I've got a voice

Now we've a new computer and one that actually works properly, i've decided to step into the 21st Century and start putting things up on Youtube.
They'll basically be video versions of what i'll continuing to do here, but hopefully you'd see more of what i'm on about that way.
I'm also going to be looking back at past projects and, if they warrant it, maybe some tutorials.
I've already put up one's for the Special Weapons Dalek i've just finished and where i am so far of the Blade Runner Spinner - type in those names and you shoudl find them ok. Or search for my user name of MangaMax07.
If you do pop over, apologies in advance for:
the accent (can't help where i was brung up),
the shaky hands (was nervous),
saying "ummmm" so much (ditto),
and the waffling (its what i do)

Cybermat!

Being quite into Doctor Who at the mo' and fancying the idea of another biggish project like my Dianoga, i fancy having a go at a Cybermat.
Always liked the idea of them, and the fact that they changed their appearance every time we saw them.
This here is one of my favourite versions, so i had a think how i could replicate it.
The main body looks to me like i could use a food scoop of some kind.
Looking round the shops in two towns turned up zilch, so i got one off the 'Bay for a couple of quid.
I've hacksawed off the handle and next step is to remove the stub and sand it smooth.
Then cut the profile right,
put in the eyes,
maybe top spikes, maybe not,
and fashion the tail from Plasticard box-shapes

Special Weapons Dalek scratchbuilt Targetting Drone - all finished

Here she is then all done and hovering away.

Dalek Targetting Drone - eye, eye

So, thought having a red eye lens might be a nice contrast to all the rest. Big mistake:

Its far too bright and gaudy and looks terrible.
Changing it to gloss black was more like it.
And you can see here, on the ledge just below and to the right of the eye, that i've added more detail to the rust areas, making it hopefully look more than just a brown wash:

Sandtrooper - getting back into it

I've long neglected this, my biggest ever build challenge yet, over much smaller projects that've come along.
As you may recall, i've finished the helmet for the costume and i really think i should do a bit more.
Can't afford the rest of the armour at the mo' and i've done the E-11 Blaster, so all that's the left is the major thing that, apart from the muck, that sets the Sandtrooper apart from his shiny cousins - the backpack.

I'm really looking forward to this part as its a hotch-potch of parts that include plumbing piping, a loo brush holder, various tupperware pieces and a toilet cistern.
Lovely, Blue Peter-style model making.
Biggest challenge for the Backpack is the Sony radio which was used for, i guess, the control panel for all the gubbins.

Luckily, help was on hand in the form of Nathan off the excellent UK Garrison forum, who's supplied me with a Vac-Form front, along with various greeblies:


Cheers Nath for getting me back on track.

EFFECTive - Dave Taylor

Next up for this mini-feature we have Dave Taylor - ace comic book artist and all round Top Bloke to boot.
Dave's just finished work on the upcoming Batman "Death By Design", which you can see sneak peeks of over on Dave's Blog:

http://d-taylor-comics-music-ford-mustangs.blogspot.com/


Anyway, i love Dave's choice (A) because its a stunning split-second piece of model effects work and (B) i shared the exact same excitement as him along with the insperation to create.
Dave, you have the floor:

"It's the shot of the Eagle crashing to Moon and exploding from the opening sequence to Space 1999. This single second of film is forever recorded as clearly as watching it live. It could be the moment I realised that my own attempts at model building, from scrap Airfix and Tamiya kits, might have a future. I think that shot made me realise it was "just a model", like my models but greatly improved (by the fact that it explodes!), meaning to me at that instant that models are cool. Way cool! The word didn't exist in those days but I might have said AWESOME! Anderson's team of designers and model makers, to this day, inspire. They were creating at a time of growing interest in future design and lead the way, as they still do."

