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First
off, here's the real deal. This is a CG rendering of the vessel
from the XBox and PC video game "Halo: Combat
Evolved".
This is the United Nations Space Command cruiser Pillar of
Autumn. Commanded by decorated Navy officer Captain Jacob Keyes,
the Pillar of Autumn is, at over 1 km long, in the smallest
class of UNSC cruiser!
In 2552, the Pillar of Autumn was under fire from a collection
of alien races known as the Covenant, and they forced the Autumn
to crash-land on a mysterious, derelict ring-world known as
Halo.
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This
is where the model starts. This is a side-view printout I made
of the Pillar of Autumn from the game files. At 46" in
overall length, it dwarfs the Polar Lights USS Enterprise at the
same scale!
I determined the length from an in-game calculation of the deck
height of the bridge. The bridge is located at the bottom-front
of the second segment of the ship. (In this photo, it's the dark
horizontal section just above where the stack of books meets the
floor.)
The next hurdle I face is how to reinforce the interior so the
nearly 4-foot long model won't sag from the weight.
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These
are some of the diagrams I've assembled and printed out to help
me with this model. I'm ready with multi-page views of the Autumn
from the top, side, front, back, and bottom. All I need at the
moment are the full scale diagrams, my 0.060" sheet
styrene, a metal ruler and a pencil.
Most of the skin of the ship will be laminated from two
thicknesses of the plastic for both strength...and, well...and
that's how thick the diagrams indicate.
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With
finally some progress to report, I have begun cutting out some
of the Autumn's parts. I decided to start with the single
largest segment of the ship, as that will ultimately support the
remainder of the model.
The first parts made were the 3 angled Navigation panels. They
are one piece of styrene each, reinforced to hold the angle.
The second parts made were the top and bottom panel of the large
section. You can see the bottom section has four notches cut
out. If you look back up at the CGI shot of the ship, those
notches will be where the Lifepod hatches will be.
The inner structural ribs were made all at once to maintain
uniformity. I bolted five sheets of styrene together and cut the
ribs out as a unit. The side planking will attach to these ribs.
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Here's
a placed together shot of the ribs and the top and bottom
planks. To reinforce the main structure, I will also create a
double-planked spine that will attach to the top and the ribs.
It will extend aft to the engine section and forward so the rest
of the ship can be built upon it as well.
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And
now here's the central spine made from 1/2" blocks of Plexiglas,
sandwiched between two large profile shapes of the side of the Pillar
of Autumn which will serve as the bracing area for the rest of the
panels. I've fitted the bottom and top plates of the large
section, along with it's front and back "walls", which
I had cut out before. The skeleton is almost complete for the
internal structure.
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Some
more of the general shapes are in place now. The hull is really
coming together. The first four of the ship's five segments are
really helping to define the final shape of the model.
Since I wanted to light this model, my answer was to get a
string of 35 LED Christmas Lights. The model was drilled full of
holes so I could string all the lights through. I looked to the
CGI renders to find out where lighted windows would be and chose
as many LEDs as I think would do the job.
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The
nice thing about using LEDs is the minimal heat produced since
they're not bulbs. I can leave the model lit long term without
worrying about the heat buildup. The other separate light source
will be the main engines in the back. (Haven't figured out what
I'm doing for them yet.).
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Here's
the 'lights-out' version! I'm pretty excited about a lit model
that didn't require much money or any home made electronics.
There will only be one wasted light inside where there are no
lights. The LEDs are evenly spaced on the wire so I had to
sacrifice one to an enclosed unlit portion. Ah well.
I can't wait to see what detail I can put into the bridge, lit
up in the lower front of the ship.
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Finally
some progress worth reporting! The Autumn is mainly made up in
five distinct sections, so now the first and third sections are
mostly together now, and the second section's lower half is now
complete. The upper half of section two has the multi-faceted
Marathon logo area and wil be difficult to design and that
part's the next challenge.
(Some of the work that was done since the last update was
designing other components of the ship that can't be attached at
this time. So even though progress overall was made, there
wasn't much new to see of the model itself. This is an apology
to the numerous people who have contacted me asking how the
project was going.) :)
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Here's
a closer shot of the first three sections. Section 1 now has
some detail plating defining more of the shape of that section.
There's also the underlying shape that will eventually house the
large panels that stick out of the sides of the hull. You can
see at the lower portion of the front of section two the
rectangular hole that will eventually be the Autumn's bridge.
There is one bulb devoted to that section. I have plans for
panels and details of a miniature bridge there, with even
the possibly of a crew if what I see in my head can be
made in three dimensions.
The highlight of section two is the area near the back of it on
the bottom. The angled recessed shape there is where the forward
set of escape pod hatches are.
The open area in the midline of section three will eventually be
hexagonal pods so there's no plastic closing that section off at
this time.
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This
is the emblem for the Pillar of Autumn. The circle with vertical
line symbol also appears on Captain Keyes' uniform and on the
sides of the Autumn.
This symbol was drawn in Adobe Illustrator and will appear on
the display stand for the model.
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Photos
and artwork by Stephen L., Pillar of Autumn design
& rendering by Bungie.
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