Y Wing - basecoated

Ok, so i've bottled it.

Was nervous of using untried Tamiya paints though an airbrush i've not used for so long on such a nice kit.

And the paint i'd chosen when painted by brush is FAR too dark.

So, instead, i've put on a coat of white then a very light dusting of Ford Ivory, which i had left over from my 2001 Orion project.

That's a very intense colour but, put on lightly, its not a bad match for the "creamy grey white" that the Y Wings seem to have.

Not that its apparent in this pic - decided to take some shots outside. And, even though its an overcast day in Kent, its washed the shot out something chronic.

Alien 3

Figure there's a heck of a lot of hardware here just lately, so lookee what i dug out the back of the cabinet - the Halcyon IP kit that i got when it first came out.

Still pleased with the paintjob, which i did with loads of acrylic washes built up over time and heavily glossed.

Y Wing - primed

Gonna basecoat it tomorrow.

Bit apprehensive as it'll be (a) the first time i've used my airbrush in 13 years, and (b) i'm gonna use Tamiya paints.

Y Wing - as far as i've got

Eye, eye - Cyclops

Here's an attempt to show what i mean about the window having "depth"

Y Wing - cockpit

That's that all done. Not too noticible here, but the 1/72nd scale pilot has 3 (3!) decals on his helmet!

Short interlude

Off to France in the morning to pick up my Son and be pampered by the In-Laws.
Back on Tuesday so expect i'll be updating Weds.

Fine Molds - Y Wing

Got one of these at the start of the week and all i can say is:
(A) Its every bit as good as folk say it is
(B) Sorry for no pics yet - its so good and i'm having so much fun, that time i could use taking and uploading pics, i'd rather use on building a bit more.
Promise i'll post some once i've got the body done ok?

Cyclops - Panelling

I’ve gone to the next step, outlining all the panel lines in pencil, and highlighting the areas where I’d put on the Raw Sienna.
I’ve taken off the masking around the cockpit and engines just to see how things look. These will need covering up before I put on the Matt Varnish.
I’m really pleased with the cockpit – by sticking a clear button onto a clear hull, its given the cockpit real depth and does look like there’s more going on inside than there is. Not at all apparent here but I’ll put a clearer pic on soon.

Cyclops - VERY orange

So, here she is based in a coupla coats of Games Workshop "Golden Yellow". This is a much deeper yellow than I’m used to and was kinda put off by it at first, figuring it was too similar to Thunderbird 4.
Was also surprised to see, once she had a more "solid" colour on her, how reminiscent she is of the Spindrift from Land Of The Giants. It wasn’t intentional and I had no inkling of it while building.
I’ve also put on a very thin wash of "Raw Sienna" into the grooves on the sides and around the detail in the nose.

Cyclops - then primed in white

Cyclops - primed in grey

Cyclops - ready for priming

Turned the upper airlock into a proper docking clamp now and bunged some more panel lines all over, but especially around where the cowls meet the body.

Cyclops - end in sight

Here i've wrapped the painted engine area in a plastic, glued on the engine cowls and stuck on the cockpit window.

Roy Batty - finished

Was a bit of a slog after finishing the face, being just a pair of shorts, trainers and a dove.

Cyclops - more detail

Starting to put on tiny pieces on the hull and some sort of docking mechanism up on top for when it attaches to the mothership.

Cyclops - nose detail

Decided not to have the nose as one big sensor array, but insted have it as the docking port, with the round part of the green bit being the airlock.

Cyclops - putting panel lines on

Really like this part, and this is where to me it starts looking like what i've in my head.

ARC 170 - Hmmm...

... what to do?

Realised that its gonna be a bugger to get in and paint the inside of the opening wings as seen here.

Decided to paint them before assembly then Blu Tac the wings down when spraying.

Cyclops - engines painted

Primed in black, sprayed in Games Workshop Boltgun Metal and the smallest of black washes over the top.

Roy Batty - all bloody

ARC 170 - finished cockpit

Painted the new bits and put the pilots in place. I've outlined the various pieces of clothing in black to make them stand out a bit.

Doubt if it'll notice but i know they're there.

