Scratchbuilding a Spaceship from Concept Art by Tom Sun

[@Spoon80085]

Skilled artisan experienced the honed precision of machines for the first time (1834 colorized)

[@Sublight_Drive]

💀💀💀

[@GameGW935]

Every video I see from you makes me want to try building with Polystyrene.

[@stanmiller305]

Do it! Its great!

[@ianeichenlaub5084]

Do it. It's fun and easy

[@onkcuf]

Of course.

[@RobWinton]

If you do. Note that styrene and polystyrene are NOT the same thing. You want styrene.

[@earlware4322]

Before you shell out the big bucks to dive headfirst into this I would suggest starting out with a cheaper alternative. Look for plastic "Garage Sale" signs from the store to practice with. When you feel more comfortable then you can go for the true styrene-aholics material of choice, 3'x4' sheets from a plastics manufacturer.

[@MrShogunfish]

Excited for the upcoming Vinyl-cut live, laugh, love wall art build video

[@Sublight_Drive]

Coming soon: a 20 minute video of me scrolling through script typefaces before just picking zapfino

[@SeldomCrow5408]

Keep this up bro, loving the new commentary format in your videos

[@DarlingbroughSciFiBuilds]

I love your models... I have just bought myself a cutting machine with the idea of using it for cutting styrene... I have done some tests already and I agree - it is REALLY useful! Thank you for the continued inspiration!

[@larsgottlieb]

That was bloody Epic!

[@B.Wildered]

I was more than happy to buy one of the templates at your Etsy shop. Appreciate you sharing those.

[@Sublight_Drive]

Sweet!! Hope you have fun with it!

[@echodelta2426]

This is just the type of video that I've been looking for. Awesome work.

[@_Hanover_]

So what I am hearing is with the new cutter more videos from you. Awesome!

[@mrwoodandmrtin]

Thanks for the cutter info. Ship looks good. Yes, it is a bit chunky, but still works.

[@CosmicQuestHobbies]

Awesome build!! I've definitely wanted to check into using the Cameo for some future builds! I'll check into it now for sure after seeing your video. Thank you for sharing🙂.

[@DarthP00P00]

You are hands down one of my favorite channels right now. I absolutely love your work and your production/editing is on point as well. I've watched Adam Savage do a few of these on Tested and it always fascinated me as I have always deeply appreciated that old school method of prop/model making especially on films like Star Wars. Fantastic work, keep it up. I'm always excited when I see a new video of yours. This channel rocks!

[@Sublight_Drive]

Thanks! Adam Savage’s videos on spaceship making are actually what inspired me in the first place to build my own

[@wingnutbert9685]

Love to see a video of you experimenting with various materials running them through the cutter machine. Various thicknesses of styrene, masking tape, decal sheets, painting masks. And how small of pieces you can get down to. I'll hit sub and hope to see what you find as you use the machine. 👍

[@toecutter]

Just found your channel, awesome work bro!

[@stevechewning7741]

Great video, great commentary, great use of background music not drowning out your commentary.

[@bjscustoms]

Definitely an awesome ship build. That cutter is really cool you were able to make some cool parts with it.

[@Trashbash_Creations]

Great build as usual! I love the paint job and weathering, Well done!

[@wingnutbert9685]

I was just checking out Adam Dryer's channel and thought I'd pass along a mention, in case you haven't seen his work. Big spaceship builds with a ton of greeblies. Well worth a look and a sub. I'm surprised both you and he don't have more sub's.

[@Notmadenough]

Always admired your work, makes me wish I had the courage to try it. Very much liking the commentary, something I thought missing from your videos.

[@veiledspace]

This is very interesting, and I totally agree that the commentary adds a lot to it. I don't think I have the patience for making something from scratch with styrene (I always use trash and plastic models instead :D), but it's amazing to see your process of making, greebling and painting. Gave me ideas for my own stuff. Thanks!

