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Customising the Sigma Six Dragonhawk.


Bar

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I am in the process of altering the Sigma Six Dragonhawk to make it a bit more Realistic(I know it's a toy, but just as an exercise).

Basically i love the design, but a few little things have niggled at me. First one was the large weapons pods which the feet are attached to. It would not lift off the ground with those things directly underneath the lift fans. It's simple physics, but it would never work, so they were the first items removed:

dragonhawk1f.jpg

As it's a seperate piece to begin with, it was an easy part to discard.

What to put in it's place, though?

I was torn between trying to fit a chamber big enough to fit personnel(And a flip door at the rear), and a payload bay which would hold a revolving drum payload launcher, but i opted for the launcher.

I have yet to make the actual launcher itself, but i have done a fair bit of work to build the bay itself:

dragonhawk1h.jpg

I also did a good bit of work this morning to super-detail the cockpit:

Dragonhawkcockpitdetail01a.jpg

I may do something else eventually, but for the moment, i am using re-detailed Bionicle parts for the landing gear:

Bionicleparts.jpg

The entire thing is still able to pop apart because i plan to add a lighting circuit of ten LEDs for the spot-lights, and to light up the cockpit:

dragonhawkparts.jpg

When i am finished with the alterations, it will be painted in a neutral two-tone USAF grey paint scheme with appropriate markings.

 

Any comments and criticism are welcomed.

bar.

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That looks awesome.

 

I like the cockpit alterations. I for one am happy with the way it looks already.

Its realistic enough for me. Though, Im thinking about making it 3 3/4'' scale by modifying the cockpit.

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quick question, what scale are you making this for? One thing I'm not too excited about are the "feet" so I'm really diggin yours.. I may have to do somethig like that... maybe like the Halo2 Pelican dropship.

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quick question, what scale are you making this for? One thing I'm not too excited about are the "feet" so I'm really diggin yours.. I may have to do somethig like that... maybe like the Halo2 Pelican dropship.

The pelican is a thing of beauty.

This is being made to still conform to 2.5"(I prefer to call it 1/24, though).

I have already made a Stargate F-302 in 1/24:

xxx302updatewednesday5.jpg

, and i see the Dragonhawk as a support craft within the Stargate universe.

I have had a bit of a turnaround with the feet. I have decided to go with one gear bay at the front under the cockpit, where a small "foot" will extend from. At the moment, i am leaning toward two legs for the rear landing gear, and i am in the middle of making custom gear bays for these inboard of the mountings for the lift fans. More pics of those later when i have cut the holes out.

To this end, i have been building down the cockpit section so there is room for a gear bay there. It's not very pretty(There will be a lot of panelling when it's done), but you get the general idea(I have also gave the main body a blast with primer to better see what the final effect could be):

Dragonhawkpieces1.jpg

Dragonhawkpieces.jpg

I am also thinking of adding canards on the front as auxiliary ordnance hard-points, but i am not 100% sure of this.

The cockpit seat section is on it's way to the US of A to be clear-cast(I will be able to back-light it, and simply mask off all the buttons i want lit up).

Opinions are welcome on this or any other points.

Thanks again for the replies, guys.

bar.

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Hi there!

I have been totally busy this week(I got a new PC last saturday, and forgot to port my favorites over!). I have managed to get a little more done, though.

First of all, i decided to get shot of the carry-handle. It was the last vestige of the "toy-ness" the ship still had. Then i faired the entire section in with styrene, and it also gave me the opportunity to build two bay doors at the sides of the payload bay.

I also made the doors for the payload bay. I have made two sets(Open and closed).

Last of all is a pic with a 1/24 H2 next to it for scale.

Enjoy.

more later.

Bar.

 

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CIMG0043.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not strictly an update as such, but i received a couple of Firebats from a friend in the US yesterday.

I wasted no time in stripping one down for mods.

Straight out of the box, i decided to quickly wire it up for lighting(Just a set of eight lights: three in the cockpit, and five for landing light placement).

Here are some pics:

FirebatImages4.jpg

FirebatImages5.jpg

FirebatImages11.jpg

I intend to entirely re-do the paintjob, but first i sprayed the red panel near the rear of the bird(Why is it red exactly?).

I chose black(I will eventually be doing the entire thing in black):

FireBatpictures.jpg

FireBatpictures1.jpg

It may look slightly out of place amongst the gray panels, but when the entire ship is black, it won't really be noticable...

I also found out a couple of things about the cockpit interior.

It will fit a 1/18 figure when you remove the seat(Three screws and the entire thing pops apart no problems).

An idea occurred to me:

There is a lot of room in that tub. Room for two in fact:

FireBatpictures7.jpg

I could very quickly and easily make a new set of seats and dashboards to fit two guys(Of course, it would usually be two Cobra guys, but i only had LT. Stone to hand...).

