Landing Bay: Launch Rail Structure, Lower Levels

So now the process of working out how this structure is going to be bulked out has begun and this is where the process goes a bit more slowly. I find myself constantly going back and forth to the structure to test ideas out and design new elements. Advancement can be slow at times but it does improve the look of the piece considerably.

One main concern of this structure is the weight distribution. Currently it is delicately balanced around the middle but since the highest portion extends out from the center of gravity, the original assembly would easily tip forward. So I have to add more weight to the opposite end to fix this. Note that when this board is complete there will be the elevator structure supporting this part but since all of the structures will be removable to an extent, I would like this structure to stand on its own (also giving more versatility to the building). If necessary I will build and extra "foot" to support the building if used in other settings but I will see where this design process takes me.

Level 2 Walkways

Because of the size of the structure I decided I need to improve line of sight through the levels so that players will be less likely to lose track of models. I decided to do a grating effect using plastic needle point grids. Not my first choice but I had these grids laying around and I am trying to consume the mad assortment of materials that I have gathered as terrain bits, so in they go. These are made of a more vinyl-like plastic so I used white glue and superglue to bind the grid to the card, as well as adding some small cross supports to help support the grid. This was a really time-consuming step to design the first walkway but it served as a template for the opposite side. 

When it was done I still thought that the LOS was still not clear enough so I resolved to make the grating on the next level up even larger.

I also need to better secure the walkway so I added a block and pipe assembly to add support to the walkway. Note that because of all of the white glue used to hold the card that the foam core has warped slightly. Adding a short wall along the edge will help straighten it but this also means that when they are finally glued in place, I will have to ensure that they are pressed onto their supporting surfaces until the glue dries.

 

 







Third Level Walkways

This part is here just to show you the process of how I assemble these walkways. I had a rough idea for the main shape of the walkway but needed to design the exposed grating. I left about 1.5 cm between each shape cut out of the walkway. The card pieces over the top will overlap into these shape by about 0.5 cm to hide the edges of the grating pieces and to further secure the grating pieces into the structure.

The card overlay, once designed, was used as a template to help design all of these parts so that by the end I had all of my parts sketched and cut. Now I have to line the inside edges of the cut shape with card to protect the foam and further strengthen the piece.


This has the added benefit of adding a lot of weight to these walkways so that they will ad bulk to this end of the structure as I wanted. These are still a WIP but I have been snapping shots as I go.

More as it happens.