Plastic Model Building

[Solomon Zorn]

What scale is it? It looks fairly large.

Is that the Revell Gemini? I have that one. I'll have to post pictures. What kind of paint did you use on the Gemini? I used Testors Metallizer Gunmetal.

Found a picture of my Gemini. For the red dashes, I freeze-framed an episode of From the Earth to the Moon, and painted them on by hand.

[Solomon Zorn]

Now that I look at your model closer, it's not the big one from Revell, but looks to be a 1/72 scale one, judging by the Testors paint jar beside it. Good job on it, except for the silvering on the decals. Did you use a gloss paint or flat?

[stromboli]

Dang it, I ain't got enough interests and now I'm itching to build some of my old models again.

[Solomon Zorn]

Online photo references for painting, and other online resources can make things a lot more interesting these days.

[trdsf]

Now that I look at your model closer, it's not the big one from Revell, but looks to be a 1/72 scale one, judging by the Testors paint jar beside it. Good job on it, except for the silvering on the decals. Did you use a gloss paint or flat?

Yeah, decals have always given me fits.  I don't recall what paint I used, as that was several years ago.  It was probably whatever the instructions recommended.

Real-world space models are my main interest, with a minor in SF spacecraft.  I'd love to get my hands on that big Discovery from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[Solomon Zorn]

Yeah, decals have always given me fits.  I don't recall what paint I used, as that was several years ago.  It was probably whatever the instructions recommended.

The best way to do any finish that includes decals, is by using a gloss color before the decals, then sealing with clear gloss, then if you want a flat finish go over it with a dullcoat, either lacquer based or acrylic.

Real-world space models are my main interest, with a minor in SF spacecraft.  I'd love to get my hands on that big Discovery from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

That $600 one from Federation Models? That's on my wish list, now that I bought the 4 ft. Valley Forge model (from the 1970's movie SILENT RUNNING, starring Bruce Dern).

Back to your International Space Station model - how accurate is it to the one in orbit? 

Here are my other Real-Space models:


The Space Shuttle was built in 1999. The decals on that one didn't turn out so great.

[Solomon Zorn]

This is the Valley Forge from Shapeways. It's four feet long, and minutely detailed. I saved for a year and a half to buy it, and spent about three weeks on building it.




The awesome domes were screen printed, by the maker, with the latticework, then vacuformed.



The large white area is a simple chunk of nicely molded resin. The antenna array and some other tiny details were done in photo-etch.



The bizarrely complex orange geometrical structure, was produced in segments which were formed individually on a 3D printer, because there is no practical way to make them from a mold. The little orange triangles on the polyhedrons were all painted by hand, and took about five days.

[kilodelta]

That's pretty sweet.

[trdsf]

The best way to do any finish that includes decals, is by using a gloss color before the decals, then sealing with clear gloss, then if you want a flat finish go over it with a dullcoat, either lacquer based or acrylic.
That $600 one from Federation Models? That's on my wish list, now that I bought the 4 ft. Valley Forge model (from the 1970's movie SILENT RUNNING, starring Bruce Dern).

Back to your International Space Station model - how accurate is it to the one in orbit?

Until they slashed the funding on it, it was going to be accurate so far as I know.  I believe the model has parts that were scheduled for the ISS at the time the model was released, but have since been eliminated.  I'm torn between building it the way it was intended to be, or the way it actually was.

I think Heller is currently marketing it as Mission Jules Verne; it's 1:125 and includes the Jules Verne ATV and an Ariane as well as the station.  The online consensus seems to be that Revell's 1:144 model is more accurate, though, but I think that's relative to the Mission Jules Verne version.  I don't know about the original.

That Valley Forge is gorgeous.  Yeah, the $600 Discovery is on my lottery list.  I may get the smaller $125 one, but I've never done resin modeling and that's a lot of money to throw at a "okay, time to learn this skillset" project.

I'm awful drooly over Dragon's 1:72 Saturn V with Skylab, too... it's on sale right now, and I'm broke.  Feh.

[Solomon Zorn]

Yeah, the $600 Discovery is on my lottery list.  I may get the smaller $125 one, but I've never done resin modeling and that's a lot of money to throw at a "okay, time to learn this skillset" project.

I'm awful drooly over Dragon's 1:72 Saturn V with Skylab, too... it's on sale right now, and I'm broke.  Feh.

I would wait till you can afford the big one. It'll be a lot more pleasant when you're researching the paint scheme, by freeze-framing the movie, to be able to notice all the accurate little details instead of noting the flaws. Which is the great thing about resin: there is no limit to the fine detailing that can be cast into the parts.

Keep in mind whichever one you get you're going to want a display case. I should have invested the money on one for the Valley Forge. It's all covered with dust now, and just like the Discovery would be, it's impossible to dust. I'll have to have someone hold it in the shower, while I rinse it down. It's the only way to get the smoke buildup off.


I have this one started. At 9 inches in diameter, it's a very difficult model. Possibly the hardest I've built.
The 2001 Space Station:




Pictures are from someone's finished build at the Fantastic Plastic website.

[Solomon Zorn]

Just sold a 23" Eagle Transporter replica, that I bought some years back. With the money, I bought some new models.

The one I am working on now, is a 28" Star Destroyer, from Star Wars. It's a resin kit, and takes a lot of extra work, straightening the warped parts.

Not only is it huge, the tiny detail on it is astounding.

Here is a picture of the top half of the hull, in progress:

[Mike Cl]

Just sold a 23" Eagle Transporter replica, that I bought some years back. With the money, I bought some new models.

The one I am working on now, is a 28" Star Destroyer, from Star Wars. It's a resin kit, and takes a lot of extra work, straightening the warped parts.

Not only is it huge, the tiny detail on it is astounding.

Here is a picture of the top half of the hull, in progress:

Wow!  Your work is astounding.

I flash back to my childhood, where I spent my allowance (75 cents every two weeks) on models of tanks and other military vehicles.  My most involved modeling adventure was creating a battle diorama of burnt tanks, dead soldiers and other equipment strewn around a tiny battlefield.  Did the damage with just plain old matches.  The plastic of the day burnt quite quickly, so I had to be on my toes to blow those flames out. :)

[Solomon Zorn]

I don't think I ever melted any of my own models, when I was a kid, but my best friend used to steal his brothers military models and burn them behind the shed. Of course, that's a little more destructive than what you were doing with the matches.

[trdsf]

Just sold a 23" Eagle Transporter replica, that I bought some years back. With the money, I bought some new models.

The one I am working on now, is a 28" Star Destroyer, from Star Wars. It's a resin kit, and takes a lot of extra work, straightening the warped parts.

Not only is it huge, the tiny detail on it is astounding.

Here is a picture of the top half of the hull, in progress:

I am well and truly envious.  You do brilliant work.

[Solomon Zorn]

I am well and truly envious.  You do brilliant work.

I don't know about that...

This thing is giving me fits! I can't, with all my 47 years of experience, get the fucking edge straight! It's such a beautifully mastered kit, but it's a son-of-a-bitch to assemble. The parts are mostly warped with age. But it's a very rare kit, that was produced without a license around 2010. They got a Cease and Desist order almost immediately, and stopped making them.

There was a huge gap, between the main superstructure and the forward superstructure, that I had to fill in with "detail." Those little white bits are what I added, after closing the gap with peices of styrene: