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Post by BlockadeRunner on May 10, 2005 20:12:07 GMT -5
Okay.... so - the thread here involves my newest vehicle - a 1965 GMC school bus, with lifted roof and rear loft, once converted to a motorhome - now to be restored and re-converted into a shop (with, hopefully, the capability to allow me to drive a car INSIDE it to take with me on trips - my own shuttle bay!). It struck me that the rear loft kind of looked like the engine nacelles on the NASA space shuttle.... and after making that statement it got pointed out to me this would make a good "Tantive IV" - a Corellian corvette used as Leia's ship in the original, and used as "blockade runners" in the history of the Star Wars universe. Pictures are going on my web page www.kevin-coughlin.com/cars/bus - no finesse on this yet, but feel free to look. More discussion and a little thought.... and I think it is true. So here's the deal. I'm planning now - to start working in 3 to 6 weeks. First off is mechanical repairs, gutting out the old interior, and ripping off the plywood storage bit over the driver. Interior will be built not out of lots of wood, but with metal (hey, I LIKE to work with metal, and sometimes metal is stronger and lighter to work with than wood). So, the inside will be shop space for tools (grinders, drills, maybe a small lathe) and the back will be a "garage" to carry a small car - with a sleeping area in the loft above the car. The Tantive IV has a "hammerhead" front.... I'm thinking that some 55 gallon drums, cut on a slight angle, and welded together would replace the front plywood thingy.... and I could make another berth/storage space there. The back has to be able to come down like a ramp.... but engine nacelles would look absolutely awesome coverning the back.... perhaps with some red LED lighting inside. Radar dishes, remote (water shooting) turrets, a big picture or two of Star Wars characters on the side of the bus (so that people will get the idea). What else? I will have better pictures of this in about 3 weeks - I will post them on my site and you can see... Right now it is still filled with junk from the previous owners, but they were cleaning it out. Also.... color schemes.... Probably will have a white top - from the elastomeric roof paint (rubber sealant stuff). But the body? Whatever I can get cheap from the recycled building materials place.... I'm told house paint does okay on something with over 200 square feet of space inside it! Kevin |
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Post by Red 5 on May 11, 2005 14:45:31 GMT -5
I know I've mentioned this before, but what would really do it for me would be a rotating gun turret on the roof. This leaves only one question: Water or paintball?  Love the hammerhead idea, by the way. Can't wait to see how that turns out! |
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Post by BlockadeRunner on May 11, 2005 20:34:38 GMT -5
>I know I've mentioned this before, but what would >really do it for me would be a rotating gun turret on >the roof. This leaves only one question: >Water or paintball? Somebody TOLD you about my double-barrelled "Super Stingray" paintball marker, didn't they! Actually.... I'm a fireman too.... so I think I would have to be true to my inner voices....... BOTH! Laminar flow system to shoot "slugs" of water - for fun - and another system with special paintballs for "discouragement" - perhaps connected to a sophisticated motion sensing perimeter alarm system for camping - something to keep those pesky mynocks from chewing on the power cables. Did you know that paintballs come in clear? And also solid rubber? And in indelible dye? And CS Teargas? |
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Post by Red 5 on May 12, 2005 3:36:11 GMT -5
...muahahaha. *ahem* Yes. Mynocks are a problem.  |
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Post by BlockadeRunner on May 13, 2005 2:02:47 GMT -5
So.... with paint, and using a projector to shoot the image onto the side, I hope to get some detail on the bus to make it look spaceshippy. I will put the double can front on where it will replace the plywood thing on the bus now, and will double as storage and/or a bunk for small people... i.e. my nephews. Turrets and radars and guns and such will stud the roof line, and engines will be on the backside. Yes, I know it is rough - but I haven't even secured a proper title on this vehicle - and I don't want to spend a bunch of time/money on it until I get the legality part of it fixed. A few weeks.... I'll just be building gun emplacements for when I DO take it home. Check out the mock up at www.kevin-coughlin.com/cars/bus/images/ihth77-TantiveIV.jpg for a bit more of an idea. |
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Post by BlockadeRunner on May 19, 2005 19:24:34 GMT -5
I did stop at "liquidation world" up in Everett yesterday to pick up some envelopes... looked in the paint section, and for 8 bucks a gallon they have aluminum and vinyl siding paint. Exterior grade stuff.... white.... for aluminum... Hmmm. My bus is steel sided, and aluminum topped. I bet a good scrub with a power washer (so hard it flakes away the paint) followed by a brush on a stick and some TSP detergent, and another rinse with the power washer.... then mask and spray with a Wagner house painting sprayer..... Make the bus all white - it will give it a good base for my Star Wars graphic designs *grin*. Anybody around the Puget Sound area have something like a Wagner power painter I could borrow in a few weeks? I have an air sprayer, but I'm thinking airless would be much better - it is just like painting a house, including scaffolding requirements to reach the roof!
Oh yeah.... and "JEDIBUS" is not taken for a custom plate.... *evil grin*.
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Post by DarthArjuna on May 20, 2005 16:18:47 GMT -5
Heh, I would have tried for "TANTIVE4" first (I'm assuming an 8 character limit, as there is in New York State).
