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This
is a rendering of the UNSC ship In Amber Clad as seen in
the video game Halo 2. The frigate is commanded by Commander
Miranda Keyes, daughter of the late Captain Jacob Keyes, of the
UNSC cruiser Pillar of Autumn.
This model will be made in the same way as the in-progress model
of the
Pillar
of Autumn
I
have underway. It will also be built to the same scale, 1/1000.
Where the Autumn is about 46" in length, the In
Amber Clad will be shorter at almost 19" long.
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The
model started out with extensive research. Some of that involved
many hours of having the Master Chief running around on top of
the ship as it was docked with the Cairo space station.
More was just pouring over any pictures and screen captures I
could find from the game.
After getting some line diagrams printed to full model size, I
used Illustrator to draw what would be the internal spine for
the ship. I will be building a double spine which will not only
be structural support, but also a segment of the ship's outer
structure.
The four pieces to the left are the top render, side render,
Illustrator side view along centerline, and the same again, only
cut out from the plastic.
The centerline diagram has a double line thickness...the outer
line is the overall dimension of the ship. Using Illustrator's
Offset Path tool, I was able to get another line, drawn inwards
of the outer line, displaced exactly the thickness of the
plastic I'll be using. This will give me a surface I can plank
on the outer hull to bring the dimensions back to full size.
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Now
both side-view profiles have been cut out. Spacers made of small
pieces of plastic cut to the proper width are glued in place to
separate the two profiles.
The outer hull paneling is starting with the bottom first. This
will go around the ship until this center section is complete.
At that point, I'll be filling in the central blocky area that
houses the airlocks. (Pieces for that have been cut already and
are placed over the top view diagram in the background.)
I still haven't cut the details out of the front section yet as
it's quite complex.
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Here's
the In Amber Clad profile with the Pillar of Autumn
in the background. As with the Autumn, I'm going to try
to light the In Amber Clad where appropriate: the 4
engines, the bridge window, and the 8 lights at the bow. I'll
have to see what lighting is feasible for the inside as the
small size of the scratchbuild is pretty cramped for space.
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Hit
a snag with the design unfortunately...something that happens
now and then in scratchbuilt endeavors. I started making the
necessary corrections, but it seemed too much needed changing. I
decided to start the project over again from scratch...no pun
intended.
The 'old' In Amber Clad can be seen to the upper left,
and that's how it will stay. The new revised one is about to the
same point now as the other had gotten to. One design change was
made to allow the parts a little more strength and ease of
lighting. The upper front prong was left off. In the old one, I
had to cut it off. I redesigned the ship so it could be a later attachment.
You can see here the lighting I intend to use. I will have3
clear LEDs used to light the four engines, the bridge, and the
eight forward spotlights. You can see in this picture and the
next an LED lighting up one of the eight fiber optic strands
that will illuminate the forward spotlights.
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This
is a better lit shot showing the progress to date of the various
shapes just placed together. The large wide area in the middle
of In Amber Clad will have a slide out tray on the port
side to access a battery compartment for the LEDs. The forward
prong in this shot is actually the old one from the first
design. I have redesigned the forward prong again and part of it
can be seen prior to cutting it from the plastic in the lower
left corner, below the fiber optic end.
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More
structures have been cut out from plastic. Not all can be glued
in place yet until other structures are completed.
The concentration has been on the forward lower hull. The two
dark dots on the forward-left are fiber optic cables to transmit
light from within. There are four on this lower mandible, and
there will be a corresponding four more on the upper mandible.
The next shot shows a lighting test.
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This
photo shows the fiber optics lit by the LED. This shot was taken
in almost total darkness without a flash and the fiber optics
are still very bright to the camera. They are less bright to the
eye, so I'm not worried about them appearing overpowered.
The LED (to be installed internally) will light up not only the
8 fiber optic cables, but also the lighting for the main bridge.
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More
structure has been completed on the model. The bridge is now in
place and the fiber optics are installed within.
In this picture, you can see how the front 4 fiber optics from
the lower mandible are being snaked along through the center of
the ship. They will be illuminated from 4 LEDs to be installed
in the back for the engines.
More of the thick beveled details have been made and attached to
the ship.
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Although
it has not been glued in place yet, the upper mandible of In
Amber Clad has been built. The 4 fiber optics in this part
have yet to be strung through to the back of the ship.
Once the rest of the electrical wiring is soldered and the
battery area constructed, the upper mandible will be glued in
place and more attention can be given to the In Amber Clad's
engine area.
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Now
the engine section of the ship is nearly complete. The wiring,
which is already soldered, is ready for installation, and as
soon as that's complete, the upper mandible will be in place and
the remaining fiber optics will be installed.
At the right of the picture is the paper designs drawn up for
the engines. The four engines are identical in appearance,
though the inner two are about half of the main engine's size.
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This
picture better shows the aft engine area of In Amber Clad.
A few more structural details must be made, but overall the ship
is nearly physically complete. I made pencil cross marks where
the engine's center points will be. This is so I can line up the
LED light on the inside.
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This
is the emblem for the In Amber Clad, as worn on the right
shoulder of the crew's uniform.
This diagram was drawn with Adobe Illustrator.
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Photos
and artwork by Stephen L., In Amber Clad design
& rendering by Bungie
Studios.
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