Tag Archives: plastic model

A Nebulon-class Headache

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So, my latest project is a rebuild of Nicholas Sagan's Nebulon-B Frigate. It's 1/500 scale and 3D printed from his design. Honestly, it's absolutely beautiful. He captured all of the detail beautifully, and the 3D print looks phenomenal.

However, it suffered a mishap in shipping or something. Anyway, another person wants to buy it and Nicholas commissioned me to fix it. And holy-hell does it need fixing. Apart from it being, well...apart, there's a lot of damage to the armor plates on either side of the main hull. Nicholas reprinted one side, but the port side is really bad. I'm having to kit-bash a kit-bash to rebuild it. What's worse, is that the 3D-print is very brittle. So, every time I try to add something on, something else breaks. It's quite the headache.

But, I'm trying to add as much structural support as I can. Wherever possible, I'm adding 1mm styrene strips behind pieces that I'm adding on. I'm also using 2-part epoxy glue more than CA superglue. Epoxy is generally stronger, but it also has a little flex in it. So, when I ship it, hopefully nothing will snap off again.

I’m on a Podcast

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So a short while ago, I was asked to be on What the Force?, which is a Star Wars podcast discussing all kinds of things from lore to theories on the future films to me talking about painting plastic. At first I couldn't believe it. You mean, you want to talk about plastic things for half an hour. Cool!

But when I did the interview, I had a lot of fun. It was interesting to describe scale-modeling to someone who wasn't familiar with it, and I enjoyed just reminiscing about old projects. So, if you have a chance, give it listen. If you have more time, please listen to the other podcasts because I really like the variety of topics and the casual feeling you get when listening.

Thank you again to What the Force? for having me on, and cheers!

What the Force? link to my podcast

What the Force? Facebook page

Bandai Rogue One vehicles

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Just finished the 2 other vehicles from Bandai's Rogue One set: the U-wing and TIE Striker, both in 1/144 scale. I think the U-wing came out great. I painted a lot of the panels differently and used a great decal set for the dark blue markings. Then I weathered the heck out of it. I probably could have gone further, but I was ready to be done.

Finished Diorama

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Well, here's the unveiling. I was molding a hand...my hand, for use in a diorama. I wanted to make the fallen Jedi statue on Jedha, or at least the hand. I used a water hose attachment as the lightsaber, and molded everything in Play-Doh. Then I cast it in a type of plaster. I have more info on the official Jedha Statue page.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy. Any questions or feedback, don't hesitate to email or comment.

Modifying the Bandai AT-ST legs

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I'm going back to the great 1/48 Bandai AT-ST for this build. This time, I'm adding extreme articulation to the legs. If you look at the screenshots from Return of the Jedi and Rogue One, you can see the legs pivot so that they angle inward, like a bird. To accomplish this, I'm using brass tubing and J-B weld. I have my build log here, which I will update from time to time.

So, what's the goal? Well, I want to build an AT-ST during movement, with one leg raised. At this point, I can balance the walker on one leg without glue and IT WON'T FALL!

I'm also adding some armor, stowage, and a searchlight. I want to answer the question: what happened to that walker Chewie and friends stole on Endor?

And since Sabine is still around, what would she do if she got her hands on it?

Rogue One AT-ST
7 – gluing the brass tubes
17 – standing on 1 leg

Welcome BB-CH1EF

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I recently completed a Bandai BB-8 with custom colors (inspired by the school I work at). I call him BB-CH1EF for my school’s mascot.

As for other updates, Hot Wheels scale lists have The Last Jedi vehicles.

I wrote a short article on the Y-wing’s size.

And there’s a new photo at the bottom of the Scale Lists page on how to read them. With any luck, viewers will be able to figure out my weird system for scaling vehicles.

Lastly, I’m working on another Bandai AT-ST, but I’m doing something very unique this time. The build log (not yet up) will be helpful to anyone wanting to REALLY pose this guy. And hopefully, I can get back into doing more and finishing more models in the new year. I have so many unfinished build logs and builds right now…it’s kinda crazy.