# Corellian YT-2400 Light Freighter



## Squall67584 (Feb 20, 2006)

This is my first scratchbuilt model, and so far, it's coming along nicely. I had trouble finding good reference pictures for this ship, since the only "Canon" view of it was a brief glimpse in the Special Edition of Episode IV. There was the video game, Shadows of the Empire, but pictures of this ship are difficult to find. I have the Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels, but it portrays this ship as looking completely different, so I used the best tool at my disposal, my imagination, and made the ship look the way I wanted it to. Below I'll post links to pictures of the build up so far.

This one shows the basic bird's eye view of the ship. I've made two of them, one for the top, or dorsal side, and another that is mirrored for the ventral side.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/basictop.jpg

This one shows the sheet of styrene that I cut the skeletal ribs out of.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/ribbedsheet2.jpg

Here's a picture of the two halves so far. Obviously the ribs had to be modified to make room for the access panels and the conduit channel that run on the fore end of the ship.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/twosides.jpg

This one is a close up of the access panel area.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/closeupofaccesspanel.jpg

Let me know what you guys think!


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## Lloyd Collins (Sep 25, 2004)

Good start! I was wonder if you have the book, "The Secrets Of SW Shadows of the Empire"? If not, I could scan all pictures of the Outrider for you.


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## PetarB (Feb 5, 2007)

What do I think? I think 'awesome!' Looking forwards to the the next installment of this scratchbuild!


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## Squall67584 (Feb 20, 2006)

Lloyd Collins said:


> Good start! I was wonder if you have the book, "The Secrets Of SW Shadows of the Empire"? If not, I could scan all pictures of the Outrider for you.


If it's not much trouble, I'd appreciate some pics of the ship. Hopefully I can get some more work done on her in the upcoming week and post some more picks up.


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## Squall67584 (Feb 20, 2006)

I got some more work done on the ship this week, and here are the pics.

This is a shot of both sides of the hull in skeletal form. They're about 95% complete, but I still need to add the frame work for the connecting arms.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/hullskeleton1.jpg

Here's a shot of the skeletal frame of the ventral side.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/hullskeleton2.jpg

Here's a different angle of the dorsal side. 
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/hullskeleton3.jpg

After I glued the ribs down, I started to work on the cockpit. Basically, I'm using the cockpit section of the AMT Millennium Falcon that I've dremeled off from the Falcon. This part is the interior pieces that I've slightly modified. I didn't like where the piloting "bench" was located, so I trimmed off some of the plastic and glued it closer to the front, making it look more like the pilot sits more forward. I also added a piece to simulate a "dash board", and included one of the turret seats behind the pilot for a passenger.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/cockpit1.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/cockpit2.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/occkpit3.jpg

More to come next week!


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## Griffworks (Jun 24, 2002)

Awesome!


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## Lloyd Collins (Sep 25, 2004)

Impressive work! I can see it is a lot of work,and you make it look easy.


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## Squall67584 (Feb 20, 2006)

Well, this week I didn't get much done, mainly just the basic structure of what I'm calling the cockpit tube. 

Here's a pic of the full tube. The cockpit section from the Falcon isn't attached yet, it's just sitting in there.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/3rdgroup001.jpg

Here's a shot of the interior of the cockpit. For all purposes, the interior is complete, and the outer "edges" of the cockpit frame have been brush painted. I'll later tape over these so the interior isn't accidentally painted when I airbrush the complete ship.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/3rdgroup002.jpg

Here's one of the opposite side of the cockpit tube. Since the main body of the tube is actually a piece of PVC pipe, and after discovering that styrene sheeting doesn't like to stick to it rather well, I used thin styrene (For Sale signs bought at WalMart) and then attached it with Tenax 7R, spreading a good portion of the liquid along the entire interior strip, then rolling it like a cigar. It took some effort, but the styrene sheeting finally stuck to it. The end piece, which is the Primary Escape pod, is a PVC end cap that I got from Home Depot. I haven't attempted fixing it onto the tube permanently, but I'm hoping that Tenax 7R will do the job.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/3rdgroup003.jpg

As for the main hull, the only work I did, besides removing the two halves from the cardboard I was using to keep the halves stationary, was attaching the ribs that are cut with a semi circle-like edge to grip the cockpit tube when it gets attached.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/3rdgroup004.jpg

Hopefully I can get more done this weekend. I plan on having the cockpit tube completed, and the two halves glued together. After that, I can start putting the hull panels on.


