Sandtrooper - off we go.

You may recall last year that i started on my Sandtrooper outfit with the helmet:

Happy to say that the armour will be here before long and i'm looking forward to my biggest ever build challenge.
So, in the meantime, i've started to construct the backpack essential if you're a trooper wanting to survive in the wastelands of Tatooine.
First up, the frame for the backpack. Back in '76 while filming the original, a boy scout backpack harness was used and, of course, they're long gone.
I'm following Nathan over on the UK Forum's advise and maing mine from overflow piping bought from Screwfix. They're much better quality than B&Q's version and have the added bonus of being made from black plastic, so no need for painting. Not assembled yet as i'm awaiting the super-strength glue needed:

One of the major components is a toilet cistern and here's mine, which i'm in the process of cutting down:

The Devourer - messed up

Bugger. Just gone and done a mistake that i keep doing when sculpting - focusing on one area so much that i forget to check how it looks in relation to the rest of it.
In this case i was so busy working out the arm and leg placement in the body that i didn't spot i was making him far too wide:

Not a lot i could do about it - except maybe if i widened out the "mouth" area so there'd be less meat there, it wouldn't be too pronounced.
So that's what i've done, hacking away at it with my junior hacksaw, revealing the layers of Bacofoil, card, tape and wire that i've used in the bodies construction:

Morbius - fleshy

Okay, first up was to putty all the joins and match the existing skin details:

Then primer in grey (to pull everything together), then prime in white (to make a nice bright base to work from) then a coat of GW "Bleached Bone":

The i warmed it up with "Dwarf Flesh":

and then went in and hitted the neck and joint areas with "Burnt Umber", as Morbius' skin is considerably darker in those areas:

Batman Chess Set - Catwoman & Penguin

Here's the next two then - and i'm leaving well alone.
Catwoman is pretty much perfect and an excellent sculpt, with her really only needing some lipstick. The lenses of her goggles are the only bit that's the crappy metallic, but it works on them.
Penguin has more of the metallics about him - trousers, umbrella, hat - but he's such an outlandish and garish character that they're kinda in keeping so are staying. Lovely work on the face here too.

Six Million Dollar Ship

So, off i go then and i'm strating with the underside.
As i say, i have it in mind to have these two rounded affairs running the length of the ship, with a mass of machinery between.
So you can see i've started to pile on the detail and i'll be building up and over pieces as i go to make it look all very busy.
And i've also added some of my beloved go-fasta stripes to the rounded parts just to break them up a bit.

UUUULLAAAAA! - my Martians

Done a bit of a ramble of my collection of the critters up till now:

Blast from the past - the Six Million Dollar Man ship

What you've got here are two modelling projects, seperated by about 20 years.

Project 1:
Back in the late 70's when i'd just started scratchbuilding and converting things into all sorts of SF craft and devices, i'd gotten hold of my old Six Million Dollar Man repair station/spaceship thingy with a view to making it into a spaceship. I'd gotten some way with it before losing interest and consigning it to the attic.

Project 2:
Fast forward to a couple of years ago when i discover the long-forgotten project while up in my Mum's attic.
Dusting it off, i thought i'd give it a bit more of a go.
First up, i remove some of the pretty clunky detail i'd put on and replace the cereal box cardboard i'd used in places for Plasticard. And then i started adding new pieces.
Looking at the above photo it goes, left to right:
New Plasticard strips in that recessed area,
the next raised slightly section is original, hand painted in Humbrol Matt Grey (!) and 2 years ago i've added bits to cover it up,
new panelling and bits immediately below that,
another original grey section,
more new panels,
the raised area next and the rest of the ship has parts from the X Wing, which i'd put on in the seventies,
and finally, the colourful part at the end is a bit from a toy submarine that i'd put on 2 years ago.
You can also see everywhere orange marking, which are the remnants of the glue where i'd removed things.
I'd kept the bottom blank back at Project 1, but at Project 2 you can see i've started adding detail:

And that's what it was like two years ago until - Groundhog Day! - i lost interest and put it in a new attic.
But found it today and it got me to thinking:

New Project:
To start this up again. Its in the bath right now having a soak and when dry i intend to first cover up all those orangy bits with panels and continue with the detailing.
I'm not quite sure, but i'm thinking the insperation when i first started this was the Rag-Tag Fleet in "Battlestar Galactica" and was looking to have something in that style.
Can still see that now, but something about it is saying "Star Wars" - held at some angles, its got the look of the Blockade Runner about it.
Whatever, it'll be needing some sort of cockpit at the front there, so am keeping 'em peeled.

