Scratchbuilding

[Da Boss]

Thanks for compliments I still have a long list of ships I'm planning to do; Liners, freighters, vorlons, brakiri, frazi & vree ships - generally those from the show.

In addition to canon stuff, I might do a few designs of my own that fit the spirit of B5 races but are original so I can use them as default units with my rules.

Btw, it might be cool to do Planet Killer & Shadow cloud - cloud might actually be quite easy with black wool Is there any kind of statistics for them anywhere?

most impressive work - look forward to seeing more of your great work - thanks

 

[Sean-Khan]

Thanks for comments & ideas again - I checked burger's ship viewer but couldn't see the cloud. I didn't also see 1st edition stats, perhaps they've been removed?

 

[Burger]

They are still there and not going anywhere. Under the green heading, "Armageddon".

I never had stats for plain SFOS or original 1st ed, because my ship viewer wasn't around in those days. :lol:

 

[Sean-Khan]

Oo, I looked at there but used page search to look for 'shadow cloud' - now I found it! Thanks Burger!

 

[lastbesthope]

All versions of pre 2nd edition stats are also available on my shipviewer.

LBH

 

[Sean-Khan]

Hello everyone, I'm resurrecting an old thread as the topic is still same - I've renewed my old homepages and am in process of bringing all the model galleries in there; I think I finally have all my B5 ships in there. There's also a bunch of Star Wars scratchbuilts, plus a large amount of other stuff.

I hope you enjoy your visit on the site! 8)

(The link provided is to B5 category listing)
Shaper and Maker galleries - Scratchbuilt Babylon 5 ships

 

[AdrianH]

Impressive! I particularly like the Asimov and Hyperion which correct some blatant errors in the "official" models (engines on the Asimov, bow on the Hyperion). Are you going to finish off the Hyperions by adding the bridge discs?

Under "Babylon 5 paper ships" is shown the Olympus. If those are indeed paper models, do you have a JPG plan for an Olympus which you would be willing to share?

Given the superb job you've done with the Omega, the Nova should be a logical progression - it is literally an Omega with the rotating middle section replaced by a solid piece, and fitted with several large gun turrets.

If you liked the White Star, take a look at my Vree Xorr. The JPG plan is here. (Burger, please feel free to copy this to your website.)

 

[Sean-Khan]

Thanks Adrian! No I haven't thought of adding the bridge disks, but who knows, maybe some day. In some ways they felt a bit unfitting, perhaps as I didn't pay any attention to them in the shows.

Hmm, yes that's a small paper olympus, I'll try to dig up the model & put it online!

For some reason I don't care for Nova -destroyer - I think I have a dozen models I need to do before I would even think of that, and I'm still on pause from modelling due to back problems.

I have Xorr looking just like that, maybe I've even put it together - I think it was from Burger's site? Hmm, not exactly the same, but I did cut a piece of the flat model to make it more 3D. Thanks for sharing that anyway!

Btw, did you see my post about creating burning spaceship wrecks? It's something that everyone kept asking me, I put it up a month ago or so.

 

[AdrianH]

Thanks Adrian! No I haven't thought of adding the bridge disks, but who knows, maybe some day. In some ways they felt a bit unfitting, perhaps as I didn't pay any attention to them in the shows.

The bridge disc as seen on screen is much smaller in proportion to the rest of the ship than the one on the AoG and Mongoose model. Iron Winds re-made the Hyperion and included a more accurately sized bridge. Take a look at my models here - the one behind the Explorer is a Mongoose model, the one in front is the Iron Winds model with the smaller bridge.

Hmm, yes that's a small paper olympus, I'll try to dig up the model & put it online!

I've just noticed that the freighters seem to be paper as well - perhaps you could put that online too? There were several variants which should be easy to build from the same parts - the tanker has cylinders similar to the core hull instead of the cargo containers, and there were versions with fewer containers and a shorter hull.

FI have Xorr looking just like that, maybe I've even put it together - I think it was from Burger's site? Hmm, not exactly the same, but I did cut a piece of the flat model to make it more 3D. Thanks for sharing that anyway!

When I first drew up the paper Xorr, I didn't think I could make cones that small so the hull was just a flat disc. Later I made a much larger version with a solid hull and an active propulsion system. (Here it is in action. ) Then I tried scaling it back down and found I could make cones that small after all.

Btw, did you see my post about creating burning spaceship wrecks? It's something that everyone kept asking me, I put it up a month ago or so.

Yes, it looks interesting. I doubt I'd go as far as to make a model specifically to turn it into a blazing wreck but it might be worth making up some separate flames like that to put onto a ship which has been destroyed during a game. Of course, the finishing touch of painting glowing red hull plates won't apply to that.

 

[Sean-Khan]

Oh yes, the freighters. I'll try to make a file out of them too; I have a habit of making large files full of lots of stuff I want printed, and I tend to make several versions of some - I need to check which cockpit -part I chose to use.

Freighters and burning ships were both made for purpose, partially for future rpg purposes but also for e2o game where both are needed. attachable flames are handy if you can make them so that they stick - I played with the idea but wasn't too happy about it.

