Dave's Sci-Fi Models

U.S.S. DEFIANT

2010-06-03T19:17:00.003+01:00

This is the USS Defiant as featured in Star Trek DS9. I completed the model some time ago and the basic construction was very simple, however the paint job was a different kettle of fish altogether.

I think this was one of the first models I used filler to any effect. The basic construction was quick but left a few joins around the edge so I used a ready mixed filler that dries when exposed to the air. Most model makers seem to favour car filler so I might look at this in the future. The problem was the details on the model surface got sanded away which made painting difficult.

When I came to painting the Defiant I first sprayed it grey to give a good surface for the rest of the details, then I started to pick out the other colours, but as I said, most of the boundaries had been sanded away so I used masking tape to try and recreate them. It soon came apparent that I could not be as accurate as the original lines so I decided on a new tactic.

I decided to go for a really dirty looking ship which meant the lines did not have to be perfect. I just imagined the Defiant had visited a particularly inhospitable planet and had to take the ship down to the surface and landed in a swamp. Of course they haven't found a Spaceship wash yet!
Bottoms Up !This is the Bottom of the Defiant with some of the white windows just about visible. I used gloss white enamel on these so they would stand out more against the matt weathered look of the rest of the ship.

Once I had decided on this approach I could then be a bit more careless with the blue and yellow panels knowing I could hide the lines with dirty washes later.

This was a great project for learning new techniques but I think I would like another crack at it just to make a 'cleaner' Defiant that Sisko would be proud of ! The decals were quite difficult on this model because the was a lot of long, red lines which have to be kept straight.

I like the finished result but I love the shape of this ship more than it's paint job. I am sure this would be how the Millennium Falcon would look if it was designed in the nineties, it's got that 'Hot Rod' look about it.

Star Wars - Tie Interceptor

2009-07-23T11:14:00.003+01:00

This is a ETRL/MPC model I made quite a few years ago. I photographed it with an old 35mm camera and scanned the image when the film was developed. (which was what prompted me to buy my first digital camera!) I then cut out the shape of the ship using Adobe Photoshop and adjusted the color balance slightly. You can see the yellow glow of my bedside lamp in the cockpit window. I then found an image of the awsome comet Hale-Bopp and merged the two in Photoshop to create the final image.

As you can see from the original photo the join in the cockpit was very pronounced. Nowadays I would fill these in but I used to have very little patience.

The comet is Hale-Bopp but it could be a Rebel Cruiser burning up in the planets atmosphere! This Tie Interceptor must also be modified to operate in the planets atmosphere as well as space!

Star Wars - Boba Fett's Slave-1

2009-07-06T19:32:00.005+01:00

Star Wars - Boba Fett - Slave 1 (Modified Firespray Patrol & Attack Ship)

This is Boba Fett's heavily modified Firespray patrol and attack ship Slave 1. It is scared with battle damage and every mark tells a different story of a thrilling escape or spectacular shoot out deep in space. I enjoyed this model because it is so different to anything else I have ever made. Most star ships resemble aircraft in some shape of form but Slave 1 breaks all the rules. The cockpit moves depending if the ship is in space upright or lying on it's back in a docking bay.

The two 'wings' move on my model but I glued the cockpit in the space configuration. The cargo hold can also be left open to show a tiny Hans Solo encased in Carbonate, but I sealed the door shut. I used a micro-drill to make some small holes in the hull to simulate Blaster damage, the holes do look really good close up. I spent quite some time on the paint job but it is not completely accurate. The movie slave 1 has a different corrosion pattern, mine is blurred, theirs is sharper as though the paint has flaked off, but I still like my paint scheme.

Star Wars - Snow Speeder

2009-06-21T12:51:00.005+01:00

This is the AMT/ETRL snow speeder model photographed and scanned, then touched up with Adobe Photo-Shop and finally super imposed over an icy picture. The lens flair was added using Photo-shop. The original background shows two brave skiers watching an avalanche which was perfect for a crash site. I suppose two storm troopers would have looked better. You will also notice the pilot and co-pilot are not in their usual orange uniforms, I don't think you could hide from imperial storm troopers in the snow dressed like a tangerine !

This is the original photo. As you can see the colour balance was way too yellow and I also added some weathering and some smoke from the exhausts. I also cloned some of the snow and lapped it around the edge of the vehicle to make it look buried.