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## MedSpock (Jan 31, 2008)

Squall, excelent work, i know this webpage from people from Spain and one Millenium Falcon with excelents details, specially the cockpi and the engines parts who make it by scratch.
I hope is useful.
http://www.loresdelsith.net/fondor/falcon/index.htm
Sorry, but is in spanish.


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## Squall67584 (Feb 20, 2006)

That's a great link! Even though I don't fully understand spanish, I can grasp what they're talking about. Besides, they always say a picture is worth a thousand words, which luckily come in all languages. I actually thought about trying to build up an interior for the cockpit beyond what I did, but I couldn't figure out a way of doing it in such a confined space. But those pics look really good!


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## Squall67584 (Feb 20, 2006)

Well, it's been FAR too long since I've been able to work on this, and an even longer time since I've updated this thread. Well, here goes. Since the last pictures, I've put the first layer of skins on the ship, however a miscalculation between my mathematical thinking and reality left a few rather large gaps in the hull. I put some masking tape over these gaps, and I then used some foam called Great Stuff to fill the interior. After it cured, I removed the tape and trimmed it down. Worked great, but I overfilled the insides and in places it pushed the hull skins off of the skeleton. I had to remove the engine skins and the two turret bases, which you can see here.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00777.jpg

This shot shows the odd vacuuming effect I was talking about.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00781.jpg

Here's a shot that shows the desired effects I was going for.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00783.jpg

Here's a pic that shows the over expanded foam. When the foam was curing, it had a strange effect on the plastic skins by first pushing it out, and then pulling it back inwards concavely as if some sort of vacuum effect.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00782.jpg

I've since had to clear out some of the foam and replaced the missing skins with thicker plastic. (The originals were made with very thin plastic that at one time was For Sale signs). I've also made skeletal ribs for the turrets, which can be seen here.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00785.jpg

I've since learned that trying to cut outer skins for something that is basically just a bottom piece of a cone and making them fit perfectly involves some sort of mathematical thinking that goes beyond simply finding a bigger hammer. It looks rough, but I think I can make it look right with another layer on top of this one.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00784.jpg

Another big step that I wasn't sure of would be the attachment of the cockpit tube. I basically just cut two square pieces and glued them to the semi circular portion of the bracing arms, put a lot of glue on these, and crammed the tube onto it. Came out pretty well, it can hold the entire weight of the model.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00788.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00787.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00786.jpg

Here's two shots of the model as it is right now.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00790.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00789.jpg

I've also built the framework for a stand out of .080 styrene. That stuff is thick and time consuming to cut, but at least it's sturdy.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00791.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00792.jpg


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## kiwikaas (Jan 29, 2009)

You've done a real nice job with your scratch-built model. How's it progressing? Any further pictures showing further progress?
I'm working on a scratch build progress at the moment; my own design, which was was inspired by the YT-2000 Otana.


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## JohnLogan (Apr 6, 2008)

Hey Squall67584.
Any new updates???


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## Model Man (Oct 1, 2007)

Thanks for posting all this, Squall! Your process will help me out w/ my UFP Dreadnought.


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## Squall67584 (Feb 20, 2006)

I've made _some_ progress, but it sort of looks the same. As can be seen in this shot...

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00787.jpg

...the cockpit tube actually wasn't on straight, which you can tell by following the lines of the windows with the split between the two halves of the ship. At first, this didn't bother me, but as I continued to look at it for several days, I couldn't take it, so I removed it in hopes of just gluing it back on straight this time. But, once the tube was off, I couldn't help but look at it and think that it was just a glorified piece of PVC pipe with a chunk of an AMT/ERTL Millennium Falcon glued on with a PVC end cap attached to the other end. _SO_ I got the bright idea to make another tube. Little did I know that this was going to take about 3 months to do. 

