Well guys… As you may have noticed, my participation of late has not been great… With Australia in the World Cup. Late nights, work and the family. I am a pretty tired little boy…
The Refit is still comming along, but I had a little trouble with the neck, and so when I start to have problems, it means I am rushing, and should clear the mind of it… So, while it is sitting, I have been playing on and off with a few other projects…
One project that I am having fun with is my Buck Rogers Star Fighter… … Behind the Viper, and the X-Wing. This thing is the greatest design for a space fighter I have ever seen… I loved the show as a kid, but not a fan of the cast or stories. But I did watch to see the Starfighter…
A simple little kit, the cockpit needs to be assembled before you can do anything else… As there are no landing gear supplied, it seems strange to put a craft in a flight display with no pilot… So I went through the spares, and with a little cutting and shaping, I now have a 1/35 pilot looking the right size in there… I also didnt want my pilot to look like Buck Rogers with the whit jumpsuite… I instead chose to go with a regular pilot with a grey flight suite… H edoes have the same colored armband that Buck Rogers suite fashioned…
Anyways, just a few rough pics of where I am at… At the momment, she is together awaiting sanding and detailing, and then I will begin painting!
Hi, Chris!
The Starfighter is looking good so far. Nice job on the pilot!
I’m with you; that ship is definitely one of the best SF ship designs. I have one built back in the States and two unbuilt in the stash here!
Have you noticed how common this kit is here in Japan? Both the original Monogram boxing and the Tsukuda rebox…I run into them everywhere…for cheap, too. I just picked up the second kit about a month ago, for 1,500 yen (about US $10). There are at least two more I know of at two LHSs…for about 3,000 yen (about US $20). Cheap and plentiful! These buggers pull plenty of cash on eBay, do they not?
I’ve run into plenty of cheap Monogram Cylon Base Stars (Basestars? Definitely not Bay Stars![;)]) recently, too…
Thanks Brian… Well grab them mate… They are gold in the US… Although my hobby stores never have any, I see the odd one on auction… Just picked up a Basestar the other day… Its the German Maschinen Krieger stuff that is hard to find here… Anywhere actually… Have a friend into that stuff, so I am always looking out for him…
I agree too, the Thunder fighter was one of the best designs. They just shot it kind of slow on the series. They should’ve moved like an X-Wing. I’ve got one in my stash along with a Hatchet fighter. And I picked up the SMT Scorpion fighter, luckily before they stopped production. Another cool bash/design. Chris, keep posting pics of this build/paint job/weathering.
Ok Steve… I am having a little trouble with the settings on the camera, and then the battery went flat, but I did manage to get one pic… not 100% but it shows the paint that I have on it thus far… Basically I am going to keep it pretty spotless, but with the usual weathering, but lightly done…
UPDATE: Finished… Just a little bit of weathering as I wanted it to look used but clean… Fun little build, and a great display piece… I think I will build a decent stand with schematics for it next…
That looks outstanding Chris! Just the right amount of weathering. They were kinda clean on screen anyway. Nice job. You should submit that to the SSM Gallery.
Sometimes its hard to know when enough is enough, and what is too much… I am surprised with this little model… It really has been fun, and it has come out better than I thought… Plus its not something you see on many people’s shelves…Its a great subject piece…
Here is a little something else that I did this week… I had a guy that I have built a few models for in the past here in Japan ask me to do some Tie Fighters for him… He also didnt want them to be small like the fine molds ones and so I suggested the AMT versions…
I had a set of the 2 pack AMT Tie Fighters, and the snap Tie Interceptor… I placed them both on the Death Star Base that comes in the 2 pack, and mounted them for him…
The Interceptor is just OOB, and although I would have liked to accurise it and fix the join for the back door, the guy was more than happy with the result…And said that he liked that it was a little different from the original Tie… Plus no one would be looking at the back when it is displayed… Ok then…
I must say though, that the AMT Tie Fighter is a great version of this fighter, and if you can get your hands on them, then they make a great model if you are looking for something a little larger than the Fine Molds offerings… I have the Fine Molds sitting in my pile, and so I am left with one of the AMT Tie’s… If anyone wants it, let me know and we can talk…
Ok, the refit is definately on hold until I can get the mood back for doing it… So in the mean time, here is another set that I did… Just finished the base yesterday…
Its the old Star Wars B-Wing and Y-Wing snap kits… I thought they looked great in this combination…
I am going to use the spare decals from my Fine Molds X Wing for the astro droid on the back of the Y-Wing… I did the same thing the last time I built this little Y-Wing kit, and it looked great… Better than me having to hand paint him…
as you guys prob. know, i was trying to get a RGB-led controller developped, but today i found out it was there all along, and, to make things even better, the designer of the card, is thinking along with me on the how etc.
also, we are brainstorming for scripts, to create cool effects/simulations of a ship in different situations.
maybe you guys would like to participate in this? or, maybe even use the card yourselves?
Thanks Steve… The B-Wing is a cool little ship, and simple to put together… The Y-Wing is also so simple, and with a bit of work can also make a great little subject…
Well, for an update, the Refit really is being neglected… And the reason this time is this…
Went shopping with the wife and kid the other day, and while I was looking at toys with my daughter, I could here this calling me from the modeling section… Only one there, all by itself… I cant remember, but I think it just jumped into my arms?
These are really hard to find now here in Japan…(well, where I live anyway)… But like my wife said. You cant live in Japan, and not build a YAMATO…
Definately a fun build there. That brings back memories, There was a store in the Little Tokyo section of downtown LA that had all the Star Blazers stuff, and alot more. I had all the SB minis and a few big ones. Have fun with it.
Well in all honesty Steve… I kinda sort of remember the show… But cant say very well, I have always remembered the ship… What actually got me interested, was here in Japan, every Sunday evening on Fuji TV’s cable channel 721, they have a show that features 3 or 4 top model builders here in Japan… About 2 weeks ago, they had a guy that did the Yamato… It was simply amazing to watch, and this thing looked great when finished… I enjoyed it so much, I simply had to have one for myself!.. It should be fun!
They ran the show here back in the 70’s. I was able to catch most of it, but haven’t seen it since. That should make for a nice display, be sure to post pics.
