Red Iron Models Sputnik-1 1:35 A last ditch attempt to complete a model in 2020

[Mike]

I've been woefully inactive in my chosen hobby this year for various reasons, but with the end of the year looming large, I wanted to try and get one finished before 2021 hits us square in the face.  I ordered this little resin kit after seeing it on these here forums, so made an order on eBay and have been waiting for the Russian and British Post Office to deliver it until yesterday.  I couldn't resist, as it is just such a simple little kit.  There are six resin parts and a resin base, plus a roll of copper wire for the aerials, and a thicker length to connect the finished model to the base.

 

 

The parts were a piece of cake to remove from their casting blocks, as they were 3D printed, so the orb halves had a myriad of tiny little legs that I cut off with nippers then scraped them away.  The antennae bases were similarly easy, but the base needed a good sand with my Dremel with repeated tests to check it was sitting flat to the floor.  Whenever I have a butt-joint between two cylindrical or hemispherical parts, I always trim away the majority of the centres, which leads to easier fitting and less chance of the parts wobbling or fitting at a funny angle.

 

 

I joined the two halves with CA, taking care to align the three dots and the larger access hatch between the two halves.  it went well, and I ended up with a nice sphere.  I drilled out the attachment point to the base with a 0.8mm drill, and the antenna bases with a 0.35mm drill, as I was replacing the copper wire with 0.3mm carbon fibre rod, as it's deadly straight, resilient and very flexible, while springing back to shape unlike the copper, which will bend and probably need straightening all the time during construction.  Then I cleaned the parts in a bath of IPA (not beer), and squirted some primer on it, letting it dry overnight.

 

 

Next job is to decide which type of metallic paint I'm going to use, and whether I'll need to prime it again in black.  The base is going to be gloss black with white or silver lettering, so I'll need to deal with that slight wobble on the bottom of the front, which I couldn't see until I'd taken the picture above.

 

I've got a lot on my plate at the moment with the site misbehaving, plus my dear old mum having just having had a serious op last Sunday, but I'm still hoping I can get it done before the end of the year, which at time of writing is a fortnight. Will I make it?

[Pete in Lincs]

48 minutes ago, Mike said:

Will I make it?

We're all egging you on, before you get relegated to the KUTA thread. Not a good example to set!

A nice little kit. Love the carbon fibre. 

Best wishes for your Mum's quick recovery. 

[Mike]

16 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Best wishes for your Mum's quick recovery. 

Thanks Pete - she seems to be making good headway so far, so should be home soon

[LorenSharp]

Here's to wishing your Mum a speedy recovery. Excellent job on the antennas Mike, where do you find the fibre rod at?

[Mike]

Just now, LorenSharp said:

Here's to wishing your Mum a speedy recovery. Excellent job on the antennas Mike, where do you find the fibre rod at?

Thanks I used to get them from Accurate Armour in cut lengths for several of your earth pounds. Then it hit me that I could probably get it from eBay for a fraction of the price.  I've got a big tube with several lengths of different diameter rod inside that I use occasionally when strength is needed for a very fine thing, and I still use it for radio antennae whenever I get round to making an armour model... whenever that might be

[Mike]

I had a quick look through some online pics of the original Sputnik, or at least the one that stayed behind, and it was a lovely shiny chrome colour, almost all over, save for a couple of grey sections that look like isolators at the base of the antennae.  I decided to give my Mirror paint from Stuart Semple a try, as I can always flat it back and have another go later. You can airbrush it, but I decided to brush it on, and it seems to have worked pretty well.  I might have to put another coat on later, as it goes tacky quite quickly, as it's either an enamel or lacquer, I'm not sure.  I'm sure Stuart wouldn't mind me linking to his wares, as I think it's got a lot of possibility for realistic chrome for our hobby.  I also think he's a great guy with a good sense of humour too.  He's the guy behind the Blackest Black, Black 3.0 and The Pinkest Pink.  Makes me giggle and think back to my days as an A-Level art student when I was a bit arty... just a bit mind you.

 

 

It's looking pretty shiny, but I think there might be a bit on the back that's either a tad thin, or I managed to miss it altogether.  I also wanted to put another coat on the carbon rod, as it took me a while to get to grips with painting that properly.  Here's a link to Stuart's site:  https://culturehustle.com/products/mirror     Have a look around the rest of the site while you're there, as I love the humour there.  If you look into the bit about Vantablack vs Black 3.0, it's quite amusing

[Andy Moore]

Nice result Mike, it does indeed look very mirror-y. Thanks for the link to the site.

 

All the best to your mum.

 

Andy

[Mike]

53 minutes ago, Andy Moore said:

All the best to your mum.

Thanks Andy Yes, have you watched the video of him painting the balloon dog?  Quite impressive.

[Mike]

Just brushed another coat on the original while I was tidying up the antennae, and it's SO much shinier Pics tomorrow

[Mike]

As promised here's a pic of the second coat of Mirror.  It seems to have improved the shine, and shows up the rivets and other details just like you'd expect with metallics.

 

 

The base is coming along nicely too despite a splutter accident early on, although some of the sides aren't moulded quite flat, so I'm going to have to be careful how shiny I make it.  I've got a small piece of leftover sticky-backed felt that I'll put on the underside to help it settle with the weight of the tiny model.  I'm torn about putting a wash on the model, as I don't want to dull the chrome look, but I might try one of the Ultimate washes, which are water based, so could be removed easily.  I also need to dot in those insulators

[LorenSharp]

That has to be the shiniest finish I've ever seen Mike. Spray OR Brush. I lokked the paints website. A bit  pricey but worth it with this kind of finish. I haven't seen anything this shiny since the old SnS powder coat days. Well Done!

