large scale scratchbuilt viper from battlestar gallactica

[barrie]

hi everyone,
its been a while since I last posted so here goes once more here is my large scale viper which is totaly scratchbuilt and took over two months to complete, there are only a very few kit parts %90 of the model is all hand made. The model is now on display in TRANSPORT MODELS OF PRESTON my local hobby shop where it hangs alongside some of my other recent scratchbuilds, photos of which I hope to post soon. please let me know what you think it will help me to improve and build better models in the future.

regards barrie

 

[IEDBOUNTYHUNTER]

Looks great, Any pics of it under construction?

Al

 

[trnswrp10]

Way to go Barrie!! Looks great. I love the fact it's mostly handmade.

 

[SofaKing01]

Fantastic!

- - - Updated - - -

Fantastic! I spy a SnowSpeeder as well!

 

[barrie]

thank you gentlemen for your comments, yes I have construction pics a great many, and yes you did see a snowspeeder a tie figther a batmobile and a y fighter all hand made and on display. I will posst some construction pics now,


thank you regards Barrie ( the old guy )

 

[barrie]

build pics of viper

 

[barrie]

here are some snowspeeder pics for those who caught a glimpse of her, once again all scratchbuilt,

regards barrie ( the old guy )

 

[Dragontomb]

Awesome scratch built pieces!

 

[Marnok]

Hi, this is a great model!

You asked for ways to improve, so I looked again critically. All I really came up with is, some of the paint work looks a bit "painted", if you see what I mean. Might consider alternate painting techniques to look less brushed. Not that is is bad now, but feedback is feedback

 

[barrie]

Hello Mr Marnok,
your quite right my painting is not up to much, it is the only part of model making I do not like very much, I wish some one else would paint my models I am sure they would look a lot better. I would rather build all day long for months then spend a day painting a model are you any good at painting ? do you live near Preston in lancashire ? maybe you have just got your self a job.

regards barrie ( the old guy )

 

[Hammer3246]

Great work, I agree a pro paint job would really make them pop.

 

[Marnok]

Hi Barrie

I'm not sure I'd do any better a job, I was just looking for some feedback to offer because you asked for some

If I was nearer I'd drop by and test some painting ideas out on some pringles tubes, I'm South London based and not very travel-y so Preston seems distant and exotic! I bet there is someone closer though, on the forum, with proven skills who would relish the chance to get their paint over such great models.

All I personally would try and do is experiment with airbrush, masking tape and newspaper, multiple thin layers of paint, maybe some sponging... get some wear and tear into the stripes by sticking some wet sand onto the surface before painting so when it is dry and removed it leaves some gaps... use postit notes and black spray (from a distance) to get weathering with that panelled look... that sort of thing.

Hope that helps, or at least, doesn't hinder.

~Marnok

 

[crackerjazz]

Wow, Barrie, you make everything look so easy to build. Two months is lightning fast for something like that. Mind if I ask how you formed that forward fuselage into shape? I can see they have bulkheads - how did you do the curvature of the skin?

 

[barrie]

Thanks for the painting tips Mr Marnok, I wished you lived a little closer you would have the job, I will have to try and knuckle down to the painting side of this hobby I think it would improve the apperance a great deal thanks for your good advice,
ATTENTION Mr Crackerjazz, the fusalage is built up much like that of a plane with a lot of section pieces linked together and then I add some small edge pieces and then cover the frame in section with a thin plastic sheet which I pre bend with my hands to get a rough shape then glue down one section end and then gradually work the sheet piece over the frame work, I will see if I can find an image to show better what I mean writing it is one thing but a picture paints a thousand words so they say.

regards Barrie ( the old guy )

 

[barrie]

Here are afew images of what I hope you want MR Crackerjazz,.

regards Barrie

 

[Stormy320]

That is fantastic!

 

[crackerjazz]

Excellent, Barrie, thanks! : )

 

[KitWrecker]

That is fantastic construction work and I'm amazed at the speed your build at! In some of the photos the frames look kind of far apart. Have you ever had problems with the "skin" sagging in between the frames over time?

 

[barrie]

Hello Mr Kit wrecker, where do you guys get your names from it always amuses me anyway down to model making, about sagging well It does not show it in the pics I am afraid but when I join the next section on on the overlap I stick another piece between so that the next section has somthing to locate on and links the two sking together and also adds more strenght I also try to use 30 thou card for the sking somtimes 20, but 30 thou has a good strenght but needs a lot of pre bending to make it hold its shape, in fact I have found its better to bend it to tight and then it begins to try and flex out just before adding to the body or ribs I hope this helps a little I will do some drawings if you want give me a couple of days then I will post some build up bits.

regards Barrie ( the old guy )

 

[robn1]

Awesome work Barrie! That large Viper, and the Eagle you showed us earlier remind me of the 6 foot Galactica I built from cardboard as a kid. If I had known about plastic sheet at the time the big G may still be around today.