[MOC] [WIP] UCS Scale - Babylon 5 Earth Alliance Starfury

[Captain_Quinn]

I thought it was time I shared something I've been working on in the background of other projects. The corona-virus restrictions on travel, work, etc. have afforded enough time to sink my teeth into the challenges, and I think I have something worth sharing. Understand, this is a work-in-progress, and likely to see changes from what I'm showing here, but current prototype building of the internal hull and wing framing is going well, the cockpit module is complete and the engine build test is proceeding better than expected.

One of the goals with this was to try replicate the proportions, angles and features of what was shown on screen. Unfortunately, there is a lot of conflicting information from online sources. For example, the main thrusters and their vectors were supposedly able to rotate about the centre axis of the engine pod... in order to better angle the engine thrust... but this isn't seen anywhere on screen. The sweep/slope combination for the wings was especially challenging, with early attempts in using multiple ball-socket joints failing utterly under the weight of each wing (each engine pod weighs almost 0.5kg, or just over a pound). Even though the current sweep/slope isn't exactly right, it's structure is fare more stable and buildable.

Some of the features that are being designed in:

• Technic minifig scaled cockpit with opening canopy
• Articulated thrust vector fins, with paired motion on each engine (move one fin, the other moves with it)
• Routing for lighting. There is a space in the top of the cockpit, in each of the main thrusters, and each of the forward and attitude thrusters for a light, with cable routed through engines, wings, and body. I've left space for control board, batteries and switch assembly, with a removable rear panel on the central hull for access. The plan is for the switches to control cockpit lighting (red), main thrusters (bright blue), anterior and attitude thrusters (blue).
• Optional hardpoints for missiles on the wings.

Challenges and work yet to tackle:

• Pilot: whilst it's able to easily fit a technic minifig as pilot, they're not exactly widely available, and generally cost quite a bit. I'm thinking of trying to design a pilot from readily available parts to replace it.
• Stand: the centre of mass for this actually sits about 5 studs behind the rear panel of the centre section. At this stage, I'm thinking I'll sacrifice the centreline lower hull detail and have the stand mount from there. In a perfect world, I'd figure out a way to replicate the Cobra Bay launch harness and use that as a stand.
• Resolving conflicts in part placement/connection. Currently designing this in Studio, and there are still a number of parts collisions happening.
• Part optimisation: so far I've been designing without regard to part/color combinations, or whether a section using a 1x16 brick can be built with combinations of 2x8, etc. It's my intent to build this without having to resort to discontinued parts or particularly rare part/color combinations. An example of this is the transparent panel used in the cockpit roof for the lighting assembly. Originally this was going to be trans-red, so a standard white light LED could be used, but the combination was expensive and awkward. A change to 2 smaller trans-clear panels means having to use a red LED, but if not lighting, this section can be omitted without obvious consequence.
• Lighting: there's a company in Australia called "Light My Bricks" that have some very appealing looking kits to customise a lighting solution. I'm currently looking at 12 lights in total for the attitude thrusters, Between 8 and 16 for the main thrusters, and 2 for the cockpit, depending on the intensity of the lights. Chances are I'll need to design the stand to accommodate control boards, batteries, etc,instead of installing them in the fighter, but I won't know until I get my hands on some of this gear.

Finally, some stats so far:

Dimension: 91cm wide, 50cm tall, 50cm deep.
Part count: currently 5580, but will easily reach 6500, I expect, once the stand is included.
Mass: 5.4kg

Thanks for taking a look :)

[Brick Junkies]

This is wicked !!  
Can I buy a copy as-is ??

[karmajay]

Looks great!

[deraven]

That's a great looking Starfury!  Perhaps you can make the cockpit ejectable as well.  Very well thought-out including things like hardpoints.

[Captain_Quinn]

On 5/16/2020 at 9:07 PM, Brick Junkies said:

This is wicked !!  
Can I buy a copy as-is ??

Sorry, but it's barely ready enough for me to share renders, much less anything like design files or instructions. I'm still in the process of nailing down some details, and designing a stand.

11 hours ago, deraven said:

That's a great looking Starfury!  Perhaps you can make the cockpit ejectable as well.  Very well thought-out including things like hardpoints.

The cockpit module is attached by 3L friction pins that are all secured withing each side of the connection, making the cockpit removable. I've not yet designed anything for the 'wall' between the it and the main hull. The main focus has been on stability of the design, and there is a key structural component behind the cockpit module that would have to be redesigned to allow for a proper release mechanism and surface details. I had also considered that region behind the cockpit as an obvious place for lighting gear (batteries, relays, etc).

But thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback and enthusiasm...

[Tim_AZ]

Amazing work.

[Brick Junkies]

How do you feel about constructive criticism??  I know some ppl don't want to hear it at all, and some do.  Is there an email I can sent a Studio file to ? JamesSauter1@gmail.com

[Captain_Quinn]

9 hours ago, Brick Junkies said:

How do you feel about constructive criticism??  I know some ppl don't want to hear it at all, and some do.  Is there an email I can sent a Studio file to ? JamesSauter1@gmail.com

By all means... please feel free to critique what I've posted. I'll email you if you don't feel comfortable having it on the forums here.

[Brick Junkies]

Yeah, please just email me..  Then I can send you some ideas.  I started building it already.  I started in Studio, then just went to my stash of parts to work out some of the ideas. I also ordered a bunch of parts for it too..  I'm working on the engines 1st.

[pombe]

This is brilliant.  The Starfury design was always one of my favorites from Babylon 5.  I hope you achieve the stability you desire.  Those angles are beautiful.

Please keep updating us.  I don't normally purchase instructions, but I'd happily make an exception for this.  Or better yet, I would purchase this as an IDEAS set.  It would be fantastic to get this with all the appropriate printing from the series. 

[HarrisBricks]

So great, beautiful details and build technique!

[Jerry McGlade]

Fantastic job!

[Captain_Quinn]

Been busy over the past couple of weeks, but a few revisions to share... first, test renders:

So, as you can see, there's still many details to nail down, but the general shape and style is improving (in my opinion). The stand sits perfectly within the centre of mass, and the core upright of the stand has a removable back panel to fit batteries and circuit control boards for the lighting. Thanks to one of the members of the Facebook Studio LEGO Designers group, I've been able to include what the lighting should look like in test renders.

Some of the changes:

• redesign of the larger, lateral facing, thrust vector fins from a technic panel to a plate/tile based design. I've test built one and whilst slightly heavier, it works and looks LOTS better.
• reduced the vertical separation between upper and lower wing assemblies by 2 studs to achieve a more accurate proportion of engine positions
• redesign of the cockpit module to remove detailing on the top that would be hidden from view by the dorsal hull plate
• redesign of the canopy to improve proportions
• new design for mounting of dorsal hull plate to core frame. It turns out there are things you can connect in Studio that you simply cannot cajole into working when building in brick.

One of the things I'm particularly looking forward to is lighting up the interior of the cockpit, as seen by this test.

I've test built the core frame and wing frames, as well as one attached engine pod, and so far, so good. Once I have a wing with a completed engine and plating, I'll post photos.

[manglegrat]

Awesome update, @Captain_Quinn! She started off a beauty and she's growing into a stunner! 

That stand looks like a project in itself... 

[Captain_Quinn]

On 6/10/2020 at 9:06 AM, manglegrat said:

That stand looks like a project in itself... 

Ain't that the damn truth!! The balance between size, function, stability & aesthetics for when I include the lights & batteries. I may have to come up with another type of stand for just general display. Currently 808 parts in 98 lots for the display... and you don't want to know the current Bricklink price for those (Just changed the design slightly to drop the cost from over AUD$300, to AUD$130).

I've been working on this considerably less over the past few weeks due to study & work. One surprise that popped up is the availability of a generic Technic minifig for Studio, which helps to show the size/scale. I had to use Parts Designer (from Bricklink) to set the connectivity for each component so that I could connect, hinge and pose the figure.

Edited June 27, 2020 by Captain_Quinn

[manglegrat]

Awesome scaling job! 

I dug out my 2 technic figs after seeing that pic, and I think one of them would be a decent fit for that cockpit - this guy with the helmet would be just about perfect (for purist Lego). I have that fig but not the helmet.  My other one is this guy (but with the blue helmet), who'd be a terrible match.

I'd say for purist Technic figs, this guy might actually be the best match with a black helmet... I'd be surprised if there's a good "bowl" helmet alternative to match the show though:

[Captain_Quinn]

18 hours ago, manglegrat said:

Awesome scaling job! 

I dug out my 2 technic figs after seeing that pic, and I think one of them would be a decent fit for that cockpit - this guy with the helmet would be just about perfect (for purist Lego). I have that fig but not the helmet.  My other one is this guy (but with the blue helmet), who'd be a terrible match.

I'd say for purist Technic figs, this guy might actually be the best match with a black helmet... I'd be surprised if there's a good "bowl" helmet alternative to match the show though:

Thanks man. It's as much good luck as good management, but I'll take the win either way :D

Yeah, I have this one here at the moment, and whilst the helmet isn't perfect, it's better than nothing at all. Ultimately, due to the rarity of these technic minifigs and the bugger-all likelihood of Lego re-releasing them, I'm trying to design a pilot from current parts but haven't had much luck so far.