Morbius

You may remember how a while back i puttied and repainted that classic Who creature, the Zygon?
I like the idea of having a whole bunch of the good Doctors in the same scale, so have just bought Morbius up cheap off the 'Bay.
Looking at it, the joints are even gappier than on the Zygon, but it should be no probs.
I also want to try and prise the dome apart so i can get inside and repaint the Timelords brain, along with all the machinery in there.

Batman Chess Set - Joker done

Okay, that's him done and here he is with the other two.
Something that's becoming noticble is the variance in sizes - compare Batman's tiny face to Robin and Joker.

Blade Runner Spinner - all done

Here she is then, decals on and those tiny metal "Spinner" badges glued on.
I've also closed up the wheels into the flying mode - it can't fly 'cause there ain't anyone in there, but its ready to, just as soon he gets in.

R.I.P. Moebius

What a rotten week.
Another SF visionary leaves us and, again, one who's left an indelible print on fantasy filmwork.
Aside from the aborted "Dune" project, Moebius is well known for being a massive influence on Ridley Scott for the hardware look of "Alien" and you can see here with his pre-production work, Ridely sure stuck to it.
Besides that, of course, he was a brilliant draughtsman and comic book illustrator, a truely unique talent.
Such a loss.

Batman Chess Set - Robin done

Here he is then and this is what i did/didn't do:
Hair and face left as is,
mask as is,
all the uniform done,
badge as is, staff as is.
Real pleased how he's come out and he's a truly accurate Frank Quitely version of Robin - even down to the skinny neck:

Blade Runner Spinner - assembled

Here she is then, the cockup with the canopy sorted and the final parts on.
You're given a choice of flying or driving mode and i much prefer the flying mode, thinking the front wheels here like this look silly.
But i don't want to have it on a flying stand, so went with the driving version, that way i could set it in a curbside scene.
But now thinking: why not have those pieces in the flyinf position and still have it on the ground - it could've just lowered them down ready for take-off.

R.I.P. Ralph McQuarrie

SO, so sorry to hear of Ralph's passing.
A true visionary, who's contribution to SF concept work was invaluable.
He'll be missed.

Batman Chess Set - Joker & Robin - white

Okay, this is my prep stage.
The Joker's shirt and Robin's everything-but-the-dark-bits get a sloppy coat of white.
That's to make the red and yellow i'll be using that much brighter.
I'll be redoing the green of the Joker's hair and the green bits of Robin's outfit but green always goes on nicely - so no need for a white basecoat first.

Batman Chess Set - Joker & Robin.

Oh dear, oh dear. Know now why Eaglemoss are labelling the line "metallic resin" - they're gonna everything to make it look like its cast in metal.
A daft, daft idea that makes things end up looking like they're prizes from a fairground stall.
Can understand it with any objects on the figure but...
metallic green for the Joker's hair????
metallic shirt and suit?
A metal cape for Robin?
Bizarre.
Having said that though, the sculpts are excellent (altough Robin is almost adult-sized) and, again, my respect for the poor sods on the production line is hug - just look at the detail on the Joker's cards.
I was gonna prime and start all over again with the Joker, but those cards and the face not being too bad has made me change tack.
So this is what i'll be doing:
Joker:
New hair, leave the eyes as is (they're green mettalic but gleam nicely), new shirt, new suit.
Robin:
the mask is metaalic and therefore not right but i'm leaving it as there's no way i'd be able to do as good a job, all the outfit repainted

Dragon's Domain derelict ship

I think i detailed this waaaaaay back in the early days of this Blog and seem to remember it was hard to show things clearly as it was just too darn big to fit into one shot.
So, with me now putting things on Youtube, thought i'd look back on it there: