Unfinished Old Spaceship model Part 2

This model was started around the same time as the "Sony" model. It is so close to being finished I don't know why I didn't just complete it. I think it was because I couldn't think how to resolve the front command section that I just sort of abandoned it. I find I often had difficulty coming up with a suitable front section for my spaceship models, changing them a number of times on various models, I'm not sure why. This round shaped front section was a stand from an Airbus plastic kit with a plastic tablespoon measure glued on top. The section behind that was part of the front from one of the earliest models I made, which again I didn't end up liking. It is actually solid carved Jelutong wood, a once very popular pattern making rainforest timber. It was actually the front of this model before I decided to hack the very front extremity off and add the rounded shape now attached.

The engine Bells are two more of the same ribbed acrylic cups with two plastic tap handles glued on as nozzles.

The ribbed central section sides were a cheap Styrene plastic lampshade. Behind those are two halves of a plastic blender cut on the bandsaw.

Underside.

Topside.

The shape below the command section is a 1/25 scale Le Mans racing car kit.

Below you can quite easily make out the Blender jug shape on its side.

"the Blender"

Inside the plastic tap handle nozzles are a couple of Short Sunderland kit engine cowlings.

I have some new ideas about finishing this... one day.
The model length is 930mm

The story of this model continues here

Old Spaceship model Part3 (Sony Spaceship)

This model was made in the late 90's. It was again made from a disparate collection of shapes.
There is a central spine made of some PVC conduit, with everything strung along it.
The  rounded front command module was part of a bedside lamp housing, with some added volume at the bottom. The next module (with the X shape) was built out of two protective plastic covers from some small Sony bookshelf speakers.

The next module along was built from two Sony di-sub video printer cartridges. Sony really contributed a lot to this model.

The engine housing was scratch built from styrene sheet. the engine nozzles were more wheels from a micronaut toy.

Model railway bits and pieces are a good source of detail parts. Note the nicely molded AEG transformer part from some HO scale wagon.

The cone shapes object that connects the engine housing was a baby's plastic clown shaped toy. It's had evergreen strips added but you can still make out the hand shapes in the thumbs up position. I probably should have cut those off, but as is usual with these things if you don't know what the object was in the first place you probably don't notice it. A prominent piece of the Hasegawa 1/72 Morser Karl sitting on top of the engine housing.

This model was finished in white automotive primer, with various panels in grey and red oxide primer. The usual weathering method of "Poo Juice" and dry brushed white student acrylic as previously described ( see old-spaceship-model-part-1).
Model length 850mm.

Here's a shot of the three of them together.

Excepting the Foss model, most of my spaceships end up around the same length, around 900mm. I'm not sure why that is, it's probably for me a comfortable size to work on and not too big that it needs heavy engineering to support. Not too small either, as I don't like working on small models, too fiddly.

As it happens the original star destroyer from Star wars was 3ft or around 900mm and that is what got me started on this whole obsession in the first place.

Explorer Part 2

I have now done some of the detailing work on the back and built and detailed the roof of the cab.

It doesn't look like much until you hit it with a can of grey car primer. I intended to show the cab roof before and after the primer coat, but unfortunately got carried away and sprayed it before taking the photos. I always get excited when detailing, its the bit I enjoy the most. The tan coloured parts are from a 1/72 matchbox German tank kit, the dark grey from the ubiquitous 1/72 Hasegawa Leopold kit and the rest from a new purchase, a Trumpeter 1/35 Stryker kit., plus a bit of Evergreen, sheet styrene, bits of PVC and more pieces of 27mhz radio Control unit.

The photo below shows the stsrt of the upper hull detailing. The black ribbed panels are the sides from an old 27mhz radio control unit. You can also see an old computer CPU fan which will become some sort of airconditioning unit. It still works and I may hook it up to a power source. I need to come up with a grill to cover the fan.

 Here is the rear section with one grill installed. This was made from a sandwich of styrene strips glued up as one block then cut up to fit on the bandsaw.

 Here is the roof of the cab, detailed with the main top hull of the Stryker cut up and rearranged along with other parts and styrene ducting etc.

More to follow soon.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.

Model Kit part detailing Guide

Model Kit Part Detailing 

Leopold, its all over the original Battlestar Galactica series.

  The technique for detailing Sci fi surfaces with the parts from plastic model kits came into fruition with the models used in the many Gerry Anderson puppet series in the 1960s. It was then adopted for the models in 2001 a Space Odyssey where it developed into full maturity, and to stunning effect. Here for the first time were spacecraft and vehicles with a believability never before seen. Gone were the usual streamlined shiny silver cigar shaped rocket surfaces to be replaced with complex intricate utilitarian shapes, that caught the light and cast a jigsaw of shadows.

