Welcome to TiddlyWiki created by Jeremy Ruston, Copyright © 2007 UnaMesa Association
On the morning of the [[GOMBs|http://gombs.ca]] show, I was sitting there drinking my coffee thinking //... the ~GOMBs show should be sometime soon//. Imagine my alarm when I figured out that it was __that morning__.
I usually spend the evening before the show selecting and packing the models that I will take. I didn't think that I could pull it off in an hour and even toyed with the idea of not even going, let alone displaying anything.
After discovering that I had only built 4 models (none of them aircraft) in the year since the previous show (which alarmed me in a different way), I decided that I could pull it off.
I'm glad I did.
As I've matured (yes, I like to think that I've matured) I noticed that setbacks produce less of a reaction.
[[Angel Interceptor (Airfix)]] - missing canopy
[[MiG 3]] - malformed tail
[[VW Type 825]] - horrid kit
[[Romulan Bird of Prey]] - decal disaster
[[Boeing 314 "Clipper"]] - missing parts, missing propellers
[[Whitley Mk.V]] - another horrid kit
Life cannot be composed solely of epic tasks. It's exhausting.
Similarly with modeling. There's certainly a sense of accomplishment when the Great Tasks are accomplished but every so often I need a quick hit. A simple, straightforward project that can simply be //done//. It provides a sense of satisfaction and re-energizes me for the Next Big Thing.
I have a collection of 1/72 scale models hanging around in my build queue. Many of them are there just to provide that quick hit of completion. Some of those small kits get out of hand and sometimes they go off the rails.
For example, the Boeing 314 "Clipper" build was going swimmingly ... and then I noticed that one of the four propellers was missing. I still managed to finish the project fairly quickly but the build quality is a bit below part.
And that's the trouble with "quick hits" - you have to be prepared to compromise. Most of the time it's an acceptable trade-off.
Well, the "Build two, buy one" [[rule|28 January 2012 - Controlling the Stash]] started off OK but it has kind of collapsed. With Christmas (2012), the rule seems to have flipped; i.e., "build one, buy two". <sigh>
I was doing so well too. I managed to finish off 6 models in 2012 but I bought 4 over Christmas alone and then there are those other two half-tracks ...
In an attempt to reinforce the Rule of Two ... I am now putting the purchase date on the box. I was glancing over a Tiger Moth kit when I noticed that I had scribbled the purchase date (18 months earlier) and was aghast at the elapsed time.
Right now, I truly believe that this is a Golden Age of modeling. The variety alone is unprecedented ... and that's without resorting to resin "garage" kits or short-run styrene. We have easy access to kits of what were obscure subjects (30 years ago) and from a world-wide array of manufacturers - and that's from my local hobby shop. The Internet greatly extends . As for quality, modern kits can be simply amazing in terms of engineering and detail. The latter can even include resin and photo-etch in the box! Of course, the price of a modern kit can be pretty stunning too. If price is an issue, then the simpler, less expensive kits, both new and old, are still available. If you want reference material - then that too is available in unprecedented quantity and quality. The traditional, specialized publications are still available (and in greater numbers) but there are also innumerable web sites and online photographs to supplement those references.
I may have too many models in the stash.
At the end of each build, I can spend 20 minutes browsing my collection of unbuilt kits. Comtemplating each subject and choosing the one to build next. It's like browsing at he hobby shop, only better.
The kits I get to browse are //already// ones I want to build. The cruft has been filtered out by the simple act buying them. It's even better because hobby shops typically frown on opening the boxes and pawing through the sprues and instructions - which is part of the selection process.
If this is how __I__ feel, with only 50-60 kits to choose from, how does someone with //hundreds// feel?
//Sic transit gloria//
OK maybe not glory but my Model Journal.
OK, OK ... the journal isn't gone either. The [[Moonbus]] is the last entry in my Model Journal. Not this one but the physical book that sits by my modeling bench where I record paints, techniques triumphs and disasters. I started the model journal in an old, hardcover lab notebook as a means of recording what I had done to a model: Improvements, scratchbuilt components, paint colours.
The first entry was the [[Sopwith Camel]], made some time in 2001. Sixteen years and 93 models later I put the last entry in the book and took a look back through the contents. That's a lot of models. Some were really cool, some leave a warm spot when I look at them and some were disasters.
I am looking forward to filling the next book.
Like many modellers, I am able to buy model kits faster than I can build them.
The Stash has been creeping upwards. I think I'm currently at about 50 (ish) unbuilt kits. I know ... I'm a lightweight compared to many for whom having a hundred unbuilt kits isn't unheard of and there are some whose unbuilt kits number in the thousands. I think that at that point, they simply have a different hobby from me, although both involve models.
I want to build them.
I want to have a realistic chance of building them.
It's time for a New Rule. This is inspired by one of the (many) articles on de-crapification. Most of these are variations on getting two things out of the house for every one brought in. My modeling version:
: I must build two models before I buy one.
I know, there's always the danger of Zeno's Dichotomy Paradox but I'm hopeful. If nothing else it might kick up the build rate a little.
We'll see how this goes.
//Now where will I put them?//
I really enjoy reading hobby magazines. It is amazing to see what talent and patience can accomplish.
After reading these magazines for a while, a certain tension began to creep into my hobby. I began to notice that the models were taking longer and longer to complete, which was a sufficient source of stress in itself, after all there was the the Build Queue to get through! However, a large part of the tension could be traced back to "not good enough". My work simply did not compare with that which was pictured in the magazines.
It took some time to exorcise that demon and get back to building for myself. I thought it was gone and it wasn't until my recent build of the [[NSEA Protector]] began to go wrong that I realized that the demon had crept back into my life unnoticed.
Some frustration (and a few deep breathing exercises) later, I think I've banished the demon again. This time, I'm using the mantra of //Good Enough// and the reassurance that my Build Queue will be completed in my lifetime and not become part of my daughter's inheritance (to be auctioned off on ~eBay).
I will build (mostly) to my satisfaction.
It happens with almost every kit. A tweak here, a detail there and before you know it the Weekend Build has morphed into a Project.
It starts with something simple and harmless, like a strut or an antenna and soon you're filling the cockpit with invisible detail, telling yourself "but __I__ know it's there".
The latest manifestation is the Smèr "[[Viking Dragonship|Viking Knorr]]". I was just going to build it. Then I noticed that the figures were riddled with ejector pin marks and sink holes. OK - I can fix that. Then it was "oh my, that dragon head is //hideous//. Then the research started ...
I wonder if the Internet is responsible for all the scope creep or is it just an enabling technology for a character trait that was always there? I've never thought of myself as a "rivet counter" but all the tendencies are there.
Airfix; 1/72
<html><a href='./malta.matilda/0.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./malta.matilda/0.jpg" title="The original inspiration" alt="period photo of a Matilda on Malta" width=150 align="left"></a></html> I came across this picture of an A-12 Matilda on Malta and was inspired to replicate it (mostly). I figured that it could be done inexpensively by starting with the Airfix 1:72 Matilda kit.
I intended to pose the driver's and commander's hatches open which would require and interior; however, the small scale meant that I only needed to convey the impression of a complete interior. The driver's compartment was populated with a seat, instruments, control levers, battery and fire extinguisher. The turret required more extensive work.
<html><a href='./malta.matilda/1.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./malta.matilda/1.jpg" title="scratch built interior, turret basket and driver's position" alt="construction photos - interior" width=150 align="right"></a></html> The base of the turret and corresponding section of the deck were bored out with a brad point bit. A section of 0.020" plastic sheet was heat formed into a cylinder of the same diameter to form the turret interior.
The interior was populated with the radios, shelves, 2 seats and greeblies. A gun breech was built up from various round and square stock but it's not visible. The only other modifications were to hollow out the head lamps to accept MV lenses and to add a radio aerial from stretched sprue.
<html><a href='./malta.matilda/2.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./malta.matilda/2.jpg" title="Painting complete" alt="completed and painted model" width=150 align="left"></a></html> Painting the tank was relatively straightforward: the "stone wall" pattern was painted in //Dark Green// over a base coat of //~Mid-Stone//. The tracks were painted //Burnt Umber//, dry-brushed with //Red Leather// and //Polished Steel// and finished with a black wash. The paint scheme was "faded" using //Dust//, mixed with a little white to represent the effects of the sun on the paint.
<html><a href='./malta.matilda/3.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./malta.matilda/3.jpg" title="Mocking up the diorama layout" alt="unpainted diorama elements laid out" width=150 align="right"></a></html> On to the other diorama elements... A card table and two chairs were taken from the Preiser German Tank Crew set and painted red and then sanded to represent worn, local furniture. The British soldiers were taken from the Scale Model Technologies "Resting British Tank Crew" set, moulded in white metal. Unfortunately, the figures are not very crisply sculpted and lack definition. They were painted with abase coat of //Buff// and then washed with //Burnt Umber//, then drybrushed with lightened shades of the base coat. Accessories were picked out in //Matt Black// and //Brown Leather// as appropriate.
<html><a href='./malta.matilda/4.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./malta.matilda/4.jpg" title="Can see the cards on the table" alt="left side of tank, 3 figures, table and tree" width=150 align="right"></a></html> The groundwork was formed from Celluclay over an inexpensive picture frame. While the clay was still wet, resin rocks (cast from a model railroad rock mold) were set into the groundwork, as were the trees. The trees themselves were basic lead forms, augmented with "branches" from dried flowers and then painted and adorned with model railroad scenic materials. The cobblestone wall was built up from individual polymer clay cobbles - all my other attempts and simulating the texture of the wall having come to naught.
<html><a href='./malta.matilda/5.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./malta.matilda/5.jpg" title="Can almost see the track marks on the groundwork" alt="right side of the tank and a snoozing soldier" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
While the groundwork was drying, I formed impressions of the tank treads in various patterns. When the groundwork was dry, which took three days because of a cold snap, it was sprayed with random patches of //Sand//, //Dust// and //Buff//. A little //Brown Leather// was used as a wash in several patches too.
Once everything was dry, all of the remaining elements were attached to the base and I was done.
; Update
: Best "Small Armour" at a GOMBs show!
!!! Paints
|~Gunze-Sangyo |~Mid-Stone | H 71 |
|Humbrol |Dark Green | Hu 30 |
|Humbrol ~Metal-Cote |Polished Steel | N/A |
|Vallejo |Red leather | 818 |
|Vallejo |Mahogany | 846 |
|Vallejo |Brown Leather | 871 |
|Vallejo |Burnt Umber | 941 |
|Tamiya |Buff | XF 57 |
|Polly Scale |Sand | 414302 |
|Polly Scale |Dust | 505202 |
!!! References
AFV Interiors (defunct)
!!! Resources
[[Squadron Mail Order|http://www.squadron.com]]
Scale Model Technologies "Resting British Tank Crew"
Preiser //Panzersoldaten Deutches Reich 1935-45// 1/72 figure set #72507
Celluclay
Sculpey
Revell; 1/144; February 2012
While researching the Dornier X, I stumbled across an article on its flight characteristics. Because it was so underpowered, the plane behaved more like a ground effects vehicle. That line of inquiry lead me to Revell's A90 Orlyonok.
I had originally intended to build a diorama with a beached A-90, nose open and disgorging ~AFVs. The plans became so elaborate that they drifted into the realm of wishful thinking. I finally decided to "just glue it" ... because it would otherwise never be built.
The simple nature of the model limited the display options. The landing / beaching gear was molded in the retracted position and deploying it would require substantial construction using references that I didn't have. It would have to be displayed "in flight".
Construction started with drilling out the portholes on the fuselage - there's a strange juxtaposition of terms.
Dry-fitting the fuselage and cockpit windows revealed that the next step was to cobble a basic flight deck together. The view into the cockpit was quite limited but it was obviously empty. A small problem for an "in flight" display. All that was required was an aft bulhead and a floor to which the pilots could be attached. Some inexpensive N-scale railroad figures stood in for pilots. Yes, I know N scale = 1/160 ≠ 1/144 but this more than adequately conveyed the impression of pilots.
The embossed intake screens were replaced with brass mesh and the corresponding section of the fuselage interior was painted black.
The fuselage buttoned up fairly well. There was a little filling and sanding but nothing too onerous. The gun turret proved to the the greatest challenge. The pin that held it in place and allowed it to rotate eventually had to be replaced. The guns also had a tendency to fall out and were eventually lost.
The wings and tail were not so simple. The resulting gaps were quite large in places and had to be filled with stretched sprue ... and putty. There were also quite a few sink holes on the fuselage that needed filling.
I had hoped that I could get away without filling the awkward seams in those cavernous intakes and beside the exhaust nozzles. No such luck. Out came the Milliput in an attempt to avoid sanding.
With everything together, the model was primed and then pre-shaded. It seems that I never learn. I keep pre-shading and then obliterating the results with subsequent coats either deliberately (because the pre-shading was awful) or accidentally (with a heavy hand).
Painting references were difficult to find ... well, they weren't but they were certainly diverse. There are a few pictures on the Internet but many of them are indistinct, black and white or of the A90 in civilian livery. Most of the pictures of #26 point to a dark - almost black - underside. I found a Russian TV spot that had close ups of one of the military birds and the undersides are distinctly blue (!). For the top side colour, I chose //Fulcrum Grey// and for the underside, //Dragon Blue// (yes, really). From this point, painting departed from the kit instructions to follow the references.
[<img[post-shaded|./a90/Thumbs-1.jpg][./a90/1.jpg]] Having muddled the pre-shading, it was time to post-shade so the panel centres received a light tinted base coat with a high thinner:paint ratio while the panel edges received a darker shaded base coat at a similar thinner:paint ratio. The whole thing was then blended with with an overcoat of the base colour, also highly thinned.
The node radome was sprayed white as was the "boot stripe" between the upper and lower surface colours. The undersides were painted //Dragon Blue// and then lightly distressed with fine sandpaper.
[>img[Undersides|./a90/Thumbs-3.jpg][./a90/3.jpg]] The gun turret and jet exhaust cavities were painted //AMT 12//. The exhaust nozzles themselves were painted //Jet Exhaust// and weathered. The exhaust of the prop engine was painted //Grey Black// as were the propeller blades. Reference photos did not show yellow tips on the prop blades so that detail was omitted.
The traditional coat of Future went on in preparation for the decals and sludge wash.
The decals went on easily. They were few in number and were applied to fairly flat surfaces.
Time for the sludge wash! This is where it all began to go spectacularly wrong. The wash was prepared in the usual way: ⅓ paint + ⅓ soap + ⅓ water. With a third of the upper surface "washed", I decided to try rubbing some of the sludge off. To my horror, it didn't.
Panic ensued.
[<img[Dorsal|./a90/Thumbs-4.jpg][./a90/4.jpg]] After much frantic rubbing, starting with a cloth dampened with water and escalating to alcohol and finally sandpaper the damage was contained although the clear coat was damaged in a few places. The result was exceptionally grubby. The next step was to apply beer - to me, not the model - while pondering the next steps. The next day, after careful experimentation, the solution was to use a traditional wash (water+acrylic paint) and work in very small sections. The final result was a somewhat grubby model with some difficult-to-explain weathering marks.
The next step was to insert the intake splitters that had been left off to simplify finishing. The splitters were a tight fit and caused to Miliput filled intake seams to split.
Cursing ensued.
The splits were filled with white glue and then painted over with //Fulcrum Grey//. The red warning trim was applied to the intakes and splitters by hand. Applying the acrylic over the Future made it easy to tidy the painted lines with the damp tip of a sharp toothpick.
With the painting complete, the flat coat was applied to seal everything.
The final parts were attached: Jet exhausts and scratch-built replacement gun barrels. The APU exhausts were also painted //Jet Exhaust//.
A little pastel weathering was applied, although the white pastel didn't provide the salt-stained look that I had hoped for.
[>img[Beauty shot|./a90/Thumbs-2.jpg][./a90/2.jpg]] The base was styrofoam, covered with celluclay instead of drywall mud, on the principle that a wave texture would be easier to achieve with the former. Although correct, I had forgotten celluclay's astonishing ability to adhere to and warp any base material - including 3/4" styrofoam. Once the celluclay was dry, it was sealed with a mixture of white glue and blue and green craft paints. I am begining to appreciate craft paints (Folk Art, ~DecoArt, Apple Barrel) for diorama ground work. They are inexpensive, come in large quantities (by modelers' standards) and dry quickly. Once the glue/paint sealer was dry, the remaining holes in the celluclay were filled with Acrylic Gel Medium and then everything was coated with Future for the Wet Look.
Overall, the kit subject is interesting but the kit a little simple. Deployed beaching / landing gear would have been a tremendous improvement.
@@color:red;UPDATE@@
My little Orlyonok won the "Butt Ugly" award at the 2012 ~GOMBs show. Yes, I am proud of that :-)
!!! Paints
|borderless|k
|Model Master |Fulcrum Grey | 2133 |
|Model Master |Jet Exhaust |
|Polly Scale |Dragon Blue |
|Polly Scale |USSR topside dark grey (~AMT-12) | 505232 |
|Vallejo |Grey Black | 862 |
!!! References
://There aren't many!//
[[Wing-in-ground website|http://wn.com/A-90_Orlyonok_Eaglet_WIG]]
Italeri; 1/72; April 2010
I'm drawn to unusual, soft-skinned military vechicles and the //Camionetta ~AS-42 Sahariana// certainly fits the bill. It's a small, open car festooned with jerry cans.
[<img[above left|./sahariana/Thumbs-1.jpg][./sahariana/1.jpg]] The kit is nicely detailed with little touches like separate tires and wheels. There were many small detail pieces (some of which were sacrificed to the CarpetMonster) and even the traction plates were drilled all the way through.
The main body assembly was a bit of a chore. It's a many-sided box with nothing to keep the assembly square. This was probably a good time to have used tube glue instead of Tenax.
Everything except the wheels and pioneering tools was assembled. The model was sprayed with what turned out to be Dark Tan instead of Italian Armour Sand. The model was then resprayed with a mixture of Dark Tan and Sand. The model received a Smoke and black wash. The seats and tonneau cover were painted Medium Olive, combined with a Smoke wash and a bit of dry-brushing. The wheels were painted Basalt Grey with repeated, heavy washes of black. Unfortunately, the wheel finish wasn't robust.
[>img[low, right|./sahariana/Thumbs-2.jpg][./sahariana/2.jpg]] On final assembly, I discovered that the body placement on the chassis was skewed. As a result, the left side traction plate didn't fit. The clear acetate windscreen looked very nice once attached.
The decals responded very well to Solvaset. The Italian flag over the engine compartment settled down beautifully over the louvres. A little careful slicing and a reapplication of the setting solution finished the job.
A heavily thinned coat of the base colour was used to fade the flag slightly. Unfortunately, I should have applied a flat coat first.
Overall, it's a nice looking lilttle kit with a small list of "should have's"
* used tube glue for the body
* been more careful aligning the body on the chassis
* put the pioneering tools on last - last - last
* flat coated the decals before fading & weathering
!!! Paints
|Testors' Acryl |Dark Tan | ~FS30219 |
|Floquil (Polly Scale) |Sand | F414302 |
|Vallejo |Medium Olive | 850 |
|Vallejo |Smoke | 939 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 869 |
Bandai; 1/144; New Year's Day, 2018
This kit showed up as a Christmas present! I have flirted with the idea of building an AT-AT kit for some time but could never bring myself to pick the old MPC kit. This kit is so beautifully engineered - all of the seams fall on logical panel lines and the seams in this snap fit kit are better than many glue kits!
<html><a href='./AT-AT/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./AT-AT/01.jpg" title="profile view" alt="left side" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
The casting was so fine that the donor parts for the original studio models could be identified. Battleship turrets, smokestacks, panzer engine decks and more were all recognizable.
Starting with the tiny cockpit, the interior was painted with //Medium Sea Grey//, washed with black and highlighted with //Sky Grey//. Instruments were picked out with various bright colours. The pilots were painted white on the hard bits (helmet, pauldrons, gloves, boots) and blue-grey on the jump suits. A black wash was added to bring out the details and then the decals (!) applied for the helmet details; i.e., eye slits, grills, emblems, etc. Needless to say, all of this is completely invisible in the finished model. If only it were lit with ~LEDs.
Main assembly was pretty much by the book. The only clean up required was of divots that I created, separating parts from the sprue. Construction stopped with several main sub-assemblies for ease of painting and detailing; i.e.,
<html><a href='./AT-AT/02.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./AT-AT/02.jpg" title="head on" alt="front view" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
* head (loosely assembled without glass or guns)
*legs
* upper "torso"
** inner
** outer
* lower "torso"
** platform
** "turbine"
** rear
The legs themselves were amazingly intricately detailed! Each one took approximately an hour to build.
A base coat of Tamiya //Sky Grey// was applied, followed by multiple passes of drybrushing. The latter step seemed to take for ever as all of that exquisite detail needed a touch of paint to pop. It took a couple of passes with different colours to bring out the detail. It turns out that Vallejo's //Sky Grey// is pretty much a perfect match for Tamiya's - which is great, unless you're trying to achieve some contrast with different paints. In the end it took a little white added to the //Sky Grey// to achieve the desired contrast.
<html><a href='./AT-AT/03.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./AT-AT/03.jpg" title="close up, beauty shot" alt="under the head" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
The next step was the usual coat of [[Future]] to prepare for a wash. It wasn't a solid gloss coat, which caused a few issues with the wash. The black wash was composed of heavily thinned black paint rather than the prepared black wash because it was less intense and easier to control or correct.
A flat coat followed the wash. The Vallejo flat medium proved to be a pleasure to work with and much less smelly than the lacquer-based versions. Miked with Future, it produced more of a satin finish.
<html><a href='./AT-AT/04.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./AT-AT/04.jpg" title="walking away" alt="from behind and high" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
Once the flat had dried, the various details and greeblies were painted with black, rust, silver and gold. This was kept to a minimum because the ~AT-ATs have a fairly monotonous colour scheme. This was followed with lots of staining: pin washes and leaks around the bolts, joints and hatches. All of the various Vallejo washes were used to provide some colour variation. //Basalt Grey// was used to represent paint chips, concentrating mostly on the leading edges of the feet and, to a lesser degree, the lower legs. A few of the chips received a touch of aluminum or rust at the centre to represent fresh or old damage that went all the way through to the metal.
Note - the chipping should precede the staining, not the other way around.
<html><a href='./AT-AT/05.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./AT-AT/05.jpg" title="AT-AT and friends, all in scale" alt="AT-AT, AT-ST and T-47 - all in scale" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
I flirted with the idea of using very thin, acrylics as filters over the paint but chickened out and used pastels. They were used to apply weather stains on the slab sides of the transport but I couldn't get the desired effects out of the white pastels.
After all this was complete, I discovered that the studio models were originally painted with Floquil Concrete - which dried up on me years ago.
Painting and detailing was followed by final assembly and admiration.
This kit was such a pleasure!
!!! Paints
|Tamiya |Sky Grey | ~XF-19 |
|Vallejo |Flat | 70.540 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 70.869 |
|Vallejo |Medium Sea Grey | 70.870 |
|Vallejo |Sky Grey | 70.989 |
|Vallejo |Aluminum | 71.062 |
|Vallejo |Rust | 71.069 |
|Vallejo |Black Wash | 73201 |
|Vallejo |Umber Wash | 73203 |
|Vallejo |Flesh Wash | 73204 |
|Vallejo |Sepia Wash | 73200 |
!!! References
//The Empire Strikes Back//
!!! Resources
Rustall - Rust
Bandai; 1/144; 6 January 2018
After building the [[AT-AT]], I was mumbling to myself that it was a shame that the AT-ST wasn't available in the same scale. Lo and behold, there's a little double kit, complete with a [[snowspeeder|T-47 Snowspeeder]].
<html><a href='./AT-ST/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./AT-ST/01.jpg" title="left side of a little jewel" alt="port side view" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
With only 17 parts, there's not much to say about assembly. One or two parts needed cleanup. In this case "cleanup" was more about swiping a sanding stick over the parts.
Treating this like armour, painting started with a heavy black pre-shade - biased towards the undersides and crevices. This was followed with thin coats of //Sky Grey//. A gloss coat of [[Future]] was followed with a black wash. Everything was sealed with a coat of flat.
Various brown, black and white washes were applied as weather stains, etc. Chips were applied with //Basalt Grey//, concetrating on the "feet" with the occasional one going all the way to the bare metal.
Cute little jewel of a kit but a little unsteady on its feet.
!!! Paints
|Tamiya |Sky Grey | ~XF-19 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 70.869 |
|Vallejo |Flat | 70540 |
!!! References
//The Return of the Jedi//
Various historical and fantastic flying machines
<<list filter [tag[aircraft]] [sort[title]]>>
Airfix; 1/72; April 2020
<html><a href='./angel2/1.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./angel2/1.jpg" title="enlarged pilot' headrest visible" alt="left profile view" width=150 align="right"></a></html> Picked this kit up in the wake of my experiences with the [[Imai kit|Angel Interceptor (Imai)]] and assuming that this was a new tooling in keeping with Airfix's new standards. Not so much. I subsequently assumed that this was pretty much the same as the Imai kit. Not so much.
Started with the cockpit as usual. Added strips of styrene to the cockpit walls as side consoles and painted them black with little dots of white, blue and red. The turtledeck was built up from thin sheet styrene with lengths of rod and I-beam to replicate the details in the reference photos. Even drilled "lightening holes" in the I-beams to match references. A small block of plastic represented the radio.
Extended the back rest on the pilot's seat upwards with plastic strip and then formed the squared off cushions from Miliput. I'll come back to this later ...
<html><a href='./angel2/2.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./angel2/2.jpg" title="can see some of the many stencils" alt="right rear view" width=150 align="left"></a></html> The instrument panel and shroud were added after the fuselage was buttoned up. A longitudinally cut section of hollow, plastic rod worked perfectly for this. Instead of a control stick, the control wheel was fashioned from lengths of plastic and thin slices of hollow rod. The control yoke was passed through the firewall / missile bulkhead.
The pilot figure was wainted white with gold trim, per the reference photos but I didn't bother trying to replicate the transparent helmet. The goggles were sanded off the helmet to smooth it out. Red-painted masking tape served as seatbelts.
<html><a href='./angel2/3.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./angel2/3.jpg" title="the big A is a decal" alt="underside" width=150 align="right"></a></html> The missile tubes were drilled out in the forward bulkhead but the results were uneven.
The fuselage was buttoned up and the seams cleaned up. The intake at the top of the T-tail was opened up. It took a fair bit of sanding and dry-fitting to get the horizontal tail to fit and putty was still required.
Similarly, it took a lot of work to achieve an indifferent fit for the intake trunks. After all that, they still turned out to be wider than the fuselage!
<html><a href='./angel2/4.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./angel2/4.jpg" title="prior effort in the background" alt="two Interceptors" width=150 align="left"></a></html> The wings went on a little better - less clean up and slightly better fit.
The tip of the nose was attached but I somehow failed to notice that the extra canard fins were ''not'' on the prototype, They were just there to reinforce the joint.
Attached everything except the main landing skid and canopy and prepared for painting. Once again, I attempted pre-shading but didn't prepare the paint properly. It sputtered and spat and had poor adhesion. The latter turned out to be a bonus because it allowed the messy p-re-shade to be cleaned up with cotton swabs and toothpicks.
Being the middle of a COVID lockdown, the choice of white paint was limited to my stock and the only thing in there was a Tamiya //Gloss White// - which has fairly poor coverage. Again this turned out to be a benefit as it allowed the pre-shading to show through. On the first pass, just the panel centres were painted (leaving the pre-shading exposed) and the second pass was all over. The result was a variation in shade with just a hint of wear.
With the base coat down the next pass was a clear coat ([[Future]]) in preparation for decals.
Airfix provides a __lot__ of decals. Placards and stencils took the decal count over 50!. Much more and better decals than the Imai kit. The decals were sealed with a coat of Vallejo //Matt Medium//, thinned with their //Airbrush Thinner//.
<html><a href='./angel2/5.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./angel2/5.jpg" title="older model on the right" alt="side-by-side comparison" width=150 align="right"></a></html> Final assembly came with a shock. The canopy didn't fit. The pilot figure was too tall in the saddle and the enlarged headrest was too wide and interfered with the canopy. Pried the pilot out and sanded its sea down to sit lower. The headrest was reshaped using my smallest burr in the motor tool.
In the end it was definitely not the same kit as the Imai one. The model is smaller and has a different shape.
!!! Paints
|Model Master Acryl |RAF Interior Green |
|Tamiya |Flat Black | ~XF-1 |
|Tamiya |White | X-2 |
|Tamiya |Red | X-7 |
|Vallejo |Cold White | 70.919 |
|Vallejo |Black | 70.950 |
!!! References
Imai; 1/98
[<img[comparing pilots|./angel/Thumbs-1.jpg][./angel/1.jpg]] I built the Airfix version of the kit in the 1970s and always kind of liked it - in a campy sort of way. When I stumbled across this Imai kit for $10 in a local hobby shop I just couldn't pass it up (and that is exactly why I have a small stack of unbuilt kits).
I soon found out why it was only $10 - there was no canopy. Having thermoformed a canopy section for the [[Gladiator|Gloster Gladiator]], this didn't appear to be an insurmountable obstacle.
[>img[completed interior|./angel/Thumbs-2.jpg][./angel/2.jpg]] Starting with the cockpit - I didn't like the pilot and replaced it with a figure from the Hasegawa "U.S. Pilot / Ground Crew Set". It was too large for the scale but looked much better. The pilot seat was enhanced with sides, arm rests, an elongated backrest and an epoxy putty head rest. Seat belts were added using red-painted masking tape. A simple instrument panel was fashioned from plastic sheet and the two auxiliary gauges from shaped plastic rod. The entire cockpit was painted "British Interior Green" - it was a British show after all - with a black wash.
The interior of the fuselage was empty: broad daylight from the intakes to the exhaust.
[<img[port 3/4|./angel/Thumbs-3.jpg][./angel/3.jpg]] A blanked off section of brass tube was painted "Jet Exhaust" and used to represent the engine exhaust.
The intake trunks were boxed in and blanked off with plastic sheet and then painted flat black. I wanted to add a little more visual interest, and then I found the perfect part: The engine itself was represented with a resin copy of the [[Reliant's|USS Reliant (NCC 1864)]] energizer crystal, painted steel and gold with a little silver drybrushing.
Initial assembly required very little filling - aside from a few large sinkholes. This was followed by priming and painting. The anti-glare panel, red trim and the large ventral "A" were all painted. With respect to the latter: I used black rather than the supplied blue decal based on photos of the studio model.
[>img[underside|./angel/Thumbs-4.jpg][./angel/4.jpg]] Then came the canopy. It all started well enough with a lump of polymer clay placed over the cockpit opening and shaped to match the canopy. Once baked, I had a solid master. Note that the shaping actually took place long before assembly in order to avoid any damage to details.
The blank was mounted on a dowel and then warmed sheets of clear acetate were forced down over the blank in an attempt to make a canopy. Once there was an acceptable candidate, it took 2 hours of continuous and careful sanding and shaping to get what I thought was a decent fit. The only problem was that the thermoformed canopy was just a little too wide and wouldn't seat properly - continually defeating the white glue that I was using to attach it.
After several attempts, over several days, to attach the canopy, I had a Bright Idea. "No problem", I thought "I'll just warm it up a bit and squeeze it to shape". It didn't exactly work. As soon as the lovely bubble canopy warmed up, it "sproinged" into an irregular, flat oval of clear plastic. I shelved the project in disgust.
[<img[aft|./angel/Thumbs-5.jpg][./angel/5.jpg]] The almost complete kit languished on a shelf for over 18 months until I got tired of looking at it. Armed with a different batch of clear plastic, determination and more patience, I thermoformed 4 new canopies - paying more attention to the lower edges of the canopy. The extra attention in thermoforming paid off: It only took 20 minutes to trim, shape and //attach// the new canopy.
[>img[topside|./angel/Thumbs-6.jpg][./angel/6.jpg]] Once the canopy was attached, it was masked with parafilm (to reduce the chances of pulling it off when the masking was removed) and the model was clear-coated with Future.
Panel lines were added with pencil - the Future made it easy to erase mistakes.
The decals were generally difficult to work with. They had a tendency to break up and the clear film had yellowed very slightly. Not enough to be noticed against the blue backing paper but perceptible against the pure white of the model. The filming miniature had a number of stencils: "No problem", I thought, "I'll just pull a few out of my decal stash"
Apparently I don't build many modern jets. I improvised.
A flat coat, followed with a light weathering of pastels finished the job.
All in all, it's a beautiful design but the Imai kit is somewhat inferior to the Airfix version.
!!! Paints
|Polly Scale |British Interior Green | F505270 |
|Model Master |Jet Exhaust ||
|Tamiya |Flat Black | XF 1 |
|Tamiya |Flat White | XF 2 |
!!! References
[[Spectrum Headquarters|http://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/angel_blueprint.html]]
!!! Resources
Hasegawa "U.S. Pilot / Ground Crew Set"
Anime vehicles appeal to my inner 8 year old. Varying from //Star Blazers// improbable ship designs to the almost chic vessels from //Cowboy Bebop//. Below are some of the subjects that have made it into my collection.
<<list filter [tag[anime]] [sort[title]]>>
Various historical and fantastic tanks, ~LAVs, soft-skinned vehicles, etc.
<<list filter [tag[armour]] [sort[title]]>>
[[Timeslip Creations|http://www.timeslipcreations.com/]]; 1/4105; February 2010
[<img[starboard|./astral.queen/Thumbs-1.jpg][./astral.queen/1.jpg]] Part of the "purchase price" of the Galactica detail set was this TOS prison ship.
The kit itself is two pieces of soft, white resin with a very nice set of decals.
Assembly was trivial. Both pieces fit well and all that was required was a little seam scraping. Unfortunately, I left the model in the wrong place while it was drying and Isabel (then 4 years old) dropped a heavy box on the model and broke off some of the fine detail on the port side. It was replaced with a little styrene strip.
[>img[bow|./astral.queen/Thumbs-2.jpg][./astral.queen/2.jpg]] It was painted with a base coat of Deck Tan to provide some mild colour contrast to the [[Galactica|Battlestar Galactica]]. It turns out to be a good colour - more of a warm grey.
This was followed with the usual clear gloss coat of future. The decals went down well although it took a few applications of Solvaset to get all the wrinkles out of the large decal on the upper side of the bow.
[<img[underside|./astral.queen/Thumbs-3.jpg][./astral.queen/3.jpg]] Added another clear coat followed by a sludge wash and sealed with a matte coat. A few swipes of pastel rounded out the weathering.
I found a 4" slate tile to use as a base. It turned out to be an attractive and solid base. Drilled a quick hole and mounted the model on a brass tube. Done.
!!! Paint
|Tamiya | Deck Tan | ~XF-78 |
Hobbycraft Canada; 1/72; 28 December 2012
When I was a little a boy of 7 or so, I came across a model jet in my Grandmother's basement. It was an Avro Arrow, built by my uncle. I was fascinated.
[<img[text|./Arrow/Thumbs-1.jpg][./Arrow/1.jpg]] Jumping ahead 40 years, I came across the Hobbycraft Arrow at a garage sale for $5. Sold!
The kit is molded in white plastic with relatively few parts and some very basic detail. The engraving on the fuselage is quite nice. I started the project with limited references - it was only after assembly was complete that my co-worker, Harry, loaned me a copy of //Arrow// - which turned out to be an excellent refernece. <sigh> If only I knew then what I know now ...
The cockpit was spartan at best. Two figures and two plain seats - which was sufficient given the limited view into the cockpit. The seats were painted //Basalt Grey// with //Khaki// cushions. The figures were painted with green flight suits and white helmets. At the time I didn't realize that there was only ever one flight with two people aboard.
After much dithering, I decided to pose the aircraft in flight. The meant that no lead shot was required to keep the aircraft balanced but now I needed a stand. Since the kit didn't come with one, I started out scratch-building one. That little sub-project went in circles until I stumbled over a Round 2, multi-position [[base|http://round2models.com/models/accessories/universal-dome-base]] in a local hobby shop. Problem solved and very elegantly too.
Assembly of the kit was very straightforward, with minimal filling. There was a bit of a step at the rear of the aircraft, just aft of the wings, that required some gentle persuasion.
The landing gear doors didn't fit that well and required a few sand-test iterations to place.
[>img[text|./Arrow/Thumbs-2.jpg][./Arrow/2.jpg]] After I test fit the starboard intake splitter, I decided that the ribs on the back side of the part were a mistake. So I diligently removed them from both parts, all the while thinking "this is odd". It was a mistake - mine.
I then restored the ribs and covered them over with a sheet 0.005" plastic. Much better.
The canopy didn't fit as well as hoped. Once it was centred on the fuselage, it wasn't square to the dorsal hump. It took a fair bit of filing and sanding to get it to sit flush.
The article, //Flying the Avro Arrow// included some aircraft schematics. I scanned the profile view of the plane and then printed it 1:1 with the model; i.e., in 1/72 scale. I then cut out the clear parts of the canopy and overlaid them on masking tape to create the masks. It didn't work so well. The shapes were distorted. Possible because the model or diagram were inaccurate or because of the distortion of the shape due to the protection used.
With assembly complete, I laid down a coat of white primer, followed by a coat of flat white. The day-glo portions were then masked and sprayed. I really don't want to work with "Flourescent Red" again. The enamel was thick and goopy, out of the bottle and it refused to mix smoothly with any of the thinners on hand. The paint fought with the airbrush the whole time and it barely covered the white. I finally switched to an acrylic which turned out to be a slightly better experience. All of this added up to a definite ridge of paint when the tape was finally pulled off.
[<img[text|./Arrow/Thumbs-3.jpg][./Arrow/3.jpg]] Somewhere in the process, the nose probe was knocked off for the third time and I decided to leave it off.
After masking and painting the anti-glare panels on the nose, I was struggling with my limited references, trying to decided how to paint the intakes and splitters. My co-worker, Harry, loaned me a copy of //Arrow// by the Arrowheads. It's an excellent reference! I just wish it had been on hand while I was assembling the cockpit. At least the colours on the intake were clear. The leading edge of the splitter was painted //Bright Aluminum// and the panel just in front of the intake itself was painted //Anodic Grey//, along with the exhaust nozzles. A little black and brown pastel dust stained the exhaust nozzles appropriately.
Because of some bleeding, I had to touch up the //Bright Aluminum// with a brush and some //Polished Steel//.
Decals went on after the clear coat. Even the wing walk decals were pretty well behaved and didn't shatter. A little setting solution persuaded everything to settle down. Placement of the "Cradle Here" decals was unclear - even with all of the references - and the ensign on the tail was too large. Impatience and setting solution resulted in a damaged registration number on the fuselage and that had to be repaired with one of the spare registration numbers.
[[Once again|A90 Orlyonok]] the [[sludge wash|Sludge wash]] didn't come off as smoothly as I'd hoped. This time I was expecting it and just tested a small area before trying to scrub it off. Perhaps my clearcoat isn't as flawless as it need to be or maybe it's the brand of dish soap ...
The result was a model of a beautiful aircraft and a small sense of closure. Apparently the newer versions of the kit are more accurate but I'm happy.
!!! Paints
|borderless|k
|Humbrol |Polished Steel | |
|Model Master |Flourescent Red | |
|Model Master |Bright Aluminum | |
|Model Master |Anodic Grey | |
|Tamiya |Flat White | XF 1 |
|Tamiya |Flat Black | XF 2 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 869 |
|Vallejo |Orange Flourescent | 730 |
|Vallejo |Khaki | 988 |
!!! References
//Arrow//, The Arrowheads (Richard Organ,Ron Page, Don Watson and Les Wilkinson), Boston Mills Press, 2004. [ISBN 1-55046-047-1]
"Flying the Avro Arrow", Jack Woodman, //Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute Symposium//, 1978.
!!! Resources
A few of my models have received awards at the annual [[GOMBS|hrrp://gombs.ca]] shows. These awards are entirely subjective and are not actually prizes for modelling brilliance. They represent the fact that someone liked the subject or the work.
And I'm very pleased to have them.
<<list filter [tag[.award]] [sort[title]]>>
AMT; 1/144; June 2006
Although it was a snap-fit kit - the subject was sufficiently interesting to warrant tackling it.
Detail was sparse - as usual for one of these kits.
[<img[text|./b-wing/Thumbs-0.jpg][./b-wing/0.jpg]] The aft wall of the cockpit was particularly conspicuous so it received a few greeblies to dress it up. The cockpit was painted dark gull grey, followed by a heavy wash, drybrushing and a touch of white pencil. The fit of the canopy was very poor and required a lot of Krystal Kleer to fill the gaps.
The engine intakes were blanked off with a chunk of Evergreen -groove plastic sheet. The firewall that the thrusters were mounted on also received a "coat" of greeblies ans unpainted copper wire. Brass mesh was used to hide the innards of the engine pack.
The model was primed grey, salted and then painted white (//I hate white ships//). The wing tips, "tail" and engine compartment were masked and painted blue-green.
Once everything has dried, all the masks were removed and the salt picked off. The result was a battered appearance that was accentuated by a dark grey wash.
The guns and mechanicals were painted German grey.
Everything was sealed with a clear, flat coat and dusted with pastels.
|borderless|k
|[img[text|./b-wing/Thumbs-1.jpg][./b-wing/1.jpg]]|[img[text|./b-wing/Thumbs-2.jpg][./b-wing/2.jpg]]|
|[img[text|./b-wing/Thumbs-3.jpg][./b-wing/3.jpg]]|[img[text|./b-wing/Thumbs-4.jpg][./b-wing/4.jpg]]|
!!! Paints
|~AeroMaster |Dark Gull Grey | ~FS36231 |
|Model Master |Interior Blue Green | 2135 |
|Tamiya |White | XF 2 |
|Tamiya |German Grey | XF 63 |
Art Model; 1/72; 10 December 2018
<html><a href='./BV155/00.jpeg' target=_blank><img src="./BV155/00.jpeg" title="the original inspiration" alt="drawing of BV 155" width=150 align="left"></a></html> A very long time ago, I was reading through Martin Caidin's //Me 109; Willy Messerschmitt's peerless fighter// (still have the book!) and came across an illustration of a very odd looking "Me 155". I was captivated. There was something about the disproportionately long wings, overall shape ... I made a half-hearted attempt at kit bashing / scratch building but quickly abandoned the idea.
Fast forward four or five decades and I find this kit.
It's another short run kit. I swore off those unless it was a "unique" or "must have subject" that was unavailable in any other form. Yup.
<html><a href='./BV155/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./BV155/01.jpg" title="that's a lot of wing to keep in frame" alt="high angle view, port forward" width=150 align="right"></a></html> Kit plastic was very soft with no locator pins and prominent sprue attachment points. The resin details were incompletely molded and the cockpit details didn't fit inside the fuselage. There was much filling and sanding in my future.
As usual, construction started with the cockpit. Sidewall details were provided by resin detail panels. The cramped cockpit, careful painting and a lot of sanding hid the incomplete resin castings. Two instrument panels were supplied and I managed to choose the wrong one. It interfered with the fuselage fit and had to be pried out and replaced. Cockpit interior was painted //RLM 66// with a drybrush highlight. Added masking tape seat belts for a little extra detail.
<html><a href='./BV155/04.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./BV155/04.jpg" title="turbocharger and radiator detail" alt="from the front, low angle" width=150 align="left"></a></html> The turbocharger details were difficult to install. The (resin) part was also incompletely formed and hard to centre in the housing. The components were painted //Gunmetal// with a very light black wash for detailing.
It took a lot of sanding to get all the mating surfaces flat and smooth and to eliminate the rounded edges.
The wheel well details were not clearly illustrated so positioning the componets was by guess and by golly. Aside from that, everything was nicely detailed. Wheel wells were painted //RLM 02// with a dark brown wash and drybrushing.
The wing-mounted radiators were fiddly to assemble. Ignoring the instructions, the radiator was added from the inside after the housings were assembled. The innards were painted //Gunmetal// with a black wash to bring out the detail.
The five piece wing assembly mated quite well to the fuselage. There was relatively little filling and sanding required. The only exceptio was for the outboard wing assemblies. There was a distinct valley created by the rounding of the parts at the mating surfaces and it proved difficult to fill and smooth.
The horizontal stabilizers were also a little tricky: Butt joints with no locating pins or tabs.
At this point the model was ready for paint. Left off the small details like antennas, landing gear and doors.
<html><a href='./BV155/03.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./BV155/03.jpg" title="close up view of the mottling" alt="view of the tail" width=150 align="right"></a></html> Laid down the //RLM 76// (undersides) first and followed with the //RLM 82// with very little masking. Attempted to paint the "cloudy" transition between the underside and topside colours. Basically attempted to do the soft colour transition and mottling in a single pass. Overspray and frustration were the result. The //RLM 81// pass was no better.
In hindsight, I should have applied the //RLM 76// first and then applied hard masking followined by a traditional splinter camouflage application and __then__ applied the cloudy transitions and mottling.
As it was it took a couple of tries to get the mottling, battling "spiders" the whole time. I finally got acceptable results by dialing the pressure way back. Even so, the //RLM 81// behaved much better than the //RLM 82//.
With the camouflage finally applied, it was time for the clear coat ([[Future]]) and the few decals. Once the decals were dry and seal, the wash was applied. This time I let the wash dry completely and cleaned it up with the Vallejo Airbrush Thinner. Very pleased with the results.
After the flat coat was applied, the final details were painted. The exhaust ducting was painted with a mix of //Mahogany// and //Rust// with an overcoat or //Smoke//. It would have been much easier had those parts been moulded separately.
<html><a href='./BV155/02.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./BV155/02.jpg" title="another high angle beauty shot" alt="high angle view, starboard aft" width=150 align="left"></a></html> The antenna wires were rigged with EZ Line. Unfortunately that wasn't the right choice when there's a mid-point attachment.
Weathering was kept to a minimum. A little pencil for wear on the prop and on the leading edges of the wings. Also added fuel stains from the filler caps. Had to draw the caps with a circle template and a technical pen.
This was the first time I had used the //Model Air// paints and I was quite pleased. I've had trouble with paint adhesion using other Vallejo acrylics so I was a little leery of using these acrylics for 3 colour camouflage.
Also used paper masks for the splinter camouflage for the first time. That worked quite well and I'll probably do that again.
!!! Paints
|Polly Scale |RLM 76 | # |
|Tamiya |Black | ~XF-1 |
|Tamiya |Rubber Black | ~XF-83 |
|Vallejo |Aluminum | 71.062 |
|Vallejo |Black Wash | 73.001 |
|Vallejo |Chrome | 71.064 |
|Vallejo |Gunmetal | 70.863 |
|Vallejo |Mahogany | 846 |
|Vallejo |RLM 02 | 71.044 |
|Vallejo |RLM 66 | 71.055 |
|Vallejo |RLM 81 | 71.264 |
|Vallejo |RLM 82 | 71.022 |
|Vallejo |Rust | 71.069 |
|Vallejo |Smoke | 70.939 |
!!! References
; From [[HyperScale|http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/luftcamdb_3.htm]]
: Oberflächenschutzliste 8 Os 155:
: The ~BV155 shall have on the uppersurface the colours 81 Olivebrown and 82 Light Green. The mottling spacing and placement should be similar to the Bf 109 camouflage scheme. The fuselage sides, side of the vertical tail and leading edge of the wing and horizontal stabilizer should be painted in colour 76 (no name given). Hereafter, except for the wing and horizontal stabilizer’s leading edge, the aircraft should be then in a cloudy overspray with colour tones 81 and 82. Also, we look ahead to simplify the paint schemes which we should know shortly and will publish. Afterwards, the above mentioned aircraft which will be used for day service, camouflage on the undersurfaces should be deleted.
: With the mottle scheme, it should be applied on the aircraft sheet metal between the camouflage and its painted line. The pattern is to be soft flowing lines. The colour scheme is to be sprayed on at the present time. In case of needed puttying, (aircraft putty 7270.99) it should be applied on bare metal beyond the border lines of the paint scheme and the bare metal should be polished in the usual way but no camouflage on top of the putty. The painting of the undersurface is being deleted to economize.
!!! Resources
EZ Line
Monogram (original 1978 issue); 1/4105; March 2009
[<img[beauty shot - bow quarter|./galactica/Thumbs-6.jpg][./galactica/6.jpg]] I first built the Monogram Galactica in the early '80s. That kit is long gone and I've often wished for another chance. Occasional forays into eBay in pursuit of another kit were just discouraging.
December of 2008 comes along and there's a box waiting for me on my desk at work. My friend Tom brought me his carefully hoarded, original issue Monogram Galactica. Thank you Tom!
Accurately reproducing the detail of the studio model amounts to a complete scratch build (since accomplished by [[TimeSlip|http://www.timeslipcreations.com/Catalog_Sci-Fi_Ships_001.html]]) so I settled for the middle ground and set about improving the following:
# Hull details
# Landing Bays
# Main drives
I spent a little time hunting around for the (now) out of production resin detail set for the Galactica most recently produced by ~TimeSlip. The proprietor very generously scrounged up his last detail set, complete with the ~JTGraphics decals. Part of the purchase arrangement required buying an [[Astral Queen]] kit. What can I say - I'm weak.
!!! Resin Details
The resin detail set (reviewed by [[Starship Modeler|http://www.starshipmodeler.com/other/tsbsg.htm]]) consists of details panels for all of the landing bay support arms, caps for the forward ends of the landing bays, bow detail and hull detail for the port and starboard vertical surfaces.
The first step in applying the detail panels was to sand off all the existing raised detail. That plastic was thick and tough. Even with the dremel and 180 grit sandpaper it took a fair bit of time and effort to remove everything.
!!! Landing Bays
The layout of the launch tubes on the original kit always bothered me so I set out to replace them with something more "realistic". Finding a good, canonical reference for the launch tube configuration proved difficult (not owning any of the ~DVDs of the the original series). For example, the schematic shown during the "Fire in Space" episode shows 16 launch tubes in four groups of four, clustered at the forward end of the landing bay. A logical configuration if you consider the mix of launch and recovery operations. There was even a fan site that showed the launch tubes facing __aft__. I finally found an acceptable configuration using a combination of the photos of the studio model and screen captures from an assortment of episodes. The final configuration was 16 tubes in four grooups of four. Three of those groups clustered towards the forward section and one widely separated from the others, positioned close to the aft of the landing bay.
[<img[Original and reconfigured launch tubes|./galactica/Thumbs-3.jpg][./galactica/3.jpg]] The next problem was to consistently replicate 32 launch tubes. After several abortive attempts to build all 32 tubes (using several different materials), the final approach was to build one cluster of 4 launch tubes and use that as a master from which resin copies could be cast. This was mostly successful. The initial problem with casting was that my existing stock of two-part resin was fairly high viscosity and would not flow into the mold properly. This was exacerbated by the age of the resin. Once I acquired a supply of low-viscosity resin, I was able to cast all 8 4-tube clusters. It took a little work to clean up the bays before mounting; i.e., the launch tubes had to be drilled out (to make them more tubelike) and the forward bays had to be shortened slightly.
The process of replacing the launch tubes was an iterative one that involved a lot of cutting, sanding and testfitting. The hardest step was the irrevocable one of cutting out the existing launch tubes - everything after that was easier or at least less terrifying.
[>img[you can just see a parked Viper|./galactica/Thumbs-13.jpg][./galactica/13.jpg]] The landing bay opening was widened and squared off and ledge above the bays had to be thinned slightly. A flight deck was installed in the lower half of each bay. It consisted of a flat strip of plastic, roughly the width of the bay with 5mm high walls. The outboard walls were in line with the bay entrance while the inboard walls were set back slightly to allow for parked Vipers or shuttles. There was also a small, inboard pony wall to mask the interior of the bays. Each bay entrance also received 7 arches to represent internal, structural framing. The flight deck had to be notched slightly to accommodate the resin launch tubes. The flight bay interior was painted an overall Sand with a German Grey "runway" down the centre of the deck. A few [[vipers|./galactica/4.jpg]] and a [[shuttle|./galactica/5.jpg]] were parked on the deck for "colour". They can even be seen on the completed kit - if you're careful.
When all was done, the only hitch was that the panels and greeblie detail separating the tube clusters should have been recessed. Oops.
!!! Main Engines
[<img[Drive section, note the mesh over the thrusters|./galactica/Thumbs-12.jpg][./galactica/12.jpg]] The intent was to achieve a slightly nicer effect that was easier to paint. This started by sanding down the inner surfaces of the engine recesses until they were paper thin - then they were popped out and the lips cleaned up a little. The piece, including the recesses was then painted light grey and the innards heavily weathered with black and dark blue pastel. A piece of plastic stock was cut to fit the inner surface of the engines and then painted white. A little clear blue was added to the edges of each opening to give the impression of white "cooling to blue". Black painted brass mesh was then attached to the exposed engine openings using white glue (CA was a disaster).
!!! Main Hull
The main hull assembly brought back memories - none of them good.
[<img[Restructured centre support in the foreground|./galactica/Thumbs-2.jpg][./galactica/2.jpg]] The centre supports for the landing bays are approximations of the studio model. They are molded as a single, thick piece but the central support is actually two supports that meet at the same point on the bays. Unfortunately, the modifications turned out to be more involved than expected. The razor saw was difficult to manouver in the confined space - even with the parts unassembled. It might have been easier to remove the arms from the hull entirely and __then__ modify them. Once the struts were reshaped, the gaping holes were filled with sheet styrene and detailed with greeblies.
The other thing to deal with was the drive section - it drooped, just like I remembered. Mercifully, my modeling skills have improved somewhat since I was 13. A few minutes with steam and a little gentle pressure is all it took to correct the droop. The fit of the main hull halves was greatly improved by the correction of the droop - which doesn't mean that the parts actually fit. A lot of time and Tenax saw the halves joined. Then the filling began. It could have been worse - there was actually only one seam that required a plastic shim to fill the gap.
[>img[resin panels attached|./galactica/Thumbs-1.jpg][./galactica/1.jpg]] The next step was to attach the resin detail panels. Unfortunately, the first four panel were attached (with superglue) before I reallized that I should have thinned all of them significantly //first//! Because the detail panels were so thick, it required a fair bit of selective thinning shortening and curving where the panels butted together.
Mercifully, shaping the panels was quite easy because the resin was so soft and the plastic so hard. Unfortunately, those same properties made seam filling that much mode difficult since the putty's hardness was between that of the plastic and the resin. Wherever possible, I used Miliput expoy putty to fill the gaps because it can be thinned and shaped with a wet finger before it's cured and that does little damage to the surrounding detail.
The hangar bays were attached next. The resin details interfered somewhat with the (already poor) fit of the bays to the support struts. Actually, the panels made an already poor fit worse. After an hour's gentle sanding and dry fitting it became apparent that the parts fit would never be acceptable - let alone good. The resulting huge gaps were filled with more epoxy putty. In this case it was actually easier to work and shape the putty after it had partially cured.
!!! Paint, Decals and Weathering
[<img[Low bow quarter, note reshaped centre landing bay strut|./galactica/Thumbs-7.jpg][./galactica/7.jpg]] There are apparently two different colours produced by Testors' and marketed as "Light Grey". One (~FS36492) has a faint bluish tint and the other (~FS36495) is slightly beige. Imagine my surprise when the bottle of Light Grey (...492) was consumed and replaced - only to discover that the colour had changed but the names hadn't. The latter colour became the the base hull colour by default. Once again, my attempt at pre-shading wasn't entirely successful.
The //de rigeur// pre-decal Future coat was applied. The resin detail kit came with a set of ~JTGraphics decals which were very nice. The new decals included names for the original dozen battlestars and all of the red trim for the bow , drive section and viper bays.
