Voyager from Fantastic Voyage-FINISHED PICS!

[trekriffic]

This is my build of the Voyager flying submarine from the cartoon, Fantastic Voyage...

Cartoon Intro on youtube with Ted Knight's voice:

Fantastic Voyage (1968) - OPENING - YouTube

Box Art:

I originally built this kit back as a kid when Aurora first issued it.
When I heard Moebius was re-issuing it I had to have it!
Then and now, I have always loved the design of this ship although how the thing could be steered was a mystery as it had no perceivable rudder or flaps.
This never bothered me as a kid though, if any model was made for zooming around the house this was it!

Anyway, here are some pics of my build progress...

Instructions:

Pretty straightforward although it recommends gluing the turret floor to the upper hull ceiling before gluing in the instrument desk and clear bubble.
Test fitting proved to me that the desk and bubble need to be glued to the floor first (along with Busby Birdwell in his seat) and then the whole assembly can be glued to the upper hull opening.

TSDS Decals:

I got these from TSDS for the instrument panels mostly.
Now I've decided to use the ones included for the motor intakes and exhaust ports.
I plan to install a 9V battery and light up the interior and the bubble.
The exhaust ports will be lit as well but first I'll either have to fill the ports with resin or cover them over with clear styrene discs as the decal needs to go on over a flat surface.

Painted parts:

Lower hull and Seats:

Upper hull:

All surfaces were primed with Tamiya white Fine Surface Primer.
I used MM Bright Blue for the interior surfaces and walls.
The seats are Insignia Yellow on top and will get a coat of Testors Dark Blue for the undersides.

I'm going to do some work on the figures to make them resemble the cartoon characters more.

First up is Guru, the man of "mystical powers"...

The kit figure after I worked on it a little:

I used epoxy putty to give him a turban.
He's just about ready for paint.
Still need to do more work on his face though, mainly I want to give him a little more chin.

Anyway, that's all for now.
Hope you guys enjoyed the narrative and the pics.

 

[robn1]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

I've never seen a build of this model, so I'll be watching!

I loved this show as a kid, although I had seen the movie and knew it was different. I really like the theme music that played during the end credits, it was very 60's cool :cool

 

[Joseph C. Brown]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

Are you going to tackle the CMDF 'launch' pad also?

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

Are you going to tackle the CMDF 'launch' pad also?

Hadn't planned to but... maybe... looks like the emitters could be made from wood if one had a band saw and a lathe. The emitters themselves actually resemble those old wooden tops kids used to spin with a string wrapped around them back in the olden days. Do they still make those? And the platform the sub rests on could easily be made from one of those wooden bases they sell at the craft store. Funny how the emitter in the center is different from the other two. Hadn't noticed that before.

At the very least I could paint a backdrop.

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

I really like the theme music that played during the end credits, it was very 60's cool :cool

Yeah. It was 60's cool alright...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8feNyhkkYZw

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

Pics from this past weekend...

Spent about 5-6 hours on these guys. A lot of closeup work under the magnifier. My neck had a nice crick in it by Sunday afternoon!
The "as molded" kit figures were rather soft on detail so first I filed and sanded them to make their arms, necks, and torsos not quite so thick.
They were soooooo small I had to drill holes in their hind ends and insert brass rods to make it easier to work on them and paint.
So, yes, you guessed it, they all had sticks up their butts!

Fine tipped paintbrush. Just the thing for painting eyebrows and Erica's red lips!

Guru:

I added the turban using my precious Tamiya epoxy putty. I'm proud I was able to paint the whites of his eyes.
The pupils were made using the end of a round toothpick dipped in black enamel paint. "Dotting the eyes" so to speak.

Jonathan Kidd:

I tried to make the eyepatch using wire but ended up just painting it on. I used epoxy putty to make his chin stronger.

Erica Lane:

Some delicate work with the brush on her eyes and lips.
Her hair is Gulkden's Mustard yellow, at least it looks that way in the pic. She has a pony tail!

And the figure I'm probably proudest of...

Busby Birdwell:

After adding putty and shaping his ears and chin I painted his face and light brown hair adding black pupils and eyebrows.
The glasses were made using a strand of tinned copper wire painted black.
His glasses have clear lenses made from drops of CA applied with a toothpick.

Work proceeed on the cockpit...

I sanded down the top and one side of a 3mm clear LED (cut from a christmas tree light string) so it will fit snug against the floor and sidewalll of the cockpit floor.
A ring was cut from a clear acylic tube (with aluminum foil tape along it's outside rim to reflect light back into the cockpit) fits flush inside the circumference of the floor walls underneath the instrument panel ring.
The LED will light the ring and cast light upwards to illuminate Busby's face from below:

A hole was drilled into the lower hull half behind the rear interior wall.
A pushbutton switch, pirated from a Dollar Tree booklight, will be attached:

I had to use JB Weld in place of CA as the pushbutton plastic would not stick to the styrene plastic otherwise:

And that was it for the weekend's work.
The JB Weld should have dried enough by now for me to proceeed with the next phase which is figuring out how to mount the battery and make it accesible.
I'll have to cut a removeable rectangular panel out of the underside I think.

Thanks for reading along!

P.S. I just noticed I forgot to paint the little circle and triangle insignias on their left breasts! Oh man! Only almost done! Life is not fair...

 

[Wes R]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

I didn't even know there had been a cartoon of the movie. I'm going to have to check youtube for episodes. Great detail on the figures. Half the time when i was building models I had more fun with the tiny details and figures than the rest of it.

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

Here are the latest photos for your inspection.

Engine vent wiring:

Three 3mm red LEDs were wired in series with a 10 ohm resistor.

Engine vent light test:

Engine vent covers:

Clear plastic covers cut from thin clear sheet styene then press fit (they fit snugly) then glued with Micro Kristal Klear. The covers were needed to give the stern engine vent decals a flat surface to be applied to.

Dymo label tape:

The Dymo tape served as a guide for the scribing tool I used to cut an access panel out of the lower hull.

Busby Birdwell in his pilot seat:

The clear dome was attached to the cockpit with Kristal Klear and lit up. The light was bright enough to shine thru the white plastic and illuminate the instrument panel from below. Ver cool!

Ceiling panel wiring:

The LEDs were posiitoned to be directly above the cabin seats. The two forward LEDs were wired in series with a 150 ohm resistor. The rear LED will be in series with the cockpit light.

Upper and lower hull halves:

The cabin ceiling is painted Bright Blue to match the rest of the interior. The negative battery lead was wired to the pushbutton switch which had been glued and packed with Tamiya epoxy putty to ensure it will NEVER break loose. The battery is held in place to the upper hull half with a velcro tie strap.

Next up is decaling the instrument panel in the bow of the ship and gluing Erica Cane, Jonathan Kidd, and Guru into their seats before gluing the seats to the cabin floor. Then I'll finish wiring up the LEDs to the negative pushbutton and positive battery leads before sealing the hull up.

As always, thanks for following along. Comments appreciated!

 

[Apollo]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

Have fond memories of the cartoon.

Fantastic job so far!!!

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

More pics from last night and this morning...

I realized I didn't show much detail concerning the battery compartment and how I rigged the strap so I took a few more pics to illustrate...

Velcro Strap Platform:

The strap slides snuggly thru slots I carved in a section of thick styrene sheet which was then glued into the upper hull with styrene cement and CA.
Part of the slot that the tail fits into had to be removed to created a shelf for gluing the platform to on the back end. It also allows for more clearance as it's a tight fit with a 9V battery.

Access Door Panel:

Tabs were glued using Testors tube cement. I still haven't decided on how to secure the other end of the panel to the rear of the ship.
I'll either use a magnet or screw.

Access Door Slots:

Two thicknesses of styrene sheet were cut and stacked to make slots that the door tabs slide into.

Mounting Tube:

I'm planning to take photographs of Voyager in flight mode (as well as on the kit stand) so I decided it would be a good idea to include a mounting tube somewhere on the ship.
The stern felt like an obvious choice so I glued a short piece of Evergreen tubing to a matching length of Evergreen I-Beam tubing which was glued into the tail slot using Testors tube glue.
I didn't use CA as I've found under certain loads CA can pop loose.
Nothing welds styrene together better than styrene cement glues.
Although the cartoon images on the net don't show this opening in the stern I figure it makes sense as a port for launching various probes or even as a laser mounting point to ward off attackers chasing Voyager during one of her many daring missions.

Tail:

I had to cut a slot in the front at the base of the tail to allow for the battery platform protruding thru from inside the ship.
No big deal.

Tail Insert:

This is the cover for the backside of the tail. A hole will need to be drilled for the mounting tube to pass thru.
Before it's glued in place though I'll pack the inside of the tail with AVES apoxy sculpt for added strength.
It may seem like overkill but it won't hurt and I want that mounting tube to stay put dammit!

Gratuitous Profile Pic:

What can I say... just a sweet design from any angle.

As the weekend approaches I'm looking forward to finishing up the wiring and guing the hull together.
Then the tail and wings go on and I start to putty and sand the gaps.

Thanks for reading along. More to come! :cool

 

[Jaruemalak]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

Beautiful job! I loved the series as a kid, and had the model at least three times but they kept getting destroyed while playing with them... one way or another. (Illegal fireworks may have been involved.) I do have an unbuilt kit (re-issue) in storage; this may inspire me to build it!

A few years ago I picked up a DVD full of episodes of the series. Couldn't wait to get it home and re-live a few moments from my childhood. Sad to say, I watched one episode... it was one of those "What did I like about THIS?" moments that are so common. But I still loved the Voyager!

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

Here's today's update...


Got all of the wires soldered to the LED legs. Still need to solder the resistors to the negative leads then solder the battery leads to the elecctrical bus before closing her up:

AVES was packed around the sides of the battery platform for added strength. It was also packed around the sides and back of the cabin ceiling.

Here's what I did to hold the battery access door shut.
A metal washer was glued into a recess in the door panel itself with 5-minute epoxy. A rare earth magnet was glued with epoxy into the rear section of the door frame.
It's offset as I had to allow clearance for the battery to fit thru the frame but there's enough overlap for the magnet to grab the washer and hold the door closed:

Access door from outside:

Instrument panel decals in place and sprayed with Glosscote to seal.
A coat of Dullcote will follow once the crewmen are installed in their seats :

Crew Cabin Dullcoted and finished with Kidd, Guru, and Cane in their seats:

Wires consolidated and soldered together:

After soldering two 150 ohm resistors to the 2 cabin/cockpit circuits the negative leads from each of the 3 circuits were soldered together to a short length of 22 gauge black wire. The leads from the positive side of the 3 circuits were also soldered to a common red 22 gauge wire.This will make it easier to attach the battery leads from the lower hull half. The solder joints were then coated with 3M Liquid Electrical Tape to insulate them in case they touch.

Next I'll solder the battery leads to the upper hull leads and glue the hull together.

Wish me luck!

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

Well guess what guys? My circuits didn't work very well. Once I got all the lights hooked up I noticed the LEDs were extremely dim. The good thing was I found this out before I sealed the hull up.
Seems my mix of series circuits on a parallel bus was sapping the battery current to the point the LEDs in the cockpit and cabin were dim and the LEDs in the engines were out entirely. It would probably work with a wall adapter supplying unlimited current but that would defeat the whole purpose of having the battery in the model. So I had to pry the ceiling loose from the upper hull and rewire everything! I ended up wiring each LED individually in a parallel configuration on it's own 330 ohm resistor. A lot of work and some delicate soldering/re-soldering was required but the cabin/cockpit lights are nice and bright now. I'll need to buy some more resistors before I can rewire the engine lights.
I really need to get a breadboard so I can test out these circuits before I install them in the model. You'd think I'd have learned that by now!
I'm such an IDIOT!

