Galileo Shuttlecraft from Star Trek

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I was afraid I might catch up on my builds, so I started another one to keep things normal. This is my build of the Galileo shuttlecraft model created by Joerg Stammen in 2004. This is one of the first models I ever downloaded and it has been sitting in my computer for a while. That’s a good thing because while it’s a nice model it falls short of accurate in a lot of areas. I think I’ve got the experience now to make her better.

Most Trekkers and Trekkies know there are a lot of conflicts with the look and size of the Galileo. The interior set doesn’t fit in the full-size prop and the interior changed from episode to episode. My goal was to get the model as close as possible to what was on screen at any given time. Changes to the design will be listed in each section. Some overall changes include changing hull colors to light and dark grays to better match the studio model and remaking all hull registries with correct fonts and positioning. I also changed her to the Galileo instead of the Galileo II. That alone made a big change to the model.

As with all my models, all parts are scored and edge colored as needed.

CHAIRS
The chairs in the Galileo were molded black plastic chairs that swiveled and tilted. They mounted to the floor with a U-shaped base. I didn’t have the skills to rework the original chairs in any significant way so I kept the original design.

I used double-sided tape on the back and seat section. Glue makes the parts too wavy. The tape allows the part to have some give when folding. However, sometimes the tape wasn’t strong enough to keep the parts together. When it came apart then I used a little Super Glue gel to hold the edges together. I went over all the white lines with a black Sharpie to make the chairs solid black.

I made the chairs sturdier by mounting the legs to 1mm chipboard. I colored them all black and mounted them to the seats. I could still faintly see where the original white lines for the legs were, so I used those to align them for gluing. To replicate the seat adjustment knobs I cut sections out of lollipop sticks and glued them over the white circles on the legs.

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COMPUTERS
CHANGES MADE: Added correct wall computer artwork in more accurate positions.

The original file had some strange, really large art to represent the wall computers. They didn’t look good at all. I downloaded pics of the real props and sized them to fit. They are known as “Alpha,” “Beta” and “Gamma” computers and were used in most episodes. I picked out the best front view pics I could find and scaled them to the correct size. Then I constructed sides, tops and bottoms out of gray scrap. I used Super Glue gel to attach the sides then spread some inside at the edges to stiffen them up. I used my precision scissors to trim the sides to size. Then I glued them to the walls.

[spaceagent-9]

awesome!
going to be doing one myself soon

[elliott]

You're off to a good start. Think I'll enjoy following your build thread.

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HELM

CHANGES MADE: Remade controls using screen caps and custom art to more closely match interior set controls. Controls are a mix from multiple episodes.

The helm was definitely the part I spent the most time reworking. The Galileo helm was reworked for every episode it was shown with some parts added and some taken away. My goal was to make it look primarily as it did in “The Galileo Seven” with a few extras from other episodes sprinkled in. A lot of the work was me studying a lot of screen caps (via Trek Core) and creating new vector art in Adobe Illustrator. Some is artwork gathered from the web.

The first step was doing all the layered and recessed details. I printed out several copies of the helm and got to work. I started with the lower center console. I recessed the main screen by raising the rest of the panel. I raised the gauges, intercoms, long light strip and the “tape recorder.” I left the lower round lights flat because they are so small already. The gauges are pictures of actual airplane gauges that are similar to the ones used on the actual helm. I zoomed up on the screen shots and searched the internet until I found ones I could use.

Next was the pilot section. I raised the intercom, altimeter gauge (another image), intercom (another image) and the light bar readout section. the lower section is a reflective material on the real helm. To get close to this I bought some prism duct tape and attached it to the back of a spare pilot section. I flipped it over and cut out the section I needed. That gave the me perfect size to put over the existing part. Then I glued it in place. The prism tape section are way bigger than what was on the real prop, but they do look cool when the light hits them.

I added raised frames for the pilot and co-pilot controls to give them a recessed look like they had on the show. These areas have a distinct “hooded” look that I couldn’t replicate without trying to redesigning the whole piece, so I opted to come as close as I could by bending the parts certain ways to try and get that look. I was also thinking about hollowing out the leg area under the console, but that would have caused me a lot of work and made the existing part flimsy, so I skipped it. You can’t really see it in the model anyway.

Finally, I added raised detail to the center console. I was going to make the three “knife-handle” shaped sliders by the pilot raised and functional, but they are too small and you can’t really see it. I did make a “navigational disc” to go in the center, but I left it off for easier handling.

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REAR BULKHEAD

CHANGES MADE: Created white rectangle and door control art for rear bulkhead to match interior set.

The rear bulkhead was a simple upgrade with just a color change and some new vector art. I raised the panels then glued it to 1mm chipboard and cut out the door. I glued a copy to the rear to create a recessed door.

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ROOF

CHANGES MADE: Added light panel in roof to match interior set.

