Sci-Fi and Alternative history XI

So many interesting projects here. About time I made a start.

I had planned a Romulam Warbird, but I’m going to change it for the Italeri Mig-37. I originally bought it for the UFO campaign but what I have in mind fits better here I think.


Already have the necessary decals in my spares, just need to check that my planned armaments will fit in the small weapons bays.

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Sky Warden

Slow progress is slow but the turret is starting to look like a turret.

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@phantom_phanatic Nice choice, Stephen!

@Damraska Doug, very nice scratch building. What is the middle part with all the circles? Is that the targeting radar?

Looking forward to see more :slight_smile:

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Thanks. It should be a fun little project. I don’t want to let anything out of the bag just yet, just working out a convincing back story. Also working out some ideas for a night camouflage scheme.

Might have to put it on hold for another week or so. We found out tonight that the cold water tap has worn out and stopped working suddenly. And the hot has been dripping for a long time. So, they need replacing and we’re going to do the whole sink unit while we’re at it. There’ve been a few pin holes wear through it that I’ve had to plug with Milliput (not just a modelling putty!) so it’s well past it’s prime. It’s a job I’ve been meaning to do for a couple of years and the latest problem means I can’t put it off any longer. This weekend will be busy though (one of partners friends birthday BBQ and Cosford airshow Sunday), so it will have to wait till next weekend anyway.

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Thank you. Yes, it is supposed to be the RADAR. The idea is that it can tip backward into a tray and store flat. When in operation, it rotates up and into position at the desired angle. The little circles represent individual transmitter and receiver units. The idea is that it works like the compound eye of an insect. If a typical RADAR is damaged, the entire unit fails. With this design, damage may knock out some eyes but probably not all of them.

I spent some more time working on it. The guns will soon be able to rotate freely. It is fun to play with.

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Hello all, I’ve got a Macross VE-1 Elintseeker Veritech I’d like to build for this campaign.

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Very nice choice, BtwoSan!

Looking forward to see more :smiley:

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As every schoolchild knows, the Santa María was, along with the Niña and Pinta, Christopher Columbus’ ship for the expedition which led to the European rediscovery of the Americas in 1492. For the next two months after the initial Discovery she continued to serve as the flagship as Columbus explored the New World, but Santa María was destined never again to return to Spain. Late in the evening of Christmas Eve, 1492, as the ship stood in calm seas off Haiti and most of the crew slept, the negligent steersman decided to put the helm in the hands of the ship’s boy so he too could nap.

Santa María’s inglorious end soon came as she ran up on a reef at Cap‑Haïtien, and the surf slowly pulled her seams apart. Her men were rescued by the Niña (in the background in this painting), and enough of her stores and timbers were salvaged to build a small fort ashore, but the ship herself was no more.

A depiction of the end of the Santa María would be an interesting challenge, but I had some questions about the received version of these events. After doing a little more historical research, it became evident to me that the real story of Santa María’s end was somewhat different from the official version.

The world, as we now recognize, and as sensible Europeans at the time knew very well, is flat. Nevertheless, there were then (as now) a small but vocal group of reality-deniers promoting the ludicrous notion that the Earth was actually round – like a ball! Christopher Columbus was among the loudest of these nutters, and his antics so amused Queen Isabella of Castille that she eventually agreed to lend the expendable foreigner three second-hand ships just to see where his dopey ideas might take him.

Much to everyone’s surprise, the tiny fleet actually blundered into previously unknown (and, it turns out, clothing optional) lands. After they returned to Spain with such cool stuff as gold, tobacco, coca leaf, tomatoes, pineapples, the hammock (all well received) and syphilis (less popular), the Queen realized that her favorite loon had actually turned out to be a pretty good investment. Awkwardly, though, Columbus had returned without his flagship.

Apparently, having heard about a magical island called California, he had sent the Santa María and Pinta to check it out. Staying ashore himself to cavort with the natives, he was not aboard when the flagship ventured a little too close to the Edge of the World (California has always been on the Edge)…

– and over the Edge Santa María went!

Fortunately the Pinta had wisely held back and so, picking up Niña and the Admiral, they made their way back to Spain. Embarrassed by the loss of his flagship and unwilling to acknowledge proof of the Flat Earth (Round-Earthers being notoriously unimpressed by actual evidence), Columbus concocted the story of the ship being steered onto reefs by a naughty boy. Now the Queen didn’t buy this absurd tale for a minute, but she also knew a good thing when she saw one… Realizing that news of ships falling off the Edge of the Earth would be bad for business, she went along with it.

And so, until this very day, few people know the true story of the fate of the Santa María.

I started with a chunk of hard craft foam with the basic shape roughed out using a kitchen steak knife (I’ve since been informed by my wife that this is NOT an approved use for said implement…)

Anyway, the sea was then sculpted over the foam with DAS terracotta modelling clay using the in-progress model to help form the contour under the ship’s hull. The result looked ok, but at the time I ended up abandoning the idea. I’m back on it now!

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I thought that was her sister ship the Insanity Maria

:compass: :sailboat: :zzz: :red_exclamation_mark: :double_exclamation_mark: :exclamation_question_mark: :ocean:

Cheers,

M

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Ahh, but they left out a key element from that story; the cat’s paw!!!

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After the coat Tamiya Light Grey Surface Primer, the ocean base received the base color of dark Tamiya Royal Blue X-3 acrylic.

This was followed by a thin over spraying with Tamiya Flat Blue XF-8 to brighten things up. I then added some white to the blue and shot that on to define the wake and falling water.

A quick airbrushed application of Flat White XF-2 served to highlight the wake and wavetops.

After finishing up with some more white (this time brushed on), the sea was given a coat of Vallejo Water Texture acrylic to give it a high gloss.

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Ahh, but they left out a key element from that story; the cat’s paw!!!

Thanks Ron, I’ll have to remember to include the feline element!

After the acrylic gloss coat was dry I added some thin squiggles of sea foam to the wake using white enamel. Acrylic paint would have worked just as well, but enamel gave me the flexibility to take it off with paint thinner and redo it if things didn’t come out right!

The ship was attached to the sea with Liquitex Gloss Medium & Varnish applied under the hull and around the water line. This medium is useful as a tough, flexible adhesive, but the thin material levels out as it dries to become completely smooth and clear.

To give the foam around the ship more texture, I made up some “white froth” from the Liquitex medium mixed with some Woodland Scenics Soft Flake Snow.

This was applied around the ship’s hull and at the crests of the waves.

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I dare you!!
Put in that cat’s paw… now that would be something.

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I double dog dare you Tim. :cat_face:

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I dare you!! Put in that cat’s paw… now that would be something.


I double dog dare you Tim. :cat_face:

One way or another, there will be a cat! :weary_cat::+1:

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After the froth mixture dried I applied some more of the Vallejo Water Texture acrylic gloss over the sea to integrate the various materials.

I had initially liked the Vallejo Water Texture acrylic (for gloss), but for some reason the coating gradually flattened to a spotty semi-matte over the following few days. I probably used it incorrectly…

Anyway, a second overcoating with Behr Fast Drying Polyurethane Gloss brought the shine back again. :grin:

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I really enjoy this ride at Marine World.

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Beautiful, allthough a bit on the blue side. Maybe tone it donw some with a green glaze?

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It is just such a cool idea. It would be neat to have a big marlin jumping through the waves next to the ship.

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I think it would be a good idea to have a pink goblin on a surf board in the scene, but there again I’m strange, people know it so expect that sort of thing from me and I hate to disappoint…
:grin: :person_surfing: :woman_surfing: :man_surfing:
Cheers,

M

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