I've also made a few compromises on the stand, going for an open-frame base (like what you would see with industrial walkways/platforms) for part of it:

[Captain_Quinn]

Some progress on the design to share...

• Redesigned the outer wing panels to improve leading/trailing edges, and ends have been blended into the engine pods
• Updated design for curved lower panel of the upper wings, blending into the central hull, and adding options for missile hardpoints
• Changed design for the tanks on the central hull
• Narrowed the upright section of the stand
• Minor changes to the weapons pods
• Some error corrections, collision resolution and part optimisation (for parts costs, mainly)

 

 

[Sajuuk]

Wow, this is pretty rad!  Any plans to make a UCS style SA-32A version?

[Pisces no Aphrodite]

Fantastic space build !

[Captain_Quinn]

12 hours ago, Sajuuk said:

Wow, this is pretty rad!  Any plans to make a UCS style SA-32A version?

None as yet. I want to get this design nailed down and built before tackling the next project. As you can imagine, there are a lot of engineering problems that need solving in order to make the SA-23E Aurora Starfury stable. Looking at the SA-32A Thunderbolt, the challenges of wing sweep and angle combination are amplified by the added bends and the small wing/large engine combination.

Anyway, good news is that I've reach a point where I think I have solved the issues that were present in earlier versions. Now the physical build begins. As a few people had asked about a "Black Omega" variant, I thought I'd thrown a quick 'n' dirty test render for that in the mix.

The first is a simply grey-to-black replacement, where the second had me experimenting with a new upper wing panel design.

This variant has a stand intended to house batteries and circuits for a lighting setup. Spaces have been designed for cable routing and mounting lights in the cabin and each of the engines and thrusters. The stand can also be left 'open' by removing the front and rear panels if lighting isn't used.

The redesign of the centre upper wing panel has also made possible inclusion of squadron/officer artwork. I'm working on a wing panel design that allows for an EA Logo and serial number, but so far I haven't come up with something I'm happy with.

So far this is clocking in at over 7000pcs, with one of the remaining tasks is identifying where it's possible to optimise part count vs cost without compromising structure.

[Juxtapoisson]

This is amazing.

 

I guess the Bab5 action figures are a good bit taller than the Technic people.

[Captain_Quinn]

4 hours ago, Juxtapoisson said:

This is amazing.

 

I guess the Bab5 action figures are a good bit taller than the Technic people.

Thanks :D

I would imagine that the action figures are about the same size as other types. When I started the design, I began with the cockpit without having access to one of the technic minifigs. I worked on proportions and angles first, and by the time I had one of figures, I was already too far down the design path. To reconfigure the cockpit would require redesigning the entire ship.

I'm trying to design a pilot from available parts, mainly since the technic minifigs are difficult to obtain, and normally quite expensive.

[Nightlores]

@Captain_Quinn that is an amazing job on the Starfury! I created an account just to say that lol.

The model only needs some blue details or of the cool prints they had and it’s be perfect. A bit to big for me to rebuild, but loving it.

Edited January 15, 2021 by Nightlores

[Captain_Quinn]

On 1/16/2021 at 9:33 AM, Nightlores said:

@Captain_Quinn that is an amazing job on the Starfury! I created an account just to say that lol.

The model only needs some blue details and it’s be perfect. A bit to big for me to rebuild, but loving it.

Thanks :D that's very nice of you to say that.

Any suggestions for where the blue detailing can/should go? The engines and thrusters have trans-light-blue dishes and 1x1 round bricks with open studs to house micro-LED lights. The plan is to have those, and the cockpit interior, able to be lit up for displays, exhibitions, etc.

I've focused on the base design so far, but plan to have color variants available. The simple ones like the Black Omega and the Earthforce-1 escorts are pretty straightforward. Ironically, the straight lines of Sinclair's two different 'fury's run at angles that may be difficult to reproduce in plates/tiles.

Anyway, something to whet the appetite... There's a 1mtr wide prototype sitting on my desk at present (not yet complete, and looking like a unicorn vomited everywhere) that has passed stability and buildability phase. Just to be clear... this won't be an easy build. At present, I've designed the outer wing panels as discrete sub-builds that then attach to the core frame. In Studio this makes sense, and have tested this out with success, however it required assistance from one of my kids. I suspect that to build this solo, it may be a part by part build up off the frame itself. When I build my complete version, I plan on trying this.

Something in the meantime to enjoy...