The original roof was just plain white. I added the colored sections that go along each side and the light panel area. I got my first roof glued to 1mm chipboard for test fitting then realized I’d screwed up! I extended the light panel the entire length of the roof when it should stop at the rear bulkhead. I reworked the part, glued the new one to the chipboard and glued a sheet of white card stock to the back for the outer hull. This created a nice sturdy roof.

I printed out a second roof, glued it to chipboard and cut out the border of the light panel. I painted inside and outside edges white with a paint marker and glued the whole thing into place.

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INTERIOR ASSEMBLY

CHANGES MADE: Added colored strips along ceiling and floor. Changed shuttle floor to match carpet on interior set. Added wall panel lines. Added phaser locker at rear.

I glued the entire floor/wall section to 1 mm chipboard. Like my other builds, I scored the back of the chipboard where the folds are and used an angled needle file to file away the chipboard so the parts could bend.

First, I bent the helm console into shape and used Super Glue gel to “spot weld” the parts together as needed. To make sure I got the walls straight and level I decided to cut them away from the floor and attach them separately. I put some Super Glue gel where the walls meet the floor, laid the walls flat and joined them together holding the floor at a 90 degree angle. Then I glued the helm to the forward wall edges.

Next I added the chairs because it was easier to mount the rear chairs with the rear bulkhead out. I should have lightened the black boxes that show where the chairs go, but it’s hard to see that anyway when completed.

Finally, I added the rear bulkhead and the helm navigational disc. I finished by adding some scrap gray to the holes in the helm. The upper parts of the helm did delaminiate from the chipboard due to the stress form the bends. I glued it back in place as needed using some Paper Gel glue on a sharpened toothpick. I also spread some Super Glue gel on the rear of the folds to “weld” them into place.

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REAR ENGINES

CHANGES MADE: Redid rear hull to have more correct access hatch, red panel, small panel and louvered grill.

First I raised the light, hatch and louver areas. I tried to make the louvers look like actual louvers by cutting slits into it. I gives it some definition, but doesn’t really look right. If I’d made the cuts form the back side it would have pushed the paper away from the blade and given it a little bit of a raised look, but I did it backwards on this piece.

Next, I took a second engine housing and cut out the ports. I glued this to 1mm chipboard and cut out all the sections again. I went over everything with a black Sharpie and glued this to the main part. I thought about cutting out the gray areas so you could see all the way into the engine section like you can on the real Galileo but that seemed like it would look strange and all you’d see would be the back of the rear interior bulkhead. Then I thought about fabricating some engine guts but decided that would be a lot of work for little reward, so I stuck with the gray sections.

I kept the tabs on these piece because I wanted some thing that would slide into the main body for gluing. After folding the part into place and dry fitting it the tabs worked great with no worse seam than I’d have with any other method.

I didn’t cut out the “notch” at the bottom that should be there for the rear landing leg because I’m not sure how I’m doing that yet.

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MAIN BODY

CHANGES MADE: Redid lower front nose to match open ports and louvered grill, original part was reversed.

“Skinning” things always makes me nervous because I hate wavy, bumpy parts. But, it had to be done. I cut out the part and left the front and rear tabs in case I wanted to use them. I did not want to use the tabs for the curved lower front section. To join this area I clamped one side to my cutting mat, held the floor at 90 degrees and pushed the paper edges together a little at a time using the mat to keep it as flush as possible. I slowly “welded” the seam together from the inside using Super Glue gel. I repeated this for the other side. I did this as quickly as I could because I didn’t want to handle the cut-out door area any more than needed to avoid tearing it.

After several dry fits to see how to best position everything I went for the glue! I’d like to have used spray adhesive but I couldn’t figure out how to handle it quickly over that large an area on three sides. So I went for a really light coat of Papercraft Gel glue and hoped for the best. I used my spiffy new clamps that I got at Harbor Freight for $1 to hold the sides together and let the whole thing sit for a day. It dried well with only a couple of slight bumpy areas on the bottom where the glue was a little heavy.

Next on was the roof. This went really easy and because it was 1mm chipboard in the center it made it easy to handle. I did wind up cutting off the roof tabs as they proved unnecessary. Using the rear bulkhead (also chipboard) as a stabilizer, I slid the roof into position and glued the sides to the edge of the roof chipboard with Super Glue gel on a sharpened toothpick. This made a great, solid seam and stiffened up the whole structure, especially at the narrow top edge of the door.

The roof came out looking pretty good inside. I had to do some more manipulation to the helm to get it out of the way of the front tabs and to fix some further areas that delaminated.

The rear engine section slid right in and mounted up great.

I added the front louvered section, which I made by scoring lines where the louvers would go to give it a 3-D look. I made raised edges for the two black ports on the port side, but because they are small and flimsy I’m going to wait until final assembly to install them.