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Post by BlockadeRunner on May 20, 2005 19:47:29 GMT -5
No - Washington state is 7 characters. Bummer - really crimps my creative style! You can check Washington plate ideas at fortress.wa.gov/dol/dolprod/vsdpersonalplateonline/I notice "PODRACR" is taken *grin*. Darn.... I was thinking that would be good on the little fiat of mine! So.... any better ideas? The name of the bus is "Triton" - One of Neptune's moons, and the largest by far in the solar system that orbits "backwards". I'm a little backwards, and the bus is certainly one of the largest carfighters around that isn't commercial. But "Triton" is taken. Kevin |
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Post by Don Solo on May 24, 2005 17:52:27 GMT -5
your idea to have a giant Tantive IV on top looks like it would work very well from that picture... I'd think if you went that route then you could paint the rest of the bus black and have a starfeild to make it 'look" like it's flying, and mayb pain on some smaller x-wings or little support fighters? just an idea  and I checked... RBLRUNR isn't taken |
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Post by BlockadeRunner on Jun 2, 2005 19:16:41 GMT -5
Good idea - to use some of the "blank space" to put other images to put the "ship" into perspective. I think I may end up with a white base coat, though - not as much heat build up with that, a good "canvas" for other photos. White is cheaper, too.... But I'd LOVE to do up a whole mural......
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Post by BlockadeRunner on Aug 16, 2005 13:14:30 GMT -5
I had some input on the bus-conversion groups I am on - as I'm working on building out my converted schoolbus. We were talking about windows and what to do with them. Somebody suggested pictures..... and my brain went SPROING!.
So..... window shades, with a coordinated series of pictures that would show the inside of the bus "AS IT SHOULD BE"..... so with the shades drawn you would see Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker sitting together chatting and being served drinks by 'slave-girl' Leia.... a large Wookie playing chess with an R2 unit, a couple stormtroopers in the back of the bus playing poker with a couple aliens.....
What else? And where could I find high res images to take and modify (I have the computer skills to composite things up.... but we are talking about blowing an image up to about 2 foot by 3 foot..... although it only has to be high resolution as seen from about 10 feet or more away. I will probably print on multiple sheets, connect them together, laminate them, and make them into window shades....
And what should the inside be? (As seen in the pictures - in reality it is a mobile shop) Posh jetliner styled? Chrome and glass opulence? Turn of the century train car?
Just giggling (yes, grown straight men can giggle!) about the concept...... gotta surf for graphics now!
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Post by mirax80 on Aug 16, 2005 21:53:14 GMT -5
Nice thing about blowing up pics... a low resolution actualy looks REALLY GOOD from about 7-10 feet away. So you don't really need a high rez pix to do that with.
Maybe I'll have a better idea/answer for you once I get some actual sleep tonight (I'm running about 4 days now on like only 10 hours of sleep! *eep!*
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Post by BlockadeRunner on Oct 15, 2005 14:33:55 GMT -5
Moving forward, slowly, ever so slowly. Rebuilding the master cylinder, and still working on paint schemes. Took new photos (at www.kevin-coughlin.com/cars/bus) a few weeks ago. Someone wondered if they could buy it - I told them $500 bucks and I'd help them fix the brakes.... and they bailed. Hey, it's even got current plates! *grin* Anyway, I have been scrounging for stuff. So.... recent scrounge? PAINT!!! Exterior, DTM (Direct to Metal) from Sherman Williams. Think "Rustoleum". Woot! (I think that is the proper use of that term...) A gallon of Red. A gallon of a sea-foam green. A gallon of a purply burgundy, and another gallon just a trace more brown/red burgundy. And about 3 gallons left of "Industrial Coating" - in basic, battleship grey! My bus conversion buddies on the internet claim 2 to 4 gallons for coverage with one coat - and I'll be spraying to get good coverage but not super thick. So.... I'm thinking that a base coat in Grey to start, and then move forward from there. I will have to have some kind of flames... after all, it might just be the SECOND fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy...... got to look the part! Hope to get a nice weekend before the weather goes to hell to paint it up - got my compressor ready, my guns are cleaned, and a buddy has graciously lent me a corner of his back lot to work in (overspray? We don't care about no stinkin' overspray!). At least the base coat - so I can park it next to the house without the neighborhood rioting! |
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Post by BlockadeRunner on Feb 22, 2006 15:05:32 GMT -5
Well, I gave up the idea of making the old bus into a giant carfighter capitol ship. The mechanicals on it were just too challenged. But never fear - while I just sold the old bus ($50 bucks.... Woohoo!) I now have ANOTHER bus, sitting in my driveway annoying my family. This one is an unmodified International Loadstar S1700 with a Blue Bird body. Air brakes, automatic tranny, power steering.... everything that makes it easy to drive (well, easy for almost 40 feet and up to 27,000 pounds....). This oddball bus runs on propane - so if I ever parade with it I won't choke the people sitting on the sides of the road quite so bad. It will be a motorhome in front, and a shuttle bay/workshop in the back, same concept as the old bus. I'm going to do the pictures in the windows to make it look like all the Star Wars characters are inside taking a trip, and I'll be "creative" with the paint. I'm changing the name to the Millenium Phoenix - a blue bird rising from the flames of the old. Not the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy - this is no junker! I'm thinking more along the lines of a diplomatic courier ship.... and please, PLEASE don't forget to hang your light sabers and blasters in the rack when you board - we don't want any trouble in here! Just the starting images - no mods, just a yellow bus - www.kevin-coughlin.com/cars/MilleniumPhoenix |
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Post by Drago Lordist on Feb 22, 2006 17:05:04 GMT -5
well if you can give me a few directions on what you want to do with it (colors, accesories, etc) I could make a few concept diagrams for you. just let me know
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