[Arild Moland]

I ordered some of this stuff yesterday along with some black and silver, and it'll fun to try it out, and see how this mirror stuff compares to the Liquid Chrome I used on my Sputnik.  Molotow Liquid Chrome is the mirroriest stuff I've tried to date. 

 

Is the mirror finish fragile, or can you handle the parts without marring it?

[Mike]

1 hour ago, Arild Moland said:

Is the mirror finish fragile, or can you handle the parts without marring it?

Mine feels a very tiny bit sticky today, especially if I grip it firmly.  I'm thinking of adding another coat later and then protecting it 48 hours later with a dose of clear varnish.  Might do a test swatch first though.  If it's enamel or lacquer, it will dry rock'ard later, with luck.

 

I'm seriously considering hitting the base with some Black 3.0, to give it that "void of space" look, although the shine on the base is improving with each coat.  We'll see.  I bet Stuart Semple didn't envisage plastic modellers using his products when he designed them!   Still, it's a form of art if you think about it.

 

1 hour ago, Arild Moland said:

Molotow Liquid Chrome is the mirroriest stuff I've tried to date. 

I like the Molotow stuff, but on larger areas you have to try to keep it going wet-on-wet to avoid any gritty areas, and it can look a bit swirly too on occasion.  I've got a couple of the pens from them, and I often use them on oleos, but it's a bit limiting having a 1mm or 2mm tip.  With Mirror, you can use any size brush you like, and a tiny bit goes a long way

 

1 hour ago, LorenSharp said:

That has to be the shiniest finish I've ever seen Mike.

He says it'll go through an airbrush, but prefers to brush it on himself.  I'm itching to try it through my airbrush, but I'll probably stick it on the back of a spoon to test it   Watch this space

[Arild Moland]

I sprayed the Liquid Chrome on my Sputnik, but I see what you mean about keeping it wet. The fact that this mirror thingie seems to work well with a brush and can be applied on bigger areas, is intriguing. If it works out the way I hope, it could be used for re-chroming automotive parts. I've yet to find a chrome paint I really like for that, and which can be handled afterwards without rubbing off or being fragile in general.

 

I'll be watching this space

[Mike]

Seeing as there's been a bit of interest in the Mirror paint, I did a few test spray outs last night.  Firstly, I brushed out two coats over a naked spoon, then I sprayed the Mirror over a naked spoon, then same again but a black primed spoon, and finally, while I was cleaning up, I sprayed out some of the residue with the Mr Color Levelling Thinner, which has given a nice matt shade. 

 

 

The brush painted one had a few streaks of the spoon showing through, so I put on another coat.  Still some undulations thanks to my relatively narrow brush and poor technique.  The straight spray over is probably the best and it covers brilliantly through the airbrush.  I started with a mist, then a heavier coat, keeping it wet-on-wet until I'd finished.  The same technique was then used with the gloss black primed spoon, and there's very little point in priming, other than to harmonise the finish.  The final one was just sprayed out as a whim during clean-up.  I was quite impressed with the finish, although I'm not sure I could put a name on it, other than matt metallic maybe?  The amount of paint I used was amazing, but it was amazing because there was so little used.  I poured most of it back into the pot at the end of the session, and probably wasted more in clean-up than I actually sprayed out.  The finished is incredibly thin, so you'd better get your prep done well, as every nick, blemish or scratch will show up under paint.

 

I'm going to put some Klear over it when I get chance, and see whether it affects the shine, and maybe try a few more ideas I've got knocking about.

 

Here's another link in case you fancy a quick look.  it might be expensive, but look at that finish

 

https://culturehustle.com/products/mirror

 

[Stephen W]

Loving how this is coming together and it’s good to see the shiney finish using different techniques too! 

Edited December 22, 2020 by Stephen W

[Pete in Lincs]

Shiny indeed!

 

2 hours ago, Mike said:

although I'm not sure I could put a name on it,

Aged natural metal suits me. Think Lightnings etc. This finish would suit them well.

[Mike]

3 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Shiny indeed!

 

Aged natural metal suits me. Think Lightnings etc. This finish would suit them well.

It's as good as any.  In the flesh it looks just so nice... I wonder if it would come out a different shade over other colours?  Should be easy enough to test next time I'm going to use some

[Mike]

I took another snap of the ball now it's got its antennae on, and the insulators painted it.  I'm still working on getting the base working better, and popped a bit of Mirror on the 1957 on the top of the base.  I'll put white and grey on the rest of the lettering.  White for the English, grey for the original Cyrillic.  Not 100% yet.  I wish there was something I could do about the little blemishes on the front, but it's way too small to get any kind of sanding stick in there in a meaningful way, especially without damaging the letters

 

[Pete in Lincs]

I quite like those rough bits on the base. It looks like an old rough cast Russian monument. (So do I, some mornings)

[Mike]

2 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

I quite like those rough bits on the base. It looks like an old rough cast Russian monument. (So do I, some mornings)

Should I maybe have painted it concrete? Dammit man, you've got my mind going now!  

[The Tomohawk Kid]

Red Iron are the dogs cahoonas on Soviet space hardware!

 

Tommo.

[Mike]

49 minutes ago, The Tomohawk Kid said:

Red Iron are the dogs cahoonas on Soviet space hardware!

I want one of their Moon rovers, but they're not in production at the moment

[The Tomohawk Kid]

Thier 1/35 Vostok with interior is just to die for as are the Luna probes!

 

Tommo.

[Pete in Lincs]

43 minutes ago, Mike said:

I want one of their Moon rovers, but they're not in production at the moment

Commies on the assembly lines!