Roy Batty - face done

Eyes glossed, hair drybrushed and lips re-done.

And the cunning bit - want the gore to be as accurate as poss, so have sat in front of the telly with Roy, pausing the film and lightly sketching on where the blood runs are with a soft red pencil.

ARC 170 - cockpit

First step - bung lots of greeblies in to make up for the total lack of control panels.

Snub Nose - aka Cyclops

That's what i'm now gonna call it. And that's because i'm using a clear dome for the cockpit, which'll be right at the front, looking very eye-like.

Anyway, here's the engine area almost done. Most of it won't be visible once the cowls are on but what the hey.

Star Wars - ARC 170

Quite like this design but only got it because it was 7.99 in TK Maxx.

As weel as being snap-fit and precoloured and decals already on, it also falls down in the cockpit area and no Droid in the slot - so gonna be improving it a tad.

Roy Batty - face done

Eyes are all done, just need varnishing.

You'll notice its real dark round the eyes. That's deliberate - i'm going for the scene right before Roy catches Deckard, he's almost spent and his eyes have very dark surrounds.

The hair is a bit of a problem - in the film its completely white, which'd look stupid on a kit this size, so i've based it in this creamy white and will drybrush with pure white.

The rouble i'm having is the trouble i have with all male figures - a convincing shade for the lips.

AT ST - assembled

Joints puttied and ready for primer

Roy Batty - pastelled and tattoed

Pastelling done and tattoos on. This is where the internet proves invaluble - sat down at the monitor with Roy and a 3B pencil inmy hand, drawing the tats on while studying some pics i found on the Net.

Just about to seal it with varnish.

I'm gonna use GW Purity Seal, which i never use on flesh as it dries far too shiny - but here it'll work as, at this point in the film, Roy is wet through.

Roy Batty - toned

I've now put a wash of GW Dwarf Flesh to lay in the recesses.

Roy Batty - back to square one

Decided to go with my tried and trusted method for flesh.

I'm using Games Workshop Bleached Bone for the base - which is a really bad idea, given that it dries with a grey sorta tint.

But i've found that if you put it on really watered down, so the white show through as highlights, its actually a pretty good version of a pale flesh.

And that's what i've done here.

Star Wars Chicken Walker

Thanks to my good friend Ian Ward i got this for nuffink.

Its the old AT ST which i never got when it came out - think i was a bir sniffy about snapfit kits, figuring there's too much detail lost to make it so.

This doesn't look too bad though, despite its odd apperance.

Ian assures me this wasn't his doing - partially assembling and then splotching bright green all over it!

Gonna just ignore the green and prime over the top.

Roy Batty - bugger (part 2)

Here he is primed and with the basecoat on.

Trouble here is the make-up of the paint. I used Games Workshop Elf Flesh as i figured it'd be a good tanned base to work from and their paints leave a nice, realstic skin sheen.

Trouble is, this paint shade is translucent - any type of highlighting - with whatever mix of the base and another - just adds to the deepness of the colour, making it darker and darker.

Decided to quit before cocking it up even more and going to repray with primer.

Roy Batty - bugger (part1)

So, really pleased with myself how i've rubbed down the filler nice and smooth and blended it in.
Then i put the primer on.
What became apparent then was that Mike Hill had sculpted loads of muck onto the skin and, rubbing the filler down, i'd removed on the belly and arms leaving them baby-smooth.
After much swearing i realised if i put some Liquetex Gel Medium on, then dabbed it off, i'd have a similar finish.
So i did.

Roy Batty - puttied and ready for priming

Hellboy - close-up

Hellboy - all done

Very pleased with how he's come out.

He's not as garish as this pic makes out - think my camera overcompensates in the reds.

Also, the pic doesn't get across how huge the blummin' thing is - 1/3rd scale i reckon.

Roy Batty - gappy waist

Glued now with Araldite and you can see what i mean about the fit not being too good.

They're even worse on the arm joins.

Roy Batty - pinning

All washed and ready to assemble.

The join between torso and legs isn't that good so i'm hedging my bets and playing it safe and using two pins rather than one.