Tackling Period Ships Scale Modeling for the First Time

I have always believed that those who undertake Modern Naval Scale Modeling will always be a cut above the rest. I still do. Its not easy working on ships. They have the most intricate PE sets made available and all those minute parts ... the level of patience they possess must equal that of a Jedi Master.

For general scale modelers worldwide, the epitome of their scale modeling experience is when they finally decide OK, I'm going to build me a ship. Not just a ship but one where rivet counters can be proud of. Yup, extensive detailing with bucko aftermarket parts, weathering ..... and finally, the rigging.

That's why I think I'm crazy. I'm going straight for periodical ships aka Old Sailing Ships. No, not the wooden ones, that'll be really asking for it. Since I placed my order for the Black Pearl from Zvezda at 1/100 scale, I've been obsessed about the tool requirements to build that baby ... and then it hit me, what about the rigging? I know nuts about knots and more knots, let alone sailor or ship jargon. And I do have a long list of projects still pending completion (which I am disciplining myself to complete).

Don't get me wrong. I'm not doing this as a challenge or anything. I really do have a fondness for ships, hence my love for Starships and all things Sci Fi. I have always been meaning to complete a few ships and the only thing I'm staying away from are tanks .... for now.

So I decided if I was going to do this, practise makes perfect, right? Oh boy, why do I feel like I'm taking in more than I can chew. To prepare my .. ahem .... journey into periodical sailing ships, I will be procuring Zvezda's 1/100 scale "Nina" Expedition ship as well as the San Gabriel. Practise will be on the Nina while I think I can modify the San Gabriel to look more like the Flying Dutchman from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Well, the Black Pearl is also from Zvezda, so it kind of make sense to work on other Zvezda kit. Of course this means I'm going to need try to master the art of rigging just so I can (hopefully) achieve the following:

I know it won't be easy. I know its going to be challenging as hell, treading into something many (I hear) had given up on. And I also think I may be crazy. I spoke to a few experienced Periodical Scale Modelers who have 6 - 14 years experience, and when I asked them if I could complete a comprehensive kit with all that rigging within two months, they laughed ......... and they're still laughing ....... and that was like a few hours ago.

OK, OK, I need to be realistic. To get a ship that detailed could take as long as 8 months to 2 years, depending on the time spent on her. According to my plans, I want to finish off my DC10-30 Malaysian Airlines first, then work on my Reimagined BSG Hangar Bay Dio, and I was kinda' hoping I could work on two kits simultaneously - the Hangar Bay, and the Nina's rigging. Well, that's the plan anyway, and my DC10-30 is really coming along painfully slow (I'm reworking the cockpit .... again. Put too much details until the fuselage won't close properly now). So I guess progress report on my scale model ship endeavour may not be forthcoming.

So with some recommendations from friends, I managed to get these two books (that scale military figure conversion is more for my BSG diorama later on). They make for easy reading for now and from my research, "Ship Modeling from Stern to Stern" may not be accurate but they are a great start for a beginner like me.

And yeah, I was told on an actual Sail Ship, there are miles and miles of lines on board with hundreds of knots all over, and they are all replicated faithfully - hence the need for this book - Rigging Period Ship

Other books currently under consideration. Well, I don't plan to me a Naval Maverick, just need to know enough to get me started.

Interesting development there, and I am hoping things don't get too difficult later on. I had always loved challenges, and well, if this project takes me 3 years, then 3 years it shall be.

Affordable Vacuum Forming ... Courtesy of Warmplastic.com

Imagine you need to to vacuum form a part and the only place that can help you happens to be a workshop that wants to charge you a bomb, even though its only a small part. You have no choice since you can't afford a Vacuum Forming Machine, so gritting your teeth, you pay up, or, abandon that step and opt for another method which ultimately delays your project, or caused it to be sitting somewhere in your workroom until such time when it is possible to continue. Ever had that happen to you? In my case, that usually stops a project midway since none of my team are willing to fork out that kind of money.

Well, about two months ago, all that changed. I received a very generous offer from a Mr. Eliot R Brown, an offer I literally couldn't refuse. Apparently he found me through my blog and had something really very interesting to showcase. Eliot owns a shop that literally helps designers, scale modelers, engineers and even chocolatiers with their vacuum forming project by providing for a Do It Yourself (DIY) vacuum forming table. All you need is an oven and a vacuum cleaner. Yup ... you read right, its really that simple.

