Freighter S60

Another ship done ala Classic BSG - Ragtag Fleet, because I like working with big things and pretending I have a deadline. Part of the reason I liked the Ironmodeler competition atWonderfest.

It started with the wide part on top, two heavy-duty VHS cassette cases, unfolded to yield a triangular cross-section. I glued'em to a long gray retangular... Something. An old-school electronic calculator became the nose and a black something, the engines. I could have stopped there, but I wanted something to go between the lids of the cassette casses, so I added a styrene tube. Part of the distinctive look of an RTF ship is from a modular look as seen from a distance. It would have been better in that regard if I'd made the tube shorter, but I wanted to have more support for the engine module. I definitely should have left off the phone body beneath the nose. It would have made a great ship body on its own, and just lessened the shape contrast on this ship. Oh, well.

Almost all the detail parts are from an 1:24 scale Italeri Scania R144 truck. It's large, but then I'm trying to cover a lot of area, too. Used up pretty much the whole kit. Unfolding the cassette cases left a trough on top, into which neatly fit Mir Space Station parts. All the detail raw detail on the bottom of the cassette cases should have been long vertical panels because it would have been quicker, and it would have re-inforced the freighter appearence. I just got carried away with some leftover airplane parts. The aft end of the tube should have had a large box angling up around the bottom of the engine module, but I was in a hurry and didn't realize it until later.

The main color of the ship is something called "Mud". As always, especially on wide expanses of undetailed plainness, I try to add interest instead with paint - Huge blocks of it. Depot Olive and ATSF Red, and most of the olive was actually handpainted.

The final decoration was a set of dry transfers made by the incomparable Woody Vondracek who made some 1:24 F-6 markings for a contest in 1994. They were way too big for most things, but I'd been looking to use them on a large ship for years.

Weathering started with the usual Future Floor Wax with a drop of black ink, light over most of the ship, heavy around the engines and along the fake panel lines on the lower cylinder and the leading edges of things. A light drybrushing of light gray brought-out the raised detail. And then things went pear shaped.

I tried a can of Rustoleum Clear Flat because I had a lot of ship to cover, and it was one day before leaving for Wonderfest. Have I mentioned a penchant for procrastination? Anyway, the paint didn't smooth down. At all. Nor did it make the surface particularly less shiny. Yikes! Fortunately I'd picked up a couple of bottles of Modelmaster Acrylic Clear Flat. Applied stright through the airbrush it worked. And without the multiple coats Testor's lacquer. My new best friend!

Anyway, applied the 4636/Flat Clear Acryl [sic] as soon as the Rustoleum dried. On the trip I was worried that, judging by the strong odor, the Rustoleum really wasn't dry, and that when I unwrapped the ship the surface would come off with the wrapping. Didn't - Dodged a bullet, there.

This ship won the Denvention 3 Art Show Juried Award for 3-D. Which means that a jury of Real Artists thought it was a bit of not too bad. I'm stunned. And honored.