{"id":1722,"date":"2007-06-04T20:15:14","date_gmt":"2007-06-05T04:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/?p=1722"},"modified":"2009-02-11T20:18:18","modified_gmt":"2009-02-12T04:18:18","slug":"in-progress-%c2%bb-martian-hovertank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/in-progress-%c2%bb-martian-hovertank\/","title":{"rendered":"In Progress \u00c2\u00bb Martian Hovertank"},"content":{"rendered":"

05.24.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Concepts\/Initial Progress<\/p>\n

While looking around my spare parts bin for some solder I came across
\nmy old hovertank shell which I had started, but never finished,
\na few years ago. Looking at the shell it still has potential,
\nespecially now that my skills have improved, but I wasn’t
\nready to go back to it just yet. Instead I found the wings
\nfrom my PG Wing Zero Custom that I was using the frame of
\nto create another mecha. I suddenly thought “hmmmm….
\nI wonder how these wings would look put together as a hovertank
\nshell?”. Well, that was two weeks ago and in that time
\nI’ve used a LOT of Bondo and spare parts to create a very
\nodd looking hovertank.<\/p>\n

I didn’t post my initial progress
\nfor this since there was a vote going on on my
\nforum for what the next Group Build should be.
\nMars or Racing. I didn’t want to influence votes
\none way or another so I kept this hush. I have
\nmany more Mars projects in my head though in case
\nGB#5 is Mars themed.<\/p>\n

To start out I glued the large wing
\nparts of the PG WZC together to make the main
\nbody. I took other misc. parts and added them
\nto flesh out the rough shape the tank would eventually
\ntake.<\/p>\n

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After I bulked it up with spare
\nparts I used some plastic like a spatula and spread
\non some Bondo. I did this is several layers sanding
\nit semi-smooth inbetween. This build-up approach
\nworked much better than my prior hovertank attempt.
\nThe 3 circles underneath are for the main thruster
\nfans.<\/p>\n

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After the Bondo was added I went
\nahead and added various detail bits and armor
\nplating. The armor places are .04″ styrene
\nsheet that was rounded by immersing it in a bowl
\nwhich was immersed in boiling water. The rivets
\nwere made from 1mm spheres a friend of mine sent
\nme.<\/p>\n

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Once a rough-cast texture was applied
\nI primed all the parts and started the painting.
\nI went with a red-orange-brown color for the body.
\nThe stowage rolls are af various Mars-tones since
\ngreens and khaki wouldn’t work well on Mars. You
\ncan see the parts for the fans in the 3rd pic
\nbelow. The large fan housing is made from a discadred
\ndust-filter cartridge!<\/p>\n

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05.30.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Weathering
\nPart 1<\/p>\n

Next up on the hovertank progress
\nis the paint chips and filters. After a satin
\ncoat of FFA, the chips were done with a round
\npointy brush using Tamiya German Gray and a Rusty
\ncolor mix. You can see I left a couple of the
\narmor plates “unpainted” as if they
\nwere recently replaced. I had painted them in
\nthe same base rusty color first, but then streaked
\non german gray to give it a slightly weathered
\nlook. Later the piece was drybrushed with some
\nsilver rub-n-buff then another satin coat of FFA
\nwas applied the effect gives it a similar look
\nas rubbing with graphite or Mig Gunmetal pigment
\nwould have. After the chips were done I applied
\nmy 2 filters. The first was a yellow oarnge mixture
\nof oils and turpenoid. The second done 6 hours
\nlater was the same filter, but with some red added
\nto make it more orange. Next up is the fading\/discoloration
\nthen some washes.<\/p>\n

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05.30.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Weathering
\nPart 2<\/p>\n

After the filters I applied the
\ndiscoloration. I did this in two stages. First
\nI did the standard discolorarion with the dabs
\nof oil and using clean thinner to blend it in.
\nI used yellow, orange, burnt sienna, and white.
\nThat looked nice, but it needed more vertical
\nstreaking so I added streaks of burnt sienna and
\nburnt umber and blended them with a dry 1\/4″
\nhoof shaped brush I used for stippling oils. I
\nused some black and streaked that wround the exhausts
\nand exposed engine parts. Below is the glossy
\nresults. Next up is a flat-coat then the wash
\nor washes.<\/p>\n

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06.04.2007 \u00c2\u00bb Final
\nUpdate<\/p>\n

The hovertank is all done, but I
\nwanted to post up some final in-prog images to
\nshow part of the underside not readily visible
\nin the final shots as well as the base construction.<\/p>\n

The base started out by gluing some
\ngreen floral foam onto a piece of wood for the
\nbase. Once the glue was dry I covered the foam
\nwith plaster and sprinkled talus, cat litter,
\nand bits of petrified wood (larger rocks) onto
\nthe plaster. When dry I gave it a coat of primer
\nand a few coats of leftover spraypaint. The spraypaint
\nwas to help seal down the rocks. Next I used 5
\nminute epoxy and glued balsa wood pieces to the
\noutside edge of the base to make it look neat.
\nI stained and finished the balsa. Once the polycrylic
\nclearcoat was dry I filled in the tops of the
\nbalsa and any gaps with more plaster and rocks.
\nI masked off the wood and gave the base another
\nfew coats of dark primer. When dry I gave it a
\nfew coats of martian-soil colored acrylic paint
\nvia airbrush. When that was dry I drybrushed the
\nrocks with a brown\/black mix of cheap acrylics.
\nThe final step was thinning a martian dust mixture
\nof pigment powders (rust + beach sand + europe
\ndust) with Tamiya thinner and spraying that over
\nthe base and rocks to get that nice dry dusty
\nlook. Below you cans ee that and the underside
\nof the hovertank being constructed.<\/p>\n

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