Galileo Shuttlecraft from Star Trek

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FRONT

CHANGES MADE: Remade hull markings and changed window color.

I glued the revised front to 1mm chipboard and cut out the shape. I used some clear plastic I’d saved from some packaging to make the windows. Then, I traced the window section onto another sheet of white card stock and cut those sections out. I glued the paper to the back of the part, being careful to avoid getting glue on the plastic windows. Then, I trimmed away the excess. I cut off the small strip at the bottom that is divided into three. This is the center “lip” that goes around the hull and I’m going to do something else with that.

Up until here everything had gone pretty well. But when I started test fitting the front section that’s when the wheels came off. The front edge of the original roof has three sharp angle cuts. This means for the front window section to match up it has to be angled and NOT square, which is exactly how it’s designed. With the front on an angle the outside edges would have to be higher than the center to meet up with the roof and lower hull, which angles away in the other direction. In effect, the front would have to be “bow-tie” shaped.

Since I’d already decided to come up with something to create that center “lip” I knew I’d be covering that lower hull gap somehow. So, I concentrated on the top seam. I decided to “round off” the front roof edge and angle the chipboard to match the angle of the front. But that was complicated due to the additional thickness of the chipboard and the light panel edge I’d added to the inside roof. I couldn’t cut the roof back as far as I needed without hitting the light panel. So, I “trial-and-errored” it by shaving away a little at a time with my X-acto blade until I got a decent fit. Then I used Super Glue gel to lock the top and side edges into place.

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EXTERIOR

CHANGES MADE: Made new sliding doors to compensate for new hull stripe. Corrected door windows for shape to match studio model. Added “Push” panel by door. Added missing hull markings by door.

Here’s where things start getting really “seat-of-the-pants” building. The outer sides of the shuttle were designed to be hollow wedge shapes with skinny wings. That wasn’t going to work for me. To make things a little easier on me, I started with the starboard side since it has no door.

First, I cut off the wings to address separately. That gave me an outer top piece and a outer bottom/inside piece. The inside piece needed to stay flat for gluing to the main body. I took some double-sided tape along the top edge where the inner and outer skin come together and curve. Next, I laid the piece flat and glued the upper forward and rear edges together. That gave me the upper hollow “pocket” of the skin. I glued craft sticks together with Super Glue gel until they made a solid brace across the center line. I cut the sticks at the front and rear to match the angle of the hull. This worked perfectly to keep everything straight.

I needed more sticks to completely fill the hole left by removing the wing, and give the wing something to attach to when I put it back on. I glued four more sticks together and only made them reach about 3/4 from the front to the rear, as the front/lower section starts to come together to a narrow point. Leaving these sticks square caused the center line to be too square and didn’t let the center line come together correctly. I solved this by using my X-acto to shave off, a little at a time, the top stick at an angle that matched the curve of the hull.

In the old design, the skinny center line you see is supposed to be folded out on the top and bottom and glued together to form a paper-thin lip. This doesn’t match the studio model, which has a thicker, wider center lip. I’m going to address this as a separate issue, but the section as drawn is about the right height of the lip that should be there. When I glued them down I overlapped these sections to use as a guide later.

To get a nice, straight, flat center edge I used my ruler to hold down the paper on the craft sticks while gluing.

With the edges sealed, the wing hole stuck out like a sore thumb. I covered it up with a piece of scrap hull cut to size and glued in place. Doing it this way created seams that aren’t on the original Galileo because the wings are molded in. But, I’d rather have a few extra seams than crappy wings.

Next, I layered the red panels that go along the bottom of both sides of the hull and attached the starboard one.

I glued the forward angled piece that covers the hole in the hull in place using Super Glue gel. The widest part of the piece ends right below the center line because of the way I’m building it. That leaves a small hole at the center line which will be covered by whatever new center lip I come up with.

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On the original Galileo, the wings are as thick as the center lip where they flow into the center line and taper slightly out to the flat edges. The original model wings create really skinny wedge shapes that come to a point. For me, the best way to do the wings was to cut the top piece off, glue the bottom to 2mm white picture mounting board I got at Hobby Lobby, and paint the edges white with a paint pen. I glued them in place with Super Glue gel being careful to keep the wing at 90 degrees. They don’t have that slight taper, but they are flat and super strong.

Lastly, I used some rods and tweezers to curl the top section of the hull.

[THE DC]

This is a great work of both love and skill!

I can't wait to see the completed!

[spaceagent-9]

looking good!

[g00se]

Super nice! The Galileo has always been a favorite of mine!

[blake7]

Looking real good! Better than the my first attempt at this model, but I built as is because I couldn't do changes. Found the instructions on the doors, and step little hard to figure out, but I got it figured out. Did create a template for the front windows for the plastic.

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Thanks folks. Glad you like the build.

Actually blake7, I've been using your build pics of the doors for reference. That design is a little tough to figure out at first.

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ENGINES

CHANGES MADE: Added fold-out step area to port drive engine. Added louvered areas to drive engines.

I hate making tubes! I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating. Luckily, or unluckily depending on your outlook, I’ve had lots of practice. These engines are standard nacelles so the only change was the repaint.

I trimmed everything out and cut off the tabs. I also ditched the “petal” bussard collector. I can’t stand those designs. They are impossible to make look right or good. I also cut off the rear end cap.

Next, I took a straight wood dowel and layered it up with printer paper and double-sided tape until it matched the nacelle dimensions. This gave me nice, straight, solid engines that will better support the model’s weight. I cut the dowel to size using my razor saw and a mitre box. I put a strip of double-sided tape where the seams met up and pushed everything into place, then I went back and put in a little regular gel glue to lock the seam in.

I wanted to find some domed plastic for the bussards but nothing fit. So, I went to my old tried-and-true Rawen bussards from the parts box. The ones I already had printed were the perfect size! I added a round end piece to the engine end for the bussard to glue to and it looks great. Then, I added the louvers at the end. Like before, I made them look more 3-D by scoring the lines. I don’t know yet how I’m going to do the end caps with the domes.

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PYLONS

CHANGES MADE: Took “brace end” art off drive pylons and made end hull gray to match studio model. Set brace end art off by itself to make braces stand alone pieces.

The original design for this part is a simple box, which does not match the studio model at all. The L-shaped parts with holes are braces that attach to the inside of the pylons. I wanted these to be sturdy, so I glued the flat part to 2mm white backer board. I used my metal pick to mark the edges of the part for cutting. Before trimming, I drilled out the holes using my pin vise. Working with part glued as a bigger piece made the drilling easier. I cleaned and smoothed the holes using smaller drill bits and my round file, then did the final trimming. I cleaned those edges with a flat file.

The backer board is just layers of pressed paper, so trimming it that small made the layers start to separate. To keep everything together I put some Brush-on Super Glue on the edges. Because the interior layers of the backer board are yellowish I painted the edges with a white paint pen. These parts should actually be gray all the way around and the flat sides are, but my gray Sharpie was way too dark so white was the next best choice. Those edges are hard to see anyway so the color shift isn’t in your face.

The flat pylons were made in the same fashion, except for the edges. I wanted them to match in color so I glued strips of scrap gray to the edges and trimmed them to size with my precision scissors.