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

Updates from this past weekend...

The wiring was changed to a parallel circuit for all the LEDs. This required more wires and resistors so it looks messier but it works:

The LEDs burn nice and bright now!

After testing to be sure all connections were solid I gave all exposed solder joints a coat of MMM Liquid Electrical Tape to insulate the postitive from the negative. This should avoid any short circuits when I close up the hull halves.

I didn't want the battery butting up against exposed LED engine wiring so a styrene panel was cut and glued into the stern to form the rear wall of the battery compartment. AVES was then packed around it for added strength:

The hull glued together and held tight with rubber bands:

And better yet the lights still functioned!

Wings were glued together with Testors styrene cement and clamped:

The tailfin was glued with Testors and packed with AVES. AVES also filled in any gaps around the insert. You can see the tube where a brass rod can be inserted for support.:

Wings were attached with Testors styrene cement and rubber banded to dry overnight:

The horizontal stabilizer isn't glued on yet, I just placed it on top of the vertical tailfin for the picture.

So the next thing is to fill any hull/wing gaps with AVES before finish sanding.

Thanks for following along as this build nears completion! We're getting there now!

 

[robn1]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

Glad you got the lights fixed before sealing it up. Looking forward to seeing it finished.

 

[youngwm]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

I have really enjoyed the info and pictures you have provided for this kit. I am not aware of the cartoon but great build I like the model and the lights really make it for me.. so cool.. Can't wait to see more!

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

So she's about ready for another white primer coat. Still need to attach the horizontal stabilizer to the tailfin.
I used AVES Apoxy Sculpt putty on the wing and tail seams (there were some serious gaps) and let dry overnight then sanded that down to about 600 grit.
I love this stuff, it smooths out and feathers in so easily using mostly just my fingers and some saliva.
I used to have a bottle of Safety Solvent but that jumped off the table and rolled away I guess as I can't seem to find it now. No big deal-spit will do!
Next I applied some Tamiya Basic Type polyester putty; let dry overnight and sanded down to about 1200 grit.
Any remaining minor scratches I covered over with Mr Surfacer 1000.

Stern:

Intake Vents:

I separated the bow window carefully from the parts tree and sanded the edges with medium and fine sanding sticks to get it to fit;
initially there were some gaps along the bottom sides of the window and the window did not sit quite flush along the top but after some sanding she fit flush along the top and the gaps disappeared.
Once the window was ready for install but before gluing the window to the model I stuck on a piece of masking tape and pressed it down as snug as I could with my fingers all around the edge of the window before trimming the tape using a flat needle file and fine grade sanding sticks.

Window glued on with Kristal Klear:

Masking tape applied once glue had dried:

Next I'll attach the horizontal stabilizer and mask off the engine vents.

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

OK folks I layed down the first coat of Tamiya Fine Surface Primer:

And discovered the gaps where the horizontal stabilizer attaches were wider than I thought:

So I filled, sanded and primed again:

Much better. Still needs a little light sanding here and there to point her up:

Since taking these photos I've done a little more minor cleanup around the intake vents and the area between the right vent cowling and the tailfin support. Just some leftover putty bits that needed to be cleaned out with a fine needle file and sandpaper. She'll get one more spot application of primer around the intake vents and a spot on the stern where I found a tiny bit of stray AVES putty sticking where it didn't belong.

Then I'll have to decide if I want to spray with flat white enamel or just go with a few coats of Krylon non-yellowing semigloss acrylic right on top of the primer.
The primer comes out really nice and smooth after I hit it with the polishing films.
The flat white enamel may not be necessary.

Anybody have any opinions on that? I'd appreciate any input you guys can offer.

 

[trekriffic]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

No advice from anyone? OK. Guess I'm on my own. No big deal.

 

[robn1]

Re: Voyager from Fantastic Voyage

How "white" is the primer? Is it as white as white paint? I'd compare them, if it is then just clear it.

Looking good :thumbsup I never had any interest in this kit, but this is making me want one :lol