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Non-railway modelling


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We've have some Gerry Anderson models on here already so I thought I'd post a couple of pics of this kit which I aim to tackle soon:

 

zerox1.jpg.4c86b0db9364ea7117a045beacf3e21d.jpg

 

I've wanted a model of this since seeing Thunderbirds Are Go on TV in the mid-seventies, but they are not that easy

to come by. There's a very small plastic kit, a larger die-cast model, and at least a couple of bigger versions, including

this 24 inch model. It's been listed on ebay for quite a while at a fairly high price, but I finally put an offer in and was

pleased to have it accepted. I still paid a lot for it, but it's fairly obviously rare as I've only ever seen this one example

listed. I believe it dates to the early 90s.

 

It's described as resin, but I've a feeling it's actually a very high density foam as you can see that honeycomb pattern

in a few areas, There are relatively few parts so it's been easy to confirm that all the pieces are present and intact. In 

fact, I could do a dry-run just by laying out the main bits below:

 

zerox2.jpg.02734844b06a9828c9ce9470c9227c46.jpg

 

To get a good finish, quite a lot of filling and surfacing will be needed around the tail area. But the main sections are pretty

good, even if the detail isn't pin-sharp, and there is a decent decal sheet.

 

Unfortunately, the kit as designed doesn't have near enough wheels to correspond with the film version, so it can't really

be shown in an accurate take-off configuration. In addition, the front wing had folded-down tips during the launch. So

I think I'll be better off modelling it with the wheels retracted. Whatever, it should be fun and 'm going to give some thought

to making the wings detachable, rather than fixing then on permanently.

 

For anyone not familiar with the model, you can do no better than watch the opening 12 minutes of the film, complete with spectacular Barry Gray music!

 

 

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1:48 scale Morris Quad, Limber and 25 Pounder - built from the Blitzkrieg Miniatures solid resin “wargaming” kit.

 

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Cheers

 

Darius

Edited by Darius43
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46 minutes ago, railroadbill said:

Looks great and the film truck is unusual, can't remember having seen one like that before. Bridge is very effective.

Its a CMP Chevrolet C8. The smallest of the CMP vehicles. It served much the same purposes as the Humber 4x4, staff car, ambulance etc.

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13 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Its a CMP Chevrolet C8. The smallest of the CMP vehicles. It served much the same purposes as the Humber 4x4, staff car, ambulance etc.


Correct.  It’s the ASAM Models 1:48 white metal kit with two AFPU Sergeant Cameramen on the roof.  The film camera is scratch built.

 

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Cheers

 

Darius

 

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9 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

I would love to see a kit in 1/72 or 1/76 scale. A kit would be preferable as they varied considerably as to what windows were fitted according to role.


 Milicast make a kit of the C8A (and other CMPs) in 1:76 scale.

 

Cheers

 

Darius

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I started work on the Zero-X model I mentioned earlier. I begun by assembling the four main parts of the tail assembly:

 

P1100243.JPG.67306ee8b20a59f0e92393cc6cf4fa5a.JPG

 

The two big parts of the tail were not a good fit to each other and needed tremendous amounts of filling to achieve

a seamless join. Once that was done, I scribed in some panel line detail, based very loosely on what can be seen in

the stills from the film. There's no need to worry about it too much as there were two different models of Zero-X

used in the  production and they differed in some areas.

 

While the castings capture the basic shape of the craft, they're lacking in nearly any detail and most of the air intakes are just

blind surfaces. So I also set about marking and drilling deeper recesses for these, as well as adding some plastic card

fillets to approximate some of the detail touches. This sort of thing is a very characteristic Gerry Anderson/Derek Meddings design

element so needs to look right.

 

zero-x2.jpg.bbd3eb6dcacfdc611b43a97f9f651714.jpg

 

The detachable wings ( or "lifting bodies", as per the film) also lack air-intake detail, On the right, I've drilled out a recess for one of them. This will be detailed with an inset grill and additional plastic card details. The semi-circular intake on the top will also be hollowed out to a degree, just enough so that once painted black, it gives the right impression of hollowness.  The other wing will

get the same treatment.

