Build your own Shuttlepod EL-BAZ! --------------------------------- Building instructions version 1.3 (15.6.94) This is a cardboard model of the Shuttlepod El-Baz as seen on Star Trek - the next generation. The scale should be around 1:33 assuming the shuttle is around 1.8 m in height. (The TNG Technical Manual gives 1.6 m as the height, but this is obviously false. Well, Americans and meters, what should I say? :-) What you need: -------------- - the files el-baz1.ps and el-baz2.ps - a printer with Postscript ability (or a Postscript interpreter) - two sheets of (letter or A4 sized) cardboard, 0.2 mm thick (around 130 g/(m^2)) Be sure NOT to use thicker cardboard! - a pair of scissors - a sharp knife - a ruler - all-purpose glue (I recommend UHU transparent glue, if that's available where you live) - a red and a yellow coloured pencil Instructions: ------------- Print out the files el-baz11.ps and el-baz2.ps on the cardboard sheets. If your printer cannot print on cardboard, print the files on paper and copy the printouts on the cardboard with a Xerox. Useful hints: - cut out each part as accurately as possible along the solid outline. - __ . __ . __ fold these lines; to make that easier and more accurate score these lines with a sharp knife before cutting out the piece. (Make sure not to cut through the cardboard with the knife.) Use a ruler to get straight cuts. - __ . . __ . . __ lines mark areas where other parts are to be glued. The number within the area shows which part is to be glued there. - numbers on the tabs show the part to which they have to be glued. Part 1: Use a red coloured pencil (or the like) to paint the lines above and below the "USS ENTERPRISE NCC-1701-D" signs on each side of the shuttle. Also paint the elliptical base of the Starfleet sign on each side red. Strengthen parts 1a and 1g with another layer of cardboard (just glue them on an empty area of the sheet). Use a sharp knife to cut out the two small rectangles on part 1a, which are marked with small scissors. Then strengthen part 1a with another layer of cardboard (now 3 layers thick). Glue parts 1a - 1g to the marked areas on part 1. Glue the tabs at the stern end of the sides of the shuttle under the stern hull. Do the same with the bow end. Close part 1 by glueing the tabs at the bottom to the floor plate. Part 2: Glue part 2 together just like you did with part 1, so that it becomes a tub. Glue the tabs on the rims of the upper side to the their markingsd on the underside of the floor plate of part 1. Note that part 1 is a bit longer at the bow than part 2! Part 3: Glue part 3 together to a tub and glue it to the marked area on the bottom of part 2. Part 4 (5): Colour the stripes on the engines aternately black (or grey) and yellow beginning with black or grey (for the first stripe from bow). Glue part 4 (5) together to a bar with hexagonal profile and a hexagonal pyramid at the front end. Glue part 4a (5a) to the marked area on part 4 (5). Glue part 4 (5) to the starboard (port) side to the marked area on part 2. All you have to do now is to boldly go where no one has gone before :) Oliver Goetz (s_goetz@ira.uka.de or oli@makeitso.rni.sub.org)
adam303