volume 37
SCRATCHBUILT 1:1 JAWAS!
STUDIO SCALE TIE FIGHTER
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Print editions can be obtained from:
www.scififantasymodeller.co.uk
[email protected]
Print editions can be obtained from:
www.scififantasymodeller.co.uk
[email protected]
volume 37
Hot from the Mould—breaking news Beauty and the Beast—Dino diorama Studio scale Chili Dog—TIE Bomber Retro Powerloader—The Lobster Creating craters—building a lunar surface Life-size Jawa jamboree Studio scale TIE Fighter Jonny Quest—The Dragonfly Etched in brass—the Paragrafix story Return to Distopia—Deckard’s Sedan Part 2 1:72nd Viper Mk VII and Cylon Raider Polar Lights’ Kane build Studio 2 Mobile—the SHADOwy bits
Editor-in-Chief/co-Publisher: Specials Editor: Art Editor/co-Publisher: Regular modelling team: This volume’s contributors:
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Michael G. Reccia. Andy Pearson. David Openshaw. Iain Costall, Jim Costello, Barry Ford, Andy Pearson, Gary R. Welsh. Paul Bodensiek, Jean-Marc Deschamps, Jason C. Gares, Barry Maddin, Steve Neisen, E. James Small
web: www.scififantasymodeller.co.uk editorial email:
[email protected] Published by Happy Medium Press copyright © 2015 ISBN-13: 978-0-9930320-1-1 Printed in the United Kingdom by Pioneer Print Solutions. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the Publishers, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other, without written permission from the Publisher. The views expressed by our contributors are not necessarily shared by Happy Medium Press. Every care is taken to ensure that the contents of Sci.fi & fantasy modeller are accurate, but the Publishers cannot accept responsibility for errors. Responsibility for correct copyrighting of photographs, artwork and illustrations lies with the contributor. All copyrights are acknowledged. Reasonable care is taken when accepting advertising. However, the Publishers cannot accept any responsibility for any resulting unsatisfactory transactions or any inaccuracies contained within the ads themselves.
The publishers and author (contributors) take no responsibility for any harm or injury to the reader as a result of using the techniques described in this publication. Safety and common safe should always be foremost when using these techniques and materials. Read all instructions and warnings on tools, paint, glues, and all chemicals. Hobby knives are very sharp and serious injury can result from improper use. Your work area should be well ventilated at all times. Children should be supervised at all times by an adult familiar with hobby safety. Please note that all hints, tips and procedures in this publication are given in good faith and based on actual experience. However, neither the publisher nor authors (contributors) can be responsible if something goes wrong during construction.
volume 37 EDITORIAL We might still have the best part of a year to wait before
seventh installment in the franchise hits our screens.
The Force Awakens premieres, but Star Wars has kept
...And when it does, and judging by those awesome
SF modellers wide awake and focussed on their hobby
trailers, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to speculate t hat
since 1977, when the first kits based on A New Hope hit
there’s going to be a whole galaxy of bright,
the shelves. There’s therefore
shiny new mainstream and garage kits –
no reason why we can’t begin
ships, speeders, fighters, droids, creatures,
a tribute build up to the new
heroes and villains – for us to build in the
movie by covering some rather
months that follow.
special classic Star Wars build ups in our pages right here,
Hmmm.
right now, now is there?
Yess! ...In detail, covering those subjects,
OK then... strap yourselves in. The Volume you’re holding
guess who will be? Can’t wait.
features a TIE Fighter and TIE
Bomber lovingly recreated in studio scale glory, courtesy of a
Until next time, keep your light scalpels sharp and sheathed.
duo of fascinating articles celebrating the hardware of the original trilogy. In upcoming Volumes 38, 39 and 40
And I’ll see you in ninety.
we have further generous helpings of SW eye-candy
Michael G. Reccia
planned too, helping to stimulate those modelling senses
Editor-In-Chief
and soothe you through the remaining months until the
(Inset: coming later this year—be there!)
HOT FROM THE MOULD ROUNDING UP WHAT’S NEW AND HAPPENING IN SF AND FANTASY MODELLING
Fantastic Plastic
Round 2
Now available from Fantastic Plastic is a 1/72 Flash Gordon rocketship (A). The resin kit offers 26 pieces, plus a clear vacuform insert for the cockpit windows. Mastered by Ed Holt and cast by BLAP! Models, it’s based on the purported filming miniature that was up for auction on ebay in 2013. The kit depicts the rocketship as it appeared in the final Flash Gordon serial: 1940’s Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (the ship did not feature its nose cannon until that production). The completed model is nine inches long, priced at $85.00 plus shipping, and can be ordered from: www.fantastic-plastic.com/ FlashGordonRocketFPPage.htm.
Round 2’s Jamie Hood reports on upgrades to the original Star Trek Enterprise Cutaway kit (C) (soon to be released as AMT891): • Original base has been removed and we have added our standard, larger dome base with metal tube support. The pylons have been reinforced with ‘honeycomb’ webbing inside the parts so when all of these ‘webs’ are glued within the pylon there is less chance of sagging or twisting. This is similar to how we did the 1:350 Enterprise pylons (we actually used a Cutaway kit as a prototype for that when we were developing it). • The windows have been removed and will be added to the decal sheet so they can be placed more accurately. • The decal sheet has been extended to include windows and others have been added to cover the interior bulkheads.
Also hotly anticipated from FP is the Prometheus, which is now in casting and will debut at Wonderfest in Louisville, Kentucky at the end of May, with the kit first being made available to reservation holders prior to it going on general release.
A test shot has been received from Round 2, with a full build article scheduled for Volume 38. POL934 TOS Romulan Birdof-Prey (B) – A test shot has
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C
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arrived at these offices and a build article will feature in Volume 38. POL932 BTTF3 Final Act Time Machine (D) – Here’s a preview of the packaging, with the kit currently under licensor review. Round 2 are also re-releasing the 1989 Keaton Batmobile – images and full build article soon.
well as a ½ scale copy of the serial number plaque that was located in the engine compartment. MSRP is $28.95.
Paragrafix
Moebius
New from ParaGrafix is an exclusive item available to all their customers directly: The Bates Mansion photoetch set (G). The set adds Psycho details to the HO scale mansion kit from Polar Lights and includes replacements for all railings. As an added bonus, a Bates Motel sign is included that has through holes that match the original’s neon letters so that they can be lit. MSRP $19.95.
New from Moebius is an IP Battlestar Galactica upgrade set for use with their New BSG Galactica kit (H). The new set includes rail gun turrets, enhanced decals and photo-etched museum windows for the starboard flight bay. The first figure kit in Moebius’ ’66 Batman series has been released (see Vol 34 for test shot build). Bats himself is cast in light blue plastic and, pleasingly, his chest bat symbol and ‘engraved’ belt buckle bat are provided in both decal and sticker form. The Jonny Quest Dragonfly kit featured as a test shot build this issue is now also available.
Wildhouse Models Out by the time you read this should be the Hostile Realms Medical Console kit (F) reported on last issue. www.wildhousemodels.com/medical-bay-console/.
Also shipping now is a photoetch set to complement the re-release of the Piranha Super Spy Car kit – also known as the car from the classic TV series The Man from U.N.C.L.E . (E). In addition to all of the car’s spy enhancements and controls, the PE set includes working door hinges modelled on those featured on the actual car that help make this kit look totally real. Bonuses include the U.N.C.L.E. emblem to display with the car as
Amazing Figure Modeler The latest copy of Amazing Figure Modeler (I), now in its twentieth publishing year and packed with figure builds, reviews and techniques, is now available from the usual outlets and also from: amazingmodeler.com
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A LOST WORLD Barry Ford proves once again that he has a head for figures
Above: Parts from box.
I’VE
TALKED AT SOME LENGTH IN PREVIOUS ARTICLES
AND MY BOOK ABOUT INSPIRATION FOR MODELLING
so I’m not going to repeat myself here, as note texture you are all probably fed up with my ramblings by stamp. now. All I will say is that for some reason, very Stegosaurus built. recently I was struck by the thought of bringing together a couple of kits from my hoard to create a scene that could have come straight from one of the Lost Worlds of Conan-Doyle or Rice-Burroughs... the kits in question being one of the excellent 1/12th scale girl subjects from Solarwind Productions – Caelan – and a vinyl Stegosaurus kit from the long defunct, and sadly missed, Horizon Models. Joins are filled –
PROJECTS
I had picked up the Stegosaurus from eBay a couple of years ago for about a tenner with no idea as to what as I was going to do with it. The girl I have had slightly longer and knew exactly what I was going to do with her but never got round to it. This leads me, for a moment or two, to a digression on to the subject of modeller’s hoards. I think most of us will confess to having a ‘top of the wardrobe’ stash, except for some of us it extends into the loft, cellar, garage, etc, and if we ever had one of those television presenters from UK TV’s Channel 4 coming round to our house they would probably
have us diagnosed with some kind of mental disorder quicker than you can say, ‘My Precious’. Frankly, I say ‘Stuff ’em’. Okay, we may have more kits then we can ever get round to building, but on the other hand, if you do have a sudden moment of inspiration and don’t have the particular model you want to use in your stock it is you who are the one who’s stuffed, because kits don’t sit on shelves forever and are often discontinued. The other thing I suggest about kit collecting is that none of us has a truly unmade kit in their hoard... who amongst us has not brought home a kit from the shop, or opened a parcel from the internet, sat down and excitedly opened the box, carefully going through the parts and reading the instructions before mentally building the model – perhaps in a number of different ways? If you get as much pleasure as I from fondling the parts and letting your imagination flow free with all the possibilities the newly opened treasure provides the kit has already paid for itself even if you never get around to building it in the physical world. Now back to your irregularly scheduled programme: The concept I had in mind for this diorama was a primeval princess visiting her pet
dinosaur in its stables, so in order to get a better idea of how large the base was going to be I first needed to build the Stegosaurus. I started off by washing the vinyl parts in hot, soapy water and scrubbing them with Cif cream cleaner and an old toothbrush before rinsing them and letting the parts air dry for twenty-four hours or so (this cleaning procedure was also repeated for the resin figure). Vinyl kit parts have excess vinyl that needs to be trimmed away before proceeding any further. This is done by heating the parts by your preferred method and trimming with a sharp knife while the part is still warm and soft. Vinyl kits can collapse over time, usually due to heat, and so need to be filled before assembling. My material of choice is cotton wool because it easily compresses to get into small areas and gives the model a nice, weighty feel. The feet are filled with epoxy putty to help with the model’s balance and to give a positive fixing should the model need securing to the base. The parts are assembled using superglue and I find it helps to warm the mating parts before applying the glue so that you can better marry up the two sections. Unfortunately the joints weren’t
in hidden places but across the middle of limbs. To hide each join I applied two-part epoxy putty and blended this in as best I could. This still meant a loss of texture around the joints so I created a texture stamp using a product called Siligum. This is a two-part silicone-like compound that, when mixed together, sets to provide a flexible mould suitable for casting from. In this instance I pressed the uncured Siligum against the Stegosaurus’ body to pick up the scale effect. Once cured, I pressed the Siligum texture stamp against the still soft putty to try and get a seamless join.
Above: Figure. Clay base. Stegosaurus primed. Opposite: Stegosaurus painting: base colours applied... ...highlights... ...further
Before proceeding any further with constructing the dinosaur I posed the two figures together to get a feel for the final diorama size. A wooden cutting board I had turned out to be of just the right size to fit the two figures and a small section of wall without being too cramped or, conversely, too spartan and unfinished.
highlights... ... secondary colours. Figure painting: ...base flesh... ...dark flesh... ...lighter tones
I subdivided the base board between internal applied. and external space and over the internal section rolled out some DAS air drying clay which I textured by laying a piece of crumpled kitchen foil over the clay and gently applied pressure using a
Opposite: kitchen roller (please wash thoroughly before Base built and entering the Great British Bake Off , or whatever painted. it’s called). Using a scalpel and straight edge I More flesh tones: subdivided the clay into individual slabs, using ...dark base colur... sculpting tools to make sure that there were no ...then lighter lighter.. sharp edges as these would have most likely been Masking flesh broken or worn off as part of the stone areas. preparation process. This was allowed to dry for a
I decided to have a cobbled street on the outside and formed the cobbles using two-part epoxy putty. The joints between stones were filled with more putty and the joints between internal slabs with a texture paste that had enough of a degree of viscosity to flow between the slabs but not flow out again. Once fully dried this was given a coat of grey primer.
Base colour of few days, during which time the clay shrank and turquoise applied came loose from the board. I carefully reapplied
the individual slabs, gluing them in place on the PVA A glue: the shrinkage creating Pre-staining the board with PV Stegosaurus. natural joints between the slabs. to clothing.
I cut a piece of rigid insulation board to size, Completed figure. with an off-centre window opening, and applied some Vallejo Sand Texture Paste to all faces, using an artist’s palette knife for the vertical faces to give the appearance of trowelled render and using a sponge on the edges to simulate broken masonry. Insulation foam will melt if primer paint is directly applied to it because of the solvent in the paint, so to be on the safe side I brush-applied a coat of artist’s gesso all over the wall to seal it. The wall was then glued in place. Above:
The female figure was intended to stand with right hand resting on a section of tree and so I had to carefully remove the hand from the resin tree section using miniature power tools to first remove the hand and then shape the palm, which should rest against the Stegosaurus Stegosaurus.. The hand and left arm joined to the torso at items of apparel, which meant simple butt jointing, and so I left these off for ease of painting. After tidying up the minimal residual seam line on the figure (no filling required) it was given a coat of white primer.
Time to start painting I chose to paint the Stegosaurus in a two colour scheme consisting of a medium light brown and a medium dark grey, both from the Vallejo range of paints, whose names I have forgotten as a
consequence of middle age, I applied the brown paint first and then created a highlight colour by adding Vallejo Off-White (this name I did remember) and airbrushed it on the raised areas, lightening it again for the underside underside.. The grey areas were freehand airbrushed on and, again, raised areas highlighted. I added a large proportion of Off-White to the light brown to create a very pale ‘magnolia’ colour that was airbrushed to the underside of the dinosaur. Once the paint was thoroughly dry I applied an acrylic Woodstain – English Oak – with a brush in sections, and which was wiped off with a soft tissue. I used the Woodstain as an alternative to a more traditional wash for its intensity of colour, although the excess does have to be wiped off quickly because it will stain the finish of your model, so it is best to work in small sections at a time. The stained model needs to be left for at least twenty-four hours to dry and I then gave it a coat of matt varnish, as the Woodstain dries with a gloss finish. I returned with the original colours and drybrushed the model to lighten the colours and add further highlights. Painting of the Stegosaurus was completed by painting the mouth with a mix of flesh and
burgundy, and the eyes were painted brown. A few Above: burgundy, shadows were ‘beefed up’ via the use of pastel Stain applied to pigment powders. Stegasaurus. Wall and base
The female figure was given a base coat of GW Tallarn Flesh as the subsequent colours I would use are artist’s paints and have a slight translucency to them. I created my standard flesh mix of roughly equal parts Liquitex Burnt Sienna , Raw Sienna and Titanium White and then mixed darker shades by adding Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna, and lighter shades by adding Unbleached Titanium White. I then airbrushed the flesh tones onto the figure working dark to light, recessed areas to raised areas. I was feeling lazy and, rather than mask the flesh areas, I opted to brush paint the clothing, as there is not an awful lot of cloth to paint. I decided on a three colour striped scheme and first brushed on Vallejo Turquoise. I used washes of shadow and highlight colours blended together on the model to create depths of colour. I then applied strips of masking tape for stripes of Vallejo French BlueGrey, repeating the shading and highlighting, before applying more masking tape to form the
painted. Opposite: Barrels prior to painting. Completed base. Straw applied.
third stripe created from adding a small amount of the Turquoise to white. It was when I pulled the masking tape off and sections of paint came with it that I said, ‘Oh dear; what a shame – that’s a bit of a bother’, or words to that effect. I was going to try and carry out repairs but realised than I ran the risk of more paint coming off: I had obviously failed to remove all of the mould release agent when first cleaning the figure. Whilst it was an unfortunate step backwards (not unlike the time I had completed the flesh colours on a model and, deciding to give it a spray coat of varnish to protect the work to date, I accidentally picked up a can of white primer – only realising far too late) I resolved to give the figure a thorough clean with Isopropyl alcohol and repeat my normal cleaning process. The figure was then primed and the flesh tones repeated. This time I took a chance and masked off the flesh areas using Tamiya Masking Tape and Blu-tack. I airbrushed all the areas of clothing with the Turquoise again and then created a highlight colour by adding a little Light Sand . I wanted the material for her ‘skirt’ to have a different appearance to the top and thong which, I felt, should be a plain colour with the skirt being a woven material of some description. I did this by freehand airbrushing a ‘noodle’ type pattern with
the grey, Sand and Turquoise colours until I was satisfied with the appearance. I removed the masking and breathed a deep sigh of relief as no further paint was removed. A coat of matt varnish was quickly applied to avoid any damage to the completed finish before I continued further. To some extent the remainder of the figure painting was as I have described many times before, but I will touch on a few points that may be of interest or worth repeating: • The whites of the eyes are an off-white, oyster grey colour. • The dark brown hair was given a darker wash and, when dry, a dry brush highlight was added by brushing along the raised edges of hair not across them. • Pin washes were used to outline changes in material. • Pastel pigment powders were used to further shade the flesh and clothing. • For the ‘steel’ type colours I used standard GW metallic shades but for the more decorative metals I used a new range of paints from Vallejo called Liquid Gold . These are metallic pigments in an alcohol base. They covered the model nicely when applied by brush and gave a more realistic
appearance than many yellow metal acrylic paints. One word of caution: because they use metallic pigments you should avoid water to thin or even clean your brush as this can potentially lead to rust forming on your model. The base was painted by dabs of Raw Sienna, Payne’s Grey , Parchment , Raw Umbe r and Neutral Grey being placed on the internal slabs and then an old brush being used to blend the colours together using a stippling action. This was repeated for the external cobbles – but using a different proportion of colours to give a more slate blue colour – and the wall, but Parchment , Raw Umber , using Unbleached Titanium White and Olive Green . A combination of acrylic Woodstains (applied as to the Stegosaurus) and washes were used to finish off the floor finishes, with some pigment powders for good measure. Bars were created for the window opening using polystyrene rod painted black with some subtle drybrushing with Raw Sienna, and were simply pushed into position. The stable floor needed some straw and so I used the product of the same
name from Woodland Scenics glued into position with their scenic cement (heavily diluted PVA). This needed a couple of days to dry, which gave me time to work on the finishing touches.
