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- Photo of the unstarted kit for the SMA contest.
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- Basic hull pieces glued together.
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- Dremeled out side compartment hatches.
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- Sanded them down for thinner appearance.
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- Added suspension parts to create hover-things.
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- Added engine and hatch, glued on previous hatch parts.
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- Created basic thrusters.
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- Used part of the undercarriage for thrusters.
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- Glued on thrusters and used gun shield as wings. I had to add filler putty to cover up part of the gun shield opening.
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- Wings and upper rear
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- Created double command chair from random parts. The chair base is from the gun.
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- I used parts from the jack and stretched sprue.
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- To cover up an open piece, I used various parts, which I cut down and puttied over.
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- Using part of the sprue label for sheet styrene.
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- Gun added.
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- You can see the chair mounted, as well as the front plate.
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- Turning the front plate into a viewport.
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- I used extra PE bits to create and inner bevel.
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- Using a glue looper, I glued the PE in place with CA glue.
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- Using the gun braces, I decided to create a roller-mine launcher.
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- Roller mines created from wheel pieces.
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- After smoother out the braces, I glued them on the back and added the roller mines.
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- I created a stepladder that opens and closes.
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- You can also see additional side and underside details (such as the braces for the hover-things).
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- Using the fire extinguishers, I created a dual cannon mount.
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- I also used the steel suspension bits to create grab-handles.
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- Grab-handles and gun added. I also used part of the fenders to create a cool front plate/deflector
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- Here’s a rear view. You can also see the added antennae in this shot.
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- Another of the lower front with the deflectors in place.
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- Interior shot with command chair installed.
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- Also created a sci-fi rifle from extra parts.
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- Lastly, I added seatbelts from the jerrycan PE pieces.
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- Here’s a shot of all of the parts left over from the build.
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- I primed first with Tamiya Grey, then with Vallejo. Then I added a mix of LifeColors to create the primer red.
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- A layer of chipping fluid, then a light grey.
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- Added a bluish tint from Tamiya paints, then chipped more (using fluid).
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- Finally, more chipping fluid, and an off-white color.
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- Added decals and orange marks (masked off by tape).
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- Was originally going to say “Blucher”, but came out “Blucner”.
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- Used the Dragon logo for the screen.
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- Added more marks to the front, painted the rear-facing antennae, and painted the roller-mines.
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- Hand-painted command chair.
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- So, I decided to create a desert base using molded rocks and tires from the kit. The tired were roughed up and everything was test-fitted to get an idea of what it would look like.
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- Rocks were glued with white glue.
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- Using DAS putty, I filled in the entire area and embedded the tires in it.
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- Sprayed Vallejo primer black.
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- Then I began spraying various desert tones. I wanted a “whiter” desert than my AT-TE diorama.
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- Airbrushing finished.
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- I was also weathering the hovertank in between the dio sessions. I used enamels and oils to create contrast and dust.
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- A happy accident: in masking off the wheel, part of the paint lifted up. I repainted it, but the edges where the paint lifted were still there. But once I added some highly-thinned Vallejo paint (as a wash), it created a worn tire look.
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- Here, I was cutting out pieces of the instructions to create scale maps for the interior.
