Over three decades of MADNESS... (Incredibly PIC Intensive)

tommin

Sr Member
Life has pulled me away from the hobby for a few years. Along with that, a recent change of residence has set me back a bit in terms of hobby time, as I continue to unpack and get things sorted at the new home front. Definitely at a better place now and it is through the recent dialogue with several life long friends and fellow board members here, that have encouraged me to search through some boxes to possibly find a few items from the projects of yesterday. Although I am fortunate to have maintained a status of never failing to complete a single transaction, there seems to be a number of new recruits that have expressed interest in my past work. To this day, there are still boxes to be sorted but fortunately, several data discs were recently recovered. Among these included some discs that contained images and blueprints of several projects from yester year. Seeing many of these now, brings back so many memories and the realization that the madness has always been rooted in my bones. Rather than look for specific threads that may now be long gone, it is my intention to place this collection of images here for your inspection, information, and quite possibly your entertainment.

So kick back, relax with a beverage of your choice. Hang out for a few minutes. I do hope that you enjoy the brief little slide show that is about to follow.

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The Starship Enterprise. What’s not to love about this ship? This electronic kit was acquired in poor condition and restored to the point that you see it here. This display piece was recently given to a friend that helped with the move.

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Mock up DeLorean Chassis. Part of a high school senior art project, I desperately wanted to complete a studio scale car body with the materials that were available at the time. This was comprised mostly of 1/8’ balsa planks and white glue. The project turned out to be far greater for me to complete at the time. The chassis lies in wait for me to one day, return to it.

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MPC small scale AT-ST. This is a product of my early aspirations to become a professional model maker. Reference material was simply not available back then as it is now. But this tiny creation still holds some merit to this day.

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MPC small scale X-Wing fighter. If memory serves, this piece was used as a reference model for some technical illustrations that was created based on it. At the time, I chose a simple chrome finish just because it made the piece a bit more interesting to look at and gave more definition to important lines.

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Grumman Hellcat rubber band powered aircraft. These days, it seems to be a dieing hobby to immerse oneself in a project like this. But so much can be gained for taking the time to complete one.

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P40 Warhawk rubber band powered aircraft. Again, probably a dieing hobby but a lot of skill and knowledge can be acquired from taking the plunge into one of these.

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1:24 Ertl BTTF Time Machine: Knocked this one out literally just months before a major toy company began offering 1:18 scale die-cast versions of them. For those of you that may have tackled this kit, you know that the door of the kit is fused to the body and not intended to be opened like this. I may have been the first to do it. This model was later used as part of the visual reference for a particular technical illustration that followed it.

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A collection of my illuminated technical illustrations. These technical illustrations are a compilation of five or more individual pieces each that I had created in the late 1990’s. The DeLorean and Batmobile are products solely of my own artwork. The BR Spinner is a collaborative effort between myself and another artist. They are meticulously based on several physical pieces of reference and I still retain the original hand inked artwork on all of this.

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A crappy cell phone picture of the same 1:24 reference model. This was taken in 2012 just before the item was packaged up and posted. Somewhere in transit, I imagine the box that contained it was drop kicked like an adversary to Captain Kirk. It arrived in almost an almost completely shattered state.

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A vintage MPC Snow Speeder build up from ESB. May have built and painted this one in the late 1980’s. Again, not as much reference material available back then as there is today. The Winter of 2013 gave me a wonderful opportunity to do a quick little photo shoot with it.

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The Terminator Endo Arm. This was the first, of several licensed kits, that I had built up on commission. It was the same one used for the build tutorial that is still available on the Terminator Files website. Guess that was my first real claim to fame and I am truly honored and humbled by the fellas over there. Many thanks to them.

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Custom built blaster that was nicknamed the “ALIEN HULK”. This was based on a super soaker type water gun and my first entry into a custom blaster contest. It has been a while but, pretty sure it placed back then.

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Custom built space craft that was definitely inspired. This was based on a V22 Marine Osprey and my first entry into a custom starship contest. Pretty sure it placed too.

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Custom finished blaster / uzi. This was based on a cheap dollar tree toy and used as my entry to yet another blaster contest. The purpose of this particular entry was just for friendly participation and to prove to one particular heckler of the contest that YES, one can create a competitive piece utilizing only a toy gun and macaroni noodles!! Challenge accepted but not sure if this one actually placed in that. Still a fun item to create.

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Custom finished blaster; ‘To Die With Honor’. This was based on the Nerf Maverick and used as my entry to yet another blaster contest. Pretty sure this one placed and now resides in another collection.

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USCM checker set. I built a few of these back in the day. Not sure what happened to them all.

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Scored a few of these at a local dollar store and painted them up to look halfway presentable. Not sure what happened to all of those either.

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The Foil Origami Unicorn from BladeRunner. Good times.

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Managed to score one of the limited production of the U.S.S. Sulaco cloisonne pins back in the day. Ground off the stud and attached it to a Zippo. Hated losing that lighter.

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Custom BSG blaster build up. Was fortunate enough to score one of Matsuo’s resin kits from yester year. This one was adopted and currently resides in a loving collection.

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One of my early attempts at finishing out both a M40 & WY Flarebox set. Not sure what happened to these two.

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One of my later attempts at finishing out a more effective WY Flarebox.