As the diorama was being built to 1/12th scale I was in a position to include accessories intended for use with a doll’s house and so I set off to my local Hobbycraft for a few appropriate bits and bobs, and was very disappointed to find the once impressive and extensive doll’s house section (along with the modelling section) much decimated and with nothing of use. Fortunately, t’internet is a boy’s best friend (after his mother, of course) and so I purchased from more than one online retailer (as none had everything I wanted in stock) some barrels; dustpan; broom; buckets; bowl and carrots. Whilst these were to a reasonable standard, they weren’t really to an acceptable finish for the diorama so out came the paints, stains, washes and pigments to make them more realistic. One of the painted buckets was filled with Woodland Scenics Liquid Effects , in three pours in order that each was fully cured before increasing the depth of ‘water’. The other bucket was filled with Mig Productions Mud paste... what it is intended to be I will leave to your imagination. It was now composition time: the Stegosaurus’ position had already been pre-determined by
creating slight depressions in the DAS clay base before it dried and so everything else was placed relative to this. The figure was intended to have her hand resting on the dinosaur so it had to be mid-flank but not too far to the back or turned toward the dinosaur that her face be obscured. The buckets, barrels, broom and shovel were placed to fill an empty space against the wall, but hopefully still leave enough space so that the diorama didn’t look overcrowded. So there we have it, another project finished just in time for the old brain itch starting for the next project... although it is the UK Garage Kit show in Crewe this weekend as I write, so who knows what pleasant diversions I may come across there that might re-evaluate my thinking. ...And speaking of pleasant diversions may I take this opportunity to thank the beautiful Beth for her inspiration whilst painting the female figure in the diorama (thought I had better add the word ‘female’ in the last sentence to avoid any ambiguity or confusion, and to avoid my being hit with a large, heavy, blunt object).
TIEmes Two: 1
A DOUBLE CHILI, PLEASE! Jean-Marc Deschamps prepares for a studio scale bombing run. Released by JPG Productions, with a master created by Weil Li Pan, this studio scale TIE Bomber kit is an accurate representation of the original, nicknamed the Double Chili Dog by ILM staff. This ship has a special place in the hearts of all SFX and modelling afficionados, as the studio miniature was built almost entirely from commercial kits such as the 1/144 Saturn V rocket and, more particularly, from the MPC Darth Vader’s Fighter kit’s wings, which explains why the Bomber is a relatively small FX model among its larger brothers. The design had already been imagined for A New Hope but was left out of that production – probably because George
Lucas didn’t want it to become confused with the similar contours of Vader’s ship.
The kit To tell you the truth, I have never seen a resin model like this one before. At first I thought it was an injection kit as the resin is so perfect, with crisp details and exceptional casting. It was a pleasure to work with, the build being almost straightforward throughout, the one exception being the two front fuselages that didn’t align themselves with their ‘tube’ sections. I found it difficult to create a perfect alignment here as air bubbles under the resin skin began to appear during the sanding process.
1: The parts. No need to source the wings from another kit, as they are provided. 2: The casting is clean and the details crisp. 3: Just one line was re-scribed. 4a: There is a error on the right wing, so the upper raised line has been duplicated at the bottom… 4b: … and the original erased. 5-8: The most difficult job on the kit was to try to align the fronts with their respective fuselages. Bond , Bondo and cellulosic putties were extensively used.
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I had to use Bondo (any other automotive putty would have sufficed), CA bond and brownish cellulosic mastic to create the correct rounded shapes for both the canopy and ‘bombbay’ fuselages. All parts were, of course, cleaned up with needles and sandpaper and degreased in a soap solution before being assembled. I needed to re-scribe a single line on the ‘bomb-bay’ fuselage and replace details on the right wing as 9-12: The LEDs are the master featured an incorrect part here. For protected by this I used strip and small pieces of plastic, resistors and shaped to copy the original details. powered by a 6volt transformer. Lighting and base The wires are not I wanted from the start to replicate as far as all decorative... possible the studio model which featured lights some carry the at its rear. I used the LEDs provided with the ki t current! and bought electrical materials to light them 13: Colour trials to find the right blue-grey. 14: The LEDs are protected from the paint with latex. 15: Painting the solar panels with black and protecting the wings with masking tape. 16-18: The base is a wooden board with the wires running underneath and having a male jack plug at the end of the support tube. It will be painted black and covered with a Perspex engraved plate.
with the help of resistors. The wires run through the internal support tube and pass from one fuselage to the other, terminating in the base via the main metal support rod. A male jack plug fits inside the female receptor under the Chili’s body, allowing me to light the LEDs via a 6-volt power transformer.
The base itself is a wooden board with a channel underneath it to house the wires. It has been painted black, sanded, painted, then sanded and painted again for a near perfect finish, and is covered with a 4mm laser cut and engraved plexiglas sheet made by my friend Sylvain. The finish is so flawless it looks as though it has been machine-manufactured for the mass market!
Paint Pfffffffft… No, this sound is not caused by chili emanating from a place you might think of but is rather the sound of exasperation due to
the Bomber ’s grey-blue paint being almost impossible to get right for sure as light hitting it makes it sometimes look blue and sometimes… greyish. Luckily, the original model can be seen at the French exhibition of Star Wars Identities and I was able to identify the right colour (almost). Comparing the Chili with the other TIE fighters , the Interceptor is more blue than grey, the Vader X-1 more grey than blue, and the Imperial TIE is more... more... Hmmmm . I hope this helps (!). Armed with this knowledge, I used a mixture of the following Gunze Hobby Color paints, applied on a flat surface:
• Light Blue H323 • Medium Sea Grey H335 • Intermediate Blue H56 • Flat Base H40 The last colour was used to obtain a satin finish. Grey FS 3608 was used for the canopy structure and the various tiny parts around the front of the ‘bomb-bay’ fuselage. The corrugated solar panels were painted in Tamiya Black Satin . This isn’t perhaps quite as glossy as it should be but it gives a better finish than the flat black that appears to have been used on the original. Also bear in mind that the studio models are old now and that paint fades with time. Also, for the most part the models
have been repaired and re-painted, as is obviously the case with the Bomber from the exhibition.
The beauty pass A decal sheet is provided for the numerous ‘encircling lines’ that go all around the ship, but I preferred to use the good old method of tracing these on with a Posca paint pen, which was faded with a fog of the original blue-grey paint, and a paper pen, especially on the the wings (outer and inner). The marks are not perfect and this is how they appear on the model when viewed closely. Something nobody has never noticed before:
the very ends of the two fuselages, where the conical section of the Saturn V rocket is, have a glossy finish... that’s what photographs of the original model taken by your humble servant reveal. I simulated this effect by spraying a light coat of silver paint, being prudent to not over-do the process and ruin the blue paint. The model stands above the black painted base, which is covered with laser cut perspex and engraved with the title of the movie, details of where the ship comes from and, of course, the name of the model itself.
Conclusion What more can I say? Just that the Double Chili Dog is a superb kit that more than satisfied my appetite for an excellent replica of the subject. Special thanks to my friends Olivier Cabourdin and Sylvain Viatte.
Construction Crustacean
Andy Pearson creates a parallel universe kit-bash/scratchbuild hybrid QUITE
A NUMBER OF CONSTRUCTION MACHINES ARE
GIVEN NICKNAMES BY THOSE WHO WORK WITH THEM OR ARE ENTHUSIASTS OF SAME.
By way of example, I doubt that ‘bulldozer’ was a name given to the eponymous machine by its designers. In this case, I offer the Lobster . This is a machine from an alternative 19th century used for general heavy handling and, in modelling terms, is a halfway house between a kit bash and a scratchbuild. The kit that was bashed was the Pegasus Models Apollo 27 spacecraft built for an earlier review. This had already donated one or two components to past projects but the fuselage suggested itself as the main part for this model. Truth to tell I think this might have already been used for something or other (it had been given a coat of white primer since its original paint job) but I can’t remember what. For this exercise my first step was to separate the two fuselage halves and give the interior a coat of
titanium gold. Whilst that was drying I hit the spares box and harvested a number of greeblies, brass rods and other bits and pieces. These were then primed and airbrushed with dark copper before being arranged around the interior. I initially toyed with the idea of providing the machine with a clear windscreen but that seemed somewhat out of keeping with the period feel I was after. As an alternative I chose to provide a series a brass rod bars across the viewport as protection for the driver along with a panel of aluminium mesh across a smaller side aperture. I’m not a great enthusiast for crew figures in static machines or craft but, as this one would be placed in a working environment, I thought a driver would be appropriate. Some time ago my good friend and colleague Ward Shrake sent me some 1:35 scale aviator figures, designed by Christopher Desse and Michael Fichtenmayer and sold through Industria Mechanika’s website (industriamechanika.com).
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1: A selection of original components. The round tube option was dropped. 2: Wire bars to main window. 3: Titanium gold to interior. 4: Brass rod detailing. 5: A selection of primed greeblies for interior detailing. 6: Driver figure. 7: Interior detail. 8: Further interior detailing. 9: Driver located. 10: Base fixing for arms. 11: Arm sections. 12: Test fitting of arms.
One of these seemed the perfect figure to represent the Lobster’s operator in a relaxed moment, so he was painted in a mid-blue and positioned inside the machine before I glued the two halves of the main body together. I then added an ornamental border round the base of the machine, this from a range of self-adhesive
decorative strips sold for use in making greetings cards. This would disappear to some extent under the machine’s primer coat but subtlety was what I was after. The spares box was once again approached for the legs, these being originally from a Star Wars
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13-14: Manipulators. 15: Further test fitting. 16: Test fit of rubber pipe work. 17: Arm sections drilled for tubing. 18: Self adhesive border detail. 19: Access ladders. 20: Ladder access at rear. Note self-adhesive border detail. 21: Adding hoist detail. 22: Hydraulic/steam lines added to arms. 23: Pigment powder panelling detail. 24: Finished model on workbench.
Easy Fit kit and they only needed some lengths of
plastic tube and box section and a little work to fit them to the sides and rear. My original plan had been to add some lengths of plastic tubing used for plumbing purposes for the arms but, having cut these, I had a change of heart.
Instead I cut twelve lengths of rectangular box section Evergreen plastic, these being joined together in groups of four with pieces of plastic rod which fitted tightly without the need of any adhesive so the arms had quite a bit of movement in them. The manipulator claws were made from round and half-round rod. When all these sections
of the machine were complete and the widows in the main body masked, the Lobster was given a coat of red oxide primer which, apart from being a suitable colour for a machine given that name, has a really nice industrial feel to it. Once the primer was thoroughly dry I added some random Letraset Greek characters and provided the suggestion of panels by placing rectangular pieces of masking tape in judicious locations and dusting round these with pigment powders in various shades of brown. With the tape masks removed, I then rubbed the areas gently with a paper tissue to soften the demarcation line between pigment powder and paint. The assembly of the arms and main legs was going to be, essentially, a push-fit exercise. It was at this stage that I discovered a length of rubber chord which just asked to be added to the arms as simulated hydraulic or steam lines. As I had just the one length of this and no idea of where to find any more, some careful measuring was required to ensure that I had eighteen equal lengths. I then drilled holes in the arm sections to accommodate these lines which would be superglued in place. In an ideal world I would have used slightly longer
lengths of the rubber as, once in situ, they restricted the movement of the arms and my ability to position them. Surveying the almost completed model I felt that some further detailing might help its appearance. To this end I added two small hoists to the lower body and securing chains to the arms. I’ve seen many models enhanced by the addition of random cogs and other features but I like to add things that at least appear to have a function. To that end my thought was that the chains on the arms might take the strain when these were in a parked position. I discovered a number of ornamental circular features intended, I think, for use in jewellery manufacturer. These would serve as both terminal points for the securing chains as well as looking interesting. I confess that I have perhaps over-used these on steampunk models in the past but they do look the part. I needed to drill the holes in the centre of each of these using a Minicraft tool and that was an interesting exercise as every other one pinged across the room. The penultimate stage was weathering, which erred on the filthy side of lived-in. This was done
entirely with MIG pigment powders and I assumed that the job was completed. That was before I emailed the Editor-inChief and asked if he would like a piece (the very one you are reading) on the model. His affirmative reply asked if the machine would appear in a suitably industrial setting, which is Mike-speak for ‘Put it in a suitable industrial setting.’ By happy coincidence I had recently consigned a not very impressive Thunderbirds diorama to the spares box and, as a result, had a decent supply of girders, beams and so on in stock. sto ck. Thi Thiss miscella miscellany ny,, along with with some copper tubing, was prepared and weathered and formed the basis of the setting. In terms of colour I thought that the same red oxide I had used on the machine might work well on some of the background bits and pieces, if only to tie the thing together. The result is presented here delectation/scorn/disappointment.
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FEW W YE YEAR ARS S AG AGO O I WAS CO CONT NTAC ACTE TED D BY A A FE FELL FE LLOW OW PR PROF OFES ESSI SION ONAL AL KI KIT T BU BUIL ILDE DER R WH WHO O WAS DE DES SIG IGNI NING NG AN AL ALIE IEN N DI DIOR ORAM AMA A BAS ASE E
that could be used for several science fiction builds he was making, and specifically for the Polar Lights Lost in Space Jupiter 2 spaceship (Photos a-d.). a-d.). This was his first time designing something like this in size and detail and he wasn’t very well informed at the time concerning the correct materials to sculpt in and how long it actually took to make prototypes, presenting him with several challenges in the design process. This article, chronicling how I cast that base for him, can be used as a ‘beginners guide’ for those of you thinking of getting into casting and mould making and who may have questions that have prevented you from getting started. I’ve removed a lot of ‘guess work’ from how to do things and tried to make the instructions as easy and painless as possible... ...Before we start on this journey, however, I want to give you a few useful definitions and qui ck instructions on the various moulds that can be made, which can differ depending on the complexity of the subject you’re casting.
One-Piece Block Mould This is basically a box. Laminate coated particle board, foam core board or any similar substance
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can be used to make a sturdy box-type enclosure to place your model in while it is being cast. A good seal around all the edges of the box is key to making this type of mould successful. You could use hot glue to seal the edges of the box together. Another good tip is to seal the edge of the model to the base in order to keep it from moving during moulding. You can also choose to screw or glue the model to the base if that is an option to keep it in place. Make sure to construct your box with enough room to allow ½" to 1½" surrounding your model, including the top. This space is for the mould rubber. If your model is porous, consider cutting a vent hole in the base of the mould so as not to harm it (Fig. A.). A.).
Split or Multi-Piece Mould Like the one-piece mould, the split mould is an enclosed mould. The same precautions need to be taken with sealing on all sides and base to ensure a good mould. As a reminder, make sure you vent
Casting the Moon Jason C. Gares, Video Workbench Owner and Host
your model if it is porous prior to pouring in the mould rubber. The main difference with this mould is the end result. For a split mould, you want to cut your mould in half (for example) after the mould is made. Doing this will allow you to create a three-dimensional mould, good for models that need details on all four sides of the mould versus ones that have a base, sitting flat. Putting your model into a piece of PVC pipe or a can allows you to be able to cut through the mould and the enclosure easily. Remember to make clean cuts when splitting the mould and try to make a notch that allows you to know exactly how the mould fits back together for future castings (Fig. B.).