All the brake flaps move on this model and the harpoon gun rotates although I have not done anything to the bottom because you never see under there anyway.

2009-06-04T21:29:00.003+01:00

Star Wars Naboo Starfighter

A few years ago I got the Naboo Starfighter Die cast kit made by AMT/ETRL. The first thing I noticed about the model was the weight of the box and its contents. I have only ever used injection molded kits which are feather light in comparison. The second thing is the price, twice as much as the regular plastic kit of the same subject. The first thing that greets you is the excellent artwork on the cover of the box. This would seem to be a stock picture because it also appears in the book, Star Wars Episode 1, The Visual Dictionary.

The parts inside the box are all well wrapped to protect them from bumps and knocks that may occur in transit. The only problem I had was with the tiny screws, there packet was open and one screw had got lost somewhere along the line. I don't think it would have cost too much to put a couple of spares in the kit, they are very tiny and easily misplaced.

All the die cast parts are pre painted yellow or silver and some of the plastic parts in the kit are painted yellow as well. The only painting and assembly work needed is on the pilot and cockpit and the R2 unit. I detailed and completed the necessary work in no time, then I removed the pre painted plastic parts from the tree they are still attached to. This is a bit of a pain because it leaves a nasty little bump which I had to file down and then find some yellow paint of a similar hue to dab over the blemish. The final stage is just the simple process of screwing all the parts together and plugging the screw holes with the stops provided. And that is it, the job is done. With a normal plastic kit I would be painting and filling for days, but this kit is not intended to be like that. I could always go and buy the plastic kit if I wanted to go down that road.

www.GreatStuffUK.co.uk

2009-05-30T09:35:00.002+01:00

USS Defiant

This is the USS Defiant as featured in Star Trek DS9. I completed the model some time ago (Late 90's) and the basic construction was very simple, however the paint job was a different kettle of fish altogether. I think this was one of the first models I used filler to any effect. The basic construction was quick but left a few joins around the edge so I used a ready mixed filler that dries when exposed to the air. Most model makers seem to favour car filler so I might look at this in the future. The problem was the details on the model surface got sanded away which made painting difficult. When I came to painting the Defiant I first sprayed it grey to give a good surface for the rest of the details, then I started to pick out the other colours, but as I said, most of the boundaries had been sanded away so I used masking tape to try and recreate them. It soon came apparent that I could not be as accurate as the original lines so I decided on a new tactic.

I decided to go for a really dirty looking ship which meant the lines did not have to be perfect. I just imagined the Defiant had visited a particularly inhospitable planet and had to take the ship down to the surface and landed in a swamp. Of course they haven't found a Spaceship wash yet! This is the Bottom of the Defiant with some of the white windows just about visible. I used gloss white enamel on these so they would stand out more against the matt weathered look of the rest of the ship. Once I had decided on this approach I could then be a bit more careless with the blue and yellow panels knowing I could hide the lines with dirty washes later.

This was a great project for learning new techniques but I think I would like another crack at it just to make a 'cleaner' Defiant that Sisko would be proud of ! The decals were quite difficult on this model because the was a lot of long, red lines which have to be kept straight.I like the finished result but I love the shape of this ship more than it's paint job. I am sure this would be how the Millennium Falcon would look if it was designed in the nineties, it's got that 'Hot Rod' look about it.

www.GreatStuffGadgets.com

Fly your own 'out of this world' craft - Silverlit Stingray at ebay

2009-05-19T22:06:00.003+01:00

Star Trek (ETRL) USS Enterprise-D Model

This is my USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D. I completed it about fifteen years ago and it was the first model I had attempted since I was a boy. I started it when Star Trek The Next Generation was showing on Sky Television every day at five PM. I used to work a split shift and it was during the middle three hours when I did all the work.

As this was the first model I had attempted for many years I had to develop techniques on the fly. I had now glue or paint and no idea what to expect. the first problem I came across was when the saucer section did not fit the main engineering section. Instead of filling the gaps I poured glue into them and painted over the cracks to hide the joints. The technique worked well but in later models I used filler as the paint tended to shine a little over the 'glue' cracks!

