Tachi

[dhanners]

And there's more in this thread:
Rocinante build....

[rgardn12]

Out of curiosity where are you ordering the prints for the original parts? I got mine at printed at FedEx office and those images in the second build make your prints look SOOO much sharper than mine.

[dhanners]

Originally Posted by rgardn12

Out of curiosity where are you ordering the prints for the original parts? I got mine at printed at FedEx office and those images in the second build make your prints look SOOO much sharper than mine.

When I built these, I was living in Kuwait and didn't have a printer, so I would take the files on a thumb drive down to a photocopying shop and get them printed. They spoke very little English and I spoke almost no Arabic, so it was always an adventure....

The models may look sharper because I shrunk them. The first Roci I built was at the model's original scale of 1/100. Then I built a Tachi at 1/200, and later did a Roci and a Tachi at 1/144. When you shrink it, it just looks sharper to me.

I had limited display space in our apartment in Kuwait, so smaller scales worked better for me. Frankly, I think the original model works better at 1/144th than 1/100th, but that's just me. The parts are still big and the model is still an impressive size. Were I to build another one, I'd probably do it again at 1/200th, even though our apartment in Nicosia has plenty of display space. (To build it at 1/144th scale, print the pages at 69%. To get 1/200th scale, print them at 50%.)

I still intend to sit down and come up with a list of alterations/modifications for you.

[rgardn12]

No hurry! I’ve been working on trying to laminate the 110lb cardstock formers to ~1mm thick. It’s quite frustrating lol

[dhanners]

Originally Posted by rgardn12

No hurry! I’ve been working on trying to laminate the 110lb cardstock formers to ~1mm thick. It’s quite frustrating lol

As best I recall, I printed my formers out on cardstock, which I then glued to cereal box cardboard. Then I cut the formers out to shape. I did this even with the 1/100th build.

The internal formers really do help with this model, and they are designed quite well.

[dhanners]

Here’s a list, as best I can recall, of the modifications/additions I made to the models. I’ll use the Roci as my example. We’ll go by page numbers. As you’ll note, some pages require two or even three copies.

Page 1 — I printed out three copies. On one, I cut out the octagonal sections of pieces A1 and A2, inside and out. You’re left with a stop sign with a hole in the middle. Then I glued those pieces to the second sheet sheet, and when dry, but out the octagonal pieces and glued them to A1 and A2 pieces from the third sheet, which are the pieces that will make the kit part. There are small nozzles on the triangular parts of A3 (you can see the circle outline) and I ruled black paper around a piece of wire, glued it, removed the wire and sliced small nozzles.

Page 3 — The outer nozzle of the Epstein Drive is faceted, not circular. I cut out parts C1 and C2 and lightly scribed along the white lines, then glued the parts together. (Before doing this, I cut off the six flaps along the bottom of part C1.) Once dry, I gently formed the nozzle into the faceted shape. This requires you to print a second Page 3 sheet at 98 or 99 percent so the inside nozzle pieces, C3, C4 and C5, fit inside the outer nozzle. The six flaps (or whatever the heck they are) then glued back on (using C8) leaving a small gap between the upper edge of the flap and the bottom lip of the nozzle.

Page 4 — Parts D5 and D6 have inset detail in the triangular sections. I built the pieces, then used gray cardstock to make the inner walls, then glued in the triangular parts I had cut out. Part D5 has the rectangular section inset; again, I cut out the section, built the piece, used gray cardstock to make the inner walls, and then cut the kit piece I’d cut out and glued it in, using a spacer behind it so it would stand proud of the floor. (The piece is actually three long rectangular pieces.)

Page 6 — Part F1 has inset detail in the dark “plumbing” square. Again, I cut out F1, cut out the squarish piece, assembled F1 and then used gray cardstock to build the inside walls of the "well" the plumbing sits in. I then glued the piece with the plumbing on, creating the inset.

Page 7 — The torpedo housings, parts G1 and G2, have appliqué detail. This involves printing another sheet of the page and cutting out the panels (six per housing) and then gluing them to the assembled housings. The two doors on the front of the housings also have appliqué detail; on the odd-shaped door, I built up three layers.

A couple of notes here about the appliqué detail…. I usually added it after the basic structure was constructed. It just seemed easier that way. Also, edge-coloring is very important on the added panels. If you’re building Roci, you’ll need gray and orange to color the edges.

Page 8 — Part H1 has appliqué detail (five panels) and there are smaller panels, too. Piece H2, the forward airlock, is wrong and needs reshaping. (Check the photos below.) the hatch part is also inset, with detail added.

Page 9 — Parts I8 and I10, the pieces the forward antennas are attached to, need modification. If built as per the instructions, you wind up with boxes. On the “real” model, the boxes actually have an overhanging lip, for lack of a better word. In other words, the inner walls of the box are inset. I trimmed (slightly!) parts I9 and I11 to make them thinner. I cut out and scribed parts I8 and I10, colored the edges and the part that would become the “lip,” then glued on I9 and I11 maybe a millimeter in from the edge. (This will require additional trimming.)

Page 10 — Add appliqué detail to parts J7 and J8, as well as J3 and J4. On the “real” Roci, the long dark rectangular parts on J3 and J4 are recessed. I cut them out, glued strips of laminated gray cardstock to the edges, then glued on new rectangular sections cut from a spare Page 10.
You can also add appliqué panels on parts J1 and J2.

Depending on the scale, you can inset the doors on the Point Defense Cannons (PDCs), pieces F2, I4, I5, J9 and J10, as well as the airlocks, pieces E10. (Again, I used gray cardstock to make the inner walls, then glued doors from a spare page to the assembled piece.

There are numerous other panels and inset detail that can be added throughout. Also, the exterior (particularly the torpedo housings and the upper “nose”) have handrails. Consult photos or screencaps online for the number and location. I added numerous handrails, and then noted even more when I watched the trailer for the new season. (Not to mention the landing gear assembly....)

This isn’t a complete list, but it is a basic one. I hope it makes sense. If you have questions, just holler.

[dhanners]

Jeez. Typo Central. My Page 1 and Page 3 paragraphs should read:

Page 1 — I printed out three copies. On one, I cut out the octagonal sections of pieces A1 and A2, inside and out. You’re left with a stop sign with a hole in the middle. Then I glued those pieces to the second sheet, and when dry, cut out the octagonal pieces and glued them to A1 and A2 pieces from the third sheet, which are the pieces that will make the kit part. There are small nozzles on the triangular parts of A3 (you can see the circle outline) and I formed a tube by wrapping black paper around a wire and gluing it. I removed the wire and salami-sliced the tube into small nozzles.

Page 3 — The exterior of the nozzle of the Epstein Drive should be faceted, not circular. I cut out parts C1 and C2 and lightly scribed along the white lines, then glued the parts together. (Before doing this, I cut off the six flaps along the bottom of part C1.) Once dry, I gently formed the nozzle into the faceted shape. The inner nozzle, though, is circular, not faceted. You have to print a second Page 3 sheet at 98 or 99 percent so the inside nozzle pieces, C3, C4 and C5, fit inside the outer nozzle without rounding out the outer nozzle. The six flaps (or whatever the heck they are) are then glued back on (using the C8 actuators) leaving a small gap between the upper edge of the flap and the bottom lip of the nozzle.