Spaceman Spiffs second coming >>>(Thanks to Prince of Styrene II)<<<

[stretch]

After seeing the amazing work by Prince of Styrene II on his Spaceman Spiff build, I decided to do my own.
All Praise to P.O.S. II for his idea and advice.. thanks so much mate...
Currently I'm putting a shout out for spare parts (with no real luck) to my local Aussie mates for bitz to make a Starblazers style conversion of a Tamiya 1/350 Enterprise and while looking for something to tide me over while this occurs...

BINGO!! SPACEMAN SPIFF the complete (almost) scratchbuild.

I had to go out and buy a small puzzle/game thingy just for the plastic sphere it came encased in, just for the canopy. As this was pretty much the only thing I couldn't fabricate myself, the size of the ship was determined by the canopy size. After drawing it up to scale, A diameter of approx 9" eventuated. After resigning myself to making a plug then a mould and pulling a couple of fiberglass ( yes we spell it differently down here (( LOL I've done it again P.O.S. II))) parts from it, which would have been a long and laborious process, my wife came to the rescue.... one word... WOK and SPROING!! two parts were born in about six hours

Initial trim and a test fit

Another pic with canopy on

Trialling parts on the cockpit drawing,scavenged out of my teeny tiny spares box.
My god, I feel so inadequate after seeing whats in the background of some of the photo's and vid's on some of the builds on this site. ENVY!!!
You'll see felt tip pen lids, wheels, seats ,foot pedals and battery boxes from a Nascar model my older brother made (25 years ago!!! no less), lights and muffler parts from a motorbike thats FAR older than that, and sheet styrene, which is the only other thing I've purchased specifically for this build. The seats are forming the base of the single seat in the ship. They've been covered in sheet styrene, but I'm a little stuck on what to do next. Real upholstery or sculpey replica??

The build continues...

Anyway, another part of the diorama ( did I forget to mention that?) THE DREADED ZERG!!.
None of them look the same, and my limited abilities in scuplting has made a kind of mash up of several different pictures the end result. Starting with a PVC tube.. (ignore the Killer Mutant Monster Snow Goon base in the foreground for the moment..)

Add some Super Sculpey

Citadel base coats and a wash..oops, photo of my finger too..

And then more stuff happened ..yes, it needs a flat wash cos it's shiny...




And the build continues..
Thanks for looking.

 

[wds]

Great job! Very creative.
It's nice to see Spiff back in the air. What a flashback to sitting around the breakfast table as a child, reading the comics in the morning newspaper.
I'm currently sharing my old C & H books with my daughter (9 y.o.) Good times.

Keep up the good work,

Bill

 

[ModelMakerMike]

That's gonna be sweet! It's already looking really cool!!!!
;D

 

[NecronautDrummer]

Awesome!!! Can't wait to see some WIP and a finish!

 

[Grendels]

That green guy looks the part.

 

[Dark Kyp]

that build look original, will follow the next steps!

Really good job done so far!

 

[stretch]

Thanks for the replies everyone. There will be a temporary break in the build progress. I'll post something about that in appropriate forum when I get the time... suffice to say it also involves 'model building' of a kind, although in 1:1 scale

 

[stretch]

Cockpit progress late on a Sunday night..
Steering wheel made from a super thin slice of PVC tube, sanded to within an inch of its life, the seat in its raw form ( the two seats seen previously are inside the sheet covering), console made from leftovers of my Stormtrooper E-11 blaster and Nascar parts ( and the battery box from the same), chap stick caps and felt tip pen lids make up the 'thingies' behind the seat. Lots more detailing to go.


Then its Spiff himself.
Then its on to the diorama. Its going to be Spiffs ship.. erm... "landed" (if you read Spiff comics you'll know what I mean) with pieces of undercarriage spread out behind it and a large pile of rocks and sand bulldozed in front. No pics of that because it doesnt exist yet

 

[NecronautDrummer]

Can't wait to see your progress on our intrepid hero!

 

[Quaralane]

Looking good. Spiff would be proud

 

[stretch]

Progress over the weekend.
A base coat of aluminium ( aluminum ) to really bring out the garish colours to follow. Thats not a run in the paint on the right port side barrel thingy, its a dark line that appeared for some reason. I had to go and check that, I panicked a little though..).
I'm also trying my hand for the first time at lighting. Not much, just a few LED's installed in the engine and cockpit with on off switches and batteries hidden away in the diorama landscaping. Just making a start on that now, no pics though.

 

[Grendels]

This is moving along very nice!

 

[Glorfindel]

That is some fun and great scratch building. Very nice indeed.

 

[ModelMakerMike]

That is coming along excellently!!!!!
I appreciate your ingenuity!
;D ;D ;D ;D

 

[Igard]

This is awesome! Really cool work. 8)

 

[stretch]

Some progress on the base. A foam slab with plaster of paris. Old fashioned but I'm building with what I've got on hand.
A furrow from the ship 'landing', and a crater edge


The start of the scenery. A foam block mesa



Thats a map laying on the front of the ship. Spiff has to find his way somehow...






Aside from what you see here, theres billions of foam particles all over the shed..combine that with static...
super messy stuff

 

[Glorfindel]

Woks, go figure!

 

[Grendels]

That crater does look good.

 

[TBadger]

My best friend in college was named Calvin....my nickname inadvertantly bacame Hobbes afterwards. I always loved the comics as a kid and I'm following this build intently. I LOVE SCRATCHBUILT DIOs

 

[stretch]

Thanks for all the good words guys. Its my first diorama, and my first real scratchbuild, so I'm kind of building on the fly. Real life has takena bit of my time up at the moment, but I'll be back into it very soon