{"id":1677,"date":"2004-05-07T17:12:42","date_gmt":"2004-05-08T01:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/?p=1677"},"modified":"2009-02-11T17:39:08","modified_gmt":"2009-02-12T01:39:08","slug":"in-progress-%c2%bb-abandon-base-diorama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/in-progress-%c2%bb-abandon-base-diorama\/","title":{"rendered":"In Progress \u00c2\u00bb Abandon Base Diorama"},"content":{"rendered":"

03.24.04 \u00c2\u00bb All Your
\nBase Are Belong To Them<\/em><\/p>\n

The battle was fierce, but in the
\nend, retreat was the only option. A quartet of
\nGMs from the Persephone, a Salamis Class Medium
\nCruiser, was dispatched to the asteroid base to
\nassist the escaping personnel, but they too became
\nvictims of the Zeon’s relentless assault.<\/p>\n

The pilot of unit 02 barely managed
\nto survive the large caliber fire sustained by
\nhis mobile suit. The damage was enough to disable
\nthe GM, but thankfully not enough to cause an
\nexplosion. Having popped his hatch, he made way
\nto a nearby shuttle escaping from the base.<\/p>\n

03.24.04 \u00c2\u00bb Concept,
\nColor Schemes, and Decals<\/em><\/p>\n

This diorama will depict an EFSF
\nshuttle and personnel escaping from an asteroid
\nbase. The base of the diorama will be simulated
\nrock with an open bay door. The shuttle will be
\nflying out of the door while personnel help eachother
\ninside and try to make it to the shuttle. A damaged
\nGM Type C will be off to the side. It’s pilot
\nwill be mid-flight between the GM and the shuttle.<\/p>\n

The 1\/100 scale shuttle is scratch
\nbuilt. Check out the in-progress pics here<\/a>.
\nthe 1\/100 figures are leftovers from several Master
\nGrade kits.<\/p>\n

The mobile suit is a Master Grade
\nGM Type C. It will be a clean MS without weathering,
\nbut will have damage in certain areas. The damage
\nwill have scorch marks, but the overall look will
\nbe clean.<\/p>\n

Below are images of the colors and
\ndecals for the shuttle and GM. I layed out the
\ncolor scheme in Photoshop and the decals were
\ndesigned in Flash MX and then sized and made ready
\nfor printing in Adobe Illustrator. The GM will
\nhave a very pale fractal camo on the orange pieces.
\nThe Orange and Red will be washed out to an almost
\npastel version of the colors.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

03.24.04 \u00c2\u00bb “Sucks
\nto be me!” <\/em>said the GM pilot.<\/p>\n

Well, the GM is already cut out, puttied, sanded,
\nand ready for damage. As soon as I start the damage,
\nI’ll post some photos. Another thing I did was
\nto modify the ugly feet that came with the kit.
\nThey only took a few hours (plus drying time for
\nthe putty\/primer) to modify. Check out my PGM
\nbuild up to see how I do the feet.<\/p>\n

04.07.04 \u00c2\u00bb Damage<\/p>\n

Here a shot of the damage to the
\nrear of the GM. These are from 2 or so large explosive
\nrounds. (or whatever… not like it’s real.. heh
\nheh) One hit the torso ripping a hole in the armor
\nand sending shrapnel to nick up the surrounding
\narea. The second hit the top left booster causing
\na small explosion. (I’m going to say that the
\nflight computer had cut the fuel line after the
\nfirst hit to prevent an explosion which is why
\nthe whole GM didn’t blow. Sound good? The reality
\nis that I just wanted a cool looking blowed-up
\ngood part.)<\/p>\n

I made the damage using my dremel
\nand an odd drill-like bit. I started the damage
\nto the shield, but my Dremel<\/strong>
\nbattery ran out as soon as I started. I have to
\nwait for it to recharge before I can continue.
\nI’ll be adding little tubes, extra metal and other
\n“greebles” later.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

04.08.04 \u00c2\u00bb …and
\nmore damage<\/p>\n

Here’s some more damage that I got
\ndone since yesterday. The first is of the shield.
\nI cut off a good bit of the lower end of the shield
\nand then “shattered” it up with the
\nDremel. I also added strips of styrene inside
\nthe shields gap to make the armor look layered.
\nFor the knee where the left leg will be missing,
\nI dremeled it out, then added a piece of gear-looking
\nwasher that I cut-up and a thick metal bead. Both
\nof which I damaged. Not pictured is the tubing
\nthat I frayed for the ends. I also used a pin-vice
\nto hollow the support pieces for the frayed tubing
\nto make them look more pipe-like. Other tubed,
\nhoses and suck will be added later as needed.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

