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SHIP Construction Journal #1 . . I've decided to give MOCpages a try again...
Back in january I started another attempt at a SHIP. This journal will follow the progress on it to its (hopefully) eventual completion, or (less hopefully) accidental destruction. Unfortunately I don't have many pictures of the progress up to this point (I hadn't originally planned on posting my WIP pictures until a few days ago when I was looking at Mark Kelso's Journals). Well, here's what I have.
This was just a few days after I started. The SHIP is, at this point, essentially a 5 foot long column of studs-down bricks attached to a (very strong) technic spine. Towards the end the beginnings of angled sides are visible (more on that later) (Ignore the messy room, I haven't cleaned up in a while...)
After about a week of working on it, I've mostly finished the "spinal" area and attached most of the angled plates. The attachment method can be somewhat seen, #4 technic angle connecters are plugged straight into the technic spine at the base of the "brick column", and then the panels are strengthened by technic beams near the top. It took a lot of those #4 connectors though, thank God/Allah/Flying Spaghetti Monster/deity of choice for Bricklink. Also at this point I've managed to sit the whole thing on a LEGO tub on a table (It will eventually be sitting on another box as well due to the weight)
(Sorry for the very blurry picture...) I've made a bit more progress on the upper sections of the SHIP. The bottom part was studs down, but this needed to be studs up, so I decided to use a combination of these and these to switch from studs down to up.
After a bit more building, the weight of this thing started to bend it a bit towards the front and back, so I needed to add another technic framework to hold it all together. I had originally planned on a ship-long technic section, but it turned out that the clutch power, plus the ship's bending, made it nearly impossible to attach. So, after a fair bit of screaming, I settled on this solution. This frame is only a fraction the length of the SHIP, and attaches at a few points, as well as having technic axles (which are attached to the bricks beneath, for extra support). I can make several copies of this mini-frame, and then when they are attached, they connect together using a pin or axle through the technic bricks at the end (visible on the left side of this image). Then I cover the whole structure in bricks, and finally connect the whole thing back to the rest of the ship, making it extremely strong.
After a few more weeks of work, I finally have most of the panels attached to the sides. These will eventually be completely covered in about 800 2x2 tiles (next post: "How I managed to bankrupt myself and my family") with small sections of greebling visible (the "ribbed" sections). One may notice that the front panel is missing, I removed it so I can reach in to help push down bricks on the top. Since that panel isn't as heavy, the structure holding it in place isn't very complex, so I can just pull it on or off with little effort.
Just a few days ago I managed to finally get this SHIP on the table supporting its own weight. I nearly broke it in half in the process, cussed a lot, but eventually repaired the damage and improved the weak sports. The legs its standing on are all LEGO, made primarily from technic parts, and actually built as part of the technic spine at the very base of the ship.
A bit of the detailing I've done so far on the upper-ish part of the ship. These are some of the cannons protecting the ship from star fighters, other ships, and other "unfriendly" things.
Well, that's all I've got so far. Hopefully I will have another journal ready to post next week or somewhere around then, maybe with some good pictures this time (and better commentary).
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