Complex Multi-Piece Mould Sometimes a more detailed model with many parts can be cut out of a block type mould. This is an advanced method and may take practice to master. master. This type of mould would likely be achieved with a soft, easy to cut rubber, due to the detail on the model you are casting. Venting this mould is very important. You can vent prior to moulding with rods or after the mould is cured by drilling into the cured mould. Cutting the mould after it is dry is the hardest aspect of this type of mould, so be careful you don’t ruin your model. Cutting the mould into multiple pieces allows you to safely remove it around more detailed pieces. Take time with this process and you will be successful (Fig. C.). F G
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Two-Piece Poured Block Mould Starting this mould includes using clay as a bed for your model. Imbed your model in clay up to the desired ‘half’ point. Fill the moulding rubber into the box on top of the clay. After curing, the model and cured rubber can be inverted and the top half moulded using the same process. The cured rubber replaces the clay in this second step of this process. After the mould is complete, vent your mould before casting (Figs. D, E & F.). Poured ‘Blanket’ Moulds Poured In order to complete a blanket mould, the shell for the mould needs to be built first. Place your model on a flat surface (such as a board made of wood) and secure it to this base. Make a shell to encase the model. The shell can be made from resin, plaster or fibreglass. Thickness of the shell will vary depending on the size of model and the type of moulding liquid you choose. It is recommended that the shell be no less than ¼"–½" thick. Making it in at least two parts is an important step. After the shell is cured and ready, coat the inner surface with a petroleum jelly or similar substance. This allows for easier removal of the shell later. later. Secure one piece of the shell to the base. Begin packing clay between the shell and the model. It is important to get the clay packed well around the model as this will become your mould for final casting. Do not allow any air pockets or empty spaces while encasing the model with clay. However, please DO allow some empty pockets around the seam of the shell. Doing this will ensure you have some areas to release the shell from the clay (and later the rubber mould) by using a screwdriver or similar tool to pry it away from the clay easily. Continue to work around your model with clay until the model is completely encased, then secure the remaining shell parts to J
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the base. Make sure you have a pour hole at the top of the shell for your rubber moulding liquid during the next step. Allow the clay to cure completely before moving on (Figs. G & H.) . After the clay is cured it is time to remove it from the shell and around your model. Be careful with this step! Once you have removed the clay you are left with a hollow shell around your model to be filled with your moulding liquid. Don’t forget to vent your shell and coat the inside with petroleum jelly or a similar release agent. Make sure the model and shell are secured to the base with no seams around them so you don’t have liquid running out. Lastly, be sure to put at least two straps around the outside of the mould. This will prevent it from accidentally opening during this process. Pour your desired moulding liquid into the shell to completely encase your model. Let cure completely before releasing (Figs. I & J.) . Brushed on ‘Blanket’ Moulds
This type of mould is a good idea for heavily detailed models to avoid having air bubbles in your casts. Start with your model placed on any flat work surface. Using a flexible rubber moulding liquid, cover the entire model with a thin (1 / 8"–¼") layer of rubber. Take care to get into all the hard to reach, detailed places on the model. Once the thin mould is cured, begin to make a clay shim on the top and along the sides of the model. This will be your dividing line between the mould halves. The shim can have keys carved into it to allow a proper alignment for casting. Make sure it is close to being uniformly thick and surrounds the outline of your model and that you have a few keys carved into it to make it easier to remove the subject later on (Fig. K.). Coat the rubber-coated model with petroleum
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jelly and begin to prepare the mould on one side of the model. This can be made of plaster, resin or other such material and should be about ¼"- ½" thick, or thicker depending on the size and mass of the object you are casting. Allow the mould to cure completely. Repeat the steps for the other side of the model. Again, allow the second side to cure completely before continuing (Fig. L.). Once it’s cured, you can begin to carefully remove the mould halves. If done with care, the mould should easily come apart at the shim you created, as the petroleum jelly created a barrier between both halves. After you get the mould off, your model is left coated with the thin layer of rubber. Carefully cut the rubber in half at a desired point and slowly peel it off, as you would a sock from your foot, for example. Your mould should be flexible and uniform in thickness to create future copies. In order to create a copy, simply place the mould back into the plaster cast, vent and fill with your preferred casting liquid. As with the poured moulds, strapping the plaster cast together is a good idea as it will keep both halves together securely. Flexible Mother Mould
A good alternative to a hard shell. Soft, low-cost Polyurethanes can be poured over petroleum jelly or similar release agents, then the coated blanket mould can be enclosed in a plastic tub or any simple hard shell, to avoid additional labour
making a shell with two or more pieces. A strong but flexible mother mould can be pulled away from simple undercuts. You may end up using more rubber, but it can save a lot of money, time and work (Fig. M.).
Working Around Undercuts If you’ve decided to do a brush-on mould, find all the undercuts and fill them in with mould rubber, clay or a filler of your choice. Please remember, if the filler material has to be compressed, a hollow rubber ‘balloon’ can be formed by bridging the hollow gap with plastic wrap, pressed into the last coat of rubber, with more rubber brushed over it. If you need more support in that area, the gap can be filled with small pieces of foam or doll stuffing with rubber brushed over it (Fig. N.). NOW ON TO THE MOON BASE PROJECT… Ideas and Testing When I first received the original sculpt, I looked it over carefully to see how I could go about casting it. The answer was quite simple – cast it as one piece. Then I looked at it more closely and thought it would be very labour intensive to do it that way. My thinking was that the mountain region was much taller than the crater, and the crater itself was concave, so getting the cast piece out of the mould would most likely end up damaging both mould and cast piece. Sometimes, however, you don’t know until you try, so I did a test casting, trying to cast it as one piece, and 10 11
found I was right in my way of thinking. Basically what happened was that the mountain region got ‘locked’ into the one-piece mould I’d made, almost creating a vacuum where that section of the base didn’t want to come out. Getting the crater section free from the mould was effortless, but any section from behind the crater didn’t want to come out, so I was left with a base and rubber silicone that was useless. It was an expensive and time consuming lesson, and one I learned from. So, how would I solve this issue? I would have to change my way of thinking…
Cutting, Sealing and Liquid Latex I have to back up a little bit and express the fact that before the test casting was done, I was given permission to seal the original sculpt, as it was made from floral foam. For those who don’t know, this is a soft foam used in the bottom of vases as a base to place flowers into so that an arrangement can be made. It’s easy to get hold of, easy to use, very inexpensive and, in my opinion, the WRONG material to use when making a sculpture to be cast into several pieces. If you want to go the inexpensive route, in my opinion it would be good to buy some chicken wire, form it into a close representation of what you want, ‘skin’ it with Papier Mâché, then add your choice of sculpting medium over that for detail. This way you’re not spending a lot of money, you’re still getting what you want and it will be lighter than sculpting it out of one solid piece. Then, if you want to cast copies, you won’t go through all the problems I did with this piece. Remember – if you do decide to use floral foam, seal it . It’s a product that has lots of air pockets, creating a lot of air during the casting process, making the final product full of bubbles. As the first test casting didn’t go very well, I had to take a different approach
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with the whole process. I decided it was a good idea to cut the original sculpture in two (with the owner’s permission, of course), separating the front crater section from the mountain area. By doing this I could create two moulds, casting two parts that could be joined later, making casting easier. With a black marker I drew a line between the back of the crater and the mountains. Using a hand saw I cut down the line, separating the two sections. I took some white paint and sealed the floral foam behind the crater and in front of the mountain area (Photos 1-6.). Even though the sculpture was already sealed with white paint, I could see several areas that weren’t covered very well, likely contributing to the reason why the first casting didn’t turn out well. I airbrushed over the white paint with several light coats of black acrylic and followed that up with several light coats of acrylic sealer. Once the sealer was dry, it was time to brush on the liquid latex. Instead of trying to make a one-piece mould as I did the first time, I opted to brush on Mold Builder
STEPHEN HOWARTH
Original Props, Robots, Kits, Collectibles for sale https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/Timemachinesetc
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liquid latex by Castin’ Craft (Photo 7.). To protect my workbench, for both pieces I laid down some aluminium foil as this would be easy to remove. I started brushing it on the crater section and worked my way outward towards the edge of the base. On the mountain region, I naturally started at the top and brushed towards the bottom. I also made sure to create a one-inch flange on both pieces that would come in handy later. You can use any brush of your choice to paint on the latex as it is water soluble and can be easily washed out. I decided to take the easy route and use disposable foam brushes (Photos 8-18.). Even though I had really strong moulds, they were way too flimsy to cast anything in, as there was nothing to hold the weight or the volume of material that would be poured into them (Photos 19-20.). In order to hold the weight and volume of material used to make the copy and keep the shape of the latex mould, I would have to make ‘Mother’ moulds that would cradle the outside of both latex moulds. In order to create Mother moulds to securely hold both latex moulds in place during the casting process, I had to make a box around them. The first step was to make sure the latex moulds were securely set on the original master sculpture so they didn’t move around. I brushed on a little bit of rubber latex in a few key areas and placed the moulds back on. While I let the latex set up, I took measurements of the sculpture and added a quarter to a half inch around the total height and
length of each part. I then cut foam core pieces to those measurements and glued them together using hot glue, creating a box to pour the Mother material into. To prevent movement, keeping the mountain piece in place during this process, I stuck three needles through the foam core and into the tops of each mountain peak. Using Ultra Cal 30 as the material for the Mother mould, I mixed 38 parts water to 100 parts material. I first used a mixing wand attached to a hand drill to speed up mixing time, and then stirred by hand using a painter’s stick. The reason I end up using a painter’s stick is so I can work out all the air bubbles that were created while using the mixing wand (Photos 21-25.). I slowly poured, six inches above the box, in a very thin stream, the Ultra Cal 30 into one corner of the mould box. The reason I pour in this fashion is because I want to be sure to get rid of any bubbles that may be left in the material. Pouring the material this way ensures it will be bubble free, producing a stronger mould. As the Ultra Cal 30 was setting up, I decided it was a good time to make ‘keys’ in the mould. The reason these are made is so that two (or more) parts of a mould line up the same way each and every time it’s used. When you get proper mould alignment, you will have a part with little to no seam, and that’s the goal. With this Mother mould I used the bottom of a shot glass to make my keys. I then waited for the Ultra Cal 30 to set up for 25-35 minutes. With that one side set up, I could work 28 29
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on the other. I took some petroleum jelly and spread it all around the half of the mould I’d just made, making sure to get around the sculpture and into the keys. I did this because when I pour more Ultra Cal 30 into the rest of the box, I want to make sure I will be able to pry both halves apart. I don’t put a lot of petroleum jelly on, just enough to create a barrier. I repeated the mixing and pouring process of the first half for the second half and let set for an additional 25-35 minutes. The whole process was repeated for the crater section, but instead of a two-part Mother mould, it was a single piece (Photos 26-33.).
Test Casting With the Mother moulds created, it was time to start test casting. The client wanted to know what the difference would be between a solid base and a hollow base with expandable foam inside it to give it strength. After some discussion, the customer and I decided to make the test castings out of Durham’s Water Putty instead of wasting resin or any other type of expensive material. For those of you who have never heard of Durham’s Water Putty, it’s a gypsum-based filler in powder form and becomes almost rock hard when mixed with water. It never shrinks and has great bonding strength. Mix with cold water for a longer setting time and warm water for a faster setting time. It’s always a good idea to coat the inside of any mould with some sort of mould release. The type you use depends on what type of material your mould is made of and the material you will be pouring into that mould. If you don’t put any release inside a mould, there’s a greater risk of not being able to get the part out, and, if you do get it out, a high probability of critically damaging the mould and/or 31
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the part. I decided to use good old fashioned Talcum Powder as my mould release for this project. I can use a generous amount without affecting the detail in the casting, plus it’s very helpful in keeping the rubber latex moulds in good condition. I placed the rubber latex moulds into the Mother moulds before adding any material. I taped and strapped down the flanges of the latex moulds to the Mother moulds to make sure that when I poured in the material, the moulds wouldn’t move around or collapse inward, distorting the mould and ruining the part. I mixed three parts Durham’s powder to one part water and poured into both mould sections, filling them completely and letting set-up for 24 hours. The next day I found both parts were ready to be taken out, as they were rock hard. I took a wooden dowel and began lightly tapping on the outside of the Mother moulds to help release the rubber latex from inside. The tapping would also help release the hard Durham’s Water Putty from the original rubber moulds (Photos 34-37.). Since this is a solid base it’s very heavy and both pieces combined weighed in at 26 lbs. This to me isn’t very economical for shipping or running lights through. A lot of drilling would have to be done for lighting that would turn out to be a huge mess for the modeller. Getting back to the weight, 26 lbs. would be expensive to ship, as it would have to be packed with bubble wrap and other things to protect it. Depending on how it would be sent, the weight would go up, making it around 35 lbs. at the very least. Adding to the weight would be the size of the box. A regular box wouldn’t be used, but an extra thick, heavy duty one, adding more weight and now more size to what I already had. This would be a case of shipping costs meeting or exceeding the cost of making the product, and
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that’s not very economical. The next step was therefore making the two sections hollow. After mixing up more Durham’s Water Putty powder with warm water to accelerate set-up time, I pushed it in to the moulds using a putty knife (Photos 38-39.). I conducted a few test castings to check out the durability and overall thickness of how the two halves were going to turn out. Full castings weren’t necessary, just sections, as to not waste time and material (Photos 40-43.). I figured out how to go about things with the test castings, deciding what I did and didn’t like, and proceeded with full castings. I repeated the process of pushing the water putty into both moulds and, after letting set-up for 24 hours, I got highly detailed parts that are both thin and durable (Photos 44-47.). I took the parts out of both moulds, placed them end to end and added more water putty to permanently join them together where the seam line is. The castings were now complete. Three test castings were produced to check if there were any changes between each one – if there need to be any changes made between multiple castings, now’s the time to find out. You don’t want to put a lot of time and effort into multiple castings only to find they are less than perfect. It’s always better to test things out early. (Photos 48-55.). Expandable foam you can buy at any hardware store was sprayed to the underside of the castings to add strength and durability. Any excess was cut so the bases could sit flat on any smooth surface.
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To finish this project off, it was time to add paint, as the customer needed to get a full visual of what the final product would look like. Grey primer was 49 applied along with some quick airbrushing, resulting in a finished moon crater base suitable for any science fiction model kit (Photos 56-60.). Unfortunately my customer decided that the end cost to produce the base would be too expensive with having the crater as the main focus. It looked nice but wasn’t practical for his needs. A big part of the cost was the casting process and that part of production with time and materials had to be cut down in order for him and his company to justify producing it. I suggested he could have it vacuum formed, but that by doing that some of the detail could be lost. He went back to the drawing board and decided to get rid of the crater altogether, making the front of the base flat with some slight rock formation detailing. The final product was made with hollow resin and only sold as a package
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deal with build-up work he would do for clients. After selling about a dozen bases he decided to retire it. In the end, this was an educational experience for both me and my client. Both of us became educated with how things worked on both ends of the design process. In a way, we educated each other, which gave us more than we ever expected and that in itself made this project worthwhile. Never be afraid to ask 54 questions or experiment, as you won’t know what you’ll end up with if you don’t. Thank you for reading, the support and MODEL ON!
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‘I
CAN ’T
ABIDE
THOSE
J AWAS!
DISGUSTING
CREATURES !’
...I’ve always thought that C-3PO’s dismissive assessment of these skittish little characters was a bit harsh, and it would seem that the popularity they have achieved in the Star Wars universe bears me out. I think they’re a brilliant creation and my sister does too! She loves them, really LOVES them, and for that reason alone I thought I’d have a go at recreating them. When you consider the relatively short amount of screen time they have in Star Wars ANH, the Jawas have clearly struck a chord with a vast number of fans. The idea of these creatures barely making a living through scavenging and wheeling and dealing on the desert planet Tatooine makes them both endearing and also relatable to us. Conversely their diminutive size, featureless faces, strange glowing eyes and impenetrable language add an air of mystery; who hasn’t wondered what a Jawa really looks like?
As with all of the films in the first trilogy the mundane, ‘used’ quality of the sets, props and costumes is what convinces us the most. In the case of the Jawas, this is central to their identity, as in a very short time you really believe in their culture, the practicality of the clothing they wear and the equipment they use. It is this ‘authenticity’ as created by the designers and craftspeople who worked on the original films that will always be an inspiration to those interested in design for film and television.
Beginning the project It was clear from the start of the project that one Jawa was not enough as they were clearly highly social creatures, and their interactions in the film were a fundamental part of their charm. As a result, I decided to produce a pair based on their initial appearance in the film where they disable poor R2-D2 with an Ion Blaster. At approximately one metre tall, the Jawas were easy to scale to the height of a five-year-old child,
Jim Costello scratchbuilds an armed and dangerous pair of 1:1 scale Jawas.
and a search on eBay soon provided second-hand examples of shop mannequins that would form the basis of the build. From here, internet images and screen captures from the film were used to establish the scale of the props relative to the size of the characters, although later research would reveal the extent to which real weapons, devices and other accessories were used in the production of the original
costumes, making authentic reproduction easier than anticipated. The overall Jawa costume consists of a robe, hood and surcoat made from fabric or hide with additional belts, pouches and bandoliers. Each character also has a collection of weapons and accessories depending on his role in the ‘operation’.
