1/144 Hammerhead corvette scratch build

[monsterpartyhat]

Wow! This is truly an inspiration. Thanks for providing so many detailed photos -- I'm having fun trying to identify the donor parts. I see a LOT of Bandai vehicle model kits. It looks like you're using all (or at least mostly) styrene, not cast copies, is that right?

[Bauble]

This is the last time I have the whole build assembled before the painting phase. I temporarily stuck on the remaining greeblies and took a few last photos. Some of the positioning might be off but this set of photos should show what the end result should look like.

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[Bauble]

Thanks, Monster hat. Yes, all are cut styrene, except the greeblies. I used 3 sets of Bandai 1/144 falcons and a lot of the smaller scale Bandai kits in the build. Cut styrenes are great. I can wrap them around a rod and soak them in hot water to make round shapes. I can pick different thickness to make uneven panels. They are not very apparent in the pictures. On the model, the uneven panels add an extra ‘dimension’ to the engine housings.

The center support (clear tube) holding up the model is polycarbonate. I have tried to use Acrylic, but acrylic cracks too easily during tapping. The polycarbonate is so much better. I am very glad that I stumbled upon a wealth of information about polycarbonate versus acrylic online.

I need to figure out a way to make a decent base now... thinking about placing a acrylic black sheet on plywood... cutting is tough without large commercial tools...

I have placed a 1/144 x wing next to the model to give a sense of scale. I knew the corvette is a small ship, but it is remarkable how small it is compared to a x wing. A Nebulon is about 5x the length.

[Bauble]

I am in the middle of painting the model. I still need to paint chip the front. The plan is to put down a dullcote and then onwards to weathering.

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It bothers me the brightness contrast range is very large in this paint job. It makes the model looks small and off-scale. I am thinking of lightening the grey so that the contrast is more harmonized. I would love to hear what you think.

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[Rob]

I've been watching this one since your beginning and I like the way it is going...Keep up the good work

[dark kyp]

I love it!

[darth_daniel]

That´s coming along so nicely...

If you think the grey is too dark, simply use it as preshading or rather than that, for the black basing method. Just mist the dark grey but not evenly and maybe even with different colours to produce lots of color variations and aging effects.

[Bauble]

Thanks, kyp, rob and daniel.

I took daniel’s advice. There arent many panels to work with, but I tried the preshading approach. The more muted contrast range is an improvement, I think.

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[darth_daniel]

Perfect! The varied shading of grey detail areas also works better with the shading on the white armour plating. Looking forward to the next step!

[Bauble]

Weathered it with airbrush. Still need to touch up a few areas with oil paint.

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