What I did was took a length of brass rod that was cut to the length that I wanted the tube to be, and then cut multiple circles out of different diameters and drilled holes in the center of these, then put them on the brass tubing at certain distances. It made a skeleton of the new cockpit tube, which you can see here.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00815.jpg

From there, I wrapped several different length and width strips around the varying sized circles. It's sort of hard to explain, but here's a shot of it half constructed, and another shot of it complete.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00821.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00837.jpg

In comparison, here's a shot of the old tube.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/3rdgroup001.jpg

Now, if anyone wants to try this method, let me say that it was a PAIN to hold those circles in place while trying to wrap the strips around them. It would have been much easier if I would have taken some of that blue sheet Styrofoam stuff that they use as wall insulation that you can get at a hardware store and cut several circles to go between the styrene circles to give it some body and make it more solid. But oh well, I got through it.

I also decided that I wanted the rear escape pod to be something more than just a PVC end cap, so I decided I wanted it to be a tapered cone shape. After grunting at it several times and slapping the ground with my mastadon bone, I've figured out that the human mind can't draw a cone flattened out by hand, and in fact there are scientists and mathematicians that make a living off of calculating stuff like this. If only I could go back in time and actually tell my high school self that there actually _is_ a real world application for advanced math that I would use. Oh well, it was rather difficult, but I got it done and what really made it all come together was the amazing epoxy known as Aves. Here's a shot of the new escape pod.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00838.jpg

Also, last night actually, I decided that the cockpit, which is still from the AMT/ERTL Falcon, looked too plain, so I scribed in the armor panels and added the secondary frames to the "windows".

Cockpit window frames:
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00839.jpg

Head-on shot of scribed panels:
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00842.jpg

Side view of scribed lines:
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00840.jpg

Undershot of scribed panels:
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00841.jpg

As she sits now, the new cockpit tube needs to be attached, which I'm going to do Sunday with Aves, but the top of the ship is pretty much ready for the armor plating. The underside still needs me to finish the ventral turret, and then add the armor plating. 

Here's what she looks like now from the top.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00834.jpg

Here's the dorsal turret:
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00835.jpg

Here's the bottom:
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/DSC00836.jpg

To those who can remember, the bottom half of the hull also had the access panels and the semi-circular trench that the top had, but I changed my mind on what I want the bottom of the ship to look like. Since she's not _exactly_ like the Outrider, I'm going to say that this one is a YT-2400f, with the extra compartment on the aft starboard side, and I'm going to add two different components to the bottom. Basically, she's going to have the rear underside cargo loading block that the Falcon has, and two front landing gear bay compartments like the ESB Falcon. I hope to dedicate more of my spare time to her and at least get her ready for paint sometime this millennium.


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## Squall67584 (Feb 20, 2006)

Made some progress on my off days this month. I got around to building the engine, which attaches to the rear of the large boxy part of the ship. I made a skeleton out of cut to shape styrene, then put a layer of skin over it.

Here's a shot of the framework.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/engine4.jpg

Here's a shot of the layers of skin I've put over it. 
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/engine11.jpg

The corners needed some aves, and after that I cut a piece of one of those plastic tube things that is made to hold video wires and put that inside the engine box. Since there isn't really a good shot of what the engine emitter of any star wars ship looks like, I think it looks like it might fit.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/enginecomplete2.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/enginecomplete.jpg

I got the rear cargo loading area scratched up, and today got it all attached.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/cargoloader3.jpg

Here's a shot of the sides of the loading area.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/cargoloader5.jpg

To actually elevate the main piece of the loading area, I used a piece of foam art board as a backing. In this shot you can see it.

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/cargoloader.jpg

Here's what she looks like today. I've got the new cockpit tube attached, and I finished up the ventral turret.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/ship4-22-1.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f267/Squall67584/YT-2400/shiprear4-22.jpg


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## WEAPON X (Mar 5, 2006)

MedSpock said:


> Squall, excelent work, i know this webpage from people from Spain and one Millenium Falcon with excelents details, specially the cockpi and the engines parts who make it by scratch.
> I hope is useful.
> http://www.loresdelsith.net/fondor/falcon/index.htm
> Sorry, but is in spanish.


 
Awesome website. Great details for scratch building a cockpit in a 1/72 scale.


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