Gunstar and Starcar on silver cardstock

**Millenniumfalsehood** · #1 06-02-2015, 01:55 AM

So I've been wanting to do this for a LONG time: print up Thunderchild's Starcar and Gunstar models on silver cardstock, to give them the metallic look they had in the film. I've actually had the cardstock for it for a while now, but I had no way of printing it since it was for inkjet printers that had a back-feed, and the only one I had available at the time was a tray-fed printer.

When I visited my parents this weekend however, I discovered that my dad had bought a new back-fed printer, and I realized that I could actually print the model now!

But I don't want this to be just a silver model of the Gunstar. I want to do a really good job on it. So I printed it again in regular card in order to make certain areas a more matte tone to suggest multiple materials being used. In addition, I'll be adding and/or layering some details and reinforcing it with extra layers of cardstock and balsa wood. Just need to buy some balsa, then I can get started.

I don't have my camera with me at the moment, but right now the models are just a stack of card, so there's nothing to show.

But once I get home and get to work on them, I'll show you some pics.

**elliott** · #2 06-02-2015, 04:10 AM

Looking forward to following your progress Tyler. Your work is always first-class.

**Knife** · #3 06-02-2015, 06:04 AM

I was looking at the Gunship files just last night debating if I should print it out. It has been on my "to do" list for a long time. I look forward to your build reports. Best of luck with this project.

**Wulf111** · #4 06-02-2015, 08:00 AM

the GunStar is a very strong model in its own right i don't think you will need to reinforce much of anything.

**bgt01** · #5 06-02-2015, 08:13 AM

Looking forward to your build. This is on my "to-do" list.

**Millenniumfalsehood** · #6 06-02-2015, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wulf111

the GunStar is a very strong model in its own right i don't think you will need to reinforce much of anything.

While that's true, and the silver card is even stronger than 110lb cardstock, I'm still going to do this on areas that might receive a bump or two, like the corners on the back ends of the wings and so forth. Plus silver card has a tendency to wrinkle, so having a strong skeleton will go a long way toward preventing that.

One thing I'm going to be doing on this build is rather than using the round parts as they are, I'll be measuring the length of the sides, then using a bit of math to calculate the diameter of the part and use circle templates to cut out frames and the cap. It should look much better than the way the kit parts look.

I'm also kind of contemplating lighting the main engines.

**Revell-Fan** · #7 06-02-2015, 01:48 PM

This is gonna be awesome! Consider me hooked!

Make sure to work with gloves in order to avoid finger prints, rub-offs and surface damage.

**Millenniumfalsehood** · #8 06-02-2015, 02:01 PM

I have no gloves, but I do take precautions against smudges and so forth. I might buy some for this, though. The Gunstar needs to look almost pristine.

**Millenniumfalsehood** · #9 06-05-2015, 12:35 AM

Okay, so I had a whole series of photos of how I built this thing, and I was planning on doing my usual build log, but for some reason my camera didn't have a memory card in it and while all the build photos are stored safely on the internal memory of the camera, I can't access them because I can't find the cable... So you'll have to make do with the finished pics I took after I found a memory card. I might make a separate thread about how I built the model later, when I find the cord, but for now, here's how I built my Starcar.

I assembled the plain, non-silver body of the Starcar first, choosing the road version because I think it looks cooler with wheels (I'll be building the flying version later). I reinforced it with 1/16" balsa wood strips, then after carefully assembling it I skinned it with the silver card pieces. Before gluing the silver parts to the under-layer, I cut out the windows carefully, leaving the frames. Some of the frames disintegrated because I had to make do with a dull eXacto blade, but I was able to cut a thin strip of silver card to replace them. After that, I glued on the dark gray bumper pieces and the rocket motor covers, then finally attached the airfoils and the side mirrors. I think it looks pretty darn cool:

Now to start the Gunstar...

**Revell-Fan** · #10 06-05-2015, 10:57 AM

Very clean and crisp build!

But what happened to the pictures? They are so bid that I have to scroll and move the frame around...