Btw. I wonder how it would look if you'd build the Jupiter interior as per Capns image, and instead of building a 3D backdrop, use a 2d photo. Maybe have sculpted terrain that strategically leads to the photo, merging the two. Honestly, at least for me, that'd be the only way I could pull it off to any sort of realism. And it would sure simplify the project.

Because I have nothing else, I'll bore you with the mundane. Orange is applied. The paint is MRP lacquer. This was followed with a coat of MRP Clear Gloss.

I spent a lot of time applying it in light coats. I didn't want to flood it exasperating paint creep. There are tight spots in there too and getting paint in them means getting close. And that leads to flooding, and again, leading to paint creep.

Overall, I am pleased with how it looks and how it laid down. But, I am terrified to pull the masking. Adding the liquid mask is great for strengthening the tape but, it cuts against you when pulling it because at times it pulls the mask in one big sheet. And that goes against being able to control the direction of the pull.

Only if my luck changes will it come out tight. With this being a lacquer, and my extra effort to make a good seal, I am hoping the paint won't fracture like acrylic does. Creep can be fixed but fracturing, not so esay. 

Will wait until tomorrow to find out.

Later...

Bakster

Will wait until tomorrow to find out.

Later...

 

Look perfect right now :-)

CapnMac82

 

 

Bakster

Will wait until tomorrow to find out.

Later...

 

 

 

 

Look perfect right now :-)

 

Lol. Quit while you are ahead. I like you're thinking. 

That goes with my motto, If at first you don't succeed, QUIT! 

Okay... giddy up. This build gets to pass GO and see another day. The result is not perfect, never is, but good enough for me. There was some minor crumbling in one or two spots but you'd need eagle eyes to see it.

From here and with the next step, I get to breath easier. I will paint the floor.  And with that, I am not looking for near perfection. I will intentionally soil it because Smith doesn't wipe his feet at the chariot door. These strange worlds are dusty. I'd like to get that done by this weekend. We shall see. 

Your prep work and the MRP made for a beautiful lifelike finish.  If it weren't for the alligator clips It would be easy to believe they were full scale chairs.  Great work!

PhoenixG

Your prep work and the MRP made for a beautiful lifelike finish.  If it weren't for the alligator clips It would be easy to believe they were full scale chairs.  Great work!

 

Hey thanks, PG!

Yeah, that looks great Bakster! All your worry and the results turned out really nice! 

Better than my week is going. I took Clapper to the opera....... 

Bakster

These strange worlds are dusty.

Now. see, I always thought that would be a good use for all those pastels chalks the never seemed to get used--the periwinkle, lavender, magenta, and the like.

Mind, that might want having a small vignette base with some lime green or day-glo lichen, perhaps similar colored seafoam . . .

Having to include the other-worldly pallete to viausally 'explain' things.

Gamera

Better than my week is going

I'd offer to trade you, but I like you more than that.

Work decided that various client-caused disasters were more important than my vacation, the only one I get before December.

Sigh.

Gamera

Better than my week is going. I took Clapper to the opera....... 

Lol. Clapper has a way of ruining a goood evening.

One time I took Clapper to see the movie, Planet of the Apes.  The movie didn't interest him much so he threw peanuts at other patrons. One guy comes up to us, pissed, and he says, who's the funny guy throwing peanuts?

I point at Clapper.  

"The guy goes, Oh...the ape."

I says, yeah. What can you expect from an ape!

The dude walked away.

Gamera

Yeah, that looks great Bakster! All your worry and the results turned out really nice! 

Thanks man. Btw. I often say stupid stuff and saying I am terrified about demasking chairs, well, that was a gross exaggeration. I should have said, concerned. That would have been a better word. Terrified over plastic chairs, um, no.

Speaking of teriffied. Meeting this guy in a desolate forrest would be terrifying. Before I'd know it, my spine is hanging from a tree limb just low enough for a Bigfoot to gnaw on later.

And that completes the grand circle of stupid. Hehe. 

CapnMac82

 

 

Bakster

These strange worlds are dusty.

 

 

Now. see, I always thought that would be a good use for all those pastels chalks the never seemed to get used--the periwinkle, lavender, magenta, and the like.

Mind, that might want having a small vignette base with some lime green or day-glo lichen, perhaps similar colored seafoam . . .

Having to include the other-worldly pallete to viausally 'explain' things.

 

Hmmm.  Very interesting thought there, Capn. I like it. I will keep that stored for possible use later. 

Bakster

Very interesting thought there, Capn.

And, it's something that has nagged at the back of my head just from seeing all the WWI "Lozenge camo" colors on a Tamiya paint chart.