Dalek Targetting Drone - rusty

Here he is with the black washes on and the first of the rusts.
Go to go in next and give some "depth" to the rusty bits then try to replicate what looks like axle grease that seems to be leaking out of joins and plates on the Specail Weapons Dalek.
Then put the eye in.
I've got that all ready in Gloss Red but, i dunno. Thinking the bright red might be TOO much of a contrast to the rest of it, so i'll do a Gloss Black one and see how they compare

The Doctor Who Experience

We headed up to Lomdon for this today as its finishing in a few days. Pretty much like the Earls Court exhibition of a few years back except, before that, you get a trip in the Tardis.
Great fun, that the Sprogs especially liked as Matt Smitth had done a number of video inserts for the ride and they really thought he was talking to them.
They also got to pilot the Tardis, get stuck in a Dalek civil war (brilliant to be next to moving, talking Daleks), run past the Weeping Angels without blinking, and ended up watching a 3D show.
Great stuff.
The exhibit though was my highlight.
You got every type of Dalek in a row:

The truely brilliant K-1 Robot:

Get to see how piddly-squat the new Sontarans are to the earlier incarnations:

Examine a Zygon up close:

And compare the history of Cybermen helmets. They weren't originals, but not bad replicas:

Dalek Targetting Drone - through the colours

First up, my favourite - when the Primer pulls everything together and gives it more "weight".

And i think the Grey does it much better than the White.
Then we have the basecoat of "Renault Glacier White" which has a coat of Matt Varnish put on top of that - if i don't, the washes i'll be putting on will just bead up or, er, wash off.

Then we have him in his showroom condition, and looking mighty bling.
To keep in with the Special Weapons Dalek colour scheme, i have to do the globes in gold but i also looked elesewhere where i could put it on. I did consider putting it on some of the horizontal bands, but they're too close to the globes and i thought that's it'd be a bit too much in a small area.
So i've left it a couple of panels and the very tops of the "ears".

Just got to give them another coat and then it'll be the fun of dirtying him down.

Dalek Targetting Drone - assembled

Told you it would be fast.
Okay, that's him all together and ready for Primer.
Going from top to bottom, we've got:
The two Starfury engines for the lamps. One of them is black as i couldn't find another unused one so pinged one off my part built Black Omega version.
The eye area has a bit from a Gundam kit up top and the eye itself is just a Tamiya tank wheel backed with Plasticard. Into the middle will go the eye lens when all's done.
I've also added some of those self-adhesive jewels for blobby rivets just to break things up a bit.

On the underside it goes:
Bottom of the dome had a circle of Plasticard to seal it.
On to that is the lid of a British Rail coffee cup.
Then two parts from the R2D2 kit, which are the base of his body, but i've turned the upper part round just to give it a bit more height.
I've stuck on two nozzles at the front to try and suggest thrusters.
The two screw-like side bits are legs of a tiny tripod i had and they've been capped with chrome parts from a bike kit.
I had to have the blobby parts didn't i? They were supplied to me in a box of bits that Top Bloke Andrew Glazebrook sent me yonks ago. They're only Blu-Tac'd in place for the primer stage as i'll be removing them for painting.

This is the underside and i've put in some detail but not much as you'll not really see it. Its all centered around the circular piece which i'm saying is the hovering device and just so happens to have a whole that's the exact size to take the clear rod support.

And here's the rear. I've added a couple of bits of machinery and you can see i've used the sticky jewels for the blobs - i've run out of the proper one's at the front.

Special Weapons Dalek Targetting Drone

Having a good rummage through the boxes for bits for the AB36 craft, i came across this dome saved from my son's doomed radio controlled Dalek.
I was turning it over and thinking what a great shape it is and how i really should do something with it.
Then i got to thinking i really should be producing more stuff to sell.
The proverbial pinged on, so here i go with a real fast build.

