These are pictures of my two rocketship models, during all major phases of their construction. The materials used include foam core board for the bulkheads, wood rods for the central support truss, wood thread spools to anchor the bulkheads to the support truss, cardboard and paper to cover the ships' exteriors, foam core board for the fins and fin supports, plastic beads for the rivets, electric Christmas candles or fluorescent bulbs for the interior lighting, plastic domes (painted green) for lighting effects, wood beams and brass hooks for hanging support, and the tops of large outdoor illuminated Christmas candles for the rocket exhausts.

Design and construction took approximately two months for the newer rocketship (the green vessel, pictured first) and two weeks for the older orange rocket, inspired by the Wallace and Gromit movie "A Fine Day Out". Also pictured is an assembled plastic kit, modified with interior illumination, of the flying saucer from the 1950's sci-fi classic film "Forbidden Planet."

The first fifteen pictures illustrate and chronicle the construction of the new rocketship model, completed in September, 2005. The finished model is 50" long, 48" wide, and 35" tall.

The ship's central support skeleton, showing the wooden rods and the smallest bulkheads at either end of the spaceship.

The ship's "skeleton" with half the bulkheads glued into place.

The ship with its skeleton already completed. Note the four vertical support rods which are anchored securely to the inner truss.

The ship with the hinged front hatch now mounted. The hinges are brass, and my plan is to eventually hang an astronaut out in front of the open hatch, as though he's an intrepid, spacewalking explorer!

A closeup of the hinged front hatch.

The ship with some of the exterior plating anchored into place. The interior lighting fixtures (6 fluorescent bulbs, 7 watts each) have already been mounted. These bulbs should last 7 years, and because they are all mounted to a single wooden rod, I can remove the entire assembly through the back of the ship (after removing a back plate) and replace all the bulbs.

Same as the previous picture, but with no flash.

The front of the completely plated spaceship. Note the porthole.

The rear of the spaceship, before riveting (with plastic beads) and painting. Note the three large fins. One of the rocket nose cones is also visible. The spaceship model has two side mounted engine pods, each of which has a large rocket flame and a nose cone mounted to the front.

The side of the model during riveting/painting.

The back of the model during the painting phase.

The finished model, front view, hanging from the basement ceiling!

Side view of the spaceship with the lights turned on.

Front view of the spaceship.

A view through the front hatch, in which three of the bulbs are visible through the purple color gel.

The 28" diameter Forbidden Planet flying saucer model...

The next set of pictures pertain to the construction of the older scratch-built rocketship model...

The ship's skeleton -- the foam core bulkheads glued to the central support rods. Four rods ran the entire 36" length of the hull. An outer set of four additional rods ran the central 2/3 of the length of the hull.

Closeup view showing the interior construction, including the candles (with easily replaceable bulbs).

The hull with 1/4 of the exterior "plating" completed. The "lights are on" for effect. Each piece of hull (one of 96 pieces) had to be individually cut, hand-fitted, and glued into place.

The hull, with most of the exterior completed. Note the holes where the portholes and hatch will be anchored, through which light will shine.

The completed hull. The hull has a length of 36" and a maximum diameter of 16". The total weight is under ten pounds, and the entire structure is amazingly sturdy.

Top view of the hull, showing the plastic rivets being glued into place, as well as part of the hull having been painted bright orange.

The hull has now been completely riveted and painted, and the fin supports (built of foam core) have been cemented into place and painted.

The completed rocket, with the lights turned on. Each of 5 bulbs consumes roughly 7 watts of power.

The rocketship, from the rear, suspended from the ceiling.

Forward view of the rocketship.

Please email the author.