[>img[Starboard profile|./galactica/Thumbs-8.jpg][./galactica/8.jpg]] The decals went down easily and responded well to Solvaset. The decals generally fit well, with the exception of the trim around the fore and aft of the landing bays. The decals didn't quite fit the complex shape of those ends. Where the decals overlapped, it was also apparent that they were somewhat translucent.
For basic weathering, I decided to apply a black wash instead of a [[sludge wash|Sludge wash]]. Mainly because the latter requires a pretty solid clear coat and that seemed difficult to apply over the highly irregular surface. A drop of liquid dish soap added to the wash helped break the surface tension and allow the wash to settle into the recesses. A fringe benefit of the soap was that it made it easier to clean up excess wash, even after it had dried. Once the wash had dried, details were picked out with a dry brushed coat of of white (with a touch of the base hull colour).
Everything was then sealed with a lacquer flat coat.
!!! Vipers
Part of the original vision included displaying a few Vipers in the midst of launch. The Vipers were mounted on varying lengths of wire to represent a staggered launch sequence. Unfortunately, the Vipers weren't solidly mounted to the supporting wire, which made it difficult to mount and adjust the wires and the cotton wool "smoke" looked "unrealistic" - even compared to the effects in the original series. Thick white paint on the wire stood in for the launch afterburner.
!!! Summary
[>img[bow on|./galactica/Thumbs-11.jpg][./galactica/11.jpg]] This was probably one of my longest, continuous builds: Just under a year for a single model. The completion date of the model coincided with the air date of the final episode of the "reimagined" Battlestar Galactica.
Overall I was very happy with the results and glad to have the chance to build the original battlestar again (and do a better job).
!! More photos
* [[Topside|./galactica/9.jpg]]
* [[Underside|./galactica/10.jpg]]
* [[Galactica with |./galactica/14.jpg]] the [[Astral Queen]]
!! Paints
|Model Master |Light Grey | 36495 |
|Polly Scale |Sand | 33798 |
|Tamiya |Clear Blue | X 23 |
|Vallejo |German Grey | 995 |
!! References
* the [[Battlestar Wiki|http://www.battlestarwiki.org/]] (//among many//)
!! Resources
[[Time Slip Creations|http://www.timeslipcreations.com/]]
Pegasus; 1/72; March 2006
[<img[above|./bf109h/Thumbs-1.jpg][./bf109h/1.jpg]] The Bf 109-H is the high altitude variant and an unusual subject. It was also my first real exposure to short-run kits.
The kit itself was comprised of plastic and white metal pieces. The plastic very soft and there were no alignment pins on the major components.
The cockpit detail was sparse, so I cast some copies of the resin sidewall detail included in the AML [[Bf 109-D]] kit that just happened to be lying around. The resulting copies were thinned and trimmed to fit the Pegasus cockpit. The cockpit was painted RLM 66, with appropriate washes and drybrushing.
The fuselage went together fairly well with some rescribing to do along the seams.
The wings were a greater challenge and needed strips of 0.010" plastic along the lower seam in order to achiece the correct dihedral.
The paint scheme was RLM 74/75 splinter over RLM 76 undersides with an RLM 02 mottle over the 76 on the fuselage sides. Aside from a DFU issue with my new airbrush, the biggest challenge was the mottle. The RLM 02 wouldn't settle down and give a clean spray. I eventually resorted to sponge-tipped micro-brush.
[>img[port|./bf109h/Thumbs-2.jpg][./bf109h/2.jpg]] I'm going to have to ask someone how to paint the spiral on the spinner because my attempt left a lot to be desired.
The decals shattered. After the first few disintegrated, I overcoated the remaining ones with clear decal film - which prevented any further disasters. Part of the "PV" in the registration code was lost and had to be replaced with vinyl strip. Unfortunately the gloss coat laid down for the decals wasn't very even and some of the decals silvered.
Minimal weathering was applied.
!!! Paints
|~Gunze-Sangyo |RLM 02 | H 70 |
|Model Master |RLM 66 | 2079 |
|Polly Scale |RLM 74 | 505059 |
|Polly Scale |RLM 75 | 505060 |
|Polly Scale |RLM 76 | 505061 |
!!! References
Caidin, Martin, //Me 109//, Ballantine Books, 1968
AML; 1/72; 31 Jan 2016
Another entry in my [[Spanish Civil War]] series and one that touches on an interest in early Me 109s that goes back to the early 1970s. This is a short run kit with photo etch details, acetate instruments and a vacuum-formed canopy. The only thing missing would be resin details. The details on the plastic were all a bit soft and everything needed a fair amount of clean up, if not actual reshaping. If the plastic was up to the supplementary details, this would be a jewel of a kit. Or perhaps this is just a poor craftsman blaming his tools?
[<img[text|./bf109d/Thumbs-1.jpg][./bf109d/1.jpg]] Starting in the cockpit, the instrument panel was painted //RLM 66// and the rest painted //RLM 02// with the usual washes and drybrushing. The seat belts were painted white-ish. This was my first exposure to PE cockpit details and I must confess that I liked it.
I roared ahead in attaching the engine cowl without reading ahead and wound up having to cut the cowl out so I could fit the radiator insert. Subsequent clean up of the cowl resulted in a poor fit.
: //Cut the red wire, but first ...//
There was a lot of "fill, sand, rescribe, repeat". It took a lot dryfitting to get the wing halves and fuselage to fit. The results weren't bad though. The PE wheel well inserts were a little tricky to figure out and attach. They made for a really nice detail though.
Masking the vacuum formed canopy was tricky because the detail was a little soft. Once masked, it was cut down to fit ... except that it didn't quite fit. The canopy had to be glued in place slowly: One section at a time, squeezing and pressing to hold it in place as the glue dried. It took two tries to get it to look half-decent.
[>img[text|./bf109d/Thumbs-2.jpg][./bf109d/2.jpg]] I managed to lose the PE insert for the oil cooler during assembly.
The prop assembly took some careful sanding to get everything to fit ... and then I managed to lose the backing plate just as the pieces were being assembled. It took some time to fashion another from a scrap of thick plastic sheet.
With the major assembly complete, the wheel wells were masked with Silly Putty and the model treated to a coat of primer. I made yet another attempt at pre-shading (will I ever learn?) but it was pretty sloppy.
The wing tips and rudder were painted white and then masked before the main fuselage colour was applied. The //RLM 63// was heavily thinned to allow the colour to be built up slowly and preserve the pre-shading. It took several careful passes to tidy up the sloppy pre-shading without destroying the overall effect. Speaking of //RLM 63//, I may have botched the colour.
Most references indicate RLM 63 as the topside colour but the photos seem darker than that. It turns out that there is some [[debate|http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/43694-condor-legion-109-colours/]] over RLM 63. It was initially thought to have been a light bluish, grey but the pundits have settled on a mossy, grey-green that weathered to a lighter colour. The Polly S RLM 63 is of the light blue-grey school.
[<img[text|./bf109d/Thumbs-3.jpg][./bf109d/3.jpg]] With the upper surfaces painted, the flap counter balancers and pitot tube were attached to the undersides before painting. I promptly had to remove the latter because it would interfere with the lower wing rondel decal. The undersides were painted //Sky Blue (RLM 65)// in much the same way as the topside colour was applied.
The usual clear coat was applied for decals and subsequent panel line wash.
The decals were lovely and thin and went down without a fuss. The wash was less successful. The panel lines were a little too vague to hold the wash very well. The clear coat wasn't terribly smooth either, which may have contributed.
A little touch up painting and the flat coat was applied. The final details consisted of painting the exhaust stack and cowl guns //Gunmetal// with touches of silver on the landing gear and propellers.
The black strip above the exhaust manifold was applied with a decal stripe rather than masking and painting.
The soft detail and constant parts clean up made the kit a little more challenging that expected but I am content with the results. A little more practice with PU and vacuum formed canopies is probably in order.
!!! Paints
|Gunze Sangyo |RLM 66 |
|Model Master Acryl |RLM 02 |
|Polly S |RLM 63 |
|Tamiya |RLM 65 | ~XF-23 |
|Vallejo |Gunmetal Grey | 863 |
|Vallejo |Carmine Red | 902 |
!!! References
[[Military Modelling Magazine|http://www.militarymodelling.com/news/article/condor-legion-me-bf109d/5280]]
[[ARC|http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/AWA2/1001-1100/walk1019-Bf-109-Large/00.shtm]]
[[http://forum.valka.cz/attachments/121/Bf_109_D-1.jpg]]
''Caidin, Martin''. //Me 109: Willy Messerschmidt's Peerless Fighter//, Ballantine Books, 1970.
AMT/Ertl; 1/60 ?
!! Theed Engineering "Bobtail" Rally Racer
[<img[Subassemblies laid out|./bobtail/Thumbs-1.jpg][./bobtail/1.jpg]] Interplanetary Rally Races usually take place in asteroid belts and planetary rings of picturesque systems. The races pit small, agile craft and their crews against challenging courses. To make the competition more more "sporting", astro-droids are prohibited, requiring the rallyers to have a crew of two. The Theed Engineering N-1 fighter provides a good base chassis for a rally racer because of its manouverability and low profile.
The inspriation came from a Subaru commercial which set me to thinking about derivation of commercial vehicles from their racing counterparts. My objective was to reflect that same inheritance by building a "beefier" N-1 variant with a dual cockpit.
[>img["subassemblies"|./bobtail/Thumbs-2.jpg][./bobtail/2.jpg]] Construction started with the AMT/Ertl Naboo Fighter. The first step was, as usual, to strip all of the chrome, using oven cleaner. Once the parts were clean, the modifications could begin.
The original, distinctively shaped engines were removed from the wing tips with a razor saw. The replacements started life as Guterman thread spools. I wanted to create some relief on the body of the new "engines" to give them some character and provide recesses for the detail greeblies.
[<img["port profile"|./bobtail/Thumbs-3.jpg][./bobtail/3.jpg]] Each engine was wrapped with 2 wide bands of 0.020" plastic stock. The wide lip at the front of each spool was faired back to the first platic band with epoxy putty. The recesses between the first and second bands were populated with various thicknesses of plastic rod and strip stock. The aft recesses were covered with photo-etch brass screen.
The inner bore of the thread spool was large and obvious so I filled it with hollow plastic tubing. The finishing touch for the engines was to add the nose cones from the original engines.
All in all, each engine is comprised of about 30 pieces, most of them quite small.
[>img[Cockpit close up|./bobtail/Thumbs-4.jpg][./bobtail/4.jpg]] The R2 bay was ground out with a dremel drum sanding attachment. This left a large, odd-shaped hole in the fuselage. Once the edges were evened up and dressed, an aft wall was created out of plastic stock. A seat was scratchbuilt from V-groove textured plastic and some strip stock (to give it a little depth). The final touches were a main instrument panel and some piping and auxiliary panels for the side walls.
The canopy from a 1:72 scale Monogram F-14 was rescued from the parts bin and cut to fit. Once taped in place, a fairing was built up from epoxy putty to make the cockpit look like less of an afterthought.
The forward cockpit did not require any modification. The additions were in the form of plastic card and piping to simulate additional instruments.
[<img[Head on|./bobtail/Thumbs-5.jpg][./bobtail/5.jpg]] One small problem was the scale of the model. I had hoped to use some 1:72 pilot figures in place of the supplied pilot, only to discover that this kit was definitely not 1:72 ... more like 1:60. I wound up casting a resin copy of the pilot in order to populate the second cockpit.
Openings for the landing gear were created by scribing and removing rectangles from the lower hull. The wells were built up by lining the insides of the holes with 0.030" square stock and topping those with thin plastic stock. Greeblies were added using 0.010" platic rod and strip stock. Thickness of the plastic in the lower hull added to the apparent depth of the gear wells. The doors were built up from plastic strip. The landing skids themselves were built from the gear struts of a 1:72 scale Me262 and sections of plastic channel stock.
The basic symmetry of the N-1 design posed a stylistic problem. The sharply tapered "tail" of the main hull had to be replaced with something consistent with the new design. To that end, the tail was bobbed and replaced the inner section of yet another Guterman thread spool: which conveniently came with "fins" and ended in dish identical to the other modified engines.
[>img[Overhead view|./bobtail/Thumbs-6.jpg][./bobtail/6.jpg]] Other than filling in the gun bays with modeling putty, that was about it.
Painting was very straightforward. No complex camouflage schemes or overly intricate details. It gave me a chance to use a couple of colours that almost never see daylight. The only matt paint was in the engine recesses and on the anti-glare panel.
For decals, I collected a variety of images from the web and other decal sheets in my spares box. I grabbed some Naboo and other "Star Wars" fonts from various sources on the web and loaded the images and fonts into Star Office (ironically). Transliterating text using these fonts, I created advertising, pilots' names, etc. I wanted a coat of arms to represent Theed Engineering or the planet of Naboo but nothing was available. I came up with appropriate substitutes: the coats of arms of Canada and my old school, the University of Western Ontario.
[<img[Compared to the original kit|./bobtail/Thumbs-7.jpg][./bobtail/7.jpg]] I printed the images and took the sheet, with some Micro Mark decal paper to a local copy shop and presto! Decals. The Micro Mark decal film is quite thin, easy to wrap around the wrong thing but subtle and conforms well to the surface. Unfortunately, the colours were very translucent. Subtle shades, like yellow, vanished against the orange or teal.
Weathering was kept to a minimum. Other than using brown chalk pastel to discolour the thruster nozzles, nothing else was done. I had toyed with the idea of denting and scratching the forward surfaces to reflect piloting errors but GP racers and rally cars are usually rebuilt between races and are almost always pristine ... at least for publicity photo shoots.
!!! Paints
|~Gunze-Sangyo |Orange | H 14 |
|Testor Acrylic |Gloss Teal | N/A |
|~AeroMaster |Dark Gull Grey | ~FS36231 |
|Model Master |Jet Exhaust | N/A |
|Tamiya |Metallic Brown | X-34 |
|Model Master |Chrome | 17178 |
|Polly Scale |Black | 505214 |
Minicraft; 1/144; 03 May 2014
This one was an(other) indulgence. I had originally intended a small diorama but after the excesses of the [[knarr|Viking Knarr]], it was time for a quick build.
[<img[Fore|./Clipper/Thumbs-1.jpg][./Clipper/1.jpg]] The kit is fairly simple with relatively few parts. Unfortunately, the box held fewer parts than it was supposed to.
To simplify masking, I decided to spray the fuselage before assembly. This meant a second pass would be required after the hull was buttoned up but the small windows would not have to be individually masked.
With the preliminary painting done, the windows were installed and the fuselage closed up. It was only when I reached the wings that I discovered that the poorly fitting fuselage window was actually a landing light ... which meant that one of the cabin windows was missing. The "missing" landing lights were replaced with shaped and polished sections of clear sprue.
Things went downhill at this point. There were only 3 propellers and the superchargers were missing too!
Scratch building four new superchargers was simple in this scale. The missing propeller was more complicated. The spares box didn't yield a suitable replacement and the idea of scratch building __four__ new props was too daunting. The solution was to use clear acetate discs to represent the spinning props. My wife had a circle cutter in her collection of scrap booking supplies and that was used to cut the discs. After cleaning up the edges it was a matter of using a felt tip pen to draw the zig-zag of a spinning prop on the clear plastic.
[>img[Aft|./Clipper/Thumbs-2.jpg][./Clipper/2.jpg]] Attaching the discs was the next challenge. None of the plastic strip or rod stock was the right diameter for a prop shaft and the spares box came up empty again. The solution was to cut the blades from the three kit props, leaving the shafts. One of those shafts was cut in half to provide the missing shaft. A simple hub was fashioned and attached to the new shaft.
The base coat was quick - a single coat of //flat aluminum//. The paint looked a little grainy once applied - possibly under thinned or the paint was too old. It was also a monochromatic. I broke up this effect by painting the wing tips and trailing edges with //stainless steel//.
The decals went down fairly well and settled nicely on the raised detail. The big, orange wing decal came in four parts and I started with the middle sections. The slight misalignment in the centre was amplified by span of the wings.
One piece of luck: The orange paint that I had on hand was an exact match for the wing decal. This made painting the navigator's dome much simpler.
Acceptable but not as fulfilling as I had hoped.
!!! Paints
|Polly S |Stainless Steel | 414296 |
|Tamiya |Flat Black | ~XF-1 |
|Tamiya |Flat Aluminum | ~XF-16 |
|Vallejo |Black | 950 |
|Vallejo |Orange | 910 |
AMT; 1/4255
[<img["nacelles"|./baatine/Thumbs-0.jpg][./baatine/0.jpg]] I was sifting through my project pile when I came across the D'Deridex-class Romulan warbird that I had built in the early 90's as part of the 3-ship "Adversary Set". Originally painted grey with a blue wash, I decided that it was time to repaint it a more appropriate colour and take the opportunity to fill in those seams.
The model came apart relatively easily and reconstruction started with the warp nacelles. The clear panels were tinted with Clear Green and Clear Yellow. The nacelle innards were quite stark so populated them with greeblies built up from Evergreen platic stock and bits from the parts bin (PBY landing gear, aerial torpedoes).
[>img["Starboard quarter"|./baatine/Thumbs-1.jpg][./baatine/1.jpg]] Assembly and painting were interleaved. The inner surfaces had to be completely painted before the major components could be joined. The resulting seams filled and the paint touched up.
The base hull colour was Forest Green. The stylized bird outline was airbrushed (freehand) with the base hull colour, lightened with white and yellow. The contrast was initially quite stark but after misting over everything with the base hull colour, everything settled down nicely.
[<img["Starboard"|./baatine/Thumbs-2.jpg][./baatine/2.jpg]] The recessed areas were washed with yellow and the raised detail highlighted with black marker. The result was a subtle colour variation.
There was very little supplementary detail painting: disruptors (RLM Dark Grey), grillwork (Oil) and windows (applied freehand brushwork). Photoetch brass screen was added to forward facing recesses on the lower hull.
[>img["topside"|./baatine/Thumbs-3.jpg][./baatine/3.jpg]] The original decal did not survive the reconstruction so I made use of my scanner, clear decal film and a laser photocopier to reproduce the Romulan crest on the bow. I also generated the vessel name ( Baatine ) using a Romulan (Rihannsu) font.
Generous coats of Future floor polish provided the gloss base for the decals and sealed the project.
!!! Paints
|~Gunze-Sangyo |Oil | H342 |
|~Gunze-Sangyo |RLM Dark Grey | H68 |
|~Gunze-Sangyo |Yellow | H4 |
|Model Master |Forest Green | FS 34127 |
|Tamiya |Clear Green | X25 |
|Tamiya |Clear Yellow | X24 |
|Testors' |Gold | N/A |
|Testors' |Leather | N/A |
!!! References
IDIC Pages: Romulans (now defunct - check the Wayback Machine)
Adding vinyl hoses to new anchor points is easier if you drill a small hole at the attachment point and glue a short length of plant wire into the hole, leaving enough protruding to anchor the vinyl hose.
!!! Description
The Carpet Monster is a residential, ambush predator.
Its natural habitat is a hobby room or portion of a larger room where hobbies are conducted. Their natural prey consists of small, expensive or difficult to replace parts used in such hobbies.
A carpet monster will lie in wait below or near the hobby area and when a small part takes flight, the carpet monster move swiftly to envelope the part and conceal it.
!!! Coping Strategies
The two primary defenses against predation by a carpet monster are a vacuum cleaner or a plastic chair mat.
Cleanliness of the hobby area is probably the best defense against the ravening beast but unfortunately, the carpet monster is well prepared for this assault. Carpet monsters keep a small stash of harvested parts as insurance against a thorough vacuuming. The victims never know when a small part from the current (or long past) project will resurface. It's this uncertainty that keeps the vacuum from being liberally deployed.
A clear, plastic chair mat can be an effective defense. However, it must be kept immaculately clean and even so, they are typically too small to effectively shield escaped parts from the carpet monster.
Carpet monsters with a variegated, brindled or otherwise disruptively patterned pelt are to be avoided at all costs. The pelt pattern can even defeat a clear plastic mat.
!!! Variants
; Shag
: the Shag Carpet Monster is the most effective of these predators; however, only the most unwary hobbyists fall victim to these.
; Berber
: the Berber Carpet Monster is highly under-rated as a predator. The tight weave gives the appearance of being ineffective but the coils of the Berber Carpet Monster are remarkably effecting at ensnaring small parts.
Coat with Future, dry & buff. Attach with white glue or Future
I've been building models since I was 6 years old - with a "brief" hiatus during high school and university.
I still enjoy building models and this wiki contains a sample of my work. The material contained in here started out as my Model Journal which I keep on my hobby bench. The journal was just a way of keeping track of which paints I used and what techniques I tried. Some of the content migrated to the web in pure HTML form as a means of sharing my work and (like many things) snowballed from there.
//Note: click on the images to view enlarged versions.//
|borderless|k
|Latest MicroBlog entry|c
|<<tiddler [[27 January 2018 - Volume II]]>>|
Hasegawa; 1/72; December 2007
<html><a href="./crusader/1.jpg" target=_blank><img src="./crusader/1.jpg" alt="right front" width=150 align="right"></a></html> I'd been considering building one for a while, with a diorama in mind. I finally gave up on the diorama and just bought and built one.
Assembly was fairly clean and simple. The details on the parts was pretty good - even allowing for the size. In order to control any scope creep, the tank was built "buttoned up". The hull and turret were assembled before painting.
A base coat of Humbrol Mid Stone was applied to the tank. The Humbrol paint is a little darker and "greener" than the ~Gunze-Sangyo version. The tracks were painted a mixture of Burnt Umber and Red Leather and then dry brushed with Steel.
The tracks went together better than expected. This is the first time I can recall successfully using a hot screwdriver to joing vinyl tracks!
<html><a href="./crusader/2.jpg" target=_blank><img src="./crusader/2.jpg" title="That antenna's a bit bulky" alt="left front" width=150 align="left"></a></html> The tracks and fenders went on and then the "camouflage" pattern was applied with Black Grey. At this point I noticed that the fender pieces didn't match either the box art or the painting diagram.
An umber, oil wash was applied , followed by dry brushing with light grey. The final touch was using stretched sprue for the antennae.
Somehow, the left rear fender skirt got eaten by the CarpetMonster - somewhere between the workbench and the display case.
----
//Update: fender found!//
!!! Paints
|Humbrol |Mid Stone | 84 |
|Testors' |Steel |
|Vallejo |Burnt Umber | 941 |
|Vallejo |Red Leather | 818 |
|Vallejo |Black Grey | 862 |
|Windsor & Newton |Umber | 34 |
Black Sun; 1/72; December 2006
[<img["Starboard, front"|./cylon.raider/Thumbs-0.jpg][./cylon.raider/0.jpg]] I've been enjoying the new series of Battlestar Galactica and when the "Galactic Enemy"and "Human Fighter" cropped up on the [[Starship Modeler|http://www.starshipmodeler.com]] [[store|href="http://www.starshipmodeler.com/cfstore/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=123]], I couldn't pass them up.
The kit is cast in a beautifully smooth, soft, grey resin with absolutely no bubbles, pinholes or other blemishes. The left "arm" was somewhat warped but that was easily corrected with hot water and some gentle pressure. Similarly, the back of the "head" needed some adjustment.
The overall fit of the parts was reasonable. The pour stubs were substantial but easily removed because of the soft resin. Some of the smaller parts required reshaping before they would fit.
[>img["Starboard, front"|./cylon.raider/Thumbs-1.jpg][./cylon.raider/1.jpg]] The model was assembled with [[cyanoacrylate|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superglue]] glue and the seams filled with Miliput epoxy putty. This putty remains water soluble until it cures, which means that it can be shaped and "sanded" with a fingertip and damp Q-tip; preserving delicate detail .. or soft resin.
Despite the fact that it was going to be painted with metallics, the model was not polished before priming and painting because the slightly rough surface texture was better suited for a raider that spends it time in space.
[<img["Starboard, front"|./cylon.raider/Thumbs-2.jpg][./cylon.raider/2.jpg]] The base hull colour was Testors' Metallizer Magnesium and the dark panels were painted with Metallizer Titanium.
The masking tuned out to be the greatest challenge. Despite using a low-tack masking tape, the underlying paint and primer only mostly adhered to the resin. The damage was much smaller and more localized than feared. After repairing the pea-sized divot, the area was masked again - this time with Tamiya Tape.
The remaining panel lines were created with low-tack tape and black pastel powder. The end result was quite effective.
[>img["Starboard, front"|./cylon.raider/Thumbs-3.jpg][./cylon.raider/3.jpg]] The engine nozzles were painted with Testors Jet Exhaust and the gun barrels with Testors Gun Metal.
The completed model was mounted on a Matchbox stand left over from my [[Gloster Gladiator|Gloster Gladiator]].
Overall, a very enjoyable little project. In terms of accuracy, the only niggles were the weapons pods, which protrude too far, and the sides of the "head", which are supposed to be flush rather than indented.
!!! Paints used
|Testors' Metallizer |Titanium |
|Testors' |Jet Exhaust |
|Testors' |Gun Metal |
!!! References
Polar Lights; 1/1000; August 2004
[<img[3/4|./d-7/Thumbs-0.jpg][./d-7/0.jpg]] The D-7 battlecruiser is by far my favourite science fiction ship design and when Polar Lights issued a version, it went on The List. I've built five over the years: two AMT D-7s, two K'Tingas and the Polar Lights kit. However, if there's one thing about Star Trek kits, it's the plethora of scales: 1/537, 1/650, 1/1400, 1/2500 and now 1/1000 <sigh>.
[>img[starboard|./d-7/Thumbs-1.jpg][./d-7/1.jpg]] The kit is much nicer than the original AMT version with good painting suggestions and a selection of decals, including the Romulan KR variant from both the animated and original series.
Part #128 was copied and recast in clear resin and then painted clear green - as an //homage// to the original AMT kit.
I was dismayed to discover a copyright notice molded on to the //outside// of the port wing. That was sanded off.
[<img[bow|./d-7/Thumbs-2.jpg][./d-7/2.jpg]] All the chrome was stripped with oven cleaner, except for that on the warp engines.
Assembly was broken down subassemblies to simplify painting but it was at this point that the major flaw in the kit was discovered. The first run of these kits "featured" an asymmetric boom. Apparently this was fixed in the second run. It took a lot of sanding and filling to correct the flaw.
In general, most of the seams required a lot of work.
The shuttlebay was a pleasant surprise: I was contemplating leaving the doors open and building one from scratch when I noticed that one had already been supplied. The bay was painted British Interior Green.
[>img[aft quarter|./d-7/Thumbs-3.jpg][./d-7/3.jpg]] The original filming miniature was painted a mixture of greys and grey-violet. Using that as a guide, the engineering hull was painted RLM 75 (a violet-grey) on the topside and light sea grey on the underside. A darkened shade of RLM 75 was painted in a triangular aztec pattern on the topside. Then a thinned version of the base coat was fogged over the aztec pattern to reduce the contrast. This was to link the D-7 to it's successor, the K'Tinga and corresponds to the digitally remastered images in the rereleased version of //The Trouble With Tribbles//.
The bridge boom was painted light ghost grey.
The decals were applied over the usual clear coat.
!!! Paints
|Model Master |RLM 75 | |
|Model Master |Light Sea Grey | 36307 |
|Model Master Acryl |Light Ghost Grey | 4762 |
|Polly Scale |British Interior Green | F505270 |
|Tamiya |Clear Green | X25 |
!!! References
D-7 Blueprints
The (now defunct) IDIC pages
Alliance; 1/1000; March 2009
[<img[3/4|./dy100/Thumbs-1.jpg][./dy100/1.jpg]] This is a resin kit that's in scale with the Polar Lights [[Enterprise|ISS Enterprise (NCC 1701)]]. There are all of 6 pieces in the kit. The casting was very clean with no bubbles. There was some minor warping of some pieces and a couple of mold seams to clean up.
The parts fit was reasonable, although the cargo containers were slightly asymmetrical, even when very squarely mounted to the bottom of the hull.
The "sail" presented the biggest problem. I wasn't careful enough when dry-fitting the parts and didn't notice that it was slightly off vertical. It was several days before I noticed and by then, even debonder wasn't much help. With the application of Brute Force, a loud <snap> and some sanding the flaw was corrected.
[>img[pristine base coat only|./dy100/Thumbs-2.jpg][./dy100/2.jpg]] The cargo pods were attached and the resulting gaps filled with epoxy putty. Reference photos showed hatches and latches on the pods. These were made from 0.010" plastic sheet and attached with white glue. Similarly, little rectangles were added to the hull to replicate missing detail.
No modifications were required for the drive section, just a little white glue to fill the seams. I considered using brass mesh to make replacements for the solar panels that stand off from the hull but settled on using the kit parts.
[<img[aft quarter|./dy100/Thumbs-3.jpg][./dy100/3.jpg]] With respect to painting, the instructions said "Paint tan and weather heavily". Lots of artistic license here. The model was primed and the resulting defects repaired and primed again. The basecoat was a 50:50 0mix of Buff and Deck Tan.
[>img[port sidet|./dy100/Thumbs-4.jpg][./dy100/4.jpg]] I wanted to have the vessel's name on the bow. It's non-canonical but I figured that if they went to the trouble of printing the ship's name on the seat belts (q.v. //The Wrath of Khan//), then it would be painted on the bow too. I hit on the bright idea of applying dry transfer letters to clear decal film. The transfers were overcoated with liquid decal film and then applied to the model. It came out rather well.
Weathering started by gently sanding off my home made decals. A burnt umber wash was applied, followed by the random, patchy application of brown and black pastel. Pastel and masking tape were used to create panel lines on the hull.
!!! Paints
|Tamiya |Deck Tan | XF 55 |
|Tamiya |Buff | XF 57 |
|Vallejo |Burnt Umber | 941 |
!!! References
(//now defunct//) IDIC pages.
Hasegawa; 1/76; November 2006
A very well engineered little kit that made for another "quick build".
Opted to build a "buttoned up" desert version. There was no interior detail and scratchbuilding one defeated the purpose of a "quick build.
[>img[Scout Car|./daimler.mkii/Thumbs-1.jpg][./daimler.mkii/1.jpg]] The only additional work put in was to sand down the tires, to give the impression of wear, and to make small supports for the antennas from flat stock.
Assembly and painting were intermixed to accommodate the unusual shapes of the model. The base hull colour was mid stone with the upper surfaces sprayed with a lightened version. I tried to use a circle template to spray the wheel hubs but that didn't work so well and I went back to the brush. The tires themselves were painted dark grey with a black wash.
I applied a wash of raw sienna oil paint (very nice) and added paint "chips" with dark grey.
After applying all four decals, I finished with pastel dust and stretched sprue antennas.
!!! Paints
|~Gunze-Sagnyo |Mid stone | H 71 |
|Tamiya |Flat White | XF 2 |
|Humbrol |Matt Ocean Grey | Hu 106 |
Silvering occurs when there is air trapped under the decal. Most likely to occur over matt paint, which presents a very coarse surface. This is also why a coat of clear gloss (or Future) makes a good base for decals.
Fine Molds; 1/71; August 01, 2004
Kuat Systems Delta-7 Aethersprite Light Interceptor, a.k.a. Jedi Starfighter
<html><a href='./delta-7/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./delta-7/01.jpg" title="bow" width=150 align="left"></a></html> This was the first of three <<tag finemolds "Fine Molds">>, <<tag StarWars "Star Wars">> kits that I built. Sadly, there's almost nothing in my notebook about this one.
All of the parts fit with no flash, no filling or sanding. The panel lines are beautifully engraved and perfectly in scale. The kit comes with two display stands - one for the fighter and one for the hyperdrive ring so you can choose to display them separately.
<html><a href='./delta-7/02.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./delta-7/02.jpg" title="bow" width=150 align="right"></a></html> The cockpit was painted ~RLM02 overall with wash and dry brushing to bring out all of the detail. The pilot was a very good representation of ~Obi-Wan Kenobi and came up nicely with a combinations of //Buff//, //Mahogany// and //Leather Brown//.
<html><a href='./delta-7/03.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./delta-7/03.jpg" title="bow" width=150 align="left"></a></html> Base hull was white. The engine nozzles on the hyperdrive ring and the fighter were painted //Jet Exhaust// with a black wash and pastels for weathering.
Then the decals began. Over 150 decals on a very small model. Anything that was not white was a decal. In some places, the decals were 2 or 3 layers deep. This little kit still holds the record for the greatest number of decals I have __ever__ applied to a model.
<html><a href='./delta-7/04.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./delta-7/04.jpg" title="bow" width=150 align="right"></a></html> This was the first time I absolutely relied on decal setting solutions. There was extensive use of both Micro Set and Micro Sol. The results were impressive. Everything settled into the underlying detail beautifully.
Overall, very enjoyable build.
!!! Paints
|~Gunze-Sangyo |RLM 02 | H70 |
|Model Master |Jet Exhaust |
|Tamiya |White | ~XF-2 |
|Tamiya |Buff | ~XF-57 |
|Vallejo |Mahogany | 846 |
|Vallejo |Leather Brown | 871 |
!!! References
//Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones//
!!! Resources
Microscale Micro Sol
Microscale Micro Set
Monogram; 1/48
//These photos are all that remain of this model since falling prey to a particularly clumsy cat//
[<img["alt image text"|./do-335/Thumbs-1.jpg][./do-335/1.jpg]] This was another donation from a friend who has mostly gotten out of modeling. Not that I minded, since I've always rather liked the Do-335 - so much so that I had actually built the Monogram 1:48 kit once before.
This being a late war Luftwaffe fighter, the cockpit interior was painted RLM 66 with the seats, headreasts, armrests and instrument panels painted black. Details were picked out with a drybrushed application of a lightened version of the base colours. Instrument gauges were highlighted with a white pencil. The molded-in seat belts were painted Cream with Silver buckles.
[>img["alt image text"|./do-335/Thumbs-2.jpg][./do-335/2.jpg]] The cockpit canopies were dipped in Future and then masked with Mr. Masking Solution.
The engine bays and inspection hatches were painted RLM 02 (since that was apparently used as a rust paint). The engine block was painted Matt Black with aluminum and copper details. The exhaust stacks were also Black but washed a few times with ~Rust-All.
[<img["alt image text"|./do-335/Thumbs-3.jpg][./do-335/3.jpg]] The wheel wells were also painted RLM 02 and washed with a mixture of Burnt Umber and Black.
Assembling all the pieces brought back memories of the first kit. The fit left a lot to be desired. Nothing quite fit the way it should, requiring coaxing, filling and sanding. I had debated assembling the model with the engine inspection hatches closed, especially since the engine wasn't particularly detailed and I wasn't inclined to put in the additional necessary labour or cash to improve it. The poor fit of the hatches put an end to that.
The canopies and engine hatches were tacked closed with Krystal Kleer in preparation for painting.
When it came to painting, I ignored the instructions and chose one of the (many) regular Luftwaffe night fighter schemes. I would have preferred the RLM 74/75 splinter scheme but I didn't have the right markings on hand ... back to the old stanby. The plane was sprayed overall RLM 76 with RLM 75 "squiggles" (as opposed to "blotches").
[>img["alt image text"|./do-335/Thumbs-4.jpg][./do-335/4.jpg]] Painting was followed by the usual regine of clear coat (Future), decal, flat coat and pastel weathering. Note that this kit is old enough that there were still swastikas supplied with the decals.
The final touches were to add inspection hatch props from plastic rod and the landing light cover. I mislaid the appropriate clear part and wound up fashioning a new cover from clear sprue ... and then found the original part.
A nice trip down memory lane but now I recall some of the frustrations with older Monogram kits.
!!! Paints
|~Gunze-Sangyo |RLM 02 | N/A |
|Model Master |RLM 66 | N/A |
|Model Master |RLM 75 | N/A |
|Model Master |RLM 76 | N/A |
|Vallejo |Burnt Umber | 941 |
!!! References
[[Squadron 13: Do-335 Walkaround|http://www.squadron13.com/do335/DO335.htm]]
Bandai; 1/700; 27 March 2015
[<img[Bow on, illuminated|./andromeda/Thumbs-0.jpg][./andromeda/0.jpg]] This write-up is a little sparse because I stopped making notes about a quarter of the way through the build.
This is another piece of the of the //Space Battleship Yamato// a.k.a. //Star Blazers// universe. Most of the starship designs in the show don't appeal to me, including the eponymous //Yamato// but the //Andromeda// is another matter entirely. Well, that's what my inner 8 y.o. believes.
[>img[Port side|./andromeda/Thumbs-1.jpg][./andromeda/1.jpg]] The kit is in the same scale as the [[Revenge|The Revenge]] and is designed to be illuminated. It came complete with the hokeyest switch I've ever seen, battery box, an ingenious stand with an integrated electrical connections and vinyl light mounts to correctly position the bulbs for the main engine and wave motion guns. A little research and a sketch produced a lighting plan for the the bridge, main and secondary engines and the wave motion guns.
The main engine was a two-part design with an opaque shell and clear red insert. This simplified painting and allowed the clear insert to be wrapped with aluminum tape to better reflect the light. After a little trial and error, I settled on yellow ~LEDs for the engines. The secondary engines required a fair bit of cutting and shaving to route the wires from the separate engine pods back into the main hull. The bare ~LEDs were a bit stark so wool roving was used as a diffuser.
[<img[Bow, unlit|./andromeda/Thumbs-2.jpg][./andromeda/2.jpg]] Rather than illuminate the entire superstructure, I opted to open out the windows in the bridge, the captain's quarters, a small cluster on the aft of the superstructure and small holes on the "ears" of the bridge. Opening the windows in the captain's quarters proved tricky and I broke the window supports. The fix was to clean out the entire opening and replace the window supports with plastic strip. The bridge and captain's windows were very large openings and the intention was to fill them with Krystal Kleer once painting was complete.
The bridge turned out to be an awkward space to light. A single LED could not deliver light evenly into all the nooks and crannies. The solution turned out to be pretty cool. A green LED inserted into a length of white plastic tube produces a soft, even glow along the entire length of the tube.
[>img[Aft|./andromeda/Thumbs-3.jpg][./andromeda/3.jpg]] Murphy was watching over the lighting. Everything checked out during the circuit tests but when everything was buttoned up, the wave motion guns were anemic at best. Nuts. It took 7 months to figure out the problem: Current draw. The fix was to place two 9V batteries in parallel. That produced a satisfying glow ... just in time for the ~GOMBs show too!
One of the brackets that allowed the gun barrels to elevate was broken and had to be replaced. The only additional detail was to drill out the cannon barrels.
The base hull colour, //Intermediate Blue// was laid down in two passes. The first pass covered any part that might be difficult to get at after assembly; e.g., the decking beneath the turrets, anything under an overhang. The second pass took place after assembling the major components and attaching the surface detail. Anything that was to be painted buff was painted separately and attached later.
[<img[Port, illuminated beauty shot|./andromeda/Thumbs-4.jpg][./andromeda/4.jpg]] A clear, gloss coat was followed with the usual black wash and the subsequent flat coat followed with an assortment of pastels around the missile bays and engines.
The engines were painted //Titanium// with a little weathering. After some debate, I decided to paint the outside of the secondary engine nozzles. It's not congruent with the appearance of the ship in the cartoon but it's consistent with the main engine appearance.
!!! Paints
|Model Master Acryl |Intermediate Blue |
|~Gunze-Sangyo |Radome Tan |
|Metallizer |Titanium |
AMT; 1/96; January 2005
Built sometime between December of 2004 and May 2005 - the birth of our daughter has somewhat skewed my sense of time.
[<img["cockpit almost complete"|./eagle/Thumbs-1.jpg][./eagle/1.jpg]] The last time I built a Space 1999 related model was when Airfix released the "Hawk" so I jumped at the chance to build a the Eagle Transporter when it was released in the mid-90s.
I started with visions of a small lunar diorama and purchased the Airfix 1:72 Astronauts. Needless to say my plans changed when I discovered this was roughly 1:96 scale.
I decided to open the cockpit windows and give it a basic interior: the pilots are resin copies of the somewhat undersized pilot figure that comes with the 1:72 Airfix Me-262 and the cast resin pressure door was copied from one of the external pressure doors. I had to fiddle with the interior arrangement in order for the pilots to be visible through the windows.
[>img["cages open and p-hull ready to assemble"|./eagle/Thumbs-2.jpg][./eagle/2.jpg]] Note: the cockpit film set does not corespond to the dimensions of the effects models.
The cockpit windows are clear acetate, painted with Clear Orange.
Most of the assembly time was consumed by the process of opening the "cages" fore and aft of the cargo module. It took 2 full days (spread over a week) to open and clean both cage assemblies.
I also built 2 boxes, lightly decorated with greeblies, to represent the inner pressure hulls in both cages.
At this point I decided not to correct the plumbing around the engines and fuel tanks.
[<img["bow quarter"|./eagle/Thumbs-5.jpg][./eagle/5.jpg]] Painting was very straightforward: flat white with several random patches of what was supposed to be light grey.
The model was gloss-coated with Future to provide a base for the decals and the "sludge wash"; i.e., a mixture of water, paint and dish soap in equal parts.
Decals were a mixture of those supplied with the kit and the excellent ~JBot items. The bulk of them being the latter.
The grey sludge wash was applied, allowed to dry and rubbed off. I rubbed with a little too much vigour and wound up "weathering" a few of the decals.
That turned out to be a nice subtle effect.
The whole kit was then sealed with a coat of Testor's flat laquer.
|borderless|k
|[img["cockpit view"|./eagle/Thumbs-4.jpg][./eagle/4.jpg]] | [<img["sludge wash applied"|./eagle/Thumbs-3.jpg][./eagle/3.jpg]]|
|[img["aft quarter"|./eagle/Thumbs-6.jpg][./eagle/6.jpg]] | [img["topside"|./eagle/Thumbs-7.jpg][./eagle/7.jpg]]|
!!! Paints
|Tamiya |Clear Orange |
!!! References
!!! Resources
[[JBOT Decals|http://www.jbot.ca]]
AMT; 1/24; January 2007
Kuat Systems Engineering Eta-II Actis Interceptor, a.k. "Jedi Starfighter"
<html><a href='./eta-ii/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./eta-ii/01.jpg" title="all buttoned up" alt="port forward view - all closed up" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
This was one of those "quick hit" builds. I wasn't particularly interested in the kit or the subject matter. Which begs the question, why did I buy it?
Regardless of that, the kit went together quite well. The parts fit was good and the cockpit (which comprises the bulk of the model) was surprisingly well detailed. The only real complaint was the lack of a figure.
<html><a href='./eta-ii/02.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./eta-ii/02.jpg" title="note the fuel stains" alt="rear view" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
The cockpit was painted //British Interior Green// overall, washed with //Red Leather// and //Black// and then dry brushed with //Verdigris//. Control panels were painted black with the various buttons picked out in white, red, green and blue.
I appear to have two, basic, "go to" cockpit colours: //British Interior Green// or //RLM 02//. I could always expand my horizons by adding Soviet cockpit blue ...
The exterior paint job was inspired by a late 90's Myanmar ~MiG-29. The base hull colour was white with //Pthalo Cyanine Blue// over //Light Blue//. All of this was followed with a [[Sludge wash]].
<html><a href='./eta-ii/03.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./eta-ii/03.jpg" title="everything open" alt="port forward view - all opened up" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
The canons were //Gunmetal// dry brushed over //Black// - which turned out very nicely. The thrusters were painted //Jet Exhaust// with washes of //Black// and //Red Leather// and more //Gunmetal// dry brushing.
In the end, I liked the model but wasn't entirely happy with the paint job. It didn't create the effect I was going for; i.e., the subtle blue-on-blue camouflage seen on late ~MiGs and, on relfection, camouflage isn't really a Star Wars kind of look.
!!! Paints
|Tamiya |Clear Blue | ~X-23 |
|Tamiya |White | X-2 |
|~Gunze-Sangyo |Pthalo Cyanine Blue | H322 |
|~Gunze-Sangyo |Light Blue | H45 |
|Polly Scale |British Interior Green |
|Testors |Jet Exhaust |
|Testors Metalizer |Titanium |
|Vallejo |Gunmetal | 70.863 |
|Vallejo |Red Leather | 70.818 |
|Vallejo |Black | 70.950 |
!!! References
Star Wars Episode III //Revenge of the Sith//
Bandai; 1/72; 30 December 2013
[<img[Fore|./redtail/Thumbs-1.jpg][./redtail/1.jpg]] The anime series //[[Cowboy Bebop|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_Bebop]]// really caught my attention. Stylish, slightly //noir// and an appealing soundtrack.
Spike's "Swordfish" never really appealed but Faye's "Redtail" was another matter entirely. I missed the first run of these kits so when they reappeared on the market, I snapped one up.
It took some time to puzzle out the sub-assemblies to make painting easiest. It didn't take long to diverge from the instructions as old habits reasserted themselves ... and started with the cockpit.
The cockpit components were painted //RLM 66//, which is a bit dark for detailing. Contrast was achieved with greys, blacks, silver scratches and drybrushing. The displays were painted //Clear Green// over white - which worked quite well. Warning labels and information placards were made with scribbles of black marker on thin strips of red and silver vinly tape. Those were unexpectedly effective.
Speaking of "vinyl" and "unexpected", the figures were vinyl. <ugh> The flash and seams were difficult to trim and the parts required CA to glue. Somewhere in the process, I even managed to break off Faye's right hand ... several times. At least there were plenty of reference photos for painting the figure.
[>img[Aft|./redtail/Thumbs-2.jpg][./redtail/2.jpg]] General construction was quite a surprise. All of the seams needed filling, which is not the usual Bandai experience. It took a couple of passes to clean everything up, which raised some doubts about the assembly plan ...
Colour references vary for the prototype. The hull colour varies from light grey to a very solid mauve. The kit plastic was a little too purple for me, so I opted for a milder shade: //Light Grey// with just a drop of purple ink. The result was, for once, just what was intended; i.e., a light grey with a hint of purple in it. [[Pre-shading]] was a miserable failure, as usual.
I had been putting off masking the canopy and then realized that the framing was all prominently raised and opted to brush paint the framing. Unfortunately, there were problems with paint adhesion and the complex shapes resulted in a fair bit of abrasion.
The cockpit has a complex, petal-like construction. The components look like all of the hinges should function but it all clips together in such a way that all of the parts are trapped in place ... but with gaping seams. The seams were much improved after a bout of scraping and careful gluing.
[<img[A closer look at the cockpit|./redtail/Thumbs-3.jpg][./redtail/3.jpg]] There was a Fingerprint Incident that left a prominent mark on one of the hull pieces and the custom hull colour had to be re-created. That was mercifully successful.
After much waffling about how to mask, paint and attach the guns, I decided to shave to the locking tabs that were trapped when the gun halves were assembled. This allowed the guns to be built and the seams filled, without jeopardizing the rest of the paint. The gatling barrels were drilled out somewhere along the process.
The thruster nozzles were painted //Dark Anodic Grey// and then treated to multiple washes of blue, black and umber. The final touch was a thin coat of //Rust// at the edges. The colour covers poorly, which was an asset in this case.
Two features on the hull, that I took to be lights, were painted //Clear Blue// over white. Unfortunately, the blue went on a little too heavily and obscured the effect.
With everything paint, all of the sub-assemblies were attached and a little weathing was applied. A few paint chips and some black, pastel for thruster stains.
It's a cool little ship.
!!! Paints
|Citadel Ink |Purple |>|
|Model Master Acrylic |Light Grey |36495 |
|~Gunze-Sangyo |RLM 66 | H416 |
|Tamiya |Red | X-7 |
|Tamiya |Clear Blue | X-23 |
|Tamiya |Clear Green | X-28 |
|Tamiya |Dark Sea Grey | ~XF-54 |
|Testors' Metallizer |Dark Anodic Grey |>|
|Vallejo |Light Flesh | 968 |
|Vallejo |Black Grey | 862 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 869 |
|Vallejo |Rust | 069 |
!!! References
//Cowboy Bebop//
!!! Resources
[[HobbyLink Japan|http://www.hlj.com/]]
Academy; 1/72, 26 September 2020
After I bought the Tamiya 1/48 //Storch//, and decided to build it as a ski-equipped, Eastern Front version - which I have always wanted to do - I was overcome with a wave of nostalgia and wanted to build a North African version. Rather than buy a second, pricey 1/48 kit, I opted for the less expensive Academy kit.
<html><a href='./fi-156c-3/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./fi-156c-3/01.jpg" title="overview beauty shot" alt="diorama from right front" width=150 align="right"></a></html> The "greenhouse" canopy was a little intimidating, so I also shelled out for a set of vinyl canopy masks for the first time!
Reference photos of the cockpit interior showed ammunition drums for the ~MG15 hung on the aft wall of the cockpit. The process of replicating that little detail revealed that the L-bend in the floor of the cockpit was ... inaccurate. I tried to talk myself out of correcting a detail that "no one could see". And then cut the cockpit floor apart and reassembled it in the correct shape. It took quite a while to puzzle out the aft seat arrangement. I settled on a variant that had a stool arrangement that converted into a double seat. With the floor and seating sorted out - the ~MG15 magazines went on the aft wall a rudimentary trim wheel and throttle quadrant were attached to the left wall. Masking tape seat belts were added but instead of laying them neatly on the seat, they were draped on the floor as seen in some photos.
The vinyl canopy masks were fun to apply and sure beat a knife and tape. I can't afford to use these on every model but I think I'm hooked. The vinyl did lift a bit during painting but it wasn't catastrophic and the slight bleed was easily cleaned up with a toothpick.
<html><a href='./fi-156c-3/02.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./fi-156c-3/02.jpg" title="fuel drum is settled into the groundwork" alt="aft view" width=150 align="left"></a></html> The fuselage and wings went together easily but were left separate for ease of painting. The multi-part canopy proved to be tricky to align but fit surprisingly well with a little patience. The cabin door was tacked in place with Micro Krystal Kleer to simplify masking and painting.
The exterior of the canopy received a coat of //RLM 02// in lieu of painting the interior framing.
It turns out there were two versions of //RLM 79 sandgelb// in use. The "early" version was more yellow and thought to have come from Italian paint stocks and the 'late" version was a little more brown. It was hard to find the former among the hobby paints available in town. The only available one was from the now orphaned Model Master Acryl line.
The first coat of //RLM 79// was a disaster. The first coat was applied directly over the unprimed plastic and when a little paint came up on my latex gloves, I thought "Uh-oh!". I hadn't primed the model and there was no paint adhesion. The painted peel up at the mere suggestion of tape, making masking impossible. I wound up stripping all of that first coat. Fortunately, it was easy to do.
Prime, prime, prime!
<html><a href='./fi-156c-3/03.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./fi-156c-3/03.jpg" title="can see the mechnic, formation lights and squiggles" alt="high angle, left front" width=150 align="right"></a></html> The second attempt at the upper surface coat was applied over a coat of Tamiya grey spray primer. This one held and the upper surfaces were masked off and //RLM 76// applied on the lower surfaces. At this point I discovered conflicting references, some of which said //RLM 78//, not //RLM 76//, was paired with //RLM 79 (early)//. Too late.
Next came the //Mäandertarnung// (squiggle camouflage). I looked for all sorts of ways to avoid that - hoping to find a plain //RLM 79// / //RLM 76// combo or perhaps a simple mottle - because this was supposed to be a quick project. No such luck: the alternatives were either poorly documented or the decal stash couldn't help. //Mäander// it was. The next dilemma was the colour of the squiggles and the references were all over the map again. They ranged from light blue to //RLM 02// to dark brown over the base colour. In the end, I went with the Tamiya kit suggestion and chose //RLM 76//.
Now, how to paint the pattern... Spent some time trying to get the airbrush to work: high pressure, low pressure, with and without the crown, full tear down and cleaning, relpace air valve parts. No luck. Might have been the tool, might have been the craftsman. There was some despair until I came across a ~YouTube [[video|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXy6m_KjiOk]]. The modeler was using an artist's paint pen, filled with the appropriate, acrylic model paint. Off to the art store! With surprisingly little practice to tune technique and paint/thinner ratio - I was ready.
After all that, it took 20 minutes to lay down the //Mäander//.
<html><a href='./fi-156c-3/04.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./fi-156c-3/04.jpg" title="exhaust pipes are visible in this shot" alt="low angle, left front" width=150 align="left"></a></html> Main assembly followed and it went fairly well but there was something off about the main wing struts. They didn't connect with the mid-wing "N" struts. Perhaps left and right got swapped but the parts seemed symmetrical. The impression that something was off was only strengthened later in the build, when trying to pose the open cabin door. The door wouldn't clear the struts.
Time for another reference check and discovered a number of things
# With painting complete - I found a photo of the actual aircraft ... and that the detail of the squiggles didn't match the prototype. Still pleased with the results despite that.
# This was actually Rommel's bird c.1942 and belonged to his //Wüstennotstaffel//; i.e., "desert emergency squadron"
# //Storchs// had either the mast or teardrop antenna but not both - contrary to the instructions.
# The exhaust shrouds had 3 little rectangles moulded on - which don't appear on any version of the real aircraft. //This would have been easy to correct, had they been noticed in time!//
<html><a href='./fi-156c-3/05.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./fi-156c-3/05.jpg" title="another beauty shot" alt="another high angle from right side" width=150 align="right"></a></html> Filled in the forward hole in the canopy where the mast antenna was to go and touched up the paint.
[[Clear coat|Future]] and decals came next. There were relatively few decals and they went on fairly easily. Although, the fuselage squadron codes silvered, despite multiple applications of setting solutions. The decal sheet was missing the //Staffel// emblem (green icon of the African continent, outlined in white) and the tail markings (not surprisingly). The latter was pulled from an aftermarket sheet and the former is ... pending.
Once the decals were dry, an //Umber Wash// was applied to the panel lines. Fuel staining was added using a few drops of thinned //Smoke//. Engine exhausts were also added. Two holes were drilled in the underside of the engine cowl for short lengths of plastic rod.
<html><a href='./fi-156c-3/06.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./fi-156c-3/06.jpg" title="tow rope visible on Kubelwagen" alt="high angle from the rear" width=150 align="left"></a></html> Everything was sealed with coat of //Matt Medium// and I set about peeling up the canopy masks and painting the final details. The final weathering included applying //Desert Dust// pigments and using a sponge brush to apply chipping to the leading edges of the wings, landing gear struts and the steps.
Somehow, during the course of the build, a quick, standalone project because a mini-diorama. I grabbed a couple of figures from a Heller //Luftwaffe// set and a //Jubelwagen//, jerry cans and fuel drum from the Academy "Light Vehicles..." set. A Preiser tank crewman was pressed into service as a mechanic - appropriate for a laison squadron.
The //Kubelwagen// went together quickly. The bodywork was painted //Dark Yellow// and the seats and roof received a coat of //Khaki//. The motor was omitted because the cover was going to remain closed. Added a jerry can with a lead foil strap to the right rear fender. Weathering consisted of chipping applied with a foam brush and a liberal coat of //Desert Dust// pigment slurry to the undersides. A tow rope was fashioned out of thick, cotton thread.
The officer and pilot figures were painted with a variety of shades of //Desert Yellow//, //Yellow Ochre//, //Buff// and an assortment of browns. References show a lot of variation in DAK uniforms - which amounts to artistic license and the uniforms were more of a colour palette than dogma.
<html><a href='./fi-156c-3/07.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./fi-156c-3/07.jpg" title="open cain door visible over figures shoulders" alt="Low angle from the rear" width=150 align="right"></a></html> The Preiser figure came in 3 parts: 2 arms and the rest of the body. The body was tacked into place on the model with white glue, allowing me to position the arms properly //in situ//. The uniform was painted a very faded //German Uniform// green.
