Martian Handling Machine - colours

HG Wells has the Martian craft as metallic. Problem there is that could be a bit dull, especially as the bridge girder work will be the same. So how to jazz it up? Well, I've got a pot of Citadel Metallic Green that I've had for a good 30 years and is still viable. So, after basing in gun metal, I've dappled on another coat with some of the green mixed in. A bit bright, but the next stage will take care of that.

Martian Handling Machine - progress

Right, with tentacles made from Green Stuff and legs from coathanger wire, the thing was given a dapple of Mr Surfacer to give it surface texture, then primed.

Martian Handling Machine - getting started

So this is what i need that yogurt pot for - Alvim Correa's brilliant depiction of the Martians handling machine.
I plan on buidling it in this pose, set amongst Red Weed-encrusted ruins. Hopefully i'll be able to source some suitable scale birds from the railway modelling section.



Studying the picture, it looks like it has organic tentacles front, left and one coiled up at back. Assuming there's also one on the right that's either retracted or snapped off, I've drilled four holes in the yogurt pot and capped them with some wheel bits.

Yogurt pot

The "yogurt pot" cliché of SF modelling? Its true for my next scratchbuild project - this is the basis!

Bulk Cruiser - from awful to worse

I think i'm going to have to preface a lot of these shots with an "oh dear". Oh dear - the very front has Airfix Lunar Module hull halves, along with with Eagle Transporter leg pod halves topped with one of its feet.

Bulk Cruiser - oh dear...

Three years ago, i started to chart on my modelling FB page the restoration of this blummin' awful build i did sometime in the late 70's.
Back then, i'd gotten loads of clear plastic boxes and i'd decided to make a ship by gluing them together, then cladding with Plasticard, then adding kit bits and, when i finished a section, hand painted it with Humbrol enamels.
Yes really.
I think i was so appalled by the result that i hid it in my Mum's attic and forgot about it.
Until three years ago when i stumbled upon it.
After the shock and horror of remembering what i'd produced, i gave myself the task of restoring and finishing what i'd started all those years ago.
And this is what i had after i'd given it a good wash.
Its the underside of the ship and, yep, that is indeed a cut-up mid-section of the Galactica towards the rear!
As i say, this photo was three years ago and i did quite a bit of work on it before being distracted by other projects and putting it into my new attic.
But now think its time to start again so, after i've updated here the state of the rest of it then and now, i'll be carrying on.

Ma.K style peanut ship

Something else i built while away was the ship very much influenced by the Ma.K universe.
Made from a plastic snowman sweet container from last year (yes really), i sculpted Das Pronto over the top, scribed in panel lines, and added odd details.

Well, hello there.

Yes indeed. For anyone who still might pop in here, i'm still a-modelling away, but its jsut that (A) i've been spending all my time charting my builds on my Mr E Models Facebook and Instagram pages, and (B) i'd totally forgotten my password for here and its been a right bastige to set a new one.
But, done now.
Promise i'll start posting on here more and, to kick it off, have a look at a robot i scratch built back in the summer:

Bubble Bath Ship - all done.

Skipped a few steps, sorry about that, but here's my Bubblebath ship all done and, as the basis is a 70's bubble bath bottle, i've chosen to paint in a 70's SF paperback cover style.

Blakes 7 Ore Carrier - done. For now

Right, the engine has been put on the Ore Carrier and mind has turned to the weathering.
I knew i couldn't go overboard with it, becuase of the scale of the model - this is studio scale, and only time we ever see the ship, it crashes into a passenger liner that looks to be slightly larger.
Its stated in the episode that the passenger liner has 4,000 passengers on board, which makes for two huge craft, so therefore weathering has got to be pretty small.
So i've left it to just some basic dark shading with pastels around edges etc.
That's it almost done - last thing is to put on the two "45"'s at the rear of the tanks, the search continues for a match and may take a while, so i'm resting this project now.

Blakes 7 Ore Carrier - almost there

With the panel lines and Hovercraft decals applied, the Ore Carrier is nearly done.
The final hurdle looks to be the "45"'s that are to the rear of the tanks - its looking very likely that they're Letraset dry rub numbers, or maybe they're kit decals.
Either way, i'll be darned if i can narrow the search down.
So i'll be sticking the engine section on next and then i'll be weathering.
It looks to me that Mat Irvine's clock was ticking when he made the original as it seems that he's kept it to some squirts of black.
I'm not going that route, but rather the pastels one.
And, when i do get me some 45's, i'll put them on then.

Blakes 7 Ore Carrier - base coated

So, my search for a suitable spray can match for "Humbrol 128" for my Bales 7 Ore Carrier came to nowt.
Figuring i've tried to be as accurate as possible on this build that i can't compromise now, i've bitten the bullet, bought a couple of cans of the stuff and the biggest, softest brush i could, taken a deep breath and hand painted it.
Its turned out okay, with no streak marks or lines at all.
Very glad i did - its considerably lighter than leaving it in the grey primer would've been. But its a struggle to get used to a satin finish ship.