Being well aware of the deceptive ‘simplicity’ of these costumes from my experience in a previous project where I recreated Yoda (see SFFM Volume 27), I knew I would have to experiment extensively before a good result was achieved. It is at this point that I must acknowledge the tremendous contribution made by my friend and colleague Jayne Gill. Jayne, an exceptionally skilled fashion technician, patiently interpreted my clumsy attempts at producing patterns for the robe and surcoat and was able to explain the fundamental principles that would allow the material to drape correctly over the mannequin. The characteristic wrap-around ‘snorkel’ structure of the hood was also a particular challenge and went through at least four versions until I was satisfied. Again, Jayne’s kindness, patience and skill resulted in a convincing reproduction that as part of the completed costumes created exactly the right effect to maximise the impact of the Jawas’ glowing eyes. Finding a suitable fabric for the robes and hoods would be central to the success of the project, and
vast amounts of conflicting data existed on the type of material that should be used. A visit to a fantastic fabric/craft supplier called Fabworks, located in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire provided a large remnant of a synthetic, heavy-weave fabric in a deep copper colour which, once made-up into the garments, was dyed to make an effective match to the original costumes (Image 1). Additionally, a piece of mottled tan vinyl was also found to make the remaining leather surcoat I wanted for one of the characters (Image 2). Finding a dye capable of colouring this heavy synthetic fabric was challenging but a product called Jacquard Acid Dye (Chestnut ) did an excellent job. The items were simply soaked for an hour in 30 grams of the powdered dye which was dissolved in 9 litres of hot water. At the end of this process, the garments were put through a washing machine to remove any excess dye, which had the added benefit of creating a more realistic fraying to the hems and cuffs of the robes. Once properly dry, brown and beige auto sprays were used to weather the costumes to create an authentic desert-dwellers look (Image 3).
Although the mannequins I had purchased were correct in terms of height, their structure would clearly have to be modified in order to make them function and take on the appearance of realistic Jawas. In the film, dwarves were the principle performers used (although children played secondary characters), and the proportions of their bodies are clearly distinguishable in the scene where C-3PO and R2-D2 are sold to the Lars family. The first task was to remove the hands of each mannequin and replace them with adult-sized versions. As luck would have it, I was asked to deliver a demonstration of alginate mould-making to a group of adult students around this time, and was able to enlist a volunteer who allowed me to use her perfectly sized hands as the subject of the exercise. I instructed her to pose her fingers in an open ‘gripping’ fashion and from these moulds produced solid resin casts (Image 4). By detaching the thumbs of each casting, inserting a brass wire core and reattaching them, I was able to create enough articulation for the hands to grip. The second task was to articulate each arm, which was achieved by separating forearm and
upper-arm and inserting simple elbow joints produced from scraps of hardwood pivoted with M8 bolts and wing nuts. These elbows were fastened to plywood plugs shaped to fit inside the hollow arms of the mannequins and were then attached with screws to lock them in place. Two pairs of small black gloves were purchased from a fancy-dress shop and 120mm wide strips of black fake-fur were sewn into cuffs to create the mangy looking hands and hairy arms that offer the only clue to the true appearance of the Jawas. These were then weathered with the same beige auto spray used on the costumes (Image 5). Finally, two pairs of child’s boots were used as the basis of the bindings used by the Jawas to protect their feet. Strips of hessian were attached to the boots using spray adhesive (lethal stuff!), and again weathered as described above (Image 6). The final task on the mannequins was to enlarge their heads and create the amber, glowing eyes that are the principle characteristic of the Jawas. Here I was fortunate in having a mould for a helmet from a previous project. The top of this mould was the perfect shape to create a broad face-mask that would not only increase the size of the head of
each mannequin, but also allow the installation of lights for the eyes. Using fibreglass, two facemasks were produced and trimmed. Pairs of 20mm diameter clear acrylic tubes, each 40mm long, were mounted into holes drilled into the masks and fixed into position with two-pack filler. The positioning of the eyes in the masks was critical to the overall effect as the performers in the original costumes wore the lights beneath their eyes at the level of their cheeks, adding to the notion that these were alien creatures and not just small people in hoods and robes. The mask assemblies were then primed and painted in matt black. When dry, each tubular eye socket was capped with an elliptical dome of fluorescent orange acrylic. Pairs of MES 6 Volt bulbs were wired together with a simple switch and battery pack and sealed into the tubes from inside each mask to provide the glowing eye effect required (Image 7). The masks were then fitted over the heads of the mannequins and fastened into position with screws. Black Lycra hoods with matching eye holes cut in the reverse were then put on each head to make the faces completely featureless.
In another example of creating an authentic feel to the production design of the original trilogy, real weapons were used as the basis of the hardware seen on screen, with Han Solo’s blaster and the rifles used by the Imperial Stormtroopers being prime examples. Although the Jawas are seen to possess a variety of Ion weapons, the most prominent is the one used to attack R2-D2, and is based on a truncated version of the Lee-Enfield .303 rifle. This was produced in two stages: first the wooden stock, followed by the breach, bolt, barrel/muzzle, trigger and magazine. Finding scale drawings of the .303 proved simple as a vast amount of information existed on the internet. A template for the stock was quickly produced in softwood which, after an hour of shaping using a disc and spindle sander, was sculpted into a realistic facsimile (Image 8). Cavities to accept the breach, trigger and magazine were chiselled out and the stock was then sanded and stained with watered-down acrylic paint
followed by several coats of satin acrylic varnish. Abrasive papers were then used to achieve a suitably worn out appearance (Image 9). The breach, bolt, barrel and trigger assembly was produced from 3mm acrylic sheet, 20mm diameter tube and 15mm diameter rod, with the large muzzle of the blaster a combination of MDF and 65mm diameter ABS tubing, the addition of a 20mm diameter wooden bead providing the knob at the end of the bolt. The magazine was produced from a block of 18mm MDF that was profiled, sanded and sealed (Image 10). All these components then received a coat of grey primer followed by matt black (Image 11) and were fitted into the stock. The blaster was completed by dry brushing silver acrylic paint onto the ‘metal’ components to create the appearance of extensive use, and a hole was drilled into the base of the stock to receive the connecting cable
from the power-pack (Image 12). Leather-effect vinyl was used to produce a custom holster/bandolier with the seams pierced and tied together with lengths of leather thong. Brown shoe polish was applied to the surface and the holster was then weathered with abrasive paper (Image 13). The strange bronze power-pack attached to this blaster was produced from a block of 25mm thick softwood, measuring 170mm x 100mm. Once profiled and sanded, the circular designs were carved into the surface (Image 14) and red primer was stippled onto the entire surface to create texture as well as prepare for a top coat of gold auto paint (Image 15). A connector made from 10mm diameter ABS tubing and acrylic sheet was added, and the completed assembly ‘distressed’ with brown acrylic paint which was worked into the surface detail. A thin brown leather belt was later fastened to the power-pack with two brass wire rings to create a carrying strap (Image 16). The second blaster was not, to my knowledge, derived from a real weapon design and I found its
rather comical, cobbled together appearance wholly in keeping with the make do and mend mentality of the Jawas. As well as using the same materials employed to construct the first blaster: MDF , softwood, ABS and acrylic tubing, etc, a certain amount of inventiveness was required in order to find components to complete this prop. This extended to the use of a hanger taken from the top of a broom handle, a conical flower holder used for graves – which I hasten to add was purchased from eBay and not stolen – and the textured lid from a piece of Tupperware (Image 17). A few model parts were also used to provide controls and other surface details, and the completed gun was again stippled with red primer (Image 18) prior to a coat of matt black (Image 19). Gold and bronze acrylic paints were then applied to create the effects of rust, heat and general wear and tear (Image 20). The final piece of equipment that had to be scratchbuilt was the droid caller device used to subdue R2-D2 when he is rejected by Owen Lars at the droid sale, and later by Luke Skywalker to find C-3PO following R2’s escape. Again, the original prop was a real device called a Kobold Flash Unit which was effectively a handle in which a flash bulb was mounted backed with an old fashioned circular reflector. This prop was simply produced from lengths of 32mm and 40mm diameter ABS tube and detailed with a rectangle of acrylic sheet and strips of 1.5mm corrugated plastic sheet, to represent the knurled edges. Cut down pen lids were used to represent the buttons and other controls, and the whole assembly was primed and sprayed silver. A strip of
black tape was used to complete the surface detailing and, to finish, the piece was capped with a 25mm clear elliptical dome (Image 21). All that remained in terms of the accessories needed to complete the two Jawas was the purchase of the pouches and bandoliers that feature so prominently in the costumes. Research identified that a British 1903 Pattern Leather Cavalry Bandolier and a German Army K98 Rifle Triple Ammo Pouch were the most prominent accessories used in the original costumes, and an eBay search revealed some affordable replicas along with some undefined individual pouches which I added to the holster described above. Upon arrival, these were adapted to the Jawas and, following the customary ‘distressing’ of the new leather, they effectively completed the project (Image 22). I’d like to conclude by thanking my sister Sarah for inspiring me to take on this subject, as well as my friend and neighbour Eamonn McCarron for his invaluable assistance in producing the location shots of the completed Jawas. Not only did he suggest the location (Ilkley Moor, UK), but kindly provided transport and acted as a much needed ‘bearer’ and PR man, keeping at bay the curious hikers we attracted. It was Eamonn’s success in convincing onlookers that something far more important was going on that allowed me to complete the photographs undisturbed. Whether anyone now thinks that parts of Star Wars Episode VII are being filmed in West Yorkshire remains to be seen! I hope you have found this article informative and that you may be encouraged to have a go at making your own Jawas.
TIEmes Two: 2 Next in our back-to-back TIE-fest:
Nice-N Model Designs Studio Scale Imperial TIE Fighter resin kit Steve Neisen
EVER DREAM OF SNEAKING INTO THE LUCASF ILM ARCHIVES and snatching your favourite filming miniature? Nope… me either! LOL. Well, we’ve good news for you if you have and it may save you from serious jail time! I decided that, through my company, Nice-N Model Designs, I’d work to create some of the most accurate Star Wars studio scale models available. I knew that in order to do this I’d need to assemble a highly talented team of studio scale model makers to research and produce the kits, my hope being to create replicas that would look like they came right out of the movies.
I’d like to focus on our Imperial TIE Fighter studio model build in this article. The workhorse of the Empire, the TIE was originally sketched by George Lucas, and Colin Cantwell built the prototype which highlighted the hexagonal wings and centre ball configuration. ILM superstar Joe Johnston then refined the design and ILM model maker legend Lorne Peterson and others built the iconic miniature. Did you know the roar of the TIE Fighter sound effect was created by Ben Burt? He stated that he used a ‘mix of an elephant and a car driving on wet pavement.’ Thus the New Hope TIE Fighter was born, with details between
Top row: plan view of cockpit well. Cockpit interior components. Above: cockpit front bulkhead. Ball centre front detail pieces. Virtual Koolshade . Below: wing construction using the Virtual Koolshade . Below right and opposite top: wing star central detailing.
Above centre: close-up of detailing to one of the wing spars. Above: the two halves of the central ball. Above left: central armature rests in the bottom half of the ball with the cockpit well and front bulkhead in situ. Inset left: cockpit ceiling detail plate prior to fitting in top half of ball.
movies changed very little. The wing trim design changed a bit for Empire but overall the ship remained much the same throughout the Trilogy. Of course, readers will know that studio scale refers to the
actual size at which the model makers made the miniature(s) for film. The TIE Fighter is 1/24 scale, with the model makers using a 1/24 scale pilot figure in the cockpit, and the Fighter measuring 38cm x 43cm x 36cm. In 1995 we began researching the TIE Fighter studio model. A gentleman by the name of Doug Maio inspired me to research and find the correct kit parts ILM used to build the original filming miniature. Doug, already an established
‘kitbasher’ and kit part finder, encouraged me to find the parts. Like a Sith Lord to his Apprentice: ‘You must find the parts...’ This meant I had to study all available reference and try to recognize a shape of a part and start buying off the shelf model kits until that part was located. After several months or so of hunting kit parts IDs were made and parts found. Doug provided clues and actual part information for the TIE Fighter throughout this process. Hundreds of hours and thousands of
dollars later the TIE Fighter kit part information list began to come together. Realising I couldn’t do it alone, I added master kit collector and part finder Dan Loes to team NMD and he found parts I had only dreamed of finding. Once the majority of the parts were located it was possible to start laying out the correct size for the pattern. On fi nal count there are fifty-one vintage off the shelf kits used on the TIE Fighter miniature, including the Tamiya 1/35 M10 and 1/12 Matra, and Revell
1/32 F4J , all of these kits released before 1976, and with over half of them currently out of production. This means it’s super expensive and hard to find all the parts needed for a TIE Fighter replica, and why we are so pleased to be able to replicate all those pieces in resin. Next, model maker John Curilla and myself began construction of the studio scale TIE pattern. John perfectly matched the cockpit ball whilst I concentrated on the wing detail clusters. Three editions of the kit have been developed over the
assisted Nice-N Model Designs in developing our highly accurate TIE Fighter kit.
Centre Ball and Wing Supports After taking measurements of the actual studio TIE Fighter John Curilla created the upper and lower hulls to match the ILM pattern. The top hatch, front cockpit grill, cockpit and rear engine assembly all had kit bashed details that needed to be located prior to assembly. If you scratchbuild the hatch or whatever part before you get the
Opposite top: rear bulkhead added to cockpit area. Armature sheathed with wing support casing. Opposite centre: Top hatch detail. Rear plate, top hatch and underside plate. Opposite bottom: Front and rear views of test fit (ball section). Above left: Additional detailing to ball section. Above right: test fitting top hatch. Left: near completed ball and wing arm sections.
past ten years but today the definitive version has been completed. In 2012, after he’d seen the work we’d done on the TIE Fighter, I was contacted by Bryan Ono of EFX Collectibles and brought on board their EFX team to develop and assist in the release of the official licensed EXF TIE Fighter collectible. Now sold out, this was the most accurate production ‘ready to display’ Star Wars studio model to date. Having this access to better TIE reference also
actual detail kit part, you run the risk that it may not fit or the kit part may swim if your scratchbuilt part is too large. This attention to detail continued with the wing supports. John is one of the best scratchbuilders around – his skills are at master level and things he can do with styrene strip and sheet are actually remarkable. ...He’s a human 3D printing machine! As far as kit part identification goes one of the details found on the TIE ball was discovered to be
Top left: the TIE features decals that have only recently been spotlighted on the internet. Top right: completed front view showing guns (LEDs) in place. Above: completed rear view. Above right and opposite top: outer and inner wing detailing.
a 1976 5mm LED holder. This was mounted on a piece of tubing and an LED had been fitted, these two components comprising the main gun for the TIE Fighter. The lights flashed during filming giving rotoscopers a guide when scoping in laser bursts.
Armature Several incarnations of the backbone support of the TIE went through several changes over the years. The current and final armature is a five-part milled aluminium piece that is exact in design to its movie counterpart. The armature was designed by Alan Hanson and machined by Robert Bosnjak. Wing Stars The wing stars, like all other parts, went through several incarnations during the ten-year development of the studio model kit. As new reference surfaced changes had to be made. NiceN Model Designs enlisted the help of 3D artist Mike Reis in drawing the basic wing star shape in
CAD. Using exact measurements taken from the filming miniature, Mike drew a wing star shape that was to be the final version. John began adding the wing star details, which are super-clustered on the wing hub, giving it a very mechanical look. The wing is exact in overall size, shape and kit part detail and we are very happy with its accuracy. Even the Sith Lord himself (Doug Maio) would be proud. To finish out the wing, the modeller needs to hunt down material called Koolshade. This way of building wing stars is called the Hero version. It’s as seen in the movie and how ILM made the original filming miniatures. Koolshade is a louvred brass screen material used as a sun shade on windows. In the mid ’90s we thought we had located the correct material only to find that the current product is 17 louvres per inch. The vintage material is 21 louvres per inch. Apparently a hurricane in the Caribbean destroyed the machine that made the 21-per-inch stuff. A few collectors
have secured small stores of the vintage accurate Koolshade so it still can be purchased. Once you have the material you will need to cut the panels out of it per reference. The kit includes templates to make cutting easier. ...Can’t find vintage Koolshade? No problem. We developed a Virtual Koolshade 3D printed screen, which can be moulded and cast and used as a substitute for the real material. Once painted it is very convincing as the real thing. The customer chooses the option of Hero (no screen provided) or Virtual Koolshade which can be provided with the kit. Once the screen is cut out, a small piece of black photo film is cut to shape and sandwiched between the two wing stars. The wing is then trimmed with ¼" ABS I-beam to lock the wing halves together, exactly the way ILM did in 1976.
