Created by one of the most accomplished architectural illustrators in the business, John R. Mullaney, the Serenity Architectural Cutaways set will offer you a hand-illustrated look into the heart of Serenity, her shuttles, even the mule. Two years in the making, these illustrations go beyond a simple exposed view of Serenity’s insides – they also include screen-accurate decor, props, even personal items – each drawn and colored in excruciating detail.

We are offering  just 15 numbered test prints of Inara’s shuttle for auction to benefit Equality Now. Check out the pictures and close-ups below to get a taste of what these beautiful illustrations (each printed on 100 pound, acid-free cover stock) has to offer:

And this is the last time we’re sayin’ this: If you’d like to bid and can’t make the L.A. screening, contact the good people at the SoCal Browncoats. They’ll get you all set-up so you can bid via telephone live during the auction. Go to www.socalbrowncoats.com for details.

See y’all Sunday!

These four test prints are signed by designer Ben Mund, creator of the atlas (and the Serenity Ship Papers and the Map of Serenity Valley). They are pending studio approval and are, therefore, both one-of-a-kind and subject to change. In The Verse, forewarned is forearmed. And with The Atlas of The Verse in hand, a captain will find themselves better equipped to face the challenges ahead as they ply their trade on the raggedy edge.

The following four pages will be auctioned off at the event. Only one of each test print will be available for bid:

This tactical map is reproduced from the original, recovered from Independents Headquarters in the wake of the Battle of Serenity Valley. It shows both Independents and Alliance troop movements in this most pivotal battle of the Unification War.

Sure wish you had some grenades? Well, this cutaway will tell you everything you need to know about the construction and functionality of the popular “Flash Kill” pod grenade.

Have you got what it takes to do a high-risk job, no questions asked? Then Beaumonde is the place to go. This handy atlas page serves as a great place to get what you need to make sure your next visit to Beaumonde is a safe and profitable one.

One of our favorite pages in the whole gorram atlas – Tim Minear’s intro that talks about the singular experience of coming to work on a little show called “Firefly”.

Want one of these unique test prints but can’t make it to the CSTS screening this Sunday? May we suggest reaching out to the fine folks at the SoCal Browncoats who will be happy to arrange for you to bid live by phone. Just head over to www.socalbrowncoats.com for details.

To be clear, this is not a product announcement – we’re not ready to discuss pricing, availability or even edition size of the Jayne maquette. The maquette being offered at the screening is FEP (Final Engineering Proof) #2 and, as those who’ve won our prototypes before know, our FEPs are all truly unique pieces and subject to change before they hit the stores. However, because we know you Core-techs would be a might put out if we didn’t let you know this was happening, we figured we’d give you this little heads-up.

For those of you who can’t make it to L.A. on June 14, we have some very good news: For the first time ever, the SoCal Browncoats will arrange – at your request – to have someone on the phone with you during the auction so you can place remote bids. Get all the info on how to make this happen at www.socalbrowncoats.com. The Jayne maquette will be one of several prototype Serenity goodies that will be up for auction to support this worthy cause, so be sure to let these fine folks know if you’re interested in everything up for auction, or just Jayne.

To make things even more interesting for those of you who can make the screening, we’ll have a “sneak peek” of an unnannounced item we think you’ll all enjoy – if you’re there, that is. And did we mention? You can buy tickets online while they last (which won’t be for much longer, we’re guessin’): http://socalbrowncoats.com/?p=54.

Got mine last week and I’m here to say it’s niiice. The print shop outdid themselves getting the blue really saturated and capturing the gradient. Guaranteed to make you stand out in a crowd.

I know for the last few months the Firefly Ship Works has been somewhat short of, well, Fireflies. This was not a result of a lack of effort or commitment on the Serenity development team’s part. This was a result of us needing to invent some stuff. Really realistic paint, you see, is as unique as the ship it goes on. And for a unique boat like Serenity, well, let’s just say some innovation had to take place.

We wanted to wait to post any images until we had successfully completed a paint test that started to reflect the results we’re looking for. Once again, the incredible detail on this sculpt was as much a challenge as an opportunity. And because Serenity is probably one of the most realistic spaceships ever to grace the silver screen, an equally realistic paint master was required. In other words, the paint master needed to look like real metal and the weathering needed to look like what old metal would look like when it was 60 years old.

We had a lot of help from the movie CG files which cotain an incredible amount of surface as well as structural detail. As with everything else on Serenity, each armor section is different, like it was added at a different time in her life, maybe even using different metal in some cases. Serenity painted up looks as much like a patchwork quilt as anything else, and we needed to simulate that.

And then there are the wear patterns, old paint that’s partially chipped or burned off, and other things that would just make sense on a real ship. Note, for example, the exhaust vents around the neck – they have carbon build-up toward their interior that’s asymmetrically disintegrating toward the outer edge. Bolts have less patina toward their tops than their bottoms. Maintenance hatches are worn smooth toward their edges from use.

This is where you can start to really see the difference between a mass-produced replica and a professionally-made film-quality replica: Artistry. Someone completely immersed in Serenity’s design for months, who knows her intimately and with mad skills of simulation, will personally see to it your Serenity will be able to fool even the unforgiving eye of the camera.  Remember, before CG there were individually-handcrafted film models. And that’s what we’re creating here.

Okay, enough jabbering, on to the main event:

This paint test was done on forward section of the ship. Notice the subtle but distinct differences between armor plates.

