PROCEED WITH CAUTION

 Todays post is a little bitter sweet, my Lambda class Imperial shuttle arrived on the 3rd of September. Now this was 6 weeks after ordering, that I can cope with as obviously it takes a while to print, unfortunately my model has several problems with it, first one of the wings arrived broken, not too much of a problem, as all the bits were there. Also one of the body halves was miscast and had huge chunks missing, but was repairable, here is a shot of what I had to work with.

The biggest problem was all the missing parts, all the wing cannons were missing, so was the tail gun, a small top plate, and the lower ramp.

As you can see I've already built or started a lot of these parts, as I tried contacting the seller, and have been completely ignored, this wasn't a cheap model at £150, I'm just glad I didn't go for the Legion scale version at £450, as it would have been an even bigger waste of money ! This isn't the first model I've got from this seller, the Y-Wing came from them, that one at least had all the parts, even they were missing some of the pipes on the main body. It's a shame as they had a lot of models I would have got, this is the seller to avoid popcultureprintinguk

Right after that negativity back to the model, as I was going to have the ramp open I painted the internal area like so, the white bits in the top are plasticard U bar as the fittings were also missing !

Once put together you can't see any of it ! LOL I also painted the crew cab, as I wanted to put a dark smoke screen on the model.

Unfortunately the screen didn't work, so this is now hidden behind the resin screen ! LOL While I'm finishing the wing guns, and the ramp I have got the whole model basecoated, and a layer of contrast paint on it, I think it's going to take a while to finish painting it, hopefully I can get it done before the end of the challenge, as it takes a toll on my hands very quickly with the weight. 

That's all for today, so until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave

UNDER COVER

 Got tired of waiting to find my material, and ended up ordering some more, and would you believe, 3 days after the new material arriving , I found my old supply ! LOL So below you will see the newly added canopies for two of the stalls, and the Gorg stall next to them.

I've also added some beds on the damaged building on the first floor, will probably add some bags and bits as well, to help add some story. The beds are the ones I made for Michael Awdry for his Schoss Itter project he did back in2020 on his blog 28mmvictorianwarfare

Now for anyone that wants to know how to do the canopies here's a step by step guide

STEP 1 Build a frame for your canopy to sit on, this is a mix of plastic rod, and metal pins.

STEP 2 Attach the start of the cloth to the top of the frame, I use superglue for this step, as it's fast acting.

STEP 3 Paint PVA glue over the first section, to get the curve you want in the fabric

STEP 4 Attach the cloth to the next former, and then repeat the PVA glue on the next section.

STEP 5 Keep repeating Step 4 until all the sections are done, then leave to dry fully before painting. also any lose fibres can be cut off when dry, don't try pulling them off before as you'll just unravel the cloth.

As you can see very simple, but looks very effective, you can do the same process for banners on models as well, but would suggest  a former shape to rest the banner on, as otherwise you need to keep moving it while it dries. That's all for today, so until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave 

IT'S TURBO TIME

 No I've not started a power rangers project, but have actually finished my Turbo Tank, that I started at the beginning of the scenery challenge, it certainly helped having my new work area to be able to get it finished. The three guns on the main cab are secured with magnets, the rear gun is on a large pin, all the wheels are glued in place, I could have made them rotate, but it seemed a lot of extra work for something that wouldn't make a massive difference to the model. As you may have seen with the work in progress pictures I've used plasticard 1 mm and 0.5 mm thickness for different plating, there is a lot of greenstuff parts, plus I've used some plastic rod on the original 3D filament print to get the final look I've achieved.

Below are some close ups of some of the areas.

Painting wise I used a mix of brush, sponge, paint, washes, and some drybrushing for the dust/dirt on the wheels and lower half of the vehicle. I also used a fineline pen to add some construction lines that I wasn't able to put in with the construction methods. I also used paint to add in some of the cabling lines I could see in the reference, here is a recap of what I was working from.

Very happy with what I ended up with, and with the weathering being a orange brown color it will work for both the basing on my clone wars era, and the basing on the new hope era models, so the I can use the vehicle for both. That's all for today, so until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave

NOT SO INCEY WINCEY

Today I've finished the Void Spider tx-3 that was seen outside the cantina in Mos Eisley, even if it was only for a couple of seconds in the movie both original and extended version. The model is made from plasticard, foamcore, plasticrod, brass rod and lots of greenstuff, plus a filimant print dome that was originally from the Turbo Tank. If anyone want's to know specifics, please ask as I will be happy to share to help with your projects.

Painting wise I've tried to match the reference photo, the top half was surprisingly clean in the reference, which I was surprised by, but went with the reference for accuracy, even though being a taxi, I would expect it to e dirty and grimy. Below is the reference picture as a reminder.

Very happy to finally have this one done to complete outside the cantina, just need to do the incidental crates and bits, plus a big crashed ship, but that will be a project for another time ! LOL That's all for today, so until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave  

ROOM TO MOVE

 This week has been mostly the life size painting kind, so I could get my work room to a point I could use, below is a picture of the corner with my desk, probably the tidiest it has ever been or will be ! ! LOL

It's had a coat of paint, and end plates fitted to make the area look tidier, I've changed the areas around as well, the left is now construction, photographing, and painting large pieces, it's the area with the best light, with the 180 degree arch light, plus the two lamps for photographs. The right is where my PC and paint storage and mixing, still got to adjust where the second paint rack fits, hopefully get that done this week, and find places to fit things as I go.

I have found a little time for modelling this week as well, and finished the second underhang on the Turbotank. This was all greenstuff, and I even remembered to take a picture before fitting the wheels on ! LOL

All the wheels are now on, and I've also finished adding all the panelling on the second side, just a set of hand ladder rungs to add to the back cab, and I'll be down to the painting to get this beast finished.

That's all for today, hopefully next week will be more models, less room painting ! LOL Until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave