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[BFG] Scratchbuilt Transports (WIP)

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[BFG] Scratchbuilt Transports (WIP)

Postby Islacrusez » Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:56 am

(Rest of my build thread is available here: http://www.forum.specialist-arms.com/in ... pic=5631.0 )

I've been working on a scratch transport for a couple of weeks now, first creating a prow inspired by the Iconoclast, and eventually moving onto a shoulder-prow for ordinary Imperial transport looks. blindhorizon as pointed out this forum, and I figured I'd pop in and say HI.

So Hi.

Ok, I'm off :P


Anyway. Here's some of my progress pics:

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Descriptions are available in the link above; I'm not a huge fan of duplicity.

The basic gist is that I'm a complete beginner when it comes to scratchbuilding, and especially the BFG scale. I'm also flat broke, so it's being done on the cheap with recycled/salvaged materials. Mostly this is plastic yogurt lids, pins, lolly sticks, cotton bud sticks, and ice cream sticks. All held together with a few bottles of superglue and willpower. Honourable mention goes to Pringles, whose tops are completely impervious to superglue, and thus can be used for as scaffolds.

Currently the overall length measures up to 45mm or so, just shy of a Sword class frigate. The engine/bridge section is about the same length, though considerably fatter and all in all maybe a little taller. The main bulk is the cargo tank itself. All in all, she's pretty fat, but then she's a transport.


Comments and criticisms very welcome, even in the harshest possible terms. (I'm not kidding, you could be Yahtzee, Ramsay, or Cowell, and I'd still be fine with it!)


Currently no plans to cast, due to financial restrictions on getting the materials for it. This particular model is also past the stage of reasonably being able to cast it - many rough surfaces and shoddy work, let alone the daft shapes.
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Re: [BFG] Scratchbuilt Transports (WIP)

Postby mangozac » Thu Aug 08, 2013 10:50 am

Nice work! It's certainly a hotchpotch of construction materials - they say necessity is the mother of invention but maybe it should be "lack of money is the mother of invention" ;)

I'd personally avoid using balsa as it leaves a very grainy surface, but I understand it's the easiest material for blocking out like that. Some people do a balsa core and wrap it with very thin plastic sheet. Perhaps try to grab some thicker acrylic sheet material offcuts from the rubbish bin of a plastics fabrication business?
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Re: [BFG] Scratchbuilt Transports (WIP)

Postby Islacrusez » Thu Aug 08, 2013 11:07 am

Thank you!

Most of the large faces have actually been sealed with superglue by gluing it to the impervious plastic, allowing it to be simply peeled away, leaving a very smooth gloss surface. However, not all surfaces have had this treatment, though many of them have had several coats of superglue by now. I dread to think how much of the detail has been obliterated by the often careless application.

Regardless, I imagine all but the deepest grain will be hidden under several layers of enamels (hopefully not obliterating what little detail there will be left!) and most things have been sanded fairly fine.

My timeline predicts the construction should be finished this week, hoping to paint next week. That said, not much has gone according to plan!


I'll see what I can do about getting a bin of scraps from somewhere, but not sure if we have any local companies in that business.
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Re: [BFG] Scratchbuilt Transports (WIP)

Postby mangozac » Thu Aug 08, 2013 8:22 pm

Coating the balsa in super glue like that is actually really clever. I'm impressed!
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Re: [BFG] Scratchbuilt Transports (WIP)

Postby Islacrusez » Fri Aug 09, 2013 1:23 am

It's the joys of discovering that the plastic you're trying to glue together is completely impervious to superglue ;) Fortunately, there's uses for such qualities!


Bridge now coming together, with the main viewport area getting two strips of plastic. Can also properly see the turret under the bridge, which now has guns. Gluing those on is by far the most awkward thing I have ever built. Ever.

