by Ron Fulce

This is a labor of love for me. When I was a kid (1980 or so ) I got the book Spacecraft 2000 to 2100 AD by Stewart Cowley. I was fascinated. The author basically took illustrations from artists that had done Sci Fi book covers, combined the illustrations, and created a backstory to tie the various pictures together. The main theme was a war that occurred between Earth, Alpha, and Proxima Centauri. One of my favorite illustrations was the Alphan ACM 128 Stingray. This was painted by Colin Hay and originally used on the cover of a collection of short stories edited by Issac Asimov.

It took me about 30 years to get my skills up to the point where I was confident enough to attempt this build. The model is basically a bash of an F-5 A and a Saab Draken. Obviously it is heavily modified. The only Draken parts are the inner wings. The fuselage of the F-5 has been completely scratchbuilt from the nose back to get the proper coutours. Of course the engine compartment was entirely scratched out of basswood, Evergreen, and various model parts. The vertical stabilizer is constructed of parts from a Mustang, a Yak, an F-16 and some other stuff. To create the main hump on the back I used 3 different canopies from some stuff from the parts stash. Too many various little bits were incorporated to make the little bumps and such. Both the main guns sticking out from the leading edge of the wings were done from the 37 mm cannons from a Stuka.

The primary paintjob was done using liquid mask and rattle cans except for the yellow color (zinc chromate), which I airbrushed. Detail paint. touchups, and weathering were done by hand. The weathering was accomplished with a combination of oils, inks, and pastels. Decals are, of course, an eclectic mix from the stash.

I have taken some liberties with small details but I think I captured the original concept well. The backstory is that this is a later, more advanced model than shown in the artwork so I think I can get away with the small inconsistencies.

Image: Inspiration

Image: Closer look

Image: Top view

Image: Front

Image: Nose

Image: Top/right view

Image: Left/rear

Image: Front/right

Image: Right/rear