Protocol, Gonk & Mouse droids

[Portaler]

Yes, I think the oil wash and the bit of rust here and there has also made him look better.  There's only so much you can do to a small box with 4 wheels :-) But what you've managed is more than a miracle.

 

I'm really looking forward to the Gonk droid. He's one of my favourites.

 

I think everyone likes to say "Gonk" it's just one of those words....

 

Andrew

Edited December 18, 2016 by Portaler

[Madmonk]

PM sent Portaler

[The Chief Smeg]

On 14/11/2016 at 10:41 PM, AndyRM101 said:

 

Wee Nige is (very approximately) 1/72, just a smidge over 4mm in length. He made his debut during the X-Wing build. There's also Bigger-Than-Wee-Nige-But-Not-As-Big-As-Big-Nige-Nige, who was the first in the Nigel line, and appeared during the Snowspeeder build.

 

Andy

 

Us Pratchett fans do seem to turn up everywhere don't we

 

MELON MELON MELON

+++ OUT OF CHEESE ERROR +++

[Andy Moore]

24 minutes ago, The Chief Smeg said:

Us Pratchett fans do seem to turn up everywhere don't we

 

MELON MELON MELON

+++ OUT OF CHEESE ERROR +++

 

It had occurred to me to make this bunch into a kind of robotic version of the Canting Crew. I'm not sure who they'd all be, but I did think of building a mechanical duck to put on B0-R15's head. I guess Nigel would have to be Gaspode

 

I'm letting Nigel sit for a while before doing any more stains or weathering on him, and turning my attention to the Gonk. He's pretty much ready to go in the box, but I wanted to sharpen up some of the details and make him a little more personalised. I've added a little junction box to his side, with some wiring made from a wound guitar string. I've also added some generic greebling to the panel on the front, and the two caps on the round lumps on the side

 

  

 

 

 

One area I wanted to remove, or at least cover up, was the grill on the back of the body. It's okay as far as it goes, but there's obviously no openings on the louvres, and it looks a bit simplified. Since Gonks are meant to be power droids (basically walking generators), I decided to box over the grill and add two power outlets

 

 

 

I might add some more random detailing, but I don't want him to look too cluttered. I'll have a search through the spares box and see if I can find anything suitable.

 

Andy

 

 

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Gonktastic! 

 

Would it be possible to dent all those pristine looking panels a bit.....Maybe something like the oil-canning(?) that submarine modellers do? 

[Portaler]

OK I'll go with that Sgt ........... Gonkalicious !   

 

Great idea to add a few more bits and pieces. Adds character and originality.

 

P.S was that round bit on the front with the ribs and metal inner piece with the kit ? What was that from ? Looks great. You must have a massive "odds and ends" box !

 

The stuff you find to add on to your builds amazes me !

 

Edited November 17, 2016 by Portaler

[Portaler]

Andy is this actually the 1/6 Scale Gonk ? Or the smaller "Gonk-mini" ?

[Hunter Rose]

Gonks looking great, nice details, especially the spring tubes.

[Andy Moore]

On 17/11/2016 at 00:35, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Gonktastic! 

 

Would it be possible to dent all those pristine looking panels a bit.....Maybe something like the oil-canning(?) that submarine modellers do? 

 

Yes, he needs a few dings and dents. I'll see what I can do

 

14 hours ago, Portaler said:

P.S was that round bit on the front with the ribs and metal inner piece with the kit ? What was that from ? Looks great. You must have a massive "odds and ends" box !

 

You mean this bit

 

It was part of the main casting. I just drilled out the centre (or not quite the centre, as it turns out, looking at the close-up) and stuck a bit of brass tube in, to give it a bit more detail.

Looks like a 1/72 tank wheel, which is a bit of a classic Star Wars detailing part, so quite appropriate for this. There was quite a lot of grog in the casting, and there's still a bit now so it'll need another round of cleanup before I get some primer on. I'll also need to fill those air bubbles on the flange bit in the middle of the droid.

 

13 hours ago, Portaler said:

Andy is this actually the 1/6 Scale Gonk ? Or the smaller "Gonk-mini" ?

 

It's 1/12, same as all the Bandai droids. I think JPG made a 1/6 one (with a sound card to add an authentic 'Gonk Gonk'), but I don't think it's available any more.

 

Andy

[Pete in Lincs]

Looks rather like the back of

a Sherman road wheel IMHO.

[Portaler]

I guess there's a possibility that I might get a bit of air bubble roughness too. What sort of filler do you use with these models which will stick well with plastic ?  I guess if I'm lazy I could convince myself that it adds to the weathered look.

Edited December 18, 2016 by Portaler

[Andy Moore]

39 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Looks rather like the back of

a Sherman road wheel IMHO.

 

Yep, I think you'd be right.

