Jump to content

Mike N

Members
  • Posts

    867
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Mike N

  1. Can anyone recommend a good book or website that describes the changes from prototype onwards so that I can backdate the Academy kit, please? Cheers, Mike
  2. I used to use Xtracolor matt varnish (XDFF) but having not used it for ages have found it's gone rather gooey. So before getting some more and possibly having it go the same way, what are the forum's favourites for a nice flat finish? I'll be applying by airbrush.
  3. Wow, that's a masterclass in weathering there! Great work! Mike
  4. A very nice selection of subjects. Great job on the biplane rigging, it looks perfect! Mike
  5. Thank you. I'm taking a break from it for a short while to finish some other builds that were sidelined but will post back when I get onto it again.
  6. Thank you very much. I've enjoyed the project and hopefully I'll get it all done soon!
  7. Thank you, James. I'm sure they looked very different brand new, but I'm going for the museum appearance! Mike
  8. Here's an overview of where I've got up to, with a few bits temporarily held in place: Fairly close, but even with the extension to the GB deadline it was too big a challenge for me, unfortunately. I'll hopefully get the modelling side of it finished over the Christmas break, but the display side will take a bit more head-scratching. Once done, I'll post it in the Ready for Inspection area of the site. My thanks to the GB hosts and all those who commented, liked or simply viewed the story so far. Mike
  9. Moving down to the S-II and S-IVB, the kit engine bells had their moulded part numbers and alignment pins removed. Once assembled and painted they give an adequate representation of the real thing, but without all the pipework. The S-IVB resin thrust structure offers no real securing features, so I drilled a hole in its centre. The engine had its side spigots trimmed and the centre drilled and pinned to give a positive joint. The S-II thrust structure was more confusing (there were no instructions provided with the part). There are holes around the ring which I took to be for the centre of the engine bells. Having drilled holes inboard of each one for the engine spigots, I installed the engines but they looked too close together. I then realised the moulded holes were for the spigot and the centre of the engine should sit over the moulded (silver-painted) pipes. Luckily, the real structure has lightening holes along the cruciform so I added another to match. The engine bells were again pinned, and lengths of plastic tube added to the outboard pipework. These have yet to be painted in the photo below. The real engines are covered in small diameter pipework so it's difficult to see what's going on really, so this was just a guess. Maybe later I'll add some wire to represent that stuff. Down at the base of the S-1C, the kit fins are devoid of any detail. I chose to paint them to suggest different skin sections and then run a riveting tool over in approximate patterns. Once dipped in Future and the decals applied, they don't look too bad. Finally, the mighty F1 engines were assembled. These are so thin at the lower edges they were verging on short-shot, and I ended up gently sanding them back after assembly. The ribbed areas were quite a pain to clean up, though the halves did match quite well. Like with the smaller engines, the internal surfaces had their part numbers and alignment features removed, which was very difficult to do cleanly. After some filler and paint they were OK. The KSC's engines have no doubt changed colour from how they were originally, with a weathered look. I decided to go with this appearance, so they were painted overall in RLM02 (left) and then dry-brushed with bronze (right). I'm probably going to do a bit more with them yet to add more shadow and highlights. So that's pretty much it for progress at a detail level. Final photo of progress to follow...
  10. Well, given today is the last day of this GB, I'm going to declare my build unfinished. I'll give a status update on a few things I've done in the meantime, and hopefully later I'll post a final shot where I'm up to today. Starting at the very top, the Launch Escape System in the kit comprises what I think is a newly tooled nose cone with a somewhat simplified tower structure. I wasn't going to tackle correcting the framework but I did want to add the booster exhausts that are missing from the top. For this, I returned to the spares box and cut the tips off some 1/48 rocket projectiles: Once painted and glued on, they look fairly decent: Onto the Command Module, I'm not sure this was a part that was re-tooled since the original release despite the rest of the CSM being done, as it looks really undersize. Below left is the kit part, in the middle is the resin replacement I have, and at right is the kit nose cone. I think the resin part is designed to simply mate to the Service Module as it's base is not the convex surface of the real CM's heat shield. Hunting for a suitable curved part, I found some kind of dished plastic cover kicking around the house, and not knowing where it came from just decided to use it This was cut down and glued to the base. The resin CM is fairly rough and despite some sanding is still not great, but once painted was adequate. The heat shield was painted white from the few photos I could find of it. Finally for this brief update, the Service Module was painted and decaled: Hopefully more later! Cheers, Mike