The colors are not 100% true to life but I was more than impressed with the finished model. One of the things I would have liked would have been lights in this kit, however ERTL did not issue any until some time later. My brother eventually got the kit with lights, but he has not finished it yet.

www.greatstuffuk.co.uk

2009-05-14T18:03:00.003+01:00

NASA Space Shuttle

This model was very quickly constructed and painted whilst I was finishing another model. I was getting fed up and this seemed like the ideal diversion. The bay originally opened to reveal the Canada arm and a small satellite but I sealed the doors in the closed position. The basic construction was very simple but required a little filler around the bay doors and wings. I properly spent more time painting the base than the Shuttle itself, it is modelled like the earth so I spent a little while on the polar cap and clouds.

I once saw a Space Shuttle waiting to lift off on it's launch pad but was unable to stay to see it take off. I would like to see one launch one day but of course I would really love to fly in one! My Shuttle is called Discovery, with the kit you have the option to use the names Atlantis or Endeavour as they supply decals for both. I would have liked it if they had included the prototype name Enterprise.

With the shuttle Atlantis currently in orbit on it's mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope it is apt that I publish this model. I made it many years ago not long after I had been to the Kennedy Space Centre and there was a shuttle on the launch pad. it was a fantastic sight but I cant imagine what it must be like to actually be on board let alone see it take off.

I have been watching the current mission on NASA TV and following one of the Astronauts via Twitter (Astro_Mike). It's strange the momentum of of progress into space seems so slow, when the actual vehicles are so fast!

2009-05-11T11:09:00.005+01:00

Star Trek - USS Enterprise NCC 1701 E

Here is the U.S.S ENTERPRISE NCC-1701-E. I completed it at the end of 1998 after about 4 months on and off. It was such a daunting paint job and I wanted to get it right so I took my time and I think it paid off. This is how I would have liked the Defiant model to have turned out but it took so long and I still have Voyager to build yet which is very similar. With the picture above I just held the model in my room with one hand and photographed it with the other, then imported it into PhotoShop and cut out the background and replaced it with the star background. I then added a bit of a glow to the warp nacelles and a blue hue to the white windows, then added the lens flare and darkened everything a little.

The construction was quite involved and required quite a bit of filling and a little re-modelling around the nacelle pylon area. I painted the clear plastic pieces on both sides with clear red and blue paint and then backed them with self adhesive silver reflective tape to give them some life. The tape was left over from another model with a lighting kit and they look great in natural light. One problem I had was the deflector dish did not stick properly and fell into the hull of the ship.

I had to use a bit of Blue-Tak on the end of a pen to pull it back into position and glue it properly. Once everything was glued, filled and sanded down I sprayed the whole thing with a couple of coats of grey primer (after masking the clear plastic bits). I then sprayed the final light grey, using car spray paint, and left the thing to dry for a few days. Then came the tedious job of picking out all the panels with three different shades of gray. This was all done by hand, following the guide in the kit, however looking at the finished model now it is not as accurate as it could have been and some of the panels should be darker.

Once I had finished the hull panels I started on the windows, painting them Gloss white or matt black at random. There are hundreds of them and some are so tiny I used a cocktail stick to dab the paint on. I found the best approach was to paint the window and then re-paint the gray panel to cover up any mistakes. I had to do this in lots of short sittings because after about twenty minutes I got so bored that I would start to loose my concentration. The windows alone took a couple of weeks

The final task was the transfer decals. There are quite a lot of these and this took a couple of sittings to complete. The main difficulty here was getting all the red lines straight and I found they did not stick to the light grey areas very well so they had to be completely dry before I could handle the model or else they would slip. The main NCC 1701-E logo's on the top and bottom were a bit of a challenge also because they lie on top of little ribs that stuck up out of the hull, so I just had to be patient with them.

I finished the decals with the life pods and the very tricky red arcs around the edge of the phaser banks. I need to give the model a coat of lacquer but I will wait till the weather gets a little warmer first. I enjoyed this project but it did drag on a little but the finished model is superb, Picard would be proud !

www.GreatStuffUK.co.uk

2009-04-10T18:59:00.005+01:00

Independence Day - Captured Alien Attacker

This is the Captured Alien Attacker from the 20th Century Fox film, Independence Day. I built this quite a long time ago now so some of the details are a little sketchy.
The model is manufactured by Lindberg. I think it is the only one of there's I have made. The assembly of the main components was very straight forward.

