Gunship

I wanted to do a Star Wars ship like the ones in the french Facebook site, particularly the Dornean Gunship with guns and stuff, and where kit parts - Especially spaceship kit parts - Were not avoided but celebrated. I started with the back side of a Popcornhour remote control. The battery hatch was plated over and reattached, resulting in an inset around the sides and front, as if it were the control center of a minor capital ship, or a Scout Trooper helmet. A ping-pong ball on a cylinder completed the basic shape.

The nose got some more shapes which left room for a cylinder with fishing float halves on either end and another cylinder, both sideways to the direction of travel. Another remote control battery compartment door added an agressive-looking chin and echoed the following cylinder's angle. Mid-fuselage, the cylinder/ball shapes were plated-over to make them appear more substantial and then covered with AT-ST legs, the first of many parts of SF models. Added conical frosting caps as engines and R2-D2 legs to the sides. Added weaponry to the sides, machine gun anologs in front and canons aft. R2's ankles got antennas, followed abaft by plates from Slave-1.

Paint was going to be almost white, so I chose a medium gray basecoat to contrast and show through chips ("the salt method") - mist-on water, apply salt with a salt-shaker, let dry, remove excess salt. (Next time, sprinkle WAY less salt - The last step took HOURS and never did get it all off!) Airbrush "MSP 09150 Bloodless Skin" (light concrete), mask-on and paint red stripes, rub-off salt, spray on Future Floor Wax, apply decals. Another coat of Future, then a wash of black oil paint in mineral spirits to enhance details. Airbrushed a mixture of black acrylic paint and Future where I wanted smoke effects. Airbrush 50/50 mixture of Model Master clear flat (looks white) and Windex to knock-off the shine and mute the colors and... Done!

Posted to FACEBOOK and... Crickets. Best I could gather, people didn't like the aft wings oriented vertically behind vertical spikes. Fixed that, repainted... Done.

Then I turned it over. Upside-down, the resulting shape looks like, "Who's a dirty Alien?!" what with her butt up in the air and hair slicked back. Cool!