Awtoe Heavy Fighter "Cheri"

This started as a Pontiac Firebird I snagged from the Sale table near the entrance to my local Hobbytown store. The body went together as an Awtoe does - bottom flipped under the top, wheel wells aligned. It needed something more. So I cheated.

I built a sortof Air Traffic Control tower for a web series by lopping a wedge out of a giant cone-shaped mixing pitcher. I plated-over that conical wedge and attached it to the nose. More Firebird parts covered the plating.

At this point I should have changed direction and made the cone slice a long tail, and put some kind of a dome in the large gaping hole I had been saving for the engines. The direction of the wing on top even supported the teardrop-in-space idea. It would have been an unusual ship for me but, alas, I was weak and conventional. So, a suitably large gun got slung under the long nose.

As good as I thought the design was, I couldn't think of a paint scheme to complement it. I took two stabs at it, resulting in... Well, anyway. This ship was also my first experience painting with acrylics. Hate them. Gum-up my airbrush. Gum-up the paint bottle nozzle. Poor coverage. But I didn't die from any toxic fumes, so there's that.

On the whole, the construction was as fun as usual, and the result's not too bad. Just glancing at the thumbnails, though... Looks kinda like a bird skull.