The base was a chunk of styrofoam, sealed with white glue, covered with drywall mud, sealed again with white glue and then painted black. The ground work consisted of AK Terrain //Desert Sand// glopped over the base, smoothed and then textured with a wet brush. Bits of gravel and tree flock were pressed onto the goop while it was still damp, as was the fuel drum. I opted not to add wheel tracks or footprints.
Once everything was dry, //Desert Dust// was applied over the groundwork to tie it to the figures and vehicles. It also provided some variation to the somewhat monochromatic groundwork.
Despite the inaccuracies ad mistake - I am very pleased with the whole thing. It was all very satisfying.
!!! Paints
|Model Master Acryl |RLM 02 | 4770 |
|Model Master Acryl |RLM 79 (early) | |
|Polly Scale |RLM 76 | 505061 |
|Polly Scale |RLM 80 | 505322 |
|Tamiya |White | X-2 |
|Tamiya |Clear Green | X-25 |
|Tamiya |Clear Red | X-27 |
|Vallejo |Black | 70.950 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 70.869 |
|Vallejo |Buff | 70.976 |
|Vallejo |Desert Yellow | 70.977 |
|Vallejo |Gunmetal | 70.863 |
|Vallejo |Khaki | 70.880 |
|Vallejo |Smoke | 70.939 |
|Vallejo |Yellow Ochre | 70.913 |
|Vallejo |German Uniform | 70.920 |
|Vallejo |Matt Medium | 70.540 |
|Vallejo |Umber Wash | 73.203 |
|Vallejo |Lt Sienna pigment | 73.104 |
|Vallejo |Desert Dust pigment | 73.121 |
!!! References
//Fine Scale Modeler//, July 2012
//Fine Scale Modeler//, October 2015
//Flight Journal: German Fighters//, Winter 2005
//Fiesler Storch in Action//
[[The Luftwaffe Blog|http://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2015/08/desert-storks-wustennotstaffel-earticle.html]]
[[Keeto Model Works|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXy6m_KjiOk]]
!!! Resources
Montex Mini Mask [[SM 72027 for Academy Fi-156|http://www.montex-mask.com/en/ofertaShow.php?skala=1/72&maska=MINI%20MASK¤t=mini_mask_1_72]]
Montana Cans: [[Montana Empty Marker 1MM|https://www.montana-cans.com/en/marker-inks/empty-markers-replacement-tips/montana-empty-markers/montana-empty-marker-1mm]]
AK Terrain Desert Sand (paste) ~AK8020
Heller //Personnel de la Luftwaffe// 1/72 figure set #79655
Preiser //Panzersoldaten Deutches Reich 1935-45// 1/72 figure set #72507
Academy "Light Vehicles of Allied and Axis During WWII" #13416
Airfix; 1/72; August 2004
[<img[text|./fiat.g50/Thumbs-1.jpg][./fiat.g50/1.jpg]] This was my first Itallian aircraft kit and meant to be a quick build. The detail can be described as "sparse". There was no painting guide and the decals were out of register and translucent.
The only detail added was in the form of an instrument panel made from plastic card stock.
Assembly presented the usual fit and alignment problems. Based on the reference photos, the elevators were separated and dropped.
The cowl was painted flat yellow and the fuselage base coat Italian camo yellow #3. The first attempt at painting the splotches went horribly wrong. The model got reprimed and resprayed. At this point it turned out that my airbrush had been damaged - which explains the splotchy disaster. The second attempt went much better and the green splotches were acceptable.
[>img[text|./fiat.g50/Thumbs-2.jpg][./fiat.g50/2.jpg]] The undersides were painted light ghost grey and the wheel wells got a coat of dark gull grey.
The fuselage band was painted on but relied on decals for the rest of the markings. I should have at least painted white beneath the decal locations.
Weathering was minimal but there was a small problem when the "liquid rust" reacted with the lacquer flat coat.
!!! Paints
|Model Master Acryl |Light Ghost Grey | 4762 |
|Model Master |Gull Grey | 36231 |
|Polly Scale |Italian Camo Yellow #3 | FS 633434 |
|Tamiya |Flat Yellow | XF 3 |
|Tamiya |Green | XF 5 |
A rather broad category, covering everything from human figures to dinosaurs to Comic characters and giant robots (or mecha). Technically mecha are vehicles (or even armour) but they are anthropomorphic.
<<list filter [tag[figure]] [sort[title]]>>
Tamiya; 1/35; March 2011
I'm not sure how long this one languished in my collection but it's over 7 years. Perhaps it's because I'm just not (that much) into 1/35 armour.
[<img[low left|./flakvierling/Thumbs-0.jpg][./flakvierling/0.jpg]] Assembly began with the guns. Despite the age of the molds (copyright 1977) the engineering was typically Tamiya; i.e., everything fit! The only modification I made to the parts was to drill out the barrel and flare the holes slightly. The guns were painted semi-gloss black with a light to moderate drybrush coat of silver. The gunsight was painted clear green over silver. Everything else was painted German Grey. The subassembly was set aside.
[>img[high right, with canopy|./flakvierling/Thumbs-1.jpg][./flakvierling/1.jpg]] The rest of the assembly was pretty much by the book, with the exception of the running gear, which was deferred to simplify painting. Throughout assembly, the parts were sprayed Tamiya German Grey, washed with black, smoke and/or burnt umber and then drybrushed with more German Grey, lightened with Light Grey. Panel lines received a heavily thinned coat of darkened, German Grey. Wear was simulated with a silver pencil. Touch ups were done with Vallejo German Grey - which presented a small problem in that it was darker than the Tamiya version.
One cool effect I discovered was in painting the exhaust. A random coat or two of Clear Smoke over Flat Aluminum produced a really nice effect!
[<img[high right|./flakvierling/Thumbs-2.jpg][./flakvierling/2.jpg]] The seat upholstery was replicated with tissue paper, sized with a mixture of white glue and water. They were painted with a sloppy coat of flat brown over leather brown and drybrushed with yellow ochre. Another very pleasing finish. Unfortunately I got carried away with the assembly and wound up having to paint in an awkward space, having installed the pedals and dashboard before painting. The instrument dials were painted black with a little rub of white pencil over the raised details. I used Micro Krystal Kleer to represent the glass. The rubber of the windshield wipers was painted black.
[>img[high left, with canopy|./flakvierling/Thumbs-3.jpg][./flakvierling/3.jpg]] The biggest challenge was (once again) the tracks. They are supplied as vinyl bands that have to be joined to form a continuous loop. Painting started with a base coat of dark brown (Dark Earth), followed by a very wet coat of Orange (too wet to be paint, too heavy to be a wash) and then topped with a heavy drybrush of Red Leather. The high wear areas got a drybrush coat of Metallic Grey. Joining the tracks required some sewing and repair of the paint job. I had been wondering why the front and rear axles were metal - after stretching the tracks over the wheels, I no longer wondered. Unfortunately, the tracks didn't actually work, despite all of the poly caps. The teeth didn't quite mesh and the tension was quite high. Oh well, it was a nice thought.
[<img[high left|./flakvierling/Thumbs-4.jpg][./flakvierling/4.jpg]] The results looked pretty good when all the major components were finally assembled. A slightly worn, panzergrau half-track.
The traditional, pre-decal Future coat was applied with a brush since there were only 7 small decals - actually 6 after an unfortunate incident involving a paintbrush, aggressive setting solution and a little impatience. A lacquer dull coat was applied to seal the decals and kill the gloss.
After the flat coat came the "Oh no! What have I done?" stage.
[>img[high rear|./flakvierling/Thumbs-5.jpg][./flakvierling/5.jpg]] This was my second attempt at a winter whitewash. The [[first|T34/76]] used a pastel dust + water slurry and was somewhat unsuccessful. This time I decided to used powdered tempera paint. I figured that the tempera would be somewhat forgiving.
I applied a brush coat of white tempera, using a small brush and relatively short strokes to simulate scale brush work. That was a waste of time. When the white wash was dry, the beautiful, multi-toned, grey paint job was completely hidden by a thick, amateurish, uneven layer of white. <ugh>
After a day's thought and reflection, I went back over the whitewash with a variety of wet brushes and cotton swabs swirling, blending and lifting the tempera. The nice thing about craft paint is that it can always be lifted by the application of water. This property also made it easy to simulate high wear that wasn't quite so binary.
[<img[cab closeup, note snow accumulation|./flakvierling/Thumbs-6.jpg][./flakvierling/6.jpg]] The results were much more appealing that the initial coats. I was greatly relieved and was able to move on to weathering. A Burnt Umber wash was __carefully__ applied over the white wash, followed by a scrub of black and brown pastel powder.
I had doubts about applying a layer of Woodland Scenics Snow on the model, so I tested the appearance by sprinkling the snow over the vehicle without adhesive. It looked good enough to warrant the application of a white glue + water mixture. Interestingly it turns out that the hardest part of applying "snow" it to get it to mound convincingly. Perhaps next time it should be applied over lumps of acrylic gel?
The final touch was to simulate the clean windshield wiper arcs by masking the windshield and splaying it with Dust. This effect has been done to death by others but __I__ hadn't tried it yet.
I had intended to assemble, paint and position the figures that came with the kit but then I came to terms with the fact that I wasn't really interested (this time) - so I left them out.
Overall, I was quite pleased with the results and left wondering why I waited so long to build the kit.
!!! Paints
|Polly Scale |Dark Earth | F505252 |
|Polly Scale (Floquil) |Dust | 37778 |
|Tamiya |Semi-gloss Black | X 18 |
|Tamiya |German Grey | XF 63 |
|Tamiya |Flat Aluminum | XF 16 |
|Tamiya |Clear Green | X 28 |
|Tamiya |Metallic Grey | XF 56 |
|Vallejo |German Grey | 995 |
|Vallejo |Smoke | 939 |
|Vallejo |Light Grey | 990 |
|Vallejo |Bright Orange | 851 |
|Vallejo |Yellow Ochre | 913 |
|Vallejo |Leather Brown | 871 |
|Vallejo |Red leather | 818 |
|Vallejo |Flat Earth | 983 |
|Vallejo |Burnt Umber | 941 |
: //Rick Chin Memorial Build//
Airfix; 1/72; 21 Feb 2016
The naming conventions for the P-40 always confused me as a boy. The kits would be labeled P-40, Kittyhawk, Warhawk, Tomahawk. I recall thinking "don't you know what it's called?". This was exacerbated when Airfix released the "Curtiss Hawk 81-A-2".
|!RAF| |>|>| Tomahawk |>|>|>|>| Kittyhawk |
|~|~|~| Mk. I | Mk. IIA | Mk. IIB | Mk. I | Mk. IA | Mk. II / Mk. IIA | Mk. III | Mk. IV |
|!Designation | !P-40 | !~P-40A | !~P-40B | !~P40C | !~P-40D | !~P-40E | !~P-40F - L | !~P-40K - M | !~P-40N |
|!USAAF| Hawk 81A-1 |>|>|>|>|>|>|>|>| Warhawk |
No wonder I could never figure out the naming.
[<img[Front|./p40b/Thumbs-1.jpg][./p40b/1.jpg]] So, why this model and why is it the //Rick Chin Memorial Build//? Because I felt that the most appropriate thing to spend the funeral coin on was a model, with Chinese markings and the P-40 presented itself on my way home from Rick's funeral.
The kit itself if one of the new toolings that the revitalized Airfix has been putting out. Like the [[Spitfire|Spitfire Mk.IXc]], it's a gorgeous little kit. The transparent parts are crystal clear and the detail is crisp on every piece. The engineering is excellent and the fit varies from good to excellent.
Assembly doesn't begin with the cockpit because the seat, instrument panel, etc are mounted on the wing assembly and inserted into the assembled fuselage from the bottom. However, painting started with the cockpit. The cockpit interior was sprayed //Interior Green// and then washed with burnt umber and drybrushed with //Verdigris// - apparently the Tamiya shade is close (enough) to Curtiss Cockpit Green. I had planned to add a number of pieces of scrap plastic to represent electrical panels, map folders, throttle quadrant, etc. and was pleasantly surprised to find those details already molded in. The small details were picked out with various blacks, greys and tans. The instrument panel was painted //~Black-Grey// and the decal applied. The wheel wells were painted //Interior Yellow//, except for the interior, canvas wheel well covers.
With all the interior painting done, the fuselage and wings were buttoned up. The wings didn't fit the fuselage as well as hoped. This was partly because I didn't the starboard wing halves perfectly when they were assembled. The small offset affected the fit at the wing roots. Being attached to the wing assembly "floor", the instrument panel doesn't sit high enough in the cockpit. I could have distracted viewers from the gap with a gun sight but the AVG aircraft were not so equipped.
[>img[Underside|./p40b/Thumbs-2.jpg][./p40b/2.jpg]] Based on some reading, I left the cowl flaps closed and then promptly found a picture showing them open. The closed flaps were carefully pried out and the open flaps installed. Because the rudder was a separate piece, it was attached slightly offset for visual interest.
With the main pieces assembled and the clear pieces left to one side, the model was primed and then painted with a base coat of //Dark Earth//. The colour was built up slowly in an attempt to give an uneven appearance but it didn't work out quite as well as hoped. The horizontal stabilizers were loosely attached and the a Silly Putty / Parafilm mask applied for the //Dark Green//.
With the topside colours dry and cured for a day, the stabilizers were removed and then the upper surfaces masked off. Silly Putty was used to mask the leading edge of the wings because of the machine gun barrels molded to the wings. I cut a cardboard template for the curved border between the colours on the nose, and then cut tape masks from the template. Unfortunately, the shape wasn't quite right and that wasn't apparent until the decals went on.
[<img[Port, showing fuel stains|./p40b/Thumbs-3.jpg][./p40b/3.jpg]] Speaking of decals, there were a __lot__, especially for such a tiny kit! Fifty-seven decals, most of them stencils and illegible in this scale. Beautiful decals, though. Colourful, opaque and in register. They responded well to Solvaset. The trickiest one was the red stripe as it took some work to get it to conform to the compound curves of the fuselage. It took a swipe with a razor blade and a few passes with the setting solution to get the decals to settle into the panel lines.
The black panel line was was painstaking but it looked very good in the end. One of the reference photos showed significant fuel stains down the port side of the fuselage. These were replicated with successive thin washes of black and brown.
The flat coat went on and the final details were applied. The machine guns were painted gunmetal and the sliders on the landing gear painted silver. The clear parts were attached and ~E-Z Line was used for the antenna wire. I really should have drilled the holes __before painting__. The final detail was a little pastel staining at the guns, beside the wheel wells and a light touch behind the exhaust stacks.
I was quite pleased with this little kit. I wonder how the Hasegawa P-40 will compare?
!! Update
[>img[Model and award|./p40b/Thumbs-4.jpg][./p40b/4.jpg]]
I took this model to the 2016 [[GOMBS Show|http://www.gombs.ca/home.html]], where it won the //''Rick Chin Memorial Best Chinese Subject / Phantom''//. Thank you!
I also love ~E-Z Line ! I snagged the aerial wires on this and the [[Whitley|Whitley Mk.V]], winced, cursed and was relieved when the line pulled but stayed attached.
!!! Paints
|Model Master Acryl |RAF Dark Green |
|Model Master Acryl |Dark Earth ANA |
|Tamiya |Interior Green | ~XF-71 |
|Tamiya |Royal Light Grey | ~XF-80 |
|Vallejo |U.S. Interior Yellow | 71-107 |
|Vallejo |~Black-Grey | 70.862 |
|Vallejo |Verdigris |
!!! References
//P-40 in Action// Squadron Walkaround
Siga Models; 1/72; 22 December 2013
I can't quite remember why I wanted to build this one: Something I read or perhaps an extension of my interest in 1930's aircraft?
Typical of a short-run kit, the molding is basic and uneven. Canopy detail is indistinct at best and the surface heavily striated. The framing included a diagonal that isn't present in the prototype, so it was (carefully) sanded off and polished out. That diagonal "frame" was probably an attempt at representing the antenna bracing __inside__ the cockpit. A coat of //Future// made the striations disappear.
[<img["Interior, scratchbuilt details"|./fokker.xxi/Thumbs-1.jpg][./fokker.xxi/1.jpg]] Cockpit detail was ... basic, even for this scale. I went a little overboard in remedying that. A simple instrument panel was fashioned from a plastic sheet sandwich. Holes were drilled in the upper sheet for the dials and then filled with Krystal Kleer. This was glued to a grey backing. Rudimentary cockpit framing and foot rails were added too. Most of the effort went into the radio mast structure behind the pilot.
Reference photos showed the aerial mast penetrating the canopy and supported by an elaborate framework and platform. Construction started with attaching the mast to the platform and letting that cure before proceeding. Then the two vertical and one diagonal strut were installed. The fuselage was taped together and the canopy tacked in place (with the antenna protruding) to hold everything in place while the glue dried. Everything was then pulled apart to finish the detail painting.
[>img["High, port beauty shot"|./fokker.xxi/Thumbs-2.jpg][./fokker.xxi/2.jpg]] With the interior paint complete, the fuselage was glued together. The halves fit fairly well, with minimal filling. Once the fuselage was closed, the last antenna support was attached with white glue.
Filling gaps was a major part of the remaining assembly. The canopy required a fair bit of filling and there was a slot in the fuselage for a stand (not supplied) that also got filled in.
Assembled and attached the wing halves and then discovered that I should have spent more time dry-fitting the landing gear.
The formation lights are prominent lumps of red and green on the upper and lower surface of the prototype's wings. They would be a noticeable omission, so they were added. Holes were drilled all the way through the wing tips to represent the bulbs, with the intention of adding dollops of white glue for the lenses. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room to model the landing light on the port wing.
The rear stabilizer was supported by wires and struts, so holes were drilled in the stabilizers and in the rudder, for the support wires.
The front end also needed a bit of work. The cowl didn't fit with the intake in place, so I had to cut a notch in the cowl. At this point it became apparent that the exhaust pipe had been omitted. A little heat bending and snading of plastic rod produced a very passable representation.
Reference photos showed broad cylinder heads with pushrods as well as something in between each cylinder. A search of the spares box didn't produce a suitable replacement for the very basic engine provided in the kit. Short of major scratchbuilding or resorting to the aftermarket, there was little to be done. A little gizmology improved the appearance and so I left it at that.
[<img["Low angle and that improbable underside colour"|./fokker.xxi/Thumbs-3.jpg][./fokker.xxi/3.jpg]] With most of the assembly complete, it was time for painting. A three colour scheme requires quite a bit of masking, even if one of the topside colours is the same as the underside. The standard hobby paints don't appear toinclude exact matches for the Royal Dutch Airforce colours, so I improvised. Painting started with the inexplicable chocolate brown underside and portions of the upper side. Tamiya green, with a little light grey mixed in, was used for the green and Italian Yellow #3 completed the colour scheme. In anticipation of translucent decals, the rudder was painted white. The decals __were__ translucent but it was the wrong thing to do.
A spot coat of future was applied for the decals. Markings for a Royal Dutch Airforce plane, based in Amsterdam in 1938 were chosen. The pure white squadron codes were fairly opaque but the rondels were not. Those applied over a single colour were ok but those that spanned two (or more) colours were obviously translucent. The coat of white paint on the rudder backfired because the fin flashes were too small! The effect of the translucent decals was mitigated but the poor fit of the decals was glaringly obvious.
After a bout of "What am I going to do?" and "coulda, shoulda, woulda" and some sleep, I decided to try to match the decal colours and paint over the white where it was exposed. The paint mixes were miraculously close to the decal coloiurs!
Time for the final details: I drilled the holes for the gunsight mounts and promptly drilled one hole in the wrong place. After correcting that, the gunsight was added, along with the guns, pitot, stabilizer wires and struts. The stabilizer wires had to be redone after applying a little too much heat when tensioning the monofilament.
I opted not to weather the model. No real rationale, other than I was tired of the project.
In the end, the model was acceptable. The kit engineering could have been far worse and the parts fit was reasonable but the detail was soft or sparse. I managed to keep the extra work down to a dull roar and most of what I did improved the appearance of the kit. Not surprisingly, most of the additional interior detail is invisible, except for some of the cockpit framing, the antenna support and a glimpse of the instrument panel.
!!! Paints
|Polly Scale |Italian Yellow #3 | 505234 |
|Tamiya |Brown | ~XF-10 |
|Tamiya |Flat Aluminum | ~XF-16 |
|Tamiya |Green (lightened) | ~XF-5 |
|Vallejo |Black Grey | 862 |
|Vallejo |Black | 950 |
|Vallejo |Chrome | 064 |
|Vallejo |Copper | 999 |
|Vallejo |Light Grey | 989 |
!!! References
[[http://aircraftwalkaround.hobbyvista.com/fokkerxxi/fokkerxxi.htm]]
[[IPMS Stockholm|http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2005/06/stuff_eng_dutch_af_colours_01.htm]]
Nominally a floor wax but one of the most versatile tools in the box.
; Clear coat
: Spray, undiluted. Self-levels as it dries.
; Clean up
: Dissolves in windex - even when dry.
; Canopies
: Dipping canopies in Future and letting them dry greatly improves the clarity.
Matchbox (//yes, them!//), 1/72
I found the kit on eBay and bought it with the intent of creating a Western Desert vignette. I settled on building a Gladiator assigned to 80 sqn, stationed in Amriya, Egypt in 1939-40.
[<img["Starboard, front"|./gloster.gladiator/Thumbs-0.jpg][./gloster.gladiator/0.jpg]] I bought a set of generic RAF code letters (Carpena #7289) from [[Flightdecs|http://www.flightdecs.ca]] and
started assembly.
Starting with the cockpit, I used plastic strip and rod to simulate the internal framing and additional controls. I used fillets of plastic sheet to give the pilot's seat that characteristic bucket shape.
I also made a new instrument panel from plastic stock. The instruments faces were made by painting the panel black and then drilling holes in the panel for the gauges. Then I glued a thin, white sheet to the back of the panel and filled the holes with Micro Crystal Clear.
The interior was painted with Polly Scale British Interior Green and then washed and highlighted.
Masking tape seatbelts finished the cockpit.
The canopy proved to be the biggest challenge. I wanted to pose the canopy open but the clear parts were too thick to simply cut the sliding section out and position it as desired so I decided to try my hand at thermoforming.
I started by pushing the kit canopy into a block of [[polymer clay|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymer_clay]] After hardening, I had a negative mold of the canopy. I sprayed this negative with silicone lubricant (left over from SCUBA diving) and pushed another blob of polymer clay into it. Once removed and baked, I now had a heat-proof copy of the original canopy.
Off to the toaster over with a frame and some clear acetate.
The results were acceptable but not exceptional. The basic shape was there but the detail was too soft and there was some distortion at the front of the copy. In the long run, I kept the front a rear sections of the kit part and used the centre section from my thermoforming experiment.
[>img["Starboard, front"|./gloster.gladiator/Thumbs-1.jpg][./gloster.gladiator/1.jpg]] With the exception of cutting open and detailing the cockpit door, the rest of the assembly went as per the instructions. I stopped short of mounting the upper wing in order to paint the model.
I chose the standard early-war scheme of Dark Green / Dark Earth with a half-black / half-white underside. Note that this particular plane did not have the Mid Earth / Mid Green colour scheme on the lower wing as many biplanes did at this time.
With the painting (mostly) complete, I mounted the upper wing, which required some general persuasion to get the wing to attach to the cabane and outboard struts.
Rigging was done with 0.010" plastic rod, which is rigid enough to ease the task of rigging while having enough give to allow for some inaccuracies. I used white glue to mount the rigging because it provided enough working time while having enough tack to hold pieces in place while I fiddled.
Final finishing consisted of
* a clear coat (Future)
* decals
* a grey wash
* a flat coat
With regard to the decals - the kit decals were translucent and out of register. The Carpena decals were very nice but a bit thick. The only challenge was the serial number. I had no serial numbers in my decal drawer so I wound up modifying the kit decals, which were close enough that all I had to do was some cut and paste and to convert an "8" into a "3".
The grey wash was a compromise that showed the detail on upper surfaces while not overwhelming white undersides and still being visible against the black.
!!! Paints
|Humbrol |Dark Green | 29 |
|Humbrol |Dark Earth | 30 |
|Polly Scale |British Interior Green | F505270 |
!!! References
Airfix; 1/72; February 2004
I drifted into an "early jets" modeling kick and picked up this Airfix kit as part of that. It's an old kit, one I recall building first in 1974.
[<img["Starboard, front"|./gloster.meteor/Thumbs-0.jpg][./gloster.meteor/0.jpg]] It was fairly simple to build with most of my time spent trying to figure out how to add a little detail to the cockpit. The very thick canopy kept me from going overboard. I wound up adding a rear deck aft of the seat and a front deck under the forward part of the canopy. A new instrument panel was cut from platic sheet and installed aft of the stock part. The fuselage stringers are invisible after assembly.
The cockpit was painted Grey Green and the instrument panel flat black. The panel was scored with a pin, revealing the white plastic, to simulate instrumentation.
I weighted the nose with the usual mixture of lead beads and superglue. Unfortunately, not enough - which was only apparent after assembly and painting (I typically leave the landing gear off until final painting is almost complete to avoid breakage).
The kit went together very cleanly with almost no filling and a very little sanding. Once the lost detail was rescribed, the plane could be painted.
A base coat of Dark Ocean Grey was applied to the upper surfaces, followed by Dark Green. The undersides were painted Light Grey. I was using Humbrol Acrylics (in the little plastic "tinlets") for the upper surfaces and could not strike the right balance between thinner, paint and air pressure. The result was a pebbly finish from under thinned paint that dried before reaching the model. I wasn't pleased with these particular acrylics.
The final stages were once again clearcoat, decal, pastel and seal. The decals were very thick and took a long time to respond to the setting solution. A few were printed out of register giving the model an unfocussed appearance. I was uncertain of the weathering so I kept it to a minimum. I also used a light touch when applying the final flat coat in order to retain a satin finish.
I'm going to have to incorporate this model into a diorama in order to correct the tail-sitting behaviour.
!!! Paints
|Humbrol Acrylic |Ocean Grey |106 |
|Humbrol Acrylic |Dark Green |163 |
|Humbrol |Light Grey |147 |
|Polly Scale |British Interior Green |F505270 |
Italeri; 1/720; August 2003
[<img["beauty shot"|./graf.spee/Thumbs-2.jpg][./graf.spee/2.jpg]] One of my earliest models was an old Lindberg issue of the Graf Spee . Between my tender years and the general quality of the kit, I was never quite sure what the vessel really looked like. So I acquired this latest kit (Italeri 1:720) with the intent of vastly improving the results.
The first step was to pretty much disregard the assembly instructions. After leafing through the instructions and inspecting the parts I decided on a sequence which would allow me to build up subassemblies for convenient painting and detailing. References were scarce (without shelling out more money for a niche publication than I had for the kit and the details. Late in the construction process I did manage to find a couple of books in the local library. I decided to build the Graf Spee as a waterline model since I wanted to experiment with a textured sea. Most of the alterations during construction consisted of adding detail rather than altering the kit.
[>img["Midships, He 60"|./graf.spee/Thumbs-5.jpg][./graf.spee/5.jpg]] One of the major digressions involved the reconnaisance seaplane. I had been expecting the usual Ar 196 but the kit part was a biplane. The scout plane turned out to be an He 60, which had been part of the pre-war equipment. The wing struts replaced with wire while the Float supports were replaced with PE details. The plastic prop was replaced with a PE item. A tri-blade prop was cut down to make a suitable twin-blade. Drilled out cockpits. The plane was painted overall RLM 02 with a red tail stripe and Gold Medal Model supplied the decals.
[<img["under construction"|./graf.spee/Thumbs-1.jpg][./graf.spee/1.jpg]] The port holes in the hull were all drilled out with a pin-vise, as were those in the superstructure. The searchlights were hollowed out and filled with Krystal Kleer.
None of the pre-war reference phots showed the 20 mm guns. Had I caught this earlier it would have greatly reduced the frustrations. I would simply have filled the mounting holes but as it was, assembly (and painting) were too far advanced to do this without destroying detail. As it was, I fed a few of the PE guns to the CarpetMonster. Added cross bar to mast on aft director tower added aux deck to catapult Added wooden plaque (strip of paint) that on original said "Coronel" Vastly simplified rigging
[>img["starboard side"|./graf.spee/Thumbs-3.jpg][./graf.spee/3.jpg]] I've been constantly vexed by "box crane" on port side. Almost no port side photos of the Graf Spee and those few showed a stowed crane. The kit part was simply a grey plastic oblong.
Drilled out catapult and omitted the ladders on the turrets - again, not in reference photos.
[<img["bow"|./graf.spee/Thumbs-4.jpg][./graf.spee/4.jpg]] I had been debating whether to use a simple paint scheme or the complex one observered at the Battle of the River Plate. Since the latter was applied at sea by the crew during the Graf Spee 's final cruise, there are few photographic references. Ironically, the paint scheme was determined by the observation seaplane supplied with the kit: the He 60 was purely pre-war equipment so the Graf Spee received a pre-war paint job. All the vertical surfaces Light Gray and all horizontal (not on SS) deck tan - oops. Had to redo dk gull grey.
This was my second experiment with small naval photoetch details and it was somewhat better than my first. It was my first attempt at using 1:700 crewmen and acrylic gel for the sea. The gel was surprisingly easy to work with and both produced pleasing results, adding life to an otherwise sterile display.
!!! Paints
|~AeroMaster |Dark Gull Grey | FS 36231 |
|~Gunze-Sangyo |~Mid-Stone | H 71 |
|~Gunze-Sangyo |~RLM02 | H 70 |
|Model Master |Light Grey | FS 36495 |
|Polly Scale |US Intermediate Blue | 505094 |
|Tamiya |Deck Tan | XF 55 |
!!! References
//Kriegsmarine: The Illustrated History of the German Navy in WWII//, Robert Jackson (ed.), 2001
//German Navy Handbook 1939-1945//, Jak P. Mallmann S. Howell, 1999
//Building and Detailing Scale Model Ships//, Mike Ashey, 1996
!!! Resources
[[Gold Medal Models|http://www.goldmm.com]]
Model railroad flock over Celluclay. Sprayed random patterns of greens and brows. Sounds awful but it does look decent.
Imagine Matt Smith saying "Half-tracks are cool" instead of "Fezs are cool" and you have my current fascination with half-tracks. I haven't completed that many yet but there are 2 still in the Build Queue and 2 more in the Acquisition Queue. Completed so far are:
<<list filter [tag[half-track]] [sort[title]]>>
Matchbox; 1/72
[<img["port"|./tempest.mkii/Thumbs-1.jpg][./tempest.mkii/1.jpg]] This was another of those deals that was too good to pass up: I acquired it for $2 at a train show. I was attracted by both the price and the option of an Indian Airforce version: Centaurus-powered with what turned out to be very short-lived markings from 7 Squadron based in Poona.
I used the Hasegawa kit as a template to build simple cockpit framing from plastic strip and for the instrument panel. For the latter, holes were drilled in the plastic sheet. The front of the panel was painted black and then the holes were filled with white glue abd then the __back__ of the panel painted black. The technique lacks detail but it suitable when it can't quite be seen.
A 5-point harness was made out of masking tape - as usual.
[>img["starboard"|./tempest.mkii/Thumbs-2.jpg][./tempest.mkii/2.jpg]] There was a horrible gap in the engine cowl that had to be filled with a plastic "washer" behind the spinner.
The engine was mostly obscured by the prop so the presence of one was suggested with small, textured wedges of platic attached to the aforementioned "washer".
The canopy was masked and then coated with RAF Interior Green to represent the inside of the framing.
Divots on the underside of the wings for the rocket launcher rails were filled with 0.038" platic discs. I botched the upper / lower wing assembly and wound up with large gaps between the fuselage and carb intakes. The were troublesome to fill.
The landing gear, prop, spinner and antennas were left off for painting. I tried (a pretty old bottle of) Polly Scale flat aluminum but it lacked adhesion and so switched to the Tamiya version with much better results.
[<img["with a twin at the 2010 GOMBS show"|./tempest.mkii/Thumbs-3.jpg][./tempest.mkii/3.jpg]] Decals started with the usual coat of Future. The decals themselves had faded over the years: the saffron was now mostly brown. The decals didn't react to any of the setting solutions in the arsenal, including Solvaset and thus didn't really conform to the panel lines.
The model was finished with a clear satin coat (flat base mixed with Future). The panel lines received a dark grey wash - that didn't work out so well because they were so broad and shallow. The panels behind the engine exhaust was painted with Jet Exhaust and washed with Smoke. That was a very nice effect!
Finishing touches: formation lights were just clear red and green applied directly over the flat aluminum. Pastels were used for exhaust and cannon stains and a few drops of smoke were used for the fluid leaks.
Overall a very pleasant kit with acceptable detail for its age. I even got a chance to compare my build of the kit with someone else's at the 2010 ~GOMBs Show. It's always interesting to see how someone else approaches the same kit.
!!! Paints
|Model Master |Jet Exhaust | |
|Polly Scale |British Interior Green | F505270 |
|Tamiya |Clear Green | X25 |
|Tamiya |Clear Red | X27 |
|Tamiya |Flat Aluminum | XF 16 |
|Testors' |Steel | |
|Vallejo |Smoke | 939 |
|Vallejo |Black Grey | 862 |
!!! References
!!! Resources
Academy, 1/72; March 2012
Building an [[IAF Tempest|Hawker Tempest Mk II]] sparked an interest in the Tempest / Typhoon family.
The kit itself was simple but with some very nice detail: Finely engraved panel lines, wheel well detail, a nicely molded instrument panel, rivets, etc.
The cockpit was assembled and painted //British Interior Green// and the instrument panel was painted ~Grey-Black, with black instrument faces and drybrushed detail. The seat back cushion was represented with //Leather Brown// paint.
The fuselage went together very cleanly with only minor filling and sanding. Unfortunately, the fuselage was buttoned up before realizing that I had forgotten to add the usual masking tape seat belts. While adding the
seat belts, the painted on seat back cushion was replaced with one made from polymer clay - much better.
[<img[low angle|./typhoon/Thumbs-0.jpg][./typhoon/0.jpg]] After carefully painting the wheel wells //Interior Green//, I stumbled upon references showing that the wells were actually the underside colour. Saves masking ... Similarly, the canopy deck was painted //Interior Green// only to discover that it was actually //Dark Green//.
The wings went together quite well, with minimal cleanup. Attaching the wings to the fuselage left the usual wing root seam. This time I took a different approach: After applying liquid cement to the joint, a piece of masking tape was stretched from tip to tip, over the cockpit. This drew the wings up and in, closing the seam quite nicely. All that was left was a gap between the radiator and wing and that was filled with white glue.
The prop, landing gear and rockets were left off for painting. The canopy was tacked down in the closed position, although it would ultimately be displayed open.
Just before painting started, I remembered the yellow leading edge stripe but for some unknown reason decided that it would be easier to paint the stripe and then mask around the 20mm canons. Similarly, the yellow was applied directly over the (unprimed) grey pastic - without the usual white under coat.
After observing the results of this folly, I went with Plan B and sprayed the entire upper surface //Dark Green//. I attempted to vary the thickness of the paint to break up the monotony of the green but the paint was somewhat thin and by the time I achieved sufficient coverage, the paint coverage was pretty uniform.
[>img[port side|./typhoon/Thumbs-1.jpg][./typhoon/1.jpg]] The //Dark Green// was masked off with Silly Putty and the coat of //Ocean Grey// was applied, although the colour seemed alarmingly dark and somewhat bluish. The upper surfaces were then masked and the undersides (and rockets) were sprayed //Medium Sea Grey// - also darker than expected.
With the large scale painting complete, it was time to attach the horizontal stabilizers. I was insufferably pleased with myself because the camo pattern on the starboard stabilizer lined up __exactly__ with the pattern on the fuselage. Quite impressive if you consider that the pieces were painted independantly.
With the major components painted it was time to (re-)paint the yellow leading edge recognition strip. This time a white undercoat helped the coverage of the paint. With this done, the usual coat of Future was applied in preparation for the decals.
This is where it all went wrong.
After carefully noting which rondels went on the fuselage, I prompty put the yellow trimmed fuselage rondels on the underside of the wings. By the time I noticed the error, the decals had were permanently adhered to the model. Things continuted to deteriorate:
* The upper wing rondels refused to conform to the surface detail despite multiple applications of Solvaset.
* The Solvaset did, however, soften the clear coat enough to take fingerprints (that had to be gently sanded out later).
* The upper wing rondels did begin to chip and flake, exposing the paint below.
* The squadron codes began to disintegrate.
* The fin flashes were out of register.
I applied beer in digust.
[<img[Cockpit|./typhoon/Thumbs-2.jpg][./typhoon/2.jpg]] The next day, with perspective restored, a delve through the decal drawer yielded appropriate markings. There were left over markings from a certain [[Mk II Tempest|Hawker Tempest Mk II]]. The new fuselage and topside rondels were applied over the incorrect and damaged ones. A small problem with the upper wing markings was that they were a lighter shade of blue and ever so slightly smaller than those already in place. This resulted in a dark blue ring around the rondels. The old, incorrect underside markings had to be scraped off with a knife tip. Unfortunately, the decals were so firmly adhered that they took the paint off with them. A little touch up paint and the replacements went on well.
I tooks advangage of the fine engraved detail with a black wash and then sealed everything with a flat coat.
The rockets were painted //Olive Drab// and then attached to the wings. Unfortunately, only half of the launch rails actually fit the locating holes. The remaining components - prop, main gear, pitot tube and canopy - were then attached.
Final detail painting consisted of
* steel around the "roots" of the guns
* clear red and green over white for the formation lights
* black and Rustall on the exhaust manifold
All-in-all, a very nice little kit. I was quite pleased, despite my occasional lapses.
!!! Paints
|Model Master |Medium Sea Grey |
|Model Master |Olive Drab | ~FS34087 |
|Polly Scale |British Interior Green | F505270 |
|Polly Scale |RAF Dark Green |
|Tamiya |Yellow | XF 3 |
|Tamiya |Red | X 7 |
|Tamiya |Clear Green | X25 |
|Tamiya |Clear Red | X27 |
|Tamiya |Ocean Grey | XF 54 |
|Testors' |Steel |
|Vallejo |Black Grey | 862 |
Lindberg; 1/72; March 2009
I have a long-standing aversion to Lindberg kits that stems from childhood memories of poor detail, missing pieces and badly flawed molding. Coupled with having sworn off low quality kits, except for interesting and unique subjects, I was reluctant to take this kit on - despite assurances that this "really was a good kit".
[<img[text|./he100/Thumbs-1.jpg][./he100/1.jpg]] The He 100 certainly fits the criteria of "interesting subject". A follow on to the [[He 112|He112 B1]] and designed to be the successor to the Bf 109, it was rejected by the Luftwaffe and only 19 were built, including prototypes.
Well it was cheap. On opening the box, detail was minimal but the dry fit of the parts was superb.
In the cockpit, an instrument panel was fashioned out of plastic sheet stock with discs punched out for the instruments. Some minimal cockpit detail (framing, throttle quadrant, greeblies) was added using plastic strip. The pilot was left in place to hide the lack of detail, although he required a weight-reduction program in order to fit.
The wheel wells were typically sparse and were gussied up with some plastic strip. Brass mesh was added to radiator to hide the empty space.
The fit of the wings to the fuselage was exceptional (so much for my Lindberg prejudice).
The interior was painted RLM 02. There was no decal for the lightning bolt over the exhaust stack, so the area was painted white and then masked off before the main colours were applied. Came out rather well, I thought. The exterior was painted RLM 70/71 splinter over RLM 65 undersides, although the contrast between the Humbrol paints was rather poor.
[>img[text|./he100/Thumbs-2.jpg][./he100/2.jpg]] The decals were applied over the usual coat of Future. The decals themselves were oversized, very thick and slightly our of register. Should have raided the decal box. One of the decals shattered: a "2" in the registration code and I struggled to repair it rather than turning the "12" into an "11" - which would have been easier to fix. The shield decal was omitted because it didn't appear in the one reference photo. Not surprisingly, there were no swastikas included so some were scrounged from the decal stash.
The landing gear, pitot tubes and antennas were added at this point. A small strut of plastic rod was added to the main landing gear too.
Since these aircraft were never operational, final weathering was kept very light.
!!! Paints
|~Gunze-Sagnyo |RLM 02 | H 70 |
|Humbrol |RLM 70 |
|Humbrol |RLM 71 |
|Tamiya |RLM 65 | XF 23 |
!!! References
[[Wikipedia|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinkel_He_100]]
Revell; 1/72; Jan 2007
[<img[text|./he70/Thumbs-1.jpg][./he70/1.jpg]] This is actually a reboxed Matchbox kit but an interesting one. There are 3, quite different variants that can be built: a civilian airliner, a Condor Legion bomber or a late-war bomber. The variation was achieved with the use of different canopies and a 4 part nose section that allowed for the build of an inline or radial engine.
I was tempted to expand my Spanish Civil War collection and build the Condor Legion variant but I decided to build the airliner - there aren't many civilian craft in the collection.
The cabin windows and cockpit canopy limited the view into the passenger cabin and cockpit so I kept the detailing to a minimum. The cabin was painted light blue and the cockpit RLM 02. The only concession to detail we the passenger seats and seatbelts for the pilot.
[>img[text|./he70/Thumbs-2.jpg][./he70/2.jpg]] The 4 part nose / cowl was a pain although not compared to the [[A-model I-16|Polikarpov I-16 Type 5]]. It took a bit of putty to fit the nose to the rest of the fuselage. It says something about the kit engineering that the //instructions// show the use of copious amounts of putty to fill the wing root gaps.
After struggling to fit the ventral window in the fuselage, I noticed that it wasn't required for the civilian version. More putty and sanding followed. Fairing the cabin roof into the fuselage was also a pain.
While masking the cabin windows in preparation, it became apparent that the Krystal Kleer wasn't holding all that well either. This little problem plagued the rest of the assembly.
The plane was painted a base coat of RLM 63 - which appears to be the standard, pre-war Lufthansa colour.
[<img[text|./he70/Thumbs-3.jpg][./he70/3.jpg]] The decals didn't quite cover the nose so it had to be painted black before the application of the decals. The strip of grey required for the "Z" on the sides was slightly tricky to mask. The decals of the fuselage stripes and registrations codes were huge. They were delicate and would not conform to the compound curves of the body. Unfortunately, the black decals and paint were slightly different shades but a satin coat helped hide that.
The landing gear was also a pain to assemble. Even referring to the directions several times, I still got it wrong. After referring to some online photos, I removed the "garden rake" shaped piece off and reversed it. The wheel covers needed to be notched in order for everything to fit properly.
Given my struggles, I'm not sure I would build a Spanish Civil War version - much as I would like to.
!!! Paints
|Model Master |RLM 63 ||
|Polly Scale |RLM 02 ||
|Tamiya |Flat Black | XF 1 |
|Tamiya |Light Blue | XF 23 |
RS Models; 1/72
[<img["reference"|./he112.b1/Thumbs-1.jpg][./he112.b1/1.jpg]] Several years ago, I came across an interesting fighter design and when I spotted a kit at Uncle Bill's, I picked it up. The kit itself is 1:72 scale by RS Models. After my experiences with the Pegasus [[Bf 109-H]] and the A-model [[Polikarpov I-16 Type 5]] I thought "Oh, no. Another limited run kit".
The kit is molded in very soft, grey plastic with no locator pins and the canopy was vacuum-form. I had never worked with the latter. On the positive side, I found a very well-detail cockpit, engraved panel lines and flattened and bulged tires!
Assembly started in the usual place with the cockpit. The instrument panel was painted Basalt Grey and the gauges were simulated by drilling appropriate, shallow holes in the panel and allowing a black wash to fill the recessions.
The rest of the cockpit was painted RLM 02, washed with Raw Sienna and drybrushed with Verdigris. Masking tape was used for the seatbelts.
[>img["port"|./he112.b1/Thumbs-2.jpg][./he112.b1/2.jpg]] The design of the kit allowed the cockpit to be installed after the fuselage was joined.
The fuselage and wings went together with less trouble, pronounced "putty and cursing" than expected but there were still some imperfections. I left the undercarriage and prop off until the painting was complete.
The canopy was the greatest challenge. Only one canopy has been provided and the top was so thin that it felt like a sandwich bag and had already creased.
Cutting and sanding the part to shape also took longer than expected. The canopy was attached with white glue but there was enough "spring" that it had to be held in place until the glue was set.
[<img["nose"|./he112.b1/Thumbs-3.jpg][./he112.b1/3.jpg]] The upper surfaces were painted RLM 63 and the lower painted RLM 65 with white rudder and wingtips. The centres of the panels were treated to a very thin application of a lightened shade of the base coulour and then over spray with the base colour (9:1 ratio of thinner:paint). This was done to break up the monotony of the monochromatic paint scheme.
I tried pre-shading the panel lines with Basalt Grey before applying the main colours. The technique has potential but the reults of my attempts were too almost subtle for the naked eye, let alone a photograph. A lighter application of the main colours would improve the effect.
White circles were masked and painted on the wings and fulselage and the whole model coated with Future in preparation for the decals.
The decals were home made using a combination of scanned images, original artwork, internet references and substantial editing. They were printed on clear decal paper from a Samsung ~CLP-300 laser printer.
[>img["starboard"|./he112.b1/Thumbs-4.jpg][./he112.b1/4.jpg]] The toner did not fuse to the decal paper very well so the images were overcoated with Microscale Liquid Decal Film. Some of the toner lifted up while the decal film was being brushed on ... good thing I printed multiple sets of the required images. Despite this, the decals behaved well during application.
Once the decals were applied, a flat coat (Future and Tamiya Flat Base) was applied.
A wash of Basalt Grey was used to bring out the panel lines and the exhaust and muzzle blast marks were replicated with pastels.
Overall, the project came out better than I expected.
* This was my first experience with a vacuum formed canopy.
* I can see the advantages of them but they require a great dea of care and effort.
* I will try panel pre-shading again but with a lighter touch on the final coat.
* Printing multiple sets of the required decals is a good idea
!!! Paints
|Polly Scale |RLM 63 | FS 505304 |
|Tamiya |Light Blue | XF 23 |
|Model Master |RLM 02 | |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 869 |
|Vallejo |Verdigris | 971 |
|Windsor & Newton |Raw Sienna | 34 |
!!! References
!!! Resources
Tamiya; 1/12
[<img["Rear"|./nr750/Thumbs-1.jpg][./nr750/1.jpg]] The oval-pistoned Honda ~NR-750 seemed to have been fashioned from pure unobtanium. An engineer's playground, it caught the attention of the motorcycle industry - and thus mine.
If I couldn't have the real thing, then at least I could build a model of it. Having said that - the kit sat, unbuilt, on my shelf for 7 years.
Construction was very straightforward and the kit was up to Tamiya's usual standard - making the task simpler. The only modification I made to the kit was to drill out the brake disks.
Painting was also very straightforward. I used the January, 1992 edition of Cycle World as a reference. Most of the additional detail painting was applied to the controls and to the engine. The "smoked" windscreen effect was achieved by mixing Tamiya Clear Red with Clear Blue.
[>img["Side"|./nr750/Thumbs-2.jpg][./nr750/2.jpg]] Bare Metal Foil was used for the ventral panel and for the rear-view mirrors.
This was my first experiment with Tamiya Clear Red and Orange for the turn and stop lights. Aside from concluding that an airbrush was essential for a good smooth coat, I was quite pleased with the effect.
The only real problem was the combination of old paint and under-thinning which produced the dreaded "orange-peel finish". painting that provided the challenge.
!!! Paints
|Tamiya |Black | X1 |
|Tamiya |Red | X7 |
|Tamiya |Clear red | X27 |
|Tamiya |Clear orange | X26 |
|Tamiya |Clear blue | X23 |
!!! References
Cycle World Magazine, January 1992
PM Models; 1/72
[<img["Starboard, front"|./ho-229/Thumbs-1.jpg][./ho-229/1.jpg]] Also known as the Horten IX or the Gotha 229. Another Luftwaffe '46 type project. None ever became operational and only 2 flying prototypes were built - v1 and v2. V3 was found, partially dismantled, on the runway while the remaining versions, v4 - v7, were under construction. The last 4 models were twin-seaters.
The kit was very simple - 16 parts molded in very soft plastic. Panel lines are engraved but the detail is also quite soft.
The cockpit consisted of 2 seats and nothing else. I walled in the cockpit tub with plastic sheet and added simple instrument panels and controls. I scrounged up 2 Monogram F-14 pilots which proved suitable with a little modification. The cockpit was painted RLM 66 - consistent with late-WWII Luftwaffe practice.
[<img["Port, front"|./ho-229/Thumbs-2.jpg][./ho-229/2.jpg]] With the fuselage halves assembled the jet intakes proved to be a nightmare. There were huge gaps that needed to be filled, despite repeated sanding and dry-fitting. The solution was to punch a couple of discs from 0.005" plastic (almost paper thin) to "fill" the back of the intakes. The sides were hidden by sleeving them down with brass tube. The exhausts received a similar treatment - in part because I forgot the "blanking plates" that had to be installed before the fuselage went together.
The landing gear was the next major challenge. The pieces were fragile and the attitude of the plane was odd. Reference photos of v1 and v2 show the aircraft sitting roughly level with the nose at about head height. The kit parts had the plane at a substantial angle with the nose at half again the height of a man. There is a photo of v3 sitting at that attitude but the plane had been stripped of wings and engines at the time. It is likely that the suspension was uncompressed in the photos. For this and esthetic reasons, I cut down the nose gear so that the plane sat almost level on its gear. I also added plastic strips to the improbable gear bays to add a little detail. The gear wells were painted RLM 02.
[<img["Aft"|./ho-229/Thumbs-3.jpg][./ho-229/3.jpg]] The paint scheme was a simple "blotchy" camouflage of RLM 75 applied to the upper surfaces while the rest of the plane was overall RLM 76. The kit decals were discarded in favour of Balkencruz and registration numbers left over from an Airfix 1:72 Me-262.
Panel lines were emphasized with a pencil and exhaust stains, dirt and fuel spills were simulated with pastel chalk.
!!! Paints
|~Gunze-Sangyo |RLM 02 |
|Model Master |RLM 66 |
|Model Master |RLM 75 |
|Model Master |RLM 76 |
!!! References
[[The Luftwaffe Resource Group|http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/LRG/ho229.html]]
Airfix; 1/72; February 2006
[<img[nose|./hs123/Thumbs-4.jpg][./hs123/4.jpg]] This is another nod to nostalgia. I have always kind of liked this aircraft. Something about being one of the last of the biplanes or perhaps that it was configured as a dive bomber.
The first time I built this kit, I made the //Luftwaffe// variant. This time I went for the Spanish Civil War variant.
[>img[above, fore|./hs123/Thumbs-2.jpg][./hs123/2.jpg]] Being a 70's vintage Airfix kit, cockpit detail can be generously described as "sparse". I added an instrument panel, cockpit floor, control yoke and masking tape seatbelts. After all that work, there was no way I was adding a pilot and obscuring the detail.
[<img[above, aft|./hs123/Thumbs-3.jpg][./hs123/3.jpg]] There were no other modifications. The rest of the build went as expected; i.e., engineering and fit were "acceptable". The upper wing, bombs, drop tank and landing gear were left off to facilitate painting. The engine cowl was temporarily attached to facilitate painting and ease the masking.
Painting is where things got interesting. The pre-war splinter scheme consists of RLM 61/62/63 over RLM 65. There appears to be some debate as to whether RLM 63 ad RLM 02 are the same colour. I found a bottle labeled RLM 63, noticed that it was subtly different from RLM 02 and was content with that.
Masking a tri-colour splinter scheme was tricky and was probably the hardest part of the build.
After final assembly, the few decals went down over the clear coat. A flat coat sealed it and weathering pasterls were applied.
!!! Paints
|Model Master |RLM 62 |
|Polly Scale |RLM 63 |
|Tamiya |Sky Blue (RLM 65) | XF 23 |
|Vallejo |SS Camouflage Black/Brown (RLM 61) | 822 |
Revell; 1/32
[<img["cockpit"|./hurricane.iic/Thumbs-0.jpg][./hurricane.iic/0.jpg]] I started with the Revell 1:32 kit, which I was long overdue in starting. I decided not to go overboard with the detailing just to see what could be achieved with straightforward finishing.
The engine is somewhat innacurate but since it wasn't going to be displayed it didn't matter. The only changes were to fill in the open undersides of the exhaust manifolds and to drill them out.
The actual cockpit of a hurricane has no floor or sides while the kit version has a floor and is slab-sided...so much for not making major changes. I kept the seat, floor and instrument panel. The seat was trimmed down to its proper shape and the floor hollowed to represent the struts and tubing of the real thing. The rudder pedals were hollowed out too. The remainder of the cockpit framework was built up from plastic rod and sheet. I didn't go overboard since the bulk of the detail would be hidden.
[>img["midships"|./hurricane.iic/Thumbs-1.jpg][./hurricane.iic/1.jpg]] I cut a notch in the instrument panel for the gunsight, which I built from nested, hollow plastic tubing. The panel was painted charcoal grey, washed with black. The instrument dials were picked out with a white pencil (which provided more control than drybrushing).
The remainder of the interior was painted British Interior Green, washed with Burnt Umber. The seat was covered with tissue sized with white glue and then painted Brown Leather with Yellow Ochre highlights.
The rest of the kit went together pretty much according to the instructions but with the delicate details (cannons, antennae, landing gear, etc) left off until after painting. Overall fit of the parts was acceptable but not outstanding.
The only other detailing was to bore out the cannon barrels, replace the tropical carburetor filter with brass mesh and create mounts for MV lenses in the landing lights.
[<img["starboard"|./hurricane.iic/Thumbs-2.jpg][./hurricane.iic/2.jpg]] Before applying the base coats, I sprayed the high wear areas (walkways, leading edge of the wings) with Steel. A base coat ~Mid-Stone was applied with Dark Earth free-handed over that. At that point I noticed that the reference photos showed the boundaries between colours were hard-edged. Out came the frisket film for retouching. The undersides was simply Azure Blue and the prop and spinner were Matt Black.
The decals were a disaster. Beautifully thin, with no film "outlines", they were too delicate. Some shattered in the water, some broke up on the surface of the model, a couple survived. Through the good offices of Uncle Bill's Hobbies I got a replacement sheet and some liquid decal film. Between the decal film and more caution I got the decals on.
I tried fading the paint and decals with a light coat of Polly Scale Dust but without much luck. The upper and lower surfaces were treated to a light wash of Burnt Umber with a Black was for heavier spills of fuel and oil. Exhaust stains were simulated with pastels and the whole thing sealed with clear flat. Unfortunately, the flat reacted with something.
Wear on the leading edge of the wing was simulated by pulling the paint off with masking tape to reveal the steel undercoat.
With the weathering complete the final details were added. The light recesses were painted with Chrome and the landing lights received MV lenses. The navigation light covers were painted with Clear Red and Clear Green. The antenna wires were monofilament, painted black.
All in all, a nice, quick build.
!!! Paints
|~Gunze-Sangyo |~Mid-Stone | H 71 |
|~Gunze-Sangyo |Dark Earth | H 72 |
|Humbrol |Azure Blue | Hu 157 |
|Polly Scale |Dust | 505202 |
|Polly Scale |British Interior Green | F505270 |
|Tamiya |Clear Green | X25 |
|Tamiya |Clear Red | X27 |
|Vallejo |Brown Leather | 871 |
|Vallejo |Burnt Umber | 941 |
!!! References
The Hawker Hurricane Site (defunct)
//Fine Scale Modeler//, January 2002
!!! Resources
[[Uncle Bill's Hobbies|http://members.shaw.ca/unclebills/]]
Heller; 1/72; February 2010
[<img[Port aft|./hurricane.iic.night/Thumbs-1.jpg][./hurricane.iic.night/1.jpg]] Another serendipitous find at [[Uncle Bill's Hobbies|http://members.shaw.ca/unclebills/]]. I had been thinking about building a ~IIc nightfighter and there it was. Cheap.