Painting and Decals Only recently did reference photos show up which reveal that there were many decals on the TIE Fighter. These were taken from off the shelf kits and cut up and used in many locations on the miniature. For example, there is a Goodyear cut decal on the top hatch as well as ammo box stenciling. The ILM TIE Fighters were painted Pactra Sea Blue, which is now out of production. During the EFX TIE’s development paint samples were taken directly off of former ILM great Richard Edlund’s personal TIE. A custom mix of blues and greys make up the base colour. Some TIE fans swear by straight from the can Rustoleum Slate Blue . The TIE Fighter is lightly weathered and well maintained by the Empire. The TIE doesn’t seem to survive many battles either, so I guess battle damage equals destroyed. I guess that’s why the Empire has so many of them. Professional model builder and painter Jason Eaton provided pictures of his build and paint of the Nice-N Model Designs TIE Fighter kit. Jason displayed our TIE kit at Wonderfest 2013 and ILM great Lorne Peterson gave it raving reviews! It doesn’t get much better than that. The Nice-N Model Design Studio Scale TIE Fighter kit is moulded in Smooth On 300 RTV and cast in high quality Smooth-On 310 resin. This is a slower set resin which allows the larger parts to be pressure cast in one of Nice-N Model Designs ’ custom pressure chambers, which provide bubble free castings. All castings are inspected prior to shipment. If you’d like to know more about the Nice-N model Designs TIE Fighter or other studio scale kits please contact via: www.nicenmodeldesigns.com or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nicenmodeldesigns
QUEST FOR ADVENTURE Andy Pearson builds the Dragonfly from Hanna-Barbera’s ambitious animated ’60s’ classic
Manufacturer: Moebius • Materials: Injection moulded off-white polystyrene • Scale: Unknown (but guessed at). MY
SECOND
MOEBIUS
PRE -RELEASE REVIEW TEST-
SHOT OF THE YEAR ARRIVED, TUCKED IN ITS PLASTIC
as I was completing their Colonial Viper Mk II (‘egg’ version) for Volume 36 of this title. That probably means that somebody up there likes me. BAG ,
The fact that this was an even more straightforward build than the aforementioned spacecraft also means that somebody has, at last, realised my skill level as a modeller. Truth to tell, there were only thirteen parts to this kit, including the stand, and it was obvious from the start that this wasn’t going to be the most demanding build of my career. That shouldn’t
detract from the pleasure Jonny Quest fans will have from owning the model. Looking at several internet forums there seems to be a great deal of enthusiasm for this new arrival. Continuing the motif of honesty I must admit to having no knowledge of Mr. Quest’s adventures, other than a vague awareness that they featured in an animated TV series*. I was told, when the kit was delivered, that the aircraft featured a large ‘Q’ logo on the tailplane and, as there were no decals at this stage, that I would need to create that myself. Searching the internet for some background on the model I found a profusion of images, including the box art for the forthcoming kit, and very few
Opposite: The bits from the bag. Fuselage clamped after glueing. Main components assembled prior to primer coat. Pencil enhancement of panel lines. Clear engine detail painted in clear red and inserted. Masking cockpit transparency. Painted cockpit. Cockpit ‘interior’ with figure for test fitting. The pin is to enable insertion during this process.
Above: inserting the completed ‘interior’. The pin now holds a blob of putty that will be removed when the glue within the fuselage has set. Close-up view of cockpit with crew. Opposite: finished model shots.
of those featured the lettering described, whilst the ones that did seemed to be of a different craft, or at least a variation of this one with engine nacelles similar to those housing the Olympus engines on the Concorde supersonic airliner. That left me with an essentially white aircraft constructed from a kit with no fit or other problems and, therefore, not a great deal to talk about – at least in theory. Having primed the basic assembly I began to wonder if there was anything I might do to add to the overall interest of the model, although the design is, in its virgin state, a thing of some elegance. It then occurred to me that some enhancement of panel lines and control surfaces might be a way to go. Now I’m sure readers who build aircraft have a far better understanding of how these should be handled but my thinking was that, as the subject is essentially a drawing (or series of
drawings) I could give it a less than realistic treatment than would normally be the case. Rather than run a pin wash into the panel lines it seemed to me that, as I wasn’t going for subtlety, it might be easier to draw these in, which I did using a Pentel P205 0.5mm mechanical pencil. The only even vaguely labour intensive part of this was the need to sharpen the point of the graphite tip every other panel to keep within the moulded lines. With the enhanced (or desecrated, depending on your point of view) panel lines completed I then airbrushed the entire model with thinned flat white acrylic which knocked back the pencil enhancement somewhat. And that could have been that but for the fact that I had a) some time on my hands and b) one of my ideas. The last part to be fitted, other than the very long and delicate nose probe ( Moebius provide two of these, doubtless to allow for mishaps) was the cockpit transparency. This was masked off the model and, whilst it was drying, I thought that it might be interesting to add some crew and passenger figures. Someone once said that one of the things chaps enjoy about hobbies such as ours is fiddling about (I suspect the speaker may have been female) and the fiddlier the better. I’m guilty as charged. Long, long ago I built a version of the ill-fated Fireflash
from the Thunderbirds pilot episode and added some figures to a diorama created around that model. A short search of the spares box located the balance of these which, it transpired, were Preiser 1:400 scale models and I suppose that gives a clue as to the intended scale of this kit as they looked about right within the cockpit. Having said that, the Dragonfly’s main hatchway is considerably bigger than a figure of that scale would need but I assume this means of ingress would also need to accommodate various items of equipment and that might account for its size. As the fuselage was already closed, including some figures would require a little open model surgery. I cut a small rhomboid shape from plastic card and mounted this on a length of plastic rod which was cut in length to support the rhombus just a few millimetres below the opening on the fuselage. The surface of the rhombus was coloured using a black spirit marker and then three of the 1:400 figures were superglued onto this, the entire assembly then being glued into the fuselage using PVA glue. This choice of adhesive gave me a little time to position the tiny platform and its figures. The fact that these are standing figures (and that two appeared to be ladies with shopping bags) was of no real concern as they are only visible from the shoulders up and the casual viewer would probably be unaware of their presence anyway. As I suggested earlier, anyone who grew up with the Jonny Quest series will probably love this kit as there’s something very special about childhood memories made, if not flesh, then plastic. Now, if someone would only do the same with Dan Dare’s Anastasia. *TO ELUCIDATE A LITTLE, DEAR READERS, I vaguely
remember Jonny Quest from the sixties (I was around nine when it premiered on UK TV). The animated series, produced in 1964-65 by HannaBarbera, was an attempt to move away from the traditional cartoon territory of their phenomenally successful Flintstones series and less-so Jetsons show into the comic-book, action-adventure genre with characters drawn to human proportions. It concerned the adventures of Doctor Benton Quest , son Jonny, adopted son Hadji, (pilot?) Roger ‘Race’ Bannon and Jonny’s cute bulldog pup Bandit . The series was created and designed by legendary comic-book artist Doug Wildey. Ed.
INSIDE PARAGRAFIX
Paul Bodensiek opens the doors of his innovative, kit- and hobby-enhancing photoetch-set company Editor’s note: I’ve long found Paul Bodensiek’s photoetch brass kit enhancement sets intricate and exciting, and have wanted to feature an article with him for some time now, our packed schedules never quite allowing us to tie down time and pages and to lock in an interview for a specific issue. Finally, as is evident below, we were able to co-ordinate our efforts, taking a close look at Paul’s unique contribution to our hobby, and chatting with him about the past, present and future of Paragrafix. His recollections and observations make for fascinating reading... SF&F:
Paul, how did ParaGrafix come about? What can you tell us about your modelling background and how that led you to the idea for the company? Paul Bodensiek:
I’ve been modelling since I was probably seven or eight. My older brothers used to be heavily into modelling in their teen years, building mostly WWII armour and vehicles, so I
got infected with the bug. My earliest builds were, of course, pretty simple, including the Snoopy Sopwith Camel with the motor for the prop and ones like that. I kept going with the hobby even though my brothers drifted away from it… until my mid twenties when I also drifted away from it. In my late thirties, though, I found I really missed it and started doing some more building. Being a pack rat I still had all of my tools and unbuilt kits, so getting going again was simply a matter of restocking the glue and putty supplies. Sometime around 2000 I chanced across Scott ‘Captain Cardboard ’ Alexander and his brilliant kits of 2001: A Space Odyssey subjects. Being my favourite movie I bought a first edition kit of the One Man Space Pod figuring I’d have it done in a month or so… little did I know that my attempts to update the interior ‘a little’ would result in a two year research project, a forum for others to chime in with their research, and a set of plans for a complete replacement of the interior. Since I owned a graphics/web design and engineering consulting company (also called
* That description makes ParaGrafix sound more impressive than it is – since I started the company in 1994 I have been the sole employee and I’ve used one or two rooms in my home as the base of operations.
Above: When Worlds Collide
Ark
built by Iain Costall. Opposite top: Ark girders / bulkheads painted by Iain Costall. Opposite centre: Moebius Flying Sub interior (work
in progress) and detail of painted panel—both from Iain Costall.
ParaGrafix*) I had access to the design software and a printer to create new control panels to go with the interior plans. These I made available to people on the forum who wanted to create their own updated interior. Even though I’d bought GK kits and accessories I never looked at those backlight films as anything more than a hobby that I’d do for fun. It wasn’t until about four or five years later that a chance meeting at a local model show, where a guy saw my panels and said, ‘Hey, with those kind of graphics you could design photoetched parts’ resulted in my designing some photoetched and other parts for his GK company. The result of this collaboration can be seen in Volume 11 of this title along with my first products to sell under the ParaGrafix Modeling Systems name: an interior for the 1/128 scale Flying Sub from Moebius Models (launched at Wonderfest 2008 in
Louisville) and a set for their large Seaview. I then designed some parts to go with Moebius’ offerings for their Lost in Space kits and, after a few months, I thought, ‘Gee, this is going fairly well. I bet in 5 or 6 years I could turn this into a full-time business.’ Around the same time, the economy was heading downhill, especially the construction industry, which was where most of my clients were from. I needed something to pay the mortgage and switching over to doing the scale modelling accessories seemed to be perfect. But, unfortunately there was one more snag… I received a cease and desist letter for the Irwin Allen related kits. That was nearly everything I sold at that point so my shift in focus was shot out the window until, after four months of phone calls and emails, I flew to Los Angeles and was able to obtain a license for the entire body of Irwin All en’s
Above: Moebius Moonbus (work in progress) by Iain Costall. Below: Before and after shots of Moonbus thrusters.
TV work. While I couldn’t do full kits because that is Moebius’ line, I could produce aftermarket accessories for their kits. Back in business, I got working on designing new items, updating my existing ones, and creating new packaging. And because of the investment I’d had to make to get the license I decided I wouldn’t be shy about marketing my products or spending a little extra on packaging. SF&F:
OK – you decide to set up a company. ...Why brass-etch detailing sets rather than the more traditional route of garage kits? Why science fiction and fantasy? Paul:
First off, to answer the ‘why science fiction
and fantasy?’ question – that’s where my interest lay. I’d been reading and watching SF as long as I can remember (including being taken to see 2001 during its first run when I was 6 years old). It’s an area I have a passion for, so it makes the work seem far less like work. Why brass? Well, the basic answer is that it’s what I’d already been doing so it seemed natural to stay doing it. The bigger answer, though, is that there were already plenty of people out there doing GK resin kits, or aftermarket decals, or bases, or accessories in resin and white metal. Other than the occasional piece of photoetch included with one of those, there was very little photoetch being marketed to the sf community like there was for armour and aircraft.
This allowed me to fill a niche that was not being served. In fact, my USA distributor, Stevens International , originally didn’t want to carry my products because their sales people said ‘science fiction builders don’t use brass’.
How did you then go about making modellers aware of your products? How did ParaGrafix expand?
haven’t gotten frustrated with me for not being able to ship a paid order right away and that they always know what’s ready to go. Print and online advertising have helped quite a bit in ensuring that builders know my products are out there.
SF&F:
Below left: 350th. TOS Enterprise
Shuttle Bay by
Steve Jurgens. Below right: 350th. TOS Enterprise
crewmen by Steve Jurgens. Bottom left: Pilgrim Observer
by Iain Costall. Bottom right: Leif Ericson hangar by
Steve Jurgens.
Paul:
As noted earlier, Sci-fi & Fantasy Modeller gave me my first exposure in print form. I was also quite active on many online forums and used them to let people know what was coming out and other news about the company. I keep the ParaGrafix Facebook page up to date and have recently added a Twitter account. Steve CultTVman Iverson, whom I’d known online for several years at that point, was fantastically supportive in helping me launch the business. He has championed me and my products on his site and has always been full of great advice. I can honestly say that without his encouragement there wouldn’t be a ParaGrafix today. Nearly from day one I added an online store that was able to make it easy to maintain and update. That combination helps ensure that people
Can you take us through the creation of a typical set – from research to scaling to deciding which extra details to offer to manufacture to instructions? SF&F:
Paul:
You’re right on the mark that research is job one. When a new kit is announced I begin to pull together reference materials that I’ll need. This is kind of open-ended at first, as I don’t know anything about the kit yet – its strengths, weaknesses, actual size, etc. So I’ll grab everything I can find – books, web images, I’ll make screen captures from DVDs and Blu-rays, pretty much anything I can think of. This research goes on until the day a set goes into production and there’s almost always some new detail or measurement that can be made. Once those materials are collected and I have a kit in hand, it’s time to have fun… oops, I mean start the serious work. (Actually, it is when the fun begins.)
First off I tape together the kit to get an overall impression of it, then I just stare at it, comparing it to my references looking for differences, places where the detail is soft or just can’t be replicated in plastic, items that will be difficult (if not impossible) to mask to prevent light leaks, etc. I try not to restrict myself to what’s practical at this point and just do a lot of blue sky concepts. Later I may find that a detail’s too small to etch or handle, or a replacement plate needs to be shaped into a complicated compound curve, or other objection that means it’s not right for photoetch. Until that time, though, everything’s on the table. With the list in hand, I begin measuring out where the etch will go. This can be done in any one of a myriad number of ways and generally includes a combination of techniques. These include traditional carbon-paper rubbings, measuring with micrometers, creating negative castings so I can access all areas of a part to be measured, etc. I transfer these measurements to my graphics
the acid, temperature, humidity, etc.) you can’t say ‘it will burn sideways exactly X% of the thickness each and every time’, so I’ve had sets that etch perfectly for several runs and then detail is eaten away because I cut things too close so I have to rework the tooling and run it again. That part’s frustrating, but it just comes with the territory. Perfecting the size of the parts requires a lot of trial and error – I use a computer cutting machine to cut prototypes out of card stock for preliminary testing, then out of 0.010" styrene sheets to get the final sizing. Production is done by an outside firm that is able to supply me with finished goods for less than I could do the production for in-house. Since I’m a one-man shop this saves me money and makes it possible to keep up a steady stream of product without having to worry about where I can dispose of spent acid and the other hazardous chemicals. The instructions are a particular favourite for
software and I begin plotting in the details from my reference materials. My education in drafting and engineering really comes in handy at this point. This is where there’s more than a bit of art to go along with the science. There are only three heights to a photoetched part (not etched, etched half-way through, and etched all the way through) so complex curves and thick details can’t be replicated precisely – instead I will often employ a kind of trompe l’oeil effect to imply more detail than is actually included. As the etch burns down through the metal it also burns sideways. This side-burn needs to be taken into account in a design, but because the photoetching process depends on so many factors that vary from run to run (exact concentration of
me. Instructions were one of the first services I offered when I started ParaGrafix and writing/illustrating the instructions to assemble a computer-chip manufacturing machine was my first freelance job. Because while I’m designing parts I think about how I, as a builder, would assemble them, the instructions become purely about the parts and the kit. I don’t have to start from square one and think everything out. Now it’s just a matter of photographing the kit, adding the illustrations of the etched parts, and writing the descriptions. One thing I try to do with each set is add at least one over-the-top item that’s just on the far side of the crazy line. Some examples are the 1/350 scale wheelchair for the When Worlds Collide Space Ark kit, the 1/1400 scale hangar for the Galaxy
Left: TOS Cylon Raider cockpit
louvres. Right: Viper 2 cockpit built by Lou Dalmaso.
Quest Protector, and the HO scale shopping cart I did for a train accessory manufacturer. It doesn’t always work out that something like that gets included, but they help make the design process more fun.
You work closely with many of the main manufacturers with their blessing. How does that work... do they recognise the limitations of IP plastic moulding and welcome a refining detail set? At what point do you become involved with providing detailing for a new IP release ...do the manufacturers contact you? SF&F:
Left: 3-inch triangular straight edge.
Right: pack of ‘hold and place pencils’.