I've got it in mind to use just the dome really and had it as a hovering little Dalek Probe Droid to begin with and so quickly ammased these parts. I'm thinking to have the dome exactly the same, no eye stalk but an eye in that recess for the stalk, if i can find another one then the Starfury engine nozzle will be replacing the lights up top, and the various shapes will be for the underside - most probably not the half pingpong ball though.
And somewhere in there will be blobby shapes to suggest those on the Daleks skirts.
So that's that and i started to think what colour should i do it?
First up i thought classic series Tank Grey and Black.
But then thought, if the sculpt is of the modern one, it should be the colour of them.
But i don't like them.
But then i thought - those two ribbed things (which will be hanging down from the underside) don't 'arf remind me of the Special Weapon Dalek.
Then - i'll paint it in the SWD colour scheme.
Then - why not having as a device to aid the SWD?
The only time we see it in the show, it just opens fire and blasts anything in front of it.
Not exactly subtle.
But what happens if it needs to hit something more precise?
Why not have a Targetting Drone, that flies to where the blast should go, the SWD locks on it, fires, and the Drone moves out the way at the last moment.
And, being its aide, it'd be the same colour as the SWD and just as beat-up and grimy too.
Works for me, so that's what i'm gonna do.

Batman Chess Set - Batman

Bit surprised to wander into a newsagents yesterday to find that Eaglemoss have started up a Batman Universe chess set.
I know Eaglemoss of old, having pretty much all of their Marvel Figurine run.
I never got their DC line though as its started when the Marvel one was still ongoing and i just couldn't afford it.
And i've always kinda regretted it.
But here we have a line of characters from my favourite DC series, combined with large chess pieces, which i've always liked the idea of.
So i've decided to collect the set.
Just like the Marvel line, the sculpts are excellent and, just like the Marvel line, fall down in some of the paintjobs.
I know it really can't be helped, and i feel for the poor sods on the production line painting them, but the lovely shots in all the ads are pretty much misleading - guessing they're especially painted for the ads.
So, i get Bats, get him out of his packaging and here's what you get:

Its a nice sculpt but the colour choices are odd. When does he have a silver suit and blue combos?
So, just like the Marvel one's i did, i'm not going back to the primer, rather i'll repaint certain areas.
With Bruce its:
Give the face a wash of a darker brown.
Have the Utility Belt yellow. In my mind, its always yellow - NEVER gold. Yellow is notorious for being far too thin and translucent, but here it worked to my advantage, keeping the really bright new yellow muted.
And the suit gets colours more suiting to Jim Lee era Bats, making sure i keep away from the white eyes as they're just about perfect and better than i could do.
I've left the emblem in gold and black just to make it stand out a bit more:

Still to do here is highlight the belt a bit, mark the edges between different bits - and remove that blummin' seam line.
While painting, i thought it was part of a high-tech Batsuit but, looking at these pics, its a seamline isn't it?
*Fume*
Anyway, its been a nice coupla hours and i'm looking forward to the next one, who's the Joker - with what looks like the same silver for his face that Bats has for his suit...

The Devourer - armed

I've had the arms done for a while now but haven't posted anything as i've come across a stumbling block with the gauntlets he's wearing.
Leigh's drawn them with repetitive patterns and there's no way i can sculpt that.
So, thought i'd make them blank then attach something to them.
I've tried cable ties and other nicely detailed materials but, if its plastic it doesn't stick to the clay.
Then i thought of something like self-adhesive sheeting from the craft shop that i could cut up and put on.
While i was browsing, i stumbled on this here ribbon which, although not anything like accurate, i figure will look okay painted.
So here i've attached them with the Hot Glue Gun and its worked fine.

Blade Runner Spinner - one step forward, one step back

So that's the underside done and the wheels put on:

All well and good.
Wish i could say the same for the top...
After peeling off the canopy masking tape, it'd worked okay - but somehow condensation had built up on the inside of the canopy, along with some of the primer then the Blue getting through a tiny gap and colouring some of the front edge of the cockpit.
Am very pleased now that i glued the canopy down as it was dead easy to pop it back off.

