing your ship with a bunch of tankers and mortarmen, the other perhaps if you're looking for more industrial folks and farmers.

I wouldn't use cardboard at that large of a scale, simply due to finishing. The plastic will finish much better. The smaller scales don't bother me as much, as they're chock full of compromises anyway. The plastic will finish better at those scales as well, but there's something to the idea of photocopying out a small fleet of Scouts that you can scissor and glue together.

 

[aramis]

15mm is not to 6' but to 5'8" to 5'10". 1:100 1:115. 6' would be 1:120...

Traveller maps used 1"=3m, 1:118 scale, while standard figures and buildings were often anywhere from 1:105 to 1:120, but nominally 1:107 for figures.

Have a reference:
http://theminiaturespage.com/ref/scales.html

 

[Enoki]

That's...REALLY big. If you're in to that level of detailing, more power to you.

Traveller historically used 15mm figures (15mm == 6 feet), and that works out to 1/100 scale. 25mm is about 1/72 scale (I always wondered where some of these scales come from. 1/72 is 1" of model = 6 feet). There's the train scales, those will have a large aftermarket of little parts and, notably, people. 1/35 is great if you're crewing your ship with a bunch of tankers and mortarmen, the other perhaps if you're looking for more industrial folks and farmers.

I wouldn't use cardboard at that large of a scale, simply due to finishing. The plastic will finish much better. The smaller scales don't bother me as much, as they're chock full of compromises anyway. The plastic will finish better at those scales as well, but there's something to the idea of photocopying out a small fleet of Scouts that you can scissor and glue together.

I do 1/35 because it's also a scale I wargame in. Yes, I have Germans and Russians for WW 2 in company and battalion sized units (really, I do) for wargaming.

So, doing 1/35th for a scout is something I could easily manage. Maybe if I get energetic I'll actually do one. Good prints would help, but I could probably manage without them.
Thinking about it, I think I'd rather do a Princess Marava Far trader though as I've invested more time in writing Traveller based novels on that ship.