04.18.04 \u00c2\u00bb Paint and
\nFeet<\/p>\n

I’m all done with my current modifications
\nand am ready for paint. I got my light gray painted
\nfor the feet, minus-mold innards, waist and backpack.
\nHere’s a pic of the modified feet panted in my
\nlight gray. I wanted to show the feet anyway,
\nso here’s killing 2 birds with 1 stone.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

04.19.04 \u00c2\u00bb Orange
\nFractal<\/p>\n

I’ve painted the white and the orange
\ntoday. The 4 pieces with orange paint are done
\nin a fractal or aggressor camo scheme using 2
\ntints of the same orange. First I sprayed down
\nthe base custom orange color, then I masked off
\nwhat I wanted to stay the base orange. I mixed
\nthe base orange with a little white and sprayed
\nthat overtop the base. After removing the tape
\nyou can see the slight “camo”.<\/p>\n

I wanted the camo to be very light.
\nA lot of people make the mistake of using shade
\nof color that are too different thus making the
\ncamo stand out too much. I like a subtler look.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

04.21.04 \u00c2\u00bb Internal
\nOrgans<\/p>\n

Normally I don’t bother detailing
\nthe internals as they’ll never be seen again.
\nFor this mech however, it was a necessity since
\nyou’ll be able to see them through the “open
\nwounds” in the armor. Also, this will be
\ngood practice for my PG Zaku in which I want to
\nuber-detail the internals.<\/p>\n

All the internals were painted with
\na mixture of Tamiya Gunmetal (60%) + Chrome Silver
\n(40%). It’s a beautiful metal when done. The other
\ndetail colors are Titanium Gold which looks like
\na brass, Coppor, and Aluminum. ALl are Tamiya
\nacrylics.<\/p>\n

I haven’t been doing the internals
\nas metallic lately either. At least not since
\nthe Cloud 09. The reason I decided to do these
\nis so my lighting will reflect off them nicely.
\n(More on the lighting later.)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

04.25.04 \u00c2\u00bb More Damage
\nand Leg Seam Fix<\/p>\n

First off, here’s a shot of the
\ndamage to the shield so far. I hand painted in
\nall of the cracks, gouges and crevases with Tamiya
\nMetallic Gray. Next I lightly drybrushed all of
\nthe damaged areas with a mixture of Coppor and
\nBronze. That gave it a warm burnt metal effect.
\nAnd last so far, I drybrushed again with silver
\nrub and buff to highlight the worn metal. Next
\nI’ll do a chalk-wash on the damage to give them
\na sooty look. After the flat coat, I’ll use some
\npastels to finish the charring.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I also started on fixing the ugly-ass
\nleg seam on the GM Type C. Luckilly I only have
\nto do one of these. LOL! Basically I had to paint
\nthe whole internal structure of the legs first.
\nThen after building the leg, I added the 2 halves
\nof the armor to the outside using Tamiya Glue
\nas a seam welder. When that’s dry, I’ll mask off
\nthe metal parts to avoid damage while sanding
\nand puttying the seam smooth.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

04.25.04 \u00c2\u00bb More Leg
\nSeam Fix<\/p>\n

The seam has been glued, sanded,
\nputtied, sanded again and primed. Here’s a shot.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

04.26.04 \u00c2\u00bb Char-Grilled
\nDamage<\/p>\n

Okay, to add to the explosive damage
\neffect, I added a chalk wash to the damaged parts.
\nBasically a chalk wash is some pastel shavings
\nmixed with water and a drop of dish soap.<\/p>\n

I brushed the wash onto the parts
\nand let it dry. After it was dry I took damp paper
\ntowel bits and wiped away the excess. What was
\nleft was black dry stuff left in the crevases.<\/p>\n

Now some of the deeper crevases
\nheld too much chalk and wiping didn’t remove enough
\nof it. It looked too black for my taste. So I
\ntook an old dry toothbrush and brushed the excess
\nout. The effect looks really nifty and it’s hard
\nto see in the photos due to the gloss coat on
\nthe pics. Once I dull coat everything and add
\nthe rest of the charring this damage will be done.<\/p>\n

I still need to do the damage to
\nthe light gray parts since I just painted them
\ntoday. I’ll get to those later in the week. For
\nnow, here’s many damage pics!<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

05.03.04 \u00c2\u00bb Decals Done<\/p>\n

That’s all… decals are done. Next
\nis adding a flat coat and using chalk pastels
\nfor the damage weathering.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

01.21.04 \u00c2\u00bb Quick Start<\/p>\n

For a future project I am scratch-building the escape
\ncraft seen at the end of MS Gundam. I’ll post mere details about
\nthe whole project when I get to it.<\/p>\n

Here is an image of the craft I am building.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Here are some shots of what I have done so far. The
\nproject is going pretty quickly so far and should be done relatively
\nsoon. I’m using mostly sheet and strip styrene and option parts.<\/p>\n

