Raven Morpheus

Thanks. I think that'll be one of the few times it gets lit, because I now have a problem with the R2 unit... I used JB Weld to secure it to the peg of the switch, but now it's all dried it doesn't quite press down properly, and of course I'll have no chance of removing it without destroying the kit. I can get it to work if I wiggle the R2 unit about and pull it up a bit but it has to be pressed down very hard. I should have left the R2 unit loose! Doh!! I can get the wires out the back though so I might be able to cut the switch off and install a new one, and perhaps have it sticking out the backplate...

Nope. It had 3 coats of W&N Galeria Gloss (thinned by 20% with water).

There wasn't one in the kit.

Hey all Today along with finishing off my DH Vampire, I finally finished off my AMT 1/43 X-Wing, after having started it at the end of last year/new year this year... R2 D2 is the button to turn on the engine glow. R2 is actually a resin R2 D2 in 1/43 made for the DeAgostini Falcon by a Shapeways 3d printed parts seller, it wasn't very good (there is detail on the body/dome but it's so faint it might as well not be there) but it served my purpose better than the kit part as the kit part has very badly raised details, especially on the dome. The lighting kit was kindly made for me by our fellow britmodeller madmonk of tirydiummodels.co.uk, although I didn't use all of it, just the engine LEDs, because the cockpit is poor and there wasn't a pilot in my kit (which might have been a blessing as the one for this kit is rubbish). I looked for a 1/43 or even 1/48 X-Wing pilot but gave up after many months of searching - I didn't want to convert a figure either. I "smoke glassed" the canopy because in a scene in ESB (I think?), one of the scenes in the hangar just before the Hoth battle, you see an open canopy of an X-Wing (I think?) and it's glass looks opaque black. Plus it hides the poor cockpit and lack of pilot, although I think I went a bit too far with the "smoke glassed" effect as it is totally opaque! Made an attempt at "weathering" but it's nothing great and I'm not all that happy with the "wear" on the stripes. Pics - Engine LEDs on - Close up of R2 -

Moved to RFI...

Hey all Received my Xtrakit 1/72 DH Vampire yesterday morning, built it yesterday afternoon, completed it this morning. Quickest build I've ever done, probably only took 8 hours over the 2 days and I was taking my time with it. Slightly disappointed in the kit options - there wasn't an option for undercarriage up, so I modified the undercarriage door parts. Gave up on decaling though. Every single decal I put on either folded up on me, broke up whilst coming off the backing paper, or partially stuck in place and then tore when trying to move it, like the right rear fuselage no-step marking (I gave up trying to move it). They were terrible. Makes me wonder what my Xtradecal HH-53 Knife 21 decals will be like... I am toying with the idea of giving it a bit of a dirt wash, even just to accentuate the panel lines, but I'm not sure it'd look any better. Pics (haven't quite worked out how to remove from the photos the rod I stuck up the tailpipe, I could only do it in the first photo, it is only there for the photos though, I'm hanging this from my ceiling) -

I get that from what's been said because it's generally how things go. Call it a hunch, intuition, gut instinct, or experience from having watched a lot of TV and seeing how new series end up. I await being wrong though, and sincerely hope I am. I'd love for STD to be as good as TNG/DS9 and lead to a Star Trek/Sci Fi renaissance (just as long as it doesn't end up mainstream and talked about by people who think they're Sci Fi fans just from watching STD, like the Game of Thrones crowd who think they're fantasy/high fantasy fans because they've seen Ned Stark get his head chopped off).

True. But like I said no point was made of it, it wasn't like in the shows context they had characters comment on Uhura being female and black, or Sulu being Oriental, or either of them making a point of it themselves, and although I wasn't around at the time I don't think much was made of it outside of the context of the show either - it was "here's a bunch of characters on a mission lets see what develops". I get the feeling, especially with the LGBTQ character(s) that a big point will be made of it within the shows episodes. There are loads of races within the Star Trek universe they could have made the female lead if they want diversity for the sake of it. They could have, for example, made her Andorian if it's a matter of skin colour, they're blue, would have been different within Star Trek canon and ticked the diversity box at the same time, and they could run with a back story along the lines of "first Andorian in Star Fleet". Or they could have made her Orion, you know like the hot green cadet in the 2009 film!! But no, they've gone with a human non-Caucasian. Yawn. When I saw Avery Brooks in DS9 I didn't automatically think "token black guy", and wasn't even bothered that he started out as Commander Sisko rather than Captain Sisko (something which the producers of STD seem to have glossed over whilst trying to make out their new female lead having the rank of Commander is something new), but now I will consider the female lead in STD to be a token, because that's basically what the producers have said she is and if I were a non-Caucasian actress considering auditioning for the role I wouldn't be too happy knowing that I'm mostly likely to get the part because I'm female and not white!!! As fans of Star Trek we all expect to see a diverse cast, we don't need the reasons behind it shoved in our faces and Star Trek has always portrayed itself as gender/race/colour blind - however now they appear to be openly pushing the agenda(s), and that detracts from it being a Star Trek show and turns it into another run of the mill sanctimonious moralising US Sci-Fi series imho - more so than Voyager was, which Bryan Fuller also worked on. I would like to see what happens, I stuck with Voyager and Enterprise all the way through and they were the weakest of all Star Trek series, but STD is not looking good based on the info put forward so far.

