# Sneak Preview - Under Construction Space Ark



## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

*NOW SHIPPING - Under Construction Space Ark*

Here are a few shots of the prototype for my under-construction Space Ark using the Pegasus kit. The card stock portions shown will be in PE, plus the kit will include tube and resin parts.

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/attachment.php?attachmentid=114984&d=1282443680

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/attachment.php?attachmentid=114985&d=1282443680


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## falcondesigns (Oct 30, 2002)

Very cool.Paul


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## lunadude (Oct 21, 2006)

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## miniature sun (May 1, 2005)

Another winner Paul...


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## Ace Airspeed (May 16, 2010)

Looking good, Paul. :thumbsup:


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## marcus welby (Sep 2, 2007)

Issue 18 of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Modeller did say "intrepid aftermarket photo-etch manufacturer" and you sure fit the bill!

Excellent start and looks great.
Keep up the good work Paul


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

W00t!


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## stargazer (Oct 13, 2001)

Yes... Fantastic


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

Now that's cool! Great job. 

Sean


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Thanks everyone! I have some minor tweaks to complete the inner rings but the etch will be on order by Wednesday.

The only real change (which isn't visible in the photos) is that I've decided to swap out an off-the-shelf Plastruct end cap for the inner tubing with a cast resin piece - it will make assembling the fuel tanks(?) much easier.



marcus welby said:


> Issue 18 of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Modeller did say "intrepid aftermarket photo-etch manufacturer" and you sure fit the bill!...


It was apparently a hint intended for me because I'd gotten a PM several weeks ago from (unbeknownst to me) the author of the article asking if I'd be interested in reference pics. Then when I read the article I put 2 + 2 together.


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Tomorrow's a busy day for this set - the etch design goes off to the fab and I'll be receiving the prototypes of the end caps for the (fuel tanks? engine tubes?), which just need a touch of clean up before going off to Jimi to cast.

Here's the etch fret that'll go out to the fab tomorrow (just finalizing the alignment jigs at the top left):


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## JGG1701 (Nov 9, 2004)

Very nice Mr. Paublo.:thumbsup:
Be nice if you can put one of these little guys in a wheelchair.
-Jim


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

JGG1701 said:


> Very nice Mr. Paublo.:thumbsup:
> Be nice if you can put one of these little guys in a wheelchair.
> -Jim


Oh crud! Why didn't I think of that! OK, an hour or so delay while I work up an old, crotchety, rich guy in a wheel chair for the etch set. Great idea!!!


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## jheilman (Aug 30, 2001)

Don't know if you can do it, but it's a great idea.


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## Lou Dalmaso (Jul 13, 2004)

can the wheelchair be folded together? give it a little more dimension that way.

excellent work , as usual!


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

There's talk over at SSM that the 1/350 scale figure can't be right. The fuselage length is shown in the film (in the blackboard diagram) at 400 feet (not counting the needle or fins). That would come to 13.71 inches at 1/350.

The kit fuselage is 10 7/8", which comes in at 1/441.3


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

That's exactly the scale figure I came up with, too, when I received the kit: 1/441.3.

I totally love the kit, but there is no way that it is 1/350 scale.

I'll definitely be getting that photoetch set. That's great work.


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## Frank2056 (Mar 23, 2007)

At 1/350 scale, a 445 foot long ship would be 15.26" long. I measured my built (and almost finished) Ark, and from the tip (without the spike) to the end of the sled pods and I get 11.26" (should be 14.64") The Rogers drawing in the "Spaceship Handbook" lists this distance as 427 feet. So I get a scale of around 1/455.

The wingspan is listed as 208 feet in the book. The model doesn't have the
same dihedral as shown in the book (or movie), but the wingspan measures out to 5.79" This scale works out to 1/431. 

The only place the ark gets close to 1/350 is at the lower fin; the book lists this as 101 feet, I measured 3.35", so 1212/3.35 = 1/362. The Ark has shape issues as well - the nose area forward of the wings doesn't taper as quickly as in the drawings or the screen shots; this may account for the scale issue; is as if the model was squashed in from the nose.

