Destiny Phaeton Class Jumpship V1.1

After Completing the V2 jumpship last year, it only made sense to make the winged version. This was a pretty popular design, and was one of the only designs released before the game came out. Also, It was mold/cast friendly so naturally it had to be done.

The build is mostly based off the previous sculpt, my first ever to utilize a 3d printed part. Read that one here. 

First thing, the wings. These screamed "styrene" so thats what I made them out of. Same old story, I cut them out with scissors, scribed panel lines with an exacto knife and saw, and laminated materials as needed.

The most important part is cutting out sections and scribing before you glue them together. 

This was all for one wing, which was symmetrical at the time. 

I then made a mold (not pictured) and cast out another one. Then I modified the bottom halves of each cast to more closely match the reference. I didn't want to scratch build both wings.

The fuselage isn't quite the same between the v1 and v2, so I had to sand a lot of detail off, and sand some harder angles on certain sections. I started with blank styrene. 

I carefully built up the detail. unfortunately, the modules on the original are so detailed and tiny that I had to simplify some bits in this area, which is saying something because its still fairly detailed as is. 

The wings sit at about 15 degrees, so after they were done I made a mold, cast them up, and glued them to the new body!

I made an MDF jig as usual, clayed it up, and got ready for goop!

After pouring both sides of the mold, I had my first cast! The cast uses exactly 4oz of resin for the whole thing. Its the smallest/lightest kit I've made to date. Considering that these are not vacuum degassed/pressure cast, I am extremely proud of the results. 

And some painted variations:

I made an early version outfitted with BKR guns for my friend Eric to paint. 

Build your own for purchase here. Thanks for following along!

Experienced Prop Maker Totally Pays Rent

SAN JOSE, CA- Waiting patiently for a $300 box of building materials, a 27 year old man reflects on the life he can only wish he had made earlier. "I'm so glad I didn't just push the "normal" job button after I spent 4-5 years on college. Having a fulfilling sense of purpose is totally worth not having confidence, a positive outlook, or being able to afford basic things like rent or fixing my 20 year old car that I drive daily that has a primer paint job. Or like, insurance n' stuff."- said Brant, enthusiastically as he took off his respirator with 1.5 year old filters.

"Its exciting so see where it can go", He continued. " Just a few weeks ago, I was offered a short term contract gig as a polyester resin/fiberglass hand for $12/hr in CA. Its exciting, as I'm looking at down payments on houses, a new car, maybe some new tools."

When asked about his current projects, he modestly replied "I've got a few pistols in the works. I'll spend 60 hours a week on each one, spend another day or two molding it and a few hundred in materials. It only took me about 4 years to develop these skills. Then I turn around and sell 3-5 resin copies that take a few hours to cast for a couple hundred each. Its really the most fun way to break even I can think of."

We can't help but think why you wouldn't want to impress your friends with a low budget alternative with horrible paint and obvious material layering visible on all of the edges and seams. After all, remember your math teacher always telling you to "show your work"? This is the perfect way, and its super trendy.

"In 5 years, where you you see yourself?" we asked. "Well, I'm really excited about 3D printing. I think the Ultimaker 3 or 4 will do a good job replacing me in a few years down the road. Then, I won't have to spend nearly as much time on my projects. There might be some competition when literally everyone on the planet opens up for commissions, but I think my good looks will get me by.", he answered. "Otherwise, I'll probably still be in the 10' x 10' corner of an automotive shop that my friend rents out to me, probably out of pure niceness/pity." he exclaimed, while turning around to blow that pesky resin dust off of his clothes and into the air.

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