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This was part of a MIM resin kit. I was presented with the challenge of giving the resin hand guard the ability to cycle checker pieces. Challenge accepted.

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Took a break from all of that to develop a revolutionary air soft adapter. People seem to have liked those for a time.

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In my spare time, would return to the work bench that always seemed to call to me.

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Couldn’t help but attach one of those air soft adapters to my own build up.

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I usually always like to take some sort of pre package photo.

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Another pre package photo. The shroud was left unpainted as requested.

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Test photo on additional paints and techniques.

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Crappy cell phone picture of one of my own. But the moment was historical. This was on the Detective’s desk that helped to recover it for me. My old place had been broken into back in 2009 and this was about the only item that I successfully re-acquired.

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It helped that I had a few poster sized prints of it with an old girlfriend holding it. Some of those prints hung at the sheriff’s office and the rifle was found within a few days.

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Less than a year later, one of the first of two HCG production pulsey’s made it to my collection.

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Took a break from some of that to get back to old school creativity. Sharpened up some of my skill set finishing out a real Dikar .45 cal and created the presentation box to go with it.



But there will always be a soft spot in my heart for the USCM related items. This is my first meager attempt to wade back in slowly and see if there is still a place for an fanatical nutcase like myself.

Thanks for taking the time to view all of this. The hobby and prop/scifi community have truly been missed.
 
Very nice and clean endo arm :) :thumbsup

Are those red lights in the warp nacelles? :confused

Thanks!! Such a compliment from a T2 guru of your caliber is wicked awesome! :D But yeah, the Enterprise model was done up in the mid 1990's. I was a little more free spirited back then with the use of color specs. Would do things MUCH differently these days.
 
Thanks!! Such a compliment from a T2 guru of your caliber is wicked awesome! :D But yeah, the Enterprise model was done up in the mid 1990's. I was a little more free spirited back then with the use of color specs. Would do things MUCH differently these days.

Things change over the years, whether we want to or not :p

I am no T2 guru :lol merely a HUGE T2 "enthusiast" :p never the less you are very welcome :D
 
Thanks for sharing, nice stuff.

Tell me about the paint job on that custom BSG blaster? That's the kind of metal finish I'd love to achieve one day.
 
Thanks for sharing, nice stuff.

Tell me about the paint job on that custom BSG blaster? That's the kind of metal finish I'd love to achieve one day.


You are most welcome, sir and thank you. If I told you exactly how I did it, you might begin to think I was a complete hack. However, there are a multitude of excellent paint products out there that actually come in a rattle can. That finish was completed with about three different rattle can products. Automotive grade paints like dupli-color "gun metal" are a wonderful base coat to begin with. The resin colt python that sets inside there was finished out with a satin black to create the subtle contrast between the pistol and the shroud. Final finish is weathered down just slightly given that I wanted this to look like a gently used service sidearm.
 
Thanks! I'll look for the Dupli-Color gun metal color.

I use rattle-can paint almost exclusively, always looking for new techniques. Usually for metal, I'll start with a flat black and gently dry-brush on some silver or gray, or gently mist a little bit of silver over a flat-black piece to bring out some depth.

This shotgun my wife is holding was a $8 plastic halloween-store clearance, the "metal" painted with 99-cent flat black then gently brushed with cheap silver. The "wood" handle had grain in the plastic mold, so I sprayed on the cheap flat-black and immediately wiped it off with a rag. It photographs pretty well for under $10 total - but it doesn't hold up to close scrutiny. Not as entertaining as your macaroni machinegun, ha ha.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10205928627471880&set=t.100001773615304&type=3&theater
 
Thanks! I'll look for the Dupli-Color gun metal color.

I use rattle-can paint almost exclusively, always looking for new techniques. Usually for metal, I'll start with a flat black and gently dry-brush on some silver or gray, or gently mist a little bit of silver over a flat-black piece to bring out some depth.

On the BSG gun, it is sort of in the reverse of that. The base coat was the gunmetal and then lightly misted over that a matte or flat black. That coat can be applied at nearly twenty or more inches from the target surfaces depending on what sort of charge is left in the can. Once fully cured, buff away some of the black with 800 grit paper or even a shop rag depending on the amount of coverage that was laid down. It gives it the appearance that metal truly exists below the top coat.

Tried to view your link just now but it is telling me that the page is expired.
 
Thanks for posting the pictures, I especially love the Balsa Model Airplanes. Rubber powered airplanes do appear to be on the downside in popularity right now especially with the popularity of small and cheap ready to fly hobby planes. I still have quite a few rubber powered model kits that I tell myself I will eventually get around to building.
 
Ha! I built that same P-40 Warhawk kit. It was fun times and it really does build your skills to complete these old style balsa kits!
 
TFS you work along the years; as Picasso would answer to the question "What's your best work?" He always answered: "The next one". Keep on building and creating works of Art.
 
Ha! I built that same P-40 Warhawk kit. It was fun times and it really does build your skills to complete these old style balsa kits!

Outstanding! :D It was a pretty popular model. That Warhawk was such an iconic piece of American muscle in the skies during WW2. Interestingly enough, there are a few countries in Central America that are still using them as part of their active military. They were built that well. :)

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Warhawk image creds: http://www.cybermodeler.com/
 
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