So the Pegasus Space Ark has scale issues (wrong scale, inconsistent scale) and shape issues (wrong wing dihedral, nose shape). Considering the amount of info out there on this ship (screen cap in the movie, "The Spaceship Handbook", filming miniature photos galore) it's hard to understand how Pegasus screwed this one up by so much.

Still, it's a fun model. I'll call it one of the other Space Arks and keep it at 1/350. I'll see what (if anything) can be done to correct this kit to 1/350.

Frank


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

I was wondering if Paulbo would be putting something together for this kit. Beautiful work as usual. Adding a wheelchair would be the topper for sure!


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

The wheelchair's in (little fold up job). All the tooling's on order and the set should be ready around the middle of September.


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## JGG1701 (Nov 9, 2004)

:thumbsup: , 
-Jim


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

I got the PE today - it's about a week and-a-half early. Unfortunately, I don't have the tubing end caps yet, as I ordered them late and they won't be in for a few weeks.

But in the meantime, I spent some fun time this afternoon slapping the parts together into my rough test-fit hull. I didn't have to anneal the outer hull at all - just 10 or so minutes fiddling it to my unaltered hull using finger pressure and the handle of an Xacto knife.

I didn't use any glue to fit the inner sections together - everything's just press fit. (The eagle-eyed among you may notice that I only have two of the end-caps in place - these were extra prototypes I made so I could test fit while the masters are with Jimi.)


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

Looks fantastic!

Looks like the right "intrepid aftermarket photo-etch manufacturer" took the ball and ran..... :thumbsup:

Gene

PS - Next up, worksite cranes and platforms?


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

Your little wheelchair looks incredible for the scale!

Great work all round and thanks for doing it.


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

GKvfx said:


> Looks fantastic!
> 
> Looks like the right "intrepid aftermarket photo-etch manufacturer" took the ball and ran..... :thumbsup:
> 
> ...


Thanks Gene and Xenodyssey!

Yes, I ran with the great photos in your article and the tons I got from the movie and online.

I thought about the cranes and such, but getting them right would be nigh-on impossible so I think ones for ship models would be the way for people to go ... unless I got crazy and designed up a resin launch area for them to go with. (That's NOT on the short list  ).

It's tough to see in the photos, but all of the interior rings have raised surface detail. In this photo the raised detail is the shiny part. (If you look really closely at that photo you can see that I didn't cut quite to my penciled in lines - I was going for other parts of the fit.)


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## cozmo (Nov 29, 2004)

Now that's just some nice PE. Makes me want to know who did it. There is a kit that needs some PE parts that is beyond my ability to produce.


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## JGG1701 (Nov 9, 2004)

Awesomely cool Mr. Paulbo!
Love that wheelchair. :thumbsup:
-Jim


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

cozmo said:


> Now that's just some nice PE. Makes me want to know who did it. There is a kit that needs some PE parts that is beyond my ability to produce.


Drop me a PM or email and I'll send you my custom etch price list.


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

JGG1701 said:


> Awesomely cool Mr. Paulbo!
> Love that wheelchair. :thumbsup:
> -Jim


Thanks, Jim!


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## Buc (Jan 20, 1999)

Nicely done, Paul!!


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## Trekkriffic (Mar 20, 2007)

When I first saw the wheelchair I thought it was sitting on a quarter. Now I realize it's sitting on a dime! I'm even more impressed by the intricacy of the detail now! Just superb !


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

The wheelchair has become the favorite thing I've designed. I walked into the work room this morning, looked over at the dime ... and freaked because it's so tiny. (Easy to fold up, though.)

I've got grains of rice that are bigger


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

The Space Ark set is shipping! Wholesale orders have gone out to the usual subjects and should arrive by mid-week. I've also sent out PayPal invoices to everyone that's preordered.

There's low stock left in my inventory as the preordering was pretty intense ... but I had already begun a second production run which will be ready on/about October 25.

Cheers!


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## JGG1701 (Nov 9, 2004)

:woohoo:!!!
-Jim


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## Paulbo (Sep 16, 2004)

Your set's on the way, Jim


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## JGG1701 (Nov 9, 2004)

Can not thank you enough Paul!
You're the best!:thumbsup:
-Jim


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## JGG1701 (Nov 9, 2004)

Got the set today.
Gotta tell ya guys, it looks great!!!:thumbsup::thumbsup:
-Jim


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