Noted, thanks Manny.
Hey Bill, thanks for the encouragement!
I moved on to creating the rear deck stowage, using a mix of resin pieces, tissue paper, and Milliput. I started with covering the engine deck with clear plastic wrap, for protection. Then, I layed down masking tape, sticky side up, to grab hold of the stowage pieces.
I placed the fuel pieces: resin Jerry cans from TAHK, and a fuel drum (from unknown manufacturer). I assembled these items against the spare track run, along the back of the deck. Then, I rolled pieces of Milliput and mashed them down on to the deck, molding them around the shapes of the in-take covers. I'm not getting too specific with the folds and contours for these pieces... the general idea is to create shapes representing personal gear, to be be covered by a tarp (or blanket). Last week, during some experimentation, I had made a bedroll out of tissue paper (the gift box type) soaked in Scenic Glue, and I added this to the pile."Cause I'm lazy like that.
I created indentations for 4 helmets, and a couple of other small items. When the tarp covers the stowage, the helmets will flt nicely into these indentations, giving the appearance of weight. At this point, I also marked the spot on one of the bedrolls were the commander's hatch will be resting. I've kept the hatch off for this purpose. This hatch will receive some scratch (locking lever).
You get fingerprints all over the Milliput pieces. Best advice, to relieve the most stress, is *not* worry about any of that until you have all your pieces formed to your liking. You have about 3 hours to work with this stuff so, when you are happy with your pile, go back over it with water and a paint brush. You can smooth out fingerprints, create folds and contour and, if you are really gonna go for it, you can add texture to the "fabric". Since my pile will be mostly covered (mostly...), I did not concern myself with texture and contour. I did, however, smooth out my fingerprints.
After 24 hours or so, the stowage piece is rock (well, resin actually) solid. I removed it from the deck, and then removed the tape from the bottom.
Back to the model, my pile of crap sits nicely on the engine deck.
I'm still trying to decide on whether to make the tarp from a thin thin thin layer of Milliput or Apoxie Sculpt, or a glue-soaked piece of tissue paper (the nose-blowin' type). If I can get it thin enough, without ripping, breaking, or cracking, I'd prefer to use putty.
From there, I will work on arranging some tie downs. I can file grooves into the putty for the rope, straps, chain, whatever I decide to go with, to give the appearance of tension (the hugging type). I will secure the Jerry Cans and fuel drum, probably with chain. Very small chain. The Jerry Cans will be painted separately from the rest of the stowage.
That's all I got for now, Thanks for lookin, if you looked in.