Painting this model was interesting, I used Gun-Metal paint for the first time. After applying the paint and letting it dry you can polish away the top layer to recreate a metal effect. The engine cooler fins are painted with metallic copper and brass colored paints and I used chrome silver to pick out the panel joints.

There are some great surface details on this model which really add to the overall quality of the whole thing. With only about 14 parts including the base, this has to be one of the simplest models I have ever made. Everything fitted together well and required little or no filling what so ever.
I enjoyed the special effects in the movie far better than the gung-ho, jingoistic plot and this is a great reminder of a simple, but excellent space ship design.

2009-03-19T20:57:00.010Z

Star Wars Speeder Bike & Scout Trooper

"The light repulsorlift Imperial speeder bike carries one or two riders at high velocities for reconnaissance and antipersonnel missions. An unusual turbine repolsorlift makes the bike stable even in extreme manoeuvres. Forward-reaching repulsor fields help thread it through obstacles like trees, but their guidance must be used carefully because they are not strong enough to deflect the bike away from obstacles on their own."

Extract from Star Wars, The Visual Dictionary

I think this to be the best model I have made so far. I spent a considerable amount of time and effort into getting it right and I am really pleased with the results. It is two projects in one because you have to build the Speeder Bike and the Scout Troop which both require different skills.

Firstly I will start with the Speeder Bike. The most important thing in getting this to look so good was excellent reference material. I read somewhere that the colours recommended with the kit were incorrect so I got the Star Wars Archives book which has got some great pictures in it. This set me on the right track. The other stroke of luck was my recent discovery of enamel Gun Metal paint which you apply and when it is dry, rub with a soft rag to reveal a polished metallic effect. This made the frame of the bike look really good.

I painted the main body of the bike grey first and then mixed the brown myself using enamel paints.

I always hand paint using enamels which makes thing difficult at times, there are far easier mediums but I like the results. There was a little filling on this model, in particular, where the handle bars met the shell and the cables and levers are very fragile. I mixed a lighter brown for the saddle bag and then made the whole thing look used by smudging and streaking different colours here and there. One thing I did before I painted the bike was scratch the shell with a file to simulate damage on the bodywork. This paid off by adding an extra bit of realism.

Next came the Scout Trooper, he was the first person I had ever made. Basically the arms and head attach to body and then he needed painting. However there was a lot of filling and some modelling to be done first. I found the arms did not fit very well so I got some modelling clay and improvised shoulder joints which moved the arm away from the body a little bit and meant I had to sculpt the shoulder pads where they met the body. The head was similar, I added a bit of neck and sculptor that accordingly. I scratch built a breathing piece for the front of the helmet and painted it silver, I also made a lid for the top of his back pack. I sprayed the scout matt black and then painted the armour gloss white. I picked out the details with matt black then dirtied the whole thing down. I think he turned out pretty good for my first person.

2009-03-19T10:39:00.005Z

Klingon Bird Of Prey

This is my very small Klingon Bird of Prey model. It only measures 85mm by 120mm but it is very detailed. I spent considerable time painting this model and I experimented with new techniques to achieve the desired result. As you can see from the picture above, the ship looks very good close up thanks to the extra attention to detail.

I employed a dry brushing technique for the first time. After applying a base coat, I used a cocktail stick to dab a small spot of paint and then work it in with a dry brush. It took quite a while to do the whole model but it all seemed worth while.

For the picture at the top of the page I used Adobe PhotoShop to cut out the picture of the ship and then dropped a picture of a moon behind it. I added some lens effects and adjusted the colour and contrast for a little more realism. I think it almost looks like a still from one of the movies, now all I need to is create the other 20,000 frames and I will have my own movie !

2009-03-18T17:29:00.010Z

Starfury MK1 - Finished Model

This is the finished model. I weathered it by roughly mixing black and white acrylic paint and dabbing it along the panel lines then dragging the paint with a dry rag towards the rear of the model as though grime and lubricant had run around the panels. I had to use greys and whites to stand out against the black metallic paint job.

The decals were not so bad although the omega symbol was so big it was difficult to get flat with no air bubbles. There are some small, square white panel decals which seemed to stand out too much so I put a blob of paint on top of them and smeared it to disguise them a little. This makes them look like major access panels that have attracted an awful lot of grime. There is one thing I do not understand, as far as I know these ships are constructed for space flight so how do they get so dirty? If you look at one on the TV. show you can see all the grime on there ships as well.