[@dankcitrus42]

amazing work man. I hope you get famous one day

[@matthewbaker429]

Nice job on model 👍

[@petsdinner]

I've always wondered why I haven't seen more scratchbuilders using cutting machines, they seem super handy!

[@scaleffect]

Outstanding yet again. Been thinking about one of these cutters already for painting masks, I didn't know they were robust enough to score styrene too. Will have to look into them further.

[@Sublight_Drive]

Yeah my though process for buying one was that even if it couldn't handle styrene, I could still use it for masks and stickers. Fortunately it works great for all the above!

[@Iamvalcristvalentine]

Always a good day for sublight drive. I would love to buy this ship from your shop if it was available. This style of ship is right up my alley.

[@Astranamic]

Hell YEA!! Filming this would so cool

[@monsterpartywars2018]

Congrats! I've been using a cutter for years now - it's the best thing ever for scratch building.

[@ultraparadiso]

nice work! very crisp :)

[@OnyxIdol]

Another cool build!

[@-webster3120]

I really enjoyed watching this one. I'm taking notes on your production as well.

[@Dylan-er9ji]

Hell ya! New vid from one of my favourite channels!

[@PitstainHobbies]

You really need to come to Wonderfest and enter some models in the show, your work is excellent!

[@Sublight_Drive]

I've looked into it! Hopefully I will, one of these years

[@Matthew_Lawless]

Thank you for finally buying a line plotter! (Not that you exactly needed it)

[@jaiseman5919]

Just joined you from this video, can't wait to see what's next!

[@tinyprince]

The ship looks very Homeworld-esque. Cool model. :)

[@seanmmccarthy]

Very enjoyable watch! I am some way through building one of your Kestros-Class Picket Cruisers. It's not as clean as yours, so will certainly be building more.

[@Sublight_Drive]

Hmm I bet there are templates or instructions you could find somewhere to help you get started 👀 👀 👀

[@seanmmccarthy]

@@Sublight_Drive I have started 🙂 I'm about to smash some primer on her.

[@jasonbecker4974]

Fun build! Nicely done.

[@DalleDC]

GReat build, really well done. It looks like Ghostbusters in going tp space after space ghost.

[@sargy7070]

Fantastic, be great to see you make one of my ships from my concept art 👍🏻

[@mallninja3797]

Looking good boss!

[@the-primered-thumb]

Ace mate 😉👍

[@RexExLiberi]

With this new machine, now along with the templates you could directly sell the "pre-cut" sheets directly if you wanted to, just like a kit

[@Sublight_Drive]

I've definitely considered it, but it'd take some serious infrastructure setup to start mailing things out. Maybe someday!

[@earlware4322]

​@@Sublight_DrivePre-cut sheets in kit form would be a big relief and time saver for those of us without a brand new smancy cutting machine. 😋 A bit higher cost for the user, but well worth it for some of us. 👍 I hope you definitely look into it and consider this option once you've mastered the new machine.

[@soyyo85]

Super ❤

[@cerisekappes580]

Cool as hell!! 😊

[@magnusrexus]

this was cool i remember commenting on you getting a machine like thing now you need a resin and fdm printer

[@rOEN911]

hi there thats a very nice project final product is awesome,i got the files my self but i had no time to make this one yet ,i am using also cameo for years what i recommend is to use less depth on your first cut and two couple rounds before you go down to the depth you need otherwise you will ruin the cutter very soon plus not sure if you noticed ,is clogging the cutter and is a bit hard to clean it ,i dont remember where i got mine years ago but i found a knock off cutter on ebay i think for like 5-6 euro so i bought few just to use them for the plastic and the one that comes with the machine that is good quality for decals !

[@ReituagZbrah]

Super cool ship! For those videos of making a ship from an artwork, could you add a side-by-side comparison at the end? I must confess that, by the end of the video, I have totally forgotten the original reference. And it is really nice to see you trying new methods and techniques. I hope it will mean seeing new original bolder designs! Keep on with the great work 💪

[@charlesforbin6937]

CHRIS FOSS IS ALSO A GREAT INSPIRATION FOR FUTURE BUILDS.....BTW GREAT BUILD.

