Millennium Falcon

This is the Fine Molds Millennium Falcon, Han Solo's venerable ship from the Star Wars films and a favorite since my childhood. I had a good deal of fun building this model, because the fictional ship is a representation of a souped-up, filthy hot rod. Solo is a kind of pirate looking for good deals throughout the galaxy, and the Falcon is modified to enable fast and sneaky ins and outs. And, of course, Solo was quite the showoff, and his ship seemed to exemplify his overbearing, damn-the-torpedoes style. I built the model straight out of the box, but used aftermarket grills and landing gear baffles to add a bit of interest. I painted and weathered the model according to my own tastes and did not use the film as a reference. The model is depicted on a sandy base (Tatooine, presumably), with R2-D2 checking out a pile of junk to one side. Some of the photos are a bit repetitive due to lighting experiments.

Y-Wing

This is the Fine Molds Y-Wing from Star Wars fame. It is in 1/72nd scale. What a joy it was to build this thing, because I could add all kinds of filth and grime! The cockpit area and engine caps were painted reefer white, while the rest of the body was painted camoflage gray. Color markings are decals provided in the kit. The engine nozzles where painted burnt metal (metallizer) and the exposed engine shaft painted brass. Most of the prominant piping was painted copper. All weathering was done using powdered chalk, dry and sometimes mixed with water. I significantly modified the cockpit by adding bits and pieces from the scrounge box. I added several aerospace ground equipment (AGE) units to the diorama from Hasegawa's excellent 1/72 kit. Somehow, this seemed appropriate.

Space Shuttle Discovery

This is a "kit bash" of the Revell and Monogram Space Shuttle Orbiter kits in 1/72. These kits have been out for decades, and they are generally considered to be of poor quality. However, as a model-builder, this presents an opportunity for improvement. For example, the Orbiter is covered with tiles and blankets, and at 1/72 scale these should be evident somehow. I elected to scribe strips and apply to the model to simulate tiles. Surgical tape is be used to simulate the thermal blankets, and .010" plastic sheet used for the FRSI and the wing leading edge RCC (the nose was shaped using Milliputty). In fact, the ENTIRE model has been effectively "resurfaced" with .010" plastic and tape. In addition, Cutting Edge engine nozzles were used as replacements to those provided by the kit. The Orbiter is displayed in a post-landing configuration, allowing for a considerable amount of weathering. The base is a quicky built for purposes of photography; the model normally sits on a 2" x 2" mirror.

Details on how I built the model can be found here.

Confederate Submarine CSS H. L. Hunley

This is the 1/72 Hunley kit issued by Verlinden built for my brother, who is a Civil War historian. In 1864, the CSS Hunley, operated by the Confederate Navy during the American Civil War, became the first submarine to sink a vessel. Unfortunately, the submarine sank that same night, and was lost for 130 years until found in 1995, then raised in 2000. The machine was operated by eight men in very cramped quarters, and its propeller was driven by a hand crank.

The kit is straight forward, consisting of resin, plastic, and brass pieces. I assembled the entire kit, then painted it using Testor's Metallizer Titanium. After drying, the model was burnished and carefully dusted with rust-colored weathering powder, and highlights were accented using silver powder. Finally, the deadlights and portholes were filled with Krystal Klear. Some scratch-building was included, but overall the kit is excellent.

Commercial Space Station Catalhoyuk

A few years ago, I decided to build a space station using an old mountain bike wheel as a starting point. After about 18 months of on-again, off-again construction, the result is what you see here. I am very pleased with the finished product, which depicts a space station that would be placed in Earth orbit about 5,000 kilometers in altitude, slowly rotating to impart gravity upon the outer rim. The station is named after the first permanent human settlement on Earth, Catalhoyuk, which was founded about 9,000 years ago in what is now the nation of Turkey. In some of the pictures, you can see little windows, illuminated with fiber optics. Note the commercial logos here and there: International Space University, McDonalds, Starbucks, Microsoft, CNN, DHL, etc...