Ian McQue inspired 1/35th scale diorama build log.

And now for some updates. I've just been working on adding additional layers of paint to the hull, to slowly build up the appearance that it has been painted and repainted and heavily used and rusted. Between layers of paint, I've applied the water slide decals and then distressing those and applying layers of paint over top. Here are some photos of the current state of the build with the bow crane and the deck arch just dry fitted in place to check how the overall piece is coming together.

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Running wires.

A challenge with this project is how and where to run the wires for all of the LEDs I am retrofitting to the kit. As the hull is one solid block of resin, there is no way to run the wires for the bow and tail lights under the deck - they will have to be run on top. So I ended up painting the wires black, notching the bulkheads against the deck plating and running them along one side, aft toward the wheelhouse.

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To conceal them where there is a break in the gunwale entry to the deck, I scratch built a step under which the wires run aft. As this appears a bit awkward, I actually decided to draw MORE attention to it with some bright red and white hazard stripes as through there really are some cables running on the deck surface, and there needed to be a safe mechanism to step over them safely.

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A hole was drilled in the starboard side of the wheelhouse through which a small styrene tube was placed as a conduit for the wires. All deck surface wires were routed through this conduit and into the wheelhouse interior and then through a hole in the wheelhouse floor which is actually the thinnest part of the hull assembly. This exited on the bottom side just under the lip of the aft engine assembly, which has its own wires coming from the blue engine LEDs.

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All wires were then diverted to the starboard side through a small styrene tube painted black.

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These will ultimately be concealed by the aft engine assembly (which will fit over the wires with a little shaping) and with a black tube made to look like a fuel line as the Remora will be docked at a some kind of refueling station. At least that's the plan right now...
 
Adding some accents:

The deck has three areas where the underlying engine is "exposed" through absent deck plating, these areas are covered by photoetched grates that reside within frames. It is a really effective and beautiful little detail, in my opinion, and another example of what makes this model so nice. I assembled, painted and weathered each grate before fitting them. I even punched a few holes in one of them as though something heavy and been dropped on it and broke through at some point. With the addition of some hazard water slide decals to the surface, it all is starting to come together nicely. If you look closely, you can see the black painted LED wires (disguised hopefully to look like cables) running along the gunwale on the far side.

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Next up, I scratch built some hand rails by the port side entryway. It just felt like something should live there to help the crew embark. I made these with some brown wire I had lying about the shop and a couple pieces of discarded sprue. After drilling some holes in the gunwale and using superglue to hold them in place, they were painted and will be weathered later.

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A day well spent.

After a week away at a work function, I was really looking forward to coming back to the Remora build and doing something fun. So out came the "fins" that live along the outside of the hull.

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This is really a chance (in my opinion) to let your creativity fly on this build, as each fin is a great opportunity to try something unique with respect to colors, patterns, designs and the use of graffiti and some of the other provided water slide decals. In this build, I really wanted to continue to use a #3 motif, as I imagine these ships all being numbered if being used to haul freight. I don't know why - I just really like the graphic nature of numbers. So for the ventral most fin, I printed off a '3' using the same font that I used for the roof of the wheelhouse, cut it out of paper and glued it over top the pre-painted fin. Then some carefully placed paint to make it looked chipped and distressed. Everything else was hand painted with some water slide decals placed afterward, followed by rusting and distressing.

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And here they are attached to the port side. One more to go before I start working on the starboard fins.

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A photo heavy progress report for today. Things have been crazy busy at work, so it's been a bit of slow going lately, but I was still able to put some time in on the Remora this past weekend. I had to build a quick stand for her, as the assembly of all the external fins on the hull makes resting her on her side a little precarious. Still a bit to do yet, but definitely getting there.

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As I get close to completing the Remora, I need to start planning the structure which will comprise the bulk of the diorama - the "dock" to which both the Remora and Waldo will be moored. The function of the structure is obviously important - what purpose would it be serving? I've been thinking it could be a filling/repair station and transfer point for cargo? This will be my first major scratch build and I've been busy scouring the RPF and the web picking up tips and techniques to try to pull this off. But the design of this structure is really the first critical step. I want it to feel like it would fit in the world Ian McQue has created. So I've gathered up a bunch of his paintings which will hopefully guide the process and thought I'd share them. These have all been collected from the web and are ALL works of Mr. McQue.

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After a busy time at work and some traveling, I'm finally able to jump back in to the Remora build as I continue to plan for the overall diorama. Right now on the Remora, it is getting down to the details - adding tire bumpers to the bow, some ties for the crane and ventral fins and constructing some 1/35 scale cargo to eventually put on the deck; oil drums, cable spools, pallets, tires, lock boxes and cardboard boxes.

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As I begin to contemplate the aeroport / docking station for the two McQue airships, I've been doing some sketching of what I envision the overall plan for the diorama will look like. Here was my first crack at an idea that is based on an at-sea oil rig.

