I picked up this kit a long long time ago and I've decided to finaly give it a go.
First thing I'll be doing is removing these raised panel lines.
I've started removing those and I don't like the round parts that the guns are mounted on. They seem too small for me.
I'm going to replace those with these little things that come out of the vending machines with the little toys in them.
It's a little too large so I'll be sanding these down before I glue them on.
Thank you very much. The port side of this kit is a mirror image of the starboard side. But I’m going to remove about 90% of all the details and rebuild everything from scratch trying to get it as close as I can to the studio model.
Nice this is my favorite model, Id like to see this project continue with more pics. Very interesting to see it modified.
After some grinding, filing, scraping and sanding, I'm left with a nice blank slate. Next I'll pencil in the more accurate lines then scribe those in.
I had to putty up some little dings I made here and there.
I'm watching this with interest as I have an Airfix vrsion and a Fine molds.
Thanks for the feedback guys. I’ve collected as many pictures as I could find online to help me with the details. I’ve started penciling in some of the panel lines. Once I get that done, I’ll dust it with a layer of Dullcote so I won’t smudge the lines while I’m scribing. I’ll post photos of the penciled lines once I have that done. Hopefully I can get that done tonight as long as I don’t have a busy “Honey-do” list when I get home from work.
Here are some pictures of the panel lines penciled in.
Next comes the etching. Thanks for looking.
Nice! Please let us know what tool you're going to use to etch/scribe.
Thanks. I'll post pictures of the etch/scribe tools I'm using when I get home from work. There are two of them and the combination works great for me.
Here's what I'm using to etch in the panels. Besides the metal straight edge, I use the orange plastic one to guide be around bends and the thin green one can be positioned into different shapes which helps with curves.
This top metal scribe pen I got from my dad a long time ago. He used it to scribe his name on his work tools. The bottom one is made for clay sculpting.
I first use the scribe pen to start off the etching. I go very light at first and follow up with a couple of more passes.
Then I follow the grooves with this tool which digs it out more.
This tool is great at removing styrene while the scribe pen just pushes it around. It might take longer than usual since I have to go over it twice but I like the results.
Here's what's left after a few passes of the clay carving tool.
So this is what I'll be doing for the next couple of nights or so.
Good job so far! I find scribing to be a bit of a PITA.....
Rich
You seem to have scribing down very well, but I'd like to share a technique with you:
One of the ways I've always scribed was with a number 11 x-acto blade turned around backwards. Still use the pointy end, but backwards. It usually gives you a very good scribed line that way.
Just a thought if anyone wants to give it a try.
Thats the best way for me as well.Scott Graham said:
I think this is a good little kit .......with mods and
a good paint job she can really shine! Looking forward
to watching the rest!
Dymo tape (that plastic tape that makes raised letter labels) works well for straight lines even on curved surfaces.
The stuff I picked up is clear and the backing is split down the middle so you can get twice as much use out of it.
Thank you guys for the comments and suggestions. I’m going to try the good old #11 blade backwards. I once tried quite a while ago and didn’t get a feel for it. But I think now that I have some better building experience I should revisit this technique. You guys build some amazing stuff so if it works for you, then it can’t be wrong. Thanks Division 6 for the Dymo tape idea. That sounds like a foolproof way of getting around those curves. Thanks again for all the input.
Careful with the #11 though. It could go deep enough to cut the piece.
I use a #11 with a broken off tip, assorted dental and sculpting tools and a compass tip mounted in a metal tube.
Or cut your fingers if/when it slips. Also, too much pressure will snap the tip of the blade right off, so multiple light passes are better than a few heavy passes. I've only used this method for scribing short lines, but I like the results.Scott Graham said:
Thank you all very much for the great advice and input. From now on, I’ll be recommending the backward X-acto method of scribing. Once I got the hand of it, I was actually having fun. I was getting some nice tight lines and definitely going with a few light passes, especially at first. I ended up going to bed way too late because my mind was stuck in a scribing zone. I got a lot of it done but still have a little bit more to do and then I’ll start adding the raised details and I’m really looking forward to this challenge. I’ll also be trying something different with this model kit in how it will be displayed but I’ll get to that later because I still have to do some planning on that (and determine if it’s something I’m capable of doing). I’ve taken more progress pictures METALLBOY. I’ll try and get these posted tonight. Thanks for looking!
I wanted to throw these pictures in of the hull before I started scribing this part.
And here's where I'm at so far after the scribing. There are some areas I need to clean up but I'll do that later after all of the details are added.
I already see a coulpe of areas I'll have to correct. I was going to let it go but I know it will end up bothering me if I don't fix it.
That looks awesome! I'm doing an FM build of Slave I, so I look forward to seeing what you do with your painting!
Sean
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