Uncle Monty Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 Hi Modellers Well I've had a relaxing break away from the spares boxes and the glue, but I suddenly got the itch to make something. Unlike previous builds, this will be a short build as I have a window of a few weeks to crack on with it before other stuff gets in the way, so here we go. Basically, I have an old camera lens which is no good any more thanks to the dreaded fungus, so I decided to make something of it as I did with another old lens a few months back. I took it apart, cleaned off all the grease and then started playing with bits and pieces from the spares box to see if I had enough bits to quickly make a spaceship of some sort. Here are the lens pieces, reassembled into a different order and glued into place. And here it is with a tin can glued on the end. This will be a passenger compartment, or possibly a storage container (which is ironic considering that it's a tin can). This is a pile of bits which I think might end up glued to the spaceship eventually, not sure at the moment as I didn't bother making a sketch, I just wanted to wing it and see what happens (although I seem to remember telling myself a while back to not do that because it never works ). The white thing is a light bulb holder from an Ikea table lamp. The lamp was binned but I kept this bit because I thought it had an interesting shape - yes, this is how my brain works these days. Finally these last pictures shows a spaceship coming together - the pink thing on the end is a docking hatch which has some greeblies, including some staples and some bits of plastic sheet. The silver mudguards (made for a previous build but never used) will be glued around the hull and will probably be painted black to look like solar panels. The Ikea bulb holder will be the main engine and will probably be silver as I have a lot of silver paint to use up. Thanks for watching, another update will be along soon, either that or a bus replacement service. cheers all Monty 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 Now THAT is a great use for staples! Like where this is going, I'll be following with interest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voozet Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 The beginnings look very promising and very old school, in the best sense of the word. Besides this reminds me of the good old days when a camera was more than just a micro lens connected to a microchip... 25 minutes ago, Uncle Monty said: I just wanted to wing it and see what happens (although I seem to remember telling myself a while back to not do that because it never works ). Never is too strong a word. In my experience, about half of the attempts end in failure 😝 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 It works for me. I remember your previous camera ship too. 1 hour ago, Uncle Monty said: but I kept this bit because I thought it had an interesting shape - yes, this is how my brain works these days. I've had that problem for years. Got boxes of interesting shapes. There's no cure. I've tried pills, yoga, yoghurt, Even the chanting and muttering is useless. 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Monty Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 16 hours ago, Hunter Rose said: Now THAT is a great use for staples! Like where this is going, I'll be following with interest Thanks HR I've used staples before, they're great for radiators, air intakes, etc. Plus you can make them any length you want. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Monty Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 16 hours ago, voozet said: The beginnings look very promising and very old school, in the best sense of the word. Besides this reminds me of the good old days when a camera was more than just a micro lens connected to a microchip... Never is too strong a word. In my experience, about half of the attempts end in failure 😝 I bought this lens back in the 80s for my Ricoh SLR (a very good workhorse of a camera). I still have film cameras but because of the rising cost of developing the film, these days I use my Fujifilm XT5, which actually looks and works very much like an old-school SLR, so I kind of get the best of both worlds. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Monty Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 15 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said: It works for me. I remember your previous camera ship too. I've had that problem for years. Got boxes of interesting shapes. There's no cure. I've tried pills, yoga, yoghurt, Even the chanting and muttering is useless. My man cave is full of similar boxes. It looks like one of those shops in the Harry Potter movies. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 I've found that the frogs won't stay still long enough for the glue to set. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Monty Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 5 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said: I've found that the frogs won't stay still long enough for the glue to set. I've tried. They're too slimy for the glue to stick. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 I've got some Tamiya Mr Frog on the way from Hannants.... (Be sure to let me know when you think this is getting too silly) 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Safetypin Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 Already start's to look like a freighter, great job. The use of staples is a very good idea! Curious how they look when they are painted. Cheers, Nico. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Monty Posted March 22 Author Share Posted March 22 2 hours ago, Safetypin said: Already start's to look like a freighter, great job. The use of staples is a very good idea! Curious how they look when they are painted. Cheers, Nico. Hi Nico, thanks. I'll use whatever is lying around as long as it looks like it might actually work in real life. And there's no way I could make something that looked like a radiator grill at that size, I haven't got the patience for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Monty Posted March 23 Author Share Posted March 23 Hi Fellow Modellers I was able to finish gluing on the greeblies and also sorting out the various solar panels, which meant, yes, time to get on with the fun stuff and get some paint on it. The solar panels are sections of drainpipe. I glued plastic pads to the inner curves so that they would sit a little above the curve of the hull, which I hope will make them look a little bit more interesting. They will be painted black (of course) with a few bits of detailing. So here we are before undercoat: And here we are after. Thankfully it does look a little bit more like a space freighter and less like an explosion in a junk shop. The final colours will be gunmetal for the rocket nozzle and a variation of that for the ship - it's actually car paint, Vauxhall SIlver Lake. It's a nice variation on gunmetal with a hint of green. Whether that subtle green tint will show in the photos is a question worth asking. Another question is which car was this used on? Not that I care, but it's fun to think that somewhere out there a salesman called Dave is driving around in a car that is the same colour as my spaceship. Here we are, with a coat of 'Silver Lake' on the hull and gunmetal on the rocket nozzle: As I suspected, the 'lake' bit doesn't show up all that well in the photos, oh well. The next update should arrive in a few days, unless there are leaves on the line. Or the wrong type of rain. cheers all Monty 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
internationalrescue Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Amazing what a difference a coat of paint makes! I'm sure Dave would approve 🙂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard E Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Interesting work - with the natural metal base coat it's starting to look like something which Elon Musk would send to Mars (or beyond). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Monty Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 Thanks guys It's actually quite a nice colour 16 hours ago, Richard E said: Interesting work - with the natural metal base coat it's starting to look like something which Elon Musk would send to Mars (or beyond). If Elon wants to discuss licensing terms he knows where to find me... 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Monty Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 (edited) Evening All Back at the Man Cave a great deal of frenzied activity has been happening. And after that, some model making. First of all, I realised that the little plastic guards for razors actually fitted perfectly onto the rear of the hull, so I raided the bathroom and scrounged enough to go around the back end, on the ridges. Here you can see what they look like with primer: Next, I added some paint to the rocket nozzle. I used Game Color brass and gun metal and silver to create the effect (hopefully) of super-heated metal. I sploshed on some black acrylic across the 'vents'. I also added a wheel inside it. I think the wheel came from a toy car - don't ask me where the rest of the car is. These cube things have been used before - I grabbed them off the coat hangars that we seem to have thousands of, for some reason. I decided that by adding some small tank wheels they could be attitude jets. I decided to make a proper stand for it using some 5mm plastic sheet, similar to the one I made for the previous space freighter. I can't leave it sitting on a squashed takeaway tray for ever. Here it is, just been assembled and waiting for its coat of primer: Finally we can see the freighter starting to come together. The attitude jets and solar panels are on, the rocket nozzle is on, now it needs a bit more paint detail, dirtying down and decals. I will probably use up some of my spare Expanse MCRN decals as that saves me the bother of trying to invent my own logos. What was that about modellers not being lazy? Anyway, the next update will probably be the last, after that the final stop will be the RFI, unless we have engineering works in which case you'll have to get out and walk. cheers all Monty Edited March 27 by Uncle Monty Image problems again 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverfox63 Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 Am I the only one getting a Babylon 5 vibe here? Cheers, Chris. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 Man this is looking great! Good work with that base too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Monty Posted March 29 Author Share Posted March 29 5 hours ago, silverfox63 said: Am I the only one getting a Babylon 5 vibe here? Cheers, Chris. Not sure on that as I never watched the show but I heard good things about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Monty Posted March 29 Author Share Posted March 29 1 hour ago, Hunter Rose said: Man this is looking great! Good work with that base too Thanks ! I'm at the stage now of applying decals, and then a coat of gloss varnish to seal it all in. That should be it. I've decided to use up some spare MCRN decals so this will be a Martian Marine Corps freighter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 On 3/27/2024 at 7:16 AM, Uncle Monty said: ...What was that about modellers not being lazy?... That usually comes about near the end of the build! Cool looking 'real world' ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Monty Posted April 2 Author Share Posted April 2 On 01/04/2024 at 17:25, Thom216 said: That usually comes about near the end of the build! Cool looking 'real world' ship. Thanks! I guess it could work as a real ship, it's clunky and ugly enough 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 It looks very good indeed. I also have those coat hanger cubes and the razor guards in the spares boxes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Monty Posted April 3 Author Share Posted April 3 15 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said: It looks very good indeed. I also have those coat hanger cubes and the razor guards in the spares boxes! They are the gift that keeps on giving 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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