Bubble Bath Ship - assembled

Right, finally nabbed something for the engines of my Bubble Bath ship.
I didn't want anything too conventional, as its not a conventional ship so am going with this nifty top to a smoothy bottle.
With that on, its prime-time.

Blakes 7 Ore Carrier - almost there now!

Been quite a while since there's been any sort of an update on my Blakes 7 Ore Carrier as the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle that is this build has proved elusive.
Mat Irvine used the really quite naff R2D2 that came with the Airfix/MPC X-Wing back in the 70's and attached the two halves to the globes at the front.
Trouble is, that kit is pretty rare and therefore pricey these days - especially since the Force Awakens has driven up the price of all Star Wars kits - and i couldn't justify the expense for such a small part.
But, the top bloke that is Andy H over on the Eagle Transporter forum has come up trumps and sent me this unused one.
Cheers Andy - now, let the final stage begin!

The Moebius - more of the underside

So, i've finished cladding the underside of the Moebius, and now i've added the strange flanges on the sides, the bigger shapes and starting on the smaller detail work.
Looking at the drawing its seems Moebius is doing something that Martin Bower does a lot - have very busy areas alongside quite blank one's.
So i'll be doing that, keeping all the busy details to the sides, leaving lots of open space in the middle.

Me on Instagram

The Moebius - starting the underside

So, i had a good look at the underside detail of the upper section of the Moebius and very roughly draw the placement of them on the underside of the ABS sheet.
I'm in the process of applying sheets of Plasticard to that, as it'll be easier to glue the kit parts to it, and re-drawing the shapes onto that, and i've begun adding bits and pieces already.
I'm keeping the area where the neck of the lower section joins to it clear as its ABS too and i figure i'll have a stronger joining glueing ABS to ABS.

The Moebius - flat top

I've made a start on the upper section of the Moebius, and that's pretty easy as its just a flat-top, guessing a lot like an aircraft carriers landing strip.
Made even easier in that i still had a large panel of ABS plastic, so just cut it to size and added Plasticard panelling to match the illustration.
There are some tiny details fore and aft on this to be applied but i'm waiting until i've finished the underside as it being flat like this means its easier to put the details onto the underside.

Rey's staff - nearly done

Here we go with the paint stages of Rey's quarterstaff, and i was lucky in that i had enough of the mettalic grey left over from my Blakes 7 blaster project for the basecoat here.
And i've put in a bunch of weathering, just need to add the rag handgrips now.

The Moebius - neck

More progress on the Moebius.
I've added the one detail up top on this hull and the three below, though i didn't want to make them recessed as in the drawing as that'd be a bit of a palaver, digging though the Plasticard, then the conditioner bottle, then the plaster of paris that's inside.
Instead i've done them as raised details and i've used cut-down cable ties for them.
And i've added the "neck". Handily, the ABS tubing i've got left over from the Blakes 7 blaster is just the right diameter.

Blakes 7 Ore Carrier - new bits on

Right, that's my crappy recreation detail pinged off and the redeals put on.
And i've also added two chrome parts from the truck kit that i'd bought for the piping on the top of the Shuttle tanks - always great when a donor kit offers up more than one part!

Blakes 7 Ore Carrier - getting back on track

Its been quite a while since i've posted anything new on my Blakes 7 Ore Carrier recreation.
It'd been at a standstill for quite a while as i tried to track down two very distinctive shapes at the front, but wasn't having much luck.
Then found that they were from a tractor kit, but that didn't move things forward as it turned out its now a pretty rare thing these day - only one i could find on the 'Bay was 65 quid in the States, so there'd be hefty postage on top of that too.
So i decided to make my own approximations of the pieces, glued them on and that was that - but then the Top Bloke that is Phil steps in and lets me know that he's managed to grab himself one of the tractor kits, and would i like him to cast me copies?
Sure would!
And they've arrived today i'm happy to say. In the end it wasn't a case of Phil having to cast four pieces as there were four curvy shapes in the box, so he's let me have them and cast me the other two.
Here they are alongside the crude one's i'd made - just need to ping them off, and the games back on!

The Moebius - bubble canopy done

Fast-forwarded quite a bit here with the Moebius - i've finished the seat area, stuck it into the bottom half of the ball, and made a HUD display for the upper half.

Rey's staff - assembled

Okay, that's Rey's staff built, not at all accurate but very cheap as its all made from one trip to the hardware store.
Next up, the fun part - painting and weathering.

Cursed Earth shoulder pad - reds

So here we go with the Cursed Earth shoulder pad:
based in red,
washed and weathered,
and metal chips picked out.
Next up, refine the metally bits and then start on the rust.