Viper Mark 2 from BSG?

I suggest you spend more effort on Google. There are three different MKII kits in existance right now and another on the way.

You should check these sites.

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/cfstore/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=121

http://scifimodels.com/sfmmkits.html

But you won't find a better kit than the 1/24th scale one for $200+.

Yeah, I've seen that 1/48 one, though that 1/72 one is new to me. Still, the 1/48 seems kinda small, like 7 inches. So the 1/72 has gotta be like...5? I don't suppose there's a scale in the middle some where, huh? 10 or 11" long would be nice.

That would be 1/32 to match the Monogram. There is talk from MMI that they could do it with enough interest. But it would be way off in the future.

You could carve it you know. There is plenty of reference out there to do it.

http://www.starshipbuilder.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000002.html

Kinda brings me back to my original point...I think I might look into that resin foam stuff, then get an old monogram kit and cast some new bits to it.

Or would you, if you were me, just scratch it? What would you use?

There is absolutely nothing common between the two Vipers. It would be more work and far more expensive to try an convert the old kit.

I strongly recommend reading this article. I think Mr. Merriman is teasing with the "kitbuilder" bashing, but the article is sound and very informative.

http://culttvman.com/scratchbuilding.html

Urethane foam is great. But you will need to seal it with epoxie putty or something similar.

Here is a treatment I did to make thin parts without vaccuum forming.

http://home.comcast.net/~cobywan/Templates/VF.htm

Woah, wait wait...I still need to read the one article, but I looked at your model...so...you carved that in foam, then coated it with putty and filed/sanded it to get those pieces? Dude, that is amazing. And the panel lines...holy crap.

The original shapes were foam. Then I coated them in primer but squadron putty would work for that too.

I then made a mold off of those shaped in plaster. I waxed up the plaster so that nothing would stick to it.

Then I mixed up Magic Sculpt epoxie putty and rolled it out like a pie dough. The real trick here is to roll on parchment paper and use talcum powder like you would flower. I rolled with a spray can of primer. The lip on the edge of the can made the whole sheet uniform.

I then pressed the sheet of epoxie into the plaster mold. After the epoxie is set you have to trim it out carefully. I put the rough trimmed parts back into the plaster form and sanded the seams flat using the mold top as the reference. You can really finnesse the epoxy shell with sandpaper.

The scribing was done with a broken sewing needle put into an X-Acto handle. I used the Hasegawa scribing templates.

You have to be carefull with the epoxie shell though. They are very brittle.

That's absolutely amazing. I'm going to have to try that. Did you use balsafoam, or something cheaper?

I imagine I will spend a lot of money, make a huge mess, and make a lot of useless crap until I get it right...but damn does that sound fun.

I read that other article, that guy is certainly angry. I ordered a back copy of FSM that has the resin article in it, should be interesting.

Wish me luck.

What I use is the same stuff as balsafoam. But my employer uses it and throws away stuff that is useless to them but valuable to us small modeler types. Bass wood is always a joy to work with though. But the foam stuff is easier all around.

Never heard of bass wood...

Is your stuff cheaper than balsa foam and available commercially? I ask about price because I forsee a lot of trial and error.

Is it stupid that I'm actually giddy at the prospect of goofing with all this?

PSUEDODIGM: Here is a link to a place that makes and sells Balsafoam I, II, and III, http://www.balsafoam.com/aboutbalsafoam.asp The website also explains sanding techniques, painting, carving, etc. Especially the safety aspect of it when sanding or cutting with a moto tool. Price is comparible with everyone else that I saw.

Scott

QUOTE: Originally posted by pseudodigm Never heard of bass wood... Is your stuff cheaper than balsa foam and available commercially? I ask about price because I forsee a lot of trial and error. Is it stupid that I'm actually giddy at the prospect of goofing with all this?

I can't rightfully say. I've never bought either product. ;)

In regards to Basswood, do you have a hobby shop or a good craft store in your area?
Where are you from by the way? And getting excited about scratchbuilding is perfectly normal.

I have a hobby shop that has a lot of great stuff, but I haven't noticed any wood of any kind really. some metal and lots of styrene. Then again, I really haven't checked out the train section...I'll look around more. And yeah, I have a couple craft places. Michaels and AC Moore.

I'm in Massachusetts.

In reading about the balsafoam, it looks like you could use the foam itself for the master, by just coating it with putty and sanding. It also mentioned giving it a plastic shell. I've never tried "painting" a 2 part resin onto anything...and I'm not sure how you'd get it not to run...but I suppose you could just sand out all the runs

But perhaps it would be better to just build up a coat of acrylic paste and use it as a positive for a rubber mold, then use resin in that.

If you add a bunch of baby powder to your resin it will thicken it and make it more sandable. But full strength aumotive primer can be painted on with a brush and sanded down. The trick is to sipple it into the foam so it gets into the pores. It could take a few coats too. But you can get a nice finnish

Interesting, and baby powder won't screw up the resin at all?

At my job talcum powder is a required addative to the fiberglass resin. I think it adds some kind of structural component. The more you add the more of a paste it makes.

That's pretty awesome, I'll try that. ...wonder if there's a difference between "baby powder" and "talcum powder".

Thanks for all your help. I'm sure I'll check back in once I get these supplies and start experimenting, but I think I've taken up enough of the forum's bandwidth as it is.

The only difference is the perfume.

I don't think bandwidth is a problem here. ;)