Star Trek DS9:- Operation Return Diorama - 'micro' build log

linweseregon

Senior Member
Everything connected gives me two 40mm long Steamrunners:-
03.JPG
Next up is the Federation attack fighter. I found some orthographics for in interwebland (sorry, I can't give you credit because I can't remember whose they were) and extended the wings to compensate for the tilt before shrinking them. Since they're quite small I'm only using 4 parts:-
04.JPG
Also because they're quite small, hardly any detail is left. The result of joining the four layers is an attack fighter 4mm long:-
05.JPG
I have 14 of these to 'build', but they should all be finished tomorrow, barring the sky falling on my head ;).
 

Rhaven Blaack

!!!THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!!
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
At only 40 mm, the Steamrunners turned out beautifully!!!
As for the little fighter, it looks like you are going to wind up with another "bug problem" again if you keep this up. ;)

KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!
 

linweseregon

Senior Member
@Rhaven Blaack My post wasn't very clear - lol. I've got 10 of the cruisers to build so it's only one extra sheet for the layers :).

Today was spent cutting the other nine first pages.. This appears to be the underside and I don't think there are any layers on these pieces. Obviously I'll recheck before I start gluing anything...
 

linweseregon

Senior Member
After what seems like an eternity, all the pieces were edge-coloured, strapped with thin paper strips and joined up. I then cut the ten page 2's along with their layers:-
02.JPG
I'm using an Eaglemoss model as a rough guide, so that's led me to recess the grey rectangles and have three very narrow strips layered on the lilac grill. If I was only building one of these I'd probably add an extra layer for the 'plates', although the way that the parts have been cut would possibly lead to poor joins on the layers.
 
Last edited:

linweseregon

Senior Member
Loads of contouring folds, a gazillion fold scores and a few calluses later, the bulk of the upper wing surface is complete for the ten cruisers:-
03.JPG
Joining the front section to the main 'wing' section took eight paper strips each, ie 80 tiny bits of paper to connect all ten - lol. Three different colours were required for the edges, adding to the time consumption - tabs just can't be used at this scale due to the bulking effect they have. Cutting the page threes was the next challenge: because I had to lighten the purple, the lines for the white stabilising parts disappeared! I had to go back to the template and fiddle with the brightness, contrast and gamma saturation settings of the image, print off another template, cut round the white parts and draw round the outlines. It's still no excuse for taking 10 days to complete one page! lmao If the galors are the same then I reckon I'll be drawing my pension before I've built 25 ;).
 

Rhaven Blaack

!!!THE MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN!!!
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
WOW!!!
That is quite a bit of work ahead of you!!!
I can fully understand why you would want to take a break from making dioramas after this one!
KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!
 

linweseregon

Senior Member
Aye, I'm still alive ;)
Page three is finished and I've started on pages 4 and 5:-
04.JPG
I'm going to add a layer for the recesses on the rear protrusions. If I was only doing one of these I would also layer the mauve grill sections. The strips for the edges of the wings are ~0.5mm thick so I'll probably ditch them and just colour the white that shows.
Although it's taken another 10 days to complete page 3, I took a couple of days off to turn my phone into a communicator. It would also be much, much quicker to build using the tabs on the template - I prefer to have smooth surfaces so the extra time required is a price I'm willing to pay :D
 
Top