The Cargo module is the obvious start. It is essentially an empty box with doors, so I won't be distracted from the issue at hand: building the modules' basic structure in a sturdy fashion.



The floor was the easy part. I just reused First Light cargo floor texture, and photoshoped it to a 5 by 5 grid. Then I mounted it on a sheet of corrugated PVC. These sheet comes in 2,3 and 5 mm thickness. I opted for the thinest 2mm which is sturdy enough, and easier to cut.



The wall structure was trickier. I had to make provision for 4 sliding doors (one in each wall) so a conventional box structure with four sides was ruled out: each sliding door would effectively create a discontinuity in the walls running around the floor tile. So I decided that I would be better off creating 4 corners in PVC sheet that would be wrapped in a "flat fold".



For the wall as well there has been quite a few modification to be made to the texture. To respect the orgininal tile layout, the doors had to be reduced to a width of 1 inch (even though large doors for a cargo bay is more realistic).

This last pic shows the size difference between the game's original tile size and my prototyped module.



I had a few warps problem of the wall section which is just above the doors which is the only area which is "soft" (the pvc corners stop 5mm short of the doors side to leave room for the sliding doors insert). I have to find a way to minimize this but I don't think that I will have the skill to completely remove the problem. but once the sliding doors are in, the warp does not look too bad (even though it's still there).

OK... I'm gonna be hassling ya to bring this stuff down to KL.......



Starting........



now.....


*hassle*

*hassle*

*hassle*

*hassle*






LOL

Looking good, and can't wait for the completed set pictures

The picture below shows one of these 4 PVC corners that I used to mount the wall.



By cutting the upper layer of the PVC corrugated sheet, you will get a neat fold. Another advantage of PVC corrugated sheet is that no matter which glue you use (I just can't get the UHU Office pen here!) it won't warp.

Thanks for these early encouragement guys, that is really a kicker to see your replies to my posts so quickly!

My next module will be the life support module. Here is the original game tile (from the publisher's website).


It is the next most simple module : a box just like the above Cargo Bay module, with some piece of machineries in the 4 corners. I will look into FL & FL retro to find some apropriate texture for the life support machines.

For this next iteration I will try to improve the build of the outer box, looking especially after these anoying little warps above the doors. Also this time some floor cells will be numbered for game functionality.

This is a fun project to watch unfold and I wish you all the success.

For life support equipment, or other machinery, don't discount Mars Station, PCON, and PCRS. FL and FL:RF have the most pieces, but the other sets have bits and pieces that could help.

Also, if you don't mind mixing it up, there are some excellent pieces in the Derelict II set from .

Arabin

Looking good so far! I would have probably just layered the walls with extra layers of cardstock to make room for the sliding door. Are you using the PVC just for the extra support?

I had thought of using the corrugated PVC but settled for the solid PVC Board instead.

The really cool thing about the corrugated is that you can get some cheap dowel rods and use them to link your floor pieces together instead of cutting all the bow ties out.

Beautiful job so far Looks cool

Now let's create a real, playable, life support module for battlestations.
This is what is needed before mounting the box.



After mounting this is what we get



This time the warp above the door was reduced to an acceptable level. Here is a detail pic to show the numbering of some of the tiles to comply with the battlestations game rules.



Now I need to do the props... it must occupy the four 2by2 inch square in the the corner of the room. However I will depart frankly for the original tile design... I need a couple of hibernation pods, some rack beds (FL), a pharmacy, and some food corner with dispenser, table and chairs.

Since you are asking to it

Here is the work in progress for the life support module. Thanks to an earlier post, I checked out PC Red Sector and found.... OMG! Cryo pods!
The problem was that their foot print was too long... they must cover exactly 2x1 inch to fit my design so I had to do a volume modification. By inclining more the pods, I could reduce the pod-stand foot print to the right dimensions. Hard work, with many tries and fails. I Wish I will not have to modify too much the volumes in this project.



My next problem is... lining. I am edging challenged. Looks so easy on the tutorial video. My pods looked worse after lining than before. Somehow the black ink get sucked in the paper and the line is irregular. Or if I go faster I rip off one side and leave a black scare on the side of the module. So this is it. Next time I will change my strategy. First I will modify the color of the tabs in photoshop and make them as black as a Ford T. then I will edge the side of the cardboard right after the cut, and before I glue anything.