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I like the concept, but really hate the design. One thing I've noticed about McQue's constructions is how organic they are. So many of his shapes are a bit crooked, or warped. He himself comments on this in some of his writings. Yes, the structures are comprised of straight lines, because these are giant mechanical things, and nothing conveys that feel better than sharp, straight lines - but the way he assembles them in a haphazard fashion brings them to life. This painting in particular really keeps catching my eye.

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Those two cranes in the background are just beautiful. I thought I'd try to scratch build one of those just to get the process going, and see where it leads. So the first thing I did was to do a sketch to convert his loose style into some more geometric forms that I think I can build.

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Getting the scale right is going to be important here, so I used a 1/35 scale pilot that came with the Waldo kit as a reference. And then I just started to fashion the basic elements (as I see them) from styrene. I decided to work on the elements at the very end of the crane arm first.

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After a couple hours, I got the end of the crane to this point and positioned it next to the pilot to check scale. I think this might actually develop into something I can use and have decided to keep with it.

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Continuing the crane scratch build.

A really rainy weekend meant lots of time in the shop working on the crane. I was lucky enough to pick up a bunch of old WWII plane models at a thrift store for kit-bashing a couple weeks ago (they ranged from $5-10 a piece) and am using those parts along with a lot of styrene. Current status with a 1/35 scale worker to provide some scale:

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A lot more detail to add before the gratifying grey primer...
 
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Here is the mag lock I came up with. The design was borrowed from another builder and I added my own flare. Nice job btw! I need to get back on mine. 39558004_10217684955094435_3240976403096666112_n.jpg39883493_10217707302853115_6066126326136307712_o.jpg
 
Wow - I absolutely LOVE that. It must be seriously sturdy to be able to support the weight of the Remora as the model is really heavy. How did you keep it (the Remora) from spinning on the spindle? Did you permanently attach it? I've been contemplating how to affix my own ship to the diorama and am wrestling with all the same questions. How to attach it so that it looks like it is hovering and air born? Do I make that attachment permanent or not?

Would love to see more photos of your build if you have them.

Cheers - and thanks!
 
I've not been happy with the limited deck space the crane is mounted to, so decided to expand it and add a hatch through which the worker can access this top deck, as this entire assembly will end up sitting on the top of a tower of sorts, as is depicted in the McQue painting. I got this hatch from Harbour Models along with some other accessories that I think will really fit in nicely: https://www.harbormodels.com/


The disassembled hatch components.
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Retrofitting some extensions onto the deck and then overlying the deck plating complete with access hole over which the hatch will sit.
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Assembled hatch.
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And in place, both open and closed.
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Another rainy and cold weekend which meant great time spent in the shop working on the Ian McQue inspired crane. The next step was to decide what to make the tower out of of. As it will stand fairly high and thus requires some stability, I really didn't feel like burning through a lot of .040 styrene, so ended up going with foam core instead. Super cheap and easy to work with. After a couple of hours of work, I had a base upon which to put the crane.

Some .020 styrene window frames helped finish off the cutouts for those windows. At this point I had also started to add the mixed assortment of deck rails apparent in the McQue painting, a black and white print of which is in the background, along with many of my sketches.

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The McQue aesthetic is so similar to the Star Wars feel - everything is worn, well-used, slightly bent, with replacement parts and patches, and frequently asymmetrical - the kicker is whether I can pull this off in a scratch built model from the small detail on painting.

At this point, I needed to add a lot of the greeblie details that McQue adorns his own contraptions with. Again, I only have a single view of the crane in his painting to work from, so this is definitely an improvisation and interpretation versus a completely faithful recreation. I reached for a lot of the kits I've been collecting from which to kit bash and have to say, for a newly purchased kit from Amazon - man, this kit has a lot of bang for the buck as far as greeblie potential:

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I think I paid $15 for this and it is just chock full of greeblie goodness.

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I really should have taught myself how to make molds before tapping into this bad boy, because so many of the best pieces are singular and I can definitely see wanting to use them in the future. But, I was too impatient and just dove in - working on these large transformer looking devices that project forward from the deck.

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And after a day and a half, ended up with this.

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And to look at it side by side with the crane detail of the McQue painting.

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Seeing this side-by-side composite is actually a little discouraging as all I can see is all of the flaws. I'm hoping it will come together better once primed and possessing more of the classic McQue detail.
 
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Work on the crane continues. Building the tower / pedestal the aforementioned assembly will sit on from more 5mm fome core board.

I wanted a set of rungs running up the exterior of the tower by which a worker could access the top via a hatch in the overhang. A bunch of 1/2" staples for running electrical wire along studs seemed to be the perfect 1/35 scale.

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I then added a window with corrugated awning and a door.

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Thanks so much, korben. I'm ever in awe of what you and others on this forum can do and am constantly trying to learn from your guy's posts and photos. I'm not sure if others go through this phase with builds, but I'm at a point with this one where I absolutely hate it - all I can see are things I really don't like about it. But I will push through this until I can at least get a coat of primer on it before I decide to scrap the whole thing or carry on.

Cheers - and thanks again.
 
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