It is with great pleasure for me to introduce to all my readers, warmplastic.com. 

So what can warmplastic.com do? Well, for one, it can really help with your savings.

You'll only need to make a one time payment for the tools, and perhaps the only recurring cost would be your supply of styrene sheets, but you will have unlimited uses without requiring any heavy equipments for your vacuum and heat source, just your everyday household appliances, an oven, and a vacuum cleaner.

In the long run, the savings is immense. It saves you money since you no longer need to be at the mercy of those workshops, saves you time as you can do it at your own home, and well, it can also make you kind of popular with your modeling buddies.

More after the jump

FichtenFoo's Fantastical Fish-Shaped Submersible

For all those looking for really pure Science Fiction stuff, and I am talking about those nifty art work you find with all those heavy Science Fiction Novels in a bookstore, and not referring to those Mechas from Japan, the offering for scale model kits of this genre are unfortunately very limited. The reason stems from the fact that not many people are willing to foray into making kits out of these, and not many know how. That may change real soon.

Meet FichtenFoo, illustrator, modeler and model kit maker (GK) extraordinaire. The first time I got to know about this scale modeler was when he was promoting a very unique kit. And it was through this kit that I began to notice his skills and talents. I checked out his blog and was pleasantly surprised with his designs. It was as if he was bringing back the Science Fiction era of the 1950s - 80s forward past the millennium, an era I can relate with growing up in anticipation of seeing rocket ships gracing our city skyscrapers and travelling to Mars. The more I followed his WIPs (Work In Progress) forum threads, the more impressed I was with him. This man has eyes for details and is able to bring them to life, making them look... well, practical, yet surreal. Even his military builds has a mixture of elements from World War II hardware meets Battletech, elegant machines that subtly hints of their deadliness.

His work with Michael Fichtenmayer on the Fantastical Fish-Shaped Submersible shows a dramatic evolution that combines fantasy with science fiction, bringing what that was only a dream into an actual model kit. A combination of resin parts and photoetch sets, this kit is truly uniquely equal to ... none. Well, it is unique. It is also eye catching, and more importantly, it tinkers with your mind. It sorts of bring people back to their youth and make them reminiscence what they knew about Science Fiction then.

Of course the problem with young people nowadays, with the advent of CGIs, vessels and vehicles portrayed in the movies today become more complicated, fast and complex. The trend now of course is to produce intimidating looking crafts that speaks of convenience, mobility, power, and more power. That's the beauty about Science Fiction in the early years, they spoke a different tune, one of exploration, to travel into the unknown and learn. Something FichtenFoo clearly brought about with his offerings.

Lets take a closer look at the Fantastical Fish-Shaped Submersible after the jump.

Finding it difficult to scribe a straight line?

Scribing ... yes, that very word literally sends chill down a lot of scale modeler's spine. I too am a victim and without fail, I have never ever made a scribing error free kit yet. The problem doesn't lie with the scribers used, but more often the apparatus used to guide the scriber. Its not a big problem when you want to re-scribe existing panel lines, but what if you wanted to create new ones?

And when a mistake is done .. do you get frustrated and feel like giving up? I sometimes do.



Check out David W. Angust's article on re scribing panel lines HERE



The first lesson I learned about scribing is that you need the correct tools for the job. That knowledge went down the drain when I found out some "experts" were scribing perfect lines on curve objects using an ordinary X-acto hobby knife and doing it free hand. Don't you just feel helpless when you see that. But don't let that stop you from getting these tools though. They are very handy.

Then I learned that practise makes perfect. At the rate my mistakes are going, its like I'm forever learning. But there is some truth to this.

When I found out these scribers could also be used as tools to cut off pieces off your kit's parts' (and I mean cut off in perfect straight lines or curves), the fear of scribing disappeared altogether for me. Learned that when I was working on my DC-10-30 conversion project. And I found that out when learning to cut styrene sheets using a scriber.

Of course the job of cutting off all those flaps and slats was made easier since all I needed to do was to follow the recessed lines that's already there. I still have a big problem scribing new lines where there is none. I've been using Dymo tapes as a guide.