I printed out the pictures I drew up in Flash to the
\nscale (1\/100) that the piece will be in. This helps with measuring.
\nSeen is a 1\/100 scal figure from a Bandai MG kit.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

01.28.04 \u00c2\u00bb Pause<\/p>\n

Here’s the latest progress shot taken last week. The
\nwings are cut out and the wing skids are build. I am waiting on
\nsome g-tanks before I can continue. I also still have to file the
\nedges, putty, sand etc…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

02.28.04 \u00c2\u00bb Back to
\nwork…<\/p>\n

I had a good bit of time today while my wife and baby
\nwere visiting the Grandmas. So I worked on my shuttle. I had finished
\nfiling the edges to round them a bit, added the vents to the back
\nof the cabin, modified the wave option tanks to be the size I wanted
\n(thanks Jester!), puttied, primed, sanded, added some panel lines,
\nputtied, sanded some more, etc… I still have to prime again.<\/p>\n

Next up, I have to decide how to build the assemblies
\nthat will attach the skid to the cabin underside and the wings to
\nthe tanks. I’m still debating between styrene and metal. I will
\nbe using teeny little kotubukiya burner nozels on the ends of the
\nfuel tanks and for the “disks” on the wings, I have some
\n“minus molds” that will work perfectly.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

03.02.04 \u00c2\u00bb More Progress<\/p>\n

I scribed some panel lines, did some clean-up and
\ngave it a coat of primer to check for things needing to be fixed.
\nOverall, there’s only a little bit more that I need to work on for
\nthe cabin portion.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

03.08.04 \u00c2\u00bb Building Complete<\/p>\n

The shuttle is all built and ready for paint. I also
\nposed a bunch of the figures in space suits that came with many
\nof my MG kits by amputating limbs and repositioning them.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

04.27.04 \u00c2\u00bb Painting Complete<\/p>\n

Painting of the shuttle is almost complete…just
\nneed to highlight a few parts such as the backs of the round dealies
\non the wings. Still have to decal it, but I’ll do that when I decal
\nthe GM.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

05.03.04 \u00c2\u00bb Decals
\nDone<\/p>\n

Here’s the almost finished shuttle with decals. Just
\nneeds the window added and a flat coat. For size reference, I added
\na Tamiya bottle in the shot.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

04.02.04 \u00c2\u00bb Open Sesame<\/p>\n

I started on the diorama base for this project. I
\nbought a large wooden oval plaque and finished it with stain and
\npolyacrylic. I also began construction of the bay door. My hope
\nis to have the asteroid be hollow. This door will set into a hole
\nin the rock from behind. The rock will be made from celluclay.<\/p>\n

The “hole” for the doors is made from sheet
\nstyrene. The doors themselves are made from sheet and strip styrene.
\nThere was no need to make full sized doors since they will be open
\nand you’d never see the rest of the doors anyway. The “hole”
\nis about 3 inches square. I added some extra panels and boltholes
\nto it.<\/p>\n

I’ll post more about the construction as I do it,
\nbut for now, here’s a few pics…<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

04.05.04 \u00c2\u00bb ‘roid<\/p>\n

Okay, the base has been stained and finished and today
\nI sculpted the asteroid. I used a block of 2×4 covered in foil to
\nmake the hole for the bay doors. I covered it in foil to make the
\nremoval from the “celluclay” easier. I used styrofoam
\nto bulk out the basic shape of the asteroid. I also covered the
\nbase with foil to prevent sticking. I then glued everything down
\nwith white glue and let it dry overnight.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For the asteroid “shell” I used celluclay.
\nIt’s a paper mache clay that dries like rock! It’s very easy to
\nwork with and smooths with water. It take a long time to dry though.
\nRight now I’m running a dehumidifier and my spraybooth fan to try
\nand spped up the process. The base is covered in foil to prevent
\nthe water from the clay from warping the wooded base.<\/p>\n

I covered the foam and wood with the clay and smoothed
\nthe celluclay to the desired thickness and rough shape. Then I used
\nsculpting tools, fingers and marbles to do the pocked surface. After
\nI dusted with sand and left over “boulder” bits from my
\nmars base. Those will simulate crater ejecta and small rocks\/boulders
\nthat were pulled in by the asteroids microgravity.<\/p>\n

When it’s dry, I’ll be able to remove it from the
\nbase and pull out the foam and wood to have a hollow shell. I’ll
\nthen add the bay doors from behind. I’ll prime and paint it when
\ndry.<\/p>\n

Here’s some pics. The tape on the foil is a guide
\nto where not to apply the clay.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

