I’m building the Moebius “2001: A Space Odyssey” Orion clipper space ship. It’s a pretty darn simple build with lots of room for extra subtle detailing. So far so good.
The thing that has me stumped is how to finish the base. The kit comes with a triangular plastic base with a stem for the ship to sit on. It’s got room for a “Pan American” logo with a shaped globe and latitude/longitude lines behind. I quite like the look, so I’d like to use the kit version if possible.
The problem is that the raised detail on the base is molded underneath the surface rather than on top. If it paint things there, I’ll have to leave the surface clear, which I don’t want to do. I considered decaling the entire thing, but not sure that would look as good as actual paint on the globe part. Should I score the top part using the bottom as a guide first? I also spotted a picture (below) that seems to show the model with the land details on the globe as very thin cut-out craft foam, so that might be another option.
I would really appreciate any advice about how to approach this for the best look. If you were building this kit, what would YOU do?
Is there a reason you don’t want to leave the top clear? I’d just paint it underneath and then put a clear coat of gloss over the top. Of course you’d have to put the Pan-Am logo on before you paint though.
I dunno. It just struck me the wrong way immediately for some reason. Seemed like it would look “funny” with the outlines being extra thick plastic. Seems like that would still show through even when painted. I’ll take another look at it though with fresh eyes.
From my experience painting RC car shells, I’d say just paint it from the underside. It gives more protection from chipping as the paint is on the inside, you don’t need to use a gloss coat. If you do it though, you need to think backwards when painting, ie. Start with lattitude/longitude lines, land and then water.