That, just what sort of a place would need lavender and yellow and violet camo.

Then, a person watches Forbidden Planet, which has red leaved foilage.

Chemistry offers some interesting notions, too.  A sulfur-based, rather than carbon-based world would have yellow and orange soils.  Whatever stood in for chlorophyl would be purple or violet, or perhaps red, stop sign red.  Rocks could be a kelly green sort of hue.

It would be hard to paint, as all of our reflexes would be to our sorts of colors of "dirt" or "vegetation" and the like.

Hope all you guys had a great Easter! 

I like the idea of using the odd colours, it does really give an 'unearthly' feeling to anything. At least better than the Trek episodes where they stuck pink feathers in trees to give an alien look to the set. 

I ain't messing with no Preditor Bakster. If I see a shimmering in the air I'm walking the other way.... 

Capt: Sorry about your vacation. I just took a week off here myself. Didn't go anywhere. But I needed it. Hopefully you'll get some time before too long. 

Gamera

Hopefully you'll get some time before too long.

December, like as not.  Just too many projects all at the same time.

THis popped up on my f/b today, and seemed appropriate

Well then, we are doomed. 

CapnMac82

 

 

Bakster

Very interesting thought there, Capn.

 

 

And, it's something that has nagged at the back of my head just from seeing all the WWI "Lozenge camo" colors on a Tamiya paint chart.

That, just what sort of a place would need lavender and yellow and violet camo.

Then, a person watches Forbidden Planet, which has red leaved foilage.

Chemistry offers some interesting notions, too.  A sulfur-based, rather than carbon-based world would have yellow and orange soils.  Whatever stood in for chlorophyl would be purple or violet, or perhaps red, stop sign red.  Rocks could be a kelly green sort of hue.

It would be hard to paint, as all of our reflexes would be to our sorts of colors of "dirt" or "vegetation" and the like.

 

Interesting thoughts. If I make it that far shall ponder.

Bakster

If I make it that far shall ponder.

One of the key features of Science Fiction is the "science" :-)

And, sometimes that's tricky.

There's valid reasons to not include Time Dialation due to Relativity in fiction.  Mostly, because it's "messy."

At 0.75C 6.67 years of "flight time" spans 10 years "on the ground."  At 0.9C, 22 weeks "flying" is an entire year "groundside."

This only gets worse at supra-light speeds.  Technically speaking, a single "5 year mission" of the NCC-1701 Enterprise, ought see Star Fleet Headquarters age fifty or more years.

At face value, that ought to be very handy for serial tv show runners.  They would never need to have "returning" characters at ground-based HQ facilities.  (And, for my 2¢, it wuld give the shows a good reason to hire older actors, too.)

CapnMac82

 

 

Bakster

If I make it that far shall ponder.

 

 

One of the key features of Science Fiction is the "science" :-)

And, sometimes that's tricky.

There's valid reasons to not include Time Dialation due to Relativity in fiction.  Mostly, because it's "messy."

At 0.75C 6.67 years of "flight time" spans 10 years "on the ground."  At 0.9C, 22 weeks "flying" is an entire year "groundside."

This only gets worse at supra-light speeds.  Technically speaking, a single "5 year mission" of the NCC-1701 Enterprise, ought see Star Fleet Headquarters age fifty or more years.

At face value, that ought to be very handy for serial tv show runners.  They would never need to have "returning" characters at ground-based HQ facilities.  (And, for my 2¢, it wuld give the shows a good reason to hire older actors, too.)

 

Lol.  I like your thinking. I should apply your time dialation theory to this build because I feel much older since I started it. 

Side note. Work progresses on the chariot. Hope to have an update this weekend.

Bakster

Hope to have an update this weekend.

Well, storms ought to preclude all the eclipse silliness on Monday

Will be a bunch of disappointed people who traveled long (just not interstellar) distances for the event.  :-)

Alas... a personal milestone has been reached. For months now my goal was to reach this point. It was a serious fight. Paint problems lead to stripping the piece no less than three times, all the while knowing that with each restart the integrity of the piece wanes. If there was a silver lining in this it is that adjustments to body filler were made with each redo. The final result is much better than my first go. I think that some of the filler had shrunk back and with each redo, adjustments were made.

The goal here was to have certain sections appearing in a stainless and/or polished aluminum. For me, this is a delicate and daunting process because of all the masking going on, and a clean finish could be elusive due to the delicate nature of the process. Along with that, the area must be flawlessly smooth. To tell you the truth... I was not sure I could pull it off, or at least, to the standard I held in my minds eye.

The goal was crystal clear to me and I am happy to say, mission accomplished. It came out exactly how I visualized it. Yea. A major battle won, but more to come.

