The Underdog Posted June 3, 2020 Share Posted June 3, 2020 Thommo, The 2 Robots look great. It's amazing how you can layer the different parts of their suits of armour, and make them look so thin. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted June 3, 2020 Author Share Posted June 3, 2020 7 hours ago, The Underdog said: Thommo, The 2 Robots look great. It's amazing how you can layer the different parts of their suits of armour, and make them look so thin. It is pieces of aluminium from a Coke can. Just trial & error cutting & trimming of pieces till they look about right....and multiple attempts to get them to stick down with CA 😵 Cockpit nearly done. Tiny fragments of decals used for lights etc. then much frustration getting them in position & getting them to stick. Had to brush a few coats of Future over the top to get them to stay put. Really struggling with the engines now. About to try my 5th idea after first trying carving them out of solid styrene blocks, then trying to shape styrene sheet. As you said above, all 3 spaceships are different, as are their engine profiles and all are shown from different perspectives, so getting it right requires some guesswork & artistic licence. The front spaceship which I'm building appears to have more circular/oval engine fronts than the rear ship which has much narrower engine openings???? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted June 8, 2020 Author Share Posted June 8, 2020 scratch, scratch, scratch..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Underdog Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 On 6/3/2020 at 5:50 PM, Thommo said: Cockpit nearly done. Tiny fragments of decals used for lights etc. then much frustration getting them in position & getting them to stick. Had to brush a few coats of Future over the top to get them to stay put. Really struggling with the engines now. About to try my 5th idea after first trying carving them out of solid styrene blocks, then trying to shape styrene sheet. As you said above, all 3 spaceships are different, as are their engine profiles and all are shown from different perspectives, so getting it right requires some guesswork & artistic licence. The front spaceship which I'm building appears to have more circular/oval engine fronts than the rear ship which has much narrower engine openings???? Thommo, It's quite amazing the skill-set you have at scratch-building. Taking a painting as you have done, and utilizing artistic licence to come-up with this is mind-boggling. You've done a splendid job on the models so far, and the diorama is bound to be spectacular! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted June 11, 2020 Author Share Posted June 11, 2020 8 hours ago, The Underdog said: Thommo, It's quite amazing the skill-set you have at scratch-building. Taking a painting as you have done, and utilizing artistic licence to come-up with this is mind-boggling. You've done a splendid job on the models so far, and the diorama is bound to be spectacular! Cheers mate. Was going to make the spaceship pilot an Ewok, but decided against it - could not handle modeling the hairy face! Canopy, the front piece modified from a 1/72 B17 nose dome, rear piece cut from clear plastic packaging. Modified pilot from a 1/48 figure, loosely based on Starwars X-wing pilots. He had to lose his feet to fit in. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Underdog Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 Cheers, Wow, that is looking really good. It'll be amazing after you paint it. Just keeps on getting better and better! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 Building nearly done, just need to add wing flaps. The canopy was a bit of a nightmare with constant adjustments needed to the rear section to get a decent fit with the front. Then lots of putty & sanding will be needed. Then onto paint thank Christ - I'm a bit over scratching at the moment. Strikes me the pilot looks like Tin Tin! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted June 26, 2020 Author Share Posted June 26, 2020 (edited) Undercoat of Tamiya flat blue, then Aztek pattern with Alclad Alum & Alclad Dark Alum. Need to have it at the right angle to really see the Aztek camo effect. It's nowhere as near as neat as I'd hoped, but with scratch building, it is hard to keep everything smooth even after numerous puttys, sands & polishes. Edited June 26, 2020 by Thommo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted June 26, 2020 Author Share Posted June 26, 2020 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dmk0210 Posted June 26, 2020 Share Posted June 26, 2020 Wow, really impressive work. I'm learning a lot watching this project. Thanks for sharing your techniques! This is fun just following this! 🙂 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted June 26, 2020 Author Share Posted June 26, 2020 8 hours ago, dmk0210 said: Wow, really impressive work. I'm learning a lot watching this project. Thanks for sharing your techniques! This is fun just following this! 🙂 Cheers mate. Ultimately, I'll do some build videos showing more of each step. Really though, I just make stuff up as I go along & borrow ideas from other people's builds. I do sketch out a few rough drawings & measurements, but they never go exactly to plan, esp. when estimating the measurements from a photo of a painting. Allowing for perspective is hard. My biggest bugbear is getting stuff to stick with CA! It either grabs instantly in the wrong spot, or does not grab at all. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted July 9, 2020 Author Share Posted July 9, 2020 (edited) Build Video #1 Edited July 9, 2020 by Thommo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted July 9, 2020 Author Share Posted July 9, 2020 Build Video #2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Underdog Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Thommo, I've been away and busy for awhile, but the progress is coming along nicely. Great job on the Robots and the Spaceship. Your modesty with scratch-building becomes you. "Regardless of the challenges, you do a stellar job in creating spectacular stuff." Nice videos! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted July 22, 2020 Author Share Posted July 22, 2020 On 7/17/2020 at 2:54 AM, The Underdog said: Thommo, I've been away and busy for awhile, but the progress is coming along nicely. Great job on the Robots and the Spaceship. Your modesty with scratch-building becomes you. "Regardless of the challenges, you do a stellar job in creating spectacular stuff." Nice videos! Thanks for the encouragement. All figures now completed. Most based on the 1/35 pinup girls as the 'frame', but 2 using 1/35 Tamiya military figures - these needed a drastic weight loss process with my Dremmel to get them skinny enough for the aluminium to go over. The robot soldiers painted with a mix of colours (blue/black/nato black) then various shades of Alclad, then an overcoat of Tamiya smoke on some, then a dark brown Mig wash, then sealed with Vallejo flat clear. There is some tonal variation but it is hard to see. Still pondering the background for the base - your idea of making the city a bit 3D coming out of a piece of flat curved plastic (base shape is oval), maybe trying to airbrush the big red moon on as well, or perhaps get my kids to do some clever photoshopping so I can print & glue the background (moon, city, smaller spaceships) onto the background. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted July 31, 2020 Author Share Posted July 31, 2020 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted August 19, 2020 Author Share Posted August 19, 2020 Finished. Final build video. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Underdog Posted August 27, 2020 Share Posted August 27, 2020 Thommo, I could easily write a few paragraphs full of superlatives, but I'll keep it simple and short. What a magnificent accomplishment you did on this diorama. It wasn't easy to do and you had challenges along the way, but in typical Thommo fashion with lots of determination you overcame those hurdles and produced another stellar custom one-of-a-kind model-diorama. I really enjoyed watching the build-videos & your play-by-play tutorial on how the project progressed from start to finish. Mate, you now have two unique and fantastic looking dioramas to proudly display... job well done! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thommo Posted August 28, 2020 Author Share Posted August 28, 2020 Thanks for the kind comments mate. I'm now doing a Dr Who (the 10th) inside the Tardis for my eldest daughter who is a huge Dr Who & David Tennant fan. Converted a 1/35 US Marine to David Tennant, nearly got him done, just needs a few touch ups. The inside of the Tardis will be a big job, there's so much stuff on the centre console! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CaptainObvious Posted August 29, 2020 Share Posted August 29, 2020 I second what The Underdog said. Really great modelling in action! -co Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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