I will have to redo those pods anyway, I have not yet found transparent paper that works for Ink Jet.




Now I have a last corner to populate. In the end only the 2 central corridor must be free for walking. I will probably combine a vac suit locker with some piece of machinery for oxygen recycling.

That is DAMN pretty! Thanks for sharing!

Sacretis

Looking really nice. Where is the shower from? Is that in FL:RF?

Keep up the good work, this is a lot of fun to watch develop... just wish I could also play on it when it's complete.

Arabin

What glue are you using to attach the cardstock to the corrugates plastic?

Thanks for your feed-back.

Here is my picture dump of the day.

I have now reached the final layout for that life suuport module... here is a view from the top.


I have redone my cryo pods, this time using (unprinted) transparancies. In the original set (PC-Red sector) the pods were occupied with humans. This is a bit annoying, as when the players plays, their carracter won't be hibernating in the cryo pods. So I have redone the pod insert art with an empty seat.



Well, I could not resist using the original art with the squeleton. That was my idea of the day: I can't print transparent... but I can still burn it!
Come to think of it... dying burned alive in a cryo pod... how ironical...


It's hard to get the camera angle, but here is the last pic with the vac suit locker. I changed its foot print to 1*2 inch because I really needed to get that surface covered. I also lowered it so that I have so room to connect some air duct pipe from the air recycling machine (behind the locker)... but these pipes are not shown yet.


So, short of a couple of air duct pipes and a pharmacy somewhere, this module is almost finished.
So that's 2 down and 8 to go to cover the basic game of battlestations!

Lovin it! Keep em coming

I really like the empty pod... as cool as the model is, I was a little disappointed there wasn't an empty one. Don't get me wrong, the set is amazing, and that model in partcular is really nice... I just wish there had been an empty option.

Would you consider submitting the small inside piece as a kitbash? I'd certainly buy it to save time.

Arabin

WOW, great job! Its incredible all of the stuff you were able to get into that room, and yet each area of it fits together so well. I can hardly wait to see the next box. Like Denny said ... keep them coming.

Arabin,

Yeah my intention was to eventually issue some kitbash. I just have to figure out the submission process. As for the pod insert, is it possible for me to submit a kitbash with that mod alone?

OK, here are the last and final sets of pics for the Life support module.



The air ducts were taken from PC Red sector set... and rescaled to 50%. I wanted these as a (remote) reference to the original game tile.





Now for the pharmacy, something funny happened. The "props- misc" instricution of FL-Retrofit (page 9) make specific reference to a medical console... but I could not find any corresponding model

So I have taken a 2 section airduct (still resized to 50%), shifted the color, added a few red-cross ... et voila! got a med-kit.



Now, the next module will be a bit less detail intensive...

Here is the original game tile (from publisher website)



As before, I will depart from the original design, but will stick obsesively with the actual floor layout so that the modules "plays" like the original one.

I don't have FL:RF yet (it's on my to-buy list) so I can't comment on the med station. You workaround seems fine though. I really like the resized air ducts.

Thanks for showing us you next tile... it's really hard to resist offering suggestions. I can't help thinking how I might accomplish it. I don't want to say anything though as you are coming up with great ideas.

It does make me think that perhaps, we can hold a community fun competition type thing at some point. If someone posts a flat tile, and we all have a week to build our interpretation of it in 3D

Arabin

I'm wondering if the Cannon can be done extremely quickly and easily (in terms of elements involved), since there already IS a huge cannon in PCON. It's just a matter of figuring out how to "open up" the center space to access, and presumably fire, the thing. You'd also probably have to stretch and widen it a bit, as (IIRC) it's original base profile is 2x2, not 2x3.

Still, I'd definately start there.

Heh, I held back, but Andorax didn't. That was the starting point I was thinking of, but didn't want to push you towards my vision for this. If you need suggestions, let us know... but otherwise I'll try to keep quiet and see what you come up with. So far I'm really enjoying your ideas.

Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Arabin