Cowboy Freight Hauler from Battle Beyond The Stars

The place to discuss all aspects of building models from scratch.

Moderators: Joseph C. Brown, Moderators

User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Cowboy Freight Hauler from Battle Beyond The Stars

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

From Battle Beyond The Stars, I started a Flicker page for my Cowboy Freight Hauler build:

http://tinyurl.com/m6v29tp

The goal (insert hysterical laughter) is to have this at Wonderfest this year. It's gonna be a race...


Minor note: while the 1979 model builders had cheap access to a variety of kits, me, not so much. I'm sourcing re-issue kits, e-vilbay scores of build-ups I can disassemble, and I am *still* going to be scratchbuilding much of this beast.
Last edited by Joseph C. Brown on Mon May 30, 2016 11:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
________
Joe Brown
User avatar
Dr. Yo
Posts: 15161
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2004 5:45 pm
Location: Craig York,Austin, Texas, Mars

Post by Dr. Yo »

Open that visor, amigo - its the lack of oxygen that's inducing hysteria - the build is already nicely underway. I'll be keeping a weather eye on this
one. Let me know if I can help with parts.
"Semper fiendish"-Wen Yo
User avatar
Rocketeer
Posts: 1592
Joined: Fri Jan 18, 2008 4:48 pm
Location: The outskirts of Hobart, WA

Post by Rocketeer »

Wow, what a project! Good luck!
User avatar
Kylwell
Moderator
Posts: 29643
Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2003 9:25 pm
Location: Lakewood, CO
Contact:

Post by Kylwell »

Dammit, where the hell is the "Like" button...
Abolish Alliteration
User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

Thanks, gang!

Progress this past weekend: not so much. I'm making the leg-cylinder tanks currently, and it's a slow, ugly process. I'm also crankin' on my Sekrit contest entry for the Departures 2.0 contest here, and dealin' with yard chores and house chores.

Actually getting a model finished... it's gonna happen, just not sure when!
________
Joe Brown
Redfern
Posts: 556
Joined: Fri May 27, 2005 8:05 am

Post by Redfern »

I've always liked the design of this craft. In fact, it inspired me when I designed the main transport for my old (and for all practical purposes, "dead") web-comic.

http://forum.cooltuna.com/uploads/FileU ... 60f4c8.jpg

Not a physical model, but one I cobbled together within a digital modeling suite sometime in 2000.

Sincerely,

Bill
Tempt the Hand of Fate and it'll give you the "finger"!
User avatar
Mr. Badwrench
Posts: 9587
Joined: Fri Jul 12, 2002 6:31 pm
Location: Wheatridge, Co.

Post by Mr. Badwrench »

Kylwell wrote:Dammit, where the hell is the "Like" button...
:thumbsup:
I speak of the pompatous of plastic.
User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

Slowly I grind forth...

7 new build pics added, showing the solution I am applying to the leg tank cylinders, and also the 4 finned engines. Those are now all glued up *real good* and I added rings trimmed from Scotchtape cores at the aft end of the engines.


http://tinyurl.com/m6v29tp
________
Joe Brown
User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

Added the leg struts to the engines: 6 more pics!


http://tinyurl.com/m6v29tp
________
Joe Brown
User avatar
DEC
Posts: 1441
Joined: Thu Aug 01, 2002 4:59 pm
Location: Salisbury, England
Contact:

Post by DEC »

Hi Joseph

Love what your doing, great work in ID'ing the parts. Never would have guessed the 2 Quad tractors were used for the cockpit. Great seeing this come together using old skool modelling.

Dec
look sir.............Droids
User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

Thank you! That Quad Tractor shows up in the oddest places when you start looking...

The build is on-going, just slowed to a very slow crawl. Every season of the year presents challenges to the modeler: summer means tending the garden, and the yard, weeding the iris beds, and mowing the crab-grass. And feeding the deer and the friggin' raccoons... but every so often, I actually can get a few minutes of build time in.
________
Joe Brown
AlabamaFan
Posts: 49
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:08 pm
Location: Dothan,Alabama

Post by AlabamaFan »

Sorry I am late to this party. I would like to say thank you. I love the step by step progress and the showing of what you are using. I wish more artiest would show their work in such a manner.
AlabamaFan
Posts: 49
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:08 pm
Location: Dothan,Alabama

Post by AlabamaFan »

Sorry I am late to this party. I would like to say thank you. I love the step by step progress and the showing of what you are using. I wish more artiest would show their work in such a manner.
User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

Thanks for the comments!

