Kitbashed large Freighter ***Small Freighter added

[billclo]

I am building this substitute Large Freighter for an convention game in November. I needed one more Large Freighter for a scenario, and I am not sure that Mongoose will get me one in time, so I had to come up with a Plan B. I wanted to do this on the cheap and use materials I had lying around the house...

Here's how it went:
1/16ths brass rod, a pencil, a cap from a tube of graphite powder, 2 5/16ths brass rod cargo pods, and 2 .223 caliber match bullets for the Warp Engines.

Pencil cut to length and cap glued on:

2 bullets with 2 holes each drilled for the brass rod. 2 pieces of 1/16ths brass rod form the engine pylons, and will be filled in with Squadron Putty.

The Warp engines attached.

Side view of freighter with cargo pods attached:

Front view:

Bottom view with Corsec mounting adaptor:

More pics to come after it's painted up.

 

[Boneguard]

II wanted to do this on the cheap and use materials I had lying around the house...

Nice Kitbashed Freighter...although depending on the country, I'm not sure bullets would qualify as material lying around the house. ...it looks pretty nice.

 

[billclo]

II wanted to do this on the cheap and use materials I had lying around the house...

Nice Kitbashed Freighter...although depending on the country, I'm not sure bullets would qualify as material lying around the house. ...it looks pretty nice.

I am a shooter who used to reload cartridges, and it's perfectly legal here. One could substitute something else though for the engines...if need be.

 

[AdrianH]

That's the point, use what you've got. For one thing, if you've used half a pencil for the main hull then you've got the other half left over. Cut off two suitable length pieces, sand the edges round, carve and sand one end into a hemisphere and the other into a concave rear shape, and there's your warp engine, legal on both sides of the Atlantic!

 

[billclo]

I am very frustrated. My first attempt at the miniature didn't go well, as the primer was all runny (my fault, I think), I tried to clean it up and made things worse. After stripping the mini to start all over, it looked just awful, as I could not remove some areas of the original primer. So I decided to curse and throw away the original mini and make another one. Which went well, nicer than the first. I painted it up, put on decals, put on the same anti-shine I've used for 40+ miniatures (Army Painter Anti-Shine), and poof, it instantly destroyed the paint job.

I'd had to start all over, with a second miniature, and now this.

I have an email into the manufacturer asking why this happened, but as of now, I am way too frustrated to continue and build a THIRD miniature.

Anyone know why this might have happened? Applied over Army Painter primer (let sit 24 hours), Krylon Glossy White (let sit 24 hours), painted up and decaled.

Someone suggested that I apply battle damage to the mini to explain the damaged paint (call it damaged hull plating), so as to salvage the mini.

I did so, and while it isn't as nice as a pristine miniature, at least it's useable now.

 

[McKinstry]

Darned clever. I like it.

 

[trynda1701]

Bill

Nice save with painting the battle damage over the anti shine. While I haven't used the spray you used, I've only ever had the 'frosted' look happen with varnish. Sometimes recovered a mini by respraying it and the frosting went away!

But what happened to you? Eeeeek! I've NEVER saw that happen before. But kudos to your recovery. Adds character to a GREAT scratchbuild! 8) 8) 8) 8)

Mark

 

[billclo]

I have a guy at Star Ranger telling me it's because somehow the matte spray infiltrated the pores of the gloss spray paint, got under it and lifted either it and/or the primer from the miniature surface.

He was suggesting: primer, matte spray or preferably brushed on paint, gloss coat for the decals, decal... but he didn't have much useful advice on what to use in place of the matte spray.

Apparently I need to rough up the surface of the brass cargo pods and bullet surfaces so the primer gets better adhesion.

He is pushing me to strip the damaged areas, sand the bare metal, reprime and hand paint it. It might be nicer looking, but I don't know, it's kind of growing on me. And it's a lot of work, probably too much to bother with.

But were I to attempt another kitbash, it'll be good to know what I need to do instead. For sure, no anti-shine on my Heavy Freighters, which were painted with similar methods (minus the anti-shine).

The battle damage marks (explosions and phaser burns) are decals, not painted. Tennshington Decals sells them, though they are not listed on the website ($5 for 2 sheets).

 

[billclo]

I did forget to post what background information I had come up with to justify the ship's appearance, etc. Here's the "Janes Merchants of the Galaxy, Y173 Edition" has to say:

Marlin-Class Fast Freighter background:

This design is a newer freighter design born out of the need for faster freighters than the usual box with warp engines attached. During the early years of the General War, there was in increasing need for faster delivery of cargoes and passengers. Arturo Camparelli, once a designer of luxury space yachts, who had fallen upon hard times due to the decreasing demand for luxury spacecraft, decided to enhance the common Large Freighter design.

He designed a faster Large Freighter, named the Marlin-Class, using techniques and technologies used in high speed space yachts. His design added Bussard Collectors to the engines, converted the engines to a modular design allowing fast detachment and swapping out of engines, increased ship automation, and added larger and more luxurious passenger quarters.

While the initial cost of the design was higher than a typical Large Freighter, the substantial decrease in operating costs and higher speed more than made up for it. The more streamlined Warp Bubble allowed the ship to go significantly faster, and use less fuel than the standard Large Freighter. Mr Camparelli was also aware that studies had shown that customers had a preference for ships that looked fast, and so streamlined his freighter design to previously unheard of levels. The increase in automation allowed for a slightly smaller crew, freeing up room for larger passenger quarters. The larger, more luxurious, quarters were popular with passengers who were unable to afford quarters on a luxury liner, and greatly enhanced the design’s reputation among travelers.

 

[billclo]

I have completed a Small Freighter of the same design lineage as the Large Freighter:

 

[mdauben]

I like that light freighter container carrier. Unique idea!