Paul:
I have been lucky enough to…’ or words to that affect are used throughout my answers here, and that’s very true about my relationships with the kit manufacturers. Frank Winspur and Dave Metzner of Moebius Models, Larry Thompson and Scott Willis of Pegasus Hobbies, and Jamie Hood of Round 2 Models have all been very
supportive of my efforts with test shots and/or information about upcoming releases. For most kits I have to initiate (and maintain) the contact with the manufacturers because their attention is on making the kit, not dealing with me and getting me information. (I’ve also done design work for Moebius’ and Polar Lights’ own photoetch sets.) Generally I try to get preliminary information (projected release date, size, scale, etc.) as soon as I learn of a kit – and that usually happens when I read about a kit on a forum or Facebook post just like everyone else. As the release date gets closer I briefly nudge to see how things are going, but always keep it short and sweet as I know that I’m the least of their worries at this point. When possible, they’ll send me a final test shot about two or three months before the kit hits the shelves and
this gives me time to design the set and get it into production. Frank Winspur really helped ensure ParaGrafix’ initial success. With essentially no knowledge of me, he took a chance and supplied me with a copy of the Seaview. He continues this with current kits and I can’t even begin to say what a tremendous help this has been. I’m very grateful for it. As for their motivation, I can’t really speak to it. I think most of it is that they realize that there are things that styrene just can’t reproduce so they’re happy I’m willing to add that little bit extra. That’s a great thing because it could so easily become an ego thing with a manufacturer being offended that I would want to change their kit. SF&F:
Your sets are very thoroughly detailed and researched. How do you arrive at that level of accuracy – do you spend a great deal of your time tracking down obscure photo-reference?
Paul:
Generally more time is spent researching a subject than actually designing a set. Happily as I do more and more research I’m able to go back over previously collected materials instead of having to track down new information. But it always happens that I need a slightly different angle or somewhat better lighting to figure out j ust what, exactly, the shape of the fourth widget from the left is, then it’s off to do more searching. I’ve been lucky enough to become acquainted with some of the most knowledgeable people about a lot of science fiction subjects. That started day one with an online friend saying, ‘you should contact David Merriman about the Seaview submarine’, who then graciously shared a wealth of invaluable reference material. In more recent years I’ve corresponded extensively with Doug
Drexler on many Star Trek projects, Ron Gross about Lost in Space, Gary Kerr on, well, just about everything… the list goes on. People have been unbelievably generous in sharing their knowledge and expertise. I believe that a large part of their willingness to share is that I spent so many years doing just this sort of research for personal pleasure before starting the modelling portion of ParaGrafix.
SF&F: What advice would you give to the modeller who is perhaps a bit reticent to take that next step of adding brass-etch details to their models and a further skill set to their abilities? Paul: Don’t panic. That’s it in a nutshell. In the vast majority of cases the average modeller already has all the skills necessary to work with photoetched parts – cutting parts from the carrier (a fret instead of the sprue but it’s just a difference in name), filing off the leftover tabs, and gluing in place. Really, that’s it. Of course I didn’t believe that when I got started and it took me a while to convince myself that looking at the thin metal incorrectly would not destroy an investment. There are only three things that aren’t already in the average modeller’s repertoire and even they’re not difficult to master – bending, annealing, and soldering, and that’s the order that they should be tried. Bending is really straightforward even without a specialty tool and is the most useful skill to add because it’s prevalent in so many sets. Annealing is also quite straightforward, but because it isn’t required all that often can be left out of the skill set until needed, then it’s pretty quick to master using some odd pieces of fret that are lying around. Soldering is not needed very often at all – in f act most builders will probably never have to solder
etched parts. It’s most useful when doing folded items that assemble into large structural components that need the strength; or boxes or similar items that need the seams to be light-proof, though putty, CA glue, and/or paint can generally handle that.
Top left: Star Trek sets.
Top right: Galactica sets.
Above:
SF&F: What are your favourite subjects personally Star Wars sets. and why ...and what can we expect for the rest of this year from ParaGrafix? Opposite top: Space:1999
Paul: I’ve been a Star Trek and Star Wars fan since day one, probably because they are what I grew up on. Trek was playing every afternoon when I came home from school beginning in sixth or seventh grade and Star Wars premiered the summer before I entered high school. (I won’t say how many ti mes I went to see it that summer on the grounds that it may incriminate me.) Now they continue to appeal to me for very different reasons, though back then it was mostly about the cool spaceships flying around outer space. I love doing interiors and anything that will work with lighting. Both of these come together in
Eagle set.
Opposite bottom: Lost In Space Robot B9 set.
the cockpits I’ve done for the BSG Vipers and other small spacecraft. Two of my favourites along this vein are the sets I did to enhance the TOS Bridge kit. As for what’s coming in 2015, much of that will depend upon what the model manufacturers have up their sleeves. I’m looking forward to Polar Lights’ Galileo from Star Trek, from Moebius ’ Ranger Interstellar, and Pegasus’ MLEV . In addition to add-on sets for those kits, and others, I will be expanding the ParaGrafix line of modelling tools to complement the stainless steel straightedge and a grabbing tool for small parts that are now available. And after that? Well, I don’t like to plan too far ahead. SF&F:
What are your views on how the industry has changed over the years, and do you feel the SF side of model making is evolving and expanding or are we all getting a bit long in the tooth and not being jo in ed by a yo un ge r generation of modellers? Paul:
I’ve only known the industry from an ‘insider’s’ point of view for about the last seven years, so I can’t really speak to the long term changes. One thing I’ve noticed as a builder, though, is how much better the kits are today, and I think this is in all genres, not just science fiction and fantasy kits. Accuracy is vastly better than it used to be and in most cases kits’ fit and finish are light years beyond what they were in my youth.
I’m glad to see more subjects being available beyond just the relatively small number of kits in the ’70s and ’80s that were all of Star Trek and Star Wars, plus the occasional Space: 1999 or The Black Hole kit. One very exciting piece of news is Moebius Models’ announcement of the Ranger kit from Interstellar before the movie has even hit the screens. I know this is only a single data point but I hope that it signals the start of a trend where we’ll get kits when a movie/show premieres rather than several years down the road …if ever. I think the hobby is expanding, but mostly in terms of older people returning to a hobby they enjoyed as kids, bringing an adult sensibility with them. There are some younger modellers out there, but far fewer than in ages past. Make-and-take tables at modelling shows, prepainted and snap-fit kits are important to help bring more kids into the hobby and help it grow. I don’t think it will ever go back to the prevalence it held during the ’60s and ’70s, but one can hope.
Our thanks to Paul for taking time out of a busy schedule to talk to us. Ed.
FUTURE IMPERFECT Iain Costall integrates his Deckard Sedan into a grimy, retro-fitted Bladerunner diorama. Part two of two: expanding and customising Randy Cooper’s resin building kit.
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WITH DECKARD’S SEDAN ALMOST COMPLETE (See part one of Iain’s article in Volume 36. Ed.) IT WAS TIME TO COME UP WITH AN IDEA FOR A BASE. I’d already decided I wanted to place the car in a dirty, future LA street and was casting around for ideas when, in one of those happy coincidences, I saw an online ad for a resin kit from Randy Cooper. Although relatively expensive to import, I figured it was worth it having seen the detail on the castings, so it was duly ordered. A week or so later the kit arrived, and on first
inspection I was not disappointed. Consisting of just six parts, the castings featured crisp detail with virtually no air bubbles and only minor clean up required (1, 2). The kit is based on the entrance to the building opposite Leon’s apartment where Deckard and Gaff conduct a search. The columns are particularly impressive (3), as is the insanely detailed door on the rear wall (4). The kit includes self adhesive stickers to decorate the two large advertising screens but I had something more
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radical in mind... The first thing that struck me was how close the columns were to the rear wall (5). To increase the space on the pavement I installed the wall further back on the base (6), which caused a gap to appear under the door so a styrene extension was fitted beneath it (7, 8). The only flaw in the kit was a taper in the canopy roof ( 10), which I remedied by using styrene strips of various thicknesses then skinning the underside with sheet styrene. At the same time
a number of holes were marked and drilled to allow lights to be fitted in the canopy underside (11, 12), and brass portholes designed for model ships were then used to create the light fittings (13, 14, 15). The large advertising screens in the upper wall were lined with chrome tape and styrene strip was fitted to form a rebate to accept the adverts (16). At this stage some basic colours and washes were added to the main components prior to detail painting and weathering (17, 18). The underside
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of the canopy was first brush painted with a red enamel base then oversprayed with crimson acrylic car paint, which caused a reaction between the paints resulting in a cracked, flaking, weathered appearance. White LEDs were installed in the downlights and the remaining space filled with cheap 5-minute epoxy glue that dries to a milkywhite, giving a very convincing light effect (19, 20, 21, 22, 23). The rear wall was detailed using various paint finishes and some homemade decals. I printed off
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several Japanese posters and newspaper pages and applied them to the walls using PVA glue before weathering them (24, 25, 26, 27) . Fibre optics were then installed in the door and lit via a blue LED (28). While waiting for the paint finishes to dry I set to work creating various detail items to place around the diorama. The newspaper carries the story of the replicant escape and the street signs are printed from an online copy of The Blade Runner Sketchbook (29, 30). An appliance box
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was also constructed and suitably weathered to add to the general rubbish strewn about the street (31, 32, 33) . I fitted banks of white LEDs into the screens and began experimenting with various adverts (34, 35, 36, 37, 38). I also made some miniature garbage bags based on a technique by master diorama builder Satoshi Araki (39, 40) and printed off more Japanese newspapers and added them to the base (41, 42, 43, 44, 45) . With the building approaching completion I felt
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it needed to look more imposing and so decided to add another storey. This was constructed from thick styrene sheet and detailed with various pipes and items from the spares box (46). Pieces of machinery were created using my tried and tested method of decorating a printer cartridge with kit parts (47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52) . More detail was added using plumbing parts to try and capture the retrofitted look of the film set (53, 54, 55, 56) . After a couple of false starts I hit upon the idea
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of using some new flat backlit LED modules to construct a hanging sign. A box section was built and attached to a girder (57, 58, 59, 60) and a hotel graphic was printed onto clear film then added to the sign assembly... the results were very convincing (61, 62). Finally the Sedan was placed in its surroundings and the various wire feeds routed around the rear of the building, where three 9v batteries provide the power for the various lighting elements (63, 64, 65).
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In conclusion, this has been a fairly lengthy project, albeit punctuated by long periods of inactivity. However, I think the finished piece captures the grimy, neon-lit look I was aiming for. As to what’s next... Well, I’ve got several Spinners sitting on the shelf...
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Gary R. Welsh builds Moebius’ new 1/72 Galactica Viper Mk VII and Raider kits ARRIVING AT THE SAME TIME AS THE 1/72ND. V IPER MKII RELEASE FROM MOEBIUS (featured in Vol. 36), I also received test shots of both their new Battlestar Galactica MkVII and Cylon Raider 1/72nd double kits. Again two kits are included in each release, with an undercart up or down option featured on the MkVII only. The Viper comprises twenty-six light tan parts and three clear parts (including a one-piece canopy). The fit is very good, with just a little fi ller required where the upper and lower fuselage halves meet... and this could be simply down to the fact that the samples sent were test shots. Unlike the MkII the cockpit is a three-piece tub affair, with coaming detail and a rear bulkhead, a seat and two-piece pilot figure finishing off the internal details (to me the pilot looks a little small in comparison to the MkII figure). Six parts make up the rear engines and these
should be assembled into a single piece and fitted before the fuselage halves are closed up. As an alternative, however, you can clip them into place once painting is complete – if you remove the location strip and are very, very careful! Construction is rapid and I was able to get the main components together and primed within a couple of hours with no problems. The Raider is actually easier to build than the MkVII . Eleven parts make up this little beauty, with a further two clear parts for the stand. One complaint here is that the model doesn’t match the images that I referred to for finishing, taken from Modelers Miniatures and Magic. These CGI files show the Raider having three engines, whereas Moebius’ kit only features two. However, a little work with a suitably sized drill bit and a small file quickly sorts this out to an acceptable level. A tiny bit of filling here and there (again
Main sprue layout for the Viper MkVII . The detail is excellent and as with the MkII, two complete kits will be included in the box when released. 2: Sprue layout for the Raider . Clever tooling means this kit is incredibly easy to build. Again, two complete kits are included. 3: Construction is quick with undercarriage parts included so the model can be built gear up or down. 4: Underside of the model. Undercart doors can be glued directly into the bays. 5: Main components of the Viper completed ready for priming. Even with a little filling and re-scribing it took very little time to get to this point. 6: The pilot appears to be slightly too small, as illustrated here in a side-by-side shot with the MkII pilot. The MkVII pilot is the one on the right. 7: The completed Raider ready for paint. 8: Prior to painting the third engine is drilled out and filed into shape. 1:
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Both models primed ready for colour. The canopy of the Viper has been masked. 10: The engines have been sprayed grey and silver and the interior grey. Note the canopy that has been sprayed inside with Tamiya Smoke . All that remains is for the pilot’s visor to be picked out in sky blue. 11: Following a coat of grey the model is carefully mottled with a mixture of ye llow ochre and cork. 12: Post-shading brings it all together using a wash mix of black-grey, black-green and black-brown. 13: Additional streaks and scorch marks are added. Grey is applied to the middle of the main damage areas using a brush. 14: Further scratches are created using the bouncing rigger brush technique . 15: Following a desaturation and a bit more shading – using black – the model is sealed and the canopy masking removed. 16: The black recognition strips on the Raider are masked with thin strips of masking tape. 17: French blue-grey is misted over the model as a base coat. Note this is a very thin mix so care must be taken not to scratch it before it has dried and cured. 18: A scribble of violet mix is applied across the model. 19: A second custom mix of rich silver is used to create a shaded panel look. 20: The underside of the model. Although difficult to see, the metallic shading has been applied. 21: Laser and helmet detailing is added using a brush. 9:
probably down to this being a test shot) means that this is a model that can be primed and ready for paint in just a couple of hours. Painting of both subjects could now be carried out. I began with the Viper and its interior. This proceeded in the same way as the previously built MkII with sky grey and a wash mix. The seat was painted brown and the pilot painted and glued in position. The inside of the canopy was sprayed with Tamiya Smoke to impart the tinted look of the CGI images before being glued into
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final position prior to the model being resprayed in matt black. Following an overall coat of grey, misted across the ship so that the black undercoat still showed through in the recesses, a mix of yellow ochre and cork was mottled across the Viper, roughly following my CGI reference. Panel lines were then carefully post-shaded using my regular wash mix. The engines were also sprayed grey before being misted with silver and shaded initially with a wash mix, then with pure black, these being finally clicked into place with a little superglue to hold them in position. Scorch marks, directional streaks and main
damage was blocked out with black, prior to chipping being added in grey using a brush. A final desaturation with the wash mix, followed by a bit of sharpening using black, finished off painting nicely, only leaving a solid coat of Liquitex Matte to be applied and the removal of the canopy masking. With this completed, the model could be popped onto its stand – done. Not wanting to court controversy, but while looking at the CGI files, I noticed that the Raiders are not metallic at all but, rather, a mixture of grey-blues and violets, the metallic sheen being rendered during compositing. What to do? I decided I would try to combine a metallic with the colours as shown in the reference I had to hand... I began by masking off the black stripes on the top of the wings prior to misting a thin coat of grey across the model so that the black really did show through. I then mixed up a violet colour using purple and black brown and this mix was scribbled across the model in an uneven manner. A second mix of rich silver and black-grey was used to carefully shade panels, bringing a sheen to the model. Next, selected panels were picked out with a brush using medium sea grey, lasers and helmet detail being picked out in black-grey.
There then followed several rounds of shading and desaturation passes using my usual weathering mix plus alternating coats of the violet and rich silver mix. The side detail was painted in yellow ochre before being weathered and glued in place. The engines were painted with Humbrol Polished Aluminium, the nozzles then being highlighted with a mixture of copper and black-brown and glued in position. The identification stripes were de-masked and the Cylon symbols carefully painted with blackgreen. After a final shading with thinned black and a misting with violet, rich silver and my weathering mix, the model was sealed with Liquitex Matte , finishing it off nicely. I thoroughly enjoyed assembling and painting these kits and can recommend them to modellers of all skill levels. For the experienced, these represent a satisfying weekend project, as well as forming the basis for a reasonably-sized diorama should one wish to create one. My grateful thanks to Moebius for the review samples.
Review test-shots kindly supplied by Moebius Models. www.moebiusmodels.com
RAISING KANE …AND PUTTING HIM IN THE SPOTLIGHT By Barry Maddin and E. James Small Poor Executive Officer Kane was the very first victim in the entire Alien quadrilogy to die (an agonising and shocking death in the first film, directed by Ridley Scott in 1979), as he was so unfortunate as to unwittingly discover the alien derelict ship’s deadly secret. Thus it seems only fitting that he be immortalised in a brand new model kit from Round 2’s Polar Lights division. The kit captures in great detail Kane’s iconic moments in his environmental protection suit as he kneels to examine the alien embryonic egg containing the facehugger that will be his ultimate doom.
