By Paul Gould

History:

The Nebulon-B Frigate appeared as part of the Rebel fleet in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

The Nebulon-B is scratchbuilt from balsa wood, sheet styrene, styrene tube and rod, and miscellaneous pieces from the parts box. The bow ship was constructed in four parts: the bow, lower extension that hangs from under the bow, the connecting strut, and the engines. The project was begun on February 22, 2002 and completed on March 31, 2002.

The bow of the ship is built around a piece of balsa wood sanded into shape. .005 sheet styrene was used to cover the wood. Then panels of .40 sheet styrene was cut, the ends sanded, and glued in place to form the angular sides. Milliput was used to form the bump-like extensions along the front of the bow of ship. Styrene tubing was then used to accent detailing. Small pieces of .010 sheet styrene was used to accent the paneling. The communications array was added last, using rods of various widths cut at varying lengths; the bases cut at a 45% angle and attacked to the portside.

Beneath the bow of the ship is an extension filled with various compartments. This is the only area I used preformed parts; sections of pens, and a cap from a small tube of super glue. Other sections were cut from bulsa wood to make some of the irregularly shaped sections. The pieces were mounted to a piece of .80 sheet styrene with a second piece mounted a ¼” behind it; the paneling along the sides (made from .10 sheet styrene) of the extension were then glued to the .80 styrene sheets.

The connecting strut is a .187x .312 rectangular tube with a brass rob run instead it for stability. Rod, tubing and bits of styrene were layered to produce the final effect.

The engines are two two pieces of .80 sheet styrene cut and sanded to a rough V-shape. Panels of .40 sheet styrene were used to form the sides. Bits of styrene were laid down across sections of the sides and then covered with three layers of quadrilateral shapes cut from .05 and .10 sheet styrene. Small sections of v-groove panels were used for accents.

Styrene strips of .066 x .112, .043 x .090, and .015 x .080” were used to detail the front and rear of the engineering section; this creates the rough appearance of the hull as various sections protrude from the engine housing. The aft engine mounts were cut from ½” tube.

Painting:

Basecoat is light grey airbrushed over a dark primer. Dark Ghost Gray and Dark Sea Blue were used to produce shadowing – creating “depth” in the model required significant shadowing. I mixed my own colors for paneling: pale green + light ghost gray, Navy Blue + neutral gray. Gunship Gray, British Crimson, Sand and US Navy Blue were used to simulate laser scorch marks and detailing.

References:

4 poor pics of the vessel from Starwars.com, one schematic graciously sent by a fellow Starship Modeler enthusiast, and 1980 "Super Screen Collection" poster produced by Burger King.

Image: Looking up at the bow section

Image: The back side of the bow section

Image: Engines