Arronax

Big understatement! Start by realizing that the driver and front left wheel occupy the same space. And it doesn't help that Halcyon have long been out of business. It'll cost you but check with Tony James at Comet Miniatures.

For those of you just tuning in, Wonderfest is the premier sci-fi/fantasy model show in the USA. Heck, it's the only show. Nothing but sci-fi and fantasy figure models. Big contest - over 500 entries. Huge dealer room. Sci-fi industry celebrities - movie stars, sfx people, artists and, this year, Mat Irvine. Moebius announced new stuff - Munsters house, Herman and Grandpa Munster figures, 1/18 scale Batpod with Catwoman figure, War Machine (Iron Man 2), Cylon Warrior (new BSG), OO scale Mel's Drive-in (American Graffiti) and, here's the biggie, original series Battlestar Galactica ships - new toolings of the Galactica (same scale as the new BSG model), 1/32 Viper and Cylon Raider. The Raider will be first and is a lot bigger than the old Revel/Monogram kit. These are new toolings - not repops of the old R/M kits. Round 2/AMT/Polar Lights had their 1/350 scale TOS Enterprise on display and even raffled off two test shot of the kit. It's big and there are two accessory kit coming - I assume these are detail kits for lighting and building alternate versions. They announced a Wicked Witch of the West kit (Wizard of Oz), a OO scale kit of Graceland (Elvis' mansion), Elvis kits (be still my heart), a clear Deep Space Nine with the Defiant, a 1/2500 set of the Enterprise refit, Klingon BOP and Reliant and some new and repopped DC Comic figures. I'm sure I've missed something but I'm typing this while waiting for my plane back to Orlando and all my collected catalogs are in my checked luggage. Look for more detailed reports on the CultTVMan and Starship Modeler websites - including pictures of the model contest. You should really make plans to be there someday. Check wonderfest.com for more information.

Many, many, many moons ago, I bought this kit. It remains unfinished in my garage. It remains unfinished because I had the same problem with the decals. However, that same year I was at the hobby show in Chicago and ran into the guy at the Glencoe stand and voiced my displeasure at the disintegrating decals. He admitted it was a problem and handed me 6 spare sheets of decals. I still have them. That's the good news. The not so good news is that they've been in a hot, Florida garage for those many moons and may be just as likely to disintegrate! But, possibly, more good news. I can do one or both of two things. E-mail me your snail mail address and I'll send you 2 of my sheets (no cost). I strongly suggest you a) test them before use and you coat them with Dullcote or Glosscote. Or, I can send you a scan and you can print your own. If you're not sure how to do this and have an inkjet printer, let me know and I'll send you instructions. My E-mail is jimjames2001@hotmail.com. Let me know what I can do to help a fellow modeler! Oh, there might be a slight delay in responding to you since tomorrow I'm off to a weekend of sci-fi modeling nirvana at Wonderfest in Louisville Kentucky.

OK. The model goes together pretty well and I did mask the fuselage so the chrome/yellow line is in the right place. I scrapped the base entirely and built a new one with steps that allow the starfighter to "float." The steps were scratchbulit using screen caps as reference. Left the cockpit open and added a few homemade decals inside the cockpit. I screwed up the R2 decals so I had use old R2 decals left over from the Finemolds Y-Wing (which is why they are light blue). So, anyway, this is how it turned out:

Which Alclad are you using? I thought I'd use chrome but reference shots of the studio model (I used a screen cap from the extras on the DVD) indicate that the surface is more of a burnished sheet metal than shiny chrome. I also note that the 'metal' on the underside of the ship extends to the edges but the kit parts assemble with a yellow edge to the part to be metalized. Do you plan to paint that edge metal/chrome?

You are probably correct, sir. Luckily, I do still intend to use the floor part as a base, so it's not a complete loss.

Not really sure if I like the display for this kit. Although the 'cuff' supports can be seen in the movie, most craft near the ground just seem to hover in place. I have one on order from HLJ and I think I'll display it with the cockpit open and scratchbuild a set of steps (which are seen clearly in the movie) and use that as the support. Maybe add a bit of clutter on the ground, too.

I looked on the magazine's website and in the magazine itself and (unlike FineScale Modeler), they don't have any guidelines for submitting articles. Heck, they don't even accept reader's letters or photos. But we did get a 6 part series on the different color schemes of the Vickers Valiant. Be still my heart.

My feelings exactly.

I requested an image of the RetrokiT Airfix Angel Interceptor resin cockpit parts and Domi (at RetrokiT) sent me this image of the instructions he sent to the caster. He also responded that the standing figure is 1/72 but the smaller seated figure is not. The cockpit tub looks really nice and the inclusion of the control stick is appreciated.

Nice work! You're right the PE really does wonders to the cockpit. Have you figured out the piping on the engine cut-outs? I had a terrible time with those and ended up building the piping from scratch with pins and bits of wire. This is also a model that cries out for lighting. With the PE set, you're halfway there. I used fiber-optics for the wing tip lights and some careful dremeling, a spare head (just the face) and an LED Christmas tree light behind the head to light the helmet! If you haven't got there yet, make sure you test fit the engine panels before assembly. It's not quite as simple as it looks and you may be in for some serious seam filling.

The Stargazer interior set is brilliant but, be warned, it's not compatible with the PGMS interior photoetch set. The PGMS engine bell set is, on the other hand, no problem. I added very small eyelet screws and lashed the cargo down with thread. I used surface mount LEDs to light the roof and ran the wire through a brass tube support to batteries in the base. It came out looking like this: Jim

If Hanslope is too far, there's a possibility that Mat Irvine may be at Wonderfest this May. Worth the trip for any sci-fi Modeler! Jim