Doc72 Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 I guess there comes a time in the life of every modeller when you want to build something from outer space. I am not very much into Sci-Fi, but I became fascinated with the idea of scratch-building something without any regard for historical accuracy, technical feasibility, or common sense. So my UFO project is not based on any particular movie or TV series, but the style with the heavily-structured surface is undoubtedly in some way influenced by the space crafts from the original Star Wars trilogy. Moreover, of course, I took inspiration from many Sci-Fi-scratch-build-projects by other modellers that can be found on the internet. Unlike others, I did not recycle old shampoo bottles or other plastic wrappings (maybe later on another project) but used plastic sheets and profiles for most of the construction. A classic Flying Saucer design served as a starting point which I tried to vary a bit. The basic disc is made from two circles of plastic sheet separated by some profiles as spacers. I made the disc from rather thick plastic but afterwards switched to more or less paper-thin sheets that are much easier to fold and cut. For the bottom of the disc I envisaged a kind of conus or truncated cone. First, two blocks of balsa wood were added to give support to a pole or stick on which the model will be displayed. Getting the right shape for the surface of a truncated cone isn't trivial. Fortunately, I found a very useful online tool on the website of a rocket modelling club (they build rockets that really fly): https://www.rmc-sachsen.de/?nav=konus Adding bogus and nonsensical details on the basic shape is the fun part: 22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 This looks interesting. I do Sci fi scratchbuilding myself. Good fun, tax's the mind/imagination and no one can say it's wrong. I'll pop back later for more. Ta. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theb Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 Big fan of this show and would love to have a Shado Mobile in the 3ft long arena along with a huge Skydiver too. I like em big! keeping an eye on this one too! really curious about the clear domeeee thing and what will be used. 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc72 Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 20 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said: This looks interesting. I do Sci fi scratchbuilding myself. Good fun, tax's the mind/imagination and no one can say it's wrong. I'll pop back later for more. Ta. Indeed. The nice thing is, I can always adapt the UFO's design to my skills. It is more difficult when you are trying to scratch-build a real plane or tank. For the upper side I choose a more angular design. I thought a pentagon-shaped structure looks sufficiently strange. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc72 Posted January 27, 2023 Author Share Posted January 27, 2023 Some more structures were built for the upper side. They are not yet glued in place because I will add more details. As you can see, symmetry is not a main concern in extraterrestrial spacecraft design. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeddahbill Posted January 27, 2023 Share Posted January 27, 2023 Very nice scratch building work! Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voozet Posted January 29, 2023 Share Posted January 29, 2023 Great start. On 24/01/2023 at 09:52, Doc72 said: I became fascinated with the idea of scratch-building something without any regard for historical accuracy, technical feasibility, or common sense. We have very similar motivations I see. Sci-Fi is the perfect asylum, beyond the rivet counters' hunting grounds 😉 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc72 Posted January 30, 2023 Author Share Posted January 30, 2023 22 hours ago, voozet said: Great start. We have very similar motivations I see. Sci-Fi is the perfect asylum, beyond the rivet counters' hunting grounds 😉 It is in particular a hiding ground from my inner rivet counter. Not sure, when I will be able to make progress on this project. In any case, the next steps will be to add some openings as a kind of cable ducts or whatever. The idea is to give the UFO some depth. I don't want it to look like all the details have just been glued on top of the basic flying saucer-structure. You can already see such a cable shaft on the last photo on the right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Intriguing, will be following this with interest! On 1/29/2023 at 11:03 AM, voozet said: Great start. We have very similar motivations I see. Sci-Fi is the perfect asylum, beyond the rivet counters' hunting grounds 😉 oh no in some quarters the SF rivet counters are the WORST since quite often there isn't a definitive prototype to work from, for example the frequent question "What colour is Thunderbird 2?" There is no definitive answer because the various models built for the show were all inconsistent as far as both shape, details and colour! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc72 Posted February 6, 2023 Author Share Posted February 6, 2023 1 hour ago, Kallisti said: oh no in some quarters the SF rivet counters are the WORST since quite often there isn't a definitive prototype to work from, for example the frequent question "What colour is Thunderbird 2?" There is no definitive answer because the various models built for the show were all inconsistent as far as both shape, details and colour! Okay, I m prewarned. Since I don't plan on reproducing any particular movie or TV spaceship, I may be on the safe side, but who knows? In any case, the colour scheme will be one of the next things to decide. Whatever the colour, I guess, I will go for sponge and hair-spray chipping, dry brushing and post shading. All the cool weathering techniques that often look overdone and unrealistic on aircraft models. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Really like how this is looking so far, great scratchin' 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc72 Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 And some details added. I guess the pipework you can see is for the circulation of the blinker fluid that lubricates the anti-gravity device. Or whatever... it was fun to build. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc72 Posted February 28, 2023 Author Share Posted February 28, 2023 And some more slow progress: I've added another cone as a kind of hat on top of the pentagon structure as well as some structure on the outer rim of the flying saucer. You can also see first traces of filler since I've become a bit sloppy with the construction and, consequently, some gaps appeared. The next steps will be to add further wires or piping. And of course some filling and sanding. This is not a Tamiya kit and there's nobody I can blame for the poor fit of some parts. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc72 Posted March 19, 2023 Author Share Posted March 19, 2023 I am now finished with the details and mounted the UFO provisionally on brass rod and the base. The base still has to bev covered with some kind of extraterrestial landscape (rocks, craters and the like). Most likely, I will shorten the brass rod somewhat. The next thing will be a coat of primer and dealing with some surface imperfections that will become apparent. Afterwards, I have to decide on a color scheme. I am thinking of light grey overall with some large greenish-yellow on the pentagon-shaped top-structure as well as some details picked out in contrasting colors. What do you think would be good UFO paint scheme? 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc72 Posted March 19, 2023 Author Share Posted March 19, 2023 ... and with primer: Some spots still need a bit of putty and sanding but in general I'm content with the result. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer matt Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 I am enjoying this, and the primer has pulled it together. You ask for suggestions for a colourscheme, might I suggest doing something that would be a bit random to human expectations. Bronze with purple, for example. After all what woulf be the chances of ETs viewing in the same spectrum as us. Unless they are future/past us of course. It always amuses me when people claim to have seen UFOs which conveniently use white green and red recognition lights. How would ET know to use those and not his normal blue yellow and pink ones. Anyway have fun with it, I am sure it will look great whatever you choose. Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc72 Posted March 20, 2023 Author Share Posted March 20, 2023 4 hours ago, Farmer matt said: I am enjoying this, and the primer has pulled it together. You ask for suggestions for a colourscheme, might I suggest doing something that would be a bit random to human expectations. Bronze with purple, for example. After all what woulf be the chances of ETs viewing in the same spectrum as us. Unless they are future/past us of course. It always amuses me when people claim to have seen UFOs which conveniently use white green and red recognition lights. How would ET know to use those and not his normal blue yellow and pink ones. Anyway have fun with it, I am sure it will look great whatever you choose. Matt Good point! This is an old problem with Sci-Fi: Everything in novels or movies that is meant to look futuristic or extraterrestrial reflects above all the time and the world of the author. Maybe I should take some inspiration from here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Colour_Out_of_Space But how does that correspond to the Tamiya XF-range? 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer matt Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 Thanks for that link thats a cool story, I will have to seek out the original. Another factor in our portrayal of ETs is that it helps if they can be played by a biped who speaks English. Or Klingon of courss. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 It always struck me in Star Trek, for example, that no matter how they altered the faces on other races, they were still Human sized. Where were the people from low or high gravity planets who could be much taller or shorter than Kirk & Co? Oh, and it's odd how they were all oxygen breathers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc72 Posted March 20, 2023 Author Share Posted March 20, 2023 Yes, that's always funny. Of course, some more ambitious authors like Lovecraft tried to do better by creating aliens that are totally unlike humans or contacts that are completely incomprehensible for humans. "Solaris" by Stanislaw Lem where the alien intelligence is an ocean or a planet would also be an example. Another one is "Roadside Picnic" by the Strugatsky brothers. In this novel, the humans (and the reader) have basically no idea what visited them and the aliens probably didn't noticed or cared that they have interfered with Earth in some way. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theb Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 2 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said: It always struck me in Star Trek, for example, that no matter how they altered the faces on other races, they were still Human sized. Where were the people from low or high gravity planets who could be much taller or shorter than Kirk & Co? Oh, and it's odd how they were all oxygen breathers. They all became oxygen breathers over time and down to one reason only. McDonalds. They’re everywhere these days 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 20 hours ago, Theb said: They all became oxygen breathers over time and down to one reason only. McDonalds. They’re everywhere these days You may be thinking of the section of the population known as oxygen thieves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theb Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 1 hour ago, Pete in Lincs said: You may be thinking of the section of the population known as oxygen thieves. Most of whom come from Romford no doubt! 👽 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted March 22, 2023 Share Posted March 22, 2023 They're everywhere nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc72 Posted March 24, 2023 Author Share Posted March 24, 2023 ... and back to Outer Space or the modelling desk: After some rounds of filling and sanding (and I still find imperfections) the UFO received some pre-shading. As usual, it remains to be seen what, if anything, of it will be perceiveable after adding the main colour. Also the base received my standard fake-cherrywood treatment. The weird circles will hopefully become useful in creating an extraterrestrial landscape with craters. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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