Studio Scale McQuarrie Concept Raider

[Wombat]

I think your starting ta have too much fun with this build!
But it's also good as it's seems to be coming along really nicely.The freedom of not actually replicating a model makes it that much more enjoyable i'm sure?
Looking good my friend!!

[dbhs]

Thanks, Phil. Yes, I'm having too much fun if that's possible.

I'm not 100% sure on the lighting in the middle but testing it out. I can't decide if the grilles in the middle should be coverign a glowing reactor (with lighting) or just be some sort of exhaust grilles and make them dark with some weathering streaks coming off toward the rear. If I do add lights I'll probably keep them pretty subtle and dim so they don't stand out too much.

[JAWS]

Well that looks sick from where Im at.

[DarthDuck]

Still being impressed with all the eye candy you keep providing us!
Keep it coming- looking fanfuckintastic.

[dbhs]

Gracias, me amigos.

[427 Cobra]

The glowing reactor is probably what the original design would've been. I think that's the best look other than just engine lights,and nothing else.

[dbhs]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm definitely having too much fun with this one. Here's some progress from the last couple of days.

The green putty is really distracting on the white styrene but you'll have to trust me that it's getting smoother. I scribed all the panel lines in on the bottom side and have some greeblies figured out. I'm going to glue the greeblies on last so they don't get damaged in the mean time.

I wasn't happy about the edge detail I had before so I redid the finish surface all along the curved front edge. This was a big PITA but the final edge will be much cleaner this way.


This is the top side with the first layer of styrene on top of the ribs. I'm gluing this down to the ribs with epoxy.





These are the final sheets of styrene for the top side ready to be applied. I spent a whole evening just doing the little vent openings. I thought for sure that I'd break at least one of the thin spots between them but they came out ok. Put my needle files to good use cleaning up the holes.





More work in the cockpit tub. Yes there is no leg room in this design. Luckily the cylons have detachable legs


Tonight I glued in the piping on either side of the tail fin and added some detail tubing over the smaller tubes. I also worked on puttying/sanding in the engine compartment. The sanding there has to be finished before the final plating goes on. The engines and final plating are not glued in, just testing the fit.

The engines will be getting more piping and detailing added to be similar to the concept sketch. They look a little bare right now.

As always, thanks for looking.

[JAWS]

Sweet. This is shapeing up real nice Doug.

[Wombat]

OMFG!!!

Mate,i speachless,that is just the duck's gut's bud!!

[427 Cobra]

Wait 'til this is done! I really like the engines,but I wonder what I'd use for something like that if I did my own scratchbuild of this.

[dbhs]

It would be great to see what you come up with. So much of this build I'm making up but at the same time trying to be true to the image in the sketch. When you get right down to it the sketch is pretty "sketchy" on details so I get to make my own interpretation. It would be interesting to see what someone else would do with the same design.

I don't have a lathe or the proper tools to make any round shapes I want. If I did I would probably do it differnent. These parts I've found for the engines are getting me pretty close to the general shape and I'm pretty happy with it.

[427 Cobra]

Use a hand drill. That's what I use for small circular shapes. Draw a circle with a drill bit guage (found at most home improvement stores),then cut out to the line you traced,and turn it on the drill the way I do (with a screw in the middle to support it) until the line is gone. Do the same thing again if you need something that can't be turned easily in long sections. Multiple discs can be glued together for a long shaft. Just block a file,or sand paper wrapped around a board against the table you're working on for leverage if it's a big part.

Once you have all the little discs glued carefully together,sand them with a sanding block if there are any irregularities in them until smooth. This is how I make long columns,or thick circular shapes without a lathe.

[dbhs]

I got some lighting working now and the top side detailing is under way.

I wasn't happy with the technique I used with the colored lighting gels on the studio raider so I tried something new here. The problem with the gels is that glue doesn't stick to them well and I can't glue them to the LEDs. To get around this I tried mounting them to a clear backing that I could position and glue in place easier. I cut strips of the gels and stuck them onto clear masking tape. Then I stuck the masking tape onto some clear plastic card. Here you can see the lighting gels stuck between the FO on the left (held in place inside aluminum tubes) and the LEDs on the right.


Here is the lighting gels mounted to the clear plastic.


Here's the effect in the cockpit. I'm not sold on the colors I have here and may play around with other ideas.


This is the overall view as of tonight. The canopy is a mock up with strip styrene. This is my second pass and I'm going to make a few minor adjustments then measure it and do the final with clear plastic and styrene frame.


The topside panel lines are all scribed in.


Detail of the forward intake.


Detail of the small openings at the front sides.



Top side.





Thanks for looking.

-Doug

[JAWS]

Oh shit Doug tthat is F&^%$#g awsome! I would ditch those gels & maybe go with translucent paint. tamiya have a good range of nice sharp colors.

[427 Cobra]

WOW! That is neat! That's the first thing that I said when I saw this completed.

