Els Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 (edited) Hello all, Yesterday I went to the show in Jacksonville Fl with the intention of buying something to build for this group build and the old kit group build. I picked up this shuttlecraft kit while I was there. I got the kit for a good price and was happy because it was still sealed. Today when I opened the kit I found this... The kit had been opened before and the original plastic along with this little blue figure was inside the box. Its not a valuable kit and all the pieces seem to be there but I still don't like that it was sealed as if from the factory. This is the old AMT/ERTL kit and from what I can find it is about 1:36 scale. I read a few articles on line that complained about it not being accurate but it I close enough for me. There isn't a lot to it so it shouldn't take to long to build. I was thinking about throwing some LED's into it but after looking at the interior there isn't anything to see except for the seats. It will be a couple of days before I can get started on it so I will have to decide what to do with the interior. Maybe a couple of 1:35 figures converted to doomed red shirts Els Edited February 12, 2017 by Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted February 12, 2017 Share Posted February 12, 2017 Wow, that brings back memories. I think I built that one last in around 1978 or 1979. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted February 12, 2017 Author Share Posted February 12, 2017 I hadn't seen one of these since I was a teenager myself. I just got done watching this video about the original shuttlecraft and it was very informative. I never knew that AMT paid for the original to be built and it was interesting that Chip Foose's father was one of the people that worked on it. Shuttlecraft History Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted February 17, 2017 Author Share Posted February 17, 2017 I was able to work on the kit for a while today. The engine room bulkhead and control panel were glued in. I also managed to cause myself some extra work. I glued the engines together and then I put some clamps on them. When I went to take the clamps off I found that the clamps had slid the two haves of the engines out of alignment. They are glued so solid that I can't get them apart without making more work for myself. So out came some Bondo. I watched the episode "Galileo 7" today to get some ideas to make the kit a little better. I did not realize how inaccurate this kit is. I may have to change the name from Galileo to something else so that I can say it is accurate to that particular shuttlecraft. I also broke out some old 1:35 figures that I had in the spares box to convert to a couple of crewmen. Even though I read that this kit is about 1:36 scale it really isn't. The seats are way to big for a 1:35 figure but a 35th scale figure is to large for the interior. You can see that with this figure standing next to the door in the rear bulkhead, the figure is to tall. I am going to go ahead with two figures so that something can be seen through the windows and open door. This one is chopped so it can be modified to sit and pilot the shuttlecraft. Here they are with some Bondo. I will sand them down and work on the uniforms next. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Some good ideas you have going to dress it up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 IL ike what you are doing to enhance the kit. Is it very much different to the actual shuttle? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted February 24, 2017 Author Share Posted February 24, 2017 Trojan, the kit is quite a bit different than what was shown on the show. I am not going to try and make an accurate shuttle out of this kit but it would be a good starting point. I watched the episode "Galileo 7" on Netflix but the problem with the series there is that it is the updated edition with all the new effects, so I am using that as my reference. I am not sure if the colors, etc. are the same as the original show. In the episode I can see that there is a dark carpet in the shuttle. I put down some Elmers and glued some fine ground foliage to cover the floor of the shuttle. It is a little course but after a couple of coats of paint it should be fine and look more like carpet. I wish I had some flocking but ... I also added a couple of panels to the back wall It is close enough to what can be seen in this screen grab. I also added the phaser drawer to the top. Here you can see the forward console that is supplied with the kit and how different it is from what was on the episode. I added the following panels to make it closer to the original. I am not really worried about it being accurate because you can only see a little through the front windows and side door. This is enough detail for me to busy it up. The dark blue carpet is going to get some gray over it to tone it down. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Good improvements. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 I like you improvements, I see what you mean about the kit differences. Nice progress Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VADM Fangschleister Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 (edited) On 2/24/2017 at 9:05 AM, Els said: I watched the episode "Galileo 7" on Netflix but the problem with the series there is that it is the updated edition with all the new effects, so I am using that as my reference. I am not sure if the colors, etc. There are a few more episodes with the shuttlecraft in it. Metamorphosis, The Immunity Syndrome and to a lesser extent, The Menagerie, for interior shots. Exterior, The Way To Eden, Journey To Babel (not very good, distance shot). Edited February 25, 2017 by VADM Fangschleister Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted February 27, 2017 Author Share Posted February 27, 2017 VADM, I am getting ready to close this thing up so I will check those episodes out to see if there is anything different. The interior is pretty much finished. Time to get the crew done. All the military stuff was sanded off and the one figure was reposed to sit in the front seat. And this is as Starfleet as I could get a couple of 1:35 MACV SOG military figures. There is only one big problem, the standing figure does not fit, it is to tall. I sanded the feet down as thin as I could and he is still to tall. I thought about putting him on the outside as if he were leaving the shuttle but he is to tall there to. And just to show that all this was pretty much wasted time, here is what you can see from the outside. