Thanks for the feedback, guys. Finally an update on this.....
A little snaffu in the paint dept put a little delay in this but I finally have the body color on now. It's looking totally different than with the dark green primer. I'm really pleased with how it's coming along. The second of the two McQuarrie sketches in my first post has the note "off white over all" on it. In keeping with this I've use a very light grey for the body color, Insignia White to be exact.
Thanks for looking, guys.
Superb. Really looking forward to seeing this finished
Gorgeous work. Crisp, precise, and in keeping with the sketch's spirit. WIN!!
Yup model was great from beginning to end.....moffeaton said:
A very good outcome from sketch to finish. Wonderful craftsmanship.
Amazing job. Very fun to watch it come together.
Thanks for all the feed back on this, guys. I really appreciate it.
This installment is titled "The GOOD, the BAD, and the UGLY"
First the good.
The painting of the greys is going pretty good. There's a couple of minor spots of bleed through but all in all not bad. I may need to touch up the paint on the top in a spot or two.
Now the bad.
Some stress cracks appeared on the bottom side around the gun barrels. I thought I had this fixed before but they came back and were visible after the masking came off. The problem is that the barrels cut through not only the surface of the body but also the ribs underneath. This makes it a weak spot and when the body flexes just a bit it pulls apart along the seam. The cracks are as thin as hairs but with so light a color, and with the minimal weathering I want to do, these will be visible so I decided to try to fix them.
And the ugly...
To fix these cracks I dremeled them out and filled the gap with epoxy putty. It's a little drastic at this point with the finish paint on but i figure it's easier to fix now before weathering. Hopefully the epoxy will hold the sides together enough to prevent further cracking. My fear, of course, is that new cracks will appear in new spots now but I'm hoping with some really gentle handling it can be avoided. We'll see....
Now I'll have to mask off the front area and repaint, hopefully for the last time.
Here's the overall of the bottom side and how I layed out the grey colors there.
Back on track now fellas.
The fix on the bottom worked out great and the repainting is all done. Will be letting this cure for several days then clear coating in gloss to start the washes and weathering.
Put the center grille and the engines in for pics.
Thanks for looking.
-Doug
dbhs said:
Back on track now fellas.
.....
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Holy crapola, that is one hell of a beautiful build. And having a toilet next to your workbench can come in handy as well.
Seriously, very very VERY nice. Can't wait to see this finished.
Wasili
I can't believe how nice this looks in 3d. You did an amazing job bringing this to life.
Thanks Guys !!!
Yeah - you wouldn't believe what a time saver that is !!wasili said:
Thanks for the comments, guys !!!
Getting started on the weathering now. I completed the canopy and the tail fin first so I can place them on to get an overall feel for it as i weather the main body.
Here's the center grille getting started. I want it to look like there is exhaust coming out of the grille so I added some trailing smoke stains behind the openings
I used pastels here to "paint" this area in a slightly darker tone. Just easier than masking and painting such a small area
For now keeping it very light and will build up in passes until I think it's done. There's some shading here that's a liitle too light in this photo around the cockpit and some dust trails on the raised grey panels and the ring of openings.
Mannnn That's awesome! I need to start building some models again to refresh my skills.
Then I can have a go at this Studio scale model building.
Looks awesome. This reminds me of the ship from John Carpenter's The Thing.
I wish i come close o building something like that - it beautiful!!!!
Here's an update on the weathering. Still needs a little work but nearly there...
I uploaded a bigger pic of the top as well. The little pic doesn't show the detail well.
Another quick update.
Got the engines installed finally and lights working.
Cockpit lighting. The lighting of the screen didn't work as I had hoped but was a good learning experience if nothing else. It won't be too visible with the canopy on but will add a bit of color to the model.
This one is finished. I'll be photographing it tomorrow with a backdrop and better lighting but here she is with all the parts assembled. I'd like to add a pilot at some point so the canopy is not attached yet.
I really appreciate everyone's advice and encouragement along the way.
-Doug
Wow that really looks great all weathered and lit up.
Great job.
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