The kit is sure to satisfy the most discriminating figure and small diorama modeller. At 1/9th scale (same scale as the classic MPC Alien figure kit which was also recently re-released by Round 2 ) the model is made mostly of easy-to-work-with solid resin, a material which may seem somewhat daunting to traditional modellers used to working with styrene. However, the fact is the kit is actually easier to build than a standard styrene subject because almost no clean up is necessary, and the parts fit together with little or no puttying or filling needed. The resin parts practically fall together and the material is much easier to work with than vinyl because there is no trimming or guesswork, and unlike styrene kits there are no seams to deal with. Plus, you can use any kind of paint on it including cellulose lacquers, which are normally somewhat harmful to styrene kits, or oilbased artist’s colours or enamels which never dry if you use them on vinyl kits. Additionally, there are clear parts that encourage the installation of lights to add an interesting element to the completed kit. The buildup described in these pages was a joint effort between E. James Small and Barry Maddin. Round 2 hired Jim for the job, but Jim brought Barry into the project because, when it comes to painting figures, Barry is more qualified. The challenging notion of lighting the kit up and photographing it to look as close as possible to an actual scene from the movie was most interesting.
Unique Master
• A bright light in Kane’s flashlight as he lays it on Models razor saw. the ground while he watches in awe as the egg Fig 2: 10mm white opens (3mm warm white LED). LED (shown as
Lighting the Dark E. James Small SINCE
• Two lights (5mm white LEDs) in the spacesuit Fig 1: Helmet light backpack. sliced off with a
ASSEMBLY OF THE MODEL IS SO STRAIGHT-
FORWARD, ALMOST ALL THE WORK
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DID WAS IN
LEDS and wiring that would help to bring the figure to life before turning them over to Barry to paint. I began by planning where the lights would go and studying stills from the original film. I figured that lights would need to be placed as follows: PREPARING THE PARTS TO ACCEPT THE
• A very bright light on top of the helmet (a single, 10mm white LED sanded down) to shine down onto Kane’s face through the visor as well as light up the egg which would ultimately secure his doom. • A light on the back of the helmet (3mm warm white LED) plus a light illuminating the ‘dashboard’ inside the front of the helmet just in front of Kane’s face (3mm warm white LED).
originally provided
In planning the kit, Polar Lights have taken care to provide clear parts where all the lights needed to go. I took full advantage of these excellent features for the build-up.
at top of picture) sanded down to replace the lens in the helmet light. Holes for leads to
First I had to ready the kit to accept the lights and wiring. With the subject being solid resin, a fair amount of drilling and hollowing out of parts was necessary. Fortunately, resin is very workable and machines as well as any material you’ve ever used.
pass through drilled out with a Dremel tool.
Fig 3: Rear helmet LED glued to the back of the clear
Note: when working with LEDs, you must remember that they are polarity sensitive. They don’t work if you hook ’em up backwards. So make sure you pay attention to positive and negative when wiring them up! I concentrated immediately on the top helmet light as I figured that would be the most difficult
kit part and fed through helmet shell. Leads poke through to helmet interior.
Fig 4: Paying careful attention to polarity, LED leads from top and rear lights brought together inside the helmet. They will be soldered to the
thing to modify because of the lack of space available. It turned out to be a lot easier than I had originally thought. The helmet light was sliced off using a razor saw as shown in figure 1. This particular saw, available from John Vojtech’s Unique Master Models (www.umm-usa.com), has a very thin blade with a narrow kerf, so you don’t lose much material.
wires that will pass into the torso. Fig 5: A rasp bit chucked into a Dremel tool
is used
to hollow out the helmet ‘dashboard’ to admit the LED that will be glued inside. Fig 6: The ‘dashboard’ LED is tested.
A Dremel tool was used to drill two holes for the LED leads. A 10mm LED sanded down to fit the lens receptacle as shown in figure 2 would provide the main light source for Kane’s careful observations. I suppose I could have used a smaller 3mm LED as well and just placed it behind the lens part that comes with the kit, but I just liked the idea of using a solid piece for the headlight. Remember, unlike light bulbs, you can sand or machine the LED case (the epoxy shell of an LED) down to whatever shape and size you want as long as you don’t expose or damage the little metal bits inside. And because LEDs emit little to no heat, you don’t have to worry about damaging the plastic parts you glue them to. Once the LED was in place in the headlamp the unit was glued back into place with superglue (or Cyanoacrylate – CA)
after drilling holes through to the helmet interior for the leads. The same was done for the light on the rear of the helmet (figure 3 ). After test-fitting, some material had to be removed from the back of the clear insert part and glued to the sanded-off lens of the LED itself. Paying strict attention to LED polarity, the leads from both helmet lights were bent into place on the inside of the helmet back (figure 4). As this area would ultimately be painted black and Kane’s head would block it from view, I didn’t bother disguising the leads any further. Next, the ‘dashboard’ for the helmet was prepared. The solid part had to be hollowed out on the back to accept the 3mm LED that would make the tiny lights illuminate (figure 5). The LED was also sanded down a bit to help it fit and then it was tested (figure 6). When I was satisfied with the fit, the parts were glued in place. Next, wires were soldered to the LED leads at the back of the helmet and to the front ‘dashboard’ light. The lighting for the backpack was prepared in a similar way by drilling receptacles into the resin
Fig 7: LEDs are buried into drilled holes on the back of the clear parts, then fitted to the backpack after holes were drilled to admit the leads. Fig 8: LED leads are bent over and the wiring is soldered to
and passing the LED leads through and bringing them together and soldering wires in place. The LEDs were buried by drilling holes into the clear parts and gluing them inside (figures 7 and 8 ).
them. Fig 9:
Kane ’s
back is bored out using a
Dremel tool
and a
ball-shaped cutter to make room for wiring. Fig 10: Holes are drilled out through the left leg and torso to admit wiring. Bamboo skewers are put in place to show the path of the drill. Fig 11: A plywood riser is made for the base to allow room for the battery box to be hidden underneath. A piece of styrene sheet is put in place to mount the switch. Fig 12: The resin base is glued down to the plywood riser. Hole for the switch is visible on the side. Fig 13: Holes are also drilled so the figure can be screwed down to the base from underneath. Fig 14: The battery box is roughened up on the joining surface and glued to the underside of the resin base using a hot melt glue gun. Fig 15: Parts temporarily assembled to test that the passageways for the wiring are clear of obstructions. Fig 16: Here you can see the holes drilled through the torso to admit the wiring from the helmet.
Next, the torso, where all the wiring would come together, had to be hollowed out and holes drilled through to admit wiring to the helmet and backpack. I used a Dremel tool with a ball-shaped rasp bit to remove the material, much the way a dentist would drill out the cavity in a tooth. Knowing that the backpack would cover this work, I was able to remove a lot of material. Constant test-fitting of the backpack helped guide just how far to go (figure 9). I wanted to open it up as much as possible so there’d be plenty of room to stuff the wiring into place when t he model was all ready for final assembly. Holes also had to be drilled through Kane’s right leg from his knee through his hip ( figure 10) to admit the wiring from under the diorama base where the power supply would be hiding. Bamboo skewers were put in place for these pictures to show the path of the drilled holes.
Fig 17, 18: Testing the clearance of the wiring from the helmet to pass through the torso.
Next was the problem of where to put the power supply. LEDs use very little energy, so power was
mounted with small screws ready for final wiring after the model was painted.
Fig 19: The lights are tested. Fig 20: Block
Main parts (legs and torso) were then test-fitted to make sure all holes were cleared to admit wiring from the base and through the model (shown with bamboo skewer in figure 15). Finally, in this phase of the model, holes were drilled in the upper torso to admit the wiring and leads coming out of the helmet as shown in figure 16. Wires were soldered to the helmet leads which were fed through the torso ( figures 17 and 18 ) and the unit was tested to make sure all the lights worked (figure 19). The 3mm warm white LED was also placed into the flashlight using the same methods as previously, with the leads going through holes in the floor underneath it. I would have liked to use a much larger LED, such as the 10mm size as used in the helmet, but the design of the flashlight, with insufficient depth behind the lens, made that impossible. At this point the model was turned over to Barry for painting. After he finished his paint work, the model was finally assembled by Barry and myself, the wiring soldered together as shown in the block diagram (figure 20).
to be from two simple AA batteries (3 volts) placed under the base. But the base is flat on the bottom, so a surround had to be made from plywood that would provide the room necessary underneath to hide the battery pack and switch as well as allow wiring to reach Kane’s flashlight placed on the ground. The shape, made by tracing the base onto the plywood, was cut with a bandsaw, sanded down and sprayed with Krylon Natural Stone textured paint to hide the grain of the wood. A slot was also provided for the switch which would be screwed to a piece of styrene sheet glued in place (figure 11). The base was then glued to the plywood using CA (figure 12). Next, holes were drilled in the base (figure 13) to admit the wiring as well as some screw holes. Rather than glue the figure to the base I used screws mounting his leg and foot so that Kane could be removed from the base for painting or future repairs if needed. The back surface of the plastic battery box was scored with a knife to provide ‘bite’ and was glued to the bottom of the base (figure 14) using hot melt glue and the switch
The finished model was then set up for photography with a hastily built extended set floor made using painted tin foil and (new!) kitty litter to extend the ground work, shot with time exposures while a fog machine provided an atmospheric mood. The ‘hero’ pictures shown in this article, as well as the publicity and box art you will see regarding this kit, are a result of that photo session. To be honest I personally prefer building spaceships and other mechanical things to figures, but I have to admit this particular kit has a special appeal to me because it lends itself to such versatility of display and photography. Because of the subject, the style and the unprecedented and very thoughtful pre-planning for lighting, which is almost unheard of with resin kits, this was the first figure kit I’ve ever worked on that really fulfilled most of my interests in modelling. Please note: I’ve been told that the production kit will include injected styrene for the helmet faceplate clear parts, as the resin ones used for the test shots were less than satisfactory.
diagram of the wiring throughout the model.
1. Body parts washed. 2. Body parts primed. 3. Body base painted. 4. Shoulder plates painted and weathered. 5. Body finished. 6. Legs base painted.
Painting the model… in detail! Barry Maddin GIVEN THE EXCELLENT FI T, AND TO MAKE THINGS EASIER, I DECIDED TO PAINT THE INDIVIDUAL KIT PARTS BEFORE ASSEMBLY . Jim had already hollowed out areas and had installed working lights, taking full advantage of the clear parts. Reference provided a starting point for painting the kit, with lots of screen shots and pictures of the Kane suit. I then selected the colours I would use and planned the painting sequence. I first washed the parts with warm water, Ivory hand soap and an old toothbrush (Photo 1). Using Humbrol Masking Fluid and Tamiya tape I masked off the areas where glue would be used and then primed the body parts with Krylon White Primer (Photo 2). The main spacesuit colour is a dark yellow, so I airbrushed Tamiya XF-70 over all the body parts. Starting with the body I hand-painted the chest plates with Humbrol 171 Antique Bronze (Photo 3), the shoulder pads with Panzer Aces 340 Highlight Afrika Korps , and the straps Panzer
Aces 345 Splinter Camouflage , with the shoulder pad ties Vallejo 993 White Gray . The belly pack belt was then painted Vallejo 875 Beige Brown and I weathered the chest plates with an application of Decoart Acrylic Paint Bayberry Green (Photo 4). I then applied the Kane nameplate decal over a coat of Future clear acrylic and sealed it with a second coat before applying a wash of Decoart Acrylic Black over the entire body. When dry I dry-brushed Humbrol 55 Bronze over the weathered chest plates to accent them (Photo 5). The legs were next (Photo 6) and I painted the pistol belt with Vallejo 875 Beige Brown and the holster and boots Vallejo 950 Black . The leg bands were given a coat of Vallejo 824 German Camouflage Orange Ochre with the border bands and strings painted Panzer Aces 340 Highlight Afrika Korps. I then painted what I call the compression straps Panzer Aces 345 Splinter Camouflage Base and all the belt buckles Vallejo 884 Stone Gray. I chose Crafters Acrylic Light
Antique White for the knee pads and Panzer Aces 340 Highlight Afrika Korps for the pad straps (Photo 7). The trim around the knee pads was then painted Vallejo 929 Light Brown and the rib around the boot Vallejo 953 Flat Yellow, with the boot straps Vallejo 862 Black Gray . The back pocket decal was applied over a coat of Future clear acrylic and sealed with a second coat. The leg assembly was then given a wash of Decoart Black (Photo 8).
I then tackled the arms and painted the shoulder armour and arm controls Humbrol 171 Antique Bronze (Photo 9). The arm control bands were given a coat of Vallejo 862 Black Gray and I drybrushed them with Humbrol Antique Bronze. The upper arm bands were painted Vallejo 824 German Camouflage Orange Ochre with the lower bands done in Vallejo 953 Flat Yellow . I decided on Panzer Aces 340 Highlight Afrika Korps for the border of the bands and strings. Like the legs, the elbow pads were painted with
7-8. Legs painted & finished. 9. Arms base painted. 10. Right arm finished pre- weathering. 11. Left arm finished pre-weathering. 12. Head primed. 13-14. Face base coated, highlighted & washed. 15. Finished. 16. Head finished. 17. Egg . 18. Egg
19. Egg opening dry brushed. 20. Egg completed before interior wash.21. Egg interior washed. 22. Egg finished. 23. Embryo washed. 24. Embryo primed. 25. Embryo soft tissue painted. 26. Embryo soft tissue dry brushed.
Crafters Acrylic Light Antique White and the middle part of the arm was finished in Crafters Acrylic Antique White . I then weathering the shoulder armour with Decoart Acrylic Paint Bayberry Green and dry-brushed it with Humbrol 55 Bronze. Next, I dry-brushed the gloves Panzer Aces 345 Splinted Camouflage Base and coloured the lights on the arm controls ( Photos 10 and 11). Finally, the arms were given a wash with the Decoart Black.
The head was glued onto a small wood block to facilitate handling and primed with Krylon White (Photo 12). I then applied several thinned coats of Vallejo 815 Basic Skin to the face. This was followed with a careful application of Vallejo 928 Light Flesh on the highlights of the face ( Photo 13). A light wash of Vallejo 941 Burnt Umbe r added depth to the facial features ( Photo 14). I painted the whites of the eye with Vallejo 933 White Gray and carefully avoided the crossed eye effect, adding irises with Vallejo 872 Chocolate
Brown. I then coated the lips with Vallejo 817 Scarlet and applied a drop of scarlet into the tear duct area of the eyes. The upper and lower eyelids were traced in Vallejo 846 Mahogany Brown and the eyes coated with Future to give them a wet look (Photo 15). The skull cap was painted Vallejo 880 Khaki Gray and dry-brushed with Vallejo 988 Khaki. The headphones were finished in Vallejo 950 Black and dry-brushed Vallejo 862 Black Gray with the chin strap done in Vallejo 988 Khaki and the skull cap snaps picked out with Vallejo 864 Natural Steel . The cap liner was painted Vallejo 976 Buff (Photo 16).
appearance so I painted the top quarter of it with Vallejo 886 Green Gray and applied the same colour as a wash for the bottom 3/4s. I then drybrushed the egg with Vallejo Stone Gray followed by a light dry-brushing of Decoart Acrylic Westport Gray, allowing some light to pass through the egg and the embryo inside to be visible in shadow. Going back to the fleshy part of the egg I picked out the veins in Vallejo 993 White Gray (Photo 20) and applied several heavy washes of Vallejo 815 Basic Skin Tone until the desired colour was reached ( Photo 21). Several coats of Future were applied to achieve a wet look ( Photo 22).
28. Backpack lights masked off. 29. Backpack primed. 30. Backpack base coated. 31. Backpack finished. 32. Belly pack washed. 33. Belly pack primed. 34. Belly pack base coated. 35. Belly pack completed. 36. Helmet lights masked off.
The alien egg is a transparent part in the kit and we wanted to retain some aspect of the transparency (Photo 17). The fleshy top part of the egg looked like... well... as Jim describes it... a raw chicken colour. I first painted the area with Panzer Aces 307 Red Taillight (Photo 18) and dry-brushed it with Vallejo 817 Scarlet (Photo 19). Looking at all the reference pictures and screen shots I thought the egg ’s outer surface had an organic gray
The embryo consists of a facehugger attached to a mass of soft and armoured tissue. I mounted the embryo (Photo 23) and primed it with Krylon Gray (Photo 24). I painted the soft tissue Panzer Aces 307 Red T aillight (Photo 25) and dry-brushed it with Vallejo 817 Scarlet (Photo 26). The veins were picked out with V 993 White Gray. I then tackled the armour tissue with Vallejo 822 Black Brown , Vallejo 862 Black Gray and Vallejo 861 Glossy
37. Helmet base painted. 38. Helmet finished. 39. Weapon washed. 40. Weapon primed.
Black, which I dry brushed with Vallejo 864 Natural Steel . I coated the embryo with Future to give it a wet look. The facehugger was then brought to life with Vallejo 843 Cork Brown and dry-brushed with Vallejo 976 Buff (Photo 27).
