Entries:
March 2011

Do you have more unbuilt or half-built models than completed ones? Build at a glacial pace? Need a contest or deadline to motivate you to finish anything? Want to join others with same "affliction" and be inspired to finish a project in a reasonable amount of time? Then you've come to the right place.

The challenge is to pick a project to complete at the start of the month - and then get it done. Each month, we'll display the works of all folks participating in the challenge on this page. All you have to do to get in on this is finish one model in the time period allotted. It can be anything - a half-built stuck on the workbench for too long, a brand-new effort, whatever. Any model - sci-fi preferred, of course, but anything is fair game. All you have to do is say before Day 1 "I'm finishing x".

At the end of the month, send in images (see our Gallery guidelines) for posting here. And if you don't get done - well, you're eligible for the next month's challenge.

Show Your Colors ---- Downloadable T-Shirt Art

March 2011

1/72 USAF X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle by David Guertin

The actual X-37B is about 29 feet long and is believed to act as an orbital UAV for the USAF. It can stay in orbit for almost 300 days changing its orbit several times. You can read more about the vehicle here.

This is the Fantastic Plastic model of the Air Force X-37B OTV-1 reusable vehicle. The model's pattern was made by me, as are the castings. I like to build a copy of every model I pattern to see just how buildable my kits are. This can be a real eye opener and is always a good learning tool for future patterns.

I started this model over a year ago then I got distracted and it languished until recently. I came across in a box with a few other started models and decided to get it done as quickly as possible. A few weeks later I had finished it. Ironically I finished it the same day the second X-37B (OTV-2) was launched March 3rd 2011.

The paint scheme and markings I used are those seen on the original USAF concept art. There was a mix of paint brands used. The White is Tamiya white prime in the spray can. The grey is Mr.Surfacer 1200. Both of those primers have such a great finish that they also work great as final paint colours. The black is Tamiya X-1 Gloss and the control surfaces are Tamiya XF-24 Dark Grey. The white and gray primers were polished to a smooth finish and the upper fin was given a coat of Tamiya X-22 clear (by far my favourite clear gloss) in preparation for decals. The rocket nozzle is painted with Alclad II Jet Exhaust. The little fuel pipe beside the nozzle was drilled, the inside painted flat black and the outside painted Testors Chrome Silver.

The decal sheet made by JBOT includes markings for all versions of the X-37 including the NASA glide test vehicles and the actual USAF OTV-1 that flew. As always JBOT’s decals were a treat to work with and settle down nicely with a little Micro Sol setting solution.

Once the decals were applied I gave the entire model a coat of Testors Semi-Gloss Clear Lacquer. I felt a true flat finish would be out of scale for this small model.

I like to mount my models in flight so I had mounted a piece of square brass tubing in the bottom at an angle during construction. A smaller piece of square brass fits snugly into the piece in the model for display. I found a nice mission patch on line and got the NASA and USAF crests from Jim at JBOT. I made up a plaque in Illustrator and printed it. I mounted everything on a nice display base and I was done!

This was the first model I had finished for me in years and it felt really good. SO JUST GLUE IT! :)

1/72 SpaceDev Dream Chaser by David Guertin

This is the Blap! Models kit I sell on my website. It is soon to be discontinued at the request of SpaceDev. The pattern was made by Ben Guenther and the model was originally sold as the NASA HL-20 Lifting body at the 1996 and 2007 IPMS Nation Convention. I obtained the masters from Ben in 2008 and put it into production. The kit contains decals for the NASA HL-20 and the SpaceDev Dream Chaser.

Start to finish this model took me about four weeks to complete working an hour or so a day on average. I had started one last year and had epic failure. I managed to drop the model twice causing serious damage to the body the second time. I threw out the body, saved the wings and cast a new body for myself (one the advantages of being the manufacturer). The second attempt went much better.

The paint on the model is Tamiya White Spray Can Primer and the gray is Mr.Surfacer 1200. The black is Tamiya X-18 Semi-Gloss Black, the engine bells are Alclad II Pale Burnt metal, and the rear hatch is Alclad II Gold Titanium. I also painted an Alclad II rectangle around all of the RCS thruster areas.

As always, JBOT’s decals were a treat to work with and settle down nicely with a little Micro Sol setting solution. I chose the latest concept version with a nice colourful stripe on both sides of the body. The windows are also a decal and conformed to the compound curves very nicely with a bit of Micro Sol to help them out.

The stand comes with the model and you need to drill a 1/8” hole in the bottom of the model to accommodate it.

I finished this model within a couple of weeks of my X-37B. It’s seems I am on a roll getting things done. I just hope I can maintain some momentum and finish one model a month this year.

Millennium Falcon by Dec Sibley

After a significant amount of time unable to do any modelling I finally found myself with a whole day free. Not enough time to start a new project and to be honest, digging out some of the half built models in my shed would have eaten into the model time to much. But I wanted to complete something as the finishing of a model gives a sense of satisfaction that can make up for long periods of inactivity.

I had a REVELL easy kit of the Millennium Falcon that was in bits I thought I'd try out some new paint products and at least get her rebuilt. I superglued it together and then painted the whole thing in satin white. Thinned Enamel was used to line out the panels and Humbrol enamels used to pick out coloured plates. Oils were scrubbed into various panels and then the whole thing sprayed with 'model mates' railway dye before the oil paint had dried. After 10 Min I used water, soft cloths and cotton buds to remove the dye. This took about 4 hours in total varying between full scrubbing without water to washing of with water and using the cotton buds. The effects are as seen. The Oils lifted of with the dye leaving a subtle colour change to the satin white. The dye and scrubbing also reduced the model's sheen.

Six hours pleasantly spent and a new finished model too. I feels good to be modelling again even if its less regularly.

The images below were created by Allison Cottreau especially for this challenge. They're ready for use - just download and print on iron-on transfer paper. They'll look best on white, light grey or light blue backgrounds.