I was reviewing my build-log pics yesterday, and saw that the most recent one was from mid-June. Sigh. My summer distractions list should be amended to include topping off the hummingbird feeder, and a variety of mundane household repairs. Excuses, I know. :oops:
________
Joe Brown
User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

And grinding along, into year Two of the build... :shock:

>insert appropriate modeling excuses, you all know 'em by heart< :8)

Some progress. The Moonship (Glencoe or re-issue Hawk) parts 11 & 12 make up the leg cylinder tanks. You just trim the upper and lower flanges off, and they are a match.

http://tinyurl.com/lt35k5r

http://tinyurl.com/mbacqsy

The ones that I had made up from other bits now go into the un-sorted misc build supply box, since they are slightly too big for this model ...

The legs are now attached at a 45-degree angle to the central tube, and have their outer sleeve on. These will get strip-stock added, six 1-mm tall strips.

http://tinyurl.com/jw572ol

http://tinyurl.com/n82np6n


All build pics over in my Flickr album:

http://tinyurl.com/m6v29tp
________
Joe Brown
User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

Added tee-rail strip to the legs. And the fuel tanks!

http://tinyurl.com/ls7fd9h
________
Joe Brown
srspicer
Posts: 960
Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2007 8:01 am
Location: Pennsylvania
Contact:

Post by srspicer »

Getting there...
User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

...slowly, yes. :8)

I've had a ton of help from Lee Stringer, or else I couldn't have gotten as far as I have. Well, I *could* have, it just wouldn't quite be the same as what is in the film.

Since Wonderfest I've been on summer break from most modeling - summer in The South means yardwork, gardening, and home improvement work.

But I really do want to get this one finished so I can get going on even odder builds!
________
Joe Brown
Patron Zero
Posts: 18
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2008 7:06 pm

Post by Patron Zero »

Just discovered this thread and the amazing model it presents.

Wow !!!!!

Really well-done and such incredible diligence to search-out the bits used on the original design.
User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

Thanks for the comment!

As was being discussed in some other threads, the "summer doldrums / lack of build progress" is upon virtually everyone. That is not an excuse, mind you, it's just the way life is. Well, my life :8)

Actually, I have been slowly compiling parts and various bits of 'this-and-that' which will be attached to the model. Bending, measuring and cutting wire (and paper-clips!) to match some of the piping seen on the filming model has been goshawful slow, and a major pain. Me and my Optivisor have been getting a workout...
________
Joe Brown
User avatar
MillenniumFalsehood
Posts: 16974
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2004 5:23 pm
Location: Wichita, KS, USA
Contact:

Post by MillenniumFalsehood »

It may be slow progress, but judging by what you've got so far as well as your past efforts, it should be well worth the wait! :D:thumbsup:
If a redhead works at a bakery, does that make him a gingerbread man?

Ponies defeat a Star Trek villain? Give them a Star Wars award ceremony!
User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

I've mentioned that Lee Stringer has been helping me out with parts ID's and advice ("it's not THAT scale, it's *this* scale :) ) and with lots of general encouragement as he was proceeding with his build of this ship. Well, he got it done, and it's AWESOME! Pics are up on his Flickr page:


https://www.flickr.com/photos/lee_strin ... 5150719043

That is some serious inspiration to me to get my build completed! :thumbsup:
________
Joe Brown
User avatar
Richard Baker
Posts: 16149
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2006 10:23 am
Location: Warrior, Alabama

Post by Richard Baker »

That is a fantastic replica!
You really nailed it-
"The future is not what it used to be" - G'Kar

Things go wrong and bad things happen- that is just the way the world is-
It is how you deal with it that tells the world who you truly are.

“Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak just because a baby can’t chew it.” -Mark Twain

Deviant Art Gallery-
http://phaedrus-3.deviantart.com/
User avatar
Bellerophon
Posts: 2543
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 10:00 pm
Location: 13 miles southwest of Grovers Mill
Contact:

Post by Bellerophon »

Great build. A couple of Lee Stringer's greeblies don't match those in the screencaps, so you can still improve on his work (i.e., stand on the shoulders of giants). Notice the rebel flag has only 11 stars instead of 13, reflecting the actual number of states that seceded.
But isn't it all Klingon opera?

http://bellerophon-modeler.blogspot.com/
User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

Richard Baker wrote:That is a fantastic replica!
You really nailed it-
Thanks - but the link is of the build Lee Stringer did! :8) My build is still in progress. And in multiple boxes in the Modeling Cave...