But with every victory, there are casualities. I was 90% through demasking, thinking so far so good, when paint pulled up between the two aft seat posts. Ugh. It never fails. So near victory when the enemy strikes. 

So, what to do. I am not repainting that section. That would be too much work and too much risk I'd make things worse. The easiest solution is to cover it with a greeblie.  

And it is a greeblie we shall go. I dug through my scrap box and found something that I think will do the job well. More on that in the next update.

Some last comments.

1. The side benches with black tops mimic cushions as found on the replica. I added a layer of semigloss to tone down the gloss and to help blend the overall appearance.

2. I dusted on soiling around the seating positions by mixing a custom blend of color. I also added some weathering powder and that really seems to give it more dimension. Though, it is lost in the images.

Once I finish the greeblie, I am heading towards reinstalling the fiberoptic and building the light-engines that drive them. I am looking forward to it. It feels like forward progress. 

End of update.

CapnMac82

 

 

Bakster

Hope to have an update this weekend.

 

 

Well, storms ought to preclude all the eclipse silliness on Monday

Will be a bunch of disappointed people who traveled long (just not interstellar) distances for the event.  :-)

 

Yeah big (?) who if any will see it.

Greeblie painted.

Position of the unit and that chair will limit leg comfort but I am assigning Smith to that chair. Really not an issue then. 

I glued it down using sprue-goo. It offered me the least danger of smearing, if I am careful, and a decent amount of time to position it.

That is all for this side of the eclipse.

That looks amazing Bakster!!! I agree with you, covering up the scuffed area makes a lot more sense than repainting everything. 

It was so cloudy today I'd never have even noticed the eclipse if I didn't know about it before hand. I did get to see it using my phone camera as viewer. Didn't get many photos considering how overcast it was. 

*bug eyed look of surprise*

Gosh!

Bakster, the base of the LIS is stunning!  It's been a journey full of travails, but man.  Even incomplete it is a thing of beauty.

At first I thought the floor just had some unusual reflectance, but then I read about the dusting you gave the floor to represent foot traffic and it clicked.  I think it's great how you kept the area around the seat upright clear.  The few spaces where feet don't normally cross.  A beautifully subtle indication of foot traffic.

And the little greeblie was an inspired fix.  Who cares if Smith barks his shins on it every time the chariot hits a dip in the road!

Gamera

That looks amazing Bakster!!! I agree with you, covering up the scuffed area makes a lot more sense than repainting everything. 

 

It was so cloudy today I'd never have even noticed the eclipse if I didn't know about it before hand. I did get to see it using my phone camera as viewer. Didn't get many photos considering how overcast it was. 

 

Hey Gam, thanks.

It was a clear day here. We lucked out. It was cool to see but it would have been better if I was further south. I think our area was at about 80%.

PhoenixG

*bug eyed look of surprise*

Gosh!

Bakster, the base of the LIS is stunning!  It's been a journey full of travails, but man.  Even incomplete it is a thing of beauty.

At first I thought the floor just had some unusual reflectance, but then I read about the dusting you gave the floor to represent foot traffic and it clicked.  I think it's great how you kept the area around the seat upright clear.  The few spaces where feet don't normally cross.  A beautifully subtle indication of foot traffic.

And the little greeblie was an inspired fix.  Who cares if Smith barks his shins on it every time the chariot hits a dip in the road!

 

Thanks for all that, PG. Really appreciate the kind words and the commentary!

I realized I should finish detailing the terrain scanner before I move on. The scope is painted with Alclad chrome and the top right button MRP black.

And with that, I am officially moving to reinstall the fiber optics.

The finish of the casing reminds me of that grey industrial enamel that was applied to everything in the 50's.  Pretty sure I have a Viewmaster projector in that exact color.  Unfortunately it needs a bulb and they stopped making them long, long ago.  Maybe a retrofit project after I get my queue cleared. :)

PhoenixG

The finish of the casing reminds me of that grey industrial enamel that was applied to everything in the 50's.  Pretty sure I have a Viewmaster projector in that exact color.  Unfortunately it needs a bulb and they stopped making them long, long ago.  Maybe a retrofit project after I get my queue cleared. :)

 

Hey PG, that is a hoot. When I look at it it reminds me of an electrical box of some sort... cast iron.

Funny about the view master projector because I had one too. In my case, it was a beige color. I loved the view master system. I liked the viewer most. Great toy for a young mind. Probably my favorite reels were of The great pyramids of Egypt and the Mexican Inca pyramids. Next to those, I think Peter Pan. Nasa reels were fun too.

How about you? What were your favorites?