I was going to build the Dark Star Grissom right out of the box, then I noticed I had an extra Dark Star Refit saucer, then it all went out of control from there. Something went horribly wrong with the hand-brushing of the dark metallic on the grills, which I only noticed on the photos in the harsh light. I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and mask it and airbrush it, even though I'm sure the masking will rip up the surrounding paint. So I wanted to get these photos out there before I ruined the poor thing! Oh, and I now completely hate the aztec wallpaper-decal technique. You'll notice I stopped before I got to the nacelles. OY!
USS Chaffee. I was going to do "Grissom-B" but I figgered one of the other guys on Apollo 1 deserved a ship too.
Awesome & imaginative work as always. It looks to me, from the second shot, that the molding is a little sloppy on the nacelles.
Oh, and I'm aware of the irony that I, who have always argued for the Grissom's pod to be automated and uninhabited, put window decals on the top bulge of the pod. I'm figgering a maintenence/control room up there, infrequently manned and accessible only by transporter.
^ I'm still for having diagonal turbolift shafts in the pylons. The magnetics could be used to keep the pod "upright" as well as moving it. 24th century equivalent to the St.Louis arch. Still, transporters could be used in a pinch.
I guess it depends on how thick those things are. They are the narrowest parts on a given ship, but could easily be 20' thick.
Cant wait to see if this ship in action pics. also i wonder if it can remade using Micro machines or some other mini's.
How long does it take for you make one of these things? Assuming you already have an idea, and the parts on hand, how long from starting the actual build to the final photos? --Alex
Hm. Good question. I'm gonna say anywhere between 2 weeks and a month, depending on complexity and how annoyed I get. That's working on it about 1 hour per evening.
Looks great! The only thing that bugs me is that the nacelle pylons don't seem to line up between the upper and lower portions in the fore/aft view, but I can easily overlook that.