 

13 minutes ago, Portaler said:

I guess there's a possibility that I might get a bit of air bubble roughness too. What sort of filler do you use with these models which will stick well with plastic ?  I guess if I'm lazy I could convince myself that it adds to the weathered look.

 

The 6th scale one will will be cool. I'll look forward to seeing what you do with it. There aren't many air bubbles on this one, and the one's that are there are tiny. I usually use super glue for the smaller ones as it dries fast ( I hate waiting for filler to dry). For bigger ones I'll use Mr Surfacer or Dissolved Putty, but any model filler will be okay.

 

Andy

[Sgt.Squarehead]

6 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Looks rather like the back of

a Sherman road wheel IMHO.

 

I would concur. 

[Andy Moore]

A few more details added to the Gonk. The kit comes with a couple of resin hoses to attach to the feet. I've replaced them with guitar strings. There are a few dents in the feet now, although they don't show up that well. Hopefully when painted they'll look better

 

 

The power sockets on the back have also had some detailing with some scraps of photo etch. The whole box section is just temporarily attached at the moment and I'll probably keep it separate for painting so I can do a different finish on it to the rest of the droid

 

 

So this is how he's looking at the moment. I'm not going to add anything else, as it would all start to look too busy I think. Next job is to get some primer on, then the inevitable round of filling all the pin hole air bubbles that will no doubt show up

 

 

 

 

Andy

[Hockeyboy76]

These are great. Looking forward to the painting. 

[rockpopandchips]

He looks great.

[Hunter Rose]

Nice power sockets!

 

(Which is also a comment that can earn a male Gonk a slap!)

[Sgt.Squarehead]

1 hour ago, Hunter Rose said:

Nice power sockets!

 

(Which is also a comment that can earn a male Gonk a slap!)

 

LOL! 

 

For some reason I now think you should paint his top half orange and call him DN-LD.....I can just imagine all the wonderful conversations he might have with B0-R15. 

 

The fact that you've already named your mouse-bot Nigel (N1-G3L?) tickles me no end.....It's almost too perfect! 

 

PS - Dinktastic!     You've added loads of personality to an already charming model. 

[Will Vale]

Possibly also add a pair of tiny manipulators...

 

W

[Andy Moore]

3 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

For some reason I now think you should paint his top half orange and call him DN-LD.....I can just imagine all the wonderful conversations he might have with B0-R15. 

 

I'm thinking dark green and yellow, but the name I may have to go with 

[Andy Moore]

After a small delay, some paint has hit the Gonk. Not very much admittedly, but it's a start. The body was primed with AMMO grey primer then had a light coat of Tamiya gloss black followed by Alclad aluminium. Most of the metal finish will be covered; it's just there as a base coat for the paint chips, and I felt the Alclad was a bit too dark and wouldn't have enough contrast to the final paint finish, so I've now given it an over-spray with Vallejo aluminium from their Metal Color range, which is a much brighter tone than the Alclad

 

 

The feet have had the same treatment, and they've now had a top coat of Vallejo cavalry brown over a coat of hairspray

 

 

I've now got to figure out how I want to do the chipping on the main body. I'd intended to use the underpainting technique I used for Nigel, but that wouldn't work with hairspray as all the brush work involved in the shading would start lifting the hairspray coat. If I do it that way I'll have to do the chips with masking fluid, which is okay, but it doesn't give me the control over where and how much I chip the finish that hairspray would. If I do use hairspray, I'll need to do a more simplified top coat with less pre-shading. I'll have a think about it tomorrow, but I'm inclined to go with the hairspray as I prefer the look of the resulting chips. I can always add post shading effects if necessary.

 

Andy

[Andy Moore]

So, after a short interval, some painting has commenced on the Gonk. I went with hairspray chipping in the end, but had a last minute change of colour from the dark green I was originally going with to a light, faded green. As a result the chips don't show as much as they would have done against the dark green, but I'm not too bothered about that as there will be plenty more weathering which will cover a lot of this anyway. I only did the lower half of the body to start with, in case I hated the look and had to strip it all and start again. I added some darker shading around the top where the paint wouldn't have been exposed as much, and would have faded less.

 

The green's mainly AMMO 934 Russian Highlight for the faded areas, with a little Vallejo Camo Light Green added nearer the top. The darkest shading right at the top is Tamiya JN Green

 

 

 

 

I'll get the top half done in the same finish, then mask off some panels and finish them in a different colour.

 

Andy

[Hunter Rose]

Nice paint, really like the green Andy

[Portaler]

Cool Andy. Definitely something "out of the box", or should I say "out of the Gonk" ?

 

Were those dents and cracks moulded as received ? Certainly looks like he's been through a lot either way. 

[Andy Moore]

7 minutes ago, Portaler said:

Were those dents and cracks moulded as received ? Certainly looks like he's been through a lot either way.

 

No, it come in factory fresh condition. I used a round burr in a mini drill to grind the dents into the resin.

 

Andy