I printed a small Babylon 5 logo onto a sticky label and attached it to the front of the stand, this just finishes of an otherwise boring base. I gave the entire model a coat of very weak black wash which only stuck to the areas I had weathered, this just did enough to bring the effect down a shade and gives a more subtle overall effect.

CONCLUSIONS
This was a good project that I enjoyed even though it seemed to take an eternity to complete, there was a little bit of filling but for the best part most of the parts fitted pretty well. I have read a couple of other reviews for the StarFury and every one seems to have two main gripes.

1} the overall size of the model

2} modellers found the cannons to be inaccurate and scratch built them themselves. I did drill out the end of the cannons to make them look a little more realistic, but I do that with most models.

I also read that the man who designed the Star Fury was disappointed with the dimensions because the animated StarFury's get compressed when the footage is converted for television. I personally like my fat little StarFury and it has pride of place now. (Well at least until I finish the next project!).

2005-11-26T23:11:00.003Z

Starfury MK1 - Construction

This page details the steps I took constructing the Starfury MK1 from the Babylon 5 TV. series. I will detail what is involved in the construction over the next few months. The model is made by Revel Monogram and I think it's the first I've made of theirs. I have got a Cylon Raider ship from Batlestar Galactica and Voyager from Star Trek made by the same people, so this project will give me an idea of what to expect. So far I have fitted the two half's and the back of the fuselage together and attached it to the lower wing, then fitted and filled the inner wings then fitted and filled the upper inner wings.

You can see some of the filler on the wing at the bottom of this picture. Next I attached the other part of the wing which completes the thruster pods on the end of each wing. some more filling is required just to tidy these up but not too much because all the thrusters have to be attached yet. I have also started to detail the pilot and cockpit because I plan to prime and paint the model virtually completed so I have also started masking off the cockpit windows which takes ages because it is so tiny. There are four different sets of decals provided with the kit so I have to decide which one to choose pretty soon.

In this picture you can see detail on the pilot. This model has some of the smallest decals I have ever seen, including the badges on the pilot's arms and lapels and the actual helmet face. I am not too fanatical on getting details 100 percent correct although I have every respect for modelers who spend hours watching clips and searching out reference material. I am just looking for realism, I'll make up my own history and story for each model so that is why the colors might not be the same as those on TV. Once I have finished with the cockpit I can attach the two halves together and fit the cockpit canopy so I have got plenty to do.

Now I have attached the two half's together. I have got some new filler from Halford's car accessories called Knifing Putty. It seems OK but time will tell as I am now waiting for some to dry where the two parts meet. I think this will give a smother finish than the Humbrol model filler I had been using. The main problem with this was this was it had gone off slightly and it was difficult to get any out of the tube. I suppose this is why a lot of modelers use car filler with a separate hardener.

Now I have finished detailing the cockpit I have attached the glass canopy and filled around the joints. I masked the windows by covering the area with tape and then trimming it with a scalpel. I used to cut little bits of tape and stick them on, but this took hours. The new method saves so much time and effort I can't believe I did not think of it before. I have been tidying up the rest of the parts and I will attach them over the next couple of days. I have now bought some spray paint for the job. I have picked a metallic black spray because I have decided to go for the Black Omega look (as shown on the back of the box).

Nearly ready for the first coat of paint, I have filled the wing joints and rubbed them down an attached the cannons and thrusters. I drilled out the ends of the cannons to give them a more realistic look. Next I have to attach the vanes to the thruster pods then it should be ready for a coat of primer. I have also took the shine of the body with a quick sanding all over, just to give the paint a key to grip to. I have also assembled the base so I can spray that at the same time.

I have just sprayed the completed model with gray car primer. It took a couple of goes to get it all covered and once everything was dry I was able to sand down any thing that stood out and give it one more complete covering. Next will come the Black Pearlescent top coat once everything is thoroughly dry.

We are now coming to the final stages now. I have sprayed the Starfury and stand with the Black Pearlescent car paint and it gives a good metallic finish. I now have to apply the decals and weather the ship now using lighter colors as a pose to the normal blacks and rusts to simulate leakage and scorching. There is a little touching up to be done around the cockpit windows and the whole thing will then need a coat of lacquer to bring all the surfaces together.