- Joined
- Jan 27, 2011
- Messages
- 191
Hi fellow model addicts.
Thought I'd start on another Gerry Anderson model which is the Aoshima 1/72 Thunderbirds "The Mole" and one of my fave marionette TV series as a kid and also my fave rescue vehicle from the show.
Started off with removing the seam lines and injector pin marks from the drill piece, this was a mish due to the curvature and shape of the piece.
The drill section of the model is nicely detailed but the tractor piece is a little bare, so I rummaged through my loose parts bin to pick out some donor parts then bathed them in a small glass of simple green degreaser to strip off the paint.
I then mapped out where I was to put them being aware of where the decal placement was on the instruction sheet, I left those spaces bare and I also kept the detailing to a minimum.
Looking at my reference photo's, I noticed that the inner section of the tractor had wall panelling on both sides, so using some styrene sheet, I measured and cut out panels for each side but after taking a step back to look at it from all angles, I decided it was a missed opportunity to see the hydraulics on the inside because the panels blocked the view so I removed them.
Upon removing the panels, I had to conjure up some detail, my idea was to replace the wall panels with something in the same shape of the rocket shape part, so I found an old plastic ball point pen casing, cut it to the length of the rocket detailing then split it in half which left me with two pieces, one for each side.
I then cut the tip off of the tapered end to the correct size so it matched the kit detail being aware I had to leave a gap for the mounting brackets.
I cupped the front ends off with a piece of styrene tube (dunno why, I just thought it looked incomplete with nothing there), and sliced the leftover threaded piece (the screw together bit) of the pen casing in half and glued it to the opposite end of the rocket for added detail with more styrene tube.
A couple of more tiny details added and that's the tractor done.
I'm not going to motorise this model but I started installing some of the gearing that holds the drill in place as they also support the tension of the tracks that are mounted on the sides of the drill section.
Removed the wiring for the caution light as I wont be lighting it, I also added a greeblie to hide the hole where the on/off switch was meant to mount, glued the remaining parts of the drill section on then a bit of masking and it's time to do some priming.
Primed and sitting there drying out... also gave both my Tie Fighters a second coat of base color which is Archive-X Stormy Sea Grey (has a tinge of blue) and apparently matched to the hero Tie.
I think the added details turned out okay.
More to come...
EDIT: Unsure of why photos aren't displaying in the post, might be my image host.
Thought I'd start on another Gerry Anderson model which is the Aoshima 1/72 Thunderbirds "The Mole" and one of my fave marionette TV series as a kid and also my fave rescue vehicle from the show.
Started off with removing the seam lines and injector pin marks from the drill piece, this was a mish due to the curvature and shape of the piece.
The drill section of the model is nicely detailed but the tractor piece is a little bare, so I rummaged through my loose parts bin to pick out some donor parts then bathed them in a small glass of simple green degreaser to strip off the paint.
I then mapped out where I was to put them being aware of where the decal placement was on the instruction sheet, I left those spaces bare and I also kept the detailing to a minimum.
Looking at my reference photo's, I noticed that the inner section of the tractor had wall panelling on both sides, so using some styrene sheet, I measured and cut out panels for each side but after taking a step back to look at it from all angles, I decided it was a missed opportunity to see the hydraulics on the inside because the panels blocked the view so I removed them.
Upon removing the panels, I had to conjure up some detail, my idea was to replace the wall panels with something in the same shape of the rocket shape part, so I found an old plastic ball point pen casing, cut it to the length of the rocket detailing then split it in half which left me with two pieces, one for each side.
I then cut the tip off of the tapered end to the correct size so it matched the kit detail being aware I had to leave a gap for the mounting brackets.
I cupped the front ends off with a piece of styrene tube (dunno why, I just thought it looked incomplete with nothing there), and sliced the leftover threaded piece (the screw together bit) of the pen casing in half and glued it to the opposite end of the rocket for added detail with more styrene tube.
A couple of more tiny details added and that's the tractor done.
I'm not going to motorise this model but I started installing some of the gearing that holds the drill in place as they also support the tension of the tracks that are mounted on the sides of the drill section.
Removed the wiring for the caution light as I wont be lighting it, I also added a greeblie to hide the hole where the on/off switch was meant to mount, glued the remaining parts of the drill section on then a bit of masking and it's time to do some priming.
Primed and sitting there drying out... also gave both my Tie Fighters a second coat of base color which is Archive-X Stormy Sea Grey (has a tinge of blue) and apparently matched to the hero Tie.
I think the added details turned out okay.
More to come...
EDIT: Unsure of why photos aren't displaying in the post, might be my image host.
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