It worked for a while, but the problem with Dymo tapes is that you can only use each strip once. The moment you tear them off the surface when you're done scribing, the tape gets bent, and no longer sticks well on the next new surface. Another words, very difficult to re-use.

I needed something solid and re-usable, something that could bend along the contours of a curved surface and yet do straight lines That was when I came across these:

Pretty neat huh. Its a ruler made of Copper from SBS Models, flexible, durable and re-usable. I managed to purchase these off Hobbylink Japan. I haven't had a chance to try her out yet, but they do look promising. They? Well, yes, they come in either Metric or Inches.  

Just thought I'd share this handy tool, in case if you're like me struggling with scribing all the time, this could possibly be an answer. No harm trying.

Blog Test with some Nice Figure Kits. Having a Slight Technical Problem

Guys, in case you're wondering why there hasn't been any recent updates, I'm having a slight technical problem with blogger for a while now, especially with image postings. Getting a lot of those small boxes with a tiny dot in the centre instead of the intended images. Actually I just found out I am not the only one with this issue, I think its happening to bloggers worldwide.  I am hoping Blogger can resolve whatever issue they're having asap. 

For those who sent me articles and images on your builds, as well as those whom I promised to help out with the sale of their kits, I have to apologise to all of you. Your contents are actually ready under the Edit stage awaiting publishing, but until the image issue is resolved, I am holding back on them cause it'll look funny if I publish them.

I'm putting these Figure Resin Kits to test see if the images will come out right or not.All these are available from CultTVman Hobbyshop in case you're interested - just click the link ... if you can see them

UPDATE - Image posting test using Google Chrome

Belle of Tortuga from Lunatic Fringe

Angelina Sorceress of Light 

Sex in the Graveyard from Lunatic Fringe

Madame Kwazimodo from Lunatic Fringe

Golden Girl from Red Planet

There's more at CultTVman Hobbyshop under Figure Kits. Do pay a visit there as some of them I can't highlight here. And do let me know if you can see the images cause from my test, all I see are that small box with a tiny dot in the centre

The Battlestar Excalibur's Colonial Vipers Hangar Bay Diorama at the Crewe Model Show

This blog was re-edited on 16 Mar 2011



Talk about taking your group builds through great heights. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Modellers UK recently undertook a project that definitely ensures its foundation in the journal of Sci Fi Scale Modeling - a comprehensive diorama of a Battlestar Excalibur Hangar Bay, comprising of 12 bays and over 10 Mark II Colonial Vipers. Its not uncommon to see a Moebius Mark II Viper in a stand alone diorama, or a Battlestar posing in her full glory, but to see so many beautifully build up Vipers in one huge diorama display, that definitely makes an impact anywhere. Scale Modeling magazines ought to do a write up on this project cause I'm not kidding when I say it made an impact.

A name had to be developed for the project, and I gather since the markings on the Vipers were different from those seen on TV, this Battlestar Hangar scene couldn't be those from the Galactica, hence it was very democratic of SFM:UK committee to put up a vote to determine the name for their Battlestar, which I found out later to be the Excalibur. Very apt for out British Modeler Team since the Excalibur was King Arthur's Legendary sword, symbolising honour, duty, bravery and strenght in unity.

The idea is simple enough. Everyone had to build their Vipers according to a standard design (markings) in a landed position inside their hangar bay. They could create whatever scene they chose but each of these bays with their Viper had to be able to join together, creating one massive diorama worthy of ... hell, words alone cannot describe what these modellers have achieved. It truly is amazing.

From the SFM:UK site, I found out that this was made possible when the club itself managed to get a great deal for the Moebius Mark II Viper kits (that alone I found very encouraging). To commemorate the event, they decided to create a spectacular diorama designed to awe when it is shown at the South Cheshire Militaire Show at the end of February 2011.

The condition was simple. Club members who received these Vipers just had to deliver. Another word, they had to finish their Vipers along with a hangar bay diorama scenario. I guess to make sure these modelers deliver, a penalty was imposed, whereby failing to complete the model and their diorama would result in these members paying full price for their kit. If you seriously think about this, that's a good idea to get your member's undivided attention on their project.