You should try some hollow styrene tubing for the LED to fibreoptics. You can use smaller tubing for the fibreoptics to bundle them then,use a styrene tube,or how many you need to make these useable together to take up the slack between the two sizes. Then,you can hot glue them,so that they don't melt,or become brittle over time like superglue does.

I'd go with the auqa green,violet,white,and blue LEDs for the cockpit lighting. I think that would work best for a white spaceship,or any light colour you choose. The pastels will show up better,and not be so overbearing,as darker colours would.

[dbhs]

Thanks for the feedback. Having the gels on the 'cards' allows me to swap them out easily to change colors. I know the colors suck in this photo. The pinkish ones in the middle are actually bright red in person. It's a ballance making the color look good in person vs. on camera.
The cockpit is going to be fairly dark grey to match the look of the sketch and I want the lighting pretty subtle. Right now I'm happy they are working. There's no point in testing out more color variations until the cockpit is painted in the dark colors. The stryrene tubes are a good idea and would help with the light leaking which I'm going to have to deal with.

[dbhs]

Hey guys -

Been busy with other stuff lately but managed to get a little bit done on the engines.

[JAWS]

Doug they look great. I love the bare look but can't wait to see some primer to blend it all in. Killa build mate.

[427 Cobra]

That's just what those two outside engines needed! This is truly one of the best builds I've seen in a while. Are you going to add engine lighting?

[JAWS]

Doug, with the Centurion Grill do you need the 1/35 scale cause the the 1/20 is too big?

[dbhs]

Yes, I'll be lighting the engines.

Jase, the 1/35 scale grille would wok much better for me. I sized the space on the model to fit them exactly at that scale. If you have that part and can cast it that would be great.

[JAWS]

Ive got it. Will mould it up for you buddy.

[Wombat]

Those engines look bloody fantastic there,that was some nice bit's of detailing you did on em.This is turning out to be more outstanding with ever update.You should be very proud of what you've created already and i know it'll be one you'll be pretty happy with when it's done there.
Oh,sorry about the Centurion deck mix up,i never even looked at the raider one to compare it,i just thought it was the same Centurion used on the G.

[dbhs]

Hey guys !!

We'll I've been busy with 'stuff' lately but hope to be back to making some progress in the next few weeks. I got some done tonight and last so I thougth I'd get some pics up.

I'm framing out the windows with tiny 1/16" 'C' channel and then gluing the frames together in place. The windows are clear acetate and the styrene solvent works to glue the frames on.


The canopy will be a separate piece until after the whole thing is painted up.






The bottom is in the putty-sand-primer-repeat phase but getting close to ready for greeblies.


Primer on the engines.

[Wombat]

Struth!!

Thats looking incredible there mate!
The cockpit looks fantastic and damn that primer really has made those engines pop.Fantastic work as always.I love the look of the bottom of this piece,that looks sick!
Keep at it dude,you're pretty much there with most of it now.

[JAWS]

Wow thats looking F^%$#@G unbelievable! Very nice Dougster. Parts coming at you soon mate. Very sorry got wrapped up in G build. This is one impressive scratch build matey. Can't waite to see the paint & lighting operational to poull it all together. Great job.

[dbhs]

Thanks, guys. No worries on the parts, Jase. I can glue them in any time.

Yeah - the primer does magic on it. I can't wait to get the top primered as well. It's coming along....

[427 Cobra]

I wish that brass could stay the same colour! That would look great against the gray engines. I would've used the Saturn V engine bells just to be more like the orginal ILM modelers who were also the Apogee employees. This is a concept model though, so no kitbashing happened here. It'd still be interesting to see, even if they weren't a permament part of this, or any other concept raider build for that matter.

[dbhs]

I looked at those in a kit at the LHS and they were not quite the right size. They had great detail though and I considered it. The bells I'm using from a pen body are exacltly the size I needed based on the concept sketch so I went with them.

There will be a few kit parts on this guy before I'm done, though .

As for the engine colors. I was originally thinking dark gray metallics would set if off from the white body but then I though that I should go with dull grays like the darker parts of the studio raider. I figured that if this was actually done as a studio model back then that they would have used similar greys to the other models being done at the time.

I'm still on the fence. Any suggestions ?

[dbhs]

The details and greeblies are going on now. It's starting to look finished in area with these final details going on.

The engine area is getting the heaviest treatment and I'm casting up some duplicates in that area. Will post more as I can.

[JAWS]

Wow this is just awsome Doug. I gotta get my act together & get you those parts. It looks just wicked with the chips & greeblies! Nice work.

[Apophis]

Really sharp Doug! I like the bottom too! As for color, id go with the studio color.

[427 Cobra]

This is really looking super-cool!!! I'm loving this more, and more each time I see it!

[Wombat]

Good to see this is still happening there!I'd think this would be the most fun and perhaps easier part of the build that you are at?
Look forward to seeing how it all lays out,the little things can make such a difference really.

Have fun!!

[dbhs]

Thanks guys. Still plugging along on this. Casting up some duplicates of the parts Phil sent slowed me down a bit but still at it. The parts I cast are still clear in these photos.

I finally have an update on this. I have all the detailing done on this now ('cept for 2 parts on the bottom side). The detailing around the engine wells is filled in now and it's about as chunky as I want it. Once all the parts are on I'll hit it with primer again and then on to painting.

-Doug

[Wombat]

Can't wait to see how it looks with that primer splashed on.it looks bloody good already there and we all know what the primer is gonna do.Good to see some more progress again there Doug!!

[dbhs]

Hey Guys - Update Time.

I got two copies of the Centurion grille cast up using the bathtub caulk molding method. I wasn't sure I could pull off a part this big but it seemed to work out pretty good. I'll need to get some real casting equipment eventually.

I'm pretty happy about how the grille looks with the rest of the ship. Now I'm looking forward to getting some color on this one.









Touched up the primer on the top side and it's ready for paint as soon as the primer cures solid.

-Doug

[JAWS]

Hey Doug that is awsome mate! Your moulding looks to have worked a trick mate! I was going to cut my hull to do that. You may need to post a 'Tips 'n' Tricks for us in the Moulding & casting section. That build is fantastic. Cant wait for mor paint now & to see those lights come on. Welcome back buddy.

[Wombat]

That looks crap man,Box it and send it to me!

Well,i looked at this just before and i really happy to see you back on this build there Doug.Honestly,this is a work of art this one!You really have stayed true to what you had to use for your reference.This is a fantastic rendition of what the artwork looked like in my book mate.Once this is painted up i think you should take some really nice pictures and perhaps email a copy to the artist that drew it up.I think he'd be pretty impressed by it really.Good stuff anyway on getting back to the bench,the brain might be fried from the study,but this build will relieve all that now you are at the stage you are with it.

Looking real bloody good there!!

[dbhs]

Hey, thanks, guys. It's been a lot of fun putting this one together. Feels good to be back at it. Need to give the shuttle a little attention now as well.

[JAWS]

Yeah Im eyein mt shuttle up right now & think its about time for some work on that aswell!

[427 Cobra]

(04-23-2010, 05:31 PM)dbhs Wrote: Thanks guys. Still plugging along on this. Casting up some duplicates of the parts Phil sent slowed me down a bit but still at it. The parts I cast are still clear in these photos.

I finally have an update on this. I have all the detailing done on this now ('cept for 2 parts on the bottom side). The detailing around the engine wells is filled in now and it's about as chunky as I want it. Once all the parts are on I'll hit it with primer again and then on to painting.

-Doug

How the hell did I miss this one? I love the clear parts, and brass tubing. This gives it a depth of realism that a lot of models are lacking.

~ Cobra Chris

[dbhs]

(07-22-2010, 06:02 AM)jasonwright.1972 Wrote: Yeah Im eyein mt shuttle up right now & think its about time for some work on that aswell!

I got the engines glued on yesterday but no pics just yet. I want to get the plugs and some of the internal wiring installed and then I'll post an update. Should be posting this weekend.

(07-22-2010, 07:39 AM)427 Cobra Wrote: How the hell did I miss this one? I love the clear parts, and brass tubing. This gives it a depth of realism that a lot of models are lacking.

~ Cobra Chris

Hey, thanks, Chris. Unfortunately the clear and brass are all primered up now. I really like working with the brass since it finishes up so clean. Bends are a pain to get right with the tubes so anything bent is solid brass rods.

[dbhs]

A little snaffu in the paint dept put a little delay in this but I finally have the body color on now. It's looking totally different than with the dark green primer. I'm really pleased with how it's coming along. The second of the two McQuarrie sketches in my first post has the note "off white over all" on it. In keeping with this I've use a very light grey for the body color, Insignia White to be exact.

Thanks for looking, guys.

[JAWS]

That is truckn sick Doug. So clean & straight. you have done a magnificent job on that build my friend. Can't wait for the lights, oh my god that will be just insane.

[darkimmitator]

That Sir , Is an INCREDIBLE piece of scratch building awesomeness !!!!!

[Wombat]

Looks crap,send it to me!!

[Wombat]

OK,i was bullshitting about it looking crap.

It look's bloody fantastic,nice choice on the colour.
Now will ya send it to me?????

[dbhs]

(08-05-2010, 12:10 AM)Wombat Wrote: OK,i was bullshitting about it looking crap.

It look's bloody fantastic,nice choice on the colour.
Now will ya send it to me?????

You know, you had me convinced the first time and I had it all boxed up.
.
.
.
. Now, I'm thinking I'll keep it. Too bad !!!!

[427 Cobra]

Insignia white? It looks more like insignia gray! Still, this is far better than the green colour. I just wish this was a kit. You are truly by far one of the best scratch builders out there, Doug. But of course, you already knew that!

~ Cobra Chris