Hi all
Been out of the loop for a few weeks but now I am getting the urge to get back to the work bench and what better way to ease myself in with a gentle found objects/ scratch build.
So with a relatively tidy bench, new blades and Absolute Classic Rock playing quietly in the background....... it begins.
First a Little History
The Scramble Ship was first used as an assult craft, it carried around ten soldiers plus the pilot. It was an unarmed craft but was capable of incredibly high speed that made it impossible to track with sensor guided weapons .
The scramble ship would approach it target at speed then rapidly decelerate and clamp itself to the enemy space ship using a six armed grab. Once secure a hole would be punched in the outer skin and a tube forced through to dispatch the troops.
If the attack was successful the Scramble Ship would remain in position until the captured craft reached the shipyard.
Otherwise the troops would return to the assault ship and it would the punch out causing a critical decompression in the enemy space ship as it left.
This worked well for a while, but the enemy got wise and installed energy cannons for local defense, after a a couple of massacres where the Scramble Ships were decimated as they were landing operations of this type were abandoned and the Scramble Ships were withdrawn from service.
But not for long, after a complete refit the Scramble Ships were adapted for a rescue role. All military equipment not required was stripped out to make space, a standard airlock was added so that it could attach to federation craft, the grab and explosive entry system was retained for emergency rescues and the controls for the grab were enhanced to make it more dexterous allowing it to catch escape capsules and bring them back to the main battle cruiser.
The “squids” stayed in service long after their scheduled retirement date as the intended replacements could not match its ruggedness and adaptability.
When it was finally retired the remaining craft were demilitarised and snapped up by shipyards and scrap dealers for fetching and carrying heavy loads. The last few were finally retired due to lack of spares.
This build starts with a pill bottle, the neck of which had been cut off previously. I have glued some plasticard inside to give an anchor for the plastic parts I am going to hang off it and capped the back and front.
The command module is a surplus plastic easter egg.
Here is the main body assembled and the engines under construction, plus some other bits I may use.
by
Robomog, on Flickr
I have designed the grab and prototyped it on paper, here’s a couple of shots of the results.
by
Robomog, on Flickr
by
Robomog, on Flickr
So far, so good
Thanks for looking
Mog
>^-.-^<