The detail is modest but some of it is very good and it even included the exhaust deflectors, a rearview mirror and a gunsight. The control yoke was very nice too.
Added styrene rod and strip to represent the cockpit framing. The knobs were represented with small, punched plastic discs. The instrument panel was painted black and then rubbed with silver pencil to bring out the details.
The fuselage halves went together fairly well although the radio aerial molded into the fuselage made me nervous. The wings had the usual root seam problems.
The canopy was molded in two pieces and, while a bit thick, could also be positioned open. The aft section actually fit over the fuselage!
The prop and landing gear were left off for priming and painting. The base coat of black was a beautiful, but monotonous, black. It was lightened with a mist coat of ~Black-Grey. The lightened colour was softened with a mist of the base colour.
[>img[Starboard, front|./hurricane.iic.night/Thumbs-2.jpg][./hurricane.iic.night/2.jpg]] Decals were applied over the usual gloss coat. The decals were challenging. They didn't soften or adhere very well. There was some lifting and the fuselage codes were too large. There were some spacing problems and the serial numbers were displaced. The fuselage rondels were also too large and the yellow border on them was too thick too.
Everything was sealed with a dull coat and pastels were used for exhaust and cannon staining. A silver pencil was used to chip the paint.
The base was comprised of drywall mud over styrofoam, topped with celluclay. The celluclay was sprayed with a mix of greens and browns before the static grass was added. A soft plastic pilot figure from Airfix rounded out the display.
!!! Paints
|Vallejo |Black Grey| 168 |
|Tamiya |Flat Black | XF 1 |
|Polly Scale |British Interior Green | F505270 |
!!! References
Polar Lights; 1/1000; May 2007
[<img[3/4 view|./mirror-mirror/Thumbs-0.jpg][./mirror-mirror/0.jpg]] I'd been eyeing the Polar Lights Enterprise for some time and was curious about it. However, it introduced yet another scale to the collection and I wasn't so sure about that. Finding the kit for $2 at a garage sale overcame any reluctance.
The kit had been experimentally assembled. A few mis-matched pieces tacked together here and there. It took some time and effort to separate them and hunt down all the loose bits - because many of then had been removed from their sprues.
[>img[aft|./mirror-mirror/Thumbs-2.jpg][./mirror-mirror/2.jpg]] Much like Polar Lights' [[D-7]], there are a number of variants that can be assembled. I decided on the //ISS Enterprise// from one of my favourite episodes: //Mirror, mirror// (always did like that beard). This was a repainted version of the second series pilot model.
The first thing I did was to permanently attach the wrong linear accelerator. <sigh>
[<img[bridge|./mirror-mirror/Thumbs-3.jpg][./mirror-mirror/3.jpg]] The warp nacelles featured nested clear parts for the bussard collectors. The inner cap was painted clear red and the inner cap a clear orange. The nacelle spikes were painted copper. To prevent the "see through" effect, two plastic discs, covered with bare metal foil, were used to blank the body of the nacelle. The small detail flange on the aft tip of the left half of the starboard warp engine had been mangled by the previous attempt at assembly. I used a razor saw to remove the detail from the corresponding half of the unused nacelle and transferred the detail. Then I discovered that the detail was hidden after assembly.
The join between the warp pylons and the secondary hull took a fair bit of effort to blend and smooth. Similarly, the fit of the nacelles to the pylons was also a challenge. The aft tips of the warp nacelles were difficult to blend in because of the poor fit and fine detail on the caps.
The sensor dome on the underside of the primary hull also suffered from being transparent. Another foil-covered plastic disc was used to block the view into the primary hull.
[>img[Starboard|./mirror-mirror/Thumbs-4.jpg][./mirror-mirror/4.jpg]] The base hull colour was light grey. The impulse deck, rings on the nacelles and magnatomic flux chillers were all painted gunship grey. Note that the linear accelerator is __not__ dark grey for this version.
For some reason, the clear coat (Future) came out with an orange peel texture (first time that's happened, maybe I need a fresh bottle?) and this caused problems with the decals.
[<img[Sensor assembly|./mirror-mirror/Thumbs-5.jpg][./mirror-mirror/5.jpg]] The decals themselves were plentiful and elaborate. There are also subtleties: I got the wrong font for the ship's registry ... and missed a window or two. The most serious problem was the clear film around the decals. There was lots of it and it was thick. It didn't exactly disappear once the decals were dry either. Guess I should have used one of my many setting solutions.
I really liked the detail in the kit and the attention to detail. All the markings and variants were great. The actual kit engineering left something to be desired. Would I pick this over the original AMT release? Probably but I wouldn't build too many of them.
!!! Paints
|Model Master |Light Grey | FS 36492 |
|Model Master |Gunship Grey | FS 36118 |
|Tamiya |Clear Orange | X 26 |
|Tamiya |Clear Red | X 27 |
|Vallejo |Gold | 996 |
|Vallejo |Copper | 999 |
!!! References
(now defunct) IDIC pages.
Starship Modeler
Ad Astris Ex Scientia
/***
|''Name:''|abego.IncludePlugin|
|''Version:''|1.0.0 (2007-02-08)|
|''Type:''|plugin|
|''Source:''|http://tiddlywiki.abego-software.de/#IncludePlugin|
|''Author:''|Udo Borkowski (ub [at] abego-software [dot] de)|
|''Documentation:''|[[IncludePlugin Documentation|http://tiddlywiki.abego-software.de/#%5B%5BIncludePlugin%20Documentation%5D%5D]]|
|''Community:''|([[del.icio.us|http://del.icio.us/post?url=http://tiddlywiki.abego-software.de/index.html%23IncludePlugin]]) ([[Support|http://groups.google.com/group/TiddlyWiki]])|
|''Copyright:''|© 2007 [[abego Software|http://www.abego-software.de]]|
|''Licence:''|[[BSD open source license (abego Software)|http://www.abego-software.de/legal/apl-v10.html]]|
|''~CoreVersion:''|2.1.3|
|''Browser:''|Firefox 1.5.0.9 or better; Internet Explorer 6.0|
***/
//{{{
// Ensure the global abego namespace is set up.
if (!window.abego) window.abego = {};
var invokeLater = function(func, delay, priority) {
return abego.invokeLater ? abego.invokeLater(func, delay, priority) : setTimeout(func,delay);
};
// Asynchronously load the given (local or remote) file.
//
// @param url either an URL or a local file path to a file
// Examples:
// * http://www.abego-software.de/index.html
// * file:///C:/abegoWebSite-Copy/index.html
// * C:\abegoWebSite-Copy\index.html (for Windows machines)
// (Notice: backslashes in JavaScript string constants must be escaped,
// i.e. the last example must be written as: "C:\\abegoWebSite-Copy\\index.html"
// when "hardcoded" in JavaScript source code)
//
// @param callback
// function(content,url,params,errorMessage)
// called at the end of the operation.
// On success content holds the content of the loaded file.
// On error content is undefined and errorMessage holds an error message.
// params is the params passed into abego.loadFile.
//
// @param params passed through to the callback function
//
abego.loadFile = function(url,callback,params) {
var onLoad = function(status,params,responseText,url,xhr) {
return status
? callback(responseText, url, params)
: callback(undefined, url, params, "Error loading %0".format([url]));
};
// Make sure the URL is a real URL, with protocol prefix etc.
if (url.search(/^((http(s)?)|(file)):/) != 0) {
// no protocol specified.
if (url.search(/^((.\:\\)|(\\\\)|(\/))/) == 0) {
// "url" is an "absolute" path to a local file. Prefix it with file://
url = "file://"+url;
} else {
// "url" is a "relative" URL. Make it absolute
// prefix the url with the directory containing the current document
// (This also includes the protocol prefix)
var documentPath = document.location.toString();
var i = documentPath.lastIndexOf("/");
url = documentPath.substr(0,i+1)+url;
}
// replace every \ by a /, to cover Windows style pathes
url = url.replace(/\\/mg,"/");
}
loadRemoteFile(url,onLoad,params);
};
// Asynchronously load the given (local or remote) TiddlyWiki store.
//
// @param url either an URL or a local file path to a TiddlyWiki file (absolute or relative)
// Examples:
// * http://www.abego-software.de/index.html
// * file:///C:/abegoWebSite-Copy/index.html
// * include/beta.html
// * C:\abegoWebSite-Copy\index.html (for Windows machines)
// (Notice: backslashes in JavaScript string constants must be escaped,
// i.e. the last example must be written as: "C:\\abegoWebSite-Copy\\index.html"
// when "hardcoded" in JavaScript source code)
//
// @param callbackWithStore
// function(theStore,url,params,errorMessage)
// called at the end of the operation.
// On success theStore holds the loaded store (a TiddlyWiki object).
// On error theStore is undefined and errorMessage holds an error message.
// params is the params passed into abego.loadTiddlyWikiStore
//
// @param params passed through to the callbackWithStore
//
// @progress [optional] function(message, sender, state, url, params) called in various situations during the operation,
// typically used to show "the progress" of the operation.
// sender: the constant "abego.loadTiddlyWikiStore"
// state: one of these: "Started", "Processing", "Done", "Failed"
// "Processing" means the data has been received and in now processed.
//
abego.loadTiddlyWikiStore = function(url,callbackWithStore,params,progress) {
var sendProgress = function(message, state) {
if (progress)
progress(message,"abego.loadTiddlyWikiStore",state,url,params);
};
// Load contents of a TiddlyWiki from a string
//# Returns null on success, an error message otherwise.
//# based on code from TiddlyWiki 2.2 alpha
var importTiddlyWiki = function(store,text)
{
// Crack out the content - will be refactored to share code with saveChanges()
var posOpeningDiv = text.indexOf(startSaveArea);
var limitClosingDiv = text.indexOf("<!--POST-BODY-END--"+">");
var posClosingDiv = text.lastIndexOf(endSaveArea,limitClosingDiv == -1 ? text.length : limitClosingDiv);
if((posOpeningDiv == -1) || (posClosingDiv == -1))
return config.messages.invalidFileError.format([url]);
var content = "<html><body>" + text.substring(posOpeningDiv,posClosingDiv + endSaveArea.length) + "</body></html>";
// Create the iframe
var iframe = document.createElement("iframe");
iframe.style.display = "none";
document.body.appendChild(iframe);
var doc = iframe.document;
if(iframe.contentDocument)
doc = iframe.contentDocument; // For NS6
else if(iframe.contentWindow)
doc = iframe.contentWindow.document; // For IE5.5 and IE6
// Put the content in the iframe
doc.open();
doc.writeln(content);
doc.close();
// Load the content into a TiddlyWiki() object
var storeArea = doc.getElementById("storeArea");
store.loadFromDiv(storeArea,"store");
// Get rid of the iframe
iframe.parentNode.removeChild(iframe);
return null;
};
var sendError = function(message) {
sendProgress("Error when loading %0".format([url]),"Failed");
callbackWithStore(undefined, url,params, message);
return message;
};
var sendStore = function(store) {
sendProgress("Loaded %0".format([url]),"Done");
callbackWithStore(store, url, params);
return null;
};
var callback = function(content,theURL,params,errorMessage) {
if (content === undefined) {
sendError(errorMessage);
return;
}
sendProgress("Processing %0".format([url]),"Processing");
var orig_invalidFileError = config.messages.invalidFileError;
config.messages.invalidFileError = "The file '%0' does not appear to be a valid TiddlyWiki file";
try {
// Load the content into a TiddlyWiki() object
var importStore = new TiddlyWiki();
var errorText = importTiddlyWiki(importStore,content);
if (errorText)
sendError(errorText);
else
sendStore(importStore);
} catch (ex) {
sendError(exceptionText(ex));
} finally {
config.messages.invalidFileError = orig_invalidFileError;
}
};
sendProgress("Start loading %0".format([url]),"Started");
abego.loadFile(url,callback,params);
};
//==============================================================================
// Include Plugin
(function(){
// only install once
if (abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder) return;
// --------------------------------------------------
// Constants
var WAITING = "waiting";
var LOADING = "loading";
var ANI_DURATION_HIDE_STATE = 1000;
var REFRESH_PRIORITY = -200;
var ANIMATION_PRIORITY = -100;
var UPDATE_STATE_PRIORITY = -300;
// --------------------------------------------------
// Variables
var useInclude;
var includes = []; // [] of Strings. the urls of the stores to include, in the sequence of the calls.
var includedStores = {}; // url(String) -> TiddlyWiki or String; when not (yet) loaded a status or error string.
var pendingOnLoadURLs = []; // [] of String. a list of urls that should be passed with the next "notifyListeners".
var refreshTiddlyWikiTimerID; // for delayed refresh
var listeners = [];
var progress;
// --------------------------------------------------
// Helper functions
var isIncludeEnabled = function() {
if (useInclude === undefined)
useInclude = config.options.chkUseInclude === undefined || config.options.chkUseInclude;
return useInclude;
};
var getMissingIncludeMsg = function(url) {
return "No include specified for %0".format([url])
};
// Called after one or more included TiddlyWikis are loaded
//
var notifyListeners = function() {
var urls = pendingOnLoadURLs;
pendingOnLoadURLs = [];
if (urls.length) {
for (var i= 0; i < listeners.length; i++)
listeners[i](urls);
}
};
var idleCount; // Reset to 0 when the system is "not idle", incremented inside refreshTiddlyWiki
var refreshTiddlyWiki = function() {
// To avoid to much refreshing/flickering don't refresh immediately
// but wait until the system was idle for a certain time.
if (refreshTiddlyWikiTimerID !== undefined) clearInterval(refreshTiddlyWikiTimerID);
idleCount = 0;
var sendDone = function() {
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.sendProgress("","","Done");
};
refreshTiddlyWikiTimerID = setInterval(function() {
idleCount++;
if (idleCount <= 10)
return;
clearInterval(refreshTiddlyWikiTimerID);
refreshTiddlyWikiTimerID = undefined;
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.sendProgress("Refreshing...","","");
refreshDisplay();
invokeLater(sendDone,0,REFRESH_PRIORITY);
},0);
};
// Calls callback for every loaded store and returns the first non-false/null.. value returned by callback.
//
// @param callback function(store, url)
//
var forEachLoadedStore = function(callback) {
var result;
for (var i = 0; i < includes.length; i++) {
var theStore = abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.getStore(includes[i]);
if (theStore && (result = callback(theStore, includes[i])))
return result;
}
};
var attachToStore = function() {
if (!window.store)
return invokeLater(attachToStore,100);
var orig_fetchTiddler = store.fetchTiddler;
store.fetchTiddler = function(title) {
var t = orig_fetchTiddler.apply(this,arguments);
if (t) return t;
// When there is a shadowtiddler with that name done look for
// any included tiddler since these would hide the shadow
if (config.shadowTiddlers[title] !== undefined) return undefined;
// Don't look for the "New Tiddler" tiddler in the included TiddlyWikis,
// since returning such a tiddler (that is readonly) will make it impossible
// in the Main TiddlyWiki to create new tiddlers.
if (title == config.macros.newTiddler.title) return undefined;
return forEachLoadedStore(
function(theStore, url) {
var t = theStore.fetchTiddler(title);
if (t)
t.includeURL = url;
return t;
});
};
// We also refresh TiddlyWiki to reflect the new included Tiddlers (if we have any).
if (includes.length)
refreshTiddlyWiki();
};
var includeFromIncludeList = function() {
if (!window.store)
return invokeLater(includeFromIncludeList,100);
var includeListText = store.getTiddlerText("IncludeList");
if (includeListText)
wikify(includeListText,document.createElement("div"));
};
var getFunctionUsingForReallyEachTiddler = function(func) {
var wrapper = function() {
var orig_forEachTiddler = store.forEachTiddler;
var forEachTiddlerWithIncludes = function(callback) {
var done = {};
var includeURL;
var callbackWrapper = function(title, tiddler) {
// ensure every title is only processed once
if (done[title])
return;
done[title] = 1;
// for "included tiddlers" set the includeURL;
if (includeURL)
tiddler.includeURL = includeURL;
callback.apply(this,arguments);
};
// forEachTiddler over the original tiddlers
orig_forEachTiddler.call(store, callbackWrapper);
// add all shadowTiddler titles to done
// (to avoid an included store hides a shadow tiddler)
for (var n in config.shadowTiddlers)
done[n] = 1;
// add all the "New Tiddler" tiddlerto done
// (to avoid an included store (with "New Tiddler") makes it impossible to create new tiddlers)
done[config.macros.newTiddler.title] = 1;
// forEachTiddler over every included store
forEachLoadedStore(
function(theStore, url) {
includeURL = url;
theStore.forEachTiddler(callbackWrapper);
});
};
store.forEachTiddler = forEachTiddlerWithIncludes;
try {
return func.apply(this,arguments);
} finally {
store.forEachTiddler = orig_forEachTiddler;
}
};
return wrapper;
};
var useForReallyEachTiddler = function(object,property) {
return object[property] = getFunctionUsingForReallyEachTiddler(object[property]);
};
//================================================================================
// abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder = {};
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.setProgressFunction = function(func) {
progress = func;
};
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.getProgressFunction = function(func) {
return progress;
};
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.sendProgress = function(message, sender, state) {
if (progress)
progress.apply(this,arguments);
};
// Called when an included TiddlyWiki could not be loaded.
//
// By default an error message is displayed.
//
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.onError = function(url, errorMessage) {
displayMessage("Error when including '%0':\n%1".format([url, errorMessage]));
};
// Returns true when there are "pending" includes, i.e. TiddlyWiki that are not yet loaded.
//
// A TiddlyWiki that failed loading is not pending.
//
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.hasPendingIncludes = function() {
for (var i = 0; i < includes.length; i++) {
var state = abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.getState(includes[i]);
if (state == WAITING || state == LOADING)
return true;
}
return false;
};
// @return [] of Strings, the URLs of the includes
//
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.getIncludes = function() {
return includes.slice();
};
// @return [may be null] a state/error text of the store with the given URL, or null when the store is already loaded
//
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.getState = function(url) {
var s = includedStores[url];
if (!s)
return getMissingIncludeMsg(url);
return typeof s == "string" ? s : null;
};
// @return [may be null] the (TiddlyWiki) store with the given URL, null if not (yet) loaded.
//
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.getStore = function(url) {
var s = includedStores[url];
if (!s)
return getMissingIncludeMsg(url);
return s instanceof TiddlyWiki ? s : null;
};
// Includes the (local or remote) TiddlyWiki store with the given url.
//
// stores with urls already already included are ignored.
//
// @param url see url@abego.loadTiddlyWikiStore
// @param delayMilliSeconds [optional] if defined loading starts delayMilliSeconds later, otherwise "immediately"
//
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.include = function(url, delayMilliSeconds) {
if (!isIncludeEnabled() || includedStores[url])
return;
var self = this;
includes.push(url);
includedStores[url] = WAITING;
var loadStoreCallback = function(theStore,urlInCallback,params,errorMessage) {
if (theStore === undefined) {
includedStores[url] = errorMessage;
self.onError(url, errorMessage);
return;
}
includedStores[url] = theStore;
pendingOnLoadURLs.push(url);
invokeLater(notifyListeners);
};
var loadStore = function() {
includedStores[url] = LOADING;
abego.loadTiddlyWikiStore(url,loadStoreCallback,null,progress);
};
if (delayMilliSeconds)
invokeLater(loadStore, delayMilliSeconds);
else
loadStore();
};
// iterates over all tiddlers of "the store" and all tiddlers of included (and loaded) stores
//
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.forReallyEachTiddler = function(callback) {
var caller = function() {
store.forEachTiddler(callback);
};
getFunctionUsingForReallyEachTiddler(caller).call(store);
};
// function abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.getFunctionUsingForReallyEachTiddler(func)
//
// Returns a function that behaves as func, but every call to store.forEachTiddler will actually
// be a call to forReallyEachTiddler, i.e. iterate over the tiddlers the main store and of the
// included TiddlyWikis
//
// @return the patched function
//
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.getFunctionUsingForReallyEachTiddler = getFunctionUsingForReallyEachTiddler;
// function abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.useForReallyEachTiddler(object,property)
//
// Patches the function hold in the given property of the object in such a way that every call
// to store.forEachTiddler will actually be a call to forReallyEachTiddler, i.e. iterate over the
// tiddlers the main staire and of the included TiddlyWikis
//
// @param object
// @param property the name of the property of the object containing the function to be patched.
// @return the patched function
//
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.useForReallyEachTiddler = useForReallyEachTiddler;
// Add a listener function to the TiddlyWikiIncluder.
//
// @param listener function(urls)
// url: [] of Strings, containing the urls of the TiddlyWiki just included
// (see url@abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.include)
// called whenever one or more TiddlyWiki store are successfully included.
//
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.addListener = function(listener) {
listeners.push(listener);
};
// -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// TiddlyWikiIncluder initialization code
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.addListener(refreshTiddlyWiki);
//----------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Options Support
if (config.options.chkUseInclude === undefined) config.options.chkUseInclude = true;
config.shadowTiddlers.AdvancedOptions += "\n<<option chkUseInclude>> Include ~TiddlyWikis (IncludeList | IncludeState | [[help|http://tiddlywiki.abego-software.de/#%5B%5BIncludePlugin%20Documentation%5D%5D]])\n^^(Reload this ~TiddlyWiki to make changes become effective)^^";
config.shadowTiddlers.IncludeState = "<<includeState>>";
//================================================================================
// Default Progress Handling for abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder
var showAnimated = function(e, showing, duration) {
if (!anim || !abego.ShowAnimation) {
e.style.display = showing ? "block" : "none";
return;
}
anim.startAnimating(new abego.ShowAnimation(e,showing,duration));
};
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.getDefaultProgressFunction = function() {
setStylesheet(
".includeProgressState{\n"+
"background-color:#FFCC00;\n"+
"position:absolute;\n"+
"right:0.2em;\n"+
"top:0.2em;\n"+
"width:7em;\n"+
"padding-left:0.2em;\n"+
"padding-right:0.2em\n"+
"}\n",
"abegoInclude");
var createStateElem = function() {
var e = document.createElement("div");
e.className = "includeProgressState";
e.style.display = "none";
document.body.appendChild(e);
return e;
};
var stateElem = createStateElem();
var showState = function(message) {
removeChildren(stateElem);
createTiddlyText(stateElem,message);
showAnimated(stateElem,true,0);
};
var hideState = function() {
// hide the state the next idle time
invokeLater(function() {
showAnimated(stateElem,false,ANI_DURATION_HIDE_STATE);
},100,ANIMATION_PRIORITY);
};
var myProgressFunction = function(message, sender, state, url, params) {
if (state == "Done" || state == "Failed") {
hideState();
return;
}
if (sender == "abego.loadTiddlyWikiStore") {
idleCount = 0;
if (state == "Processing")
showState("Including...");
} else {
showState(message);
}
};
return myProgressFunction;
};
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.setProgressFunction(abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.getDefaultProgressFunction());
//================================================================================
// The "include" macro
//
// Syntax: <<include {url}* [delay: {milliSeconds}] [hide: true] >>
//
config.macros.include = {};
config.macros.include.handler = function(place,macroName,params,wikifier,paramString,tiddler) {
params = paramString.parseParams("url",null,true,false,true); // allowEval, cascadeDefaults, names allowed
var delay = parseInt(getParam(params,"delay","0"));
var urls = params[0]["url"];
var hide = getFlag(params, "hide", false);
if (!hide)
createTiddlyText(createTiddlyElement(place,"code"),wikifier.source.substring(wikifier.matchStart, wikifier.nextMatch));
for (var i = 0; urls && i < urls.length; i++)
abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.include(urls[i],delay);
};
//================================================================================
// The "includeState" macro
//
// Syntax: <<includeState>>
config.macros.includeState = {};
config.macros.includeState.handler = function(place,macroName,params,wikifier,paramString,tiddler) {
var getFullState = function () {
var s = "";
var includes = abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.getIncludes();
if (!includes.length)
return "{{noIncludes{\nNo includes or 'include' is disabled (see AdvancedOptions)\n}}}\n";
s += "|!Address|!State|\n";
for (var i = 0; i < includes.length; i++) {
var inc = includes[i];
s += "|{{{"+inc+"}}}|";
var t = abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.getState(inc);
s += t ? "{{{"+t+"}}}" : "included";
s += "|\n"
}
s += "|includeState|k\n";
return s;
};
var updateState = function(){
removeChildren(div);
wikify(getFullState(),div);
if (abego.TiddlyWikiIncluder.hasPendingIncludes())
invokeLater(updateState,500,UPDATE_STATE_PRIORITY);
};
var div = createTiddlyElement(place,"div");
invokeLater(updateState,0,UPDATE_STATE_PRIORITY);
};
//================================================================================
// Tiddler extension/modification
var orig_Tiddler_isReadOnly = Tiddler.prototype.isReadOnly;
// Includes tiddlers are readonly.
Tiddler.prototype.isReadOnly = function() {
return orig_Tiddler_isReadOnly.apply(this,arguments) || this.isIncluded();
}
Tiddler.prototype.isIncluded = function() {
return this.includeURL != undefined;
};
Tiddler.prototype.getIncludeURL = function() {
return this.includeURL;
};
//================================================================================
// TiddlyWiki modifications
// In some TiddlyWiki functions the "forEachTiddler" should work on all tiddlers, also those from
// included store. (E.g. TiddlyWiki.prototype.getTags)
//
// But not for all (e.g. TiddlyWiki.prototype.getTiddlers is used for saving, but only the "own" tiddlers should be saved)
//
// Therefore explicitly list the functions that should be "wrapped" to use the "forReallyEachTiddler".
//
var tiddlyWikiFunctionsUsingForReallyEachTiddler = {
getMissingLinks: 1, getOrphans: 1,getTags:1, reverseLookup: 1, updateTiddlers: 1};
for (var n in tiddlyWikiFunctionsUsingForReallyEachTiddler)
useForReallyEachTiddler(TiddlyWiki.prototype,n);
//================================================================================
// Make IntelliTagger "Include-aware"
var patchIntelliTagger = function() {
if (abego.IntelliTagger)
useForReallyEachTiddler(abego.IntelliTagger,"assistTagging");
};
//================================================================================
// Perform plugin startup tasks
attachToStore();
invokeLater(includeFromIncludeList,100);
invokeLater(patchIntelliTagger,100);
})();
//}}}
!a.k.a. S.S.C. Yuri Gagarin
AMT; 1/350; September 2010
[<img[beauty shot|./UFO/Thumbs-1.jpg][./UFO/1.jpg]] It got reissued! I last built this kit in 1976 or '77 and I wanted a chance to do a better job. All that remains of my last attempt is the scoutship and that's missing half of the port wing.
The reissue is pretty much identical to the "original"; i.e., not the //Leif Ericson// version, with the exception of the decals. The decals are by [[JT Graphics|http://www.jt-graphics.com/]] and are much improved. They feature elaborate details for the hangar bay, especially the doors, and updated ID marks. The demo build pictured on the box was done by Jim Small (an occasional contributor to Starship Modeler).
[>img[topside|./UFO/Thumbs-2.jpg][./UFO/2.jpg]] This promosed to be a tricky build since the pastic was brittle and translucent in additon to being glow-in-the-dark. All of this meant that it wasn't possible to dress and fill the seams in the usual way. Sanding would be tricky too since much of the detail was right next to a seam.
Pretty much the first thing to do was to apply the hangar decals. They turned out to be ... delicate. I tore the first one I applied but at least it didn't shatter. The translucency of the plastic meant that the decals were visible _through_ the hull in places.
[<img[scoutship, with remains|./UFO/Thumbs-3.jpg][./UFO/3.jpg]] I had to be more carefu than usual with shaping the parts because the seams couldn't be filled. None of my usual techniques were available on this kit. The lateral seams were the easiest but the smoothing the radial seams resulted in a slight ovaling of the cross-section. Scratches in the plastic from the sanding were polished out very well. To polish the plastic I used a consecutive series of sanding pads from [[Lee Valley Tools|http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=62127&cat=1,42500]] that come in a range of grits from 1,500 to 12,000.
The brittleness of the plastic left some divots in some of the seams that proved very troublesome. The high sanding effort also removed some window detail - which could be replaced with window decals supplied with the kit.
[>img[hangar closeup|./UFO/Thumbs-4.jpg][./UFO/4.jpg]] There were some aftermarket, red resin replicas of the engine parts that shipped with the original //Leif Ericson// kit but I waited too long and missed out on them. Oh well, on with the painting.
Painting started with the grillwork. The grills were painted Black and the raised surfaces scraped clean. This worked well with the Vallejo paint, which adhered poorly to this plastic. The Tamiya paints were much more stubborn.
Just before installing the conspicuously empty engine shrouds, I masked and painted two broad, black stripes to add some visual interest to the area. The major seams (and panels) were masked and sprayed with a light coat of black to (a) accentuate the panels and (b) hide some of the more egregious mistakes.
[<img[aft|./UFO/Thumbs-5.jpg][./UFO/5.jpg]] For final painting, I cut two different sizes of rectangular mask from frisket film and then applied the masks randomly to spray a light coat of smoke and grey-green, overlapping the contrasting colours for effect. The hardest part was maintaining a light touch and not overdoing the number of panels.
The small engine exhausts (sub-light engines?) were painted Jet Exhaust and washed with Smoke.
[>img[glowing in the dark|./UFO/Thumbs-6.jpg][./UFO/6.jpg]] I skipped the traditional, pre-decal gloss coat and applied the decals directly on the glossy plastic. There were so many decal schemes to choose from: a pristine //Yuri Gagarin//, some battle-damage, the "pirate" version and a damaged version of the latter. I eventually settled on the mostly pristine version - mostly because I wanted the red dorsal stripes.
Everything was sealed with a lacquer dull coat.
Final (pastel) weathering consisted of some light exhaust staining.
That was __fun__!
!!! Paints
://Yes, I did use some//
|Model Master |Jet Exhaust |
|Tamiya |Metallic Brown |
|Vallejo |Black | 950 |
|Vallejo |Smoke | 939 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 869 |
|Vallejo |German Uniform Grey | 920 |
!!! References
* [[Project Rho|http://www.projectrho.com/SSC/model.html]] - just start here and wander around
Moebius; 1/9; March 2010
[<img[3/4 view|./ironman/Thumbs-1.jpg][./ironman/1.jpg]] Iron Man has always been one of my favourite comic book characters and when Moebius brought out a kit in the wake of the first movie, I couldn't resist (this is becoming a theme).
With some trepidation, I decided to light the model too. This would be my second ever illuminated model and the first I had done in over 15 years. After a little planning, I decided to light the eyes and chest piece - the palms were a little too tight and surface mount ~LEDs weren't on the menu.
The kit is actually quite easy to light. The base is cavernous, there's plenty of room to run the wires in the limbs and ample room in the torso and head to mount everything. Opening the chest piece required drilling through two layers. A white-painted, brass tube was inserted through the hole in the chest to contain and direct the light (and hide a few sins). The eye slits were easier to open but the work was a little more delicate. The base was selected as the home for the 9V battery and wiring was routed up through the left leg. Since the limb segments were joined by large blocks of plastic, it was a simple matter to drill holes in the blocks and route the wires through them.
[>img[powered up|./ironman/Thumbs-2.jpg][./ironman/2.jpg]] By this time, it was apparent that the plastic was somewhat brittle. Inattention while snipping pieces off the sprue would leave divots and test fitting parts occasionally snapped a few pins.
There were a lot of seams to clean up. Each limb had 6 or 7 pieces and sanding/polishing took quite a bit of time. The interlocking mechanism for each of the parts worked really well and all of the components wound up very solidly attached. Overall good engineering but the hands didn't fit all that well.
The main subassemblies (arms, legs, head and torso halves) were primed white to make the subsequent coat of red as bright as possible. It took tow or three coats of red to cover the primer properly. I agonized over the precise shade of red for about 40 minutes in the hobby shop. Needless to say, I had ignored the kit instructions to paint the whole thing gold and then use clear red over gold for the red parts. Shame about that - it would have saved 40 minutes of agonizing... Later, when touching up some components, I wound up spraying the Stoplight Red over the gold. It covered the gold in 1 coat and looked really good. <sigh>
Masking the red for the application of the gold was very complex, with a lots of tight spaces and compound curves. I wound up using a lot of Tamiya masking tape. The Tamiya gold went down really well and finish on the paint was really nice.
[<img[rear|./ironman/Thumbs-3.jpg][./ironman/3.jpg]] Final assembly consisted of soldering the last connections in place and snapping the torso halves together. Unfortunately, all the careful masking and painting that preceeded this left a shoulder seam that was very hard to dress. Yes, test fitting would have helped here but see my earlier remarks about brittle plastic and snapped pins.
The eyes and chest piece were filled with heavily scuffed clear plastic to diffuse the light. The chest piece required a little more diffusion - so I stole a small piece of wool roving from my wife's spinning stash - perfect!
The base was painted with an assortment of buffing and non-buffing metallics. Some of the metal pieces were also treated with washes of clear blue or clear smoke for effect.
Overall, I was very pleased with the look of the finished kit.
//Update: apparently someone else was too because I won a "People's Choice" award for it at the 2010 ~GOMBs show//
!!! Paints
|Tamiya |Gold | X 31 |
|Testors' |Stop Light Red metallic |
!!! References
Watching //Iron Man// a couple of times :-)
Moebius; 1/144; 31 October 2015
I remember watching //[[Jonny Quest|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny_Quest]]// on Saturday mornings. Well, more accurately, I remember __that__ I watched //Jonny Quest// - the memories of the actual show are somewhat vague. The jet is still cool though!
[<img[Beauty shot. Starboard|./dragonfly/Thumbs-1.jpg][./dragonfly/1.jpg]] So this is another nostalgic act but this time the nostalgia is not so much for the kit as for a time when Saturday morning cartoons were actually entertaining.
The kit is stunningly expensive for something so simple. Maybe it's just a sign of the times or usurious licensing fees. The panel lines are engraved and exaggerated but the surface of the model has an interesting texture.
The clear stand had a stylized map of the world embossed on the upper surface. The raised detail was on the underside and consisted of approximations of the continents and lines of latitude and longitude. The raised detail was picked out in black and then the underside painted clear blue.
[>img[Aft, showing transparent engine insert|./dragonfly/Thumbs-2.jpg][./dragonfly/2.jpg]] Construction started with opening the fuselage windows (as usual). There was no interior detail, so I mocked up a simple cockpit consisting of a modified, N-scale figure and a "floor". The cockpit windows are very small and little more than an impression of a cockpit will be seen. The interior was given a quick coat of //Medium Grey//.
The fuselage went together well with no need for filling, except where I trimmed the parts poorly. It took a fair bit of work to blend the canopy in with the fuselage. I debated opening and detailing the intake trunk but decided to keep it simple and avoid filling the resulting cavern.
The engine consisted of two parts: a clear insert and the exhaust nozzle. The clear part was painted transparent red with chrome drybrushing on the raised detail. The exhaust nozzle was painted //Jet Exhaust//, washed with black, rust and clear blue.
The kit comes with two nose probes - just in case. Despite dire warnings about the fragility of the probe, I still managed to break the first one removing it from the sprue. I was extremely cautious and successful with the second one.
The nose probe and engine were left off to simplify painting and minimize damage.
[<img[Port side, low, showing intake|./dragonfly/Thumbs-3.jpg][./dragonfly/3.jpg]] Painting was very straightforward: White. OK, maybe a little more than white. The base coat was flat white. Panel lines were filled in with pencil, although a light grey wash may have been a better choice. The clear coat was a little different this time. I added a very small amount of silver pearl powder to the Future. Sprayed over the white, this added a nice metallic sheen to the white.
Final details consisted of painting the intake trunk black and painting the formation lights clear read and green. The marker light at the tip of the rudder was removed and replaced with a drop of Krystal Kleer. The fuselage windows were also filled with Krystal Kleer.
The engine and nose probe were attached and I called "done".
!!! Paints
|Model Master |Jet Exhaust |
|Tamiya |Clear Blue | X-23 |
|Tamiya |Clear Green | X-25 |
|Tamiya |Clear Red | X-27 |
|Tamiya |Flat white | ~XF-2 |
|Vallejo |Med. Grey | 987 |
|Vallejo |Chrome | 064 |
!!! References
Pretty much none.
!!! Resources
Perfect Pearl Powders
Fujimi; 1/72; 30 April 2011
I had been idly considering building a Stuka, when I discovered this Fujimi kit. The fact that one of the depicted variants was a [[Spanish Civil War]] subject clinched my decision. The kit itself is actually really nice. The clear parts were surprisingly transparent (and thin) for injection molded pieces. The panels lines were all very nicely engraved and the parts fit varied from OK to "Really Good".
[<img[text|./ju87b1/Thumbs-1.jpg][./ju87b1/1.jpg]] I tried not to get too silly with detailing and only took a few notes from my reference. I decided to limit myself to removing the dive sirens and opening the manual engine cranking port and the flare pistol port.
Having decided not to go crazy - I started to augment the cockpit. Silly, really if you consider that this is a 1/72 kit with a "greenhouse" canopy. I ran lengths of 0.1mm plastic rod along the fuselage sides to represent the stringers and added 2 large blocks of plastic to represent the radio equipment. The latter is just aft of the bulkhead separating the pilot and observer. I added a few greeblies to the walls (in more or less the right places). The cockpit was painted RLM 02, followed by a wash and drybrush to bring out the details. The instrument panel was painted Basalt Grey to provide some contrast for the very nice instrument decals. The final touches were to add masking tape seatbelts and a small, clear rectangle for the gunsight.
I must say that masking a 1/72 scale, "greenhouse" canopy is for the birds ... or individuals of beatific patience.
The fit of the wings was a wonder. Perhaps I've lead a sheltered life but I've never had wings fit this well. The seam along the wing root was perfect - no filling required.
Unfortunately, the 3-piece nose wasn't such a pretty story.
The wheels, stabilizers and myriad //tiny// details were left off to reduce handling damage during painting. Even so, I managed to break the machine gun within minutes.
The wing tips and rudder were sprayed white and masked. A thin, varied coat of RLM 71 followed. I tried to add some depth and texture to the colour by praying a solid coat along the panel lines and keeping it light and patchy in the middle of the panels. It actually turned out quite well.
[>img[text|./ju87b1/Thumbs-2.jpg][./ju87b1/2.jpg]] Unfortunately, the second colour in the splinter pattern didn't work out as well. Supply problems have lead to my source of Polly Scale paints drying up (the bottles aren't labeled in French and English, so import is becomming difficult). RLM 80 had to be substituted for RLM 70 but it's actually a pretty close match. Being the second coat of paint, the patchy appearance of the first colour couldn't be replicated. The low contrast between the colours resulted in a very "understated" camouflage pattern. The undersides were painted RLM 65.
After removing the masking, all of the remaining parts were attached. Unfortunately, many of the thinner and smaller pieces were prone to damage as they were removed from the sprue. The stabilizer struts were subject to this as were the counterweights on the dive brakes. The latter were eventually abandoned because of damage and weak attachment points.
The decals were applied over the usual clear coat. They reacted well to Solvaset but they were very reluctant to let go of the backing paper. Once dry, the decals were sealed with another clear coat and a very thin black wash was applied to highlight beautiful panel lines.
When the wash was dry, a flat coat was applied and the final painting and weathering applied. Pastels were used to apply exhaust stains and a little muzzle blast on the wing guns. The formation lights were painted using clear red and green over white. The landing light was simply silver paint.
The antenna wire was every bit as irritating to install as expected. I started with monofilament - which resisted must of my attempts to attach it to the tail. When it was finally attached, I used a recently extinguished match to tighten the wire. Unfortunately I overdid it and it pulled the antenna mast off vertical. I thought I could live with it but wound up replacing the monofilament with 0.1 mm plastic rod.
!!! Paints
|Polly Scale |RLM 02 |
|Polly Scale |RLM 71 |
|Polly Scale |RLM 80 |
|Tamiya |White | XF 2 |
|Tamiya |Sky Blue | XF 23 |
|Tamiya |Clear Green | X 25 |
|Tamiya |Clear Red | X27 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 869 |
!!! References
[~Squadron-Signal] Aircraft in Action #073 - Ju-87 Stuka
AMT; 1/7,600 (?); 24 January 2015
I never built this particular kit the first time around. When it was reissued, I thought "Why not?"
[<img[Lit, in the dark|./k-7/Thumbs-7.jpg][./k-7/7.jpg]] The kit is pretty simple and almost begs to be lit. The thought of masking all those windows was daunting; hence the Aztek Dummy masks. And then there was scope creep. If I'm going to the trouble of illuminating the model, why not accurize it? Aztek Dummy's advice? "If you want to make it accurate, grab a knife and a block of wood." OK, we'll just build the kit as it was shipped ... except maybe the shuttle bay.
The first step was to drill mounting holes in the upper surface of the secondary modules to mount the ~LEDs. First thing I did? Drill a hole in the __bottom__ of a module. That led to plugging the errant hole with sprue and sanding it flush. The remaining holes went where they were supposed to, including the marker lights at the "tips" of the modules.
[>img[shuttle bay|./k-7/Thumbs-2.jpg][./k-7/2.jpg]] The next step was to open the shuttle bay and build an interior. A definite sense of //deja vu//. It's one of the most common modifications that I make to [[Trek kits|StarTrek]], in particular the [[Reliant|USS Reliant (NCC 1864)]], the [[D-7]] and the NX-01. The filming model for the ~DS9 episode, //Trials and Tribble-ations// included an elaborate shuttle bay that I tried to copy. Greg Jein had more room to work in, and is vastly more talented, so I wound up with an approximation. The bay was populated with a leftover, resin shuttlepod from the NX-01. The shuttlepod was painted as a somewhat larger ship. With all that work, it would be a shame not to illuminated the bay to show it off. A raw LED would be too stark, so I decided to simulate lighting panels in the ceiling by leaving two rectangles unpainted - diffusing the LED light. Electrical tape prevented light leaks around the "lighting panels".
The clear domes (well, cones) on top of the primary and secondary modules were next on the agenda. Epic masking was the next. I tried not to mark out too many windows and wound up masking 60 to 70 windows on each secondary cone and about 200 on the larger, primary cone. Once again the LED light had to be diffused. Normally, I would use my wife's wool roving, but I wanted to paint the tips of the cones clear read, blue and green so they could be used as illuminated marker lights. The solution was to line the insides of the clear plastic cones with white, craft tissue paper. This left an unobstructed light path to the tips of the cones.
The primary module cone was somewhat larger and the light in the upper levels was noticeable weaker. To mitigate this, a layer of aluminum tape was placed at the top and base of the cone to reflect a much light as possible.
The interior of the lit hull sections were painted black before assembly. Lighting tests showed that rims of the LED mounting holes also had to be painted black. Without this, the plastic glowed around the ~LEDs.
The ~LEDs and wiring were mounted and fixed in place with low temperature hot glue. I wish I had thought of this before! Hot glue really makes mounting the electrical components easier. Low temperature glue (from a low temperature gun) reduceds the chance of damaging the plastic. I'd like to take credit for the idea but I got it from Round 2's [[K7 buildup|http://www.round2models.com/workbench/lighting-k7]] article.
Assembly was simple, except for the bit that had me holding six pieces simultaneously with one hand, while applying glue with the other. Tidying up the seams took a solid 90 minutes of sanding. The joints between the support booms and central hub was awful. The gaps were covered with collars made from plastic strip and back filled with Milliput. The //Trials and Tribble-ations// filming model also had ring scribed around the middle of each support boom, which I replicated.
There was a stutter in the lighting and assembly plan. There wasn't enough room to mount a 3mm LED above the shuttle bay so it was replaced with a 1 mm LED. That added 2 weeks to the build time. When 1 mm LED was added to the circuit, it dimmed the lights in the other loops. After relearning basic circuit design, the 420 Ω resistor that came with the LED was replaced with a 150 Ω resistor.
[<img[1,351 indivudual masks|./k-7/Thumbs-1.jpg][./k-7/1.jpg]] With the lighting problems solved, the model was buttoned up, filled, sanded and primed. The tip the cones on the secondary modules were painted clear red, green or blue. The ~LEDs used for the marker lights were also painted with the corresponding clear colour. The marker lights and cone tips were masked off. The first couple of decks below the illuminated tips were painted a corresponding solid red, green or blue.
In order to keep the aztec pattern subtle, I decided to use tints and shades of a key colour. The dark shade was applied first and consisted of //Royal Light Grey// with a few drops of //Dark Sea Grey//. Unfortunately, this was when I noticed some poor seam work and and to repeat the fill - sand - prime - paint cycle.
Once the base coat had dried for a couple of days, it was time to mask the aztec pattern. That turned out to be a ''"What was I thinking!"'' moment. I wound up applying 1,351 individual pieces of vinyl! Unfortunately, I botched the masking pattern on the primary hull. There were two basic masking patterns so adjacent hull segments simply alternate the pattern. The top and bottom of each module should have the same pattern in the same segment but I wasn't paying attention and the pattern was offset - which made for an awkward transition from the upper to lower surface.
With the masks in place, the overcoat was applied. The light tint was comprised of //Royal Light Grey// with a few drops of white. Once the top coat had dried, the masks were removed ... aaaand this is where things went wrong.
[>img[Unlit, masks removed|./k-7/Thumbs-3.jpg][./k-7/3.jpg]] The overcoat was applied with a light touch. As it turned out, too light in some areas, leaving almost no contrast. Some of the masks pulled up undercoat __and__ primer, leaving bare plastic in some spots. Worse still, there were light leaks on the illuminated cones - I had gone too light with the primer, undercoat and the top coat.
I created a series of small rectangular window masks from sections of frisket film and used those to repair the worst of the torn up paint and divots left by my tweezers. Matching colours proved to be a challenge, one to which I didn't entirely rise. To cover the colour mismatch and randomize the aztec pattern a little, I mixed a third shade of grey from //Royal Light Grey// with a few drops of green. This was applied in a few locations over the light and dark coats, using the frisket "window" masks.
Because the hull masks had been removed, covering the light leaks in the cones required cutting paper masks to protect the hull pattern while the cones were resprayed. I tried to protect the bands of solid colour at the tops of the cones but this just made the task even harder so I decided to repaint the coloured bands later. At one point, I turned on the model lights and turned out the room lights and airbrushed in the dark - to ensure I caught all the leaks.
[<img[From the top, lit|./k-7/Thumbs-4.jpg][./k-7/4.jpg]] With the major problems fixed, a clear coat was applied as a base for the decals. There were mercifully few decals and they went on reasonably well, although a couple of the larger ones broke up.
The window masks were removed at this point because the layers were getting a bit thick. The "K7", "KA", "KB" and "KC" decals each went over one or more window decals. The overlying decals were carefully cut around the window masks to prevent damage to the decals. The window masks weren't burnished down properly so most of the windows had very untidy edges.
Repairing the untidy edges involved scraping excess paint off with a variety of small , sharp tools and touching up the paint all around. It took several passes to get acceptable window edges. Most of this was done in the dark, with the model illuminated. This lead to eyestrain and impaired depth perception using a "000" brush.
[>img["Front" view, lit|./k-7/Thumbs-5.jpg][./k-7/5.jpg]] With the windows tidied up, the final clear, satin coat (Future and //Flat Base//) was applied. There was a brief flirtation with additional weathering, using patels but it didn't look very good with the aztec pattern and was washed off.
All of the handling put dings in the clear colours on the cone tips and LED marker lights. Repairing these by hand painting the clear colours proved challenging. The paint seemed to actively resist being applied and it took several tries to get an acceptable layer of colour.
Final assembly consisted of attaching the model to the base and soldering the final connections.
There were a lot of "shoulda's" with this build:
* shoulda burnished the window masks down
* shoulda masked slightly fewer windows
* shoulda checked for light leaks before pulling up __any__ masks
* shoulda done a thorough top coat
* shoulda washed the parts
It took a long time for such a simple model but most of that was my doing. Despite all that I am happy with it.
!!! Paints
|Tamiya |White | ~XF-2 |
|Tamiya |Flat Green | ~XF-5 |
|Tamiya |Clear Blue | X-23 |
|Tamiya |Clear Red | X-27 |
|Tamiya |Clear Green | X-28 |
|Tamiya |Flat Base | ~XF-21 |
|Tamiya |Dark Sea Grey | ~XF-54 |
|Tamiya |Royal Light Grey | ~XF-80 |
|Vallejo |Dark Prussian Blue | 965 |
|Vallejo |Carmine Red | 908 |
|Vallejo |SS Camouflage Bright Green | 833 |
|Vallejo |Medium Blue | 963 |
|Vallejo |Light Grey | 990 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 869 |
!!! References
//Space Station K-7 Blueprints// by Kenneth Altman & Geoffrey Mandel, 1976
!!! Resources
[[ModelTrainSoftware|http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/]] 1mm LED
[[Evil Mad Scientist|http://www.evilmadscientist.com/]] all other ~LEDs
Aztek Dummy K7 paneling paint masks. (//Bought mine from [[Starship Modeler|http://starshipmodeler.com]] but they don't seem to carry them any more ...//)
[[Digi-Key|http://www.digikey.com/]] 3mm, cool white ~LEDs
Hasegawa; 1/72; 18 Oct 18
<html><a href='./p-40e/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./p-40e/01.jpg" title="mouseover text" alt="description" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
In 2011, five of us rode our motorcycles from Calgary to Anchorage and back. While we were in Anchorage, I made my way to the [[Alaska Aviation Museum|https://alaskaairmuseum.org/]], where I came across a photo of an RCAF P-40 in the Aleutians. "I didn't know the RCAF operated in Alaska!" was followed by much Internet browsing.
It took a little browsing to determine which version of the P-40 was operated by the RCAF and deployed to Alaska, followed by some cross-referencing to match "Kittyhawk Mk.I" to a ~P-40E. The Hasegawa kit fit the bill and a generous donation by Don Adrian of Sweating Beaver's 111 Squadron decals and we were off!
Having recently finished Airfix's [[Hawk 81A-1|Flying Tigers P-40]] - the Hasegawa kit was a little disappointing. The cockpit was rudimentary and overall detail was soft and poorly defined all around.
Added a throttle quadrant, trim wheel and some stringers to the sidewalls to provide a little detail. Everything was then painted //Cockpit Green// and washed with //Umber// with a little //Basalt Grey// chipping. For wear, I played around with a little pearl powder, applied with a rubber brush but the results were underwhelming. The pilot was omitted and the usual, masking tape seat belts added.
Putting the fuselage halves together the parts lined up properly but the raised details did not. The one-piece lower wing was attached to the fuselage before the upper wing halves were added in order to improve the fit at the wing roots. There was some minor filling of seams and an odd hole on the leading edge of the starboard wing.
The cowl flaps were opened up with a razor saw.
With assembly complete, the upper surfaces were painted //Dark Earth//, masked with silly putty and then painted //Dark Green//. The undersides were painted //Sky Grey// - which seemed slightly dark.
The fuselage band is actually interrupted by the squadron codes and the serial numbers. The decal sheet was placed on a light box in order to trace the outlines of the codes and numbers. The paper tracing was transferred to masking tape and then placed before the fuselage band was masked and painted. It was a good idea but the execution left something to be desired. After everything was painted, I discovered that the fuselage band should have been Light Blue instead of //Sky//.
References indicated that the drop tanks not added while the planes were in Anchorage and that the squadron codes were overpainted before deployment to Aleutians. Therefore the options were full codes with no drop tanks or partial codes and tanks. I opted to model the plane as it appeared in Anchorage.
The usual clear coat was applied before the decals were applied. The decals themselves were a disaster. As they soaked, they lifted parts of the backing paper with them. Despite rinsing the decals, the floaters made it on to the model and had to be concealed by touching up the paint.
Once everything was dry, it was sealed with a flat coat.
Final weathering was kept light because the model depicts the plane shortly after it was deployed to Anchorage from Patricia Bay, B.C.
~EZ-Line was used to represent the antenna wires.
It's nice to have an RCAF aircraft in the collection. I'm somewhat tempted to build a second version of the plane as seen in the Aleutians.
It was a little surprising to find the Hasegawa kit inferior to Airfix.
For a little symmetry - there is also a model of the [[motorcycle|R1100R]] that I rode to Alaska.
!!! Paints
|Model Master Acryl |Dark Earth ANA |
|Polly Scale |RAF Dark Green |
|Tamiya |Sky Grey | ~XF-19 |
|Tamiya |Sky | ~XF-21 |
|Tamiya |Cockpit Green | ~XF-71 |
|Tamiya |Rubber Black | ~XF-85 |
|Vallejo |Sky | 70.989 |
|Vallejo |U.S. Interior Yellow | 71.107 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 70.869 |
|Vallejo |Umber Wash | 73.203 |
!!! References
[[RCAF 111 Squadron|https://www.rcaf111fsquadron.com/ground-crew.html]]
"The First Thunderbirds", //High Flight//, Volume 1, No. 2, possibly 1980
!!! Resources
[[IPMS Canada|http://www.ipmscanada.com/ipms/ipmsproducts.html]] - decals no longer available
Don Adrian
Revell; 1/72; February 2011
I'm not quite sure why I bought this kit ... perhaps I'm just a well-trained consumer. No matter what, Russian subjects are exotic (for me) and therefore interesting.
[<img[text|./la5fn/Thumbs-1.jpg][./la5fn/1.jpg]]
Started with the interior and the impression that I had the right interior colour; i.e., the misnamed "Russian Blue". I was half right - the "Russian Blue" was the primer for the wooden fuselage sections but I lacked that funny blue-green coloured metal primer: so I mixed my own from a combination of medium blue, golden olive and white. (//It turns out that I did have the right, premixed colour - I found it in my paint drawer after I finished the model//).
There was some nice raised detail on the cockpit walls, along with circular & rectangular recesses - which were dutifully filled with the appropriate plastic shapes. These were all invisible once everything was assembled. Some reference pictures also showed a small "radio deck" behind the pilot's seat. Since this __would__ be visible under the canopy - I made one from plastic stock. The radio equipment turned out to be more of an impression than a replica. The cockpit was painted Russian blue, except for the instrument panel, which was German grey. The grey provided a nice contrast for the instrument decals. I was overjoyed to discover that the cockpit tub could be inserted __after__ the fuselage was assembled.
Incidentally, the pilot received a black flying coat, khaki trousers and brown helmet and gloves.
[>img[text|./la5fn/Thumbs-2.jpg][./la5fn/2.jpg]] The fuselage went together fairly well, as did the wings. There was a huge gap along the wing root that had to be filled with plastic strip and putty.
Once the fuselage was assembled, the canopy was attached and the empty engine cowl tacked in place with white glue. To simplify masking, the horizontal stabilizers and all of the delicate details were left off. The radiator and supercharger (?) were attached but I did forget the entenna mast before priming.
The tail was sprayed white, then masked of. Similarly, the cowl was sprayed red and masked. The undersides were sprayed ~AMT-7 ... and masked off. The light topside grey (~AMT-11) followed but this time the masking was done with silly putty. The putty was applied a little too thickly and wasn't given enough time to "rest" and sag so the following dark grey (~AMT-12) coat was a little "soft" in places.
[<img[text|./la5fn/Thumbs-3.jpg][./la5fn/3.jpg]] (Almost) all of the masks were pulled up and the mistakes touched up. The cowl proved to be the greatest challenge - the white glue had leaked out of the joints and took some of the paint with it when it was removed. The other problem is that the red, which was quite old, had been damaged by the tape. It's possible that it hadn't cured properly, even after 24 hours, before the tape was applied.
The clear coat (Future) threatened to run and pool but that disaster was narrowly averted. I had chosen to do a selective clearcoat just over the areas to be decaled. After the clear had dried I noticed that the gear covers were supposed to have decals too.
The decals went down very well: No tearing or wrinkling and they reacted well to setting solution. I opted to paint the formation lights (clear read and green over white) rather than fiddle with the tiny decals. The only problem with the decals was that the fuselage and lower wing stars appeared to be reversed. The ones slated for the fuselage were simply too large for the space.
The flat coat was a mix of flat base and Future.
The metal plates just aft of the exhaust were masked, painted stainless steel, buffed and then washed with clear smoke.
The last of the masks were peeled up and the final small parts were attached and about this time the prop and spinner fell out.
I find rigging antenna wires to be fiddly and usually wind up with an excess of glue on the thread or attachment points. It was a little better this time. The real surprise was that running a recently extinguished match under the monofilament thread tightened things up beautifully.
All in all - a pleasant build.
!!! Paints
|Humbrol |Matt Russian Blue | Hu 15 |
|Model Master |Chrome Silver |
|Polly Scale |USSR underside Blue (~AMT-7) | 505226 |
|Polly Scale |USSR topside grey (~AMT-11) | 505230 |
|Polly Scale |USSR topside dark grey (~AMT-12) | 505232 |
|Tamiya |Flat white | XF 2 |
|Tamiya |Red | X 7 |
|Tamiya |Clear green | X 25 |
|Tamiya |Clear red | X 27 |
|Tamiya |Flat base |
|Testors' |Steel |
|Testors' Metallizer |Stainless Steel |
|Vallejo |Medium blue | 963 |
|Vallejo |White | 001 |
|Vallejo |Golden Olive | 857 |
|Vallejo |Grey black | 862 |
|Vallejo |Black | 950 |
|Vallejo |Smoke | 939 |
|Vallejo |German grey | 995 |
Spray base colour, add letraset, spray surrounding colour, remove Letraset with masking tape.
Trumpeter; 1/72; 20 Jaunary 2012
For years, I carried the vague memory of what I thought was a short story about a Vietnam-era APC crew who were suddenly transported to a fantasy world. I was about half-way through the build before I suddenly recalled that it was actually a novel: Brian Daley's //Doomfarers of Coramonde//. I rushed to my bookshelf to review my "reference", only to discover that I had traded the book to the second-hand store. <sigh>
[<img[Book cover|./lobo/Thumbs-0.jpg][./lobo/0.jpg]] The impression percolated until I decided to build a diorama. To that end I bought Trumpeter's 1/72 scale ~M113A2 and Italeri's //US Special Forces (Vietnam War)// ... all without the vaguest idea of what I was going to do.
After some "light research" - which is just a cut above surfing - it was time to start construction.
The Trumpeter kit is quite nice with a modestly detailed interior that includes an engine but oddly enough no driver's position. The engine was assembled but only received a basic paint job because at this point the diorama was unclear.
The main hull went together very easily with no filling required. The drive sprocket and idler wheel were mounted but the road wheels omitted to simplify painting. Similarly, the fenders were left off.
[>img[text|./lobo/Thumbs-1.jpg][./lobo/1.jpg]] The interior was painted white and then found photos of an almost mint green interior. Fortunately, modeling a fictional vehicle with vague references provides a lot of latitude. The benches were shown as wooden, using a biplane modeler's technique; i.e., a light brown base coat with dark brown stripes and overcoated with clear orange. The diamondplate floor was painted Flat Aluminum.
Continued with the assembly, mounting the skirts and rears fenders per the instructions before realizing that they weren't appropriate for a Vietnam-era M113. Then I noticed some unreferenced parts on the sprue. Trumpeter had included the correct rear fenders for an earlier version! The skirts were a bigger problem because it would be a fair bit of work to fill the holes - then I found a photo (one out of two hundred) showing an M113 in Vietnam with the skirts. Once again rescued by modeling a fictional vehicle with vague references.
[<img[overview|./lobo/Thumbs-2.jpg][./lobo/2.jpg]] Before buttoning up the hull, I added an assortment of crates, bedrolls, tarps and jerry cans to the interior. Many of the reference photos show the floor simply lined with crates ... so I did too. The stowage was a mixture of scratchbuilt and aftermarket resin pieces. The tarps were made from glue soaked tissue paper and the bedrolls were polymer clay.
Since a number of photos showed a collection of cardboard boxes scattered everywhere, I made a few from polymer clay, painted khaki and washed with burnt umber. The boxes were left looking "squishy" to give the impression of use and abuse.
An initital paint coat went on before the skirts and tracks were added. The vehicle was pre-shaded black overall on the lower halves and then covered with a very thin coat of Olive Drab to give the impression of darker paint towards the bottom.
[>img[Inside the APC|./lobo/Thumbs-3.jpg][./lobo/3.jpg]] For a change, the tracks went together exactly as advertised. This is a first for me. A hot knife applied to the joint melted the pins perfectly. The tracks went on over the running gear with just alittle tension. Just to be safe, I put the joint up under the skirts (another reason to keep them).
With the road wheels and tracks in place, everything else was added. The hatches were tacked in place, closed for painting although they would be opened for display. Panel centres were highlighted with a lighter shade of the base coat and then blended with a very thin overspray of Olive Drab.
The APC in the novel was named "Lobo" so I hand-painted the name on the side of the vehicle.
Weathering consisted of a burnt umber wash and mud. The mud was courtesy of the [[Rustall|http://www.rustall.com]] kit I acquired several years ago. I just never found a use for the bottle of dust that was included in the kit - until now. I mixed the dust with a little white glue and water and //voilá!//, mud. It went on beautifully. As thick or thin as needed, producing everything from stains to clumps.
[<img[text|./lobo/Thumbs-4.jpg][./lobo/4.jpg]] With the kit finished, now it was time for the diorama. Unfortunately, I __still__ hadn't decided whether this was going to be something from the story or a straight Vietnam-scene. This makes it difficult to plan the layout.
Wandering around the wargame section of a local hobby shop produced a box of //Marching Normans//. A scene from the story it would be!
Pawing through both boxes of figures produced 5 soldiers and 3 "Normans" that would fit the scene with minimal modification. Unfortunately, the latter were very poorly moulded and there were very few that would be acceptable.
The soldiers were fairly easy to paint: Olive Drab all around. I varied the shade for the carried equipment; for example, the grenades were much darker than the uniforms and the backpacks were a little lighter. A dark wash and some drybrushing and they were done.
[>img[the locals|./lobo/Thumbs-5.jpg][./lobo/5.jpg]] The "Normans" required a little more thought. Once again, I was freed from historical constraints by the subject matter. The greatest challenge was painting the figures in such a way as to overcome the indistinct detail.
The base was the usual chunk of styrofoam, covered in a layer of drywall mud. An additional chunk of styrofoam provided a hillside and a little carving provided a gully. The drywall mud blended the joints and provided a plausibly irregular surface. A few rocks were placed in the mud before it dried to form outcrops. Toothpicks were pressed into the groundwork to make hole and act as placeholders for the trees.
The base was sealed before painting using a coat of white glue and water. The drywall mud has proved to be a "delicate" surface and very prone to damage in the past. The glue/water mixture seems to seal and protect it quite well.
Once the seal coat was dry, a base ground colour mix of green and brown craft paint was applied. Craft paint is easy to work with and inexpensive when used on a large area.
Trees were made using the [[twisted wire|Twisted Wire Trees]] technique. This was the first time I had tried this technique. The results were pretty good but this technique may be better suited to the bulk planting required by a model railroad layout.
Static grass, in a mixture three shades, was applied over a layer of white glue. A chunk of styrofoam, rubbed on my forearm to build up a static charge was used to stand the grass up.
With the groundwork complete, the figures were trimmed from their bases and attached to the base with Weldbond, as were all the loose tools, boxes and other details.
!!! Postscript
://I obtained another copy of the book and started reading it only to discover that "Lobo" was actually an [[ACAV|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M113_armored_personnel_carrier#Basic_variants]]. I guess the diorama has become "inspired by ..." instead of "a scene from..." Although, Trumpeter does make a kit of an ACAV and there is a good passage in the book about the damage inflicted bythe dragon ...//
!!! Paints
|Model Master |Olive Drab | ~FS34087 |
|Tamiya |White | XF 2 |
|Tamiya |Flat Aluminum | XF 16 |
|Tamiya |Clear Orange | X 26 |
|Vallejo |Smoke | 939 |
|Vallejo |Black | 950 |
|Vallejo |Burnt Umber | 941 |
!!! References
Daley, Brian. //The Doomfarers of Coramonde//, ISBN 0-345-25708-1, 1977.
[[Zippo132's Flickr photostream|http://www.flickr.com/photos/zippo132/with/3613981521/]]
!!! Resources
Sculpey III
[[Rustall|http://www.rustall.com]]
Dragon; 1/35; 12 January 2019
Another <<tag half-track Half-track">> for the collection! I had been focused on the German ones - because they are predominant and have such variety. When the opportunity came up to acquire an M3, it was a matter of "why not?"
After a little dithering I settled on an early production, straight-up M3 version from "Operation Torch" (Morocco, 1942). Mostly because it was the simplest version and corresponded best with how I saw the actual vehicle. This was quite a kit - beautifully detailed and choc-a-bloc with photo etch. The instructions are complicated by all of the options. It took a careful read through to identify all the relevant steps for the chosen version. Crossing out the irrelevant options made it easier to parse the instructions during construction. This was a very fiddly kit. Highly detailed but every part had many attachment points that required clean up.
<html><a href='./m3/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./m3/01.jpg" title="standard beauty shot" alt="3/4 view, left front" width=150 align="right"></a></html> Construction started with the running gear and I immediately got into a "paint first or glue first?" loop. The paint-glue-touch up cycle was pretty slow.The instructions show //Olive Drab// with black on the tires of the road wheels. They also show black on the idler wheels and return rollers - which is not right. They were painted //Olive Drab// with silver and graphite pencil weathering. I had mistakenly picked up //JGSDF Olive Drab//, which is a tad too dark and even after over spraying with the right colour was still a bit dark. The details were drybrushed with a mix of Vallejo //Olive Drab//, //Khaki// and //Sky Grey//.
In order to ease painting, I decided to partially assemble the driver's compartment, engine bay and fighting compartment. Unfortunately, this lead to fit / alignment problems later in the build.
<html><a href='./m3/02.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./m3/02.jpg" title="radiator detail visible behind the armoured slats" alt="3/4 view, right front" width=150 align="left"></a></html> The interior was sprayed Tamiya //Olive Drab//, followed by the same mix of Vallejo //Olive Drab//, //Khaki// and //Sky Grey// for drybrushing. The final touch was a //Sepia// wash.
The seat cushions were initially painted //Khaki// but it was a little too brown and didn't match the reference photos on the Internet. The next pass was a mix of //Khaki// and //Feldgrau//, which resulted in a warm, greenish grey that looked much better. The cushions had a nice texture that picked up the //Umber// wash and //Khaki// drybrush nicely.
The dashboard was pretty simple. The gauges were painted white with a black drybrush and a drop of [[Future]] for the glass - although Krystal Kleer might have been a better choice. The placards were painted black.
The kit came with a single figure, the driver. Painted it up and was pretty pleased with the result. Unfortunately, I couldn't install the figure in the completed interior - even with the steering wheel left out for just that purpose.
<html><a href='./m3/03.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./m3/03.jpg" title="the fighting compartment" alt="high angle left rear view" width=150 align="right"></a></html> The exterior was pretty simple to paint - //Olive Drab// overall! OK - there was more to it than that. The panel edges were post-shaded with the //JGDSF Olive Drab// and the panel centres highlighted with a lightened base coat. It required a light spray pass with a very thin coat of the base colour to tone down the contrast. This was followed with a coat of [[Future]] in preparation for decals and wash.
The decals were huge, particularly the star and flag on the sides. A little Solvaset and the decals settled beautifully over the details and they were so thin that they merged perfectly with the paint after the final flat coat was applied.
After the decals were sealed with another coat of Future, an umber wash wash applied along panel lines and to the small details. Everything was treated to a coat of //Matt Medium// - which is so easy to work with. Edges and raised details were treated to a pass of the same drybrush mix as used on the interior.
The tires and tracks were painted //Rubber Black//. The metal flanges on the tracks were painted //Metallic Grey//, followed by an umber wash and a coat of "Rustall".
With everything in place, the lower half of the vehicle received a coat of //Dust// which, as usual, was imperceptible. Unlike the pigments. I decided to use "real" pigments on this kit for a change. I used what I thought were liberal amounts of //Light Sienna// with the Vallejo all over the undersides and up the sides of the vehicle. I can see why people do this - it's fun! With the tracks and tires, a slurry of pigment and airbrush thinner was smeared over the treads and gaps, allowed to dry and then wiped off with a damp sponge brush.
Looking it over a few months after completion, I could have been more generous with the pigments. Part of the trouble with not having a good idea where all the mud and dirt gets on a vehicle like this.
Overall I was really happy with the final result and it was a treat to be able to build a modern armour kit instead of a 40 year old kit scavenged from eBay.
!!! Paints
|Polly S |Dust |
|Tamiya |Olive Drab | ~XF-65 |
|Tamiya |JGSDF Olive Drab | ~XF-72 |
|Tamiya |Rubber Black | ~XF-85 |
|Tamiya |Metallic Grey | ~XF-56 |
|Vallejo |Flat Earth | 70.983 |
|Vallejo |Flat | 70.540 |
|Vallejo |Khaki | 70.988 |
|Vallejo |Olive Drab | 70.887 |
|Vallejo |Black Grey |70.862 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 70.869 |
|Vallejo |Black | 70.950 |
|Vallejo |Gunmetal | 70.863 |
|Vallejo |Sky Grey | 70.989 |
!!! Resources
[[Future]]
Vallejo Light Sienna pigment
Vallejo Pigment Binder
!! Main Categories
[[Aircraft]]
[[Armour]]
[[Figures]]
[[Science Fiction|SF&F]]
[[Ships]]
[[Vehicles]]
[[Tidbits]]
!! Sub-categories
[[Awards]]
[[Anime]]
HalfTracks
[[Nostalgia]]
[[Spanish Civil War]]
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<<newFromTemplate>> kit
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[[ToDo]]
[[GettingStarted]]
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//A Suppliment to the Wonderfest Decal Making Demo//
//by Jay Chladek//
When it comes to detailing models, probably the one thing that is the most sought after is the ability to make custom decals. Plenty of companies offer aftermarket decal sheets for military subjects, but several different sheets might be needed to acquire a certain set of markings that a modeler desires, and that's assuming that such markings even exist in the first place. There are several techniques that a modeler can use to make custom decals and not all of them involve a computer, even though a PC or MAC with the correct software can be a very versatile tool.
!! Selection of Materials
Of course, the first thing a modeler needs is blank decal paper. Several companies offer decal paper sheets and the prices range from a few cents a sheet to a few dollars. Companies that sell clear and/or colored decal paper include Micromark, Detail Master, SIG Aircraft, Superscale and Microscale as well as numerous others. Many of the companies offer their sheets pre-cut into standard letter sized paper to allow for easier use in copiers and computer printers, while other companies offer either smaller sheets or, in the case of SIG, very large sheets that can be cut down into multiple sheets. Unlike pre-printed decals, a sheet of decal paper has a clear top coat on it, so it is essentially one giant clear decal in which the images are printed on. Pre-printed decals typically have a spot coat of clear over each image to allow the images to separate from each other when soaked without the need for excess trimming of clear film.
The other necessary item is a form of clear sealer to seal in the inks onto the decal sheet after painting or printing. Microscale and Superscale offer clear liquid decal film in small bottles, which can be brushed on. Gloss Lacquer clear coats can also be used, such as Model Master clear gloss spray. Micromark also offers a clear spray for their inkjet decal printing system (discussed below).
!! Low Tech Decal Making (painting on markings)
Of course, the easiest solution that anyone can do is to paint on a design, using enamel paints. Once the paint is dry, the design needs to be sealed in with the clear coat, then it's a matter of applying the marking like a normal decal. The drawback is that unless some sort of stencil is used, multiple markings probably won't be consistent with each other. But, this method can be used to perhaps make a complex design, yet provide the safety of not having to commit it to the model until the image looks good.
!! Printing with a Photocopier
Most photo copy shops in the country have copiers that are capable of printing on to plain paper. Decal paper will potentially work in them, although it is a little thicker. The first thing to keep in mind is that unless you have access to a plain paper photocopier yourself, you are at the mercy of the owners and managers of that copier and some of them may not want you to print decals on their system. Also, make sure to be aware of and respect copyright laws. In addition, Sci-Fi U, Wonderfest and myself are personally NOT RESPONSIBLE for any damage done to copy equipment when used for making decals. This suppliment is intended to advise rather then provide a sure way to print decals. When in doubt, run some tests. When going to a copier place, give them what image you want copied and then tell them that you want the copy on the glossy side of the paper. Copiers at larger places can print in black, red and sometimes light blue. Laser copiers can print in additional colors, but the color reproduction may not be the best and don't expect that the markings will look exactly like what you are trying to copy. When a copier prints successfully, the markings are usually durable enough to handle, but they will still need a couple coats of clear to make them useable as decals.
If the artwork you are trying to reproduce has black borders and you want to do color markings, then make two copies of the black line artwork. You paint your colors over one set (use enamel paints only), then seal them in. Apply that image first, then place the clear line image over the top. When dry, you'll have a crisp looking color artwork. DO NOT run painted decal film through a photocopier, as the heat will cause the paint to melt and ruin the print heads. Run only untreated decal film and paint over the markings afterwards. Some spray coats can be kept light enough to show the black outlines through the paint.
!! Making Decals with a Computer and Printer
The most ideal way to do decals is on a printer, but not all printers can do decals and one needs the right software to do it properly. The lower tech solutions work best for one-time markings. But, a computer can revolutionize the process if you plan to do several different markings. The downside is that this equipment and software will cost money. But it is still the best way to do decals in my experience.
I recommend at least one or two different types of programs to do markings. The first is a digital image editing program, such as Adobe Photoshop. Many companies currently offer programs similar to Photoshop but with less features and for less money. Other companies offer these programs as standard equipment with scanners. This type of program is necessary to help size up the original artwork that you plan to use as a template for your decal image and in many cases can be used to layout artwork for direct printout. However, the images produced are made up of a series of pixels and the artwork needs to be of very high image resolution to get the crispness that a decal demands. But, for reproduction of something like a photo to use as noseart on a model, this type of program works best.
I typically do most of my decal design work with a raster graphics based program. Raster graphics are "resolution independent", meaning that they can be printed very large or very small without a loss of detail or crispness and the markings won't look pixelated if blown up to a very large size. The images are made up by shapes rather then pixels. It can be a little tricky to learn how to do this as a novice. But when the techniques are mastered, you can produce pretty much any marking you could ever want. Some popular raster programs out there include Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand and Corel Draw. These programs can be expensive, but they are the most useful for decal printing.
!!! Inkjet Printers
One of the biggest drawbacks to printing decals from a computer is that decal papers typically aren't compatible with Inkjet printers, which are the most common type of printers used. The inks used in Inkjets are water soluble and the ink tends to bead up on glossy decal paper. That changed for the better when Micromark introduced an inkjet decal printing system. The system consists of a decal paper that will work with the inks and a clear sealer spray. The materials are somewhat expensive compared to other decal options, but they will work well for most uses. A couple other companies also provide similar products for use with Inkjet printers and the quality should be comparable.
But, there are some drawbacks. Even after the printed markings have been clear coated, the inks are still water soluble. So, don't cut into the inked part of the image or the inks will run. Cut the clear film areas only. Also, printed inks for paper (except black) are transparent, since they are intended for printing on white paper. So, color markings that are printed on decal paper will look transparent if not applied to a light colored model. White decal paper can be used in place of clear paper, but the images will have to be trimmed very close to the inked area unless you want a white border. This could result in a higher risk of cutting the ink pockets and causing runs. Still, these inkjet decal systems put decal printing in the range of most PC users.
!!!! The ALPS printer
The printers that are the most ideal for making decals right now are the ALPS 1000 and 5000 series of printers. They don't use liquid inks, but instead use cartridges that contain a waxy type ribbon material. The "ink" is waterproof and won't bead up on decal paper, since it isn't wet to begin with. Unfortunately, ALPS is no longer selling printers, but they are still making them for another printer company selling them European market. Used and rebuilt ALPS printers can still be found with a little luck. The ALPS cartridges are still being made for at least the next 5 years, so ALPS users should not have trouble locating them. Many online supply companies stock ALPS cartridges. Hopefully another company will offer a similar printer before the cartridges get discontinued.
The printer uses "four color process" (CMYK) to print its colors, and this is what the printing industry uses. "CMYK" stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black and these are the colors of the cartridges. CMYK is used for printed items, as opposed to RGB, which is used for images that appear on computer monitors. Most image programs can output CMYK format files, resulting in very good color matches to printed color samples. Only standard yellow shades seem to look a bit off, when compared with commercial decal making methods.
The ALPS printer also has the added versatility of being able to print spot colors such as metallic gold, silver and white. The spot color white cartridge is the most important feature of the ALPS printer as all color markings can be backed with a white layer to make them opaque enough for use on dark colored finishes, just like professionally printed decals. Typically, when printing decals, two passes of spot color white are needed to provide an opaque enough layer and not have any base color from the model show through.
When printing with an ALPS, you want to select the "overlay" function, which doesn't eject the paper. This will have to be checked on each individual print pass. The decal artwork should preferably be set up with separate layers for the CMYK colors and any separate spot colors. Most raster programs will allow you to show or hide layers as needed, so that only the layer you want prints at a certain time. I also recommend running tests on normal paper before committing to printing images on decal paper, as decal paper is more precious. I typically run print tests on colored paper to see the registration of all colors, including white. When loading the decal paper, it is also a good idea to click manual feed, so that the paper loads in correctly before printing begins.
If you are going to print a spot color like white, select "single spot color" and load the appropriate cartridge into the printer if you haven't done so. But, if the correct cartridge isn't loaded, the printer will not print if it doesn't detect the correct cartridge in its tray. The final thing to check is to make sure that the print resolution is set for "600 dpi" (dots per inch) or higher (5000 model only), or your decals may end up looking more pixelated then desired. Then, go back through the lists of stuff you had to change to make sure you are ready and then hit "print". When the print pass is done, go ahead and repeat these steps to print the color markings over the white backup layer.
!! Helpful Hints on Decal Prep and Use
ALPS printed decals work like normal kit decals, but they will be thinner and other precautions should be taken to ensure success. First, make sure to do multiple images in case you screw up a marking during printing or application. When clearcoating the decals after printing, use a gloss clear spray, such as Testors Model Master Clear Gloss Lacquer. Flat sprays can be used, but if the model has to be gloss coated after decal application, the flat markings will soak up the gloss like a sponge and not turn glossy.
For most large images, two spray coats are enough to make the markings durable, but smaller markings surrounded by lots of clear film might still be too fragile to use. In this case, I apply a layer of Microscale Liquid Decal Film over the top with either an artists brush or a large foam applicator brush that can typically be found at most craft stores. When applying the liquid decal film, I recommend waiting at least 24 hours for the lacquer coat to cure first, since the solvents in the liquid film can sometimes soften the clear lacquer and the decal images themselves. In addition to sealing in the markings, the extra layer helps to keep the small decals from folding over on itself as easily. Larger decals with a lot of inks don't have this problem as the inks already make the decal thicker and less prone to folding over or wrinkling.
Once the decals are dry, they are ready for use like normal kit decals. They are still thinner then most kit decals though, so keep rough handling to a minimum. Microsol and Microset work just fine on ALPS printed markings. Solvaset might be too strong, so when in doubt, test a marking first. When finished, you will have markings that look essentially as good as commercial printed decals and versatility of markings created by you.
Manufacturer; scale; completion date
; just parking some tips
: February 2019 FSM - includes a paint chart!
: January 2007 FSM - grey wash over the blue?
<html><a href='./subdir/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./subdir/01.jpg" title="mouseover text" alt="description" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
!!! Paints
|Mfgr |colour | # |
!!! References
!!! Resources
/***
|Name|MatchTagsPlugin|
|Source|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#MatchTagsPlugin|
|Documentation|[[MatchTagsPluginInfo]] |
|Version|2.0.6|
|Author|Eric Shulman|
|License|http://www.TiddlyTools.com/#LegalStatements|
|~CoreVersion|2.1|
|Type|plugin|
|Description|'tag matching' with full boolean expressions (AND, OR, NOT, and nested parentheses)|
!!!!!Documentation
> see [[MatchTagsPluginInfo]]
!!!!!Revisions
<<<
2011.10.28 2.0.6 added .matchTags CSS class to popups to enable custom styling via StyleSheet
2011.01.23 2.0.5 fix core tweak for TW262+: adjust code in config.filters['tag'] instead of filterTiddlers()
2010.08.11 2.0.4 in getMatchingTiddlers(), fixed sorting for descending order (e.g, "-created")
| please see [[MatchTagsPluginInfo]] for additional revision details |
2008.02.28 1.0.0 initial release
<<<
!!!!!Code
***/
//{{{
version.extensions.MatchTagsPlugin= {major: 2, minor: 0, revision: 6, date: new Date(2011,10,28)};
// store.getMatchingTiddlers() processes boolean expressions for tag matching
// sortfield (optional) sets sort order for tiddlers - default=title
// tiddlers (optional) use alternative set of tiddlers (instead of current store)
TiddlyWiki.prototype.getMatchingTiddlers = function(tagexpr,sortfield,tiddlers) {
var debug=config.options.chkDebug; // abbreviation
var cmm=config.macros.matchTags; // abbreviation
var r=[]; // results are an array of tiddlers
var tids=tiddlers||store.getTiddlers();
if (tids && sortfield) tids=store.sortTiddlers(tids,sortfield);
if (debug) displayMessage(cmm.msg1.format([tids.length]));
// try simple lookup to quickly find single tags or tags that
// contain boolean operators as literals, e.g. "foo and bar"
for (var t=0; t<tids.length; t++)
if (tids[t].isTagged(tagexpr)) r.pushUnique(tids[t]);
if (r.length) {
if (debug) displayMessage(cmm.msg4.format([r.length,tagexpr]));
return r;
}
// convert expression into javascript code with regexp tests,
// so that "tag1 AND ( tag2 OR NOT tag3 )" becomes
// "/\~tag1\~/.test(...) && ( /\~tag2\~/.test(...) || ! /\~tag3\~/.test(...) )"
// normalize whitespace, tokenize operators, delimit with "~"
var c=tagexpr.trim(); // remove leading/trailing spaces
c = c.replace(/\s+/ig," "); // reduce multiple spaces to single spaces
c = c.replace(/\(\s?/ig,"~(~"); // open parens
c = c.replace(/\s?\)/ig,"~)~"); // close parens
c = c.replace(/(\s|~)?&&(\s|~)?/ig,"~&&~"); // &&
c = c.replace(/(\s|~)AND(\s|~)/ig,"~&&~"); // AND
c = c.replace(/(\s|~)?\|\|(\s|~)?/ig,"~||~"); // ||
c = c.replace(/(\s|~)OR(\s|~)/ig,"~||~"); // OR
c = c.replace(/(\s|~)?!(\s|~)?/ig,"~!~"); // !
c = c.replace(/(^|~|\s)NOT(\s|~)/ig,"~!~"); // NOT
c = c.replace(/(^|~|\s)NOT~\(/ig,"~!~("); // NOT(
// change tag terms to regexp tests
var terms=c.split("~"); for (var i=0; i<terms.length; i++) { var t=terms[i];
if (/(&&)|(\|\|)|[!\(\)]/.test(t) || t=="") continue; // skip operators/parens/spaces
if (t==config.macros.matchTags.untaggedKeyword)
terms[i]="tiddlertags=='~~'"; // 'untagged' tiddlers
else
terms[i]="/\\~"+t+"\\~/.test(tiddlertags)";
}
c=terms.join(" ");
if (debug) { displayMessage(cmm.msg2.format([tagexpr])); displayMessage(cmm.msg3.format([c])); }
// scan tiddlers for matches
for (var t=0; t<tids.length; t++) {
// assemble tags from tiddler into string "~tag1~tag2~tag3~"
var tiddlertags = "~"+tids[t].tags.join("~")+"~";
try { if(eval(c)) r.push(tids[t]); } // test tags
catch(e) { // error in test
displayMessage(cmm.msg2.format([tagexpr]));
displayMessage(cmm.msg3.format([c]));
displayMessage(e.toString());
break; // skip remaining tiddlers
}
}
if (debug) displayMessage(cmm.msg4.format([r.length,tagexpr]));
return r;
}
//}}}
//{{{
config.macros.matchTags = {
msg1: "scanning %0 input tiddlers",
msg2: "looking for '%0'",
msg3: "using expression: '%0'",
msg4: "found %0 tiddlers matching '%1'",
noMatch: "no matching tiddlers",
untaggedKeyword: "-",
untaggedLabel: "no tags",
untaggedPrompt: "show tiddlers with no tags",
defTiddler: "MatchingTiddlers",
defTags: "",
defFormat: "[[%0]]",
defSeparator: "\n",
reportHeading: "Found %0 tiddlers tagged with: '{{{%1}}}'\n----\n",
handler: function(place,macroName,params,wikifier,paramString,tiddler) {
var mode=params[0]?params[0].toLowerCase():'';
if (mode=="inline")
params.shift();
if (mode=="report" || mode=="panel") {
params.shift();
var target=params.shift()||this.defTiddler;
}
if (mode=="popup") {
params.shift();
if (params[0]&¶ms[0].substr(0,6)=="label:") var label=params.shift().substr(6);
if (params[0]&¶ms[0].substr(0,7)=="prompt:") var prompt=params.shift().substr(7);
} else {
var fmt=(params.shift()||this.defFormat).unescapeLineBreaks();
var sep=(params.shift()||this.defSeparator).unescapeLineBreaks();
}
var sortBy="+title";
if (params[0]&¶ms[0].substr(0,5)=="sort:") sortBy=params.shift().substr(5);
var expr = params.join(" ");
if (mode!="panel" && (!expr||!expr.trim().length)) return;
if (expr==this.untaggedKeyword)
{ var label=this.untaggedLabel; var prompt=this.untaggedPrompt };
switch (mode) {
case "popup": this.createPopup(place,label,expr,prompt,sortBy); break;
case "panel": this.createPanel(place,expr,fmt,sep,sortBy,target); break;
case "report": this.createReport(target,this.defTags,expr,fmt,sep,sortBy); break;
case "inline": default: this.createInline(place,expr,fmt,sep,sortBy); break;
}
},
formatList: function(tids,fmt,sep) {
var out=[];
for (var i=0; i<tids.length; i++) { var t=tids[i];
var title=t.title;
var who=t.modifier;
var when=t.modified.toLocaleString();
var text=t.text;
var first=t.text.split("\n")[0];
var desc=store.getTiddlerSlice(t.title,"description");
desc=desc||store.getTiddlerSlice(t.title,"Description");
desc=desc||store.getTiddlerText(t.title+"##description");
desc=desc||store.getTiddlerText(t.title+"##Description");
var tags=t.tags.length?'[['+t.tags.join(']] [[')+']]':'';
out.push(fmt.format([title,who,when,text,first,desc,tags]));
}
return out.join(sep);
},
createInline: function(place,expr,fmt,sep,sortBy) {
wikify(this.formatList(store.sortTiddlers(store.getMatchingTiddlers(expr),sortBy),fmt,sep),place);
},
createPopup: function(place,label,expr,prompt,sortBy) {
var btn=createTiddlyButton(place,
(label||expr).format([expr]),
(prompt||config.views.wikified.tag.tooltip).format([expr]),
function(ev){ return config.macros.matchTags.showPopup(this,ev||window.event); });
btn.setAttribute("sortBy",sortBy);
btn.setAttribute("expr",expr);
},
showPopup: function(here,ev) {
var p=Popup.create(here,null,"matchTags popup"); if (!p) return false;
var tids=store.getMatchingTiddlers(here.getAttribute("expr"));
store.sortTiddlers(tids,here.getAttribute("sortBy"));
var list=[]; for (var t=0; t<tids.length; t++) list.push(tids[t].title);
if (!list.length) createTiddlyText(p,this.noMatch);
else {
var b=createTiddlyButton(createTiddlyElement(p,"li"),
config.views.wikified.tag.openAllText,
config.views.wikified.tag.openAllTooltip,
function() {
var list=this.getAttribute("list").readBracketedList();
story.displayTiddlers(null,tids);
});
b.setAttribute("list","[["+list.join("]] [[")+"]]");
createTiddlyElement(p,"hr");
}
var out=this.formatList(tids," [[%0]] ","\n"); wikify(out,p);
Popup.show();
ev.cancelBubble=true;
if(ev.stopPropagation) ev.stopPropagation();
return false;
},
createReport: function(target,tags,expr,fmt,sep,sortBy) {
var tids=store.sortTiddlers(store.getMatchingTiddlers(expr),sortBy);
if (!tids.length) { displayMessage('no matches for: '+expr); return false; }
var msg=config.messages.overwriteWarning.format([target]);
if (store.tiddlerExists(target) && !confirm(msg)) return false;
var out=this.reportHeading.format([tids.length,expr])
out+=this.formatList(tids,fmt,sep);
store.saveTiddler(target,target,out,config.options.txtUserName,new Date(),tags,{});
story.closeTiddler(target); story.displayTiddler(null,target);
},
createPanel: function(place,expr,fmt,sep,sortBy,tid) {
var s=createTiddlyElement(place,"span"); s.innerHTML=store.getTiddlerText("MatchTagsPlugin##html");
var f=s.getElementsByTagName("form")[0];
f.expr.value=expr; f.fmt.value=fmt; f.sep.value=sep.escapeLineBreaks();
f.tid.value=tid; f.tags.value=this.defTags;
}
};
//}}}
/***
//{{{
!html
<form style='display:inline;white-space:nowrap'>
<input type='text' name='expr' style='width:50%' title='tag expression'><!--
--><input type='text' name='fmt' style='width:10%' title='list item format'><!--
--><input type='text' name='sep' style='width:5%' title='list item separator'><!--
--><input type='text' name='tid' style='width:12%' title='target tiddler title'><!--
--><input type='text' name='tags' style='width:10%' title='target tiddler tags'><!--
--><input type='button' name='go' style='width:8%' value='go' onclick="
var expr=this.form.expr.value;
if (!expr.length) { alert('Enter a boolean tag expression'); return false; }
var fmt=this.form.fmt.value;
if (!fmt.length) { alert('Enter the list item output format'); return false; }
var sep=this.form.sep.value.unescapeLineBreaks();
var tid=this.form.tid.value;
if (!tid.length) { alert('Enter a target tiddler title'); return false; }
var tags=this.form.tags.value;
config.macros.matchTags.createReport(tid,tags,expr,fmt,sep,'title');
return false;">
</form>
!end
//}}}
***/
//{{{
// SHADOW TIDDLER for displaying default panel input form
config.shadowTiddlers.MatchTags="<<matchTags panel>>";
//}}}
//{{{
// TWEAK core filterTiddlers() or config.filters['tag'] (in TW262+)
// to use getMatchingTiddlers instead getTaggedTiddlers
// for enhanced boolean matching in [tag[...]] syntax
var TW262=config.filters && config.filters['tag']; // detect TW262+
var fname=TW262?"config.filters['tag']":"TiddlyWiki.prototype.filterTiddlers";
var code=eval(fname).toString().replace(/getTaggedTiddlers/g,'getMatchingTiddlers');
eval(fname+'='+code);
//}}}
//{{{
// REDEFINE core handler for enhanced boolean matching in tag:"..." paramifier
// use filterTiddlers() instead of getTaggedTiddlers() to get list of tiddlers.
config.paramifiers.tag = {
onstart: function(v) {
var tagged = store.filterTiddlers("[tag["+v+"]]");
story.displayTiddlers(null,tagged,null,false,null);
}
};
//}}}
Italeri; 1/35; completion date
[<img[side|./maultier/Thumbs-1.jpg][./maultier/1.jpg]] Another entry in my <<tag half-tracks half-track>> fixation. The //Maultier// has an interesting lineage and was the result of some clever battlefield bodging on the Eastern Front.
This is an older kit but with some very nice details. For example, the doors are almost scale thickness and designed to be cut and posed open.
Assembly started with the cab. The interior was painted //dark yellow// part way through assembly. Gauge faces were painted white with black markings and the bench seat was textured with tissue paper before being painted leather brown.
There were no figures included with the kit, so I decided to add a driver. Should be easy, right? Of course not. There were lots of figures in the Spares Box but almost none fit the dimensions of the cab. The driver figure was eventually pieced together from 4 different figures. The right arm was either from a much larger "person" or different manufacturers interpret 1/35 differently. Either way, the size difference would be obscured within the cab. The head and left hand were repositioned to soften the figure a little. References abound for painting German troops and I chose a //feldgrau// tunic with green collar and epaulettes, with grey trousers ... not that you can even see the legs in the cab. I finally got the figure seated, only to discover that the figure's thighs forced the steering wheel through the windshield! More fiddling and fussing ensued.
[>img[front|./maultier/Thumbs-2.jpg][./maultier/2.jpg]] With the driver in place, the cab was buttoned up and the openings masked with Parafilm. Following the instruction sequence, and ignoring my instincts, the fragile bits were attached to the outside of the cab ... and promptly knocked off.
The chassis was assembled without the running gear to simplify painting. I decided to try one of the techniques I had read about and primed the chassis and cab with //brown//. The idea is to create shadows on the lower half of the vehicle. With this in mind, the coat of //dark yellow// that followed was applied in thin layers and left a little blotchy on the undersides. That lead to some unintended wear effects on the bodywork and turned out to be nice touches.
I chose the stake side version of the cargo box. Aside from gluing the stowage boxes in the wrong positions, assembly was very quick. The wooden benches were omitted to make room for cargo. The tailgate was left as a press-fit ... just in case. The underside of the box was primed with //brown// and the exposed wooden sides and bed were primed with light grey to represent weathered wood. The coat of //dark yellow// over the grey was very thin and patchy to allow the grey to show through and give the impression of worn paint.
The panel centres were given a touch of the lightened base coat.
[<img[rear|./maultier/Thumbs-3.jpg][./maultier/3.jpg]] With the bulk of the painting complete the cab was attached to the chassis and the running gear attached. The wheels had also been primed with //brown// and lightly sprayed with //dark yellow//. Without the tracks in place the two major subassemblies were clear coated with //Future// and a dark brown wash was applied to the bed, bodywork and chassis. The decals were applied over the clear coat.
The vinyl tracks were heat fused per the instructions and worked exactly as advertised. They were primed with grey, painted black and given a light coat of brown, allowing the black to show as shadows. A drybrush of steel was applied to the highlights. The tracks were then fitted over the running gear. White glue was used to tack the underside of the tracks to the return rollers to create the impression of weight.
More white glue was mixed with water and dirt to create mud. The mud was applied with restraint and a cheap craft brush to the underside of the chassis, box and all over the running gear. Not enough to obscure detail, just to giver everything a "used" appearance. The track cleats received a heavier coat of mud.
With everything sufficiently dirty, the box was attached to the chassis and everything treated to a clear flat coat, sealing everything.
[>img[Stowage|./maultier/Thumbs-4.jpg][./maultier/4.jpg]] For stowage, I decided on 3 fuel drums, a couple of jerry cans and a bicycle. There was also a scratch built cable spool and a couple of 2x4s. I also included a tarp-covered pile of crates. Not wanting to "waste" the crates by hiding them, I hit on the idea of tacking the pile together and covering them in cling film. The tarp was made from wrapping tissue, soaked in water and glue. The tarp was formed and shaped over the pile of crates and then left to dry. The cling film kept the tarp from sticking to the crates and the dried glue kept the tarp's shape even without the crates. I left one small crate poking out of from under one edge of the tarp to strengthen the illusion.
With the stowage in place and everything assembled, it was time to attach the final small parts like the fender markers and mirror. The latter had been lost during construction and had to be replaced with a disc cut from plastic sheet. The reflective surface was simulated with adhesive foil.
Overall I was pretty happy with the result - despite the challenges with the driver. All in all it's a pretty good little kit.
!!! Paints
|Citadel |Brown Ink |>|
|Citadel |Dark Brown Ink |>|
|Tamiya |Brown | ~XF-7 |
|Tamiya |Dark Yellow | ~XF-60 |
|Vallejo |//Feldgrau// | 830 |
|Vallejo |Uniform Green | 920 |
|Vallejo |German Grey | 995 |
!!! References
!!! Resources
[[Walkaround|http://www.net-maquettes.com/pictures/ford-maultier-v1939-walk/]]
Hasegawa; 1/72; 27 September 2015
I bought this on a whim, thinking that this was Belloq's car from //Raiders of the Lost Ark// and of a diorama. That idea disappeared with a few minutes research - but it's still an intriguing car design.
[<img[front quarter|./m-b.g4/Thumbs-1.jpg][./m-b.g4/1.jpg]] The painting instructions don't match the photos that I could find of the few remaining examples. The lack of references meant that the colour options were wide open. I opted to go with the light grey and black but could have gotten away with straight //panzergrau//.
To simplify painting, I built and painted the chassis and coachwork separately.
I made no changes to the chassis and running gear but the coachwork was another matter. Tiny slivers of plastic were added to represent the latches on the engines vents, as well as to the trunk as trim, latches and handles. The prototype's exhaust pipe exits the right side of the engine compartment, so I drilled a hole for the pipe.
The chassis was painted black, followed by a clear coat. A few swipes with a pencil added a sheen to the leaf spring suspension to make it pop a bit.
[>img[rear quarter|./m-b.g4/Thumbs-2.jpg][./m-b.g4/2.jpg]] The body was painted ~RLM64 and again followed with a clear coat. The radiator, latches, door handles and trim were all painted with Testors' Chrome Silver. The latter turned out a bit dull for my taste but the alternative was to struggle with metal foil in 1/72 scale.
The interior was a mix of pure black and black-grey with highlights of //German Black Brown Highlight// (which is basically a brown). I toyed with the idea of replicating the leather padding on the insides of the doors but came to my senses and settled for paint.
The headlights, spotlights and tail lights were all hollowed out and filled with Krystal Kleer. A coat of clear red finished up the tail lights. The headlight brackets proved delicate and two were broken while being hollowed.
[<img[With the award|./m-b.g4/Thumbs-3.jpg][./m-b.g4/3.jpg]] Being a large, open, touring car, there are a lot of figures - which I hadn't really considered when I started the project. I used five of the six supplied, omitting the representation of the //Führer//. As [[before|Viking Knarr]], the figures were decapitated and the heads reattached to break up the robotic postures. Uniforms were painted overall //feldgrau//, with //German Green// trim on the caps and epaulettes. There was an impressionist attempt at insignia too - which mostly worked.
With the figures finished and installed, the final details were added.
Black, vinyl stripe tape was used for the hood strap. A short run of solder was used for the visible length of exhaust exiting the engine compartment. A section of clear acetate was cut and attached for the missing windshield and small strips of plastic were added as sun visors. The last piece was the stowed roof but sits strangely over the trunk.
All in all, an enjoyable little kit.
''~GOMBs 2015'' the kit received the //Small Armour// award !
!!! Paints
|Model Master |Chrome |
|Polly Scale |RLM 64 |
|Tamiya |Black | ~XF-1 |
|Vallejo |Black | 950 |
|Vallejo |Feldgrau | 830 |
|Vallejo |German Uniform Green | 920 |
|Vallejo |Grey Black | 862 |
Maquette; 1:72
I came across an inexpensive ~MiG-3 kit in the Squadron catalogue and thought it might make an interesting diversion.
[<img["Starboard"|./mig-3/Thumbs-1.jpg][./mig-3/1.jpg]] First impressions on opening the box were quite favourable. I was presented with a level of detail I had never encountered in a 1:72 kit before - although my expectations for 1:72 aircraft had been set by Airfix and Revell. The tube frame construction of the cockpit was well represented, complete with throttle quadrants and detailed seat. The wheel wells were detailed as were the landing gear doors. Panel lines were scribed but the soft plastic in which the kit was moulded made some of the detail indistinct.
During assembly, the kit fell far short of its promise. It seemed as if no 2 parts went together without extensive modification and filling. On closer inspection some of the parts were incompletely molded, including the port fuselage half. The absence of locator pins was only a minor inconvenience by comparison.
Despite the fitting problems the cockpit turned out to be a jewel. Painted Pale Green (which is inaccurate) with a Burnt Umber wash and a touch of drybrushing. Seatbelts were added using making tape.
[>img["Starboard"|./mig-3/Thumbs-2.jpg][./mig-3/2.jpg]] The fuselage went together fairly cleanly with the missing portion of the rudder built up with Miliput. The nose panel (with the machine guns) had to be shimmed with 0.020" plastic strip. The fit of the wings was terrible on the underside with much filling and sanding required.
The radiator intake was replaced with brass screen - which turned out to be unnecessary, since the replacement was almost invisible once painted black.
The port carb intake was identical to the part for the starboard intake, instead of being a mirror image so I wound up creating a new one from plastic tubing. The scratch built part was so much better than the kit-supplied part that I wished I had replaced both with my own.
The final blow was that the canopy was too wide for the fuselage. Had I done just a little more research I would have discovere that this is a known problem with this kit . I tried masking the canopy with Parafilm - which was mostly successful but I can obtain the same results with less effort using other materials.
I chose to paint my model to represent "Red 12" - mostly because I have no white aircraft in my collection. The undersides were painted Pastel Blue, the upper side with White and Steel was used for the nose. I sealed it with a coat of Future before the decals were applied and then added a grey "sludge wash" for good measure.
After applying a coat of flat I used pastel dust to simulate mud, oil and exhaust stains.
Overall, a somewhat fustrating kit of an interesting subject.
!!! Paints
|Model Master |Pale Green | FS 34227 |
|Testors' |Steel | |
|Humbrol Acrylic |Pastel Blue | 44 |
|Vallejo |White | 951 |
|Vallejo |Burnt Umber | 941 |
!!! References
The (now defunct) ~MiG-3 Page at Hobby Vista.
!!! Resources
[[Squadron Mail Order|http://www.squadron.com]]
Kopro (~Master-Craft); 1:72; March 2006
<html><a href='./mig-15/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./mig-15/01.jpg" title="basic beauty shot" alt="high-angle, 3/4 view from port front." width=150 align="right"></a></html> Another cheap kit and the subject matter certainly didn't warrant all the pain. This was purely budgetary purchase ... and it was nearly abandoned during construction. One of those kits that lead to the creation of [[Rule 1]].
Every part needed clean up and no two actually fit without substantial work. For example, even withe fuselage halves aligned, the horizontal stabilizers were at different heights. The fine rivet detail was hard to repair after the filling and sanding - and there was a lot of that.
The cockpit was painted //Russian Interior Green// and strips of lead foil provided seat belts.
Remembered to add lead shot to the nose just before the fuselage was buttoned up!
Once assembled, the model was painted //Chrome// overall, with random panels of //Magnesium// The tailpipe was painted //Jet Exhaust//. The model was given a clear coat in preparation for Czech airforce decals.
Overall not particularly happy with the model. I don't like the appearance of clear over metallic. It detracts from the appearance.
!!! Paints
|Model Master |Chrome | 17178 |
|Model Master |Jet Exhaust | |
|Model Master |Russian Interior Green | 2135 |
Why ~MicroBlog? Because these articles are comprised of reams of text (how can one have a "ream" of bits?)
<<list filter [tag[journal]] [sort[title]]>>
I'm not certain who the original author is but I acquired the content from Al Al Superczynski's web site.
# You want it, therefore you need it.
# You need it, therefore you must buy it.
# All other things you need, including food, shelter, clothing, car insurance, and lunch money, are incidental in comparison to what you need for modeling.
# Never add up the total for what you have purchased for modeling.
# If you're not sure you should buy something....for *whatever* reason....if someone else says they have it and *like* it....then you *have* to buy it!
# If you are compelled to calculate total dollars spent on modeling and related items, never count things that are not actual models.
# Never include items that cannot be traced via the receipt (i.e. office supplies are office supplies, tape is tape never mind where it ends up in your house....)
# When writing checks from the joint checking account, always write "K.G." in the check register. You will know that this stands for "Killer Goodies" but your SO will think it is Kroger Grocery when she scans the checkbook to see where you have been shopping. And she KNOWS groceries are expensive, and you need lots of them....
# If a member of your family discards an item that is usable for modeling, you may replace it. For example, you receive a shirt as a gift if SO throws the shirt pins and clear plastic collar tabs away you may purchase replacements. You do not have to replace them with identical articles. This applies to Nestlé Crunch candy bar wrappers that your kids throw away too, however they are not permitted to eat the replacement candy!
# If everyone else wants it, then you must want it too even if you don't know what it is.
# If everyone else wants it, even if you don't know what it is, and you find it on sale, buy it ALL. <br>//Editor's note: This phenomenon is widely known as the sale factor, and is the only situation in which the Modeler may completely ignore Rules of Acquisition #6 and #7, and announce gleefully how much money he has saved by purchasing said items. (This suspending of the rules is dependent upon: the actual percentage off, the total dollar amount spent, the projected reaction of partner/other interested party.//)
# Never, Never let your SO read the Modeler's Rules of Acquisition...for reasons obvious to the seasoned modeler. For those of you who are newbies...does "the jig is up" mean anything to you?
# Reconciling yourself early to the fact that every trip to the hobby shop costs a minimum of $40, even if your intentions were to buy just one decal sheet, will save you much anxiety and false guilt.
# Grab bags must be purchased at they time they are advertised. There very likely could be that ONE special model you cannot live without, and the others work for trades! If you don't order immediately, you may lose that special kit.
# Keep everything, no matter how useless or ugly or small it may be. It will become absolutely essential for a model project some day.
# When you buy something, use it before you read the directions.* (*Acquisition reasoning if you mess it up or break it, you get to buy another one...)
# You can't take it with you applies only to money. Begin getting your loved ones accustomed to the fact that you intend to be buried with your models.
# Plastic models are an inexpensive hobby. This can be proved by applying male logic to your modeling purchases. For example, no hobby where the supplies usually cost under $10 can possibly be as expensive as the usual big ticket male hobbies such as radio controlled airplanes, restoring vintage automobiles, proteam season tickets, etc. This just makes sense.
# Every modeler must own every type of glue that is on the market. However, he may restrict use to his favorites.
# Whenever a new paint line is made available, you must immediately purchase every one of the colors in which it comes.
# When getting a model for a particular project it is imperative that you buy the same type from a variety of companies (a minimum of 3 is recommended). Once you actually sit down to build the model you will find that it is much better that you have not limited your selection to just one option.
# It is essential to have all possible tools even if you know you won't use anything but your ~XActo knife. You never know when having the ~TriTool saw blade #~TT37X4a will be perfect!
# Get all types of paint, don't limit your creativity to just Model Master and Aeromaster. Make sure you have a good selection of Floquil, Humbrol, Xtracolor, and even the cheap Testors you buy at Wally Mart!
# The iron is NOT for clothes; it is for making "weighted and bulged" tires. Anyone who uses an iron for clothes is excommunicated from the Modeler's Union. (Editor's note: You may avoid excommunication by following subsection B pursuant to rule #23 which in layman's terms translates as "you may use an iron for its original perverted purpose only by purchasing an auxiliary iron. However, only the old iron may be used for household purposes. Aforementioned perverted purpose is not one that is condoned by the Modeler's Union and should be performed only by support staff personnel.)
# Tissue paper is for making tarps and for hoarding. Never use it for packing material or for wrapping packages.
# There is absolutely no such thing as too many modeling magazines...of any kind. Disregard nasty comments about the twenty years worth of Scale Models stashed in the boxes at the back of the garage.<br>Corollaries here are:
## the complete set of Scale Models is worth the $1500...they are actually priceless.
## it is perfectly acceptable to save not only anything remotely usable, but also all the junk no one else wants...everything is parts box fodder and should be purchased and/or saved. Especially any broken plastic or metal toys...
## "Reference Material". If you think that you will ever build a model of this airplane/car/tank/ship you must buy the book now for reference because it will not be available when you really need it...
## Decals! You can never have enough decals. So what if you need 150 F4 kits or 238 Bf109 kits to use all of them. ~HisAirDec and ABT decals are historical items and should be cherished.
# If you think there is a ghost of a chance that you might use it in a future project, buy it now. Cause if you need it later, you can bet a) you won't be able to find it, b) no one will have heard of it and c) there won't be a substitute.
# A modeler must purchase appropriate storage containers, shelves, bins, units, etc., for all modeling related purchases. A modeler has the right and responsibility to discard all previously purchased storage systems in order to purchase a new, more appropriate system at any time.
# A corollary to number 18 above: Modeling actually saves money. Modeling promotes the doityourself philosophy. This is evident in the activities of molding, carving, and casting your own parts, and making your own toys.
# Modeling is your civic duty. Think globally, act locally. Purchasing models and supplies is politically correct for the following reasons:
## It supports a local business and reduces the number of unemployed;
## it promotes creativity and cottage industry;
## it supports minority owned businesses (if modelers aren't a minority, who are?);
## buying expensive, imported model kits stimulates the economies of developing nations; Thus purchasing models is your civic duty. It logically follows that the world would be a better place if everyone built models. Write your congressmen today to begin the process of passing legislation making it illegal not to build models.
# If you happen upon a super modelrelated deal somewhere and you buy enough for you and all your friends, and your friends buy some from youthe money they give you is free to be used to purchase MORE model stuff, since it has been " laundered" and isn't, technically, coming out of your pocket!
# You must subscribe to every modeler's magazine whether or not you ever have time to read any of them. The pictures are always nice to look at and give you ideas for more model purchases you need to make.
# You must spend thousands of dollars on a home computer, a fast modem, and an internet account so you can get online to visit all the modeling websites and get the latest hobby information. Only then will know where you can save $1.50 on your next model acquisition. This will indeed justify the total cost of your computer.
Moebius; 1/55 (ish); December 1, 2017
I vaguely recall playing with a model of the Moonbus when I was small but could not recall if I had built it or simply played with it. Assembling the 9 landing skids, I was struck with the memory of dealing with these pieces before. Guess I built it.
I had many thoughts of illuminating the model but there is very little room for the main cabin illumination and I couldn't reconcile the mechanics (wiring) of lighting with being able to remove the cabin
!! Hull
<html><a href='./moonbus/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./moonbus/01.jpg" title="exterior port bow" alt="exterior port bow" width=200 align="left"></a></html>
Started with the engine bells and landing skids. It was more work than expected to get clean joins on the parts.
Jewler's cord really helped cleaning up the between the raised detail on the engine bells and between the coils of the springs in the landing gear. Painted the skids //Titanium// and the shock sliders //Chrome//. The springs coils were painted black and everything else - white. Initially, the whole landing skid platform was painted //Titanium// but the longer I looked at it, the less I liked it, so the skids were pried off the platform and the latter painted white. Much better.
The lower fuselage was assembled to provide a solid base for all the interior fiddling that went on. The nose was attached during cockpit assembly but the engine bells and skids were left off until the end to protect the parts and paint.
!!! Thrusters
The rear thrusters were opened up and boxed in. Unfortunately, a reference check showed that they were in the wrong place. However, without completely rebuilding the interior, there was no simple fix.
<html><a href='./moonbus/02.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./moonbus/02.jpg" title="exterior bow" alt="exterior box" width=200 align="right"></a></html>
The side thruster pods - which I recall mistaking for doors as a child - were even more of a challenge. The pods provide forward, side and braking thrust but the forward openings for the latter were omitted. The retro thruster openings were cut into the pods.
