Psydon Ship - i'm a happy bunny

Been a bit frustrating that i haven't been able to go very far with this project. That's because i need an Airfix Saturn 1B 1/44 kit before a i can glue parts on, plus need to have the dimensions of parts to make other parts. Its doubly frustrating in that the kit is pretty rare, and therefore goes for big bucks when it does appear.

But just got one off eBay for a very resonable 27 quid so awwaaaaay i go. Here's the two main parts that i needed, just plopped in place for the pics.

Gans - all done

Krote - all done

Sulaco - painting

A breeze to build this - if i hadn't had to wait for the prongs to set, it'd been done within a couple of hours.

Top pic is it all assembled. The only glitch i had was trying to remove the sprue mark at the front. Normally that'd be sanded down, but here it was between raised panel lines and if'd done that i'd have lost detail. Instead, i've scraped away as much as i could then disguised it with a new panel over the top. Kept on with the new panels all the way along that join.

Other pics show it in primer, based in GW Fenris Blue and then where i am at the moment - drybrushing with that mixed with lighter greys. Have to decide whether to leave a lot of the blue apparent, thereby simulating how it looked onscreen, or keep going into proper grey so as to have it more like the actual model.

Sulaco - intricacies

Here's the finished sensor array and engine area. SO fine detail, they were great fun to do, but the instructions for the engine area were not at all clear and very fiddly to do.

Sulaco - simplicity and cunning

Top photo is how far you get with only 5 parts attached. Simple to do, but the details so detailed it looks great already. Next two shots show how cunning Halcyon were: there's a whacking great join up top, but its all concealed by this top piece. You can see here by the way that i've some work to do filling down the sprue joins aft.

U.S.S Sulaco

Its very strange, i got all the Halcyon when they first came out - except for the Nostromo (which was out of my price range back then, and even more so now) and this one. Dunno why - i love the design and its Injection Plastic, my medium of choice.

Anyway, been keeping an eye out for one since i've got back into hardware but they've always gone for big bucks on the 'Bay.

But finally got one for 20 quid from Italy. It was with some trepidation that i opened the box as its always had sniffy reviews, mainly over its size. But, what're they on about? That's a decent enough size, lovely intricate detail and looks to make for a neat finished model.

If there's any surprise its the few parts that go up to make it - and most of them go on the sensor array.

Jock sketchcards

Bit off-topics but thought you might like to see some of the 2000AD sketch cards that the mighty Jock did especially for this Squaxx.

Tony Hart dies

Awww man.

Bad enough that so many of my childhood heroes have gone now, but when its the gentle, artistic, charming, unique characters, its worse.

And Tony's passing so soon after Oliver Postgate is doubly so.

They were totally unique, and we'll never see their like again.

I feel sorry for the generations of kids who've come after their retirement, and now passing, who'll most probably never be exposed to their genius.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7836112.stm

Gans - nearly done

Cracking on with this as i've a couple of new projects i wnat to get started on.

Here are all the sub-assemblies all painted up. I've used a variation of my Himmelspion colour scheme, just using a different, lighter grey on it.

Decals are applied and i'm just about to put a coat of varnish on to pull everything together.

Gans - underway

Well, what i thought would happened happened - starting this project so soon after finish my Neuspotter and almost finished my Krote (which the Gans uses huge sections of both) has meant its proving to be a real slog on some sections.

The piece on the right is the Neuspotter head, which went together exactly the same, albiet the smoke dischargers and lower cowl broke the tedium a bit.

The piece on the left is an all new thing for me and because of that a lot more enjoyable, and its a connecting section between the head and lower body.

By the way, i'm still working hard on finishing the Krote and Gustav - just not got time to take pics and upload them.

Psydon Ship - first Saturn 1B parts

This project has been on hold for quite a while as a lot of what i can put on or constuct is dependant on their relative positioning to parts from the Airfix Saturn 1B kit - which i haven't got and is VERY scarce.

But, a bit of progress today thanks to the top blokeness of Keith Scaife, who's very kindly cast me these two discs from the kit to apply to the rear of main section.

No idea what they'd be on a "real" version. Escape Pod hatches? Mine launchers?

Krote and Gustav - painting underway

I've always found the Gustav to be a bit of a boring design and the guy peering out of the open canopy has always looked a bit naff.

The usual Panzer grey doesn't make it anything other than dull too. But i've found that, with the canopy in place, it actually looks a lot better so that's what i've gone with. I wanted to brighten up the colour scheme so i went:

Basecoat of Vallejo Luftwaffe Grey,

then GW Astrnomican Grey splogged all over,

and to busy it up - GW Bad Moon Yellow as identifying bands.

Next stop some decals before rusting it up.

The Krote has been washed with a black/basecoat mix. I've picked out the metallics and washed them with black .Again, decals next before MUCH rust.

With both kits i applied Mr Surfacer, but only one coat. That gives a subtle texture but not as much as i'd have liked on the Gustav.Rather than apply more coats and wait for each to dry, i've instead splodged on Liquetex Gel Medium to give a really bubbled up texture, which you can just make out in the pic

The new Wave Gans

After paying the right rip-off Customs charge, i was pretty hacked off. Till i opend the box that is.

What a lovely effort this is - a great box, looks like lovely casting of the parts, excellent decal sheet and a camo card too.

Can't wait to get started.

Krote and Gustav - basecoated

Here they are, and they've come out a bit different to how i planned.

For a start, the Mr Surfacer i applied isn't that noticible. I could've applied more layers of the stuff, but the new Gans arrived at this point and i want to get these quite a way under way as i start on the new kit.

Also, my original plan was to have the Krote here in a camo pattern and all beat up and rusty, and the Gans in a plain, Scorpion Green scheme and have them displayed together, implying that the Gans was the new kid on the block and replacing the well past it Krote.

But the Gans comes with a lovely winter scheme on the camo card and i'm going with that. So the Krote gets the single colour - and here it is, GW Catchan Green.

The Gustav is based in Vallejo Luftwaffe Grey, which is very dark, but i'm going to lighten it right up.

Krote and Gustav - Mr Surfacer applied

First time with this stuff and, while its as smelly as i've been led to believe, its nowhere near as lumpy and bumpy as i'd thought it'd be. A lot of folk have to sand down the bumps with Wet And Dry but its a nice finish like this after being applied with an old brush.

Was hoping it'd be good to cover some remaining seamlines but its a no-go there.