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Completing this project was quite the challenge (more so the Tempest). In the beginning I had a basic idea what the project was going to look like and how I was going to put the pieces together. As I progressed along the build, I quickly realized that I underestimated the amount of work I had to put into it. A lot of my project was hand-sanding and filing. It got pretty tedious and strenuous, but in the end it paid off. Really, there was no other way to do the parts I had to do with the tools I had. As I continued the project, I found out that I was using the hand dremmel quite a bit. It was a very useful tool. Some of the most difficult parts were getting the pieces on the back (engines) to fit properly and having to glue them in place. I don’t think I learned any new skills in particular by building this project (most likely because I’ve already learned them from the previous project).

I believe the final outcome on this project was pretty awesome. Both the Tempest and the Symbol turned out well. If I had more time, I definitely would have added greater amounts of detail. Overall though, it turned out well for the amount of time and tools we were given. The Symbol was nearly identical to the initial sketches. The Tempest (for the most part) looks the same as the isometric drawings in shape, but the pieces that I planned for use are not close at all to what I actually used. Complications arose when I was trying to fit pieces from my fabrication drawing onto the actual Tempest. I had to completely redo whole sections of the back to achieve the original shape. The Symbol was literally one piece. Nothing changed except for the addition of the piece of plastic (which I had intentions for even before I drew my isometric… but never really got to actually drawing it). I am definitely most proud of the final outcome. The project as a whole is what makes me happy that I spent the time doing it. To me (at least), if it’s visually appealing and functions as it needs, then it suffices.

- Alex