Tag: Building the GCU Sokol

Building the GCU Sokol Part 8

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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 |Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

Part 11 | Part 12

Boxing Weekend

This weekend most of the model was boxed up. Boxing is the process of building up the many sections of the model and giving it shape. For this model, it’s a big task. This weekend I finished boxing the keel and the head. I also started adding details to the area of the main body right behind the head.

I’ve said it before, but I dislike boxing. When you work in plastic, it usually involves lots of cutting with a blade along a metal ruler. Not my favorite activity. I usually c-clamp down the ruler and score away until I can snap the piece off. If I do much more modeling in this fashion, I will be best served in purchasing a proper cutting device.

I did make some progress on ensuring the head does not spin around on the neck cylinder. I did this by making two exterior pipes that extend from the back of the head to the main body. This was not in my original 1980 drawing, but I like it.

I used the plastic lids from some plastic boxes that screws come in for the base plates on the front of the main body. Inside these areas I added various greeblies and some cut model trees for piping. This is my favorite part, adding details. The trick is to make it look as if the parts have a purpose and are not just stuck on random. For an example of good details see – any Star Wars model. For an example of bad, see Star Crash.

That’s enough fun for this weekend. Next up I’ll box out the upper main body and start scratch-building the hangar deck.

Building the GCU Sokol, Part 3

KenMcConnellLeave a comment

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 |Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10

Part 11 | Part 12

UPDATE: I did a quick post a while back on framing out the main decks of the GCU Sokol.

Over the holiday break I’ve started working on the huge model again. This time I framed up the head of the starship. Not the toilet, the front section, where the bridge is located. Alliance starships have removable head sections and so they have their own limited, C Class drives and housing as well as weapons.

For the Sokol, I went off the drawing I have of the ship and got the bottom, front and sides  built up, as well as a mounting bracket for the two inch pipe that forms the neck.

This picture shows how I score the plastic to cut it. I have a heavy gauge piece of metal that I clamp to my workbench and use as a cutting guide. It works quite nice, but it’s hard on the old bench.

This shows the pieces of the head section going together with the assistance of some paint bottles and a sand sculpture bottle. Hey, use what you have on hand, right? I use fancy model cement for the glue. But you could use Tester’s model cement too. Later I will put a bunch of braces inside to ensure things stay firm.

If you are familiar with this starship, it should start to look like the Sokol now. Since I’ll wager most folks reading this have never heard of the GCU Sokol, here is a reference drawing.

The boxy weapons pods on the sides of the head have not been constructed yet. I’ll likely use a thinner gauge plastic for them.

My goal for the remaining days of vacation is to get the main superstructure built up and as close to finished as possible. Because that’s my least favorite part of building a model. I prefer to work on the details and this model will have more surface area to detail than any model I’ve built since I built this very starship in cardboard as a kid.