Thundergod
New Member
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2013
- Messages
- 202
As well as my recent re-vamps of the Halcyon APC and Sulaco , I've also been reworking the Narcissus Shuttle . To cut a long story short , the model was originally abandoned 20-odd years ago when a faulty spray can caused the model to be flooded with thick , white enamel which at the time was next to impossible to remove without destroying the model . Cut to the present and I took a risk with a paint removal product which after a couple of days work , was pretty successful in stripping the offensive paint away .
I was able to break down the model into it's components ( a fortuitous side effect of using crap cement all those years ago !) before stripping the paint and basically re-building the model from step one .
I was quite concious of again flooding the model with paint ( and ruining the nicely scribed panel detail) , so instead of using primer , I gradually built up the base coat with a can of white semi-gloss acrylic ( my airbrushes are out of action at the moment ).
Anyone familiar with this kit will be aware of its' shortcomings , which mostly concern the terrible fit of the engines . I used a combination of putty and styrene strip to try and disguise the joins as best I could and replaced the panels on the top of the engines with sheet styrene .
At one point I considered lighting the model and scratchbuilding a proper interior , but as I'm not currently interested in a long-term project , I decided to keep it simple and just go for a straight rebuild . I've used a simple black acrylic wash ( with a drop of added washing up liquid ) for the weathering , letting the mix dry about 75% before wiping away the excess and letting it dry for a good 12 hours before going at it with a very worn piece of sanding pad . I'd previously tried a more subtle approach with varying shades of grey pastels in a wash , but wasn't satisfied with the results and found that the more basic approach was the better . I'm currently looking into some custom decals , which gives me the time to work on weathering the model a little section at a time .
I was able to break down the model into it's components ( a fortuitous side effect of using crap cement all those years ago !) before stripping the paint and basically re-building the model from step one .
I was quite concious of again flooding the model with paint ( and ruining the nicely scribed panel detail) , so instead of using primer , I gradually built up the base coat with a can of white semi-gloss acrylic ( my airbrushes are out of action at the moment ).
Anyone familiar with this kit will be aware of its' shortcomings , which mostly concern the terrible fit of the engines . I used a combination of putty and styrene strip to try and disguise the joins as best I could and replaced the panels on the top of the engines with sheet styrene .
At one point I considered lighting the model and scratchbuilding a proper interior , but as I'm not currently interested in a long-term project , I decided to keep it simple and just go for a straight rebuild . I've used a simple black acrylic wash ( with a drop of added washing up liquid ) for the weathering , letting the mix dry about 75% before wiping away the excess and letting it dry for a good 12 hours before going at it with a very worn piece of sanding pad . I'd previously tried a more subtle approach with varying shades of grey pastels in a wash , but wasn't satisfied with the results and found that the more basic approach was the better . I'm currently looking into some custom decals , which gives me the time to work on weathering the model a little section at a time .