niart17 Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Well, I decided to bust this thing open and have a crack at it. I'm a little reluctant to start this thread because it seems like a mark of doom for me to never finish models I have build threads for. The only kits I've finished in the past year were mostly things I didn't do a thread on so....well lets hope I can break that curse. If anything, maybe some of the steps I use along the way will give some ideas of what to do or not to do when one decides to build their own. So we'll see how it goes. My plan is to at minimum to light the interior and the headlights' That should be relatively simple since there is a lot of room to work with and nothing goes blinky blinky and I was able to light my Star Destroyer, which was tons more complicated with fiber optics. I'm working on trying to figure out a motorized door mechanism, that's phase 2 of my hopeful plans and phase 3 would be to have a motorized rotatable base. That part shouldn't be too complicated either. The door mechanism would be the most complicated thing I've attempted. Here is the box art and let me tell you, this kit is massive! I'll try to get more pics up as soon as I can but it's not as easy to post build shots now that PB is totally useless now. I'll try to keep up with this though for those that are interested. I will say for certain I can HIGHLY recommend this kit. The fit so far is top notch. Wish me luck and as always, critiques, comments and suggestions are always welcome! Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted October 31, 2019 Author Share Posted October 31, 2019 (edited) Here is a pic indicating the size of this beast. This it the face plate sitting next to a regulation size basketball. BIG! Edited October 31, 2019 by niart17 added text (lost original from forum reset) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted October 31, 2019 Author Share Posted October 31, 2019 (edited) One of the pitfalls I'd learned about by watching Aztek Dummy's incredible build on Youtube (his has working monitors! you have to check it out) is that the decals for the instrument panels don't fit well around the buttons. So my solution was to remove the buttons before decaling, and then glue them back over the decals. This SHOULD allow the decals to lay flat and also make it much easier to paint the buttons without having to mask them. This might turn out to be a really stupid idea, but if it works it should be a valid solution. The buttons were remarkably easy to remove with a good sharp blade. And I only cut myself twice....so there's that. Edited October 31, 2019 by niart17 added text (lost original from forum reset) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted October 31, 2019 Author Share Posted October 31, 2019 (edited) Here is the panel with all the buttons removed. I'll just clean up the edges a little but they will be covered with the buttons so they don't have to be perfect. The grey stuff is surface primer to fill a small slip of the knife blade. Edited October 31, 2019 by niart17 added text (lost original from forum reset) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted October 31, 2019 Author Share Posted October 31, 2019 (edited) And finally the state of the interior currently. This is just taped together and you can see the fit of the panels, and kit in general is really great. I'll create some light boxes similar to how Aztek Dummy did on his build and illuminate the switches. I may try to make clear resin cast of all the buttons so the transparent color paint will show up better when back lit but I'll have to see how hard it would be to make those molds. Thanks for checking it out and as always, comments, crituques, and suggestions (and even the hardy boos and tomato throwing) is always welcome. Bill Edited October 31, 2019 by niart17 added text (lost original from forum reset) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cajun21 Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Bill, Looking really great. Your work is a magnificent tour de force of the modelling arts. The Star Destroyer build puts me in awe also. "If this be madness, then let us all suffer it!" Cheers Itch Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted October 31, 2019 Author Share Posted October 31, 2019 Thanks Cajun, but the Star Destroyer build here isn't mine. I did do a SD build but didn't post a build thread here (which is probably why I finished it! LOL . I can never seem to finish thread builds) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted October 31, 2019 Author Share Posted October 31, 2019 For those not familiar with the subject matter, here is a shot of the interior from the movie. You can see the various colors used for the buttons. There are several ways one could attempt to replicate this and I'm going to go the route of painting each bank of buttons with a transparent paint. From what I've read, the real switches were different colors and all had white bulbs so that's the look I'm going for. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dylan Posted November 1, 2019 Share Posted November 1, 2019 I will be following this one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted November 1, 2019 Author Share Posted November 1, 2019 (edited) Well I managed to squeeze in a little work on this between handing out candy to the local monsters and bringing my daughter out on her quest. I was able to lay out the shapes for all the main light boxes and test fit one to make sure my depths were going to be ok and fit. As you can see in this mock up, there is a TON of room to work with for lighting and such so that makes things much easier to plan out. Still kicking the idea of a door mechanism. I know it can be done, just trying to figure the best way. I know I can get the mechanics of it but electronics are definitely not my area. I plan on placing the panel decals this weekend so hope to have some better progress shots soon. Edited November 1, 2019 by niart17 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted November 5, 2019 Author Share Posted November 5, 2019 (edited) Spent some time this weekend getting the panel decals on. I'm pretty sure it made it easier to get them on by removing the buttons but it still was a pain lining them up with the corresponding cut-outs. I didn't do the front center console yet as I'm not sure how I want to tackle the small red screens, but overall I think they came out good. I didn't use any setting solution or anything since there are some areas that are super thin line and I was afraid it would tear. since each is one big panel I don't think it really needs solution. Now on to getting the buttons looking right and setting up all the lights. Comments, critiques, ridicule, snuffing, suggestions, etc... always welcome. Edited November 5, 2019 by niart17 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dylan Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 (edited) I like it. and just so you know, I spent all day friday cursing your name. because I had to watch al 5 of the aztec dummy videos. I was up till 1 am 😉 totally worth it Edited November 6, 2019 by dylan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted November 6, 2019 Author Share Posted November 6, 2019 4 hours ago, dylan said: I like it. and just so you know, I spent all day friday cursing your name. because I had to watch al 5 of the aztec dummy videos. I was up till 1 am 😉 totally worth it "did I do that?' Yes his videos are well done. Very talented builder and always has a good amount of information to look for when building something. They can be a little long at times but like you said, worth it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Madhatter Posted November 7, 2019 Share Posted November 7, 2019 I really like this Bill - that's a really great job on the cockpit - or cabin, or what ever its supposed to be called. The control consoles look awesome and well worth the time and care you took getting the decals on. They also look prime for lighting - almost seems to go with out saying though. I also like the worn look of the floor too It's pretty big - hope you have room or it! Looking forward to seeing more of this rather interesting subject Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 Thanks! Well, I ran into a few minor issues while painting the buttons. first issue is I noticed I must have not allowed the clear coat to thoroughly dry before placing the decals and there seems to a very small amount of cracking underneath the decal in a few spots. I don't think it will be noticeable once everything is matt-cleared and closed up inside the pod, but I am keeping an eye on to make sure there's no further signs of something bad happening. As for the buttons, I tried to use food coloring mixed in to future to get the translucent look I want. It's a little tricky getting such a thin media to not pool up so I may switch to try adding it to some Velejo clear instead of future. but overall I think it's OK, not great. This first set of buttons is in an obscure location that can't be seen very well from any view so I'm not overly worried about these. Also, since it was only a future mixture, I couldn't use any solvents to clean off any stray brush strokes when trying to paint the black separation between buttons (it's a very tiny gap to paint). I'll either have to paint the lines prior to color tints OR put a good clear finish over it to make cleaning them up easier. But at least this is SOME progress. I just hope I can improve on this for the more visible areas. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Propellerhead Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 (edited) Looking good. I got mine last year from CultTVman. If I could stop yelling "take my money!!!" at Paragrafix the kit could emerge from the stash one day. Edited December 11, 2019 by Propellerhead Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted December 30, 2019 Author Share Posted December 30, 2019 Not a whole lot of progress on this but I did get the arms assembled and the main colors painted. I really dread doing black on white masking paint jobs as you never know if you've totally masked it right until the reveal. Hard to see in these pics but the inside areas of all of the joints are black. the instructions don't tell you to do that but all the photos I've seen seem to suggest the real prop was painted that way. Now on to the detail painting of the arms and the many small small small decals. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted December 31, 2019 Author Share Posted December 31, 2019 (edited) Painting on the ear muffs. Edited December 31, 2019 by niart17 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 2 hours ago, niart17 said: Painting on the ear muffs. Nice. For a minute there I thought you were working on a Pricess Leia figurine... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
as205 Posted January 1, 2020 Share Posted January 1, 2020 Great work! I haven't picked one of these up, but seeing this build I just might do it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted January 2, 2020 Author Share Posted January 2, 2020 On 12/31/2019 at 8:41 PM, as205 said: Great work! I haven't picked one of these up, but seeing this build I just might do it. Yes you should. It's really a great kit. So far everything fits together really well. The only minor issue I have is the kind of typical too large connecting points for parts to sprues. That seems to be pretty common for Moebius. Not sure why they tend to over do it on them but like I said, that's a very minor gripe. Bill Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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