KSK frigate 'Yamamoto' from Nexus: The Jupiter Incident

**SmashedGlass** · #1 09-02-2019, 06:59 AM

Hello all, and Happy Labor Day for those in the US!

I've been lurking on here for awhile now and figured I should start posting some work. My current project is a ship from an old PC video game named "Nexus: The Jupiter Incident", and the model is available in the downloads section courtesy of Wulf111 along with several other Nexus craft. I'd like to thank Wulf111 for doing the leg work of exporting and converting the mesh to pdo, giving us a chance (and a challenge) to build something we would never see in any other medium.

I believe I am the first person to attempt this model, the beta tester if you will, and though it is only the fifth or so thing I've built I feel I can point out some issues with it for anyone else wanting to give it a go. In short: there is quite a bit of modifying and engineering going into this!

The finished kit will hopefully resemble this upon completion:

**SmashedGlass** · #2 09-02-2019, 07:06 AM

Work begins, of course, with the spine of the forward hull. This is actually the second start as the first one somehow developed a very slight twist despite my best efforts, which lead to the heavy chipboard reinforcements (I made a literal skeleton) you see in the following pictures.

The white areas you see were one of the first 'engineerings' to occur, as the model had the lower cut line follow the diagonal texture line for some reason, even though everything else greebles onto this spine.....

**SmashedGlass** · #3 09-02-2019, 09:44 AM

First additions began on the bottom of the spine. Most of the following parts lack one side as printed, so I enclosed them in addition to reinforcing with a layer of cardstock or chipboard; I want this thing to be fairly sturdy.

The second part (2nd photo) had a rear angle mismatch to the part it was intended to fit, as printed, so I had to adjust it and paint to blend it in. The third part was squared off at the end and my fix to fitting it was to cut a square opening in the adjacent part for it to fit into.

The last photo shows a grievous error that happened with part one. Something was seriously askew when it went through the unfold! I ended up cutting and chopping two prints of it to make one good one, a theme that will reoccur several times throughout this adventure.

**SmashedGlass** · #4 09-02-2019, 01:42 PM

Continuing on I took a break from the forward hull to build the middle section. Again, there was a parts mismatch, a pretty severe one. I used the completed upper and lower sections to sketch out what needed cut on joining piece.

Finished result here along with the spin module hubs. These hubs have no end faces provided, so I later simply added layers cut from scrapped sheets to give them texture.

As I said earlier, I wanted this creation to be sturdy. You can see I used some foam core board to beef up the cylinder hubs.

**SmashedGlass** · #5 09-02-2019, 02:25 PM

Most of the basic hull components have now been finished.

She's about a solid 40cm long altogether.

Work then moved on to some smaller details and continued greebling of the forward hull. The shuttle/fighter bay door in the first few pics was a bear to build! I took three attempts to get a method that would work, and were I to do it again I will use a fourth untried method.

The additional greebles going on the forward hull, which basically brings this thread up to date.

Thanks for watching, please come again.

**PhantomCruiser** · #6 09-02-2019, 04:58 PM

Looks very nice. I have to admit I've not seen the game until I just did a search. It's on Steam, so.... Off I go.

**SmashedGlass** · #7 09-02-2019, 05:05 PM

Phantomcruiser, I know. I've been out of the gaming thing so long I had no idea what it was til I looked it up myself. I did break down recently and purchase a new gaming desktop so we'll see.....

**Wulf111** · #8 09-03-2019, 02:35 PM

SmashedGlass,

OMG someone is actually building this thing... this is one of the first game export and converts that i had done. yes there are a lot of intersecting parts and i apologize for this. i always meant to go back and remaster the 3D model to remove the intersecting parts so it would be easier to build. i am excited you have decided to build this. So far you have done a wonderful job of dealing with all the issues with this model has and your build looks fantastic. i am looking forward to seeing it complete.

**SmashedGlass** · #9 09-03-2019, 03:47 PM

Wulf111, I will be building all of the Nexus ships you provided, eventually. And the "challenges" are something I like, it's like building those Eastern European plastic models from the 70s and 80s.

If it's any consolation, I don't think most of these issues could've been found by anything other than a full build. I'm happy to provide that service.

**SmashedGlass** · #10 09-06-2019, 07:59 AM

Not much to show since last weekend yet, work and hurricane week were pretty hectic.

Whipped out the four, what I assume are, missile launcher pods that hang on the sides of the forward hull. Nothing spectacular, just your basic boxes. Did of course reinforce with chipboard.