| |
|
|
 |
|
The Starfury from
'Babylon 5' is one of my favorite fighters. It's so ugly it has character and with pilots who have a habit of decorating their ships in the manner of WW II bomber crews,
it just screams "build me"! However...the 1/72 scale model,
although it captures the "feel" of the fighter, is terribly
inaccurate. As well, the drawings in the 'B-5 Security Manual' are wrong. As there were no reliable drawings at hand, I spent
countless hours online checking image after image. Using the renders off of
Starsip Modeler.com as a basis, I drew up plans in 1/24 scale. Using .040 and .060 styrene I started with the fuselage. As with my X-wing, I made a
crutch, cutting out the widest point of the fuselage as viewed from
above, then cutting formers and sheeting over these to make the
'skin'. After building the top half of the fuselage, I built the lower wing center section on the bottom and then cut formers to fit on the wing to finish shaping the bottom of the fuselage.
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
The wings were built upside-down (to get a flat surface to build on). Sheet plastic was cut to
shape, then ribs cut and glued to this. More sheet was cut to form the airfoil. A 5 mm gap was left on the leading edge for the sub-Doppler
arrays. The wings were then turned over and glued to the wing
roots on the fuselage.
For the rounded tank-like shapes on the sides of the model, Balsa wood was used to make a master and then styrene was
heat-formed over it. Two for each side were made as they form a cone at the rear of each side of the
ship. These were then glued together and carefully cut to fit. All seams are filled with scrap plastic dissolved in glue and applied with a brush.
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
Work
has resumed on the Starfury now that the Minbari Fighter is
finished. The top wing panel is now attached.
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
More
pics will be available as progress is made. At 1/24th scale, the
model will be about 30" wide.
|
| |
|
|
|
Photos
by Stephen L.
|
|
|
|