You can also just make out the layer of superglue above the wood on the bridge deck, where I was repairing the skew earlier.
Image


Now adding one of the wing aerials, a little skew in this pic but fixed since. It will go parallel to the tank. Also shows the bare quarter fore of the turret both on the bridge support and the main hull above the wing. The area on the bridge support has since been added to. The hull... Dunno.
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Here we are adding lights to the top of the bridge, and a small spine. The "rod" will obviously be trimmed once the glue has set, it's just kept long here for the sake of manipulation. Also visible are attempts at detailing on the back of the wings and on the bridge support.
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One light trimmed down, but to be trimmed further once the glue has set fully, and another gluing now. I've sanded the head of this pin to thin it significantly, but it's still fairly thick. The shaft will be sanded down further once it is dry. "Details" on the other side of the bridge support is visible here, including support columns.
Image
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Re: [BFG] Scratchbuilt Transports (WIP)

Postby mangozac » Fri Aug 09, 2013 8:03 am

Coming along nicely! I would suggest hitting it with a very light coat of some decent grey primer from time to time through the build process. The uniform colour will be a massive help is getting a feel from the overall shape, especially when you're using so many translucent materials.
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Re: [BFG] Scratchbuilt Transports (WIP)

Postby Islacrusez » Fri Aug 09, 2013 9:12 am

I think I have a primer in a rattlecan somewhere, but I do believe it's white acrylic. Would it work if I just hit it with grey enamels?
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Re: [BFG] Scratchbuilt Transports (WIP)

Postby mangozac » Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:32 am

Definitely not! Grey acrylic primer or nothing ;)

Tamiya Surface Primer is awesome, but may be a little out of your budget...
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Re: [BFG] Scratchbuilt Transports (WIP)

Postby Islacrusez » Fri Aug 09, 2013 11:34 am

Too late, I've hit it with a coat of enamels. And either my painting is really bad (not unheard of), or my surface quality is pretty bad. Might have to hit it with the primer and then coat it with some colour!

I'd post pics, but it looks really bad right now. I need to take a scalpel to it again and free up the turret that got painted to the bridge because of how thick my paint was. Inconsistent is definitely the word to use about my paint for this one. Got excited and rushed it, and it fails. Pic might follow in the morning.
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Re: [BFG] Scratchbuilt Transports (WIP)

Postby mangozac » Fri Aug 09, 2013 12:47 pm

Hmmm not ideal. Enamel is really bad to be doing anything over the top of - certainly don't hit it with any acrylic (at least not for at least a week). If the enamel isn't fully cured (which will take days) it will just make a mess in the long run.

I did say to use a very light coat, otherwise there's the likelihood of obscuring details like you've found.
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Re: [BFG] Scratchbuilt Transports (WIP)

Postby Islacrusez » Fri Aug 09, 2013 11:35 pm

Ok, it's not a disaster. My paint was thin enough. Some exploratory cutting has revealed the turret is in fact glued solid to the bridge, and no way of separating it without tearing the whole thing apart. Because of the clear superglue, this wasn't apparent during construction. Bother. Will have to work with it somehow. There's still a few sections that need detailing, such as the winglet undersides and the underside of the hull. A pain, but must be done. The rest of the ship... well.

You be the judge:

Image
Image
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Re: [BFG] Scratchbuilt Transports (WIP)

Postby Islacrusez » Sat Aug 10, 2013 6:37 am

Some sanding has been done, and more plastic has been glued on. A coat of RAF blue has been applied, along with a little bit of aluminium. Cargo tank has taken a coat of the same, though I'm wondering if I should keep the aluminium or switch to gun-metal.
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Re: [BFG] Scratchbuilt Transports (WIP)

Postby Commissar-Krad » Sat Aug 10, 2013 7:38 am

The left side looks a bit rough in the picture, the right side looks pretty good. If you sanded it, then it's probably looking even better now.
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Re: [BFG] Scratchbuilt Transports (WIP)

Postby Islacrusez » Sat Aug 10, 2013 7:48 am

Ok, so here's the RAF blue, with some attempt at shadows and highlights. Silver highlights still to go on, along with positional lights. Also, one shiny new cargo tank!

Image
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Re: [BFG] Scratchbuilt Transports (WIP)

Postby Blindhorizon » Sat Aug 10, 2013 8:21 pm

With some color on it everything is looking pretty damn good, hard to tell with the transparent materials you used. Good stuff keep going.

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