The next challenge was boxing in all of those openings. After several false starts (that sounds much simpler than it actually was), I settled on using square tube stock with sheet plastic as shallow boxes for each of the thrusters. From the outside, rings sliced off tube stock provided the thruster nozzles.
!! Interior
The interior got out of hand. It started innocently enough with modifying the poses of the figures. Then the moulded lump of cargo drew my attention, then I decided to reduce the number of seats from 6 to the 4 shown in the movie.
The extra seats were cut out and the locating pins for the moulded cargo were shaved off. The seats left holes in the flooring that we filled with Miliput over a backing of plastic card. The texture of the flooring was impressed on the Miliput using a screed made from two-part silicone putty impressed on the intact flooring. It kind of worked but I think the screed was too soft.
<html><a href='./moonbus/03.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./moonbus/03.jpg" title="exterior starboard aft" alt="exterior starboard aft" width=200 align="left"></a></html>
There was a bit of a gap between the desk and the side walls so a piece of plastic strip was used to hide it.
Tie down rings for the cargo were built from small wire hoops and some scraps of plastic.
Reference photos showed oxygen bottles attached to the window frames beside the seats. Those were cobbled together from different diameters of plastic rod. The regulators were painted //Chrome// and the bodies painted white. Silver-coloured vinyl tape was used to represent mounting brackets.
Got a little ahead of myself and attached the side thrusters to the model a little too soon. The interior bulkheads had to be "finessed" into place and the forward one had to be trimmed somewhat to accommodate all of the boxes built into the thruster assembly.
The monolithic side window assemblies are bulky and there's some interference between the figures, stowage and the oxygen bottles.
!!! Interior Painting
<html><a href='./moonbus/04.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./moonbus/04.jpg" title="interior revealed" alt="interior revealed" width=200 align="right"></a></html>
Browsing the Internet revealed many different interior colour schemes. After looking at shots from the filming set ( as opposed movie stills), I settled on an overall light green with dark green upholstery and on the "soft bits". Hard bits were sprayed //Sky// (note Tamiya makes two, slightly different shades of Sky), followed by a //Grey Green// drybrushing. Upholstery, side cushions and roof support arches were painted //Medium Olive//. The sliding doors were painted //Slate Grey// with a black wash and a lighter grey drybrush. The flourescent light panels were painted white with a light wash of //Transparent Blue//.
The interior was weathered by adding paint chips and scratches with //Slate Grey//. Some of the chips were more complex - silver over slate grey over light green over the base coat, which gave a layered effect.
To represent moon dust being tracked in, //Slate Grey Pigment// over //Pigment Binder// was added around the main hatch, stowage and in the corners.
For some reason, I didn't attach the rope bundles to the rear, interior bulkhead in time to fill and paint the divots on the back side of the mounting holes. After a few moments of despair, some 1/72 ammo boxes were sacrificed and converted into first aid kits and tool boxes and then used to hide the mounting holes.
!!! Cockpit
Poring over movie stills and set photos showed that the kit parts bore little resemblance to the prototype. Rather than spending money on aftermarket resin or extensive reconstruction, I went with what was there. The only exception was to create the prominent control / display panels above the eyebrows over each pilot position. Wound up making a "negative" master from plastic, that was then pressed into polymer clay. The baked polymer clay became a positive master that was used as a stamp to create the final panels out of more polymer clay. The final parts were baked, sanded to an appropriate thickness and attached to the hull.
<html><a href='./moonbus/07.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./moonbus/07.jpg" title="cockpit close up" alt="cockpit close up" width=200 align="left"></a></html>
The instrument panel was painted //Black Grey// with green trim. All of the buttons and screens were drybrushed or painted white. The white was then overpainted with a variety of clear red, green, yellow, blue and orange. The glossy, translucent paint made the buttons pop visually. Photos also showed a pair of joysticks at each position. They were fashioned from plastic rod and inserted in holes drilled in the instrument panel.
The instructions indicated that the cockpit pot lights should be painted silver overall. Instead the outsides were painted //Sky//, like the rest of the cockpit, and the interiors were painted silver and then filled with Krystal Kleer. When dry, the Kyrstal Kleer was painted //Clear Red// as a nod towards the red lighting that appeared in the film.
!!! Stowage
For the stowage, I raided my spares box for an assortment 1/35 tripods, boxes, hand tools etc that would look appropriate. Assorted plastic tube was used to make storage tubes and plastic sheet was used to make a crate. I also found some 3D printed "sci-fi cargo" on [[Shapeways|https://www.shapeways.com/]]. The "generator" from the kit stowage was mildly greeblied and added to the pile.
Two obvious omissions from the interior were helmets and air packs for the crew and passengers - so I made some. The air pack master was made from assorted pieces of plastic and then copies cast from clear resin. The helmets were a little trickier. To maintain the appropriate size, polymer clay was pressed in around the head of one of the spare figures and then shaped and detailed. The clay was very carefully baked while on the plastic figure and the result used as a master for clear resin copies.
Everything was painted white with a few colourful accents to break up the monotony. Placards, labels and warning signs were added with red and black technical pens. It took about half an hour of fiddling to come up with an acceptable and plausible arrangement of the boxes. Everything was secured with Testor's Clear Parts Cement and then covered with cargo netting made from the plastic mesh used in grocery stores for citrus fruit. The netting was tacked down to the anchors rings with CA. The space helmets and airpacks were scattered about the cabin. Dedicated storage brackets for the essential survival gear would make more sense ... perhaps something along the lines of the luggage racks in the short haul, airport shuttles.
!! Figures
The kit came with 8 figures of 3 different types: 2 pilots, 5 passengers and 1 standing. Two of the seated figures were discarded. The heads were slightly repositioned on 1 pilot and 2 passengers. One leg was altered on 2 of the passengers and great liberties were taken in allocating arms to torsos.
<html><a href='./moonbus/05.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./moonbus/05.jpg" title="close up of the passenger compartment interior" alt="close up of the passenger compartment interior" width=200 align="right"></a></html>
Space suits were painted //Flat Aluminum// overall with //Chrome// at the neck and wrist seals. USAA shoulder patches were painted on the left shoulders of each figure. Boots and crotch seams (zippers?) were painted black. The helmets, cast from clear resin, were painted white with chrome collar seals. The face plates were painted //Smoke//. The clear tint worked with the clear resin to give the impression of volume within the helmets. Random decals were applied to the helmets to individualize them a little.
The pilots were given 4-point harnesses made from masking tape.
!! Finishing and Painting
The anti-glare panels for the side and front windows were painted flat black and masked off. The hull was painted overall white. Paint shortages resulted in a combination of flat and gloss white. Starting with the gloss white was a mistake as the coverage was much poorer than that of the matt white.
A clear coat (Future) was applied over the white, followed by a [[sludge wash|Sludge wash]]. After the sludge was wiped down it was sealed with a flat coat. For some reason I applied the decals over the flat instead of over the gloss before the wash and that resulted in another flat coat.
Selected panels were masked off and painted either //Chrome//, black or light grey according to references. (That Model Air Chrome goes down really nicely with an airbrush!)
<html><a href='./moonbus/06.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./moonbus/06.jpg" title="artsy shot of the underside" alt="artsy shot of the underside" width=200 align="left"></a></html>
Side lights were painted //Chrome// and the recesses filled with clear parts adhesive to give the the appearance of lenses.
The final parts were attached: the antenna and the corrected (not conformal) windshields.
!! Wrap Up
I was happy with the way this one came out. It's not perfect butI enjoyed adding all the little touches.
Somewhere in the middle of this project, I lost momentum and just stopped modeling for over 18 months. There was absolutely no desire to apply glue to plastic or paint to brush. 2017 was a poor modeling year until the dam broke sometime in November.
!!! Update
Received the "Best Real Space & ~Sci-Fi" award at the 2018 ~GOMBs show
!!! Paints
|Model Master |Buffling Titanium |
|Model Master |Buffling Anthracite Grey |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 70.869 |
|Tamiya |White | ~XF-2 |
|Tamiya |Gloss White | X-2 |
|Vallejo |Olive Green | 70.850 |
|Tamiya |Flat Aluminum | ~XF-16 |
|Vallejo |Chrome | 71.064 |
|Tamiya |Clear Red | X-27 |
|Vallejo |Transparent Blue | 938 |
|Tamiya |Smoke | X-19 |
|Vallejo |Grey Green | 971 |
|Tamiya |Sky | ~XF-21 |
!!! References
//2001: A Space Odyssey//
!!! Resources
|Vallejo |Pigment Binder | 26233 |
|Vallejo |Slate Grey Pigment | 73113 |
Miliput
Shapeways - 3D printing
* [[Docking Bay Space Crates, 1:72|https://www.shapeways.com/product/DQK4SJ84T/docking-bay-space-crates-1-72]]
* [[Docking Bay Eight Crates, 1/72|https://www.shapeways.com/product/XCBDS9YEM/docking-bay-eight-crates-1-72]]
Pegasus; 1/1400; March 2011
[<img[starboard bow|./protector/Thumbs-1.jpg][./protector/1.jpg]] I recall watching //Galaxy Quest// and experiencing a pang of jealousy when Justin Long's character, Brandon, is shown building a model of the //Protector//. Why did he have one and, more importantly, why didn't I? Well, now I do too!
The kit was made from ABS plastic - which is immune to my usual arsenal of glues. The instructions suggest several alternatives, including CA and //Tamiya Extra Thin Cement//. I used the latter because I don't particularly enjoy working with CA. The glue was a pleasant surprise. It works well on this plastic. It doesn't cause the same seam-erasing plastic melting but it does produce a fast, firm bond and flows well along the seams.
[>img[Starboard bow, high|./protector/Thumbs-2.jpg][./protector/2.jpg]] The detachable, magnetically secure "command ship" was such a neat feature that the cleanliness of the seams was sacrificed to retain it.
The hull halves went together quickly and seam cleanup was minimal. The "wings" were next and had an acceptable fit. There were no problems with the wing roots and the remaining seams were easy to reach and clean up.
The curved portion of the wings (engine pylons?) presented a small problem with the order of operations. I chose to reduce the masking effort by painting the pylons before assembly. The clear, blue inserts for the engines and intakes seemed visually "flat". Since the outer surfaces had a fair bit of raised detail, I applied a wash of clear blue. The inner surfaces were painted with Flat Aluminum which gave the parts just the right irridescence.
[<img[Low, port bow|./protector/Thumbs-3.jpg][./protector/3.jpg]] The curved wings were then attached to the rest of the hull - the attachment points are really very nicely engineered. The "intakes" were tacked in place without the clear inserts at this time - again to simplify painting.
The model was primed - twice because the white primer ran out and I had to switch to grey. The grey primer took several coats of paint to cover. The two shades of grey trim were challenging to sort out. The box art conflicted with the painting instructions. I spent several hours unsuccessfully trolling the Internet for reference photos when I realized that I owned a copy of the primary reference - so I watched the movie.
[>img[Low, aft|./protector/Thumbs-4.jpg][./protector/4.jpg]] With the colours sorted out, the masking began. It took longer than expected to mask what appeared to be a very straightforward scheme. While masking the large, oval recesses on the undersides of the wings, it became apparent that the surrounding lines should have been rescribed __before__ all the priming and painting began.
The dorsal spine was painted RLM 63 with a stripe of ~AMT-12 along the very top. The "intakes" (Bussard collectors?) were also painted ~AMT-12. The reference photos show small, light grey panels on the tops of the propulsion units. Unfortunately, I noticed them after the bulk of the painting had been completed. After several unsuccessful attempts to replicate the detail - it was abandoned.
The clear coat was applied with my old single-action at 20 psi.
For some reason that still isn't clear to me, I decided to apply the sludge wash __before__ the decals and didn't seal it with another coat of clear. The sludge wash looked quite nice until the decals were applied and the runoff from them washed away the paint/soap mix. The windows were also done as a sludge wash. This was a revelation! The yellow paint settled into the window divots and when the excess was wiped off, the results were stunning. This is easily the best method of painting starship windows.
The decals themselves were quite thin but were very resistant to repositioning and had a tendency to break up.
[<img[Above, aft|./protector/Thumbs-5.jpg][./protector/5.jpg]] Once the decals were finished - the final touches of paint were added.
The base was painted Pthalo Cyanine Blue with the raised detail picked out in grey and white. Once again, eking the last dregs out of an expired bottle of paint proved to be false economy. The Pthalo Cyanine Blue was an aged gloss that took forever to cure and caused no end of trouble with the overlying layers.
Despite myt trepidation about the unusual plastic, the kit turned out fairly well. The details was nicely done and the engineering was actually quite well though out.
!!! Paints
|~Gunze-Sagnyo |Pthalo Cyanine Blue | 332 |
|Polly Scale |RLM 63 | FS 505304 |
|Polly Scale |USSR topside dark grey (AMT-12) | 505232 |
|Tamiya |Flat White | XF 2 |
|Tamiya |Flat Aluminum | XF 16 |
|Tamiya |Gold | X 31 |
|Testors' |Steel |
|Vallejo |Transparent Blue | 938 |
|Vallejo |Black | 950 |
|Vallejo |Red | 847 |
!!! References
//Galaxy Quest// (1999)
!!! Resources
/***
| ''Name'' |NewFromTemplateMacro|
| ''Version'' |0.3|
| ''Source'' |[[Rich Carrillo|http://www.kultofbubb.net/tiddlywiki/]]|
| ''Author'' |[[RichCarrillo|RichCarrillo@gmail.com]]|
| ''Type'' |Macro|
| ''Required'' |TiddlyWiki 2.0+|
| ''License'' ||
!Revision History
|20060113|0.1|First release|
|20060116|0.2|Added the ability to pass the templateTag as an optional first parameter.|
|20060116|0.3|Bunch of little code tweaks trying to figure out why it was breaking in IE. Fixed it.|
!Description
Using this macro will create a pop-up that lists anything tagged with TiddlerTemplates. Choosing an item off this list will create a new Tiddler. This new Tiddler will have the same contents as the template. The title will be NEW<template title> and it's tags will be the same as the template, but with the TiddlerTemplates tag stripped off.
!Installation
Import (or copy the contents of) this Tiddler into your Wiki.
Tag it with systemConfg, Save and Refresh.
!Syntax
|{{{<<newFromTemplate>>}}}| If the macro is started without any parameters, the templateTag of "TiddlerTemplates" will be used|
|{{{<<newFromTemplate [yourTemplateTag]>>}}}| Optionally, you can provide a tag name. Any tiddlers with that tag will appear on the pop-up menu as templates|
I've included some example templates. Copy over all Tiddlers tagged with TiddlerTemplates to get you started.
!Example
<<newFromTemplate PluginTemplate>>
!Credits
Most of this code is adaptions of TiddlyWiki core functions. I took a close look at PopupMacro and WikiBar's Templater Add-on for help.
!Roadmap - ToDo list
*Let users pass the button label, tooltip and template tag as parameters.
*Create a standalone button (no popup) that is keyed directly to a template tiddler
*Make copying over of Tags and Title optional (like in WikiBar templates)
*More error catching and reporting
*Use named parameters
*Combine with NewHere in some way. Maybe make this into a toolbar command so it's more like NewHereFromTemplate. I'd like to be able to be in a Project tiddler and have a "New Task Here" or "New Reminder Here" type of commands available.
!Code
***/
//{{{
// default settings
config.macros.newFromTemplate =
{
label: "New",
tooltip: "Create a tiddler from a Template",
templateTag: "TiddlerTemplates"
}
config.macros.newFromTemplate.handler = function(place,macroName,params) {
var onClickTemplateButton = function(event) {
if (!event) var event = window.event;
var tag = this.getAttribute("tag");
// error out if no tiddlers are tagged as temlates
var templateList = store.getTaggedTiddlers(tag);
if(!templateList) {
displayMessage('No templates found! Add the tag '+tag+' to a tiddler you would like to use as a template');
return;
}
var popup = Popup.create(templateButton);
// pull the titles out of the tiddlers retured by getTaggedTiddlers
var templateTitles = [];
var li,r;
for(r=0;r<templateList.length;r++)
if(templateList[r].title != templateTitles){
templateTitles.push(templateList[r].title);}
// for each one of the titles create a new TiddlyButton inthe popup
for(r=0; r<templateTitles.length; r++) {
var itemTitle = templateTitles[r].match(/(.+)Template$/)?templateTitles[r].match(/(.+)Template$/)[1]:templateTitles[r];
var templateListItem = createTiddlyButton(createTiddlyElement(popup,"li"),itemTitle,null,onClickTemplateTitle);
templateListItem.setAttribute("templateTitle",templateTitles[r]);
templateListItem.setAttribute("templateTag",tag);
}
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These are models that I've built before. Some were good experiences that I wanted to repeat, some were subjects that seem somehow cooler after all this time and some are just experiences that I //thought// were good.
<<list filter [tag[nostalgia]] [sort[title]]>>
Airfix; 1/144 (or so); July 2007
[<img[3/4|./orion/Thumbs-1.jpg][./orion/1.jpg]] All of the panel lines were raised and I had initial thoughts of rescribing all of them but I was daunted by the task and chose to build an interior instead.
Starting with illustrations of the passenger compartment, I set about building the 9 rows of 4 seats. After several attempts at casting resin copies of a master, I bowed to the inevitable and built 38 seats (36 for the passengers, 2 for the crew) from plastic stock. Each seat had 5 pieces (seat, sides, back and base). It was a tedious process but it went faster than expected. The seats were attached to a simple deck with bulkheads at either end. Simple doors were laminated onto the bulkheads.
[>img[port side|./orion/Thumbs-2.jpg][./orion/2.jpg]] Based on movie stills, the cabin was painted an overall sunny skin tone (of all things) and the trim, carpets and doors were painted building cream. The seats themselves were painted leather brown with cream trim. Pre-painted N-gauge railroad passengers from Preiser were scattered about the cabin to give it some life.
The cockpit was much simpler. A deck, aft bulkhead, two chairs and one N-gauge figure. Given the narrow viewing aperture, this was more than adequate.
[<img[aft|./orion/Thumbs-3.jpg][./orion/3.jpg]] The nose was reshaped to the proper beveled profile, then opened out and backfilled to give it the correct recessed appearance.
Fill, sand, prime, repeat.
I forgot how much I dislike pure white colour schemes. After a base coat of flat white, I tried applying what I thought was a lightly tinted white to random panels. The effect never quite works out as anticipated. This was oversprayed with a very thin coat of white in an attempt to reduce the contrast.
The white was followed with a gloss coat and decals. I also added a flat black anti-glare panel in front of the cockpit. It's non-canonical but inconceivable not to have it. The manouvering thrusters were also painted black. A black wash followed all of this.
[>img[topside|./orion/Thumbs-4.jpg][./orion/4.jpg]] The panel lines were accented with pastels. Pastel was also used to add thruster stains.
A moment's inattention resulted in part of a Pan Am decal being ripped away. This was covered with a micro meteorite strike.
During the final stages, I somehow managed to drop and lose the front windscreen.
Despite this, I'm happy to have this elegant bird in my collection.
!!! Paints
|Polly Scale |Building Cream | 414255 |
|Vallejo |Leather Brown | 871 |
|Vallejo |Sunny Skin Tone | 845 |
!!! References
!!! Resources
Preiser
RPM, 1/72
[<img["Port, front"|./pzl-p.24/Thumbs-1.jpg][./pzl-p.24/1.jpg]] Basically another whimsical purchase driven mostly by the unusual nature of the subject matter and the relative success of the aircraft in Greek hands. That and I'm rather fond of late 1930s aircraft design.
Like many limited run kits, the detail is rather soft but there was a fret of photo-etch details that I thought would make up for it.
Since the instructions were in Polish, I had to ask Tom Wcislo to translate, which made a big difference to me.
Starting with the cockpit, the PE components were assembled with a combination of CA and solder. The only plastic component was the joystick - and I should have made my own from wire rather than use the plastic part. Everything was painted light grey, with the exception of the floorboards, which were steel.
[>img["Port, mid"|./pzl-p.24/Thumbs-2.jpg][./pzl-p.24/2.jpg]] The canopy wasn't very clear, eaven after dunking it in Future.
The fit of the fuselage halves was acceptable. I've handled worse.
Engine assembly was made challenging by the poor instructions and illustrations. It wasn't clear what it should have looked like and the parts fit was questionable. I chose to omit both the plastic (too coarse) and PE (too fiddly) details. The engine was painted semi-gloss black with steel dry-brushing. The motor was installed in the cowling.
[<img["Starboard, front"|./pzl-p.24/Thumbs-3.jpg][./pzl-p.24/3.jpg]] The cowling was temporarily attached to the fuselage with white glue to ensure consistent painting. The elevators and wing were attached at this time.
The undersides were sprayed with a custom mix of sky and light blue. Whenever I mix a custom colour, I miss something and wind up having to reproduce it. This time was no exception.
The lower surfaces were masked off and the upper surfaces sprayed with Dark Earth, followed by a mist coat of the lightened colour. The blobby camouflage pattern was then masked with a mix of masking tape and Silly Putty, followed with a coat of ~Mid-Stone.
[>img["Port, mid again"|./pzl-p.24/Thumbs-4.jpg][./pzl-p.24/4.jpg]] The masks were removed and most of the remaining parts were attached; i.e., the landing gear, wing and elevator struts. The landing gear had been painted before assembly but this was a mistake. Most of the paint was removed in an attempt to fill the seams in the wheel spats. The results are fairly amateurish.
The painting was followed by the standard gloss coat (Future) and decal application. I chose to apply all 6 rondels but references indicate that the upper rondels were painted over in this scheme. Only the earlier, all metal schemes carried 6 rondels and the fin flash. A matt coat was applied and a light weathering with pastels.
I opted not to install the aerial wires because I couldn't find a clear reference for them.
I chose an RAF Western Desert Airforce camouflage pattern - based on the kit instructions and some references but it turns out that they may have been in error and I should have applied a ~Mid-Green / ~Mid-Stone scheme.
!!! Paints used
|~Gunze-Sangyo | Light Blue | H 45 |
|Polly Scale | Dark Earth | |
|Tamiya | Tan |XF ??? |
|Tamiya |Light Blue | XF 23 |
|Testors' |Steel | |
|Vallejo |Light Grey | 990 |
|Paint |Type | White Spirit |Lacquer | Alcohol| Water | Mr. Color | Tamiya X20 | Note |
|Model Master |Waterbased Acrylic | | | | x | | |
|Vallejo |Waterbased Acrylic | | | | x | | |
|AK Interactive |Waterbased Acrylic | | | | x | | |
|Mig Ammo |Waterbased Acrylic | | | x | x | x | |
|Humbrol Acrylics |Waterbased Acrylic | | | | x | | |
|Xtracrylics |Waterbased Acrylic | | | | x | | |
|Tamiya Acrylic |Waterbased Acrylic | | x | x | | x | x |
|Humbrol Enamel |Oil based | x | x | | | | |
|Revell |Oil based / enamel | x | | | | | |
|Mr. Color |Laquer | | x | | | x | |
|Testors |Enamel | x | | | | | |
!!! Best practices / Common "myths"
* Thin your paint with the brand thinner. It is usually expensive to use the brand thinner, but even if it doesn't smell or look like plain tap water it is usually mixed with surfactants and other chemicals in order to make that brand of paint work with an airbrush.
* If unsure that your type of thinner works with a certain brand of paint. Use a disposable cup and mix it in there first. It is tempting to mix directly in the cup, and I do it more than I should. The problem is that when doing this you may introduce dried up paint directly into your airbrush, or mix the happy combo of Vallejo and an alcohol based thinner (don't do it) and then you're in for a long cleanup.
* In general, acrylics can be thinned with plain tap water. Use distilled water if you live in an area with high calcium content in the tap water. Tamiya and Gunze are technically acrylics, but behave more like laquer and are a bit odd.
* "Viscosity, like milk." Forget that, have you ever seen Swedish filmjölk? Depending on what nozzle you have you might need to thin more, sometimes less. What usually works is to test what your airbrush likes. Paint well thinned will not stick to the insides of your cup.
* "Use Windex / ammonia / <insert random cleaning product here>". A cleaning agent is for cleaning. Sure, it will thin your paint, but it will also break up the paint and make it harder for the paint to adhere to the surface. Ammonia will also screw with the insides of your airbrush.
* "Rubbing alcohol & cellulose thinner". These two, especially the latter, are really strong solvents. They will usually dissolve pretty much everything, and work really well with some brands. Tamiya & Gunze (Mr. Color) behaves really well with Cellulose Thinner (also called laquer thinner).
Hasegawa; 1/72; December 2012
[<img[port - forward|./I-16.10/Thumbs-1.jpg][./I-16.10/1.jpg]] As much as I liked the little I-16, I was so put off by my [[previous experience|Polikarpov I-16 Type 5]], that I didn't want to have anything to do a model of this kit again. So enters Rick at [[Uncle Bill's Hobbies|http://members.shaw.ca/unclebills/]]. He just happened to have an unboxed edition of the Hasegawa I-16 Type 18 kit that he managed to persuade me to pick up.
The kit languished in the build queue, waiting for inspiration. It finally came in the form of the Chinese Nationalist Airforce and the desire for a quick build.
Since there were no Type 18s in Chinese service, a few modifications were required to back date the model to a Type 10.
Starting in in the cockpit, as usual, I noticed that the detail was sparse so I drafted a pilot from the spares box and scratchbuilt some rudimentary detail (a throttle quadrant and a greeblie). The interior was painted light blue (a nod to the usual VVS interior colours) with a black wash. Cushions were added to the cockpit doors.
With the pilot in place, even this modest detail was just about invisible. Following the article in the footsteps of the //Finescale Modeler// article, I drilled two holes in the fuselage for cockpit illumination.
The fuselage went together with minimal filling. The air intake detail was sanded off the cowl (to backdate the Type 18 to a Type 10) and then the cowl was tacked to the fuselage with white glue.
[>img[starboard - aft|./I-16.10/Thumbs-2.jpg][./I-16.10/2.jpg]] The rudder was painted white and then alternating stripes were masked off and painted blue to match that of the decals liberated from the as yet unbuilt P-26 kit. The rudder was then masked off and the upper fuselage painted with //RAF Dark Green//. Panel lines were post-shaded with a darker shade of the base coat. Panel centres and high points were highlighted with a lighter tint and the whole thing blended with a very thin (80% thinner) coat of the base colour.
The undersides were painted //Light Blue// that was built up slowly to preserve the pre-shading. That actually worked this time.
After the application of the clear, gloss coat the model was ready for decals. At this point I (finally) realized that the rondels from the P-26 were too large. You would think that I would have checked this sooner. A quick search revealed a sheet from Blue Rider for various Chinese Nationalist aircraft, including three I-16s.
<interlude>
[<img[with the other kit|./I-16.10/Thumbs-3.jpg][./I-16.10/3.jpg]] The decals arrived and proved to be a nice set with markings for three I-16s, a Tupolev Tu-2 and an ~F-5E (a recon P-38) with a full colour paint guide. Since I wanted to show off rondels on the upper wings, I went with I-16 #71 c. 1937.
The Blue Rider rondels were a darker blue than those supplied with the P-26 kit so I had to mix a new blue for the rudder and repaint the stripes.
The decals went on OK but they were a bit thick and some delicate knife work was required to get the "71" to settle into the panel lines around the cockpit hatch.
With the decals on and sealed the finals details were applied:
* the formation lights were added - clear red and green over white
* exhaust pipes were painted //Red Leather// and washed with black, openings were drawn with pen
* exhaust and mud stains were applied with pastels
* oil stains were represented with a brown wash
* landing gear retraction cables (there was a nice touch!) attached with CA
* instrument panel illumination holes were filled with Krystal Klear
* the last parts were attached
I'm so much happier with this version of the kit!
!!! Paints
|Polly Scale |RAF Dark Green |
|Tamiya |Yellow | XF 3 |
|Tamiya |Clear Green | X25 |
|Tamiya |Clear Red | X27 |
|Tamiya |Flat Aluminum | XF 16 |
|Tamiya |Sky Blue | XF 23 |
|Vallejo |Red Leather | 818 |
!!! References
[[Hobbyvista|http://vvs.hobbyvista.com/Markings/I16/type10/index.php]]
//Finescale Modeler//, December 2009
!!! Resources
[[Blue Rider decals|http://www.insigniamag.com/hist72_2.html]], Chinese Air Force 1937-1945, Sheet # ~BR242
A-model; 1/72; January 2007
I never learn. No more cheap kits!
Every single part needed cleanup: flash, sprue attachment points and even reshaping parts so that they would fit.
[<img["look at all the filling"|./i-16/Thumbs-0.jpg][./i-16/0.jpg]] Cockpit detail was minimal but this was minor since this was an early, fully enclosed canopy version. The thick, unevenly cast canopy remained stubbornly translucent despite the usual dunking in Future. The interior was (incorrectly) painted a Russian grey/green.
The gaps in the parts were huge. Strips of 0.020" plastic and putty were required to fill it.
The nose was comprised of 7 parts: left & right fuselage halves, lower wing, left, right and top panels and the engine cowl. None of these parts appeared to have been designed to fit together. The parts had to be tacked together by whatever random points seemed to touch one another and then the filling, sanding, shaping and cursing began. Only the presence on an internal firewall even made this possible.
Even after test fitting - the pilot's seat interfered with the canopy and the former had to be trimmed to fit.
The fuselage was primed with ochre, to represent wood and the wings, rudder and elevators were primed with steel to represent metal parts. I needn't have bothered.
[>img["finished"|./i-16/Thumbs-1.jpg][./i-16/1.jpg]] I chose a Republican, [[Spanish Civil War]] scheme. The wing and fuselage stripes were painted red and then masked off. The upper surfaces were painted green and the undersides sky blue. Tints were applied to each colour and then the panel centres were highlighted to provide some colour variation. Unfortunately, my surface preparation was inadequate and the finish was damaged as I peeled up the masks.
Decals were applied over the usual clear coat. I should have painted the fin flash as the decals left something to be desired.
It's a cute little plane but the kit was a nightmare. I'm not proud of this one (hence the very few pictures)
!!! Paints
|~Gunze-Sangyo |Red | H 71 |
|Humbrol |Russian Grey/Green | Hu 115 |
|Tamiya |Green | XF 5 |
|Tamiya |Sky Blue | XF 23 |
|Testors' |Steel |
|Vallejo |Ochre | 856 |
Makes selected parts of a paint job just a little bit darker than the surrounding areas. First lay down the shaded areas as an opaque coat, go over that with transparent coatings. Spray on a dark color any place that is supposed to be darker than normal when you are done. Next, mix up and over-thin the base coat to the point that it seems transparent when you spray it on.
Protar; 1/9
[<img["right side"|./r1100r/Thumbs-1.jpg][./r1100r/1.jpg]] Since I own a [[1997 R1100R|http://www.members.shaw.ca/cspindler/hobbies/motorcycles/r1100r/index.html]] , my friends gave me a model of the very same thing. The Protar kit is in 1/9 scale - a little larger than the usual 1/12 scale Tamiya kits I usually build. As an aside, the Protar kit was a poor second to the Tamiya kits in terms of fit, finish and detail.
The first step was to strip all of the chrome because it's such a pain to work with and many of the chromed parts are actually a flat aluminum.
[>img["rear view"|./r1100r/Thumbs-2.jpg][./r1100r/2.jpg]] After that, assembly was very straightforward. It was the painting that provided the challenge.
With respect to overall painting, the bodywork was matched to my bike's colour; i.e., British Racing Green with a few drops of yellow to lighten it. The metalwork was mostly flat Aluminum and the frame was semi-gloss Black. The seat and filler panels were Flat Black. The tail light and signal lenses were clear red and clear orange respectivly with the reflector surfaces painted chrome silver.
The exhaust system was sprayed chrome silver and then covered with a light coat of clear blue to simulate the exhaust bluing. I added a little Testors' gold to the catalytic converter to match the darker discoloration there.
I used Bare Metal Foil for the exposed portions of the fork sliders and the surfaces of the rear-view mirrors.
[<img["cockpit"|./r1100r/Thumbs-3.jpg][./r1100r/3.jpg]] I added a few small details to the model but nothing excessive: added valve stems to the wheels, simulated the hose clamps on the throttle body injectors with thin strips of metal foil. The cable and hose routing proposed in the kit was completely wrong. The suggested routing was abandoned and out came the photographs.
The only real disaster was the steering damper. I broke off one of the armatures and wound up clipping off the platic stems, drilling through the damper body and running wire as a replacement.
Because I was routing cables where the kit didn't intend them to be, I discovered a new technique for anchoring cables: drill a small hole where the cable (vinyl tubing) was to attach and then glue a short length of plant wire into the hole, leaving enough protruding to anchor the vinyl tube.
!!! Paints
|Model Master |Chrome Silver | |
|Model Master |British Racing Green | |
|Polly Scale |Flat Aluminum |
|Polly Scale |Flat Black | |
|Tamiya |~Semi-Gloss Black | |
|Tamiya |Clear red | X27 |
|Tamiya |Clear orange | X26 |
|Tamiya |Clear blue | X23 |
|Testors | Yellow | |
!!! References:
//Bike//magazine, February 1997
my [[1997 R1100R|http://www.members.shaw.ca/cspindler/hobbies/motorcycles/r1100r/index.html]] :-)
Revell; 1/72; 20 June 2018
<html><a href='./LAAT/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./LAAT/01.jpg" title="Deploying troopers" alt="port side view" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
This was one of a whole series of pre-painted, snap-fit kits that came out in tandem with the //Clone Wars// animated series. More of a toy than a model so making it look half-way decent was quite a challenge.
!! Wings
Detailing started with opening out the ball turrets molded in to the wing tips. The engineering of these details of the kit made adding the extra detil much easier than it could have been. Cutting away the plastic was the easy part. Fitting the glass domes into the open frames took a lot of trial and error. After several experiments attempting to thermoform clear plastic over a series of marbles and other objects, I wound up pressing a ball of polymer clay into the recesses and forming plastic hemispheres over the baked master. There were a few problems with material thickness since the clear acetate was scavenged from a variety of plastic packages and there was quite a bit of variation in thickness. The clear domes were glues in place with Kyrstal Kleer after the wings were painted and the interior details installed.
<html><a href='./LAAT/02.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./LAAT/02.jpg" title="From the front, note the ball turrets and rockets on the wings" alt="front view" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
The internal mechanisms were represented with painted resin parts cast from a master made up of various scraps of square plastic "tube", various shaped rods and some pieces from the spares box. There were several experiments with different mold and casting material but the slow curing, two-part, clear resin was the most successful.
The only other altered details were the rocket launchers. Each wing had four rockets and rails half-heartedly molded on the undersides of the wings. The indifferent details were shaved off and sanded smooth. They were replaced with the rockets and rails from an Airfix 1/72 Typhoon 1B. There are various 1/72 weapons sets available from Hasegawa but none of them had suitable looking parts or enough of them and the Airfix kit had the advantage of providing another kit to build.
!! Interior
Detailing the interior was complicated by the assembly sequence. All of the moving parts (doors) necessitated trapping the various parts in the correct sequence. Since I wanted the parts to remain operable (no idea why), everything had to be carefully planned.
<html><a href='./LAAT/03.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./LAAT/03.jpg" title="Ready to deploy" alt="Inside the gunship" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
There were a few simple details, like the controls for the door leading from the main hold to the cockpit - that was a simple box on the bulkhead. A few discs of plastic punched from plastic card dressed up the bulkheads.
A few scenes from //Attack of the Clones// show the interior of the gunship and in one of the shots, you can see a set of five, red pipes just over the door to the cockpit. Plastic tube stock was used for the pipes, with strip as the brackets.
Various shots also showed the overhead space between the grab handles filled with equipment to the fore and cargo netting to the aft. The equipment was built up with creative gizmology, using some sponsons from a Trumpeter [[M113|M113 "Lobo" (Doomfarers of Coramonde)]] and an assortments of plastic strip, stock and discs. The cargo net was made from a chunk of plastic netting from a bag of citrus fruit. It was carefully trimmed to shape, painted and glues in place.
The big challenge was the decking. The ramp and interior deck were flat and plain and the latter had four holes down the centre line for the clone trooper figures that came with the kit. Eliminating that centre seam on the deck would have been a tricky. I played around with scribing some detail but wasn't happy with the results. After some digging around, I found some HO-scale diamond plate patterned plastic sheet. The sheet was cut to fit and then laminated onto the main deck and ramp. The edges were beveled to reduce the lip and apparent thickness of the decking. There was a lot of dry-fitting involved to ensure that everything fit (and still moved).
<html><a href='./LAAT/04.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./LAAT/04.jpg" title="Looking in, up the ramp" alt="interior view from rear" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
The snap-fit pins and sockets were trimmed and reamed to facilitate disassembly but not removed because they help maintain the parts alignment.
The interior had to be painted in stages but in the end it was an overall warm, off-white marked with scuffs and scratches with some //Basal Grey// paint and an HB pencil.
!! Cockpit
The cockpit suffered the least at my hands. The interior was repainted //Basalt Grey//, followed by a light grey dry brush and black wash. The main controls looked like round, TV dinner trays. Each compartment was painted white (with some black squiggles as readouts / text) and then overpainted with one of a number of clear colours. The final result was a bit garish and in hindsight, I should have stuck with a single colour like transparent green.
The cockpit tub required quite a bit of sanding and filling to achieve a decent fit to the fuselage.
!! Fuselage
There were relatively few modifications to the fuselage. There was some thought about accurizing the aft, dorsal missile loading bay but that would have required some fairly major surgery and the project was already getting out of hand.
<html><a href='./LAAT/05.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./LAAT/05.jpg" title="port side view, doors closed" alt="port side" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
In the end, all I did was open all of the windows in the sliding doors - not a small job. I thought about leaving the window slots open but decided to fill them with Krystal Kleer. The openings were really too large for the technique. The results were acceptable but somewhat flawed and distorted.
The inner surfaces of the sliding doors were scribed to match the panel pattern on the exterior to give the interior a little character.
!! Painting
Stock paint job featured some very heavy-handed weathering so it was a relief to be repainting the kit. The overall hull colour was a warm, off-white made by adding two drops of //Dark Yellow// (panzer yellow) to a full airbrush cup of flat white. The resulting shade was perfect. Rather than stay with the dark red accent colours shown on the kit, I decided to go with a dark blue that cropped up in one of the many images trawled from the internet. //Flat Sea Blue// appeared to be a good match. Panel lines were added using a mechanical pencil rather than a wash since the latter might be too stark.
<html><a href='./LAAT/06.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./LAAT/06.jpg" title="rear of diorama" alt="diorama from rear" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
The only complication was the dark red trim visible through the inside of the cockpit canopy. The clear canopy pieces were larger than the clear areas and had been prepainted. The paint would have had to be stripped from the exterior of the cockpit to correct this.
All of the repainting erased the Galactic Republic emblem but it was replaced with waterslide decals from Bad Mother Tattoos and Customs.
This is a summary of all of the exterior painting that occurred during the various stages of construction.
!! Figures
<html><a href='./LAAT/07.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./LAAT/07.jpg" title="Sergeant deploying" alt="Close up, starboard side door" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
The kit came with six, pre-painted figures in a soft vinyl - two pilots and four troopers. The latter had very static poses that wouldn't make for an interesting diorama. I managed to acquire two boxes of "~Sci-Fi Troopers" (no longer available) that turned out to be very passable representations of Phase II clone troopers. Each figure consisted of 6 or 7 parts; i.e., limbs, torso, head and sometimes a weapon. Clean up and assembly weren't difficult, just tedious and it took longer than expected to put 18 troopers together. Each figure got a wire pin in the foot to make handling and painting easier.
The figures were primed with Tamiya spray primer and then painted flat white. A gloss coat of [[Future]] was followed by a thin black wash to bring out the details. The black details, visor and undersuit, were rendered with a mixture of black paint and a 0.005 technical pen. Three of the figures were given promotions. Two got the olive green pauldrons, helmet and breatplate stripe that denote a sergeant and one was similarly marked with //Medium Blue//, indicating a lieutenant.
The figures varied somewhat in quality, which determined their placement. The poorer figures, including the stock kit figures, were relegated to the depths of the gunship. A few more were posed to exit from the open starboard door and aft ramp and the remainder were deployed on the ground.
!! Diorama
<html><a href='./LAAT/08.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./LAAT/08.jpg" title="Knee-high view" alt="Close up, low level view of troopers" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
It took two tries to create a diorama base. Both involved styrofoam but the first was a little too enthusiastically coated with celluclay and warped as it dried. The second was piece was mildly shaped with files and sandpaper and then covered with a skim coat of spackle. Once dry, it was lightly sanded and then sealed with a mix of white glue and water. The grass and dirt areas were "pre-shaded" with green and brown craft paint.
Woodland Scenics, 2mm static grass was applied as a base, followed by a very light dusting of WWS (not to be confused with Woodland Scenics) 4mm static grans and an even lighter, selective layer of WWS 6mm static grass. My first attempt at layered, multiple lengths of static grass. It worked nicely.
The dirt portion was less successful. I decided to texture the dirt using some silt I had acquired but didn't use enough glue and the colour of the silt was very different from the underlying paint. It took several applications of scenic cement and a pass of the air brush to make it passable.
!!! Update
Received the "As Seen on TV or in Print" award at the 2018 ~GOMBs show
!!! Paints
|Tamiya |White | ~XF-2 |
|Tamiya |Dark Yellow | ~XF-60 |
|Vallejo |Black | 70.950 |
|Vallejo |Copper | 70.999 |
|Vallejo |Gold | 70.996 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 70.869 |
|Vallejo |Khaki | 70.988 |
|Vallejo |Medium Olive | 70.850 |
|Vallejo |Medium Blue | 70.963 |
|Aeromaster |Flat Sea Blue |
!!! References
//Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones//
//The Clone Wars//
!!! Resources
Airfix Hawker Typhoon 1B (kit A02041), 1/72
Bad Mother Tattoos and Customs (Galactic Republic decals; [[eBay Store|https://www.ebay.com/itm/Small-Scale-Star-Wars-Black-on-White-Galactic-Republic-Waterslide-Decals/183299913022?hash=item2aad86b53e:g:g38AAOSwc2FaHMgh]])
Caesar Miniatures (trooper figures not currently in production, some available [[here|http://minitoysoldier.com/prolist.asp?id=536]])
Celluclay
[[Plastruct Diamond Plate Sheet|https://plastruct.com/shop/plain-and-patterned-sheet/ps-155/]]
Sculpey III polymer clay
[[WW Scenics|https://www.war-world.co.uk/]] 4mm and 6mm static grass
Woodland Scenics 2mm static grass
AMT; 1/650; 10 February 2013
The //Bird of Prey// is one of my favourite models and I was lamenting the fact that it had been off the market for decades when AMT reissued the kit - with minor upgrades.
The ship is a big, simple shape, ideal for lighting. The plan was to iluminate the warp and impulse engines along with the observation windows.
[<img[Bow quarter, beauty shot|./rombop/Thumbs-1.jpg][./rombop/1.jpg]] With the plethora of references, examples and general creativity, the hardest part was deciding which version to build. There was the original kit, the filming model, the ship as it appeared on screen, the (non-canon) "blueprint" version and the reimagined, CGI version. The winner was a variant of the version represented in the ~McMaster blueprints. It was close to the filming miniature but with additional details.
The profile of the ship's stern was too square and the kit's tail fin was too thick. Correcting the former would have involved major surgery, so it was left alone. The tail fin was replaced with a new one made from 0.080" plastic sheet.
Most of the missing details were simple to add: long-range sensors (smal circles), ship sensors (more small circles), shuttle bay doors (big rectangles) and the landing gear doors (big circles). Only the ship sensors were vexing because of their placement on the vertical sides of the bridge superstructure. Deferring the decision whether to scribe or drill the ship sensors, the other items were quickly scribed on to the hull.
[>img[That iconic bird|./rombop/Thumbs-2.jpg][./rombop/2.jpg]] Small circles are easier to drill than scribe but from the photos of the studio model, the sensors were not illuminated. Not a big problem, except that their placement on vertical sides of the bridge superstructure made scribing ... challenging. Ultimately, this and the masking challenge drove the decision to drill out all of the sensors.
The crew observation windows were a little more challenging to open up. Being square, simply drilling them out was not sufficient. They had to be squared off with a small file. It was time consuming to open all 24 of them. The impulse engines were easier to open because they were larger.
To simplify painting and masking, the the base hull colour, //Light Grey//, was applied after the holes were opened and cleaned up but before the hullpieces were assembled.
The windows and engines were filled with Krystal Kleer after painting and then stained clear yellow and clear red, respectively. Lighting tests left the impression that the light from the sensors was a little too raw, so the sensors were over painted with a craft, glow-in-the-dark paint. This had the effect of diffusing the light and adding a little residual glow, once the lights were turned off.
The lighting tests for the warp nacelles went better than expected. The [[diffuse, green LEDs|http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/productsmenu/partsmenu/343]] provided a nice soft glow and the colour was a nod to TNG. Having established that the illumination would work, it was safe to drill wire paths in the "wings". The hollow tubes of the nacelles were blocked with copies of 1/72 radial engines (to provide a [[greeblied]] appearance) and a perforated bulkhead at the rear. The latter added patterned glow and a little character to the rear of the tubes. There were some light leaks along the seams, despite the layer of light blocking paint. That was corrected with a coat of Mr. Surfacer.
[<img[Lit, bow|./rombop/Thumbs-3.jpg][./rombop/3.jpg]] The main hull was lit with two groups of three peel'n'stick ~LEDs. They were attached to two bulkheads made of scrap plastic, that aimed the light in the desired directions. The wires for the nacelle lights were routed through the main hull and out the hole for the stand.
The hull was buttoned up and the fit of the lower hull was as poor as I remembered. The lower hull joints were so weak that the wing seams kept flexing, making filling them nearly impossible.
The blueprints show five missile tubes along the leading edge of each wing. They were represented by inserting short brass tubing into holes drilled in the leading edge of the wings.
One of the optional parts supplied was the plasma torpedo launcher. Not part of the original kit, it is prominent on the filming model. On it went and the launcher was drilled out so it could be lit with a nice orange glow.
Once assembled and painted, the clear coat was applied in preparation for decals.
That's when disaster struck. The clear coat still hadn't cured, even after 4 hours, and the first decal (one half of the ginormous bird) stuck fast in the wrong position. I can't even describe the rising tide of panic and dismay that accompanied these events.
[>img[Lit, stern|./rombop/Thumbs-4.jpg][./rombop/4.jpg]] Mercifully, AMT makes it easy to order replacement decals. Three weeks and $17 later, I had the replacements. In the meantime, the old decal was sanded off and the paint and clear coat repaired. The latter from a new bottle of Future, the older one being over 12 years old at this point.
Unfortunately, the new decals were glossy where the old ones were matt finish. The new decals were nearly a disaster too. The first one applied (one half of the ginormous bird) shattered into 50 pieces. It took over an hour to assemble the pieces into a battered, half bird. The other decals in this batch were overcoated with clear, liquid decal film before application. That worked somewhat better and the decals were all finally applied and sealed with a final clear coat.
A little bit of weathering was applied, using pastel chalks.
Overall, I was pleased with the final result and basically happy just to have that model back on my shelf after so many years. Could have done without the decal panic, though.
Lessons? Future ages too.
!!! Paints
|Model Master Acrylic |Light Grey | 36495 |
|Tamiya |Clear Green | X-28 |
|Tamiya |Clear Red | X-27 |
|Tamiya |Clear Yellow | X-24 |
|Testors' Metalizer |>|Stainless Steel |
!!! References
~McMaster, Michael. //Romulan "Bird of Prey" Blueprints//, 1977
!!! Resources
[[Evil Mad Scientist|http://shop.evilmadscientist.com/productsmenu/partsmenu/89-led]]
No more cheap kits^^*^^!
^^*^^ unless the subject is unique and a better version simply doesn't exist or is stupidly priced.
Tamiya; 1/35; February 2009
Another nostlagia build. I first built this kit in 1977 ... I remember the date because I built it shortly after seeing //Star Wars// in the cinemas. That's 32 years. The quality of a Tamiya kit, even one this old, greatly outshone that of some of the recent builds; i.e., the [[He 70|He 70 G1]] and the [[I 16|Polikarpov I-16 Type 5]].
The parts went together as if they were __meant__ to fit. Such a nice change.
The build was pretty much of of the box. I added a little first aid kit to the passenger side and filled in the backs of the jery cans with epoxy putty.
[>img[rear|./pinkpanther/Thumbs-1.jpg][./pinkpanther/1.jpg]] There were a few departures from the instructions when it came to painting. The base body colour was a custom mix - which I neglected to record. The ammo boxes, radio and rangefinder were painted dark green instead of black - based on some photos from the Internet.
The marker lights were painted clear orange and clear red over white in the front and rear respectively. The headlight shells were painted silver on the inside and covered with a clear acetate lens. Foil was applied to the mirrors and the searchlight lens.
The seats and assorted canvas painted buff with a burnt umber wash. Leather straps were painted leather brown. Paint chips were simulated with dark grey paint. The tools were painted and then attached with white glue.
[<img[above|./pinkpanther/Thumbs-2.jpg][./pinkpanther/2.jpg]] The model was weathered with burnt umber and sienna washes and various pastels.
The driver was altered to sit a little straighter and the left arm lowered to the knee to hold a pop can. The uniform was painted deck tan with white and RLM 02 for highlights and shadows. The driver was perched on the back of the driver's seat. Epoxy putty pop cans were scattered in the cargo deck (under the gun) and a ghetto blaster was added for effect.
Yes, I did a much better this time around that I did in 1977 and it was such a pleasure to work with a well-engineered kit - even one this old.
!!! Paints
|~Gunze-Sagnyo |RLM 02 | H 70 |
|Humbrol acrylic |Dark grey | 032 |
|Humbrol |Dark green | Hu 30 |
|Tamiya |Clear Orange | X 26 |
|Tamiya |Clear Red | X 27 |
|Tamiya |Deck tan | XF 55 |
|Tamiya |Buff | XF 57 |
|Vallejo |Leather brown | 871 |
|Vallejo |Burnt umber | 941 |
Subjects from Science Fiction and Fantasy - though mostly the former.
| Star Trek | Star Wars | BSG | Other |h
|vertical-align:top;<<list filter [tag[StarTrek]] [sort[Title]]>>~NX-01 I.102<br>Kazon Raider I.51|vertical-align:top;<<list filter [tag[StarWars]] [sort[title]]>>Naboo N-1 fighter|vertical-align:top;<<list filter [tag[BSG]] [sort[title]]>>|vertical-align:top;<<list filter [tag[sf&f]] [sort[title]]>>"Secret Treaties" I.39<br>Terran Marine I.69<br>Babylon 5<br>U.S.S. //Sulaco//|
The smaller the scale, the lighter the colour. This simulates the effect of atmospheric haze. The rule of thumb is the % of white paint = one half of the scale; e.g., A 1/72 scale model would require 36% white paint added to the colours.
ESCI; 1/35; April 22nd, 2012
Another model on my <<tag half-tracks half-track>> kick. The trouble with pursuing a theme in 1/35 armour is that it can get __expensive__, so I've been biding my time and looking for deals. This was an eBay score.
Inspecting the parts in the box, I realized that there were bits from another kit lumped in there too. They appeared to be from a small field artillery piece but there wasn't enough of it to build it up and add it as a towed piece. The kit was obviously older but with reasonable detail; however, all of the parts looked like they'd need clean up. Many of the parts were marred with ejector pin marks.
The details appeared a little off compared to my reference photos. Many of the instruments and controls were off and I had to use my punch-and-die set to create some knobs and dials. The pedals were also missing but since I planned to have a driver, I decided not to build those. The missing seat back cusions were made from ploymer clay. The aft compartment allowed for the doors to be posed open.
[<img[click to enlarge|./sdkfz10/Thumbs-1.jpg][./sdkfz10/1.jpg]] Main hull assembly was fiddly. There were lots of slabs to align. Clamping got the parts to almost fit. I've never spent so much time clamping parts and even so, the fit was hinky. Amazingly, the hood hinges had been used as sprue attachment points - really? Trimming and cleanup of the hinges was tricky.
The tracks were vinyl and one of the was malformed, missing one of the little pins that needed to be melted into place. Of course, this was the track where a heavy-handed slip with a hot screwdriver just about severed the track entirely. Needle and thread to the rescue! Just don't look too closely. Thread was also used to create "sag" in the tracks. As with the //[[Flakvierling|Flakvierling Sd.Kfz 7/1]]//, the tracks were painted were painted dark brown, with a heavy orange wash and a //Red Leather// drybrush. The poor adhesion of the paint to the sliver vinyl accidentally resulted in silver wear points.
The road wheels were pretty ugly. They were neither round nor centred but with soft detail. The attachment points were very delicate.
The headlight shells were painted silver and the slits on the headlight covers filled with Krystal Kleer. It was only after the covers were glued in that I realized that I hadn't painted the inside edges of the slits ... and the plastic is light brown.
The original intent was to leave the canvas top down but the moulding of the "stowed" parts was so horrid that the only choice was to put the top up. With the top up, I was able to cover the fact that I missed a part too.
A driver and passengers were added to the track for colour. The driver's head and torso were repositioned (my first!) to have him looking out the side of the vehicle. The driver's seat was so cramped that the figure's legs had to be amputated at mid-calf in order to fit. The cramped front seats also meant that none of the 15 or so figures I have lying around would fit in the front passenger's seat, so I plonked a map, envelope and helmet on the seat. Two more infantry figures were added with minor modifications. I need to remember to use toothpicks to keep the modified limbs in place while the glue dries.
[>img[click to enlarge|./sdkfz10/Thumbs-2.jpg][./sdkfz10/2.jpg]] The canvas top was painted //Buff// with various stains while the half-track was painted //German Grey// overall. I didn't bother with any paint fading or pre-shading but relied on washes and drybrushing.
Weathering was mostly in the form of multiple applications of Rustall. A mixture of Dust, white glue and water provided a very convincing mud for the running gear. I even remembered to apply the mud to the undersides of the fenders before attaching the roadwheels.
Pioneer tools were kept to a minimum because of the lack of detail.
Since there were no decals with my kit, I borrowed some from my other Sd.Kfz 10 kit.
A lot of effort for a mediocre kit. Poor parts fir and only a passing resemblence to the prototype. The flash, sink holes and ejector pin marks in prominent locations made this a time consuming build.
!!! Paints
|Tamiya |German Grey | XF 63 |
|Tamiya |Buff | XF 57 |
|Vallejo |Feldgrau | 830 |
|Vallejo |German Grey | 995 |
|Vallejo |Brown Leather | 871 |
Italeri; 1/35; 25 May 2020
Not sure how I wound up with two Sd.Kfz 10s - I think it was some eBay confusion. This one languished on the shelf because I wasn't sure I wanted to build another after the [[last experience|Sd.Kfz 10 (ESCI)]] ... but it __is__ a <<tag half-track>>. Opening the box it appearded to be a much nicer version.
<html><a href="./sdkfz10.1/01.jpg" target=_blank><img src="./sdkfz10.1/01.jpg" title="still debating a canvas windshield cover" alt="high, 3/4 view from the driver's side" width=150 align="left"></a></html> Started with the driver's compartment. Found some reference photos that I didn't remember for the prervious build. The molded dashboard was a much better match to the photos of the real thing but still a bit off. Dials were painted as appropriate and added a few placards.
I ignored the painting instructions and went with the reference photos and it's a good thing that I did. The transmission components were an oxidized aluminum - which were replicated by paiting the components //Aluminum// and then overcoating with a //Pale Grey// wash. Wow!
The other exposed drive components were painted //Gunmetal// and then heavily washed with //Smoke//. The holes in the driveshaft shrouds were drawn on with a technical pen and looked quite decent too.