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 Those figures look just great! Maybe bend the red shirt forward at the waist. A little more work but it's worth a shot. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted February 27, 2017 Share Posted February 27, 2017 That is nice work on the interior, at least you know its there! Bit late now but perhaps a light in the rear oft eh cabin would help? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted March 9, 2017 Author Share Posted March 9, 2017 Trojan Thunder, I decided to order some LED's for this thing. They arrived today so I started installing them. Here are the lights and the pre wired battery compartment that I also ordered. You can see that they are pretty small I did not want to take the time to build the light so I used a Hot Wheels blister that I cut down. I sprayed the inside of the cut down blister with some white to diffuse the light. Then I hot glued the lights to the top of the shuttle. After that I glued the light cover to the roof and tried out the lights. I think it will be good enough. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 Oh that is nice!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Karl Sander Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 Man, that is terrific work! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted March 13, 2017 Author Share Posted March 13, 2017 Thank you. Today I wanted to get the Red Shirt lowered enough to get the top of the shuttle glued on. The easiest way seemed to be to chop him at the hips so that he could be leaning on one of the seats. I used the quickest way which was to just cut the plastic, move it to the new position and then fill the gap with gel super glue and hit it with some insta set. It does not look that great but it will not be visible after a little black paint. After I glued on the engines I noticed that they were very floppy. There was not a very good join to create strength. A brace was added between the bottom of the shuttle and the engine. It's not accurate but you can see something similar in this screen shot. The one for this kit needed to be larger to provide more strength for the plastic. Some plastic rod was also added to the strut. I don't think it will be noticeable once painted. Epoxy putty was also poured around the edges of the rear of the shuttle to add strength. And now I know why the Red Shirts never made it back from the missions. They are a pain in the ... After modifying him to lean on the seat he was still to tall. So I chopped him off at the knee's and repositioned his hips so that he could sit in the other front seat. He is not coming back from this mission either. A few touch ups and I will close up the shuttle on my next days off. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChippyWho Posted March 13, 2017 Share Posted March 13, 2017 Always great to see an Els project! I still love TOS, and (despite the un-promising raw material) this iconic Shuttle is coming together a treat. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted March 14, 2017 Share Posted March 14, 2017 Poor red shirt. But it looks great still! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted March 18, 2017 Author Share Posted March 18, 2017 The shuttle was primed and then a few different shades of grey were noodled or mottled or what ever the latest terminology is, to break up the large surfaces of the shuttle. It does not look like it in the picture because of the lighting. Then I put the decals on. These were the worst decals that I have ever used. If you have this kit do yourself a favor and buy the after market decals. The red decals were fine but the black decals were like rubber. I had to soak them forever to get them off the backing paper and then they stretched quite a bit while taking them off the paper. I have never used decals that were so elastic. They are also very thick. After I finally got them on and smoothed out with Microsoft set/sol I put a coat of Future over them. That was a mistake. They popped up and wrinkled up all over the place. They did not like Future at all. After much colorful language, some adult beverages and a lot of work here they are on the kit. I put a few coats of clear lacquer over the decals and then sanded them with some 1000 grit to take the tops off the wrinkles. Then another couple of coats of lacquer. Still not the greatest but I will call it a victory for now. Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 From the photos the decals look fine now. Great job and recovery! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
janman Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 A kit that would never get my attention, not to mention ending up on my desk as a project. But still, reports like this are wonderful entertainment for us modelers! Great work! Interesting build of a subject I would otherwise know nothing of. Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted March 30, 2017 Author Share Posted March 30, 2017 (edited) Janman, If it wasn't for this group build I would have never looked at this kit either. I am enjoying the build though and am glad that I bought it. While I can get Photobucket to work for 5 minutes I will try to post some updates. I need a base to hide the batteries so I bought a wood something or another at Micheals. Here it is stained up. I had planned on building one of the cheesy back drops that they used on some episodes of the show but after placing the shuttle on the base there wasn't enough room. I traced an outline around the shuttle because I did not want to cover the entire top of the wood. I then smeared a thin layer of Bondo, gravel, and sand around. After that I put a couple of thin washes over it. I left some of the Bondo showing through because it kind of looks like the purple colors used in the show. It looks a little washed out in this picture. I am digging through my stash of foliage to find a few alien looking plants so that the terrain doesn't look so flat. I also epoxied the battery holder and switch to the bottom. Edited March 30, 2017 by Els Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted March 30, 2017 Share Posted March 30, 2017 Very creative base! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trojan Thunder Posted March 31, 2017 Share Posted March 31, 2017 Nice work on the base so far Els. Looking forward to seeing how you finish it all up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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