Here are the final images for the Hornethopter. It was a fun kit to design, build and paint and I hope the hundred of you that purchased one of the first edition releases enjoy building it up. Watch for the second edition to be on sale at Industria Mechanika.

Since the last update I’ve been painting the little brass trim details. The Mr. Metal Color Brass hand-paints beautifully and buffs up to a nice sheen. I used the same toothbrush with the other metal buffing residue on it which actually makes for a nice tarnish. ponging on a little thinned copper also helps break-up the brass color.

I painted the dashboard in brown wood-streaks and filled the gauges in with black. Then I used some 2000 grit sandpaper to remove the paint from the raised portions revealing the dash details.

Next I’ll give the parts a clear-coat and add some minor pin washes and such to pick-out details. Not going too heavy with the weathering here since it’s an aircraft of a more “civilized” age.

I’ve also been painting the figures with oil-paint which takes a while to dry. Here’s the first pass. Next I’ll add more highlights and shadows, pick-out brass details, and add black stripes to the pants.

I received my initial copy of the Hornethopter this week and went right to work building it. Everything looks great cast-wise and once together with the photoetch, it’s a great-size and pretty impressive! I still have almost 20 copies left unreserved and have started taking payments from those of you that did reserve the kit so please check your inboxes and spam-boxes just in case.

I have several schemes in mind to paint these, but decided to do my “green hornet” first. For this one I’m layering buffable Mr. Metal Color’s Copper, Dark Iron, and Bronze. This is to get different variations of color to break-up panels and give the paint-work more depth. I’ll be doing the trim in Brass so that you get some thin yellowish stripes on the thorax.

First I primed the kit in dark gray Duplicolor automotive primer. Once cured I applied a random coat of the Mr. Metal Color Copper.

I followed this with mottled layers of Mr. Metal Color Dark Iron and the greenish Bronze color.

You can take a toothbrush and soft piece of t-shirt at any point after the paint dries and start buffing these paints to a very nice metal shine.

Once buffed, I used some Tamiya tape and masked off the first areas I wanted “greener”. I sprayed them with the Bronze and removed the masking. You can see the difference here between the buffed and unbuffed paint.

Repeat the masking and painting and buff inbetween. Like I said, the trim will be in brass so I’ll be starting that soon. I also started the figures now as they’re painted in oil-paint and that takes a LONG time to dry. Here’s more progress images.

I got a scan of my etch today from Paragrafix and wanted to share it. He’ll be bagging the sheets and sending them my way in a few days. Then all I’ll need are the resin casts and it’ll be ready for reservation payments and shipping. There’s still about 30 left unreserved so if you’re interested, fill out the form below to reserve a copy before they’re available. Thanks!

How To Reserve Your Copy / Preorder »

Fill out the following email form to reserve your copy (copies) of the Hornethopter. Please fill out all fields. I accept Paypal for payments. I’ll reply to let you know I got your email. Please add that address to your *NOT spam* filter so that when I send out payment request invoices they don’t get lost. (that was an issue with the fish-subs) I’ll send out a payment request when everything is boxed and ready to go. If you change your mind, please let me know so I can remove you from the list and move up the next people in line. Thanks!!!

The Hornethopter is in production! After getting all of my costs info, crunching numbers, drinking some tea, etc, I can announce that the Hornethopter will cost $80 + Shipping. I had hoped for a smaller cost, but there’s a LOT more PE to this design than the fish sub as well as extra included materials such as the plastic sheet and glass cabochon for the eyes.

How To Reserve Your Copy / Preorder »

Fill out the following email form to reserve your copy (copies) of the Hornethopter. Please fill out all fields. I accept Paypal for payments. I’ll reply to let you know I got your email. Please add that address to your *NOT spam* filter so that when I send out payment request invoices they don’t get lost. (that was an issue with the fish-subs) I’ll send out a payment request when everything is boxed and ready to go. If you change your mind, please let me know so I can remove you from the list and move up the next people in line. Thanks!!!

Coming Soon: The Hornethopter! Following in the wake of the Fantastical Fish-Shaped Submersible, my next release takes to the big blue skies and is the bane of all who sail them.

Available: Late-Julyish. Price: TBD.

When I have all of my quotes in from my vendors, I’ll be able to post a price and start preorders. Thanks!