  11. Wow, I now have a sense of how big that model is!!
  12. Very nice finish! Now for a 1/72 Saturn V to go alongside it Mike
  13. Thank you! Yes, another couple of weeks might see it completed, although I'm away the weekend after the current end date so it'll still be something of a last minute dash! Mike
  14. Oh dear, only two weeks to go and I'm nowhere near finishing! Real life has just been too demanding of my time. I have been plugging away at the Saturn occasionally, so I thought I'd better give an update. Starting with the Stage I, the upper bulkhead dome is a primer green. I couldn't find an out of the pot match in my collection, so mixed a green and yellow from Xtracolor tins and got fairly close I think, better once it's been matted down. Moving on to the second stage, the upper bulkhead colour resembled that of the Space Shuttle's main tank. First of all I airbrushed Humbrol Ivory (#41) to get the walls sorted, covering the dome as well to get an even texture. I then had a rummage in my paint collection and was delighted to find Humbrol #82 was a decent match. I have no idea why I had this colour as I'm sure I haven't used it before, but it certainly helped me now! I brushed it on over the glossy cream and after a first coat I had this: Normally I'd be cursing that the patchy appearance needed a second coat but the thinner areas were perfect for the faded look of the real thing. I used a reddish brown for some more effects and to replicate what looks like a patch on the KSC's tank. I'm quite pleased with how it looks, just the pipework to add later. The S-II kit thrust structure was replaced with a resin part that had more detail. The only additions I added were the ribs on the boxes which are quite prominent on the real thing. The S-IVB also got its upper end airbrushed, this time silver. There isn't really much else to add in here, making it a bit monochromatic. At its other end, the resin thrust structure has been painted to best replicate the KSC example, although it's not a totally true rendition. The Service Module is a bit behind, still needing the silver spraying on the outside, but the internals have been done. I couldn't tell what the colour of the four tanks was, so went with gold. So that's about it for progress. All the engines need cleaning up and painting, the decals need to go on and some clear coats airbrushed to seal things in and tone it all down. Not impossible in two weeks, but a stretch. And then I need to get the display base sorted... I'll see how far I get! Thanks for looking, Mike
  15. A brilliant result! The kit might not have been the best in some places but it you'd not know that by your finished model. Well done Mike
  16. Brilliant stuff, loving the step by step photos! Mike
  17. Some brilliant work and tips here, thank you very much for sharing your journey with this golden oldie! Mike
  18. After spending an hour or two masking, grabbing half an hour here or there over last week, I managed to get some black on at the weekend. I went for gloss as I wanted to do the Command module at the same time in preparation for its Alclad coat. After a couple of days in the cupboard with the hot water cylinder, the paint is now nicely cured and the masking removed: The black's a bit stark and shiny, but after the decals go on I'll tone it all down with a clear coat. Amazingly, I got very few bleeds under the tape, I was sure all those corrugations would give me grief. There are just a few areas to rectify, including a light but large bleed that can be seen on the S-II stage (back left), there must've been a gap in the Tamiya tape-with-plastic-sheet that I used for the first time. For other builders of this kit, note that the painting instructions show the black on the lower portion of the S-IC extending over the corrugated section in the middle. I believe this was only the case on a dummy rocket built to test the launch facilities, all the real hardware has this area left in white. The main box art shows it correctly... Mike
  19. That's some really sharp painting on the Apollo, it looks fantastic! Mike
  20. Not much noteworthy progress on this over the past couple of weeks, but I did get most of the parts that will be white primed and then a coat of Halfords Appliance White on. I always try to lay the Halfords stuff on before any enamels as I've had some bad reactions the other way round. Next I'll be masking and applying the black exterior paint so I can then cover the outside for protection and move on to the interiors. Thanks for looking. Mike
  21. Thanks! I'm hoping that painting will make the details look better. I'm not too sure who made the resin parts, I got them off eBay a long time ago, but from what I can gather from the net Martin's Models is probably the manufacturer.
  22. And at a very much lower (and reasonable) price this time!
×
×
  • Create New...