Star Trek: Voyager:- Dinaal Hospital Ship - micro build log

   I already posted this on Zealot.com, but then I thought 'what the hell! I'm going to post it here too'...

   I'm not able to build models from scratch - yet! - so I have to cheat like h@*l. I suppose I'll start with my kit: scissors, large; scissors, small; pencil x2; tweezers x2; reading glasses, magnification x2 1/2; metal ruler; modelling knife; glass chopping board.

    If I don't have a pattern to work from Drex Files come in very handy. Starting with this:-

I copy and paste the whole thing at least twice (to get a base to work from), then copy and paste smaller sections (to build up layers) and stretch/elongate other sections (to allow for curved surfaces). The result is something like this:-

    This one is proving to be exactly as fiddly as I thought it would be! I wasn't sure what the underside looked like and decided that there would be gaps between frames:-

    Then came the really fiddly bit - cutting around the arms while maintaining sections that are only 1/2mm thick. After that I cut out the outline for the top view and glued them together. I found that double thickness wasn't enough for some parts:-

    

    This gave me a base suitable to start building outwards from. I cut round the plan view of the topmost section and glued it to a piece of balsa wood in order to keep a firm centre. From this I added the stretched curved sections:-

   The front section was almost perfectly judged and only required a bit of trimming at it's rear. I fitted 'bulkheads' to it before attaching the rear curve.

  The rear curve was a bit short, but I decided to live with that rather than printing another sheet - I'm a tree-hugger at heart.Adding panels to the domes brought it back to edge anyway:-

 

   I thought that layering the top section might work and allowed a double thickness for the base, triple thickness for the middle and double thickness for the top, with a single thickness for the semi-circle near it's front:-

   Layering the top section didn't work out as well as I expected and I had to do a 'wrap round' (sorry about the lack of focus):-

   That done I moved to the bottom section. Layering sections from the underside view worked this time and I'm pleased with the result. I used the end elevation from the Drex File for the parts that jut down - double thickness for the platform support and triple thickness for the two bits at the front:-

    I use 'Glen-Jupp-adapted-by-Rawen' bases, with a dod (Scottish technical term ;-) ) of Blu-Tac to add stability, and a cocktail stick trimmed to taste:-

   A finishing touch of three teeny, toty, wee antennae and I'm done. The triangular projections from the bottom of the ends of the arms were just too small for me, so I omitted them. Et viola!

    One 42mm or 1 5/8" Dinaal Hospital Ship ready for take off.