Let’s dive into the close-ups: Those who’ve been following the Ship Works will know how small a section of model you’re looking at here. For example, that row of vents with all the lovely corrosion just under the portside window? That’s only a half-inch long (we’re talkin’ the big vent, not the little one).

Getting resin to look like metal is no simple matter. It means using custom-mixed metal paint and then aging it very carefully.

This extreme close-up shows just how tricky those little details can be, like bolts that are shiny steel on top and copper patina on the bottom. This is a pretty good simulation of what real metal might look like after decades of being exposed to reentry heat.

Here’s a shot of the starboard side of the canopy. You might notice a little paint chip missing from the plate over the starboard window section. Because we want minimal primer – a lot of primer blunts little details – and because paint with a lot of metal in it doesn’t always stick so good, we must do these paint tests. Clearly, we still have some work to do here.

This shot really shows the variation in the armor plating. Each one has it’s own little personality!

And just in case you’re thinking we’re taking liberties in the paint design, here’s a match test. Back half of Serenity is an orthographic printout direct from the movie CG files. Front half is our paint test. Pretty good, eh?

Below is a gallery of all the shots above, plus a few more:

Another week, another t-shirt (can you tell we really love wearing t-shirts here at the Ship Works?) This rather unique design was created by the one-and-only Whitefall – alias Ben Mund – creator of the Serenity Ship Papers, Serenity Valley Map and upcoming Atlas of The Verse. Ben is a master of the clever icon and in this shirt design he’s embedded a secret message that is, frankly, not all that hard to decrypt.

So, what do you think? Like the design? The colors? This is our first time out with unique variants for the ladies and the guys. Rather cunning, don’t you think?

Goodies deals with the ephemera of creating a convincing vision of the Verse for Bellflower’s characters to play in. I dare you not to crack a smile when you see Cat Noodles for the first time, or enjoy the Fruity Oaty Bar shipping label, which warns that the bars might contain trace amounts of fruit and oats. And the flavor? Hm… a wonder what “moonbeams” taste like?

The Autumn Jade is yet another in the fabulous new ship designs being introduced in the movie. And for news, MJ reports that the project got some timely help from our readers here, on Twitter, Facebook and the QMx main website.

Enjoy!

We took a beatin’, but fought them off. We’ve done some quick rebuilding, and I’m happy to report the Ship Works is up and running at full capacity, turning out gunboats for those that love freedom and hate bein’ meddled with.

And for The Bellflower, we couldn’t think of better way to build excitement for the premiere of this ambitious effort than to create a Launch Center full of images, videos and all sorts of shiny goodness.

You can visit The QMx-hosted Bellflower Launch Center (there’s also an official Bellflower blog at www.thebellflower.com) at www.qmxonline.com/bellflower. Right now we’ve got two galleries full of ship pics – the Bell, of course, plus an old friend. We also have galleries of two of the sets – the space bazaar and the Bell herself – and the first news update direct from Bellflower executive producer Mark James. There’s much more content to come, so be sure to check back as we’ll be making regular updates to Launch Center (which we’ll post alerts for here).

We salute the Bellflower team and Browncoats everywhere whose selfless labors help bring The Verse to life!

The Bellflower is a Sandfly-Class Transport, also manufactured by The Firefly Ship Works. Perfect for captains in search of a small, unremarkable boat to help carry special cargo past suspicious Alliance customs ships.

It’s back! The heavily modified Trans-U, a favorite of Reaver hunting parties.

The space bazaar – whether you’re lookin’ to buy or sell, this is the place for the enterprising captain to conduct some trade.

As promised, the auction to name 50 towns in the upcoming Atlas of The Verse is finally live! The auction is being run by the Austin Browncoats on behalf of Can’t Stop The Serenity, and all proceeds go directly to benefit Equality Now. Here’s the details:

Quantum Mechanix (QMx) is sponsoring the “Name the Crappy Town Where You’re a Hero” charity auction. Starting on April 20th, 50 town names will be auctioned via eBay with all proceeds supporting Equality Now. If you win an auction, your name will be submitted, and pending studio approval, will be used in the upcoming official Atlas of the ‘Verse, Volume One: The Trader’s Guild Guide to the New Canaan Run made by our favorite mild-manner graphic designer, Ben Mund.

Ready to start naming? Here are some guidelines:

• Town name should be 15 characters or less, not including punctuation or spaces.
• No curse words, please.
• Try to avoid obviously jokey or pop-reference names, such as “Bobsville” or “Frakkintown”.

Available planets and towns:

ARIEL (5 towns available) Regal or formal-sounding names would work well for Ariel. (And if you’re looking for a way to get there, we know where to find a flying ambulance).	BEAUMONDE (5 towns available) Mix it up! Chinese, English, Spanish, French, German, rugged, or refined, they’ll all fit.
HERA (5 towns available) Names evocative of a homesteader’s life and hopes work well for Hera.	HIGGINS’ MOON (5 towns available) “Average” sounding names would work well on Higgins’ Moon. Don’t expect a statue, though.
LONDINIUM (10 towns available) The original seat of Western culture, English or even Greek names may be something to consider.	OSIRIS (5 towns available) An occasional Egyptian influence would be an obvious choice for Osiris. Feel free to be creative, though.
PERSEPHONE (10 towns available) As you might expect from a gateway planet, just about anything goes on Persephone.	SIHNON (5 towns available) Consider Chinese or Asian-influenced names for this founding planet.

The auctions are being run by the Austin Browncoats in support of 2009’s Can’t Stop The Serenity. Visit www.cantstoptheserenity.com to find a screening near you! To find out more about Equality Now, visit http://equalitynow.org.