 

[AdrianH]

Oh yes, the freighters. I'll try to make a file out of them too; I have a habit of making large files full of lots of stuff I want printed, and I tend to make several versions of some - I need to check which cockpit -part I chose to use.

If you have different cockpit parts, include the whole lot so anyone printing the kit out to build a freighter can choose which cockpit to use.

On the "real" ships, i.e. the CGI models on screen, the bridge discs for the freighter and Hyperion class cruiser are the same apart from size and colour. You could resize the freighter's cockpit, print out a few copies, then use those for your Hyperions.

 

[Sean-Khan]

Hi Adrian, just a quick heads-up - I'm working on printable freighter sheets, I should be able to post them soon; I'll just have to check some details of the finished freighters first.

 

[Sean-Khan]

Ok the freighter is up, hopefully you'll find it easy to create & useful!

http://maker.e2ogame.net/babylon-5-inspired-paper-freighter-miniature

I also have a space station with similar inspiration waiting, some day I'll post that too... And the light earth ship is still waiting too.

 

[AdrianH]

Thanks!

I already have one metal freighter model, but the paper one may be useful if I want to build a full convoy.

More importantly, I'm going to try to modify it. For one thing, if I can strip down the centre pieces to just the struts, then I can print out additional copies of the centre piece, stick those to the sides, and build the tanker. There's also a short version of the freighter seen sometimes on screen with just one cargo pod on each side and another hanging on the back. And the now defunct B5Scrolls site showed a screen shot of a double length freighter. I'll make available any modified versions which work.

 

[Sean-Khan]

Thanks!

I already have one metal freighter model, but the paper one may be useful if I want to build a full convoy.

More importantly, I'm going to try to modify it. For one thing, if I can strip down the centre pieces to just the struts, then I can print out additional copies of the centre piece, stick those to the sides, and build the tanker. There's also a short version of the freighter seen sometimes on screen with just one cargo pod on each side and another hanging on the back. And the now defunct B5Scrolls site showed a screen shot of a double length freighter. I'll make available any modified versions which work.

Cool, I can't wait to see results of your work!

 

[AdrianH]

First, some good news - B5Scrolls is back! Actually it might have been back up for some time; I've been checking on it every so often, but using an obsolete URL. The correct URL is:
http://www.themadgoner.com/B5/B5Scrolls/B5Scrolls.htm

Of particular interest to this thread are the Saturn-F3, Saturn-C8, Saturn-C16 and Saturn-C3. The C8 is the standard freighter which you've modelled. The C16 is two C8s stuck together. The C3 is the bridge and neck of a standard freighter dragging three cargo pallets. The F3 is the tanker, replacing the cargo pallets with copies of the main hull.

I've modified your freighter design a bit, splitting the cargo pallets into two groups of four so there's a gap in the middle, making the neck thicker, and adding a second piece for the bridge - glue the bridge pieces base to base and you get a solid bridge disc. I've also drawn up the C3. The C16 can be built using two normal freighter cores, one of your eight pallet pieces, two of my four pallet pieces, plus a bridge and neck. Cut the engine section off the front hull core, use the eight pallet piece to hold the cores together, use the four pallet pieces to complete the full load, and add the bridge and neck as usual. The tanker can probably be built by cutting the actual cargo pallet off the pallet pieces to leave just the support struts plus some black to hold it together, glue this to the main hull, then glue a couple more hull cylinders where the cargo pallets would have been.

I don't have photos of completed models yet - the first C3 assembly didn't turn out too well and I'm still building the C16. Besides, given how well you built your freighters, you can probably build these better than I!

So here are the C3 plan and modified C8 plan.

Game stats:
Saturn-C3 freighter: 1/2 CFP
Speed 4 : Turn 1/45
Hull 4 : Troops 0
Damage 6/2 : Crew 6/2
Special rules: Anti-fighter 1
Weapons: none

Saturn C16 freighter: 2 CFP
Speed 4: Turn 1/45
Hull 4: Troops 2
Damage 24/6: Crew 24/6
Special rules: Anti-fighter 2, Lumbering
Weapons: Particle Beam, Range 8, Arc T, 8AD, Weak

This is, of course, unofficial and only usable if all players agree.

 

[Sean-Khan]

Very nice, you were fast Thanks for sharing!

 

[AdrianH]

Update:
The C3 and C8 plans have been altered to give them shorter necks, after I compared one I'd built to my metal model.

Now added a full set of parts for a C16, as well as a complete sheet of the various freighters. I'm fairly sure I saw one freighter with orange bands instead of red, and there may have been a green one as well, so additional hull cores are added with those colours.

And here's a photo of the finally completed C16 plus a pair of C3's.

 

[Sean-Khan]

Hello again,
here's another piece I've created you might be interested in: http://maker.e2ogame.net/space-station-paper-model-inspired-babylon-5-centauri

If I'm not wrong, this type of space station has never been made into a miniature.

 

[AdrianH]

That looks good - thanks for providing the downloadable plan! The Vorchans patrolling it also look good.

If you make the station smaller scale and number the sides, you can also use it as an eight-sided die.