----
...and some of the greeblies I'm using will not match the screencaps, either! Especially when I have to re-create them from scratch.

As I said before, Lee has been helping me with parts ID's and advice; sometimes we've exchanged 'best guesses' on what was used on which part of the ship. And we have both made decisions for our individual builds that had the other guy going 'huh?'
A link to a screencap of the flag shows that the flag on the filming miniature doesn't really match up to any real CSA flag that I have been able to find:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/69562082@ ... 706754274/
________
Joe Brown
User avatar
Kylwell
Moderator
Posts: 29643
Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2003 9:25 pm
Location: Lakewood, CO
Contact:

Post by Kylwell »

Seems to be missing a few stars...
Abolish Alliteration
User avatar
Dr. Yo
Posts: 15161
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2004 5:45 pm
Location: Craig York,Austin, Texas, Mars

Post by Dr. Yo »

Sink me. The links above are the first time I've ever really looked at Cowboy's Star Semi...and the three pods just lept out at me. Those are
are the tops of the old, old Lindberg ( Ex-Strombecker? ) Lunar lander, aren't they?

I only know this because I put a couple of them together just like that a
few years back...and still have no idea what to do with it... :D
"Semper fiendish"-Wen Yo
User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

Dr. Yo wrote:Sink me. The links above are the first time I've ever really looked at Cowboy's Star Semi...and the three pods just lept out at me. Those are
are the tops of the old, old Lindberg ( Ex-Strombecker? ) Lunar lander, aren't they?

I only know this because I put a couple of them together just like that a
few years back...and still have no idea what to do with it... :D
Dr. Yo, that is what actually motivated me!

According to Mat Irvine:
This (Round 2/Lindberg 2013) is the fifth issue of the kit from US companies. Lindberg itself issued it three times, in 1958 as the US Moon Ship, then in 1970 as the Mars Probe Landing Module, and finally in 1979 as the Star Probe Space Shuttle. Glencoe Models also issued it in 1993 as the Lunar Lander. This latest release brings back the original Lindberg name, and virtually the original box-art, although the box itself is larger in size.
I'd been seriously impressed with the studio-scale builds being done of some of the more obscure Star Wars and original series Galactica and Buck Rogers spaceships. Some of those modelers are freakin' geeky wizards at picking out which spaceship part came out of what model car (or battleship, or HO scale railroad) kit. And this was the first time that I personally had glanced at a side-view of Cowboy's ship and said to myself "hey! I know what some of those parts are from!"

The 2011 dvd release by Shout! Factory sealed my doom by featuring a cleaned-up print of BBTS, and several extras on the disk, including some nice spaceship model images, plus the interviews with the Skotak brothers who built many of the ships. I pulled a screencap of the side-view of Cowboy's ship, and printed it out to match the Tamiya Quad Gun Tractor and Lunar Lander pods. Took me a few tries to get that right... :shock:

But doing it that way helped me cheaply determine that the model was within the size range I could in fact handle. I fired off an e-mail to Onezero and asked if he could get me a case of the re-issue Lunar Lander, and he said sure. And merrily off I went...

...this will be a very cool model when completed. I'm looking forward to that!
________
Joe Brown
User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

What year am I up to now?

April 19, 2016
Final arrangement for the lights:
https://flic.kr/p/FPzTHj


All the panels to fill Quad Tractor holes:
https://flic.kr/p/GhCB5d


Another test-fit:
https://flic.kr/p/GqMHw8


Interior light-blocking primed:
https://flic.kr/p/FvvNaV

Good thing Wonderfest is later on the calendar than usual...
________
Joe Brown
User avatar
Joseph C. Brown
Moderator
Posts: 7301
Joined: Thu Jul 11, 2002 6:13 pm
Location: Oak Ridge, TN, USA

Post by Joseph C. Brown »

And more:

Cabin sealed up and greeblies added between leg fuel tanks:
https://flic.kr/p/FyJgYP


All greeblies / leg braces / I-beam strip stock / piping wires to central leg tube and all piping by fuel cylinder tanks:
https://flic.kr/p/GoaDv2
________
Joe Brown
Post Reply