Over the years I have developed a set of guidelines or rules of thumb for detailing Sci Fi surfaces. A long time a go I made a study of model spaceships from the classic Sci Fi film and television shows to determine what I thought worked well and what didn't. Up front I have to say that I love the rich texture that the classic model kit parts style can give to a spaceship model, and I don't believe I have seen a CG spaceship that gives me the same satisfaction. I remember whilst watching Star Wars episode One, thinking that the cg spaceships really looked as good as models of old, only to discover that they were indeed models after all, no wonder they looked good. On the other hand the CG spaceships in Ep Three did not excite me at all.

Detail can come not only from model kit parts, but any suitable plastic that can be glued with a solvent based adhesive or super glue, generally styrene,  ABS or acrylic. Toys, kitchen goods, electrical goods and whatever else can be chopped up and looks cool. Evergreen  and EMA or Plastruct strips, rods, pipes and textured sheets are also very useful but also relatively expensive.

Here are my design guidelines for Sci Fi detailing in no particular order;

1. CONNECT - The parts should appear to connect to each other, either with pipes, ducts or more abstractedly as a flow of parts. Basically they need to look like they do something, whether it be electrical, hydraulic or mechanical.
2.  RECESS - Wherever  possible chunky detail always looks the best when below the surface or recessed. It can be in a trench or a hole or where a panel has been removed. The other possibility is to build up around an area so it appears recessed. Avoid just gluing big lumpy detail parts on top of the surface. Flat details such as panels, piping and ducting are OK .
3. CLUMPING - Probably the most important rule. Detail should not be evenly spaced across the surface, it should clump together, much like trees clump together in a landscape.There should be a contrasting range of areas of very little detail and spots of intense detail. The clumps of detail may then connect together using pipes or ducts. The heights of the chunky detail should also be clumped like a grove of trees, taller in the centre and smaller as the clump radiates out, with some random variation.
4. RANDOM - This is more of a re-inforcement of the Clumping rule, in that if you are going after a random distribution of detail, make sure that the spacing between each section is also random. One of the mistakes you can make is to randomly place detail in terms of location across the surface, but each location is about the same distance away from each other. Some areas of detail should be close to each other and some should be a long way apart, this is again the clumping rule. Also randomise the shapes, mix round with rectangular etc.
   
5. THICKNESS - Where possible vary the thickness of flat panels, pipes, ducts, channels etc.
6. ASYMMETRY - This is up to you, sometimes symmetry is appropriate, but asymmetry can look cool. It really depends on the subject.
7. SCALE - The scale of the detail should match the scale of the subject. As a general suggestion, smaller scaled model kits  1/350 and above down to 1/72 suit small scale surfaces. Larger scale subjects require larger scaled lumps, 1/35 up to 1/12 scale kit parts. This is not a hard and fast rule it is just that too much fine detail on a 1/12 scale model starts to look odd as does 1/12 scale parts on a 1/500 scale model. I'm talking about surface detail here, larger scale model parts can become the actual structure of a small scale model quite happily which then get a layer of fine surface detail. Large and small here refers to the scale not to the size of the model. You can make a 1/1000 scale spaceship model 3 metres long if you want.
8. MULTIPLES - When buying model kits it is often advantageous to have repeats of the same detail. Sometimes a kit may have multiples of the same part in it but if you can, for a really large model, get more than one of the same kit. The other option is to make a master detail section and mold and cast multiples of the panel. It is possible that for the hobbyist, the cost of the molding and casting materials exceeds that of a multiple kit purchase.

Once you have glued all your parts together it looks like a strange assortment of colours and shapes. It is not until you give it (after washing with hot water and detergent and drying thoroughly) a coat of grey car primer that you really see your work change from a bunch of kit parts, and styrene strips  to a unified whole that looks the business. Often a quick spray of grey is needed to see how you are progressing. You then have to scrape it away where you still need to add more bits.

You can see many examples of the guidelines on the Rebel Blockade Runner model from Star wars.
Notice the heaviest detail is in recesses and that when on the surface it tends to clump together.Also notice the detail is connected, it looks like it does something.

Detail in recesses, and clumped together.

Connection with pipes and areas of very little detail with detailed clumps.

Clumping and abstract connection with strips. Also asymmetry within symmetrical left and right details.

The type of detailing described here has been at times disparagingly called the "spray in glue and roll in kit parts" style. There have been at times attempts to avoid kit part detailing entirely. Many modelers hold the view that it is bad to use recognisable kit parts on models. I don't hold that view as I wouldn't want to deprive anybody of the joys of kit spotting. Personally I can't think of a single successful example of a sci fi movie spaceship design that didn't use any kit parts. Has there been any cool CG spaceships?
There is now masses of extremely good reference photos on the net of the very best of the style from the models built during the golden years of the 70's and 80's. When I began my study after Star Wars came out there was no Internet, I had buy every book and magazine I could lay my hands on, that had a photo of a model spaceship. I cut out all the pictures and made up a photo reference book that enabled me to sort the good stuff from the sub standard, and there was plenty of that in the post star wars frenzy. Now there is no excuse, armed with a couple of model kits and these guidelines you should be detailing with the best of them.