The seat cushions were covered with tissue paper soaked with white glue and water to provide a little texture. They were painted //~RLM82// and then drybrushed with //Grey Green//.
<html><a href="./sdkfz10.1/02.jpg" target=_blank><img src="./sdkfz10.1/02.jpg" title="You can just see the wiper motors and silver of the headlights" alt="driver's side front view" width=150 align="right"></a></html> The kit didn't come with a figure so I lifted one from an Sd.Kfz 251 kit that's in the queue. There's a box of Dragon "SPG Riders" slated for that kit so the figure won't be missed. The uniform colours were a bit perplexing. Some of the Internet articles referred to a "dark green weathered to khaki". My reaction was "Woohoo! Artistic license!" Started with //Olive Drab// as a base coat and then applied layers of the base coat with progressively more //Khaki// and water until the final touches were thin highlights of almost pure //Khaki//. Details were painted black. Aluminum for the belt buckle. Insignia were hand painted with //Sky Grey// (white would have been too stark). Collar tabs were white over a light blue to denote the Transport Division.
Assembly was not a smooth process but that was mostly my own doing as I skipped back and forth, trying and failing to figure out the best assembly and painting sequence.
Painting and assembling AFV running gear is not my favourite part of the process. It's not hard, just tedious and my eyes were beginning to cross. Somehow, I only airbrushed one side of each wheel (the back side!), which became apparent during final assembly. Fortunately it was easy to correct with a brush and weathering hid any egregious flaws.
<html><a href="./sdkfz10.1/03.jpg" target=_blank><img src="./sdkfz10.1/03.jpg" title="Photo etch tool bracket visible under the axe head. Easy to go overboard with chipping" alt="passenger side, font 3/4 view" width=150 align="left"></a></html> The rear fenders were fiddly to assemble. The vertical dividers stood too proud from the horizontal surfaces and it too a fair bit of filing and sanding to get them to sit sort of flush. The instructions show the small, vertical plates as reversed - which explains why the initial fit was poor. Once pried off, cleaned up and flipped around they were much better. Attaching the fenders to the hull was also fiddly and difficult to square up. It became apparent that I failed to square them up when attaching the storage compartments.
As assembly progressed, all the little misalignments began to add up - like experimental uncertainty - until there were some pretty crooked parts and large gaps.
For the headlights - the reflectors were painted //Chrome// on the inside. The blackout covers were opened out and th slits filled with Micro Krystal Kleer. On reflection, the parts should have been thinned too.
The tracks in this kit were link and length and intimidating after my [[last experience|T34/76]]. Once again more time was spent agonizing than doing. With the running gear assembled, I decided to use that as my assembly jig using trusty, old tube glue. The assembly sequence was sporadic. I'd add a few links whenever I have a spare few moments - which made it less tedious. Sometimes I would assemble short runs of 3 or 4 links, let them sit for a couple of minutes and then attach them to other links already in place, draping them over the road wheels. I was working from home (~COVID-19) which made it easy to nip down and attach a couple of links, in between meetings.
<html><a href="./sdkfz10.1/04.jpg" target=_blank><img src="./sdkfz10.1/04.jpg" title="Pleased with the look of the wooden sills on the passenger doors" alt="right, rear, low angle view" width=150 align="left"></a></html> Tracks were painted //Gunmetal//, followed by a heavy coat of //Smoke// and the rubber cleats were painted //Black Grey//. A black wash was applied to everything. A few touches of Rustall were applied to the hinges. A slurry of Vallejo Airbrush Thinner and pigment was applied to the tracks. The pigment binder made everything look too wet for my taste.
The wooden sills on the passenger "doors" were painted //Yellow Ochre//, followed with a blend of Brown and Dark Brown inks in a sloppy top coat - very similar to the hull of the //[[knarr|Viking Knarr]]//. The inks are a bit glossy and had to be toned down with a coat of //Matt//.
The spotlight lens was painted //Chrome// with a layer of Micro Kyrstal Kleer for the glass. The rearview mirror was just painted //Chrome//.
The bench seats in the rear compartment received the same base coat of ~RLM82 with a //Green Grey// drybrush. Didn't bother with the tissue paper on these seats.
<html><a href="./sdkfz10.1/05.jpg" target=_blank><img src="./sdkfz10.1/05.jpg" title="transmission housing and weathering visible - as well as the wine bottles" alt="overhead view from the rear" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
The pioneering tools were (sort of) my favourite part. Without referring to the instructions, I decided which was the top side of the tools and painted accordingly. Well, I got that half right and had to repaint some of the tools. The wooden parts of the tools were painted //Dark Yellow// and then coated with a blend of the same inks as the door sills, using an old brush. The metal parts were painted //Black Grey// with a heavy drybrush of //Gunmetal// - which was much better than what I've been doing to date.
!!! Paints
|Citadel |Brown Ink |
|Citadel |Dark Brown Ink |
|Tamiya |Dark Yellow | ~XF-60 |
|Vallejo |Smoke | 70.939 |
|Vallejo |Gunmetal | 70.863 |
|Vallejo |Olive Drab | 70.887 |
|Vallejo |Khaki | 70.988 |
|Vallejo |Sky Grey | 70.989 |
|Vallejo |Grey Black | 70.943 |
|Vallejo |Yellow Ochre | 70.913 |
|Vallejo |Green Grey | 70.971 |
|Vallejo |Mahogany | 70.846 |
|Vallejo |RLM 82 (light green) | 71.022 |
|Vallejo |Aluminum | 71.062 |
|Vallejo |Chrome | 71.064 |
|Vallejo |Light Sienna Pigment | 73.104 |
|Vallejo |Pale Grey Wash | 73.202 |
|Vallejo |Umber Wash | 73.203 |
!!! References
!!! Resources
Tamiya; 1/35; December 2004
This is my first 1/35 scale kit in years. I've been avoiding 1/35 because of the size and the stunning array of after market accessories. As my wife says "It's not the fabric, it's the notions".
[<img[text|./sdkfz2/Thumbs-1.jpg][./sdkfz2/1.jpg]] The //Kraftkettenkrad// is a weird vehicle. A motorcycle half-track. Certainly an interesting subject. I had vague plans of incorporating the //kettenkrad// into a motor pool diorama with an R75 and the //Kubelwagon//.
The major sub-assemblies were built up and sprayed with //German Grey//.
The forward fender braces were missing so they were added using 0.010" styrene strip. The wiring for the front marker light was also added using the same plastic strip. It softens and conforms nicely with liquid glue.
The engine was painted //Metallic Grey//, with a wash and oil stains. I didn't add any extra detail because it would be mostly hidden. The ventilation grill was opened up and replaced with the fine plastic mesh left over from my [[NR750|Honda NR750]].
The tracks were cast from plastic as a single piece with the road wheels and were tricky to paint. The tracks themselves were painted //Polished Steel// and then buffed. A black wash and a light coat of Rustall provided the weathering.
[>img[text|./sdkfz2/Thumbs-2.jpg][./sdkfz2/2.jpg]] The upper, flat surfaces of the //kettenkrad// were sprayed with a light tint of the base coat and then the details picked out with a bit of drybrushing.
Dust and mud spray was applied with a misting of //Buff//. Chips and heavy wear were simulated with a silver pencil.
To give them texture, the seats were covered with a thing layer of wrapping tissue, sized with a mixture water and white glue. They were then painted //Grey Black// with a light grey drybrushing.
Rifle brackets were added using plastic and lead foil.
Unfortunately, I mounted the front wheel before attaching the tracks and it doesn't touch the ground.
The driver was painted as follows:
* helmet and trousers: //German Grey//
* tunic: //feldgrau//
* epaulettes: white trim (for infantry)
* belts: black
* gas mask cannister: dark green
* water bottle: hazelnut
!!! Paints
|Humbrol |Polished Steel |
|Humbrol |Dark Green | Hu 30 |
|Tamiya |German Grey | XF 63 |
|Tamiya |Metallic Grey | XF 56 |
|Tamiya |Buff | XF 57 |
|Vallejo |Grey Black | 862 |
|Vallejo |Feldgrau | 830 |
!!! References
Fine Scale Modeler, November 1999
Fujimi; 1/76
|borderless|k
|[<img["Under construction"|./sdkfz222/Thumbs-1.jpg][./sdkfz222/1.jpg]] |Another in my collection of small WWII German light and unarmoured vechicles.<br>The kit itself was very clean: no flash and excellent parts fit. The separate wheels and vinyl "tires" greatly simplified painting. <br>Since this was supposed to be a quick project I decided not to detail the interior or open the hatches. Having said that I decided that I couldn't live with the solid, molded piece that repsented the mesh covering the fighting compartment. |
|[<img["Under construction"|./sdkfz222/Thumbs-2.jpg][./sdkfz222/2.jpg]] |After some experimenting with various wire and plastic alternative, I settled on using wire for the "canopy" framework. Mostly because I was able to construct the bulk of the framework from a single, judiciously bent piece of wire. The bends weren't perfectly crisp but still far superior to the original molded pieces. The grating was cut from photo-etch brass and the "canopy" posed open to hide the slight asymmetry of the halves.<br>I experimented with several painting and weathering techniques. Vechicles were usually painted Panzergrau before they left the factory and on arrival in North Africa, they were painted Sandgelb (or whatever the local camouflage scheme was). |
|[<img["Under construction"|./sdkfz222/Thumbs-3.jpg][./sdkfz222/3.jpg]] |The model was primed with Panzergrau<br>Then painted Sandgelb<br>Then the horizontal surfaces were lightly coated with a lightened version of the base hull colour (to represent sun fading).<br>Then the high traffic surfaces were //lightly// sanded to reveal the grey undercoat. Door edges, hinges, fender tips, turret corners.<br>Nooks, crannies and edges received a wash of sepia or rust brown ink.<br>Pastel dust used to simulate muzzle blast discolouration, exhaust stains and rust. |
!!! Paints
|Tamiya |Panzergrau |~XF-63 |
|Humbrol |Desert Yellow |Hu93 |
|Citadel |Brown Ink ||
Masking tape belts with flattened solder buckles.
Airfix; 1/72; 23 December 2002
<html><a href='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Treaties' target=_blank><img src="./BOC/00.jpg" title="album cover and link to Wikipedia" alt="album cover" width=150 align="right"></a></html> I have always loved the Blue Öyster Cult album //Secret Treaties//. The cover is quite compelling and I Had A Thought. For not very much money and effort the cover could be replicated as a model.
This is the older, Airfix kit and, as such, basic and quick to build.
<html><a href='./BOC/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./BOC/01.jpg" title="Album title just below the canopy" alt="high angle front left" width=150 align="left"></a></html> Since the cockpit was going to be unoccupied, a basic cockpit tub was scratch built. Just the side walls, and turtle deck. The instrument panel was cut from the fuselage halves and added to the cockpit tub. The interior was painted //RLM 66// and then drybrushed.
The nose was weighted with lead before the fuselage was buttoned up. Assembly was pretty quick after that. Some of the seam filling was a little tricky because of the panel lines and rivets. The canon ports were drilled out at this point.
<html><a href='./BOC/02.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./BOC/02.jpg" title="Instrument panel stands out nicely" alt="cockpit closeup" width=150 align="right"></a></html> The landing gear was detailed with wire brake lines but was left off for painting.
The plane was painted overall //RLM 76// and then "worms" of //RLM 75// added to the upper surfaces. White circles were painted on the upper and lower surfaces of the wings in preparations for the rondels. This was my first attempt and //Mäander// camouflage ... and it didn't quite work.
The decals were home made and went on quite well. They were printed on clear decal paper (hence the white circles) and went on without a hitch.
The model was weathered with a black wash, graphite and ground up pastels and then sealed with flat lacquer.
<html><a href='./BOC/03.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./BOC/03.jpg" title="you can just see the logo on the tail" alt="low angle front left" width=150 align="left"></a></html> The base was made with Celluclay applied over foam core board - which was a mistake because the celluclay warped the foam core as it dried. The dried Celluclay was covered with a thin layer of flock and oversprayed various shades of brown and green in random patterns.
More flocking was applied to the tree and the followed with Woodland Scenics "fall leaves".
In retrospect, especially after completing the [[Storch|Fi-156C-3 "Storch"]], I'd like to go back and redo the camouflage and diorama base ... in my spare time.
!!! Paints
|Model Master | RLM 66 |
|Model Master | RLM 76 |
|Model Master | RLM 75 |
!!! References
Blue Öyster Cult, //Secret Treaties//, Columbia, 1974, vinyl.
!!! Resources
Celluclay
Woodland Scenics "fall leaves"
Bandai; 1/100; December 2002
[<img[front|./av-xo/Thumbs-0.jpg][./av-xo/0.jpg]] I am not particularly taken with the subject of mecha but I had read quite a bit about the engineering of the Bandai mecha kits. I decided to try one as an experiment. Having just seen [[Patlabor|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patlabor]] - that was the subject of choice.
A mixed-media kit with injection molded plastic and vinyl polycaps; the latter to facilitate the articulation of the limbs. The kit could have been built without painting but that would limit the depth of colour and make any seam cleanup harder.
Painting started with shading the edges of all the panels with grey and then over coating with white. The white overcoat was then gently removed with an alcohol swab to simulate wear.
[>img[rear|./av-xo/Thumbs-1.jpg][./av-xo/1.jpg]] For additional weathering, I applied a grey [[sludge wash|Sludge wash]] over the customary coat of Future. The grep worked well with the black and white colour scheme. Not a great technique for raised detail but marvelous for recessed panel lines.
The kit turned out to be every bit as well engineered as advertised. No flash, no ejector pin marks and the parts fit was excellent. There was almost no need for seam filling, although a little scraping did pay off. The articulation of the limbs was moderately effective.
As nice a kit as it is - the subject matter still doesn't grab me. I'm still glad I built it.
!!! Paints
|Polly Scale |Black |
|Polly Scale |Dark Gull Grey |
|Tamiya |White | X 2 |
Sea-going rather than air or space vessels
<<list filter [tag[ship]] [sort[title]]>>
* 3 parts water
* 2 parts dish soap
* 2 parts paint (or thereabouts).
Applied over a gloss coat (__important!__). Goes on thick and (because of the soap) comes off easily. Good for gear wells and recessed detail.
(//Courtesy of Finescale Modeler//).
Hobbycraft Canada; 1/32
[<img["Starboard, front"|./sopwith.camel/Thumbs-1.jpg][./sopwith.camel/1.jpg]] My friend Steve was clearing out his apartment in preparation for his move to Oakville and was about to throw out some kits that had sat, unbuilt, for years when Ian said "Wait! I know who could use these".
The next thing you know I had a venerable Hobbycraft Canada kit of a Sopwith Camel. I'm pretty sure I've built this kit before but it's been a couple of decades.
The kit detail was quite good but few of the parts fit without extensive modification. To make assembly even more challenging, the plastic had become very brittle.
[>img["Port, Aft"|./sopwith.camel/Thumbs-2.jpg][./sopwith.camel/2.jpg]] Most of the detail work was concentrated around the cockpit. Internal fuselage braces and wire were added using plastic strip and 0.010" rod. Hand and footholds were drilled out. A new seat was constructed from plastic sheet and photoetch brass mesh. The instrument panel was sanded clean of detail and new instruments fashioned from thin slices of brass tube. A filler panel was cut from 0.020" sheet to fill the gap under the guns. The gun barrels were replaced with brass tube (which was simpler than drilling out the existing barrels. Ammo belts were crafted from masking tape with cartridges cut from 0.020" plastic rod.
Around the engine, ventilation slots were cut in the cowling.
[<img["Port"|./sopwith.camel/Thumbs-3.jpg][./sopwith.camel/3.jpg]] The fuselage and wings were painted Medium Green with a darker tint used for the plywood sections around the cockpit. The engine cowling was sprayed Chrome Silver. I toyed briefly with metal foil but decided against it.
Rigging was done with clean, nylon sewing thread - similar to a very fine gauge fishing line.
Decals were put on over a coat of Future, using setting solution. The model was then coated with Testor's Dullcote.
''Update'' These pictures are all that remains of this kit. One of the cats knocked it off the shelving unit in the early 2000's.
!!! Paints
|Model Master |Medium Green |
|Model Master |Chrome Silver |
The following models are all Spanish Civil War subjects. There's something about the aircraft of that period that I find fascinating. Perhaps its the evolutionary nature of the aircraft: they're something between the ungainly, early monoplanes (with uncertain aerodynamics) and the sleek machines of WWII.
<<list filter [tag[SCW]] [sort[title]]>>
Verlinden; 1/16 (120mm); 2003?
[<img[text|./hoplite/Thumbs-1.jpg][./hoplite/1.jpg]] After reading Steven Pressfield's //Gates of Fire// I was quite taken with Hoplites and decided to find a figure. Eventually, one of Verlinden's resin kits showed up at a local hobby shop.
Construction was relatively simple, although the CA didn't hold as well as expected. Perhaps surface prep was the problem?
[>img[text|./hoplite/Thumbs-2.jpg][./hoplite/2.jpg]] The only modification to the figure was the shield. The Λ (for Lacedaemon (//Λακεδαίμων//), the old name for Sparta ) on the shield was rendered upside down, perhaps as a "V". I took a rubbing of the engraved detail and transferred it to frisket film. The shield was then sanded smooth.
The bronze armour was sprayed Copper and then fogged over with gold. The gold fog was concentrated at the top of the armour to represent highlights.
The frisket film was used as a mask and the Λ sprayed on to the shield.
!!! Paints
//Incomplete//
|Model Master |Base Skin |
|Model Master |Dark Skin |
|Testors' |Gold |
|Tamiya |Copper | x |
Airfix; 1/72; 10 August 2011
This is not your father's Airfix. Actually, I'm just saying that. It's technically not //my// Airfix.
Despite the generally crude execution of Airfix kits - I have a soft spot in my heart for them. I built a lot of Airfix kits in the 1970s: Carefully saving my allowance and rushing out to the hobby shop to peruse the selection and take home the latest project. The kits were approachable in many senses of the word: They were plentiful, affordable and simple. They left me with warm memories of the hobby but when I went back to relive some of the [[nostalgia]], I discovered poor fit, questionable engineering and crude detail. I had been spoiled by the astonishing offerings from Hasegawa, Fujimi, Trumpeter, Fine Molds, etc.
I received the news that Airfix had emerged from bankruptcy with newly tooled kits with mixed feelings. With an entry-level price ($12 //now// versus 99p //then//).
[<img[text|./spitfire.ixc/Thumbs-1.jpg][./spitfire.ixc/1.jpg]] Opening the box was a pleasant surpirse. The clear pieces ... were! Panel lines were nicely engraved and the pilot well detailed.
The cockpit detail was sparse but appropriate for the scale and level of the kit. I used the pilot to hide the general lack of detail on the cockpit sidewalls but added an instrument panel from plastic sheet. The clear gunsight was discarded in favour of a scratchbuilt item.
Interior surfaces were all painted British Interior ~Grey-Green.
[>img[text|./spitfire.ixc/Thumbs-2.jpg][./spitfire.ixc/2.jpg]] The only problems with the fit of the fuselage were due to user error in removing the parts from the sprues. There were a couple of mysterious holes that had to be filled with plastic rod - one of which turned out to be the fuel filler just forward of the cockpit.
The wings were another matter entirely. The fit was awful. The gaps couldn't be explained by dihedral so plastic sprue was used to fill them.
The main gear was left off for painting but everything else, including aerials and pitot, was attached.
After priming, the undersides were sprayed Azure Blue and then masked off.
[<img[text|./spitfire.ixc/Thumbs-3.jpg][./spitfire.ixc/3.jpg]] Topside was sprayed with the __very last__ of my ~Gunze-Sagnyo Mid-stone - which left no room for touch-ups. This made me nervous so I resprayed with an enamel-based Mid-stone. A darker tint of the base coat was used to accentuate the panel lines, followed by a lighter tint in the panel centres. A thin overall coat of the base colour to blend the different shades.
The fuselage was masked with ropes of silly putty in preparation for the next colour.
Dark Earth was thinned more than usual and sprayed at a low pressure and volume to build it up slowly. The coverage was deliberately uneven to give a weathered effect.
The traditional clearcoat was applied in preparation for decals and boy were there a lot of those!
There was a complete set of stencils - something I've never seen in 1/72. There were over 30 stencils to apply. The decals were very resistant to all of the setting solutions in my arsenal. It was only after the decals received their final top seal that I realized that a razor blade run along the panel lines would have made a big difference.
[>img[text|./spitfire.ixc/Thumbs-4.jpg][./spitfire.ixc/4.jpg]] After the decals were sealed with another clearcoat, the washes were applied: burnt umber on the topside and black on the underside. The flat coat - my usual Testors' lacquer - didn't work out as well as usual. The final result was a light satin.
Wear was added with a silver pencil and a light dusting of pastels at the gun muzzles. I didn't bother with exhaust stains because the Merlins seem to be very clean running engines.
A length of monofilament was added as the antenna wire.
Welcome back Airfix!
!!! Paints
|Humbrol |Dark Earth | 29 |
|Humbrol |Azure | 157 |
|Model Master |Mid-stone |
|Polly Scale |British Interior Green | F505270 |
|Tamiya |Red | X 7 |
|Tamiya |Flat Aluminum | XF 16 |
|Vallejo |Black | 950 |
|Vallejo |Grey black | 862 |
Model subjects related to any series of //Star Trek//
Revell; 1/72
[<img["nose"|./starfury/Thumbs-1.jpg][./starfury/1.jpg]] This model was built in 1998 - before I started keeping a record of the build process so my notes are a little scant.
Pretty much from the box, without modification. Only serious regret is that I didn't cut off those hideous gun barrels and replace them with nested brass tubing.
Overall parts fit was quite poor. Fairing the cockpit smoothly into the hull required quite a bit of sanding with ever finer grades of sandpaper and the wings were just a chore.
[>img["3/4, 'shopped"|./starfury/Thumbs-2.jpg][./starfury/2.jpg]] The pilot figure was "dressed" in Earth Force blue but without being overly meticulous on detail because it would be mostly obscured behind the glass.
Basic "weathering" was done with the air brush and simply "dusting" the wings. Heat discoloration of the thruster nozzles was done by washing the base (gunmetal) with "red rust" and then drybrushing with "steel".
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Bandai; 1/144; 6 January 2018
Not technically it's own kit but one of two models in a single box. The other is the [[AT-ST]]
<html><a href='./T-47/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./T-47/01.jpg" title="high, front, port" alt="topside" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
Actually, calling it a model is a bit of a stretch too - there are only 12 parts. There are actually more stickers than parts - no decals, just the self-adhesive stickers that are usually included in the Bandai Star Wars kits as an alternative to decals.
Assembly was very straightforward and the harpoon was left off until the model was finished to prevent breakage.
Decided to try salt masking again. Painting started with a base coat of //Dark Sea Grey//. The leading edges of the model were dampened and then sprinkled with salt. The main hull colour was a slightly cool, off-white made by adding a drop each of //Sky// and //Sky Gray// to flat white.
I debated painting something other than the base grey squadron colours but the though of intricate masking on this tiny vehicle put an end to that.
The salt was picked off, leaving the model looking more diseased than weathered. The salt crystals were too large for the scale. A thin black was was applied to bring out the detail and then a flat coat applied - for some reason __before__ the stickers went on.
<html><a href='./T-47/02.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./T-47/02.jpg" title="low, aft, starboard" alt="underside" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
The stickers turned out far better than expected. The windows looks decent and the carrier film wasn't so thick that the stickers stood out. All of the stickers, except the windows, received another flat coat.
The harpoon was painted //Gunmetal// with a heavy black wash and then attached to the model. The actuators for the "flaps" were painted //Aluminum//. The cooling fins at the rear were painted //Basalt Grey//.
The guns and engines received a dose of black pastel and that was that.
A nice, quick, little build.
!!! Paints
|Tamiya |Dark Sea Grey | ~XF-54 |
|Tamiya |White | ~XF-2 |
|Tamiya |Sky Grey | ~XF-19 |
|Tamiya |Sky | ~XF-21 |
|Vallejo |Gunmetal | 70.863 |
|Vallejo |Aluminum | 71.062 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 70.869 |
|Vallejo |Flat | 70540 |
!!! References
//The Empire Strikes Back//
Bandai; 1/72; 15 September 2018
<html><a href='./T-65/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./T-65/01.jpg" title="beauty shot" alt="high angle view, starboard" width=150 align="right"></a></html> I finally broke down and decided to build an X-wing. I guess I didn't for the longest time because I thought it was too pedestrian (or something silly like that). This was partly brought on because I have a couple of T-70s in my queue and my experience with the <<tag bandai "Bandai">> <<tag StarWars "Star Wars">> kits has been exceptional so far.
The reference photos of the studio models show the ships as incredibly dirty. Apparently the original models were painted black and then overcoated with layers of translucent white. The inner surfaces of the S-foils look like exposed, rusty engine bays!
My original intention was to build up several sub-assemblies to simplify painting; however, just assembling the individual S-foils, without putting them together, was a step too far. The detail painting should have started //before// putting the greeblies into the wings. The wings were painted with a custom mix of one airbrush cup of //White// with 10 drops of //Sky Grey//. The recesses on the inner surfaces received washes of //Basalt Grey// and Vallejo //Smoke// followed by an //Off White// drybrush to highlight the details. The textured grill work on the engines received a //Basalt Grey// wash. The exposed engine internals were washed with //Basalt Grey// over //Aluminum//, followed by a heavy //Smoke// wash. One panel was painted //Aluminum// with just the //Smoke// wash. That turned out to be a nice effect.
<html><a href='./T-65/02.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./T-65/02.jpg" title="banking away" alt="port side" width=150 align="left"></a></html> A few random panels and trim were painted //Ice Yellow// and blue to lend to the general 3 Rs appearance (Repaint, Repair, Replace) look of the X-wings.
The pilot's jumpsuit was painted //Orange// with //Off White// for the helmet and "bib". The lifesupport box was painted blue grey and the various straps painted //Medium Sea Grey//. The flares on the sleeve and on the leg were painted //Aluminum// and the helmet lens painted //Clear Orange//.
The cockpit was painted with another custom mix of white and grey that was darker than the hull colour but much lighter than //Sky Grey//. A //Basalt Grey// wash and white dry brush brought out the details. Selected panels were painted //Basalt Grey// or black per the reference photos, with the odd tiny detail picked out in red or blue. The seat cushions were painted //Flat Earth// with a yellow ochre drybrush and an umber wash. Wear and tear was represented with silver and graphite pencils.
Once assembled, the rest of the hull was painted with the same custom mix.
The cockpit canopy frame decals proved to be beyond my skills so I turned to paint and masking. //Intermediate Blue// was a nearly perfect match for the canopy colour. Movie stills show the cockpit canopy heavily tinted but the studio model photos show clear glass. My preference is to model the vehicle as it appears on screen, rather than the studio model but I didn't want to obscure all that lovely cockpit detail. A light coat of //Clear Smoke// on the inside of the canopy turned out to be about perfect. Enough colour to provide the impression of tint, without obscuring the view.
With the painting complete, it was time for the gloss coat and decals. The decals responded well to Solvaset and a sharp blade but not so well to clumsy handling: I damaged the hash marks on the upper, starboard S-foil.
<html><a href='./T-65/03.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./T-65/03.jpg" title="check out the engine glow" alt="rear view" width=150 align="right"></a></html> A dark grey panel and pin wash was followed by a coat of Vallejo Flat. Chips and scrapes were represented with //Basalt Grey// and //Aluminum// paint. Black, grey and brown chalk pastel dust was applied as grime, blast stains and to mark repaired panels (and obscure the damaged decal). This time I applied the pastels __after__ the chipping.
The landing gear doors were left removable in case I decided to add the T-65 to a diorama and the wing tip guns left removable to prevent damage.
The diorama base was painted //Sky Grey// overall, followed with light grey and white dry brushing and a light, black wash.
In the end I was very happy with the result and, more importantly, enjoyed the process of building the kit. Maybe I shouldn't have waited so long to build an X-wing.
//Update// looking at the model, it's still too clean, especially in between the S-foils.
!!! Paints
|Vallejo |Ice Yellow | 70.858 |
|Vallejo |Off White | 70.820 |
|Vallejo |Gunmetal | 70.863 |
|Vallejo |Smoke | 939 |
|Vallejo |Aluminum | 71.062 |
|Vallejo |Medium Sea Grey | 70.870 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 70.869 |
|Vallejo |Flat Earth | 70.983 |
|Vallejo |Flat | 70.540 |
|Vallejo |Orange | 910 |
|Tamiya |White | ~XF-2 |
|Tamiya |Sky Grey | ~XF-19 |
|Tamiya |Clear Orange | X-26 |
|Tamiya |Clear Smoke | X-19 |
|Testors' Acryl |Intermediate Blue |
!!! References
[[Starship Modeler|http://www.starshipmodeler.com/starwars/smith_sw.htm]]
Italeri; 1/72; April 2009
I've been meaning to build a T34 for some time and this seemed like a nice, bite-sized way of scratching that itch. This also provided an nice test bed for a winter paint scheme. Perhaps it would be a chance to refine my technique before attempting the same thing on a [[more expensive kit|Flakvierling Sd.Kfz 7/1]].
[<img[text|./t34/Thumbs-1.jpg][./t34/1.jpg]] Assembly was organized into: running gear, turret, upper and lower hulls for ease of painting. The worst part of the assembly was the multi-part turret. There were quite a few fit problems and a lot of filling was required. The fit of the hatches was also quite poor. The road wheels were easy to paint but possibly inaccurate; i.e., they are cast with prominent tread, like truck tires, that wasn't visible in any pictures.
With the main sub-assemblies complete, it was time to tackle the link-and-length tracks. It was not as easy as hoped. Some of the "lengths" were malformed, with missing half-links - that had to be hidden. I painted the track before assembly - which was a questionable decision. They got a base coat of leather brown and red leather, followed by a black wash and a fair bit of silver pencil. The track assembly was a chore - greatly complicated by the paint. I tried white glue and liquid cement but eventually had to resort to CA. When the first track was finally assembled, it didn't fit by __half__ a link. I ascribed the poor fit to poor technique. I was partly right. The second track was off by a quarter link.
: //my notes stop here for some reason...//
[>img[text|./t34/Thumbs-2.jpg][./t34/2.jpg]] After final assembly, the tank was painted with flat green. The choice of colour was simple since there was so much variation in Russian armour colours and the whole thing was going to be covered with a winter whitewash.
A limited gloss coat was applied as a base for the decals - all 2 of them. When the decals were sealed, it was time for the winter camouflage.
For the whitewash, I tried mixing white pastel dust with water to form a chalk slurry. The slurry was fairly opaque and a little heavy and it was hard to control during application. Once dry, a damp cotton swab was used to scrub the whitewash off the national markings and to simulate wear in the high traffic areas. Unfortunately, this technique is somewhat binary - it's either there or its not.
The results are somewhat heavy handed and I would say that using pastel dust mixed with water was not a successful technique for simulating whitewash.
!!! Paints
|Tamiya |Flat Green | XF 5 |
|Vallejo |Leather Brown | 871 |
|Vallejo |Red leather | 818 |
Bandai; 1/72; 26 April 2020
After beating my head against the [[Angel Interceptor|Angel Interceptor (Airfix)]] it was time for an easier kit and the pile of <<tag StarWars "Star Wars">> kits was getting conspicuous.
<html><a href='./TIE-in/1.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE-in/1.jpg" title="standard beauty shot" alt="front 3/4 beauty shot" width=150 align="right"></a></html> The pilot figure was somewhat simplified, which was a surprise after the figures included with the [[TIE/sf]] and the exquisite (but invisible) [[AT-AT]] pilots. Understandable given the limited visibility into the cockpit. The figure was given an overall coat of black and then the shiny bits (helmet, chest piece, boots and gloves) were brushed with a coat of [[Future]]. The eye slits on the helmet were painted white, followed by a couple of coats of //Smoke// to give a translucent brown effect. A white drybrush and a touch of blue on the life support unit finished the job.
Photos of the studio set showed the interior of the cockpit was much lighter in colour than expected. The interior surfaces were painted //Sky Grey// with a heavy black wash, followed by a pass with a white drybrush. Both interior halves of the "golf ball" received this treatment as did the exterior canopy framing, the little half-wall and the interior surface of the pilot's hatch. Details were picked out with black, //Basalt Grey//, //Aluminum//, //Copper//, blue and red.
<html><a href='./TIE-in/2.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE-in/2.jpg" alt="top view" width=150 align="left"></a></html> Decided to use the stickers instead of the decals for the interior display panels, thinking they would be easier to apply. In the end it was a wash: The stickers were quicker to apply but harder to reposition.
With the pilot's "golf ball" buttoned up and inside the fuselage, it was time to tackle the "wings" and solar panels. The wings were tacked together without the solar panels. The wings and fuselage were pre-shaded and the solar panels got a solid coat of black while they were still on the sprues.
<html><a href='./TIE-in/3.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE-in/3.jpg" title="check out the ion engines" alt="aft view" width=150 align="right"></a></html> The outer sections of the solar panel frames were separated from the sprue and carefully labeled with masking tape so they could be painted.
I have mixed feelings about the colour of TIE fighters but have always kinda liked the blue. The fact that the Interceptor makes it's first appearance in //Return of the Jedi// and is clearly blue makes it easier. I briefly considered a red paint job, inspired by the Royal Guard ~TIEs in the X-wing miniatures game but in the end, it's about the movies for me. And I kinda like the blue.
The biggest problem was finding the right shade of blue. The Internet is full of suggestions. In the end it came down to a photo of the studio models and a bottle of Polly Scale //Intermediate Blue// - which was a nearly perfect match for the models in the photo.
<html><a href='./TIE-in/4.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE-in/4.jpg" title="some of the greeblie detail painting is visible" alt="front 3/4 view" width=150 align="left"></a></html> The first pass was a thin coat that allowed the pre-shading to show through. This was followed by a light tint of the base coat in the panel centres. Everything was followed by //Sky Grey// dry brushed over everything. A coat of [[Future]] was followed by a black wash and then sealed with Vallejo Matt Medium. Unfortunately, the flat-clear-flat sequence overwhelmed the subtle pre-shading.
With the main painting complete, it was time for final assembly. Bandai's engineering around the panels and framing is wonderful. Everything just fit and the seams essentially disappeared.
<html><a href='./TIE-in/5.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE-in/5.jpg" title="Thank you!" alt="GOMBS 2020 award" width=150 align="right"></a></html> Fine detail painting followed final assembly. Touches of copper, silver and black were applied to a few, random greeblies on the hull and wings. The wing tip guns were initially painted black but it didn't look right so they got repainted //Intermediate Blue// with touches of copper. The eponymous engines were painted black with clear red over white inside the thruster tubes - which made the engines pop nicely.
Assorted panels were painted //Medium Sea Grey// instead of using the supplied decals. The exterior canopy frames was painted //Dark Iron//.
The base was painted //Sky Grey// with a black wash and touches of copper, aluminum, red and medium sea grey to relieve the monotony.
In the end, the only decals were on the pilot's helmet.
Really pleased with the end result and enjoyed the build process!
----
Update: Received the "Best Space Faring Vehicle" at the GOMBS 2020 Show
!!! Paints
|Polly Scale |Intermediate Blue | 505094 |
|Tamiya |Clear Red | X-27 |
|Tamiya |Dark Iron | ~XF-84 |
|Vallejo |Black Wash | 73.201 |
|Vallejo |Black | 70.950 |
|Vallejo |Chrome | 71.064 |
|Vallejo |Highlight German Black | 70.337 |
|Vallejo |Sky Grey | 70.989 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 70.869 |
|Vallejo |~Grey-Black | 70.943 |
|Vallejo |Medium Sea Grey | 70.870 |
|Vallejo |Copper | 71.999 |
|Vallejo |Aluminum | 71.062 |
|Vallejo |Smoke | 70.939 |
!!! References
//Return of the Jedi//
Fine Molds; 1/72; January 2005
<html><a href='./TIE/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE/01.jpg" title="beauty shot" alt="beauty shot" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
The second of my <<tag finemolds "Fine Molds">> <<tag StarWars "Star Wars">> kits. The kit was built with a vignette in mind from the begining.
!!! Model
As with the [[Delta-7|Delta-7 Aethersprite]], the kit was exquisite. Beautiful casting, intricate details and pretty much flawless seams. No cleanup required. This one even came with canopy masks!
The cockpit went together very quickly. Overall interior colour was //RLM 02// with the usual wash. The "gun sight" was painted //German Grey// for contrast. The interior structure protruded into the field of view and the edges were painted black to conceal them.
<html><a href='./TIE/02.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE/02.jpg" title="front close up" alt="front close up" width=150 align="left"></a></html> The solar panels were painted black and the hull was //Light Ghost Grey// overall. A few details were painted //German Grey//, like the "clasps" beside the cockpit window and the window frames. After the base hull colour was applied the model was clear coated and the very few decals applied. A [[sludge wash|Sludge wash]] was apl;ied, followed by a clear, flat coat.
The cockpit hatch was left open. A couple of hinges were fashioned from slices of plastic ring. The pilot was omitted (but painted anyway).
<html><a href='./TIE/03.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE/03.jpg" title="into the cockpit from above" alt="into the cockpit from above" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
The canopy masks proved a little trickier to use than expected. They had to be cut out before they could be applied.
!!! Diorama
Size and space limitations made it impossible to follow the rules of dioramas; i.e., the vehicles and walls were square to the edges of the diorama.
Using various pieces of plastic sheet (plain and textured) the hangar desk, walls, elevator and control landing were created. The walls were "decorated" with random appliques of plastic squares to give it a little visual interest. The doors were made from V-groove panels and the hand rails from I-beam rod.
<html><a href='./TIE/04.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE/04.jpg" title="the whole scene" alt="the whole scene" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
The stand supplied with the kit was cut up to provide the maintenance support brackets for the fighter.
The decking was painted gloss black and the walls received a coat of //Dark Gull Grey//.
The figures came from various 1/72 sets, all painted //German Grey//. One of the Imperial Stormtroopers that came with the kit was added to the scene too.
I was never totally happy with this little diorama. The hazard markings should be white, rather than bumblebee and it seems cramped. It's sterile too that's how all of the Imperial facilities are portrayed.
//The Force Awakens// reinforced my desire to redo the scene ... in my spare time.
!!! Paints
|Aeromaster |Dark Gull Grey | FS 63231 |
|~Gunze-Sangyo |RLM 02 | H70 |
|Tamiya |German Grey | ~XF-63 |
|Testors Acryl |Light Ghost Grey | 4752 |
!!! Resources
Airfix RAF Ground Crew
Preiser German Tank Crew
Hasegawa US Pilot / Ground Crew Set
Bandai; 1/72; 7 May 2020
Welll, I was on a roll. Hot off the [[TIE Interceptor]], which was easy and fun and I still had all the paints. "Same-same but different". Thought about painting this one grey but I already have one of [[those|TIE fighter #1]] and I like the blue.
<html><a href='./TIE-ln/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE-ln/01.jpg" title="beauty shot" alt="front view" width=150 align="right"></a></html> The pilot figure was the same simplified version as the [[TIE Interceptor]]. The figure was given an overall coat of black and then the shiny bits (helmet, chest piece, boots and gloves) were brushed with a coat of [[Future]]. The eye slits on the helmet were painted white, followed by a couple of coats of //Smoke// to give a translucent brown effect. A white drybrush and a touch of blue on the life support unit finished the job.
The interior surfaces were painted //Sky Grey// with a heavy black wash, followed by a pass with a white drybrush. Both interior halves of the "golf ball" received this treatment as did the exterior canopy framing, the little half-wall and the interior surface of the pilot's hatch. Seat cushions were painted //Basalt grey// and the control column got touches of silver and black. The rest of the details were picked out with black, //Basalt Grey//, //Aluminum//, //Copper//, blue and red. This time I used the decals for the display panels and they were a little easier than the stickers.
<html><a href='./TIE-ln/02.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE-ln/02.jpg" title="mouseover text" alt="rear view" width=150 align="left"></a></html> Buttoned up the "golf ball" and assembled the main hull. The solar panel framing was left in pieces for painting. Everything was painted //Intermediate Blue// overall and the details were painted //Medium Sea Grey//. The latter once again in lieu of the decals. With that done, it was time for the clear coat.
There was a surprising number of decals in this kit - mostly warning placards. Managed to misplace a few of the decals and had to resort the stickers. Surprisingly, the stickers were thinner than the decals and looked good once burnished down. Everything was sealed with [[Future]] but just brushed on instead of spraying an entire model.
<html><a href='./TIE-ln/03.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE-ln/03.jpg" title="mouseover text" alt="top view" width=150 align="right"></a></html> The next step was to apply the black wash. I thought that thinned black paint would be better that the pre-mixed black wash but the paint stained somewhat. Cleaned that up and switched to Rustall Black Wash but it turned out to be very heavy and had a slightly bluish tint. Back to the Vallejo wash.
Sealed everything with //Matt Medium//, thinned with the Vallejo Airbrush Thinner.
Front canopy frame was painted //German Grey// with a black wash to pick out the details. The details at the muzzles of the laser cannons were painted //Copper//. The thruster tubes of the ion engines were painted black and the insides painted white before adding //Clear Red//. Random greeblies on the panels and at the roots were picked out in //Copper//, //Aluminum//, black and red.
<html><a href='./TIE-ln/04.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE-ln/04.jpg" title="slightly closer view" alt="front view from slightly below" width=150 align="left"></a></html> Each solar panel was comprised of 9 different parts. Surprisingly complex but easy to assemble. The parts fit was really quite good and only a little persuasion (clamps and glue) was required for a good fit.
The base was painted //Sky Grey// as usual with a black wash and random greeblies picked out in the usual assortment of colours: Copper, black, aluminum and //Medium Sea Grey//.
Once again I was really pleased with both the results and the experience. I really couldn't say whether this one or the Fine Molds [[kit|TIE fighter #1]] is better. Both have excellent engineering and build up nicely.
!!! Paints
|Polly Scale |Intermediate Blue | 505094 |
|Tamiya |Clear Red | X-27 |
|Tamiya |German Grey | ~XF-63 |
|Vallejo |Black Wash | 73.201 |
|Vallejo |Black | 70.950 |
|Vallejo |Chrome | 71.064 |
|Vallejo |Highlight German Black | 70.337 |
|Vallejo |Sky Grey | 70.989 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 70.869 |
|Vallejo |~Grey-Black | 70.943 |
|Vallejo |Medium Sea Grey | 70.870 |
|Vallejo |Copper | 71.999 |
|Vallejo |Aluminum | 71.062 |
|Vallejo |Smoke | 70.939 |
!!! References
//Return of the Jedi//
Bandai; 1/72; 18 January 2018
Another <<tag bandai "Bandai">> <<tag StarWars "Star Wars">> kit. With the release of the latest movie, I wanted to add the next generation TIE fighter as a companion to the one I had [[already built|TIE fighter #1]]. <<tag finemolds "Fine Molds">> was no longer producing Star Wars kits but the recent Bandai efforts has been really nice experiences.
<html><a href='./TIE-sf/1.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE-sf/1.jpg" title="beauty shot" alt="low angle front view, port side" width=150 align="right"></a></html> Contruction started with the solar panels. The panels and framing were moulded separately, making painting so much easier. To tone down the starkness of the white, I used a light ivory to paint the panels. It took far more paint than expected to cover the panels. Following the suggestions of another builder, I oversprayed the white with a light coat of //Smoke//. The first pass with the airbrush sputtered and spat, requiring another couple of passes and the end result was a little dark for my taste.
<html><a href='./TIE-sf/2.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE-sf/2.jpg" title="no one will ever see those decals and details" alt="three pilots - all black" width=150 align="left"></a></html> There were three nicely moulded pilot figures included with the kit - two seated and one standing. A bit of a challenge to paint because they were all black. First was an all-over coat of flat black. The eye ports in the helmets were painted white, followed by multiple coats of Vallejo //Smoke// to replicate the brown tint that can be seen in some of the camera shots of the pilots ... not that anyone will ever see that detail. The hard parts (helmet, chest units, bracers and boots) received a coat of [[Future]] - which altered the colour and made the parts stand out. The soft parts got a quick drybrush of //Highlight German Black// for contrast. Detail painting consisted of //Chrome// on the helmet valves, //Basalt Grey// on the air hoses and red, white and blue dots for the life support telltales. The (tiny) decals needed Solvaset to settle down.
<html><a href='./TIE-sf/3.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE-sf/3.jpg" title="another beauty shot" alt="high angle view from the front, port side" width=150 align="right"></a></html> The cockpit layout was somewhat confusing and it took a little study (watching the movie) to get a feel for it. The base colour was //Medium Sea Grey//, followed with a black wash and a //Sky Grey// drybrusk to bring out all the intricate detail. The control columns were painted grey instead of the silver indicated in the instructions. Instrument panel housings were painted //Jet Exhaust//. Wear was added using a silver pencil. Pretty much all of the decals in the kit are in the cockpit. They were plentiful, bright and also needed Solvaset to settle over the details.
I opted to use the clear plastic parts for the cockpit canopy and hatch, instead of the "empty" frames. It impedes visibility but I prefer the overall look.
<html><a href='./TIE-sf/4.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE-sf/4.jpg" title="you can just see the gunners window" alt="rear view" width=150 align="left"></a></html> The fuselage seams needed a little persuasion to disappear. Once the "golf ball" was buttoned up, everything was painted //Dark Iron//, including the solar panel framing. //Dark Iron// is a bit too brown for my tastes so it was followed with a heavy black wash to darken it. A drybrush of //Highlight German Black// followed to make the details pop (despite the fact that it's another brownish shade).
Silver and "B" pencils were used to highlight and weather various panels. The final step was to add the red panels denoting this as a "Special Forces" vessel. The panels were pre-shaded with black and then painted gloss //Red// (because that's what I had) and then hand brushed with Vallejo Matt Medium.
<html><a href='./TIE-sf/5.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./TIE-sf/5.jpg" title="the ventral turret stands out better with the laser blasts inserted" alt="underside view" width=150 align="right"></a></html> Final detail painting consisted of //Metallic Grey// for the canopy framing and the "H" brackets just outboard of the "tractor wheels" at the joints to the solar panels.
Final assembly was very simple. The solar panel frames were pressed together and then pressed on to the fuselage. No glue was used for final assembly.
A very enjoyable and relaxing build. Not altogether happy with the colour choices - I would prefer a cooler colour palette. That'll teach me to put a little more thought into the suggestions.
//Update: a couple of years later I found a set of vinyl masks intended for this kit - sitting in my stash//
!!! Paints
|Model Master |Jet Exhaust |
|Tamiya |White | ~XF-2 |
|Tamiya |Yellow | ~XF-3 |
|Tamiya |Red | X-7 |
|Tamiya |Clear Smoke | X-19 |
|Tamiya |Metallic Grey | ~XF-56 |
|Tamiya |Dark Iron | ~XF-85 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 70.869 |
|Vallejo |Black | 70.950 |
|Vallejo |Chrome | 71.064 |
|Vallejo |Highlight German Black | 70.337 |
|Vallejo |Medium Sea Grey | 70.870 |
|Vallejo |Sky Grey | 70.989 |
|Vallejo |Smoke | 70.939 |
!!! References
//The Force Awakens//
[[You Tube|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPFCL-l9WqM]]
!!! Resources
chrome (or bare metal) reflector with clear red (or orange) on the inner surface of the lens.
Manufacturer; scale; completion date
<html><a href='./subdir/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./subdir/01.jpg" title="mouseover text" alt="description" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
!!! Paints
|Mfgr |colour | # |
!!! References
!!! Resources
Bandai; 1/700; May 2009
[<img[text|./revenge/Thumbs-1.jpg][./revenge/1.jpg]] Another impulse buy ... but in my defense, it looked cool! It looks like a spaceship as drawn by an 8 year old (no wonder it appealed). It took quite a while to track down the subject of the kit. It was obviously part of the //Space Battleship Yamato// a.k.a. //Star Blazers// universe but there's a lot to choose from there. It turned out to be the //Revenge//, Desslok's flagship from the second or third season shows. The //Revenge// was a modified Gamilon Battle Carrier - the modification was to add the "Desslok Cannon".
The kit itself is moulded in shockingly red plastic, probably because the prototype is supposed to be red. Red is a ... challenging... colour to render realistically.
Assembly was quick and straightforward. The hardest part was planning the sub-assemblies for ease of painting. This was made more complicated by the articulation of some of the larger parts; i.e., the flight deck. Overall fit was quite good, not Bandai's best but only a few (very long) seams needing dressing.
[>img[text|./revenge/Thumbs-2.jpg][./revenge/2.jpg]] The only real weakness was the fit of the parts that transformed the ship from "carrier" to "battle". The flight deck is split longitudinally and the halves flip over to reveal a BFG and an array of smaller guns.
Painting was (yet another) experiment in pre-shading. The model was primed with white (to make the red "pop) and then the panel lines were sprayed black. After the first red coat, I thought that I had made a terrible mistake. The black shading was very stark. Two and a half coats later my misgivings eased.
After the base coat dried, I applied a black wash to the panel lines that worked really well with the pre-shading.
The support struts for the BFG were painted silver and then final assembly began.
Once assembled, I discovered two things:
# the finish was somewhat delicate
# the toy-like transforming flight deck was very finnicky
[<img[text|./revenge/Thumbs-3.jpg][./revenge/3.jpg]] The solutions were simple: stop fiddling with it and fix it in cannon mode. The latter was simple since without the gun, it was just a red Gamilon battle carrier - that and the fact that and the carrier deck doesn't sit flat with the cannon stowed :-).
Weathering consisted of applying black pastel dust to the drive sections, torpedoes and missile tubes.
After all was said and done, I was pleased with the kit. The engineering wasn't Bandai's best but it was certainly above average for Sci-Fi kits. The red finish could have been a disaster but was surprisingly "deep" and not monotonous. My only regret is that the decks don't flip.
!!! Paints
|Tamiya |Red | X 7 |
!!! References
Tips and techniques
* MicroBlog
* [[Nostalgic|Nostalgia]] modeling
* Finescale Modeler [[article index|./FSM.index.html]] (//now Wikified//)
* Paint [[cross-reference chart|paint.list.html]]
* [[Making Your Own Decals]]
* Working with [[epoxy putty|epoxy.putty.html]]
<<list filter [tag[tip]] [sort[title]]>>
!Inline Formatting /% DEBUG: buggy (-> monospaced) %/
|!Option|!Syntax|!Output|
|bold font|{{{''bold''}}}|''bold''|
|italic type|{{{//italic//}}}|//italic//|
|underlined text|{{{__underlined__}}}|__underlined__|
|strikethrough text|{{{--strikethrough--}}}|--strikethrough--|
|superscript text|{{{^^super^^script}}}|^^super^^script|
|subscript text|{{{~~sub~~script}}}|~~sub~~script|
|highlighted text|{{{@@highlighted@@}}}|@@highlighted@@|
|preformatted text|{{{{{{preformatted}}}}}}|{{{preformatted}}}|
!Block Elements
!!Headings
{{{
!Heading 1
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<<<
!Heading 1
!!Heading 2
!!!Heading 3
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!!Lists
{{{
* unordered list, level 1
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# ordered list, level 1
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; definition list, term
: definition list, description
}}}
<<<
* unordered list, level 1
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*** unordered list, level 3
# ordered list, level 1
## ordered list, level 2
### unordered list, level 3
; definition list, term
: definition list, description
<<<
!!Blockquotes /% DEBUG: hack %/
{{{
> blockquote, level 1
>> blockquote, level 2
>>> blockquote, level 3
<<<
blockquote
<<<
}}}
<<<
> blockquote, level 1
>> blockquote, level 2
>>> blockquote, level 3
> blockquote
<<<
!!Preformatted Text /% DEBUG: hack %/
{{{
{{{
preformatted (e.g. code)
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}}}
<<<
{{{
preformatted (e.g. code)
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<<<
!!Tables
{{{
|CssClass|k
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|~| ... |
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|caption|c
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''Annotation:''
* The {{{>}}} marker creates a "colspan", causing the current cell to
merge with the one to the right.
* The {{{~}}} marker creates a "rowspan", causing the current cell to
merge with the one above.
<<<
|CssClass|k
|!heading column 1|!heading column 2|
|row 1, column 1|row 1, column 2|
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|>|COLSPAN|
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|caption|c
<<<
!!Images /% DEBUG: to do %/
cf. [[TiddlyWiki.com|http://www.tiddlywiki.com/#EmbeddedImages]]
!Hyperlinks
* [[WikiWords|WikiWord]] are automatically transformed to hyperlinks to
the respective tiddler
** the automatic transformation can be suppressed by preceding the
respective WikiWord with a tilde ({{{~}}}): {{{~WikiWord}}}
* [[PrettyLinks]] are enclosed in square brackets and contain the
desired tiddler name: {{{[[tiddler name]]}}}
** optionally, a custom title or description can be added, separated by
a pipe character ({{{|}}}): {{{[[title|target]]}}}<br>'''N.B.:''' In
this case, the target can also be any website (i.e. URL).
!Custom Styling
* {{{@@CssProperty:value;CssProperty:value;...@@}}}<br>''N.B.:'' CSS
color definitions should use lowercase letters to prevent the
inadvertent creation of WikiWords.
* {{{{{customCssClass{...}}}}}} /% DEBUG: buggy %/
* raw HTML can be inserted by enclosing the respective code in HTML
tags: {{{<html> ... </html>}}}
!Special Markers
* {{{<br>}}} forces a manual line break
* {{{----}}} creates a horizontal ruler
* [[HTML entities|http://www.tiddlywiki.com/#HtmlEntities]]
* {{{<<macroName>>}}} calls the respective [[macro|Macros]]
* To hide text within a tiddler so that it is not displayed, it can be
wrapped in {{{/%}}} and {{{%/}}}.<br/>This can be a useful trick for
hiding drafts or annotating complex markup.
* To prevent wiki markup from taking effect for a particular section,
that section can be enclosed in three double quotes: e.g.
{{{"""WikiWord"""}}}.
Get a move on!
<<list filter "[tag[incomplete && (! TiddlerTemplates)]]" [sort[Title]]>>
/***
|Name:|ToggleTagPlugin|
|Description:|Makes a checkbox which toggles a tag in a tiddler|
|Version:|3.1.0a|
|Date:|27-Jun-2011|
|Source:|http://mptw.tiddlyspot.com/#ToggleTagPlugin|
|Author:|Simon Baird <simon.baird@gmail.com>|
|License:|http://mptw.tiddlyspot.com/#TheBSDLicense|
!!Usage
{{{<<toggleTag }}}//{{{TagName TiddlerName LabelText}}}//{{{>>}}}
* TagName - the tag to be toggled, default value "checked"
* TiddlerName - the tiddler to toggle the tag in, default value the current tiddler
* LabelText - the text (gets wikified) to put next to the check box, default value is '{{{[[TagName]]}}}' or '{{{[[TagName]] [[TiddlerName]]}}}'
(If a parameter is '.' then the default will be used)
* TouchMod flag - if non empty then touch the tiddlers mod date. Note, can set config.toggleTagAlwaysTouchModDate to always touch mod date
!!Examples
|Code|Description|Example|h
|{{{<<toggleTag>>}}}|Toggles the default tag (checked) in this tiddler|<<toggleTag>>|
|{{{<<toggleTag TagName>>}}}|Toggles the TagName tag in this tiddler|<<toggleTag TagName>>|
|{{{<<toggleTag TagName TiddlerName>>}}}|Toggles the TagName tag in the TiddlerName tiddler|<<toggleTag TagName TiddlerName>>|
|{{{<<toggleTag TagName TiddlerName 'click me'>>}}}|Same but with custom label|<<toggleTag TagName TiddlerName 'click me'>>|
|{{{<<toggleTag . . 'click me'>>}}}|dot means use default value|<<toggleTag . . 'click me'>>|
!!Notes
* If TiddlerName doesn't exist it will be silently created
* Set label to '-' to specify no label
* See also http://mgtd-alpha.tiddlyspot.com/#ToggleTag2
!!Known issues
* Doesn't smoothly handle the case where you toggle a tag in a tiddler that is current open for editing
* Should convert to use named params
***/
//{{{
if (config.toggleTagAlwaysTouchModDate == undefined) config.toggleTagAlwaysTouchModDate = false;
merge(config.macros,{
toggleTag: {
createIfRequired: true,
shortLabel: "[[%0]]",
longLabel: "[[%0]] [[%1]]",
handler: function(place,macroName,params,wikifier,paramString,tiddler) {
var tiddlerTitle = tiddler ? tiddler.title : '';
var tag = (params[0] && params[0] != '.') ? params[0] : "checked";
var title = (params[1] && params[1] != '.') ? params[1] : tiddlerTitle;
var defaultLabel = (title == tiddlerTitle ? this.shortLabel : this.longLabel);
var label = (params[2] && params[2] != '.') ? params[2] : defaultLabel;
var touchMod = (params[3] && params[3] != '.') ? params[3] : "";
label = (label == '-' ? '' : label); // dash means no label
var theTiddler = (title == tiddlerTitle ? tiddler : store.getTiddler(title));
var cb = createTiddlyCheckbox(place, label.format([tag,title]), theTiddler && theTiddler.isTagged(tag), function(e) {
if (!store.tiddlerExists(title)) {
if (config.macros.toggleTag.createIfRequired) {
var content = store.getTiddlerText(title); // just in case it's a shadow
store.saveTiddler(title,title,content?content:"",config.options.txtUserName,new Date(),null);
}
else
return false;
}
if ((touchMod != "" || config.toggleTagAlwaysTouchModDate) && theTiddler)
theTiddler.modified = new Date();
store.setTiddlerTag(title,this.checked,tag);
return true;
});
}
}
});
//}}}
Draughtman's dividers or plasticene.
: //Rick Chin Memorial Build//
Cyber Hobby; 1:200; December 28, 2017
I've always kind of liked the Tu-95, sort of the way I like dinosaurs. Huge, ungainly and anachronistic. I have a soft spot for the "Badger" too but just don't have the shelf space for the 1:72 versions produced by Trumpeter a few years ago.
The opportunity came to build one when I picked one up at the close out of ''Uncle Bill's Hobbies'' in the wake of Rick Chin's passing.
<html><a href='./Tu-95MS/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./Tu-95MS/01.jpg" title="high, front left" alt="high, front left" width=200 align="right"></a></html>Cyber Hobby is apparently owned by Dragon but this particular kit doesn't seem to have much Dragon DNA in it. It's obviously an altered version of an older model of Tu-95. There are quite a few parts on the sprues that would be at home on an earlier version of the plane (but are not used in this version) and a lot of details on the model itself that are at best wildly inaccurate. There was lots of flash and many of the square edges mating surfaces had rounded off.
It seemed like a simple build - tiny sclae, not too many parts. A nice filler build. "Low-hanging fruit", so to speak.
One of the props was damaged on the sprue. A sign of things to come as the props are very fragile in this scale.
Decided to build this as an "airshow version"; i.e., without the cruise missile racks that make this very much the MS version.
There was no detail in the cockpit at all but given the scale and size of the cockpit windows, that's just as well. The cockpit was painted //Russian Interior Green// just to give the impression of the space.
The nose was loaded with small lead shot to prevent it being a "tail sitter". The fuselage went together without any fuss. Much to my surprise, I managed to get part of the seam absolutely perfect. A glimpse of perfection.
Things started to go wrong with the tail gun - there wasn't one. The first thought was the Carpet Monster but a scan of the sprues and finally the parts map in the instructions showed that the part never existed. Managed to scratch build a working replacement out of various sizes of plastic rod. The replacement guns are a little too thick for the scale but look OK.
The tail section (gunner's position) turned out to be much narrower than the fuselage and there was a similar problem with the engine nacelles.
When checking the reference photos, it turned out that the ventral gun turret didn't exist on the prototype. For that matter, most the antennas and other greeblies that were so painstakingly added weren't there either so off they all came.
The damaged prop blade separated from the hub - which was not unexpected. It was reattached by drilling a hole in the hub and cutting a notch in the blade for a small length of plant wire. The notch game a much larger gluing area that a simple butt joint - that and the blade was too small to drill a hole into. Given the delicacy of the the props in general, I opted to forgo having rotating props and glued the props in place after assembly and painting to minimize damage.
The painting instructions turned out to be highly simplified. I resorted to the Internet but couldn't find any comprehensive images or instructions. Falling back to airshow photos, that don't show the upper surfaces, I settled on a scheme of overall //Aluminum// with //Royal Light Grey// on the upper surface of the wings. Control surfaces were painted //Chrome// and the engine exhausts / nacelle tips received a dark tint //Aluminum// to set it apart. The leading edge of the vertical stabilizer was painted //Greyish Blue//. I opted to simplify the complex patter of white panels on the engine nacelles and used the supplied white decals to give the impression of a complex pattern. Black pastel was used for the exhaust stains.
<html><a href='./Tu-95MS/02.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./Tu-95MS/02.jpg" title="hight, right rear" alt="hight, right rear" width=200 align="left"></a></html> The landing gear wheel hubs look a little odd - the nose and main gear hubs have different colours. The nose gear was painted //U.S. Interior Yellow// and the main gear painted //Cockpit Green//. The gear wells, struts and doors were also painter //Cockpit Green// with a little drybrushing and washes. I was worried that the nose gear would not be strong enough to hold the model. Those fears turned out to be unfounded.
Final assembly consisted of adding the landing gear, gear doors and props. Unfortunately, even with the weight in the nose, the model turned out to be a tail sitter.
Final detail painting focused on the formation lights and propellers. The formation lights were clear read and green over white. The propellers had a slightly more complex paint job that usual: front surfaces black with a silver strip on the leading edges of (counter-rotating) blades, rear surfaces white with black strips on the leading edges and finally yellow tips to the blades.
The model turned out better than expected but that is still a long way from good.
!!! Paints
|Model Master |Russian Interior Green | 2135 |
|Tamiya |Black | ~XF-1 |
|Tamiya |White | ~XF-2 |
|Tamiya |Yellow | ~XF-3 |
|Tamiya |Flat Aluminum | ~XF-16 |
|Tamiya |Cockpit Green | ~XF-71 |
|Tamiya |Royal Light Grey | ~XF-80 |
|Tamiya |Rubber Black | ~XF-85 |
|Vallejo |U.S. Interior Yellow | 71.107 |
|Vallejo |Aluminum | 71.062 |
|Vallejo |Chrome | 71.064 |
|Vallejo |~AMT-7 Greyish Blue | 71.318 |
|Vallejo |Intense Blue | 70.925 |
This techniquecame from a model railroad show.
# Take a length of small guage wire and fold into a loop.
# Chuck the open ends in a drill and twisted and hook the loop over a nail or hook in a board
# Twist slowly, adding small strands of "grass" to the twists and trap them. These strands will be branches.
# Cover the lower portion of the trunk with shrink tubing (2mm diameter) to hide the wire.
# Paint the "skeleton" of the tree with grey (or some orther barkinsh colour).
# Spray the upper portion of the tree and branches with a spray adhesive
# Coated with flock (or other leafy material).
# Repeat until satisfied.
Starcrafts; 1/1400
[<img["3/4 view"|./ncc-50446/Thumbs-0.jpg][./ncc-50446/0.jpg]] A local hobby shop was clearing out its collection of SF resin kits and having never built one I picked up the //Crazy Horse// for the princely sum of $10.
Molding quality was quite reasonable and pin holes were few and far between. The detail was a little soft around warp engines, the saucer edge and the aft of the primary (only) hull. One of the pylons was quite warped: time and hot water fixed the worst of it but it's still quite obvious. [>img["head on"|./ncc-50446/Thumbs-1.jpg][./ncc-50446/1.jpg]]
There being only 7 parts, assembly was very straightforward. Seam filling was not too tedious although getting the warp engines smoothly faired to the support pylons took a little effort. The only modification was to cut small rectangles of thin Evergreen plastic to add as manouvering thruters.
[<img["bow"|./ncc-50446/Thumbs-2.jpg][./ncc-50446/2.jpg]] Painting was very straightforward, lacking a paint guide I used ~NCC-1701/D as a guide. The base hull colour was Duck Egg Blue, while the aztec panels were done by hand with Light Grey. The phaser strips were metallic grey and the lifeboat hatches Radome Tan. There wasn't much to work with on the tips of the warp nacelles and they were just painted gloss red. The sensor strips and nacelle side both painted bright blue.
[>img["topside"|./ncc-50446/Thumbs-3.jpg][./ncc-50446/3.jpg]] The model was weathered with a black acrylic wash, which brought out the recessed panel details very nicely. The whole thing was sealed with Future to provide a good surface for the decals but I was caught off gaurd by self-adhesive decals. They were easy to apply but a little thick, making it difficult to settle them down over details and blend into the finish.
This was my first resin kit. Overall it was a good introduction to working with this type of media.
!!! Paints
|Model Master |Duck Egg | ~FS35622 |
|Model Master |Light Grey | ~FS36495 |
|Model Master |Radome Tan | ~FS33613 |
|Testors' |Red | N/A |
|Tamiya |Metallic Grey | XF 56 |
|Testors' |Yellow | N/A |
|Polly S |Dragon Blue | 501432 |
!!! References
~NCC-1701-D paint references.
AMT; 1/1400
[<img["topside"|./ncc-1701-e/Thumbs-1.jpg][./ncc-1701-e/1.jpg]] This model was built in 1998 - before I started keeping a record of the build process so my notes are a little scant.
No special tips or tricks - just straight out of the box with a lot of very tedious masking.
[>img["underside"|./ncc-1701-e/Thumbs-2.jpg][./ncc-1701-e/2.jpg]] Warp nacelles and the sensor dish were painted with a technique developed on the Excelsior. The inner surfaces of the clear parts were painted with a few thick streaks of white acrylic. While the first coat was still wet, a second coat of bright blue was applied, leaving a streaking, very fluid intermingling of white and blue.
A similar technique, using red, yellow and orange was applied to the clear impulse panels.
[<img["aft"|./ncc-1701-e/Thumbs-3.jpg][./ncc-1701-e/3.jpg]]
Starcrafts; 1/1400
[<img["bow quarter"|./ncc-72381/Thumbs-1.jpg][./ncc-72381/1.jpg]] This is the Starcrafts 1:1,400 miniature (being 1-piece resin you can hardly call it a "kit"). Aside from some clean up, this made for a nice, quick diversion.
The casting was acceptable. Not too many bubbles but some of the finer detail was damaged. One of the intercoolers has to be replaced with plastic sheet. In some places the resin was so thin that holes had formed. The sensor pallets were so marred with bubbles that the details were obscured.
[>img["topside"|./ncc-72381/Thumbs-2.jpg][./ncc-72381/2.jpg]] Despite scrubbing the model with Ajax, the paint did not adhere very well. Guess I should have used a proper primer. The poor paint adhesion meant that all of the details had to be painted by hand - not an overwhelming task on such a small model. The paint scheme was the same as that used on [[Voyager|USS Voyager (NCC 74656)]] ; i.e., a variation of the Voyager paint guide found on Starship Modeler . The base hull colour was Matte Aircraft Blue instead of Deckhouse Blue. Assorted panels were sprayed with a darkened version of the base hull colour.
[<img["aft"|./ncc-72381/Thumbs-3.jpg][./ncc-72381/3.jpg]] The bulk of the decals were from the ~McDaniel Models USS Equinox set. I used some of the decals that came with the model and substituted the left over lifeboat decals from the ~McDaniel Models Voyager set. The supplied ones being too translucent to apply over such a dark base hull colour.
After sealing the paint and decals with Future, the weathering was applied. The recessed panel lines, and clear gloss finish, made Equinox a good candidate for a "sludge wash" - a mix of paint, dish soap and water which easily wipes off a good gloss finish. The "sludge wash" provided a subtle accent for the model details.
!!! Paints
|Humbrol |Matte Aircraft Blue | Hu 65 |
|Humbrol |Satin Red | Hu 132 |
|~Gunze-Sangyo |RLM Dk. Grey | H-68 |
|~Gunze-Sangyo |Red | H-13 |
|Testors' |Copper | N/A |
|Polly Scale |US Intermediate Blue | 505094 |
|Polly Scale |Dragon Blue | 501432 |
!!! References
[[Starship Modeler|http://www.starshipmodeler.com]] [[USS Voyager Paint Guide|http://www.starshipmodeler.com/trek/voycolor.htm]]
!!! Resources
[[Federation Models|http://www.federationmodels.com/]]
~McDaniel Models (//now defunct//)
AMT; 1/537; March 2001
[<img[port|./ncc-1864/Thumbs-0.jpg][./ncc-1864/0.jpg]] I remember the first time I saw //The Wrath of Khan// ... standing in the cinema lobby, listening to the soundtrack of the movie (I arrived early) and my excitement over what I might be seeing. The //Reliant// was one of those things. I loved the design.
[>img[shuttle bay|./ncc-1864/Thumbs-1.jpg][./ncc-1864/1.jpg]] Construction started with the hangar bay. There wasn't one but a little 0.020" plastic stock fixed that. Leftover photoetch rails were used for balcony railings. I didn't have access to Miranda-class blueprints so the pattern was a best guess. The bay was populated with scatchbuilt, Type F shuttles (from TOS) because the boxy shape was easiest to replicate in this scale. The shuttle bay was initially painted Light Sea Grey but this was too dark and the whole thing was repainted Light Grey - much better.
Overall, the parts fit was tolerable but there were quite a few ejector pin marks that needed to be removed.
[<img[topside|./ncc-1864/Thumbs-2.jpg][./ncc-1864/2.jpg]] The hull was primed with Light Sea Grey - I hadn't graduated to using real primers yet - which mostly covered the green putty used to fill the gaps. It took 3 coats of gloss white to cover the primer coat.
The aztec pattern was painted using frisket film masks. The aztec pattern was printed out in an appropriate scale and then traced on to the film. The pattern was then cut out using a razor (the X-acto was too dull). The masks exceeded expectations! Despite the weak adhesion, they worked really well - using a lower pressure. The aztec pattern was painted with a white, tinted with clear blue, although the contrast was a bit strong.
[>img[underside|./ncc-1864/Thumbs-3.jpg][./ncc-1864/3.jpg]] A simpler pattern of rectangles was painted on the warp engines and pylons.
The ring around the bridge, the trim on the pylons and the underside of the engineering section were painted duck egg blue (which is really a green)
[<img[bow|./ncc-1864/Thumbs-4.jpg][./ncc-1864/4.jpg]] The impulse engines and energizer crystal were painted clear blue. very nice.
With the base hull painted, the model was weathered with pastels. This was the first time I had used pastels for weathering and it came out very well. The whole kit was sealed with Future which was also a first.
!!! Paints
|Humbrol |Duck Egg Blue | Hu 23 |
|Model Master |Light Grey | 36495 |
|Model Master |Light Sea Grey | 36307 |
|Tamiya |Gloss White | XF 2 |
|Tamiya |Clear Blue | X 23 |
!!! References
[[Starship Modeler|http://www.starshipmodeler.com]]
AMT; 1/650
[<img["Starboard, bow"|./ncc-500/Thumbs-1.jpg][./ncc-500/1.jpg]]
In the late 1970's I built my second U.S.S. Enterprise, by the early '80s it had succumbed to the same fate as the first; i.e., the warp nacelles had been reattached so many times, that it was no longer possible to repair.
Armed with a copy of the Starfleet Technical Manual the damaged Constitution-class cruiser became a Destroyer.
Not very long ago, I decided that I could improve on a 20 year old conversion and set about stripping the paint. After several false starts, I settled on Polly Scale "Easy Lift Off" which stripped paint and decals without melting the plastic.
[>img["Bridge"|./ncc-500/Thumbs-6.jpg][./ncc-500/6.jpg]] The underlying plasting had been damaged by time and some of more questionable paints. The glue disintegrated at the seams and the plastic literally crumbled in many places. Undaunted, the work began.
I began by scratchbuilding a bridge from plastic stock, using a photo-reduced page from the Technical Manual as a template. I used 1:600 photo-etched brass railings (from Gold Medal Models) and populated the bridge with several 1:600 crewmen. I was unable to polish the original transparent green bridge dome and eventually substituted a section cut from a clear sphere.
[<img["Dorsal"|./ncc-500/Thumbs-3.jpg][./ncc-500/3.jpg]] The impulse deck was removed and 4 holes bored in the aft surface. The holes were squared out and filled with transparent red plastic backed by photo-etched grillwork.
Some of the detail at either end of the warp nacelle was lost to old glue and crumbling plastic. The ends were evened out some additional detail built up from plastic stock. A pair of intercoolers were cast in resin from an original from my third Enterprise kit (still to be built).
[>img["Port"|./ncc-500/Thumbs-4.jpg][./ncc-500/4.jpg]] After several awful attempts to find a substitute for the main sensor dish, a resin copy was cast of an original from the same source as the intercoolers. The main support for the dish was formed from a conical piece of Miliput.
The warp plasma vents on the "neck" were made from photo-etch brass mesh layered over 0.010" plastic.
[<img[Bow|./ncc-500/Thumbs-5.jpg][./ncc-500/5.jpg]] In the course of removing the old paint and repairing the brittle plastic, all of the grid lines on the primary hull were removed. They were rescribed but the results were somewhat uneven and a little too deep. The tips of 0.020" plastic rod were sanded into domes and then used to create phaser turrets and running lights
The base hull colour was white with a small amount of steel mixed in to "cool" the colour. Light grey was used for the nacelle ends, rings, impulse deck, linear accelerator and the bridge turbo lift. The bussard collector was painted gloss red and the main sensor dish was painted gold. The whole model was overcoated with Future.
[>img["Ventral"|./ncc-500/Thumbs-2.jpg][./ncc-500/2.jpg]] Decals were sourced from ~McDaniel Models. They were somewhat thick and resistant to setting solution but excellent reproductions of the markings (and windows) indicated in the Technical Manual. Overall, they made a nice final touch.
!!! Paints
|Polly Scale |Reefer White |F414113 |
|Polly Scale |Steel |F414296 |
|Polly Scale |Undercoat Lt. Grey |F414134 |
|Tamiya |Gloss Red |X7 |
|Testor's |Gold |N/A |
!!! References
There are many authoritative references for TOS (and derivative) subjects. I chose the Technical Manual as the definitive reference simply because it was my inspiration for the project in the first place.
Star Fleet Technical Manual
IDIC Pages (now defunct, check the Wayback Machine)
[[Starship Modeler|http://www.starshipmodeler.com]]
!!! Resources
Thomas Models
AMT; 1/1400
[<img["3/4 view"|./ncc-74656/Thumbs-1.jpg][./ncc-74656/1.jpg]]
A local crafters mega-store was clearing out its backlog of models and I picked up the Monogram 3-Ship set for $14.
Being such a small kit, assembly was simple - or would have been if not for the appalling fit of many of the parts. It took a fair bit of effort to smooth the seams and fill the gaps. With the "saucer" section I resorted to filling the gaps with plastic strip which I then sanded flush.
[>img["port side"|./ncc-74656/Thumbs-2.jpg][./ncc-74656/2.jpg]] When it came time to paint, I started with a liberal interpretation of the Voyager paint guide found on Starship Modeler . The base hull colour was Matte Aircraft Blue instead of Deckhouse Blue. Assorted panels were sprayed with a darkened version of the base hull colour.
Other details were painted in accordance with the paint guide. The non-existent impulse engine details were added using red and grey paint, which was easier than shaping them from plastic strip.
[<img["aft"|./ncc-74656/Thumbs-3.jpg][./ncc-74656/3.jpg]] Lacking a steady hand, I decided to accent and weather the panels with grey pastel powder. A strip of masking tape was laid along, and forward of, a panel line. The pastel dust was brushed from the tape on to the model. The result was a sharp line of grey which feathered towards the aft. A bit stark at first but the effect was toned down by the subsequent coats of Future.
[>img["topside"|./ncc-74656/Thumbs-4.jpg][./ncc-74656/4.jpg]] Once again ~McDaniel Models supplied the decals. They were a bit translucent when applied over such a dark hull colour. This set of decals was much thinner than those used on the [[USS Saladin|USS Saladin (NCC 500)]] but reacted very well to the setting solution. The phaser warning strips were tedious to apply but added a nice bit of detail and the lifeboat decals saved quite a bit of tedious masking.
A Federation Models 1:1400 Delta Flyer (very nice little piece!) completed the kit.
!!! Paints
|Humbrol |Matte Aircraft Blue | Hu 65 |
|Humbrol |Satin Red | Hu 132 |
|~Gunze-Sangyo |RLM Dk. Grey | H-68 |
|~Gunze-Sangyo |Red | H-13 |
|Testors' |Copper | N/A |
|Polly Scale |US Intermediate Blue | 505094 |
|Polly Scale |Dragon Blue | 501432 |
!!! References
[[Starship Modeler|http://www.starshipmodeler.com]] [[USS Voyager Paint Guide|http://www.starshipmodeler.com/trek/voycolor.htm]]
Finescale Modeler, 'Lighting the newest "Star Trek" Ship', September 1997.
!!! Resources
[[Federation Models|http://www.federationmodels.com/]]
~McDaniel Models (//now defunct//)
Military Wheels; 1/72; February 2013
I picked up this model because it was small, cheap and an interesting subject. A pickup truck based on a VW bug (or proto-bug) looks pretty cute. It was a simple kit and looked like a quick build.
Nope.
[>img[click to enlarge|./vw-825/Thumbs-1.jpg][./vw-825/1.jpg]] On second inspection, the parts looked somewhat crude. The casting of the finer parts was ... rough. There were lots of "extra" parts that appeared to come from variations on this chassis. As the build progressed, no two parts fit together without modification and in some cases it verged on reshaping.
Vague instructions, no locator pins and poorly cast parts all conspired to make the build an unpleasant experience. Needless to say, the project was quickly relegated to the filler pile; i.e., the project that got worked on while I was waiting for something to dry / cure on my "real" project.
I was so disgusted that the project was almost abandoned several times over the three years it took to finish it.
The interior was fairly basic: Seats, a steering wheel and a crude dash. A light coat of //Dark Yellow// and it was buttoned up. The cargo box took some persuasion to get the parts to fit but came out mostly straight. The roof rack was omitted because of the crude casting. The rearview mirror required a little research to place - it eventually wound up on the fender.
The transparent parts were only so in name. No amount of Future could make up for the imperfections. The fit was so poor that only the windshield was used after much shaping and filling.
Once assembled, the model was painted overall //Dark Yellow// and then weathered with a dark brown wash and pastels. A silver pencil supplied the chips and scrapes.
Overall, a thoroughly unsatisfying build. Such a shame too.
!!! Paints
|Model Master |>|Chrome |
|Tamiya |Dark Yellow | XF 60 |
|Vallejo |Grey Black | 862 |
|Vallejo |Brown Leather | 871 |
Hasegawa; 1/72; 09 March 2013
I had been thinking of scratch building an open cockpit, diesel punk, retro-futuristic "car" of some description, when I came across this kit. Score!
The box contained two kits: the vanship and a "vespa", the latter being to vanships what motorcycles are to cars.
[<img[Starboard side|./vanship/Thumbs-1.jpg][./vanship/1.jpg]] The kit was typical Hasegawa, it practically fell together. Overall parts fit was reasonable and the engineering was excellent. Seams between parts fell on panel lines or they were hidden by overlapping trim detail. The only poor design choice was the attachment point of the hood ornament.
Assembly started, traditionally, with the cockpit. The open cockpit showed off the instrument panel decals. Unfortunately, the crew figures did not turn out as hoped. The original plan was to drill out the faceplates and insert faces carved off another, unfortunate 1/72 figure but discretion became the better part of valour. After painting, the black wash just stained the light grey portions of the unifroms and the results were just crude.
Painting was done by subassembly because the original plan was to use buffing, metallic paint for the Claudia Tubes and those don't mask well. Not surprisingly, the references varied, which is both frustrating and liberating: I got to pick and choose.
[>img[Aft quarter view with vespa|./vanship/Thumbs-2.jpg][./vanship/2.jpg]] Unfortunately, the subassembly approach made for tricky final assembly. The compound shapes made clamping difficult and the glue presented a risk to the finish.
The main body colour was an old bottle of Testors' "car colours" gloss red. It was an of acrylic, part of a set intended for car models. Paint coverage was poor and divots couldn't be covered. Then, while masking the wing stripes, it turned out that the adhesion of the red paint was poor. After priming the wing tips, the touched up red turned out much brighter than the rest of the body color.
Should have gone with my instincts and used the Tamiya red.
The plan was to paint the Claudia Tubes //Jet Exhaust// but the paint had dried up. The alternative was a custom mixed burnt iron. It was a great colour but in the wrong place.
The clear parts were a surprise. They were stunningly clear. I would have done a better job of the seams in the main lights had I known.
[<img[Bow quarter view, with vespa|./vanship/Thumbs-3.jpg][./vanship/3.jpg]] The decals were the other pleasant surprise. There were white stripes supplied for the fuselage. The color was solid without a hint of translucence. There were even decals for a number of the details that had been painted; e.g., formation lights, tail light, steps, etc. A few of the detail decals were used but required quite a bit of setting solution.
The Vespa was a less rewarding build. It's jewel of a mini-kit but the attachments points are small and delicate. What little bodywork there was was comprised of multiple parts and I couldn't get the nose the square up against the fuselage. The carpet monster ate the tiny windshield and had to be replaced with a piece of clear plastic sheet.
The figures required more care than the vanship crew because they were so exposed.
The decals were also a challenge because of the small model and the compound curves.
In the end, I should have been more careful but I wasn't into it.
The two main lessons from this build are
#Prime! Prime! Prime! (//When will I learn?//)
# Stop using old paint
!!! Paints
|Humbrol |Polished Steel |
|Testors' |Red |
|Vallejo |Black Grey | 862 |
|Vallejo |Chrome | 064 |
|Vallejo |Light Grey | 989 |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 869 |
!!! References
[[The Last Exile|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Exile]]
Various real and imaginary cars, motorcycles and trucks in civilian use - or seriously soft-skinned military vehicles. It's kinda grey.
<<list filter [tag[vehicle]] [sort[title]]>>
Směr; 1/60 (?); Viking dragon ship; 15 April 2014
This kit was a whim, just meant to be a quick build.
[>img[Beauty shot, larboard bow|./knarr/Thumbs-1.jpg][./knarr/1.jpg]] Well, the "quick build" went out the window shortly after opening the box. The figures were riddled with sink holes, the shields were wildly inaccurate, the anchor was anachronistic and the decals had adhered to the vinyl sail. Separating the latter damaged the sail and destroyed the decals. I could live with the inaccuracies, after all this was a "quick build" but the crowning glory was the dragon head: It was //hideous//. A garish caricature and I couldn't stand it.
Research ensued.
Out of that came a number of interesting things:
* Směr's kit is a repop of Aurora's original 1956 issue
* This is actually a //[[knarr|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knarr]]//, not a //drakan//
** Technically, it's neither. It's too wide to be a longship but the crew is too big to be a //knarr//. The dimensions of the boat most closely resemble the latter.
* The deck is completely wrong, as is the mastfish
* Revell has a __much__ more accurate [[kit|http://www.revell.com/germany/ships/80-5403.html]].
That last discovery saved me a lot of work. Instead of correcting every flaw, I settled for fixing the most egregious flaws; i.e., the figures, the shields, the figurehead, the sail and the anchor.
There were more figures than necessary so the worst of them could be discarded. The Chosen Few were then decapitated. The manufacturer had sculpted only six different figures and then molded four of each. Each figure was staring straight ahead, giving the whole crew had a very stiff look. The decapitations made it possible to swap the heads around and reattach them in slightly different positions. That disguised the small number of unique figures and added just enough variation to break up the robotic look of the rowers. The sink holes were filled with Miliput, which can be smoothed with a wet finger, to minimize the damage to adjacent detail. Miliput also has a long enough working time to add surface detail on the armoured figures to represent chain mail.
At the last minute I discovered that I had 12 rowers to starboard and 10 on the port side. Rather than use one of the previously rejected figures, the arms of one of the starboard figures were cut off and repositioned.
[<img[Beauty shot, starboard stern|./knarr/Thumbs-2.jpg][./knarr/2.jpg]] Painting was done in batches of 4 to 6 figures. A custom flesh tone was mixed for each group, which meant that no two groups of figures had quite the same skin tone. This also helped add variation to the appearance of the crew. Painting all 26 figures took much more time (and willpower) than expected. I don't think I've ever painted so many figures for a model kit before.
The oars required minor clean up to remove the molding seams. In the process the tips of the shafts were thinned and reshaped where the rowers would grip them, which made them truer to the prototype. The oars were painted with a basecoat of //Sand// and then a sepia wash was applied. I used Vallejo's sepia wash, which for some reason comes out of the bottle nearly gelid. This was actually a benefit. Using a ratty brush with ragged bristles meant that the viscous wash wasn't applied evenly and the streaks left by the brush looked very much like wood grain.
On the prototype, the steering oar (//steerboard//) is attached to the hull with a knotted rope through the blade of the oar and a loop of rope keeps it from tipping out of the steersman's grasp. The handle was a simple cylinder, so it was carved and shaped to look like more like an oar handle. A few minutes work with a pin vise and some rigging thread provided the knotted rope. Two small blocks of plastic were attached to the hull to hold the retaining loop.
The hull consisted of the two halves and the wildly inaccurate deck. A longship or //knarr// has simple flat deck from bow to stern with the rowers sitting on their sea chests. The kit deck had raised platforms fore and aft and the rowers' benches were holes cut into the deck with their feet dangling into the bilge ... more like a Roman galley than a Viking vessel. For the sake of time and sanity, this was not corrected.
[>img[Design sketches, originials & replacements|./knarr/Thumbs-5.jpg][./knarr/5.jpg]] Assembly of the hull was simple, as was the painting. The hard part about the latter was simply finding the right colours and shades. After much experimentation, I settled on applying a base coat of //dark yellow//, followed by a coat of sepia ink and then a coat of mahogany ink. The inks produced an uneven, multi-layered effect - perfect for weathered wood.
The dragon head was the most intimidating part of the project because once the originals were sawed off, there was no going back. The new head and tail started with several sketches based on reference photos. Once I had a sketch I was happy with, I started laminating thick plastic sheet together until it matched the width of the keel. The sketches were then transferred to card stock and used templates to mark the basic shapes on to the laminated plastic.
The thick plastic made cutting and shaping the forms an little more challenging than usual: Power tools were required. The details were created using a mixture of techniques. Scribing provided the etched detail. Laminating more (thin) sheets of plastic made some of the detail look inset. Eyes and ears were small scraps of plastic applied to the surface and lightly sanded to soften the appearance. Plastic tubing, shaved into rings provided more detail. The dragon's tongue was a strip of lead foil.
[<img[Closeup of the dragon|./knarr/Thumbs-3.jpg][./knarr/3.jpg]] Once the head and tail were satisfactory, I took the irrevocable step and removed the kit pieces. Grafting on the replacements was far easier than expected and required almost no filler. The overall result was very pleasing.
The kit-supplied anchor was the typical cross-beam and yoke style but the viking anchors were rocks with a wooden frame around them. Using a leftover railroad scenic boulder and some scrap 0.080" plastic sheet, I scratch built a viking anchor.
The base was a simple box with raised letters and dragons on one face. The molding detail was a little soft and the description was incorrect. Part way through painting the raised detail, I decided this wasn't a particularly enjoyable task, sanded everything smooth and painted the stand blue-green.
Mercifully, the rigging on a viking ship is simple compared to newer and larger sailing vessels. There are only a dozen lines: 10 on the mast and 2 for the sail itself. Photos of several replica longships show the 8 side lines anchored to the ribs of the hull. Strips of plastic were added to 8 of the ribs to make them thick enough to drill through. Billings' Boats white rigging thread was dyed with coffee and used for the rigging.
Placing the rowers in their seats, at the oars, was actually the most finicky part of the project. The figures' arms, body positions, bench locations and oar ports dictated the location of the rowers. The figures were forced so far forward that they were barely touching the benches and there was very little gluing surface.
[>img[The crew|./knarr/Thumbs-4.jpg][./knarr/4.jpg]] In the end, Ihad to feed the oars through the ports and then superglue the oars to the figures' hands. After the glue had set, the oar was then used to maneuver the figure onto the bench where more CA was used to seat the figure.
The minute gluing surface makes the rowers and oars the most fragile portion of the entire build.
The finish on the vinyl sail had adhered to the decal sheet and was damaged when it was separated from the decals. To make matters worse, the red stripes were only on one side of the sail. I cut a replacement sail from my wife's stash of cotton, using the vinyl piece as a pattern. The coarse texture of the cotton added a nice bit of visual interest. The red stripes were masked and airbrushed on both sides of the sail.
Unfortunately, I forgot to use "fray check" (basically white glue) and the edges of the fabric started to unravel. The sail was sized with a mix of white glue and water and then the loose edges trimmed. I came up with the bright idea of soaking the sail in a mix of white glue and water and letting it dry over a ball to give the appearance of being bellied out by the wind. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. The sheets attached to the corners would have to be made from wire in order to push the sail forward and give the appearance of tension.
The shields were peculiar. They had raised platforms in the centre instead of being smooth discs. The raised areas were intended for the decals but the decorated area of the shield was only 2/3 of the total diameter - which wasn't correct. All 24 shields were sanded smooth - not difficult but tedious. Once sanded and primed, they were painted with 24 simple, different patterns using basic colours.
On the prototype, shields were only mounted when entering harbour and then they were wedged between two strips of wood that ran the length of the hull. I contemplated replicating this system but the project had already gotten out of hand. I settled for sanding down the mounting bosses on the hull so that the shields sat flush against the hull.
All in all, a tedious build that got out of hand. I was inordinately pleased with the scratchbuilt dragon's head though!
!!! Update
[>img[Best Sailing Ship award|./knarr/Thumbs-6.jpg][./knarr/6.jpg]]
Received the "Best Sailing Ship" award at the 2014 ~GOMBs show.
//But in all honesty, it was the __only__ sailing ship there//
!!! Paints
|Tamiya |Dark Yellow | ~XF-60 |
|Citadel |Sepia ink |
|Citadel |Mahogany ink |
!!! References
[[Wikipedia|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knarr]]
Black Sun; 1/72; January 2011
[<img[left|./viper.ii/Thumbs-1.jpg][./viper.ii/1.jpg]] This kit is a beautiful bit of resin - just like the [[Cylon Raider]]. Smooth, clean, nicely detailed with no bubbles or casting flaws. Shame it took me 5 years to get around to building it.
Cleaned up the parts and decided on the assembly order. Pretty simple really as the nose tip and wings were attached and everything else left for later. In eliminating the seam for the nose section, the part became dangerously thin.
The gear wells we sprayed RLM 62 (because it seemed appropriate) and the cockpit got a coat of RLM 66. The latter seemed a little dark so this was repainted light grey and followed with a wash.
[>img[aft|./viper.ii/Thumbs-2.jpg][./viper.ii/2.jpg]] The engines and exposed greeblies were painted dark anodic grey and then buffed and masked with Silly Putty.
I applied a salt slurry to the model after the primer coat to try and give the fighter a battered look. This is where the misgivings began. The salt slurry invited using paint instead of decals for the red stripes but I decided to proceed with the decals.
It took several coats of white to adequately cover the model. When the salt was pried off, it left sizeable indentations in the paint. Not one of my more [[successful|B-Wing Fighter]] applications of the salt technique. Having achieved a chipped effect on the whote base coat, the problem was to replicate the effect with the red stripes. I elected to overlook the problem.
Before the decals could be applied, the vertical fins and #3 engine had to be attached and the latter masked. The usual [[clear coat|Future]] was applied. The decals themselves were really quite nice: thin and in register. Unfortunately, they were a little translucent - which became apparent when applied over the salt chips. (Paint [2], Decals [0]). The low-viz stencils also tended to disappear against the grey chips. The wing stripes were somewhat tricky to align as shown on the wings (Paint [3], Decals [0]).
[<img[right|./viper.ii/Thumbs-3.jpg][./viper.ii/3.jpg]] A lacquer dull coat was applied over the decals but something happened. The prominent red stripe along the nose //wrinkled//. (Paint [4], Decals [0]) This was a new effect. Perhaps something wasn't completely dry but it had been over 24 hours. Maybe the ~Dull-Cote reacted with the Solvaset?
With the disastrous matt coat in place, the attitude thrusters were painted black and the surrounding area stippled with black pastel.
The major panels were masked with tape and the lines created by stippling pastel dust against the edge of the tape. Had I been thinking, I would have scribed the panels into the nice, soft resin before painting began.
[>img[above|./viper.ii/Thumbs-4.jpg][./viper.ii/4.jpg]] The final bits were added: pilot, landing gear, guns, engines and canopy. The guns were painted Steel with a heavy black wash, as was the langing gear. The pilot received a coat of medium olive, mixed with gold to replicate the metallic green flight suit seen in the show. The 5-point harness was represented with black, vinyl trim tape - <meh>
Two vacuum formed canopies were provided and I only used one. Silver, vinyl trim tape was used for the canopy framing. Adhesion was quite a problem and I'm not sure I'll do that again. The canopy was posed open.
Everything was finished with a light black wash and a general smudging with grey pastel dust.
Given the salt and decal challenges, I would either use paint for the red stripes or choose to build a pristine version of the Mk II - as seen in the museum during the mini-series.
!!! Paints
|Humbrol |Polished steel |
|Model Master |RLM 66 |
|Model Master |RLM 62 |
|Tamiya |Flat white | XF 2 |
|Testors' |Copper |
|Testors' |Steel |
|Testors' Metallizer |Dark anodic grey |
|Vallejo |Medium olive | 850 |
|Vallejo |Black | 950 |
|Vallejo |Gold | 996 |
|Vallejo |Light grey | 990 |
|Vallejo |Basalt grey | 869 |
Airfix; 1/72; 1 January 2021
<html><a href='./vulcan/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./vulcan/01.jpg" title="mouseover text" alt="description" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
This is another <<tag nostalgia>> build. An Airfix Vulcan was one of the last kits I built before I moved back to Canada from the U.K. in the late 1970s. I'm pretty sure I saw the prototype of this kit at an airshow in London, Ontario in the mid-1980s.
With all the recent, newly tooled kits coming out of Airfix I had thought that this might be one ... only to discover that it was a reissue of the same kit from four decades ago. And, just like [[last time|Whitley Mk.V]], Airfix issued a new version of an awful kit part way through construction.
The interior of the aircraft is pretty much invisible through the few, tiny windows and it's painted black on top of that. This helped keep the additional detailing to a minimum. The exception was the cavernous space visible through the bombardier's window. This lead to boxing in the area under the flight deck, the flight engineer's station and the crew access using styrene sheet. After drilling out the windows to the engineer's station, a couple of seats were salvaged from the spares box. The chairs were really too horrible to be seen and so, perfect for the application. The only other thing was a scratch-built, interior ladder that was only just visible through the crew hatch.
The nose was packed with lead and superglue in an effort to keep the model on its nose gear. After that, the fuselage was buttoned up. Fit was ... adequate.
Next up were the wings. The engine turbines were painted and inserted into the intake trunks which had been painted white ahead of time. The intake trunks were inserted into the wing halves, which went together well enough. The turbines were masked off while the intakes were smoothed and painted and smoothed and painted and ... well, after a break, this part of the project was abandoned as "good enough".
The wings turned out to be shorter than the corresponding roots on the fuselage. It took aggressive sanding (including a sanding drum on a dremel tool) to achieve a poor fit. The lost detail was rescribed.
The electronic warfare pod had huge gaps before the wings and steps where it met the fuselage. Plastic shims were needed for the former and a lot of filler and sanding for the latter.
The jet exhausts were quite thick and crude for the scale and open to the cavernous interior of the wing. I played around with some substitutes but didn't have the right materials on hand. These are an excellent candidate for aftermarket, resin substitutes.
The landing gear was assembled and painted semi-gloss black overall. The wheel hubs were painted //Aluminum// and the sliders painted //Chrome//. Because the gear was going in last, I spent a little time making sure the gear fit into the wells properly - widening holes, etc.
The main gear wells had huge gaps left by the poor fit of the wings to the fuselage. It took some time to fill them using acrylic putty. The acrylic putty was used because it could be smoothed with a wet paintbrush instead of trying to sand interior, 90° corners. Reference photos provided positioning for greeblies and conduits. Panel lines were scribed into the wells and onto the doors. Reference photos showed prominent door actuators, so holes were drilled for some plastic rod and little triangles of styrene were used as the anchor points on the doors themselves. Once everything was painted white, the doors were tacked in the closed position with a little white glue.
The intake trunks were masked off. It was fairly fiddly getting that little lip of colour around the insides of the trunks.
With everything masked, the undersides were painted Light Aircraft Grey (the first time I've touched a little Humbrol tinlet in years). Everything was left to cure for a couple of days and then the undersides were masked off - and that got a little fiddly around the exhausts.
The topsides were sprayed //Medium Sea Grey// and then the masking for the //Dark Green// began. This was where the true size of the model became apparent.
Wow. Two years from start to finish. Not that it was the only thing I worked on - I completed 6 other kits ([[Angel Interceptor|Angel Interceptor (Airfix)]], [[TIE Interceptor]], [[TIE fighter|TIE/ln]], [[Sd.Kfz 10|Sd.Kfz 10 (Italeri)]] & [[Storch|Fi-156C-3 "Storch"]] while this languished on the bench.
!!! Paints
|Humbrol |Light Aircraft Grey | 166 |
Vallejo Black
Vallejo Black-Grey
Tamiya Semi-gloss black
Polly Scale RAF Dark Green
Tamiya Medium Sea Grey
Vallejo Medium Sea Grey
Vallejo Aluminum
Vallejo Chrome
Dark Earth
!!! References
!!! Resources
Frog; 1/72; 30 December 2015
A few years ago, after struggling with a Maquette [[MiG 3]] kit, I decided //No more cheap or short run kits// ... unless it's a unique subject. I'm beginning to rethink that addendum. I picked up the old kit, thinking //I've never seen a kit of a Whitley before ...// Well, shortly after deciding to build it and starting the Research Phase, I discovered that the recently rejuvenated Airfix was issuing an all new tooling and here I was struggling to make an acceptable version of a Whitley from a 40 year old kit.
Details were soft and occasionally wildly inaccurate. The angled bombadier's window was off-centre and the turrets were just rounded, clear pieces set directly into the fuselage. To make matters worse, there were sink marks on most pieces and the mating surfaces of most parts were more rounded than square. I decided to limit the effort I put into the kit and settled on reworking the cockpit and tail turret with a few minor improvements elsewhere.
[<img[Port upper|./whitley/Thumbs-0.jpg][./whitley/0.jpg]] There was much Internet dithering before settling on what appeared to be a reasonable facsimile of the Whitley's cockpit. The copilot's seat was removed and the radio operator's table rotated 90° and the seat repositioned. The plastic beneath the starboard side of the instrument panel was cut away to give the impression of a passageway to the nose of the aircraft. A bulkhead and doorway were added to the rear of the cabin.
A turret ring was created for the nose turret out of some convenient pieces from the Spares Box and the arched mounting frame for the gun was made from a length of thermoformed plastic rod. The gun itself consisted of just the barrel so I added a breech from rectangular plastic stock.
To add a little detail, the 16 small windows along the rear of the fuselage were opened up with a pin vise and files.
With the interior complete, the insides were sprayed //RAF Interior Green//. The instrument panel was painted dark grey with some drybrushing to bring out the details. A "map" was added to the navigator's table for interest.
The few crude figures were painted and dressed up with masking tape belts and straps in an effort to improve them. The tail gunner's legs had to be repositioned in order to fit the modified rear turret.
With the figures in place, the fuselage was buttoned up and it was time to improve the tail turret.
The Whitley Mk V was equipped with a Nash powered turret and I had thought of casting a copy of the turret parts from a Matchbox Wellington. I decided that I could get away with simply improving the kit parts. The "turret" supplied with the kit was just an open-backed cylinder that was directly attached to the fuselage. The clear part was mildly reshaped and a back created from shaped plastic sheet. The fuselage was also filed back so the turret was nestled in the hollow rather than set flush against it. When viewed from the side, through the clear part, the gun mount detail was noticeably sparse - well nonexistent. A couple of discs punched from plastic sheet and breeches fashioned from rectangular stock helped improve the appearance. I didn't bother with any interior bracing framing. The insides of the turret were painted //Interior Green// and everything buttoned up.
[>img[Starboard aft|./whitley/Thumbs-1.jpg][./whitley/1.jpg]] The additional detail had the unfortunate effect of splaying the barrels significantly. Attaching the barrels __after__ the turret was assembled would have avoided this problem.
The fit of the engine nacelles to the wings was dreadful and it took a lot of filler and sanding to achieve an acceptable joint. The rear of the nacelles were wide open and would be visible even with the wheel well inserts in place so they were blanked off with plastic sheet and painted black. The wheel well inserts themselves were very plain. A few strips were added to the plain, interior surfaces to give the impression of structure. I spent some time cleaning up the odd shaped slots in the wells before realizing that the shape was deliberate and intended to trap and retain the landing gear. Oops.
The wheel well inserts were left off until after painting because without them in place the props could be added after assembly - reducing the chance of handling damage during painting. The vertical stabilizers and braces were also left off to simplify masking.
Speaking of which, masking the clear parts was every bit as tedious as anticipated. The greenhouse cockpit required a fair bit of patience while the vague detail on the turrets required creativity and patience.
The wing root gaps were filled with stretched sprue and sanded flush - which was a first for me. Another first was to create a landing light lens from a section of clear sprue. A notch was cut in the port wing and then a chunk of sprue cut and sanded to the shape of the leading edge of the wing. With the shape correct, the clear sprue was polished to near transparency with a series of ever finer sanding pads - culminating with a 12,000 grit.
After all of the filling and sanding was done, the lost, raised panel lines were rescribed with the back side of a #11 Xacto blade.
The two main antenna masts were attached before painting, despite the risk of handling damage, because it would simplify the paint scheme. Unfortunately, I mis-identified the vertical stabilizer braces as the antenna masts and carefully removed a much needed attachment point before realizing these were the wrong parts. The right parts looked dreadful so a couple of antenna "trees" from the Mk. VII were cleaned up and looked very much the business.
The model was primed and then the upper surfaces were painted with //Dark Earth//. Despite consistent failures, I decided to try pre-shading yet again. This time I used a very light coat of thinned and slowly built up the colour, concentrating on the panel lines. The result was an uneven coat with a fairly faded look. Better than usual!
Encouraged by this, the brown areas were masked off with a mixture of Silly Putty (for the outlines) and Parafilm. //RAF Dark Green// was applied in the same manner as the //Dark Earth// and the overall result was a slightly distressed finish - not bad. The topsides were masked off and the remainder of the plane was painted black. The intakes for the Merlins were painted //Grey Black// to give them a little contrast to the rest of the fuselage.
[<img[Low front|./whitley/Thumbs-2.jpg][./whitley/2.jpg]] The model made it all the way through painting without knocking the antennas off; however, there was a small disaster and I dropped the model right on the tail turret and knocked all the barrels of the tail guns. The tail wheel was also snapped while the masks were removed.
All of the broken pieces were repaired and the final details attached. A pitot tube was fashioned from plastic rod. Formation lights were made from nubs of stretched, clear sprue that were shaped, polished and trimmed. Attached with Krystal Kleer and a few dabs of clear red and green paint they looked quite decent. Almost enough to make me want to go back to the [[Fokker D. XXI]] and redo the formation lights ...
Just the few decals and the antenna wire left to do. Unfortunately the decals turned into yet another challenge. They had a strong tendency to curl and refused to settle on the model. The upper wing rondels curled, refused to settle and wrinkled all at the same time. The rondels proved unrecoverable :-(
After another bout of "woe is me!", I decided to print replacements on the ink jet printer, using Testors' decal paper. The printing was translucent as usual and the colour flaked off the film in several locations, despite a generous coat of liquid decal film. In desperation, I hand painted the rondels. The results were not perfect but far better than the recalcitrant decals.
The final touch was to rig the antenna wire with EZ Line. That worked very well and looks good.
The age of the kit and quality of the model made for a frustrating project, compounded by my mistakes. While I am happy to have a Whitley, I am sorry to find out that a better engineered kit was just around the corner.
!!! Paints
|Model Master Acryl |RAF Interior Green |>|
|Polly S |RAF Dark Earth|>|
|Polly S |RAF Dark Green|>|
|Tamiya |Flat Black | ~XF-1 |
|Tamiya |Clear Green | X-25 |
|Tamiya |Clear Red | X-27 |
|Vallejo |Grey Black | 862 |
|Vallejo |Khaki Grey | 880 |
|Vallejo |Leather Brown | 871 |
!!! References
* [[Improving the old Frog kit|http://www.ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2005/11/stuff_eng_davies_whitley_01.htm]] (IPMS Stockholhm)
* [[Special Aircraft Service|http://www.sas1946.com/main/index.php?topic=39136.0]] which appears to be a CGI game mod resource but with good pictures.
!!! Resources
coat seat with sizing (50:50 white glue:water), cover with facial tissue and size again.
<html><a href='./y-wing/01.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./y-wing/01.jpg" title="side view" alt="port side" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
Fine Molds; 1/72; 18 October 2007 and 10 November 2017
!! Model
The last of three <<tag finemolds "Fine Molds">>, <<tag StarWars "Star Wars">> kits. A beautiful kit of the ungainly Koensayer ~BTL-A4 Y-wing. Every bit as beautifully engineered as their other kits. There are two completion dates because it took 10 years to complete the planned diorama.
<html><a href='./y-wing/04.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./y-wing/04.jpg" title="look at all that piping" alt="stern view" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
There's very little to say about the assembly other than it was the typical Fine Molds experience. Everything just goes together. The engineering of the engine pods in particular deserves special mention. The pods are designed in such a way that the support rails conceal all of the seams on the pods. They were all completely hidden - no filling or sanding and all of that exquisite detail was protected.
<html><a href='./y-wing/02.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./y-wing/02.jpg" title="sludge wash in progress" alt="sludge wash" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
I decided to build "Gold Two".
The cockpit was painted //Basalt Grey// with a heavy black wash and a light grey dry brush. The cockpit assembly was left as a separate module to simplify painting.
<html><a href='./y-wing/05.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./y-wing/05.jpg" title="the landing gear is removable" alt="underside" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
The base hull colour was //Light Grey// but it required a custom mix of Gunze and Tamiya //Light Blues// to match the blue of the decals. The sandy brown on the exposed piping was another mix: //Copper// and //Brown Sand//.
A heavy gloss coat was applied after the decals as a base for the "sludge wash". The wash was a mix of equal parts water, dish soap and //Basalt Grey//. Once wiped down the wash brought out all the beautiful detail.
Everything was sealed with a coat of flat.
!! Diorama
The base was made from styrofoam, heavily textured with drywall spackle. The spackle coat was thick enough to scribe the joints between the blocks of the wall and courtyard directly into the plaster.
<html><a href='./y-wing/06.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./y-wing/06.jpg" title="busy scene with almost all the figures" alt="diorama aft port quarter" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
Celluclay was used for the grassy areas, with a could of plaster rocks embedded into the clay. These areas were painted with a muddy green mix of craft paints before applying layers of static grass. Woodland Scenics, 2mm static grass was applied as a base, followed by a very light dusting of WWS (not to be confused with Woodland Scenics) 4mm static grans and an even lighter, selective layer of WWS 6mm static grass. Basically the same technique that I used with the [[Republic Gunship|Republic Gunship (LAAT/i)]].
<html><a href='./y-wing/07.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./y-wing/07.jpg" alt="diorama close up of the nose" width=150 align="right"></a></html>
A few Woodlands Scenics vines were added to the walls and chunks of vines were jammed into the cracks between the pavement blocks.
<html><a href='./y-wing/08.jpg' target=_blank><img src="./y-wing/08.jpg" title="another beauty shot" alt="diorama high starboard forward quarter" width=150 align="left"></a></html>
The Rebel ground crew was represented with figures from the Hasegawa Ground Crew set. Their uniforms were painted a brownish beige. The Rebel pilot figure and ~R5-D4 astromech were spares from the Bandai [[X-wing|T-65 X-wing]] kit and the R2 unit was a 3-D printed item from Shapeways. A few cargo crates were scatteder about for colour and the fuel hoses were made from snakes of Miliput with couplings made from slices of plastic tube.
A nice conclusion to a 10-year project.
!!! Update
Received the "Best Space Faring Vehicle" award at the 2018 ~GOMBs show
an even nicer conclusion!
!!! Paints
|~Gunze-Sangyo |Light Grey | H338 |
|~Gunze-Sangyo |Light Blue | H45 |
|Tamiya |Light Blue | ~XF-23 |
|Testors |Jet Exhaust |
|Vallejo |Basalt Grey | 70.869 |
|Vallejo |Copper | 999 |
|Vallejo |Sandy Brown | 876 |
!!! References
* //Star Wars//
!!! Resources
Hasegawa kit #35007: 1/72 U.S. Pilot/Ground Crew Set
[[Shapeways|https://www.shapeways.com/product/HBC6CXKEW/1-72-spaceship-diorama-robots]] 1/72 Spaceship Diorama Robots (a.k.a. R2 astromechs)
[[Shapeways|https://www.shapeways.com/product/U9CSHD7N8/gonk-droid-1-72]] 1/72 Gonk droid - not in the photos, added later
[[Shapeways|https://www.shapeways.com/product/DQK4SJ84T/docking-bay-space-crates-1-72]] Docking Bay Space Crates, 1/72
[[Shapeways|https://www.shapeways.com/product/XCBDS9YEM/docking-bay-eight-crates-1-72]] Docking Bay Eight Crates, 1/72
<<tag bandai "Bandai">> Star Wars 1/72 X-wing Starfighter - standing Rebel pilot and ~R5-D4
Miliput
Celluclay
Assorted craft paints
[[WW Scenics|https://www.war-world.co.uk/]] 4mm and 6mm static grass
Woodland Scenics 2mm static grass
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// create new tiddler
story.displayTiddler(null,newTitle,DEFAULT_EDIT_TEMPLATE);
// grab the new Tiddlers text edit box
var tiddlerTextArea = getTiddlerEditField(newTitle,"text");
var tiddlerTagArea = getTiddlerEditField(newTitle,"tags");
// Stuff template info into newly created tiddler
tiddlerTextArea.value=newText;
tiddlerTagArea.value=newTags;
story.setTiddlerTag(newTitle,templateTag,-1);
story.focusTiddler(newTitle,"text");
return false;
}
var getTiddlerEditField = function(title,field) {
var tiddler = document.getElementById(story.idPrefix + title);
if(tiddler != null) {
var children = tiddler.getElementsByTagName("*")
var e = null;
for (var t=0; t<children.length; t++) {
var c = children[t];
if(c.tagName.toLowerCase() == "input" || c.tagName.toLowerCase() == "textarea") {
if(!e) e = c;
if(c.getAttribute("edit") == field) e = c;
}
}
if(e) return e;
}
}
var templateTag;
if (params[0])
templateTag=params[0];
else
templateTag=this.templateTag;
var templateButton = createTiddlyButton(place,this.label,this.tooltip,onClickTemplateButton);
templateButton.setAttribute("tag",templateTag);
}