Neal Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 Just been looking at what's left to do, I thought I was getting close to closing the body up and finishing but I think that I've just doubled the length of my jobs to-do list......There's nothing really substantial left is just a big list of minor jobs that aren't really going to show much progress, this is part of the build I don't really like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madmonk Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 That's coming together really well Neal. Is it me or do the pilots look like someone tried to remake Star Wars using Planet of the Apes as a basis! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 (edited) That's coming together really well Neal.Is it me or do the pilots look like someone tried to remake Star Wars using Planet of the Apes as a basis! Given its age the kit is actually pretty good, but your eyes don't deceive you the pilots are awful, I've seen some story on another site (can't remember which) about why they're the way they are. There's plenty of space in the body of the model for a better cockpit which would allow some better proportioned crew, but that's beyond my ability and time allowance. I wasn't going to include them initially and was only painting them for practice but I want to show the speeder in flight with one of the airbrakes fully deployed and I thought it might look a bit strange without a crew so in they've gone. Once the canopy is in place I think they'll look ok and do the job. Edited January 7, 2012 by Neal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 Quick update... A little progress this evening, gave the pods, airbrakes and the cannons a coat of klear so should be decals for them soon. Masked up and painted the remaining red markings. Quick mock up Thanks for looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted January 8, 2012 Share Posted January 8, 2012 Taking shape & looking great! Keep up the good work, I knowwhat you mean about those builds that seem to have an endless amount of 'little jobs' and the list keeps on getting bigger. Hang in there! J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 Taking shape & looking great!Keep up the good work, I knowwhat you mean about those builds that seem to have an endless amount of 'little jobs' and the list keeps on getting bigger. Hang in there! J. I'll keep chipping away at the list.... Certainly the help and advice available being part of a GB helps to! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted January 8, 2012 Author Share Posted January 8, 2012 Doing usual thing of revisiting recent progress and not being quite as pleased as I was initially. Some of the chipping is looking a bit heavy so I may repaint some of it. It's certainly worse/heavier than the reference photos, although I'm not aiming for a complete copy (more a faximily of a speeder that could have been part of the battle of hoth) so I'm trying not to get too distracted by it. The speed brakes are designed to be moveable but I want to show an inflight pose (on the included display stand) with one fully open and the other just closing so I think that I'm going to have to add some additional support & structure around the joints. At the rear I've managed to add a little more detail with a chopped up ECM pod from the parts bin and a small instrument panel that I've not included from the speeder (you'll never have seen it once the cockpit is closed). I tried to take a picture but its so dark it didn't come out, hopefully once it's dry brushed it'll show up on a picture. I noticed on the studio model there are a number of oil a fluid runs, theses seem to have been created by adding a drop of a dark wash and blowing it with a straw. I'll give that a try unless there are any other methods people have. Unbelievably there've been over 1500 views of my ramblings now, so thanks for taking the time to look/read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted January 10, 2012 Author Share Posted January 10, 2012 (edited) Managed to get some mid week modelling in, spent the time trying to get the rear pods nearer completion by adding the decals. There aren't really any directions bar the striped warnings so a bit of artistic licence required (also used some out of the spares box) so what do you think? Do the rebellion use "no step" warnings? Can't see why not... Spent some time with the plasticard scratching some detail on the rear, again not amazing modelling and not directly representative of the studio model but a first for me and adds some realism and interest I think. Thanks for looking, comment are always appreciated. Edited January 10, 2012 by Neal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Kesterton Posted January 10, 2012 Share Posted January 10, 2012 Just found this thread - really nice build and quite inspiring. The links back to the pictures of the studio models are extremely useful too. anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Nice progress Neal! Looks good! Cheers, Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 (edited) Just found this thread - really nice build and quite inspiring. The links back to the pictures of the studio models are extremely useful too.anthony Crickey, "inspiring" I was aiming for "competent" and a build that I was pleased with, don't look too closely at the pictures or you'll ruin the illusion. The links are all curtesy of other BM and GB members and are great reference material. Nice progress Neal! Looks good!Cheers, Håkan Glad you're enjoying it. Next jobs are: To wash the pods & cannons, paint the rear scratched parts and finish that area with the lower airbrakes so I can finally close up. Edited January 11, 2012 by Neal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted January 11, 2012 Author Share Posted January 11, 2012 Managed to get the front and rear pods washed, I am really impressed with the promodeller wash, it certainly flatters my skill level. Sorry about the lighting on the pic I might not do the klear yet as I want to make sure the weathering is even across the model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Looking great Neal! To be honest, that's why I love the Promodellers Wash too, as it somehow improves what I've made a mess of! Don't forget, the wash will get a little darker under a coat of varnish, but only