[@legocreators]

I bought a cricut maker 3 a couple years ago for papercraft and it is such a treat. Wish I did my research before cause I definitely would’ve gone cameo. Cricut design space is made so wine moms can make dumb stickers on their iPad so it’s lacking some of the most basic functionality

[@wingnutbert9685]

Wine Mom's!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Chardonnay Cheryl's and their scrap booking do seem to be the heavy focus of these companies target marketing. I was leaning Cricut, but then heard some folks hint that they were displeased with a number of aspects of the machines and/or customer support. I'd like to find a non sponsor bias video review. Not a sponsor targeted hit review from the wine spritzer gang.

[@jonathanj8303]

@Sublight_Drive I haven't dusted it off in a while, but I used an older generation silhouette extensively for model railroad projects a few years ago (and when I get some actual free time, I need to get to dusting off and playing with it again). I found that it cut best without the mat, and I solved the issue you had by cutting my styrene into 4ft long strips of machine width - i just loaded up a strip that was plenty long enough for today's project and let it go. As the strips got progressively worked down that sometimes left a scrap that was too small for the machine to grip safely, I just found other uses for those. I did all my design in CAD (mostly QCAD), and then just copied the files into the native software (I think I was using dxf as the transfer format, but it might have been dwg.). I coped with the scale issue by bracketing my CAD files top and bottom with a pair of 200mm long (insert imperial equivalent if needed), that were also a known distance apart (usually also a round number of inches/mm). I opened the CAD file in the cameo software, copied its entire contents, and then pasted them into a new file, which automatically gave me control of the size - retaining the original height/width ratio - as well as positioning. And I know I want it to be 200mm wide and (as a sanity check) exactly however long, so it was seconds work to get it right. I standardized on 30thou material, my previous generation machine had a tendency to jam on 40thou, hopefully yours is happier. I also found that it tended to run slightly underlength on the y axis, along the machine - I think this was about 0.5%, but I'm not sure. For smaller stuff, it didn't matter, for bigger models (longest piece I ever cut was about 2ft) I stretched it in the CAD first where I had exact control, and then shunted it across as normal. I also tended to try and make sure mating edges were cut in the same orientation, so they automatically got the same shink anyway. Overall it was a really great tool to speed things up and get nice crisp work. In some ways better than a laser cutter, and definitely less hassle for small projects.

[@Squidmaster2470]

The new cutter is very cool! I bet it will really help streamline the process when you build the Yggdrasil from Hyperion Cantos in your next video!

[@Sublight_Drive]

sorry I actually only plan on using it for evil not good

[@Squidmaster2470]

@@Sublight_Drive so you are going to build the Archimedes?

[@FlapjackMcFlintlock]

Ay 9:29 in the video - Boylei Hobby time often uses guitar strings cut and shaped to use as pipes on kit bashed structures, maybe try that instead of the armature wire

[@mckarri7753]

Which Cameo cutting setup did you use for styrene? Do you have a screenshot? Which Cameo knife did you use?

[@dependent-ability8631]

can't believe i watched an 18 minute long advertisement for a cutting machine

[@RobertSE6]

Fantastic work! I hope you'll include Cameo files in your future Etsy sales :-)

[@amedefeu009]

I absolutely love your videos, they have inspired to try kitbashing on my own. Thank you so much man. By the way, do you have a discord server where ppl can share their creation? If not it would be cool if you made one.

[@CosmicYarn]

I'd love to see you build a model of the Kushan Mothership from Homeworld 🙏

[@earlware4322]

Awesome ship, not a bad translation from the artwork. I agree its a bit chunky, but that wotks with this design. Thid is my favorite style of model building using sheet styrene. Years ago I explained what I was doing to my dad and he remarked that when he was a kid he did the same thing, but using wood from apple crates to make airplane models. Did have a question though; what is the cutout/sunken section in the top of the ship for? Surely that isn't the hanger bay is it? Not right in front of the engine intakes...🤔 🤨 How did that clear OSHA???

