Clark Bradshaw’s Model Stand

Here’s a brief page about the stand for my Ent-B. It details how to construct a sturdy stand that looks good and can be removed easily. I hope this helps some of my fellow modelers out there!

Take whatever you’re using for the stand (I use plexiglass rod) and wrap it with a piece of sheet styrene. I used a piece of .04″ thickness styrene and curled it up as tightly as I could, then it seemed to hold the shape better. Glue it together with smaller strips on the outside, being careful not to get any glue on the plexiglass and secure it with tape. When it’s dry slide the styrene tube off and measure it.

Turn the hull upside-down and drill a hole the same size as your tube. Because of the location of the seam on the bottom of the hull, it wants to split apart when you drill into it. To help this problem, start out with small drill bits and slowly work up to the larger size you need. Hold the two halves together as well as you can, perhaps using tape to help clamp them together

Drill completely through the shuttle bay area as well. This is also tough, as the shuttle bay wants to fall out. To be honest, my kit split down the seam quite a bit, and the shuttle bay fell completely out. I had to drill through the shuttle bay seperately and then do some repair work to the seams on the hull. This is the toughest part, but well worth the effort. Because the hole goes so far through the kit, the stand is incredibly steady! I don’t have to worry about the cat knocking it over.

For this next step I went ahead and glued on the top of the engineering hull. Test fit the tube and make sure you can get it in and out fairly easily. I used a ‘plastic welder’ epoxy that I found at Wal-mart to secure the tube at the base (the bottom in the picture) and in the shuttle bay. (Don’t use 5 minute epoxy, It won’t stick to the styrene very well) I used a lot at the bottom of the tube just to make sure it would hold. I used regular model glue at the top of the tube and let it all dry. Before it’s completely dry, slide the plexiglass into it, just to make sure the tube hasn’t warped from the glue.

When it’s all dry, cut off the piece that is still sticking out and sand it smooth. You might need to putty around the edges of it (I had some serious gaps!) and sand it smooth again. Congratulations! A beautiful and sturdy stand hole! Now just drill a hole in your favorite selection of wood, epoxy the plexiglass into it, glue some felt on the bottom, and you’re done!

Clark Bradshaw