a little. So don't go too heavy on it ( unless you want to of course! ) J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 Looking great Neal! To be honest, that's why I love the Promodellers Wash too, as it somehow improves what I've made a mess of! Don't forget, the wash will get a little darker under a coat of varnish, but only a little. So don't go too heavy on it ( unless you want to of course! )J. Jason, Thanks for that tip, I was going to wind back the wash anyway as the weathering is getting a bit OTT but I'll go a bit further if it dries darker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikmuntz Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 This is looking real good! I haven't tried any SciFi yet but this is making me wanna pick up some Star Wars material. Also, I'm getting myself some Maskol pretty soon, that effect is excellent!! I always loved the look of the X-Wing fighter and in a gloss black display box with a single LED light it could look pretty cool! Hmmmm..... keep posting your progress! Erik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjhm Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Coming along well, looking very good, like the weathering Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 This is looking real good! I haven't tried any SciFi yet but this is making me wanna pick up some Star Wars material. Also, I'm getting myself some Maskol pretty soon, that effect is excellent!! I always loved the look of the X-Wing fighter and in a gloss black display box with a single LED light it could look pretty cool! Hmmmm..... keep posting your progress!Erik Erik, thanks. Its well worth having a look at cjhm's x-wing,it's excellent: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.p...20&start=20 Coming along well, looking very good, like the weathering Thanks, just trying not to cock it all up in the final stretch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 (edited) Tonight's progress; not much visually but painted the rear scratch built parts and dry brushed to pull out the detail at bit. I also extended the paint to the interior side so I can have a try with the tamiya weathering and also see if it can be sealed with klear. If its a disaster then I've not ruined the exterior. Watch this space...... Bit of paint around the cockpit edge and the front targeting sensor Also dry brushed the airbrakes with a light grey and added some aluminium chips. These parts need sealing with a matt coat of klear, last time I tried this is was a disaster and the whole model fogged up (I think I'd used too much tamiya matt coat) For mixing paints I've been using these small (25ml??) paint pots from a child's paint set, (they're free once the kids have finished with them and they seal surprisingly well) I'll 3/4 fill one with klear then add 5 drops of tamiya matt cote does that feel about right? I've read all the great stuff on swanny's models website but whats the BM opinion? Finally on the reference pictures of the studio models there are some vortex generators under the front, I've been wary of trying to make & add these small parts but I took the plunge and I'm pretty pleased with the outcome. Thanks for looking. Edited January 13, 2012 by Neal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Very nice Neal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Nice work Neal! Looks good! Cheers, Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted January 15, 2012 Author Share Posted January 15, 2012 So results from the Tamiya weathering set experiment, Jason was right, you can't klear over the top : On the pic, 3 horizontal white stripes with the "snow" on top of a dry coat of klear, then a vertical brush of klear in the left hand side, The Klear seemed to just dissolved it. Glued on the lower airbrakes (already knocked them off twice I might look at bracing them a bit) I sanded one of the mating faces so they're at different angles. I need to matt klear the rear then I can close up. Also gave the vortex generators a lick of paint. In the meantime I kleared the upper and lower body so I carried on and completed few remaining the decals. Thanks for looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire23bc Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 This is looking great Neal. I love the weathering you're achieving and the general battered look it has. I hope you're going to round this off with a diorama complete with AT-AT? Not a good as Dan's Viper cockpit, but I'm pleased with it. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=78877 I missed this when you first posted this. Many thanks for the compliment, but I really have to give the credit to Paragraphix for that one - all I did was cut the PE out and shake it around with some glue and paint. Your cockpit actually took some effort! Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 Very nice Neal! Thanks. Nice work Neal! Looks good!Cheers, Håkan Håkan, glad your enjoying it. This is looking great Neal. I love the weathering you're achieving and the general battered look it has. I hope you're going to round this off with a diorama complete with AT-AT?Dan Dan, I have half thought about I diorama; the snowspeeder swooping past an AT-AT, tow cable just attached to the walkers leg. Two problems: 1. A completely scratch built AT-AT and snow dio That's a bit beyond my skills. 2. It would be massive, a 1/48 AT-AT would be about 1.15m tall. Think its a challenge for another day, although maybe just modelling the AT-AT leg would more manageable. I'll do a build thread if I ever do as it would be a real leap into the unknown for me and I'd need all of BM's help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 Used the promodeller wash on the upper and lower body and the cannons. Fixed the airbrakes in place, and did another dry build, there are some large gaps on the harpoon side of the rear pods and the left hand one is a really tight fit so needs a bit of fettling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Velociweiler Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Coming on and looking good. If you want an idea for a diorama, I built mine twenty years ago scooting past a probe droid kit that I'd picked up from somewhere or other. Looked quite effective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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