I'd just settle for something a little more original. They seem to be focusing on what the characters are going to be in relation to the real world to fulfil PC criteria, rather than what they are in relation to the Star Trek universe where gender, race, colour, creed, etc. are not that huge a deal, certainly not to the extent where x amount of characters have to be gay, a colour other than white, and female - as far as I understand Star Trek, in the 23rd century humans have supposedly moved on from all that (I believe in TNG's first episode they tried to make that point). I don't recall Star Trek ever harping on about characters being female, or black, or of a particular sexual preference, like this new series seems it will. TOS had a (comedy) Russian weapons officer, a black female communications officer, an oriental navigator and not once was there a point directly and in your face made of it!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37043956 Woman, not white for the sake of diversity! Why not make her gay and put her in a wheel chair to tick another couple of boxes... I really do feel that the more I read about this new Star Trek, and especially now that a woman main lead has been announced, that this new series is just Fuller and co. rebooting Voyager! A real shame. But I guess it was to be expected - I'm obviously a dinosaur who loves the way TV was made in the late 80's to mid/late 90's.

The BBC don't mention what type of helicopter it is, not in the text in their article, dunno about the vids as I haven't listened to them. I doubt they'd even know, they'd probably think it's a Spitfire...

Thanks for all the advice guys. I've actually bit the bullet and got a 1/72 kit. The Xtrakit FB5 kit. It's more modern than the rest of the FB5 offerings, and has engraved panel lines. I'm sure there's problems with the kit but all the reviews I've read so far seem to indicate it's a reasonable kit. Just waiting on it now, hopefully it will arrive by the weekend, should be a nice easy build and a nice easy paint job - what can go wrong with spraying a 6" long model totally silver?!?

Is it sad that I identified the heli in the BBC article photos as a Huey from just the tail boom and bits of wreckage? I didn't even know the RAF had 412's!

Ok thanks guys, I thought the kit was too cheap to be any good. I'll go back to my Plan A which was to get a Tamiya/Italeri kit and aftermarket decals.

Now posted in RFI.

Ok here it is... 1/32 Matchbox Porsche 917/10 - the Turbo Panzer, or The Destroyer, circa. 1972. WIP thread with my references can be found here - http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235006052-132-porsche-91710-matchbox/ It started out OK, but the body work got ruined by the final coat of Future/Klear/Pledge and no subsequent coats of it or W&N Galeria Gloss have fixed it. You can't quite see it in the photos but the Future/Klear/Pledge went all "orange peel" on me on the top surfaces of the white body work, yellowed some of my decals, and left yellow/orange coloured varnish in some of the recesses. I took some artistic licence with the bodywork colour also. After extensive research I believe that the livery Matchbox give you (minus a dozen or so sponsor decals) is actually from a 917/20 driven by the Swiss Herbert Muller, and that car is silver overall, however I opted to make the bodywork white, just in case the decals didn't work for me, then I could go for "Plan B" and get some decals for the actual Penske L&M Porsche 917/10 livery. I thought about running the wheels/tyres up against my dremel clone with a sanding drum on it, in an attempt to give them that worn rubber look, as the wheels do go round, but I'm not confident of doing it, I think the suspension parts might break off as they are rather flimsy and one of the front corners has had to be superglued back on a couple of times because it wouldn't stay on with poly cement... Pics - I would love to buy another copy of this kit, if only to do the bodywork again (and the wing mirrors, you can see in the pics above I've broken one, and then reattached it - it broke whilst cutting it from the runner), but the one's I've seen in the usual places are going for >£50 and there aren't that many of these kits around, unfortunately - I think I was lucky to get this copy at the price I did... It's better than my first attempt at the same kit, a quarter of a century or so ago, as I didn't even paint it then, or add any parts of the tubular frame, but it could have been better I feel.

Hey all I have the opportunity of buying one of these for peanuts - https://www.scalemates.com/kits/144111-revell-4391-a-6e-intruder It is based on their 1988 kit, not the 1994 "new tool" Italeri one. It has everything I'm looking for - an A-6E Intruder with Vietnam era livery including decals. Have looked for reviews of the kit, but can only find ones for the 1/48 scale one, so does anyone here know if this is any good, I'm guessing it has raised panel lines for a start? Would I be better off sticking to my original plan of buying a Tamiya A-6E and aftermarket Vietnam era decals? TIA

