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Serenity Paper Model

21K views 75 replies 19 participants last post by  btbrush 
#1 ·
It appears that the website where this was originally hosted has expired or something, so I feel it my duty as a loyal Browncoat to carry the torch forward for this venerable project.

One of these days, I'm gonna do a translation of the directions and switch around a few of the steps, but for now, here's where you can find your own little bit of Serenity. :D
 
#9 ·
Here we go.

First, the side engines...





Now, with the wings attached....




Note that at this stage, I'm deviating from the directions, and in that deviation, the above pics show a bit of an error on my part. Specifically, I shouldn't have attached those shrouds over the hinge assembly just yet. This will become clear in a moment...
 
#10 ·
Next, the main hull...



And with it, I skip ahead to the end and attach the landing gear housing now, because otherwise, if I waited until almost the end of assembly, odds are they wouldn't fit, because the shroud over the hinge assembly would probably be in the way.

So, first, I attach the assembly (I still haven't decided if the gear will be deployed or retracted)...




Then, carefully remove those shrouds so that I can get the wings on straight, and then reattach those shrouds so that everything fits.




This way, not only does everything fit properly, but the shrouds now actually help hold the wings up, avoiding a rather ugly droop.
 
#12 ·
Plain old Elmer's white glue. Glue sticks don't stick well enough, and are rather troublesome when dealing with dinky little paper parts.

If I ever try this with cardstock, I might try something else, but with standard printer paper, I prefer to keep it basic. Plus, it's a lot easier getting Elmer's off your fingers than superglue.
 
#13 ·
I print all my models on cardstock. I like gluesticks, because they dry fast.

I have though lately, about just using paper for some model parts, since cardstock can be hard to work with, on cones, round, or very curved parts.

For the cargo bay of the Serenity, cardstock should work best, because of the many flat sides.

When you finish the model, are you going to glue it to a base, or hang it?
 
#15 ·
And now, the rear engine cone.



Here's where working on such a small scale becomes a major pain...



First, the smaller nozzles, then the big one...





Then stick the assembly on the end of the cone, since by this point, it's too much of a pain in the tuchus to put that little shroud thingie on there without a little more anchoring.





No, it doesn't quite fit right. That's something you have to get used to with this model.

For instance, that thing that goes right above the rear nozzles. Be prepared to really glob on the glue, because the odds are that the curve of the thing and the curve of the cone aren't even gonna be close.

 
#16 ·
So, we move on to the little blocky thingies on the base of the cone.

One option is to hold the cone up to the monitor screen, with the relevant directions at the proper magnification, and carefully mark the places where they go, if you don't want to print out the page.



It's an idea that yielded mixed results, and an I wound up mostly eyeballing it anyway.





Onward to the horseshoe.....
 
#22 · (Edited)
And now, the horseshoe framework (I assume this is the "extenders" that Book is talking about in the pilot), and with it, the biggest pain the keister is concluded for this kit.





A note here about the directions at this point: The two pieces that go on the bottom are the opposite of what the directions indicate. It's still not a perfect fit (no surprise there), but trying to do it according to the directions is impossible.



Best way to insert the engine cone is from this end.



Anchoring within the horseshoe is best at the blocky thingies on either side of the cone. Don't worry about the top one, since the whole thing wasn't all inside the horseshoe on the actual ship.





The main concern is to make sure it's straight and level, because it's at this point that you stick the whole thing onto the back of the cargo hold.





An extra bead of glue along that back edge, then set the whole thing aside, because now it's time for the nose and neck...
 
#24 ·
Excuse me, but are two color corrected images missing? Fuente 1 and 2?

Your build has inspired me. I haven't worked on a model in over a year and I thought a paper model would be a nice way to return. I can try correcting the images myself, but if you have them handy?

Thanks, Jennifer

PS And thanks for hosting the model in the first place. It's too bad the original website is down because I can't thank the creator.
 
#27 ·
They're up now. Sorry 'bout that.

Back to the progress pics.

I started off putting together the neck according to the directions, only to find it increasingly difficult to fit the pieces together the further I got into it, so I printed off the two pages of those parts again and started over, this time starting from the back, where it's easier to keep things lined up.

Actually, a slight correction: I started from the middle...



...then the back...



and worked my way forward.



Okay, so there was a bit o' jumping back and forth...



The main point was to firm up the overall shape of the neck as much as possible and get all those pieces in position and not have them forced back by the front pieces being ever-so-slightly off.

Stay tuned...
 
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