[@Naarlack]

Awesome job. Adding the bent pieces around the edges gives it a super professional finish! I wonder if a bit of heat during the bending will reduce the risk of snapping?

[@Sublight_Drive]

Yes! Styrene is a thermoplastic and takes well to being heated in order to bend it. It doesn't work very well unless you can heat the sheet evenly, though, so I usually don't bother.

[@sabihobby2907]

Awesome build as always. The cutting machine opens up so many new possibilities. I'm looking at getting one myself. I have a couple of questions if you don't mind. What thickness styrene are you using and what blade? Anything special I should order in addition to the printer?

[@ExiledPiasa]

Great job. How about a steampunk starship for your fleet?

[@scottcharleston5298]

Have you thought about using this on painters tape to make stick on stencils?

[@lucidnonsenseable]

I love the work and this video convinced me to get a Cameo too, you should see if Silhouette will sponsor you ;) I was wondering if there was a specific blade or setting and what thickness styrene are you cutting.

[@TheDavidPoole]

That styrene cutting machine is a bit of a game changer. Can you set the depth and\or width of the cut? I'm thinking of visual effect.

[@waynee.weatherwax8408]

found the link looks like you have the Cameo 5, what cutter are you using to scribe the styrene?I price the Cameo5 but not sure which cutter to order do you use the Knife blade cutter? Cant find out if that blade works with Cameo 5

[@dmanton300]

The scaling is an affinity issue. ISTR you need to ensure export is at 72dpi to retain the scaling. Not sure if it's the same with affinity photo 2, but you can adjust the settings to scale correctly.

[@ooftaZone]

Some cutters can be fitted with different shape/degree blades. Common degrees range 30-60 usually. Working at a printshop only cut mainly stickers/decals. Though would think a 60 degree blade may work well.

[@Sublight_Drive]

The machine I bought only came with one blade, but it can be swapped out for a whole variety of course. One thing I saw that I’m actually curious about was an embossing stylus that I might be able to use to make panel lines.

[@GPGPapercraftTX]

What material setting did you use for the Styrene cut? Silhouette Studio has a library of pre-set blade depth cuts for different stuff like vinyl or paper. Import as .SVG.. Size remains consistent.

[@Sublight_Drive]

I toyed around with the settings a bit to find what I liked, but generally I found that high pressure, slow, and a relatively shallow cut worked best.

[@AaronStevens-l3s]

Love your content! Could you please tell me about the little dish that you dispense the weld on into? If I was going to guess, I would say it's the bottom of an aluminum can. But maybe it's an item that can be purchased?

[@Sublight_Drive]

You are correct it IS the underside of an aluminum can. So, I guess technically it is something you can purchase.

[@waynee.weatherwax8408]

most interesting but how about a link to the cutter you use and software?

[@skylarking12]

I'm curious about how long the machine cuts well before you need to change the blade, and how difficult and expensive is the blade changing?

[@Sublight_Drive]

Tbh I’m curious too. The blade that came with the machine held up well all the way through this project, and changing it out is super easy, but I’m used to swapping blades like 3 times in a single build when I’m cutting by hand, so I guess I’ll just have to find out.

[@DanMowry]

Geez, Louise, this is good! I really appreciate your work and have already built from your templates and I'm grateful for all the effort you put into them. A couple of quick questions… What series of machine is this? There's a four and a five out there, also, what thickness can this handle for the styrene?

[@Sublight_Drive]

The machine I have is a 4. I dunno what the limit is for thickness but it handled the 040 just fine

[@davidaugustofc2574]

I feel like the main body (without the panel lines of course) could receive a little putty to make it look like a more connected shape instead of different panels glued together. There's not a continuous surface big enough to look like the frame that's holding it all.