 

zero-x3.jpg.8ea74d877be9c83978aedd90e4733a6b.jpg

 

The main body of the ship had very crudely inscribed panel lines between the sections, and no other detailing. I filled the lines with Mr Surfacer, sanded back, and then added some additional panelling of my own. I'm in two minds about whether I'll carry on with the panelling, or just add them in permanent marker once the model is painted. I think the effect will be very similar.

 

So far the model is basically the right shape, if lacking detail. But then I realised a major, if correctable error:

 

zero-x4.jpg.b8ed6159911647abc354f2dc23a010b4.jpg

 

In reality, the shape of the main body should continue from left to right with the same profile., without the widened part seen in the castings. This is a continuation of the front profile, but it shouldn't go back as far as it does. It wouldn't be that noticeable with the upper wing in place (it plugs into those locator holes), but since I've already started reworking the pieces, I reckon I might as well get the profile right. This will entail some careful sanding and re-scribing of panel joints, but i don't think it'll be too hard. Once that's done, there are some details missing from the front that will need adding, including a pair of stubby wings or aerodynamic pods similar to those jutting out the side of the tail.

 

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Above: how the main body slots into the tail. This will be fixed permanently, but at the moment it's a pretty snug sliding fit.

 

I've also decided that since I've started detailing it, and I'm only likely to build one Zero-X in my lifetime, I might as well take it further than the kit. So I'll be making the front parts of the ship, the Martian Excursion Vehicle and nose-cone, detachable. This will entail a large amount of modification/scratchbuilding, but it should be fun. I've also decided that while I'll initially model the craft in wheels-up configuration, I'll make allowance for adapting it to be in pre-launch condition as and when I can source enough wheels to enable scratchbuilding the missing undercarriage parts.

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Some more work on the Zero-X. I've just about finished the front wing, with added intake detail and engine parts.

 

zero-x6.jpg.e1986a38c04dc56aea73b9a4248101a1.jpg

 

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It turns out that there are some white metal bits to make the intakes look a bit better (I'd missed them in my first skim through the instructions) but I'm happy to have made my own as I think they are closer to how they should be.

 

 With all eight extra engines added, and various castings, these wings are heavy!

 

I think it says a lot for the brilliance of Derek Meddings' special effects work that a 55 year old design can still look pretty exciting and futuristic in 2021. To my eyes, anyway.

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Its snowing! Time for a different type of "Tank engine!" Two of many Airfix tank models given to me last year in poor condition e.g. no tracks/turrets etc, but resurrected. Nearest Tiger (1st pic.) has home-made wheels and tracks for instance.20210207_135927.jpg.83850e666df4dc113937d93cd02b6718.jpg

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Edited by 33C
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And here's the result of "Can you use this?" (2 hull sides, main deck and two turrets). First question, what is it. 2nd question, how far do i want to go with this? Answers, H.M.S.Suffolk, and this far.......

 

 

 

 

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Edited by 33C
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4 hours ago, steve1 said:

Nice work on the 'dazzle' camo scheme. Always liked the look of it but not sure about its effectiveness. Bet the painters hated it!

 

steve

Not as effective as pink all over but then they thought it would be bad for sailors morale. 
it was meant to make it hard to work out shape and therefore distance to target / direction target moving in for the u boats.

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not your average kind of modelling but still skilled work. 2 youtube channels ive been suggested recently

 

First one making figure kits with the painting being the main skilled part, especially the detail put into hand painting the eyes

https://www.youtube.com/c/sukimasangyo/videoshttps://www.youtube.com/c/sukimasangyo/videos

 

scratchbuilidng figures in clay to a high quality

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2eET5RL7v1CYnZZv58zpnQ/videos

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3 hours ago, richard i said:

Not as effective as pink all over but then they thought it would be bad for sailors morale. 
it was meant to make it hard to work out shape and therefore distance to target / direction target moving in for the u boats.

 

Just now, sir douglas said:

it did work but only against other ships, it came a bit too late to be long term effective because planes soon came into being which arent decieved from above

It was developed during WW1 when the principle danger to allied capital ships was the U-boat. I would add that an important feature of dazzle camouflage was straight lines and sharp angles 

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