I love Star Trek, mostly TNG and DS9, TOS and Voyager never really appealed to me, TOS movies after TMP were good though (except IV and V), and whilst Enterprise showed promise it never really delivered. I've recently been enjoying the re-runs of DS9 and TNG (they seem to alternate the two) on CBS Action on Freeview though. I have hopes for this series and was excited to hear there is a new Star Trek TV series, but I now fear there will be a lot of box ticking (like most TV and films these days) and it will go the way of Voyager. Apparently the producers are keen on minority, female, and LBGTQ main characters, with the latter being important. Personally I'd prefer a Star Trek where such issues are irrelevant, even if it is a "big thing" (which it shouldn't be) in current real world morality/political discussions amongst those who have an agenda. I also agree about the choice of ship - why not just make a totally new one as they did with TNG (Galaxy class) and Voyager (Intrepid class) and The Defiant in DS9, it'd fit more than the modified Ralph McQuarrie Phase II concept they have chosen! At least the producers have told JJ Abrams to do one and won't be setting the new series in the rehash universe. I think I'll end up giving this one a miss however, because I was going to sign up for CBS All Access, CBS's online on-demand service, just for this. It only costs $5.99 a month, and you get access to all their older series as well as new ones. But it's only available in the US, Canadia and Oz!!! How short sighted can you get!!! WWE Network is available in the UK, why not CBS's?!! Certainly won't be signing up for netflix.

Yes, that sort of price is ridiculous, but there is always someone who will pay it and they will invariably tell you about it! It's why I bought a 1/144 Bandai Falcon, at half the size of the 72nd kits it's much more manageable (even if it still looks like a major project, i.e. will take more than a long weekend) and is about a 10th of the cost for just as good a kit!! But I guess hyper inflated prices are what happens when you get a relatively small run of kits moulded by a small company that won't be sold to many people (relatively speaking) but with a market that they know wants such a kit.

Tell her you can't have Jerry in a Spitfire, he goes in a Messerschmitt or Focke...

No that'd be silicon valley...

To begin with I'm going to test on some clear styrene that I bought a while back (and have used on my WIP X-Wing's engines for diffusing the LEDs). I'm slightly hesitant about painting the parts in case they don't turn out too well, at least until I have the correct process nailed - I don't want to ruin them whilst trying to get the right look, as I probably can't get spares and don't really want to have to buy a new kit. I get the feeling Polar Lights/Round2 are no longer popping this kit (or any Star Trek kit, given their recent website "refresh" and lack of "buy now" links) and it's £20 to £30 a time on most sites!! I did note in your notes for the lights you made for me that you mention matt varnishing the clear pieces. Also, as I've seen it done recently (the results, not the method) on the same 1/1000 kit as I have, I've been procrastinating over adding (non-flashing) lighting for the nav (green and red SMDs in the saucer)/strobe lights and also lighting up the windows (thus drilling them all out) but I can't seem to get my head around a) how to do it all, given my use of a 3v battery source, I'm assuming that adding more LEDs to the lighting kit isn't going to work very well, and b ) how to get the windows in the neck to be lit (I can just about get my head around how to light them in the saucer and engineering hull (although with the battery holder and switch in the engineering hull there might not be enough room) - I have considered using either fibre optics strands pushed through the windows and cut flush with the hull, or putting an 0805 SMD or two in there to light up multiple sections of windows)... The more I look at this kit (I didn't actually start it on Sunday like I planned to), and consider lighting it, the more it starts to look like a major (wiring/drilling, exercise in patience) project.

Found my answer. Apparently according to Boyd of Youtube channel Trekworks the studio model has the deflector dish painted a very light grey/off white on the back. I guess the dark area on it in the film is just down to lighting on set...

Ebay - http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=Dome+display+base&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xpolar+lights+Dome+display+base.TRS0&_nkw=polar+lights+Dome+display+base&_sacat=0 Or HDAmodelworx.com - http://hdamodelworx.com/Star-Trek_c_55-2.html, apparently Boyd of Trekworks (check out his builds on Youtube) uses them.

Hey all I'm about to start work on my 1/1000 NCC-1701 Refit (well tomorrow (Sunday) actually), and I'll be lighting it up with a kit kindly made for me by our fellow Britmodeller madmonk of tirydiummodels.co.uk. I've worked out how to paint the flux chiller grilles like the studio model so they light up with a blue glow but look dark (a kind of dark violet) when unlit... ...however I'm a little stuck on how to achieve the deflector dish colouring? It's the last piece of the puzzle I need to get my head around. When not lit it's kind of a smokey dark grey. Then when it's lit it's blue (in most of the films, I believe it starts a kind of diffused bronze colour then goes blue) with the raised lines being black (or dark blue). In both states it's got those dark lines (like the marks on an analogue clock/watch face). The kit madmonk made up for me has a blue LED for the deflector dish, so the blue glow is not a problem, but I have no idea how to make it work with a dark/smoke coloured clear piece because obviously that will change the colour of the blue glow, won't it? I'm thinking use Tamiya Smoke but last time I tried that, on my WIP 1/43 X-Wing's canopy, it didn't work too well because you could hardly see it had any smoke colour, and I had to mix in some opaque paint to achieve the sort of effect I wanted (although I might have overdone it)... Would anyone here have any other ideas on how to paint the clear part to achieve the desired effect? Is it actually the case that they used 2 different models and I won't be able to achieve that lighting effect? Unfortunately I also have no idea how to change the engineering hull stripe and insignia from red to green back to red like in TMP... Example screengrab (TMP) of the deflector dish off state - Example screengrab (TWOK) of the deflector dish on state - TIA