Here you can see i've done a repair job to the cockpit area, tidied up the Blue where needed, and i've started to put on the various lamps and lights up top.
BTW, the very uppermost part - the triangular shape with a red light on top is strange in that the white part of it is actually supposed to be clear all the way around. Strange that they've done so well casting up so many clear plastic parts, but neglected that one.

The inaccuracy of photo references

I was talking to Martin Bower yesterday and he said someone had emailed him about the Dorcon ship from the 1999 episode of the same name but he couldn't recall which one it was and did i know?
So i go "wedge shape one, with the 1/24th Harrier refuelling probe stuck on the front, light blue."

That jogged his memory alright but it turns out its not light blue at all, but the same "Capri Blue" that i'm using for the Spinner:

And, looking at the ship photo again, you can see it on the the sides that the flash didn't hit so much. Goes to show, don't take things at first glance

Gateway 20 - back on track

Been ignoring this project for a while now, but here you go with a bit more progress.
As you can see, i've started adding detail to the truck thing, using my parts of choice - Tamiya 1/35th kit bits. I've also added "hubcaps" to the wheels using those self-adhesive gems i've mentioned before.
On the Ship, again more Tamiya and i'm thinking of putting tons of detail in the gap between the two tanks.

EFFECTive - Martin Bower

Martin's got back to me - and its been a bit of a surprise.
I know he's a fan of this sequence, but i would've had have him place something from "2001" or "First Men In The Moon" higher.
Shows what i know.

"The "Thunderbirds" episode “PIT OF PERIL” where the 2 Recovery Vehicles are pulling the “Sidewinder” out of the pit. The whole sequence is lifted to a state of superb cinematography by Barry Gray’s music. The music fits the action so superbly it gives me “goose bumps” every time I see it."

Blade Runner Spinner - bodywork done

Okay, here are the two halves done.
I've picked some of the underside in Silver and bunged in the lights. Next up there is touching up some of the Blue, put the wheels on and pick out the grill details. The instructions would have it that they're Silver too but figure they'd be Gunmetal, so that's what i'll be going with.
Am looking forward to picking out the details on topside, but its with some trepidation that i'll be removing the masking tape...

From the back of the cabinet - three Jacks

With Leigh getting me thinking about all things "American Werewolf In London", i thought i'd dig out these nifty busts from the back of the unit.
They're small - not quite 1/6th i reckon - but the detail is terrific and, from doing research prior to painting, pretty darn accurate.

EFFECTive - Leigh Gallagher

I've long gone on the record as being a big fan of Leigh's work both on this here Blog and my "Aieeee!" comic one too, ever since he came to my attention with his stunning work on 2000AD's "Defoe", then on through his "Judge Dredd" tales where he seems to be the only artist these days depicting ol' Chinface as the age he actually is, and this year we're gonna get all manner of fantastic goodness with "Aquila" in the Prog.
In my opinion Leigh is THE horror/supernatural artist right now and its no real surprise he's chosen what he has and i agree with his thought 100%.
Go, Leigh:

"Ok, I'm going for the kick ass transformation scene in An American Werewolf In London, featuring David Naughton with award winning effects by Rick Baker.
Honestly, even though this was made way back in 1981, it's astonishing and EMBARRASSING that there has been no other werewolf transformation scene that has come CLOSE to bettering this baby. Beautiful practical effects from the elongating of his hands, to the popping of his muscles and spine, all the way through to the stretching of his face is utterly flawless, and without any crappy cgi.
Obviously, it helps with the great acting of Naughton. His horrific screaming and wide eyed agonising expression sell it completely, though I could've done without the looking and reaching towards the camera moment!
Bugs the crap out of me that studios still think they can do a better job using cgi for such things...and then fail miserably...they never learn..."

Zombie Dragon - meaty bits done

So here you can see i've done that lighter gore effect on the ankle.
That's the ripped open parts done but you can see that they appear to be islands of colour, standing out from the greens of the skin.
To get round that, i'll now start to pox him up and have some icky, bloody details hidden away in some of the folds of skin.