The selection process was pretty strict. The Moebius kits did not go on a first come first serve basis, but rather it was given to members with proven track records. Further materials were also made available to them such as Paragrafix's Photoetch and Decal Detailing sets. And again I was impressed with the Club over this. The committee actually made it possible for its members to create something fantastic by giving them access to after market parts.
To achieve conformity, the Club further planned the Viper Squadron Group and their markings, calling themselves the Spitfire Combat Group.  Markings were then designed for all members to follow.

The Build Roster showed 11 builders who contributed to this spectacular diorama.

The Build Roster

The following pilots will be using kits and decals supplied by the site:

CPT Alun "Big Boss" Owen (2204UK) - CAG
LT Pam "Morticia" McGee (2303UK)
LT Paul "Archer" Mather (1415UK)
LT Ellen "Sparky" Goosey (1311UK)
LT Eric "Mangamax" Moore (2107UK)
LT Richard "Blitzspear" Jary (1940UK)
LT Chris "Cleric" Lloyd (1701UK)
LT Duncan "Merolink" Clark (1412UK)

The following additional pilots are part of the squadron with their own kits and decals supplied by the site:

LT Chris "Kramer" Suki (5150UK)
LT Iain "One Shot" Costall (2205UK)
LT Jay "Yank" Chladek (2328US)


When the builders and what they need are identified and provided for, the work begins and each builder holds their own Work In Progress Reports (highlighted through their own forum as well as other sources). I'm sure there is a committee guiding the team cause the massive diorama of the Excalibur's Hangar Bay shows a very focus and coordinated team effort.

Outer Space Outfitters Lighting Panels are now Restocked at CultTVman Hobbyshop

Finally after waiting for what seems like ages, Outer Space Outfitters have once again reissued some of these highly sought after lighting panels. They are now restocked over at CultTVman Hobbyshop but I'm not sure how long these will stay restocked.

As promised, I am highlighting them here so as to alert some of you to go get them NOW. Please bear in mind that these items may go out of stock anytime soon judging from the amount of feedback I have received for them, so I would recommend if you can to get yours ASAP before its too late. I myself don't fancy waiting another 6-8 months for another re-stock.

Viper lighting panels from Outer Space Outfitters

BG Lighting inserts from Outer Space Outfitters

Bridge Lighting Panels from Outer Space Outfitters

Galileo Shuttle Panels from Outer Space Outfitters

Shuttle detail set from Brad Hair Productions

Here is something interesting. I wasn't aware that an accurization set was still available for the ERTL/AMT Shuttle Galileo II kit, and it does look VERY tempting. Kit includes rear engine bulkhead, landing pads, rear landing strut, and nacelle details.  Please note that you will need to do some clean up on these resin parts. I might consider this set since I know Brad Hair's quality of work is simply superb. Just check out his work HERE

You'd need to go over to CultTVman Hobbyshop to see what else you need that's restocked. And it looks like a lot of stuff including some new kits are available now.

Happy Birthday to my Cousin Bennie

Best Wishes to ya and may the year of the Rabbit brings much fortune and health ......

 Erm .. ok, it is still some kind of rabbit ... right? Qapla?

Let me intro my cousin to everyone. His name is Bennie, and he has been a Star Trek fan like me since when we were very young. He has recently expressed his interest to foray into the world of scale model building, and with this in mind, I decided for his birthday this year, I was going to give him something really unique, something very special - a package with his favourite Star Trek ships from AMT all the way from the US.

From his SMS since morning .... wish I could be there to see his face when he got the package and opened her. I'm really happy to see him smiling like that.

Now the only thing left is to get some proper tools. Also recommend getting some Tamiya paints as well, particularly the colour yellow, blue, red and black ... that is if you're still not planning to completely paint them. You're going to need those colours for the warp nacelles, impulse engines, sensors, etc etc. Kit is already molded in white so there is no need for painting. And oh yeah, some nice art brushes too.

And my appreciation to John Lester of Starship Modeler (SSM) for making this possible. That package was his first ever from overseas and he had been trying to get a good kit of the Enterprise B since ........ hell, since the first time we saw her in Star Trek Generations. Now he has two. The Enterprise C completes his collection of all ships bearing the name USS Enterprise ... oh wait, I left out the NX-01. Nuts.

Thanks John. This is yet another prime example of dependable service from SSM as the package arrived right on time before his birthday. It really makes the occasion more meaningful