Another thing occurred:

The cockpit seat sits very low in the ship. In my mind, too low. The guy's head hardly sticks up above the side of the canopy level, and he really should have a good view out the window(I know the window's red, and not quite see-through, but that's another story).

This is how he looked initially:

FireBatpictures3.jpg

And here's how it looked after i made a five-minute modification:

FireBatpictures4.jpg

It's totally different. All it took was the removal of two tabs on the side of the seat unit(They hold the seat down between the cockpit halves, so removing them allows it to sit higher). One more piece needed removing before the seat could sit at full height, though. It's a small silver piece which juts up above and behind the seat head reast(You can see in the pic above, that there is a small line of the missing piece).

I think it looks a lot better, and when get a new cockpit bubble made from clear plastic(So we can see inside the ship!), it will look even better.

At this time, i am torn between having a vac-form canopy made(Using the original piece as a former), or scratchbuilding an angular F-302 style canopy.

Anyway.

Just my first thoughts on this ship.

Bar.

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WOW!!

 

You are very skillful and crafty.

I salute your talent at making stuff with styrine and the lighting... wow.

 

What did you use for the lighting on the FireBAT.

Was it a simple series of lights?

 

Very impressive modifications.

Thanks for sharing.

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WOW!!

 

You are very skillful and crafty.

I salute your talent at making stuff with styrine and the lighting... wow.

 

What did you use for the lighting on the FireBAT.

Was it a simple series of lights?

 

Very impressive modifications.

Thanks for sharing.

 

Yeah, I'd love to know what you used for lighting. I think that will be the next step in my vehicle customs.

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WOW!!

 

You are very skillful and crafty.

I salute your talent at making stuff with styrine and the lighting... wow.

 

What did you use for the lighting on the FireBAT.

Was it a simple series of lights?

 

Very impressive modifications.

Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks guys.

I bought a pre-wired 8-LED lighting set for RC cars on Ebay. I am in the UK, but i'm sure with the correct keywords, you could find the same thing in the US or beyond.

I didn't fully attach the set, i just taped it all on for those photos(It will all hidden inside for the final build).

It connects to a 9V battery very easily. For vehicle mods, small holes for the LEDS can easily be drilled and the LEDs poked through. You get a lot of wiring extra, so you can route the lights anywhere.

Any questions guys, just ask.

This is all fairly simple.

Bar.

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kinda reminds me of those things you can fly in halo. the name of which escapes me right now.

I'm not sure which one you are referring to...

Is it the banshee?

halo_banshee.jpg

 

Man.. that looks pretty sweet.

I was thinking of using the little LEDs tha came with the new S6 figures in this way, for the wings of some sorts, seeing they're blinking lights.

 

We don't get Simga Six stuff here in the UK yet(I have to rely on trades with US contacts for stuff i can freely get here).

 

I may get more done on this tomorrow morning(And maybe something more on the Dragonhawk too).

Thanks for the interst guys.

Bar.

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I think he might have meant the Pelican.. but you cant fly that in the game.

Gotcha..

I don't know what the hell i was thinking about...

Once again, off topic, but i am working on a commission right now, guys. It's a 1/24 scale PuddleJumper from Stargate: Atlantis. The exterior is still just a shell, and there is no interior yet, but it's on-going.

Please excuse the M.A.S.K figures... :D

JumperProgresspics14.jpg

JumperProgresspics13.jpg

JumperProgresspics3.jpg

JumperProgresspics4.jpg

JumperProgresspics5.jpg

JumperProgresspics9.jpg

This pic is just my little joke...

JumperProgresspics.jpg

 

Bar.

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I decided to get rid of the stubby little wings on the Firebat. And i replaced them with wings from the old Skystriker.

They were spares i bought on Ebay, in case anyone thought i cannabalised a Skystriker...

I just think these wings make it look a bit more realistic.

I will be building a new cockpit dashboard too, but i haven't yet.

Here are the pics:

Firebatpic1.jpg

Firebatpic2.jpg

Firebatpic3.jpg

Firebatpic4.jpg

Firebatpic5.jpg

Firebatpic6.jpg

Firebatpic7.jpg

 

I will also be giving the plane wheels instead of the landing feet it has right now(It only makes sense for moving a plane around a hangar, especially during maintenance...).

Bar.

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Here are some progress pics of where i am right now.

I am waiting for some detail parts to re-do the engine intakes on the front and the top(I didn't like those VTOL turbines blades).

Firebatprogress1.jpg

Firebatprogress2.jpg

Firebatprogress3.jpg

Firebatprogress4.jpg

 

I am considering totally re-doing the Engines completely(And turning them into larger features like on the FireFox:ff_desktop03.jpg

I am open to suggestions, though...

Any criticism or comments are welcomed.

Bar.

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Your firebat is looking really good. Great alterations!

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