Buck Rogers Starfighter

[mcusanelli]

Thanks guys! To answer your questions, first, I laminated the parts onto 11'' x 17'' 65lb cover stock, as that was the thickest Staples had, with Scotch brand permanent glue sticks. Just to be safe, I sprayed a coat of Krylon triple-thick gloss to seal and protect the parts from glue,finger prints, ect. Once the model was finished, I sprayed it again, although I was a bit heavy handed with this...The 'sponsons' are the pointy nose things - once the nosecones were assembled, I inserted a small wooden dowel in each, super-glued it in place, and sanded to shape. They were coated w / superglue, and then painted back to the first panel line, with Apple Barrel craft paint - as close a match as I could get. I think I used Caramel Candy, White, and maybe a bit of yellow to match the printed color. I used this to touch up edges and seems, to. Also, I used wood dowels to male the cannon barrels, painted black, in place of the kit parts...I had no luck rolling them. A suggestion to anyone building this...I had a hard time with folding the horizontal wing parts as the seam cracked - it would be neater and crisper to cut the wings apart at the fold line, and just glue the edge - that's what I'll do on the next one I build. Also, you have to take your time and make sure you line everything up while assembling the fuselage parts over the formers...I was glad I had two sets of parts printed out, believe me, I used a lot of them to cover / re-do mistakes! Any problems I had were due to me...Not the kit! The second model I built, in 1/32 scale, was easier because of this build.

[Rhaven Blaack]

This was my very first kit that I have ever done, and I have to say that you did a far better job then I did. You are right, it does get easier with each build.

I did build one in BSG colours in memory of my mother quite awhile back and then rebuilt it again with the cockpit interior and a ton of greebles.
For the greebles, I just made extra copies of the parts that I wanted to detail and laminated them in place. I am thinking about adding the landing gear later on.

Once again, FANTASTIC job on this model.

I am looking forward to seeing more of your work.

[cdavenport]

Just a beautiful build. Here's another view of your masterpiece!

[mcusanelli]

Thanks Rhaven! I'll post pics of the Quad asap. I had such a blast with that one, and the finished model is a favorite in my collection. I was inspired by your re-color to BSG colors, so much so that I had an extra Monogram kit laying around that I built like yours! I'll post pics of that, too. Even though it's plastic, some folks might get a kick out of it

[mcusanelli]

Charles,
That looks amazing....Photoshop? I can barely open the application! Thank you

[cdavenport]

It's just a regular jpeg done in Photoshop. Here it is again with a bit of motion blur....just fooling around today.

[Dlazarus6660]

Excellent build!
So you had trouble rolling the cannons/nose cones too!
I thought of using dowels but I thought they would be too heavy.
If you build this again, please do a build thread with pictures.

Daniel

Here is my BRTF built with #110 lbs cardstock.

[HMCS]

Originally Posted by cdavenport

It's just a regular jpeg done in Photoshop. Here it is again with a bit of motion blur....just fooling around today.

sweet werk Maj!

[mcusanelli]

Daniel,Thanks! Great job on your build too! Yeah, the first set went into the garbage. I did the second set as just one sheet, no laminating, and it turned out better. For strength, I rolled a cone and glued it inside, and then cut out the cannon ports. I felt it was necessary just because the rest of the model was reinforced, and if I dropped it, goodbye nosecones! On my second 1/32 build, I printed it on 110 cardstock, and didn't reinforce anything. Surprising what a strong model it is. I have to say, to anyone building this kit, print a second set of engine and nosecone parts - experimenting with these areas can help a lot.

[southwestforests]

Mean looking machine there, nice. Don't know if I'll ever get one built but the tips and hints are noted.