Face Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 So for the last 2 months, I've been working on lighting a Polar Lights refit Enterprise, and I've gotten myself burned out and need to take a break... so, I've decided to get to work on something a little smaller I've been eyeballing this kit for nearly a year on StarshipModeler.com's online store, and I finally decided to buy it for myself for christmas. Mastered by the incomparable Alfred Wong(one of the most prolific makers of sci-fi resin kit masters), this'll be my first ever complete resin kit... I've done a couple Gundam conversion sets, but nothing quite on this level. The kit consists of about 30 parts(no pilot though, boo), including 2 vacuformed canopies in case the first one gets screwed up(as I am sure to do...). The casting quality is excellent! Most of the smaller parts have a fair bit of flash and some mold pour stubs, but nothing too hard to clean up, and I haven't noticed any molding flaws or air bubbles yet, so I shouldn't have too much trouble Measuring in at a little less than 18cm/7", it's a bit smaller than I expected... but damn is that fuselage heavy, I always forget how much resin weighs... The kit also includes a canopy 'plug', I suppose in case the builder screws up both but has access to a vacuform machine, they can mold another. The decal sheet includes markings for 6 different pilots(I'm gonna do mine as Starbuck's), 6 different tail numbers, plus assorted other warning labels and markings. The decals are well printed, but some of the smaller text is impossible to read I've gotten a little bit done already, such as trimming the canopy free of the backing and cleaning up most of the flash, I've also added a pin to allow the aft landing struts to fit in place a little more solidly, as there really wasn't much to hold them in place. Since the kit isn't all that complicated, I ought to be able to knock 'er together in a couple weeks. Oh boy! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aigore Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Now that´s a cool project!!! Keep us posted! Cheers! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Face Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 so as I said, I've cleaned up all the flash and most of the molding imperfections. I also attached a few of the smaller parts, such as the intake cowlings over the port and starboard engines, which will require an annoying amount of sanding and putty to smooth out completely... I'm currently working on the cockpit, and I've masked the canopy and sprayed the first coat of primer. The aft landing struts don't attach very securely to the fuselage, so I added a small pin and hole system to secure them more solidly. I discovered when cleaning up the guns that they actually had a metal pin embedded inside them for structural support... frustratingly, the pin is longer than the guns, and stuck out the aft end of the gun parts, so I had to pull them out, trim and reinsert them. One of them inserted just fine and I can plug the hole with a bit of putty, the other one though, try as I might I could not get it to go in all the way, so I had to file it down then sand it smooth. I've got quite a bit of work yet to do, such as adding some detail to the engines, and filling a few small air bubbles that I've discovered here and there, but I wanted to put it together and see how it looked fully assembled... so it's going pretty good! I plan to do a youtube video update in a day or so, so stay tuned! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sotoolslinger Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Cool project. I always wanted one but no can afford. Looking forward to seeing this progress. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Face Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 Got a little bit done today, not a huge amount but enough to say that I'm satisfied... Anyway, I got to work sanding the intake seams , which went more smoothly(giggle) than I expected, now if only the primer hadn't gone all weird on me... oh well, I can sand it back smooth, then spray another coat, no harm no foul So anyway, I got the canopy frame painted... at least the outside of it... I hadn't considered that I'd be able to see the white primer coat through the glass, so I'm gonna have to fix that, because it looks awful. I also made a few modifications to the upper engine, which I will repeat for the other two as I really like how it turned out. The original part was simply a flat surface with no detail that the exhaust just glued on to, but I felt that looked kind of lame... so to add detail, I added a short length of 5mm brass tube to the centre of the engine exhaust, then drilled 8 holes around it at equidistant positions before gluing the exhaust part in place. Now that everything is together and painted, I'm definitely gonna use the same trick for the lower engines, but I'll use a slightly larger diameter tube as the lower engines are slightly larger than the upper. Anyway, I've got the day off tomorrow, so I'm gonna sleep late, then work on it all day, yay! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alvis 3.1 Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 Looking cool. Hopefully, our show venue this year will have better lighting do people can see the great detail on it and anything else you bring down. Alvis 3.1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Face Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 Looking cool. Hopefully, our show venue this year will have better lighting do people can see the great detail on it and anything else you bring down. wouldn't that be nice... maybe I'll bring a couple spotlights this year to improve the local lighting conditions... making all the other models look that much less awesome by comparison *maniacal laugh* Anyway, I've gotten a fair bit done the past couple days, the wings are attached and the ship is fully primed and ready to go! I was having some difficulties with the tamiya enamel spray primer I had been using, it wouldn't adhere evenly, it would pool in places, and I'd end up having to spend an hour sanding just to smooth it all out... so rather than press my luck any further, once I got it all smooth I sprayed a coat of Tamiya X-80 royal light gray to act as a primer coat, and it worked just fine. I like that shade of gray because when laid on thick, it tends to get a bit of sandpaper texture that's very soft and which sands very smooth and easy with a fine grit sandpaper. The lower engines were modified the same way as the upper engine, but I used a slightly larger diameter tube as the lower engines are a bit bigger than the upper. The ejection seat is sadly not very well detailed, it's just a very basic seat with very simple details, no seatbelts or harnesses or ejection handles of any kind... I considered adding some details, but I decided against if, figurng I'd worry about that in the future if I ever do another one. As it is, I painted the seat frame a dark gray, mixed using the remnants from a few different bottles, the cushions are XF-74 olive drab, and the caution stripe is a mixed orange with flat black stripes. I figure I'm about 65-75% finished, all the engine and other metallic coloured parts are finished and set aside, all that really remains is to paint the ship overall white, then mask the stripes, decal and weather. Not bad for 4 days work! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Face Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 Almost finished! Just gotta paint the various gray mechanical portions of the ship, as well as the red stripes, which'll be a pain in the butt to mask, but whatever... I'm still working on how to take decent photos of a white subject, the flash really blows out all the detail... maybe I need to find a couple small spotlights I can set up around it for when it's finished. Anyway, I primed the model using Tamiya XF-80 royal light gray, followed by a light sanding with 600 grit sandpaper. I then sprayed a few light coats of XF-02 flat white, slowly building up the layers, after which another light sanding with 600 grit sandpaper, I then pre-shaded the panel lines, thrusters and various recessed areas with a few varied shades of gray. Finally, I mixed up a heavily thinned bottle of X-02 gloss white, and very gradually sprayed a dozen or so very light coats to finish it off. So, like I said all I've got is the red and gray parts to paint, then installing the canopy, landing struts, engine exhausts, guns etc... with luck, I should be finished by sunday, so woot! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Face Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 so anyway, it's basically finished. I don't have any pics of it finished yet, but I have some shots of it fully painted and decaled. I did some weathering after these shots were taken... then I had a minor catastrophe occur when the flat clearcoat cracked and damaged the weathering I'd done, so I had to apply more weathering to cover it up... good times more pics forthcoming in a day or so, or simply check out my photobucket album Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aigore Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Turned out really well that Viper!! Well done!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Face Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 As promised, more pics! As I said before, it isn't totally finished in these pics, and technically isn't even finished right now(I have a bit more weathering to do, mostly balancing out what I've already done... The kit's decal sheet included 6 different tail numbers and nameplates for 6 pilots, including Starbuck, Apollo, and 4 others. Now, I had a very specific viper in mind that I wanted to build, that being Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace's Viper that she flew in the 3rd season episodes 'Maelstrom', 'Crossroads pt2' and the 4th season premiere 'He That Believeth in Me'(if you're a regular watcher of the show, you'll know the Viper I'm referring to). Sadly, the decal sheet didn't include that particular Viper's tail number, so using bits from the kit's supplied decals, I pieced together the proper number(8757NC) I used Tamiya X-2 gloss white as the main fuselage colour, thinned rather heavily and sprayed in numerous light coats over several hours. The red stripes were X-7 