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All 80 launch tube decals are now in place. Working with such tiny decals is a real pain, and getting them in the right position is even harder as the surface tension of the water tends to make them cling to edges. I hit my stride after the first 30 or so, and the rest were fairly straight forward.
I'm really pleased with the end result. It doesn't even matter that they're not all the same size or shape - just having them there is enough. :)
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...h_tubes_sm.jpg
Detail of above image:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/..._tubes_det.jpg
'Aztec' decals are done on all the engine pods too. I'm very impressed with the armour plate decals, they really help give some life to the ship.
I did one pod in 4 large sections but it resulted in the panel lines being slightly off. For the other pod I cut each large decal into a half dozen smaller sections which produced a much better fit. I think I may be worrying over nothing though as even I have trouble telling which is which in this image:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/..._decals_sm.jpg
Also painted in the RCS thrusters (black circles), which I forgot to do before.
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the decal look really good man.... i cant believe you did 80 of them little thingy!
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In progress shot of decals on the head section:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/..._decals_sm.jpg
All the decals applied and clear coated. There must be something funny about the red ink in the decals as it was incredibly fragile. The larger stripes were ok but I had to paint the stripes on the landing bays by hand.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/..._decals_sm.jpg
The photoetch replacement gun turrets. Even folded in half they still look a bit flat but I think they're still better than the kit parts.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...turrets_sm.jpg
A test weather using powdered graphite to simulate blast marks.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...0pastel_sm.jpg
Another test, this time of an oil paint wash in the panel lines. This is after two applications, which might be a little dark.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...%20wash_sm.jpg
Once the clear coat cures, I'll use a combination of dry brushing oils on raised detail, a panel line wash, and combination airbrush/chalk pastel blast marks to weather the ship before final assembly.
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the blast mark looks good man.... it coming along really nice bro...
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Wow, the pannelling detail in the decals makes it feel massive. really good work, and I really like the black wash panel lines in your last pics as well.
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This is looking absolutely amazing, brilliant work man! Esp with the fibreoptics and LEDs! Not to mention those teeny tiny decals! Your attention to detail is uncanny!
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Thanks guys, it's getting closer to being finished. :)
I've been flip flopping on the battle damage and I think I've settled on keeping it clean, though I'll use some ground artist's pastels to do some shading and add some variation to the scheme.
It's ready for a matte coat tomorrow, followed by pastel work and then final assembly. Hopefully I can solder all the wires together without melting anything! :eek:
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All the weathering is finished now. I flip flopped again on battle damage, and it now has blast marks on the hull. :) The pastels worked really well to give some subtle colour variation to the plain areas.
I glued the engines into their respective hull pieces, then threaded the wires for the landing bays through the holes and glued them in place too, before soldering all the LED circuits together, managing not to melt anything this time. :)
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...20wires_sm.jpg
With hind sight, I was almost too ambitious with my lighting plans. It all only just fits inside.
I'm also not totally sold on the headphone jack connector idea as it seems a little flaky. I've pulled it apart once and nearly broken it trying to pull it apart a second time after the glue was dry when I thought the lights weren't working. Luckily there was minimal damage, and nothing a little superglue and paint can't fix.
Very nearly finished. :)
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Holy moly man your dedication goes along way in making this bad mother a super-bad mother.
I'm so lazy I just bought the finished version, will post pics for comparison's sake but it'll never match the quality of what you've done here!
Great work man
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:eek::eek::eek:...... I'm speechless.
When will she be ready to launch?
