More Bio-Fleet Construction

The nice thing about this construction method, is you can use it for all kinds of ship sizes.  These little pukes will wind up as fighters:

And this big bad boy is going to make for a fine capital ship.  That egg looking thing is a toy package for a dragon.  It had a cool 'veiny' look to it that will add to the feel of these alien ships/critters.

Again, remember that the foam keeps expanding as it dries.  The above is a picture taken just after 'spraying'.  The next one is a shot of the ship after it is fully dried.  Note how much bigger and smoother it is - not entirely smooth, but more than the above.

And you can build ships in between as well.  See those cupolas?  Yeah, you really want to either spray foam on top to keep them in place, or wait until the foam dries before sticking them on there.

I'll show you why next time...

New Fleet Recipe

Today we start construction on an opponent for the KoDan Armada.  We want ships that look nothing like the human ships, so we'll need new construction, new paint colors, and a unique look.  We're also going to be building an alien force, so all that works together to make this fleet nothing like the first one.  Instead of straight lines and flat surfaces, this will be an organic force with ships that look grown rather than constructed.

So let's tart with the construction material.  The bulk of our resources come in a can that looks something like this:

Not this:

Turns out the DAPtex stuff doesn't dry very fast, and when it dries it has no structural strength - it's soft and spongy.  The Great Stuff...er, stuff, does dry pretty quick, and doesn't 'smoosh' when dry.  This, it turns out, is why my idea to fill shampoo bottles with the stuff didn't work - that DAPtex neer would have dried enough to allow for more conversions.

So to build the fleet, just spray a series of 'blobs' of this stuff onto newsprint.  Experiment a bit, go crazy with the general shape of the ships.  For the most part, I've used oblong designs that will help make it clear which way the ship is facing.  Be careful when you do this, though, because the foam keeps expanding for a while after you're done spraying it.

Longer than you think - if you aren't careful, your ships will 'bleed' into each other, kind of like this.

It also means your ships wind up a bit smoother in the final analysis than it looks when you finish growing/building them.  More on that next time...

The KoDan Armada

Watch out, Space Nerds and Starfighters, the human fleet is leaving dry docks and headed for a sandy stretch of beach near you!  Okay, they still need posts and fighters, but this seems like a good time for a group shot.

The total cost of this fleet was probably under $20 if you don't count the materials on hand from other projects.  Five bucks for a sheet of foam core, five bucks for the bright blue spray paint, and ten bucks for glue and the various doodads.  Seems odd to me that you can get a giant fleet so much cheaper than one for the tabletop.

As you can see, I've taken to calling this the KoDan armada, more to see if any of the kids pickup on the scifi reference than because these ships are faithful to The Last Starfighter aesthetic.  May have to have a door prize for the first one to spot that reference.

At any rate, next time well take a look at my strategy for a matching opponent, only a lot more alien...

Human Flag Ship - The Fleet Carrier

Can't remember if the unpainted version of this ship was ever posted or not.  Either way, here is the last and the biggest of the human ships for Big Thrust - the mighty fleet carrier.  Down the road we'll assemble some fighter groups for it, but that won't take long.  Again, this is mainly foam core and cereal box cardboard.

The funny thing about these ships is that they are harder to paint to a high standard, but the sheer size of this behemoth means that you can get away with it.  These ships are painted using the same techniques used for table top ships, and it shows - no one will mistake these ships for a store bought model.  But i think it still works, be ause it's obvious that they are game pieces, and what they represent.

Big Thrust Size Comparison

Still have a lot of ships to paint up, but here's a few shots containing one each of the escorts, frigates, and battleship class ships for Big Thrust.  These should give a better idea exactly how big that battleship is compared to the deodorant-stick escorts.

Battleship Pocheapkin

The latest addition to the human fleet for the game I've taken to thinking of as Big Thrust is fully built and painted.  This bad boy was hand made out of foamcore and lots and lots of found items.  Old medical syringes, superglue lids, a pen lid, bamboo skewers (again), disposable razor handles (again), and lots of cereal box cardboard.  The two-tiered level with the red band around it is two peanut butter jar lids glued on on top of the other. The most expensive part of this ship was probably the super-glue used to hold her together.

If you look close you can see two little white doors with blue dotted windows.  That should give you an idea of the scale of this battleship.  It's not as majestic as some others, but rules-wise it'll pack the same sort of wallop.

Frigate Paint Test

So very tired. Operating in a bit of a fugue state at the moment, what with sleeping in a hospital and the every-two-hour feeds. Had a great post showing the paint process for the big spaceships ready to go. Deleted it in my torpor. Not even sure if that's a real word or not, so tired. Anywho, the loss of a bunch of pictures is a bit of a bother, but that just forces me to stop being coy and make with the goods. Two human frigates are pretty much done. Here's a look at the nearly-final look of my first Big Thrust fleet.

These are the first two frigates. The cruisers and capital ships are assembled and spray painted. I made a big push to get them done and spray painted before baby comes home. All that's left to do is the hand painting. And the protective coat. (Gloss? Flat? Which one will look better on the field of battle?) And sleeping, but that'll have to wait a few more days. I'll sneak in a post on the paint job and some shots of the bigger ships in progress sometime in the next few days, too. Might as well tie full advantage of this paternity leave while I can, right?