gloss red mixed with about 20-30% XF-9 hull red. Masking the stripes was fantastically annoying, taking the better part of 3 hours to apply, and using up half a roll of tamiya 18mm masking tape. The engines, landing struts, and various other exposed mechanical parts were painted XF-56 metallig gray, with a flat black wash applied. The cockpit is a hand mixed dark gray, likewise with a flat black wash, but also with some light gray dry brushing. The canopy itself is not glued in place, as I was fortunate enough that it can essentially clip into place along the ridge down the nose of the ship. I went to great lengths to make sure the model was accurate to the Viper Starbuck flew, right down to the squadron markings on the nose, as well as changing the Lt Kara Thrace nameplate to read Cpt Kara Thrace... trust me, cutting out and placing an almost microscopic decal and aligning it correctly was nearly maddening, but I think it looks damned good! Another day or so, and it'll be ready to take its place on my permanent display shelf, I can't wait! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alvis 3.1 Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Nice looking Viper. It looks really clean, like it was just built (wink wink) Alvis 3.1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Face Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 it ain't so clean no more... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Face Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 (edited) it's finished, hooray! Actually I finished it close to a week ago, I just haven't had a chance to take any pics before tonight As I may have mentioned before, I had some difficulties with my flat clearcoat, I guess the bottle was old or something, because it cracked as it was drying and damaged the weathering that I had done... needless to say, I wasn't impressed. Fortunately I was able to cover it up with still more weathering, but the end result is a far more weathered bird than I was planning... ah well, c'est la vie. You may have noticed the red splotches here and there, those are intended to represent 'guts', that have splattered across Starbuck's ship as she passed through the debris of a destroyed Cylon Raider, which has occurred in a handful of episodes and I think it looks kinda cool. Other weathering was done using tamiya weathering master pastels, plus a little drybrushing and some strategic smudging of flat black paint here and there, I would have preferred a cleaner ship but overall I'm happy with the end result, regardless. So, final verdict on my first resin kit? It was tricky... much moreso than I was expecting, my learning curve was pretty steep and I had a few hiccups along the way, but would I build another one, possibly a Raptor or Viper MkVII? Absolutely, without hesitation! I would consider this kit an excellent model for a first time resin builder, and as soon as I've finished my Enterprise(which I'll be getting back to this week), I'm gonna try to get my hands on the MkVII from the same company awwww yeah! Edited February 2, 2009 by Face Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alvis 3.1 Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Ah, the curse of the final coat that betrays all your hard work! That suckketh mightily, my friend! On the plus end, you learned both new techniques to cover up boo-boos and how to swear in Cylon! Alvis 3.1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RedHeadKevin Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Good lord someone needs to make the new BSG ships in plastic! I have so many plans for a Mk. II and a Mk.VII (launch-tubes, in-flight, the burnt-out-Earth Viper, the shot from the miniseries (where Lee and Kara's Vipers are locked together in-flight), battle-damaged, the list goes on and on.... I just can't do these at $150 bucks a pop. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mark M. Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I'd love to see them in plastic, but I don't know if that will ever happen. Quite the niche market (don't get me wrong, I'm part of the niche!!). Pretty amazing work on that Viper! I'm envious you have such a display piece. I can't even afford the 1/72 scale resin kits, let alone the 48th! That's the major problem for resin and myself: cost. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GlassDeviant Posted September 5, 2009 Share Posted September 5, 2009 I'm still working on how to take decent photos of a white subject, the flash really blows out all the detail. First of all, if you don't have one, get a DSLR (or traditional SLR if you can find film these days). A consumer digital camera isn't well suited for low-contrast photography. it can be done, but it will never compare to a photograph taken with an SLR. Second, do not ever use a flash. Use a bright lamp if you need more light, shaded if there is too much glare off the subject, and use the f-stops and the lighting meter to adjust the amount of light taken in by the camera. Once you get the hang of it, you won't even need to make a conscious effort to take a snap. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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