41. Weapon base coated. 42. Weapon finished. 43. Torch primed. 44. Torch base coated.
I masked off the lights on the backpack ( Photo 28) then primed it with Krylon Gray (Photo 29) and overcoated it in Humbrol 171 Antique Bronze before dry-brushing with Humbrol 55 Bronze (Photo 30). The two knobs were painted Vallejo 957 Flat Red and I then applied the decals. For the lights I used Tamiya clear colours and then Decoart Acrylic Bayberry Green to age the bronze to match the reference pictures ( Photo 31). The belly pack (Photo 32) was treated the same with gray primer ( Photo 33), paint and a dry-brushing of bronze (Photo 34). The two handles were finished in Vallejo 950 Black and the belly pack weathered with the Bayberry Green (Photo 35). The lights in the helmet were masked off (Photo 36) and it was primed with Krylon Flat Black
inside and out. The lights were powered to ensure there was no light leakage and additional black was applied to seal any leaks. Humbrol 171 Antique Bronze was chosen for the helmet which was subsequently dry-brushed with Humbrol 55 Bronze (Photo 37). With the mask removed the lights and buttons on the helmet were coloured as per the reference pictures and the helmet weathered with Decoart Bayberry Green (Photo 38). The paint treatment for the pads located at the base of the helmet was Panzer Aces 340 Highlight Afrika Korps washed with Decoart Acrylic Black . The weapon (Photo 39) was primed Krylon Gray (Photo 40) and painted Vallejo 861 Glossy Black with the pistol grip done in Vallejo 950 Black. The strap was Vallejo 880 Khaki Gray and the bands on the weapon were finished in V allejo 957 Flat Red (Photo 41). The weapon was then dry-brushed with Vallejo 863 Gunmetal Gray (Photo 42). The torch (flashlight) was primed Krylon Gray and painted Vallejo 896 Extra Dark Green . The
lens trim and buttons were treated to a coat of Vallejo 950 Black with Humbrol 33 Gloss White inside of the lens area to better reflect the LED
ABOUT THE AUTHORS Barry Maddin Living in Truro Nova Scotia, Canada
Barry retired from the CF in 2009 after a 37year career as a Navy Stoker, an Army Vehicle Technician, and finally as an Army EME officer. He and his wife moved to Truro NS from Ottawa in 2009, where they built their retirement home, including a hobby workshop, which is strictly off limits to the cats. Barry started building models before he could spell ‘plastic’ and currently builds mostly 1/35 WW II armour and military vehicles, although he does dabble in other areas. He is a member of AMPS and has been a member of IPMS Canada since 2000.
E. James Small Living in Lower Onslow, Nova Scotia, Canada, www.smallartworks.ca
Jim works as a professional model maker building custom projects for the public and model kit companies on demand. Education includes certificates in Electronics, Machine Shop and Draughting acquired in the 1980s and a computer-based multimedia degree including CGI modelling from Mackenzie College in 1997. Interest in model-making was inspired by his father Ed who liked building WW2 aircraft and the model work done for Space:1999 and, of course, Star Wars. Jim also loves his wife Julie, his daughters Florence and Adeline, as well as his three members of the Felis silvestris catus family.
light. The small light on the top was coloured with Tamiya X-27 Clear Red . The base provides mounting points for the figure and egg with tendrils fanning out from the egg mount (Photo 47). The mounting points were masked off and the base primed in Krylon Gray (Photo 48) and painted Decoart Acrylic Storm Cloud Gray (Photo 49). The tendrils were traced out in Vallejo 886 Green Gray and dry-brushed with Decoart Acrylic Westport Gray . The entire base was then given a wash of Decoart Lamp Black. I dry-fitted the figure without the helmet onto the base (Photo 50) to confirm that everything fitted together correctly.
45. Torch painted. 46. Torch lens installed. 47. Base washed. 48. Base primed. 49. Base painted. Opposite: suit painting guides
from box art. Rear Conclusion This was an excellent kit that was a joy to paint, and front box art. light and build. The reference pictures (some of these, at the time of this writing, to be featured on the kit’s box tray) were a must to get the colours and shades right. The scale of the subject makes the detailed painting easy, and with the addition of LED lighting the whole kit comes to life. We would like to express our gratitude to Jamie Hood at Round 2 for being given the opportunity to be the first to finish this ground-breaking kit, which will no doubt be very popular. For more information on LED lighting, you can look for a printable primer and lots of other helpful information posted on the Central Nova Scotia Modelers website which is hosted at www.smallartworks.ca. Just scroll down the SAW main page and look for the CNSM link.
50-53: The completed lit kit.
PROJECT MOBILE Part Four – tackling SHADOwy areas Mike Reccia builds the new Studio 2 kit
At the point at which the final words were being written in conclusion of last issue’s Project Mobile article my Studio 2 studio scale fibreglass resin SHADO Mobile build was looking much more... well... Mobile-y. An interior support frame had been added to the chassis to support the body, the upper and lower body halves were together and filled, the body’s panel strips had been added, the kit detailing on the upper body and cab was in place, and the body and cab had been re-scribed and sprayed in filler/primer and grey primer. For this installment I would need to add ‘headlight’ units, assemble and paint the crew and detail the cabin interior prior to treating my brow to a thorough furrowing in earnest contemplation of two areas that have given Mobile modellers headaches and tantrums for decades. Yes, faithful reader, I was almost ready to venture into the SHADO-wy world of the Mobile ’s rear lower panel and front underside detailing...
Headlights But first I needed to turn my attention to those headlight units. It is thought that early versions of the studio miniatures simply featured a silver
hubcap part from a kit behind the rectangular headlight openings on the lower front of the Mobile, these then being ‘upgraded‘ for scenes in which the vehicles were required to be shown ‘at night’ with their lights switched on via the incorporation of bulb-holders featuring three small bulbs per headlight in a triangular arrangement. Modelling mate Andy Pearson, hallowed Specials Editor and regular teamster of this title, had previously solved an early dimensional puzzle concerning the cab windows for me (see part two of this article), and this time round it would again be he who would come up with a solution to the question of creating convincing miniature headlights via the production, during a recent visit to Reccia Towers, of two tiny keychain torches he had found in a pound shop. The front bulb and reflector sections of these were just the right diameter for use with the Mobile , leaving, when located against the inside of the headlight openings, a little framing triangular gap of clear space at each corner of the headlight casing rectangles, reproducing the look of the original models. OK, so these only featured one bulb per
Below left: two keyring torches, the front sections of which were installed as the headlight units. Below right: headlight units in place with rims painted grey. Bottom left: front console unit from an earlier Mobile build. Bottom right: this was reshaped
headlight rather than three, but this seemed a suitable tradeoff in exchange for perfectly silvered, conical reflector units with glassed fronts. At first I had wondered if I could incorporate each torch into the body as a complete item via the use of a clip or some other fastening device, allowing them to actually function in situ and light up. However, upon test-fitting it quickly became apparent that, if I wished to install complete, working torches, I would need to truncate the driver figures at their lower torso points and remove their legs completely to gain sufficient room in t he lower cab area to accommodate them. I wanted the cabin to feature complete and fairly detailed crew figures, so I elected instead to only use the screw-off front portion of each torch, discarding the battery sections. As the torch bodies were finished in a metallic red paint I carefully primed then painted the rim around each reflector section in silver acrylic with a brush once the torch fronts had been glued in position.
slightly to fit the cab and dressed with fake gem stones and kit bits.
SHADO operatives Studio 2’s Mamas kindly sent me a second driver figure on request as I wanted my Mobile to feature a complement of two personnel as per the original studio miniatures. The drivers are resin castings
taken from a Seaquest DSV Captain Bridger action figure, this being to the same scale as the Tiger Joe tank toy soldiers used in the originals. I wanted to portray one of the men as Mark Bradley in his beige uniform (as seen in Computer Affair), and the other as an operative in a blue SHADO field uniform. To create some differences between the two identical figures l altering the position of the arms on one of them then repositioned the hands by cutting them off at the wrists and gluing them back in place turned through ninety degrees as though they were gripping control levers. Said levers were then fashioned from the cut-down curving pieces of a plastic clip that had originally served as a packaging fastener on a shirt. These were primed, sprayed matt black, and their ‘handle’ areas glued to the insides of the figure’s hands. On the second figure I cut back the hairline, positioning the head to one side as though searching for a UFO through the cab windows, and posed a pair of scratchbuilt SHADO rectangular binoculars in one hand, these being created by wrapping an appropriately-shaped kit bit in thin plasticard then attaching a white plasticard ‘strap’ to the prop, which was
subsequently primed, sprayed in gunmetal and given a contrast front band of sticky-backed silver vinyl and a coat of Citadel Satin Purity Seal . The raised detailing on the boots (lace-up pumps on the Bridger figures) was scalpelled away in both cases and the figures primed then brush-painted, one in beige and the other in blue. A thin strip of silver vinyl created the ‘‘zip’ down the front of each tunic, and further strips served as the zips that run centrally down the fronts of the white SHADO boots. A final addition to the Mark Bradley figure was a communications headset made from lengths of Evergreen rod, bent over the head and around the face and painted silver with a black tip to represent the microphone. Following final painting of faces, hands and uniforms, surplus SHADO badge decals supplied with Studio 2’s studio scale SKY 1 kit were applied to each operative and the completed figures sprayed with Purity Seal . Cab interior
Two seats and upper and lower back wall detaili ng pieces (more of which later) are provided with the kit, but the fleshing out of the interior detailing is
up to the individual modeller. I had previously cut a hole in the cab floor section of the body to accommodate the legs of the figures and needed to ‘dress’ this area as the first step in detailing the interior. I therefore constructed a ‘well’ from plasticard sheet comprising side and back walls supporting a ‘shelf’ that would accommodate the seats and drivers and allow, via the gap at the front of the well, their legs to sit down below the level of the seats and into the lower front area of the main body. I then used a cut-down section of a shallow plastic container to form a central console between the seats, the rear portion of this being glued to the well’s shelf. This was subsequently detailed with kit bits and the well and console assembly was sprayed in grey primer. The seats were then primed, sprayed matt black, and glued in position.
Top left: a ‘well’ to accommodate the seats and central console was created from plasticard and
installed in the hole cut in the front top of the body. Top right: front console in place. Above left and right:
I had retained the resin front console piece from my original Mobile replica (the tracks and chassis from this having been re-used for this build – see part one of this article) and this was slightly cut and filed down to sit in position behind the front windows of the cab section and sprayed with grey primer. Prior to locating this piece, however, it was detailed with kit bits and several Bling adhesive
two views of the completed rear plate prior to priming.
Below left: primed rear plate ready for final painting.
‘fun jewellery gemstones’ to replicate indicator lights. The area behind the central pillar of the front cab windows was also dressed with suitable kit pieces and ‘gemstones’ to represent additional instrumentation and sprayed grey.
Below right:
The two back wall pieces provided represent the converted section that features the twin rows of lozengeCaptain shaped protrusions seen in the live action Mobile Bridger cab set (and also in the Moonmobile cockpit – casts – note working to budget, the same set was used for both binoculars vehicles!) and the area below this, although this and control lower section needed to be discarded and a new, levers. shallower replacement scratchbuilt as the chassis Bottom left: on my Mobile protrudes partially into the area the central spar original, deeper wall piece should occupy. and areas Following priming, the upper wall area was above the sprayed in light grey, then the lozenge shapes windows were dusted in matt white to pick them out without also detailed. making the contrast colour appear too vivid at this Bottom right: scale. It should be noted that some modellers treat supplied this section as the back wall itself, installing it ‘lozenge’ rear vertically behind the drivers. Actually, when wall and looking at the live action set, i t can be seen that the scratchbuilt back wall is covered in consoles and switches, and lower rear that the rows of lozenge-shaped objects sit above wall. this at an angle, sloping from the edge of the back the two
wall forwards towards the backs of the drivers’ heads.
Lower rear panel My first task in creating the profusely detailed rear lower panel was to blank off the back of my Mobile chassis (still open-ended at this stage and revealing the RC gear incorporated into it) with a piece of plasticard . My reference for this shadowy area was then a handful of so-quick-as-to-bealmost-subliminal rear-view shots from the episode Computer Affair , where the Mobiles are trundling through the forest, plus a reference shot of the rear of a Mobile miniature taken at the time by the studio. The basic layout of the kit parts is the same across all three miniatures, although additional details can be glimpsed on certain of the rear plates. Most of the detailing required was provided by Bill Oram’s excellent resin and white metal detailing kit, with certain of the parts being replaced by actual plastic kit parts where I had been able to track them down. It should be noted that the entire rear plate sits away from the actual rear chassis plate at an angle (spaced between chassis rear and plate at its top edge by a bridging
Gemini part and joined at its lower edge to the bottom of the chassis rear plate) and that, when viewed from the side, a clear gap can be seen between the chassis rear and the back of the detailing plate. It should also be noted that, although impossible to see in the brief series footage of the Mobile rear, and also difficult to discern in the rear-view studio reference shot, there exists a ‘skirt’ piece that extends down from the bottom edge of – and from just behind – the rear plate, and which is made from a cut-down section of bridge surface plating part from a Revell M-48 & Scissors Bridge kit (see images). Finally of note is the fact that the large wheel part at the centre
lower left of the rear plate sits vertically against the rear plate, and not at an angle as per the rest of the kit pieces.
Above left: front underside detailing
With everything securely in place the plate was sprayed in grey primer and glued in position. Two tubular details, originally made from the gun shells of the Tiger Joe tank toy that was used as the basis for the track and chassis sections of the studio Mobiles, sit in the gaps to left and right between the rear plate and the tracks on the original miniatures. My Mobile, however, features independently sprung wheels, the axle casings for these making it difficult to add these pieces. I may,
completed according to known parts. Above right: taking a trip with the top down.
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Above: completed
however, attempt an approximation of them in the finishing stages of this build.
cab interior, crew and headlight units.
Front underside detailing This area offers the modeller the least amount of reference in determining what goes where, and which kit bits were used, on the entire Mobile . I have never seen a studio reference shot of the underside of the vehicle and, as not one of the original models has ever come to light post-series – the miniatures presumably having been all but destroyed by the rigours of filming – what actually goes on under the front is subject to a certain amount of personal interpretation. What seems almost certain is that the kit bits that can be seen poking out from the front underside in a studio reference shot were positioned up against a flat plane – either an indented box arrangement beneath the Mobile front or simply an area behind the sloping lower front edges of the vehicle that was at the same plane as the chassis top and did not follow the
curving lower front contours of the body. As the Studio 2 kit’s sloping front edge dimensions continue back as a solid piece to the point where the body underside meets the front edge of the chassis, this flat area has not been reproduced. I therefore removed a section of the central spar that continues under the body on the Studio 2 casting then flattened off an area to the rear of the front underside edge by filing and sanding it down. When the time came to position the front underside kit bits, however, it quickly became apparent that I hadn’t levelled off this area to a sufficient depth. Much of what is known about the underside kit detailing is reproduced in Bill Oram’s kit, so it was now a matter of arranging and offering up these pieces in their correct configurations – and adding a couple more from the Revell M-48 & Scissors Bridge kit to the partially flattened underside area, determining how much of them should be seen when viewing them from the front, then cutting away the top surfaces of the parts to give the
Above: Studio miniature showing front underside kit detailing I have not been able to identify. Anyone out there know what these parts are, please?
impression that they were sitting against a horizontal area under the front of the Mobile once they were glued in place. The Mobile’s lower front details also include some ‘girderwork’ at its outer
Classic kits from
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Large scale: • SHADO mobile • SKY 1 • Skydiver • Stingray • Terror Fish Friendly service with superb after sales support. http://studio2models.webs.com/ email:
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edges, these parts again coming from the ubiquitous Revell M-48 & Scissors Bridge kit, but these cannot be added until the body is in place, as they span and connect the areas between the body and the chassis. I will therefore need to position these once the body has been secured in the final part of this series of articles. With regard to the parts that sit between the detailing seen in the images and the Scissors Bridge detailing mentioned above, I have no clue as to what these are. If any modeller does know (see image of studio original above) I’d be extremely grateful if they could contact me via the website so that I can attempt to track the parts down and fill in the final blanks. And that’s about it for this issue. ...Almost there! I just need to make and add the windows, add the top intake grill, fill any small depressions, prime everything again, and then it’s on to final painting, decalling and weathering... and those are the places we’ll go to next time in the final installment in this series. Until then, keep those eyes peeled for Unidentified Flying Objects, SHADO operatives!
Mobile kit details: studio2models.webs.com Details of the detailing set can be had by emailing:
[email protected]
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