bottom bow
bottom
side bottom
side top
top
bad decal
top nude
bottom nude
side nude
I wanted a ship I could finish fast. I also wanted one like Tim Mullins' SER Bishop. I even used part of an airplane (F-111) fuselage! Did it work? Well, even discounting the color scheme, it's not exactly a copy of SER Bishop.
The first part of every ship is to find the one or two basic components that give a ship a unique shape and, if it's done right, presence. The F-111 fuselage had a nice, gently sloped shape that was just about the same width as a part of a nitelight shell. The bottom nose was just a shape I had on my desk that was curved on the sides and just the width for the rest of the ship. It was also the lid to a battery pack attached to a string of LED lights I bought for the Wolftrap station. Oopsie.
The next part, the top of the nose, was a Mech torso. I always try to sabatoge myself by throwing-in something that will be hard to deal with just because, if I successfully integrate it with more details, it will make the ship more interessting. So, too, the angled bits separating the F-111 fuselage from the engines add interest and, I'd hoped, some breadth. Later I discovered I could use some more of Richard Marks' spare parts to detail the bottom with automobile bumpers. Another bumper turned sideways gave the ship even more breadth and interest, especially after I added wings to it. Now it was time to fill-in the gaps.
At this point the bottom of the ship looked a little abrupt, unless I suddenly decided to turn the ship arround. Although I could have turned the ship around at this point, mounting an engine module underneath and losing the angled thingies from the top. (*pry* Nope, glued too well.) So I added a little piece to be a landing deck or cargo bay entry. And that left only one place for the engines.
I thought to paint mine that same as Tim's, but decided to go with more variation that SAC Bomber Tan and SAC Bomber Green. Instead I used ModelMaster Dark Tan and Panzer Red Brown. Light green stripes added just the right contrast that you'd expect from accent stripes. Decals were again part of a large supply from JBot. I thought the green might look close to that of the stripes, but... No. They failed in that they had too little contrast. So, I tried something different. I layered them with another set. The same series of shapes, but offset, making the first set look like a weird drop-shadow. STILL not alot of contrast, but enough.
On the whole, it was a relatively fun build that still took way too long (I have GOT to clean-up my desk). It has a moderately interesting shape that would make a good background ship if not a hero one.
