Moonraker Shuttle; Take two

[PHArchivist]

Major step completed today. Note the color difference between this one and my own. Mine is darker; richer -- and wrong. This new one is Floquil Reefer Orange, as suggested by a respected studio scale modeler who has also worked in the industry. And it feels much more "right" than the orange I used on my own copy.

Trying to knock this baby out by early November so it can debut at a Bond premier fiesta. Still have to mask off for the gray leading edge of the wings, plus the black bordering on the vertical stabilizer and the cockpit. And the gray nose. Then its on to detailing and weathering.

You can also see how the angle of the black area under the cockpit is more aggressive on the current build than on the completed model. This also is more accurate to the original.

 

[Clone-extra1]

Looks great.

 

[The Mantis]

OK, now THIS is exciting.....I greatly appreciate the amount of care, control, and detail that is going into this.....LOVE the transformation.

 

[PHArchivist]

Got the nose cone, wing leading edges, and tail perimeter all masked and painted today. Pics later if desired.

 

[Clone-extra1]

Yes. Please Post pics.

 

[PHArchivist]

I'll post up a pic or two tonight or tomorrow. I still have to shoot a light coat of burnt umber over the black tail perimeter, and have a tad bit of massaging on the nose cone to do...

 

[paulcarson]

Its coming along nicely. You're really doing a great job on this, I'm sure that Dave will be very happy with the end result.

 

[PHArchivist]

More progress...

Need to do the rudder part on the other side, and the black around the cockpit, plus color the nose with some gun metal and do the "tiger shrimp" pattern on the wing leading edges, then painting is done.

After that it is ust panel lines, decals, and weathering -- the fun stuff. Well -- its ALL fun.

 

[The Mantis]

Hugo Drax would be proud..... Love the updates, really shows the evolution of this piece.

 

[Beagle Bill]

Very nice. You've inspired me, I'm gonna have to dig out the one I did as a kid and overhaul it. The burnt umber really nails the look, and I like the lighter orange you went with on this version. And with the orange angled up further on the doors and the higher black/brown on the sides of the cockpit, looks very screen acurate. Great job, can't wait to see more pics. :thumbsup Is this one going to be Moonraker 5?

 

[PHArchivist]

Cool guys.

Thanks for noticing the details. Also the gray on the leading edges is more paralell with the edge itself on this one, as it should be. Of note, the grey tone -- as is -- doesn't strike me as perfect, but that's because it is still clean. As the weathering comes in, it will hit the correct tones.

Unless Dave begs and pleads, this will also be "1", mainly because the font I use when doing the custom graphics doesn't really work for the other numbers (even has to be modified slightly to get the "1" correct). But I am willing to experiment more, so we'll see. Which one had the laser on the nose? I've forgotten...

Back to work. I'm working on the other side of the tail, and more panel lines this morning...

 

[PHArchivist]

This morning's progress pics. This was actually yesterday's work. Will progress more today. Enjoy.

The orange part of the Drax logo will be brushed over with the lighter orange. Had to do the same on mine.

The white elipses were much easier this time, and as a result, better.

On the decal they are clear, and hence came out orange on mine. So I went in with a fine-tipped brush to add the white on top.

On Dave's, I got smart and painted the back side of the decal/sticker which was MUCH faster, and cleaner.

 

[PHArchivist]

Yesteday's progress...

A keen eye would note that the spacing within the oragne bands on the fuselage sides fore and aft of the round Drax logo is different. On the right side it is greater than on the left. This was corrected yesterday.

 

[mb1k]

<div class='quotetop'>(PHArchivist @ Nov 6 2006, 08:32 AM) [snapback]1351815[/snapback]</div>

Yesteday's progress...

A keen eye would note that the spacing within the oragne bands on the fuselage sides fore and aft of the round Drax logo is different. On the right side it is greater than on the left. This was corrected yesterday.
[/b]

Looking forward to seeing that observation captured on film... I don't have any photos showing that discrepancy. Did you get that from screen captures?

Joe

 

[PHArchivist]

Sorry -- I should clarify... The reference was to the initial painting on this model 9not on the screen-used models).

When I first sprayed the orange, the band going down the left side got a centimeter too narrow, wihch also resulted in the orange triangle on the left wing being narrower than on the right The top-down shot in post #41 shows this).

Again, this was all corrected yesterday.

I'm hoping to knock-out the "tiger shrimp" pattern on the wings today or tomorrow, and the black mask around the cockpit later this week. That should leave the end of the week and the weekend for details and weathering.

 

[mb1k]

Regardless, it looks great and I'm glad you're doing this for all of us to see. I've three 1/72 shuttles in the kit pile now and have been wondering on whether or not to do the Drax treatment to at least one. After viewing this thread the answer is "yes" and I'm saving your images (if you don't mind) for reference and guidance.

I'm not going to go "screen accurate" though. I'll be adding the surface insulation treatment (the LRSI, HRSI, FRSI sisters) and realistic weather referencing the realworld orbiters. Just for myself I want to see what a Moonraker would look like in the realworld.

Anxious to see your work completed.

Joe

 

[PHArchivist]

<div class='quotetop'>(MB1K @ Nov 6 2006, 07:43 PM) [snapback]1352051[/snapback]</div>

Regardless, it looks great and I'm glad you're doing this for all of us to see. I've three 1/72 shuttles in the kit pile now and have been wondering on whether or not to do the Drax treatment to at least one. After viewing this thread the answer is "yes" and I'm saving your images (if you don't mind) for reference and guidance.

I'm not going to go "screen accurate" though. I'll be adding the surface insulation treatment (the LRSI, HRSI, FRSI sisters) and realistic weather referencing the realworld orbiters. Just for myself I want to see what a Moonraker would look like in the realworld.

Anxious to see your work completed.

Joe
[/b]

Cool. Likewise will be intrigued by yours.

Here are some new shots (no prob on anyone saving them). With the windscreen mask completed (NOT easy.) its all downhill.

Note in the overhead shot how the triangles on the wings now line up better...

Note in the overhead shot how the triangles on the wings now line up better...

 

[mb1k]

Looking at your model I've noticed for the very first time the scalloped detail of the RCC panels in the vicinity of panels 5 through 7 L/R. I would have never noticed that detail on the images I've seen from Navette Moonraker's site and watching the movie.

I'm going to debate whether to incorporate that into my notional Drax Orbiter or not. I wonder what else I haven't noticed now...

It'll be awhile, but I'll be sure to post the progress as you have. I have two TIE fighters, a 1/9 Protar BMW G/S, and an AMT STMP Enterprise yet to get through before I promised myself that I wouldn't start another model.

Joe

 

[PHArchivist]

"scalloped detail of the RCC panels in the vicinity of panels 5 through 7 L/R."

I think you know more about shuttles/orbiters than I. Are you referring to the scallops on the leading edges of the wings, or under the cockpit?

On the cockpit area, my read from the reference pics I have (and Navette's are most of them) is that it is very subtle. After completing my first model, I questioned if I'd scalloped this area too much. But on this model I experimented with masking a straight line, and it just did not look correct compared to the ref pics. And I then tried about 4 or 5 circles/arcs (in increasing circumferences) to cut the mask with a subtle enough curve.

Reference photos on the original models are apparently not easy to come by. In the past year or so that I've focused on this model, I've only found about five or so quality ref pics of the filming model. Most are of the model featured on Navette's site. One is from a different model (different Moonraker number and possibly a different scale). The models I've done are basically the best representation I can make based on the information available in these limited reference pics.

 

[PHArchivist]

The other main ref shot I've been using is on the first page or two of this thread.