Merchant Vessel Part 5

 First job was to come up with a paint scheme.

I thought I might make it predominantly green with red markings as green is a colour I have not used on any of my models so far. I fiddled about in photoshop with one of the primer grey pictures until I had a result I thought would work. I wasn't after anything too complicated on this model as it is a very utilitarian ship.

I decided to use some old Humbrol enamel paint I have had for some time and mixed up a green colour with a bit of yellow in it. The old enamel was a bit problematic as it was very difficult to remove all the small lumps for spraying and my airbrush kept clogging up. In the end I had to strain it through a folded up disposable respirator filter to get a lump free mix. The red was also a Humbrol enamel and had the same problem. The red markings were masked up and a few spots of latex masking medium dabbed about to get the chipped paint edge effect when the latex is rubbed off.

I then used my old poo juice wash mix of Tamiya flat black heavily diluted with methylated spirits (ethanol) and using a fine brush flowed it around and in all the detail wiping off again with a metho soaked rag. You have to be careful not to wipe off all the enamel as it does come off with the ethanol rag specially if you rub too hard. It is better to wait a week for the enamel to fully dry before doing this but I am impatient and wanted to get this project finished. I also don't mind the minor damage it does to the paint finish as I think it looks more aged and weathered that way.

Random panels were picked out with different shades of water based acrylics to get some variety in the green hue. These acrylics were diluted with some acrylic medium to get more of a transparent glaze to subtly modulate the colour without covering up the underlying wash too much.

I followed this up with drybrushing with a very pale green mix of artists acrylic paint on the green bits and over the grey detail sections I used my usual white students acrylic.

I then laboriously hand painted around the edge of all the panels with a lighter shade of the green and red for a chipped paint effect. I think I probably should have used a shade closer to the underlying colour as it is a bit too obvious up close but seems to look OK at a moderate distance.

The picture above shows the underneath of the model with the landing gear in the extended position. Below you can see the model sitting on its landing gear.

 

It is good to get another project finished, that makes two for 2021 so far which is about my average. I would like to get another one done before the year is up, we'll see how that goes.

Thanks for looking.

More soon...

Merchant Vessel part 4

One thing I forgot to add was a hatch so I rectified that problem by modifying the command section with an underside door/ramp on each side. The picture below shows it on the model which is mounted  bottom side up so the door is shown below upside down.

 After taking care of that omission and adding a few small details to the landing pads it was time to complete the application of grey primer. The result of which is shown in the following series of pictures below.

The picture above shows the starboard door which would theoretically hinge down forming a ramp.

 Next task is to design a paint scheme.

At this stage I am intending that the inset detail areas and engines will remain dark grey with the command section, skinned hull areas and wings predominantly green with red markings.

Thanks for looking.

More soon...

 

Merchant Vessel part 3

 The construction phase of the Merchant vessel spaceship project is very nearly complete.

I skinned the remaining hull sections with 2mm styrene and have completed covering the surfaces with flat panel detailing. The pictures below show the completed upper surface detailing.

 

Following on with the lower surface.

I also decided to make this spaceship a lander and so made up some landing gear that is both retractable and sprung so it will compress with the weight of the ship. The front leg has two brass rams and two springs while the rear has two legs with one spring each. The PVC landing struts are hinged using a small brass hinge from the hardware store, superglued after roughing up both surfaces with coarse sandpaper.

The bottom tube of the rams have a small length of steel rod that drops into a snug space in the gear well of the model with a magnet at the bottom so they can be manually popped in place when extending the landing gear. The salvaged springs just fit inside the inner diameter of the tube and are quite stiff for their size

The landing gear still needs a couple of details to be added before moving on to the next task which is to complete spraying the remaining surfaces with grey primer.

Thanks for looking.

More soon...