04.12.04 \u00c2\u00bb Warped<\/p>\n

The asteroid is pretty dry now after 2 hours in a
\n200 degree oven. I wish I’d done this a week ago. See the celluclay
\ntakes forever to dry and while my wooden base didn’t warp thanks
\nto the aluminum foil, (thinking ahead helps) the celluclay asteroid
\ndid. I repaired it before baking today, but even after the fix and
\nbake it was still a bit warped.<\/p>\n

I have a solution though! See, my dremmel cutting
\nwheel has a screw. The screw lifts the wheel up a slight bit from
\nthe table-top. Well, what’s nice is that the highest gap point so
\nfar is right at the level where the cutting wheel reaches to. All
\nI’ll have to do is cut around the base when I’m completely sure
\nit’s dry and it should sit flat. I hope.<\/p>\n

Celluclay shrinks too so as you can see from the above
\nand below pics, the asteroid shrunk a good bit. I actually like
\nthat I can see some of the base top now though since I really like
\nthe wood finish I did.<\/p>\n

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\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

04.18.04 \u00c2\u00bb Painting
\nTime<\/p>\n

Okay… it’s official. Celluclay is a royal pain in
\nthe ass. But… I like the way it looks when done. I had several
\nproblems with the celluclay which were actually my own fault. See
\nI needed the asteroid to be hollow so I could add the doors from
\nbehind. Well, celluclay takes FOREVER to dry unless you put it into
\nan oven. If you apply the wet elluclay to your wooden base, over
\ntime as it dries, it will warp your base.<\/p>\n

Having known all that and planning ahead, I built
\nup the rough shape with foam over a base covered with aluminum foil
\nto keep the base dry. As the celluclay dried, it pulled the foilup
\nand in and thus… a warped ‘roid. Most people build their clay
\ndirectly on their base and oven dry.<\/p>\n

Well to fix all this I did what you saw on the 4.12
\nupdate. That didn’t work right.<\/p>\n

So next I screwed the dry warped asteroid to a piece
\nof MDF. Then I was able to fill in the cracks and bake it at 200F
\nfor a few hours until dry. I ended up repeating this a couple times
\njust to get it right as I wanted it. It now covers the whole base
\nand fits snug all over.<\/p>\n

\"\"I
\nalso had trouble with the doors fitting. In the end I ended up cutting
\na piece of wood the shape of the door frame and placed it into position.
\nI used modeling paste, which is kinda like joint compound, to fill
\nin the cracks. When dry, I knocked out the wood, shaped the poening
\nwith my dremel and the door fit almost perfectly. I actually found
\nthis modeling paste in the bottom of a drawer while in search of
\nwhite glue. I bought it over a year ago for 50 cents at an art supply
\nstore clearance sale. Lucky me!<\/p>\n

Now it’s ready for paint. I’ll be doing the method
\nmy friend Jester showed me for painting rock. The first step (and
\nall that I have done) is to prime and paint the whole thing black.
\nNext will be several drybrushed layers of color. Here’s a pic so
\nfar.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

04.18.04 \u00c2\u00bb Painting
\nTime (Part 2)<\/p>\n

The asteroid is painted. I used cheap acrylics from
\nMichaels to do the drybrushing. I also cut a 1 inch nylon bristled
\nbrush in half to get a rougher brush. The mixed paint was black
\n+ brown + white. After each dry brushing I added more white. I did
\nabout 10 coats. Each coat applied was lighter. The effect was awesome.
\nThanks J!<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

05.04.04 \u00c2\u00bb Let there
\nbe light!<\/p>\n

I mentioned earlier that there may be some potential
\nelectronics… Well there ARE electronics! I wanted to add something
\nto this piece that I’ve never done before and lighting is it.<\/p>\n

There will be 2 sets of 4 red LEDs on the bay door
\nentry shaft. These will blink 4 on 4 off in a heart-beat sequence.
\nThe GM will have blinking LEDs inside of the head and the body cavity
\nto simulate damage, sparks, and random life in the MS.<\/p>\n

Not knowing how to do such a thing I went surfing
\nand found this article<\/a>
\non Starship Modeler’s website. It’s a great article on doing blinking
\nlights and the author really knows his stuff. Using this as a reference
\nI made a parts order from www.jameco.com and went to work wiring
\nit up.<\/p>\n

Here is the simple diagram that I made so that I can
\nunderstand it easier. The normal diagrams were confusing. I need
\nto visualize what’s going on. Also posted is a pic of my wired up
\n4060 chip tested and ready to go.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

05.07.04 \u00c2\u00bb And there
\nwas!<\/p>\n

It works!!!! Everything’s wired up and ready for final
\nassembly\/photos. I guess this will be the last in-prog. The only
\nwiring issue I had was fitting everything into the chest cavity.
\nI ended up having to hollow out the top of the core block with my
\nDremel to shove some wires into. Here’s some pics.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"
\n\"\"<\/p>\n\n\n