[@randywarren2877]

Im currently scratch building a 1/8 Drum kit out of styrene and used my Cricut to cut the shapes with. Im using .020 and .040 sheets and a deep cutting blade with multi-able cuts passes to make each cut using a poster board setting. Just curious what settings you used on your machine?

[@Sublight_Drive]

I'm basically using poster board settings, but only a single pass and making sure it goes slow and with a decently high pressure. I found that it didn't need to be that deep of a cut, though, because I'm just scoring it for snapping by hand.

[@averdadeestalafora.2578]

Muito bacana. Very good😊 Eu fazia naves com objetos retirados de tv, máquinas e equipamentos eletrônicos.

[@wingnutbert9685]

I like it. A nice, overall simple shape. A restrained amount of greebly detail. Enough, but not getting too busy. ???: If you wouldn't mind giving your opinion: Is there a favourite scale (or 2 or 3) that is most common with spaceship/sci-fi/ terrain diorama builders? Just curious since you and so many other really talented crafters build things to sell as kits or finished products and if everyone builds to a "usual" scale so everyone's work works with each others stuff? Thanks!!!

[@Sublight_Drive]

I don’t build with any particular scale in mind. However, most kits come in 1/35, 1/72, or 1/144 scale, so those are I’d say the most common, especially if the build has mini people in it. Model trains I think are usually around 1/72 but don’t quote me on that.

[@cb3391]

Bad ass👍

[@Coltain476]

What settigns are you using on your cutter? I experimented around with settings on my Cameo but could never get it dialed in for scoring styrene.

[@Sublight_Drive]

I went back and forth a bit on depth, but I got the best results with very slow, high pressure cuts.

[@psionicfyre]

Love your videos! Building your VX-7 as my first attempt at scratch building. Do you have any recommendations for kits to use for greeblies? Do specific models/brands have more parts suitable for use as greeblies?

[@Sublight_Drive]

Awesome! I don't have any specific recommendations, but I've found that model ships have some of my favorite bits. In general, the bigger and more complicated the kit, the smaller and more detailed the greeblies that come with it. Model tanks are also great, because the wheels make for good engines!

[@psionicfyre]

@@Sublight_Drive Thanks much!

[@PilouLeLoupTVCorp]

Hi ! I really love your models you make a wonderful job ! I was wondering, what type of plastic sheet (the one you cut at the beginning of the video) do you use for your models, it seems really practical for modeling and I wish to use it too ! Thanks you in advance, Pilou ^^

[@Sublight_Drive]

The material is styrene, also called HIPS (high impact polystyrene) or Plasticard. You can buy it in printer paper sized sheets from companies like Evergreen or Plastruct, but I like to buy mine in bulk from a plastic manufacturer near where I live. I have other videos where I talk more about the techniques I use working with it as a material. Hope this helps!

[@tedhobgood]

A friend of mine sent me your video because he knew I had a Silhouette Cameo and wanted to know if I'd let him come over and use my machine to try and cut some styrene. I don't know anything about model building, but I enjoyed your whole video! One thing: about the scaling issue when using Affinity Designer. I use Affinity Designer m'self. (Used to be an Adobe man, but switched a year ago when Adobe's subscription model became too oppressive.) How are you bringing in your drawings from Designer to Silhouette Studio? It looked like you may have just been dragging them in? What I do is export my Affinity Designer file to PDF, and then import that PDF into Silhouette Studio. I've never had any scaling issues that way. Give it a try; I hope it works for you!

[@lexibyday9504]

I'd love to do this but I don't have any final designs that I think are ready to make

[@jimkarnes7724]

Where can I purchase the polystyrene sheets

[@rbleisem]

So, what happens if you use the basic shape of this ship, as four engine pods of a bigger ship? Just wondering here. Like say one hull section of your Tripathia Class Ship of the Line from The Sojourn, as a basic main hull. Just needs some wings, that are big enough to have quarters in them.

[@empireranger]

It is to wonder: having watched you painfully cutting out shapes and shipyard numbers from painters tape, will your new cutter safely cut decal paper?

[@shinmatsunami]

This method would be cool to do the racers from the Wip3out series.

[@Sublight_Drive]

Oooh yeah those are sick I might have to give that a go in the future

[@shinmatsunami]

@@Sublight_Drive Right??

[@Atomikoira]

Would you now consider to make and sell kits?

[@Sublight_Drive]

It’s something I’ve considered as a possibility- though I’d have to do some serious work to figure out how to set up the pipelining for that.

[@Tanymsun]

Okay new question which cameo is that? I’ve found a number of models.

[@Sublight_Drive]

The one I have is a Cameo 4

[@dartmart9263]

You should sell copies of your ship!!! PS. Do you sell your models after making the videos?

[@DarthP00P00]

God I would love one of these, I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

[@Bob-b7x6v]

Now you just need body templates and greebly kits for a Nostromo. That Halcyon kit is Unaffordium...

[@standupjoe]

Can you tell us exactly what cutting machine model you are using? Thanks.

[@Sublight_Drive]

The one I have is a Silhouette Cameo 4

[@standupjoe]

@@Sublight_Drive Thank you very much!

[@standupjoe]

Are you ordering the styrene online? If so, who from?

[@Tanymsun]

What is the glue you use? Thanks.

[@Sublight_Drive]

I use both Weld On 3 and regular CA glue in all my builds

[@Tanymsun]

@@Sublight_Drive Thanks.

[@JustinThorLPs]

Have you thought about creating your own universe for the things you make It might be an interesting exercise.

[@Sublight_Drive]

I have a setting that all my originals technically fit into, though I haven’t expanded on it much. There’s little tidbits of it in the instructions I sell.

[@Bob-b7x6v]

Gas Giant Scoop Tanker?

[@ScottKraft]

Cricut does not require a subscription anymore.

[@Bogart745]

I’m guessing you’ve already figured this out, but if you draw a box of a known dimension around the parts you can use that box to easily scale in the software, then just delete it

[@Sublight_Drive]

Yep, that's basically the solution I arrived at. Of course, it only works if I'm paying attention...

[@wombora]

never put the blue masking tape on the stickypad for the machine because you thought to cut out some shapes - it will rip up the sticky part of the pad and you need to buy a new one, get the one with a backing foil

[@franklima]

Now you need to learn how to CAD Sheetmetal... (fusion 360 has a free tier with Sheetmetal)

[@Sublight_Drive]

Every six months or so I try to teach myself CAD and lose steam after about 2 hours, but one of these days I'll manage it

[@franklima]

@@Sublight_Drive it's worth doing you will be able to take on more complex projects and be able to iterate on those projects much more quickly for example the proportionality issues you saw on this project could be caught and corrected very early. It will also enable your patterns and sold items to be more complete and complex. Not to mention unlocking the possibility of creating your own griebles.

[@RoughEdgeBarb]

@@Sublight_Drive Have you tried Blender? the addon Seams to Sewing Patterns can be used to export Blender's UV layout as an SVG file. Though there's a lot of different workflows for stuff like hard surface so it might take some experimenting to find one that works for you.

[@monsterpartywars2018]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGnbmWuElKiHfbM This is part of my process too -- I design my patterns in 3D in SketchUp and export to SVG; the SVGs can have overlaps, but they also break at every vertex. I've never used the Cameo, but the Cricut software treats each section as a separate cut operation, which picks up and repositions the cutting head. If you have 5 sections in a row, it will literally take 5 times as long as 1 straight section, so hand-optimizing the SVG files is always necessary.

[@Sublight_Drive]

Yup- Basically what I found is that using the machine is less physical work, but the time I spend working on the computer is a lot longer. So, a tradeoff, but one I'm certainly willing to make.

[@monsterpartywars2018]

@Sublight_Drive Same! I had the same experience, that the end result is far more precise than I could do by hand, an effect that is multiplied significantly with complex shapes. Definitely worth the time for me.

[@thomaswakefield6889]

sure would have been nice if you included a link to the cameo cutter