GAL 356

[Wombat]

I know,not another one of these already!

Well yeah it is,and it's been sitting here on my bench for quite a few weeks now just gathering a lot of dust.Well,over the last couple of night's i''ve started cleaning up some of the part's.I think it'll gonna take me a while yet to get em all done.There's not many in the tub that are done and those bag's look like i've hardly touched em.
Anyway,seeing Jase getting started on his has sorta motivated me to play with it a little.Thanks dude!!This is a fantastic kit,it'll look great once i get all these bloody bit's cleaned up and on it.Don't know how you've got your's cleaned up so quick?I'm gonna play with it a little more along side of some other stuff i'm trying to get done and see what i come up with.I'm undecided if i'll add light's still,if i do it'll only be engine's.
Anyway,here's the size of it for you guy's and gal's,if we got any,to take a look at.It'll be pretty well 22" with the engine bell's in place

       

[dbhs]

Looking good, Phil.

Are you planning on doing the 4-point pipe armature inside (like the example photos on RI) or just a standard single mount?

[Wombat]

Thanks Doug!
Yeah,thats the sort of armature i'll be throwing in it.A very generous member from the northern hemisphere has gone to a bit of trouble to send the bit's down here to assemble one.I think the boy's in custom's will be scratching there head's a bit when it lands.There's gonna be slower than normal progress for me on this one as it's sorta a fill in one for the other build i wanna get started on ASAP.But it's a start none the less!!

[79 Daytona]

Great start Phil!! Seeing you guys start work on your's makes me want to start on my but i got to finish my SS Tie Fighter first.

[JAWS]

Ha! Sick bro. Good to see you got it outa the box! Was about bloody time mate. I stood at my work bench for 2.5-3hrs with the scalpal & a stanley knife & just went for it mate. I was just goingto do one bag & when I did that said'oh f^%k it!' might aswell do the lot. Gotta get me a chair for in there... She's looking good mate.

[Wombat]

(11-30-2009, 06:22 AM)79 Daytona Wrote: Great start Phil!! Seeing you guys start work on your's makes me want to start on my but i got to finish my SS Tie Fighter first.

Thanks Mark!
It's not that much of a start but i guess it's looking like the shuttle still?As for yourself,ya right,one thing at a time dude,after the Tie you've got some choices to make what it'll be next outa that bunch of kit's waiting to be done there.The shuttle,SS Viper and also it's big brother come to mind.

(11-30-2009, 06:30 AM)jasonwright.1972 Wrote: Ha! Sick bro. Good to see you got it outa the box! Was about bloody time mate. I stood at my work bench for 2.5-3hrs with the scalpal & a stanley knife & just went for it mate. I was just goingto do one bag & when I did that said'oh f^%k it!' might aswell do the lot. Gotta get me a chair for in there... She's looking good mate.

Cheer's Jase!
I agree,we getting to old to stand and do this,a chair or stool is the way ta go mate!How you cleaned up both bag's in that time is still beyond me.I was thinking more like a week it'll take me if i play around with it each night after work.Then,i also got other stuff that needs doing also so i'll just see how it pan's out.I think most know i'm as slow as all f#ck when i build anyway,so this one ain't gonna be no different.
But it looking betta than it did a week ago!!

[JAWS]

Hahahah Looks gret mate. you know what I just realised that six sided shape thing cant remember what its called?... is actually what jions the 2 body halves together!!!! Too funny. Thanks mate. This will be fun!

[Wombat]

Ya want a hear something funnier?
When i cleaned off the poor stub's on that six sided thingie,and in the body halves i was wondering why it went in flush with the rear and not the front.Hell my Shuttle didn't join up,i had a gap between the halves!!
Um,only after looking at the picture's of the Shuttle did i realize this is the way it's bloody well meant to be!!
But it's all good,we'll just keep this lil embarrassment between you and I!!

[JAWS]

hahahha thats so funny mate. i was wondering the same bloody thing. Ametures... Theyre laughin at us!

[dbhs]

There's going to be a 3rd one of these on the board soon.......

[DarthDuck]

(11-30-2009, 08:14 PM)Wombat Wrote: Ya want a hear something funnier?
When i cleaned off the poor stub's on that six sided thingie,and in the body halves i was wondering why it went in flush with the rear and not the front.Hell my Shuttle didn't join up,i had a gap between the halves!!
Um,only after looking at the picture's of the Shuttle did i realize this is the way it's bloody well meant to be!!
But it's all good,we'll just keep this lil embarrassment between you and I!!

I'd had filled it in and smoothed it over before realizing that?
Looking forward to watching your progress on this one too buddy!

[Wombat]

^
I think a wise duck like yourself woulda studied the picture's a lil more and known it from the start!
Us wombat's aren't known for our smartness!!
I hope to be able to start assembly pretty soon though,most of it is cleaned up,just waiting on some part's for an armature before i can really get stuck into it.Still got to look into lighting for it also,another thing i've never ventured out to find as all previous build's have had the lighting with them.
Hope to have something to show soon my friend!

[79 Daytona]

(12-12-2009, 12:23 PM)dbhs Wrote: There's going to be a 3rd one of these on the board soon.......

That's great to hear!!

[Wombat]

(12-12-2009, 12:23 PM)dbhs Wrote: There's going to be a 3rd one of these on the board soon.......

I seemed to have missed this somehow.
Excellent Doug,look forward to seeing your build join the other two that are here already!
Not that Jase's or mine have gotten very far,we're both waiting on the piping for our armature's before starting the assembly and i've still gotta look into getting some lighting for it also.

[bwayne64]

Looking good Man ! I need to sell some blood, so I can buy on of those, Just kidding, I hate needles. I've always planned to scratch build a shuttle. But looking at this kit, I may have to change my mind. Good luck on this one. I'll be watching this build, Cheers,

Joe C.

[Wombat]

Thanks Joe,what would be good would be if you could buy just the body and then kit bash the part's needed to finish it off?
Sean C really did an awesome job with the master pattern for this one,man it's a cool looking thing.
Who ever would have thought we'd have all these great toy's coming out for us to enjoy and add to our collection's?
Time's are good!!

[bwayne64]

Yea that would be awesome ! Save me from having to draw up blueprints, and cut all that styrene, LOL. But that's actually something I enjoy. I like going from flat paper and styrene, to finished shape. It's very satisfying. Of course there's something to be said for actually finishing a model this decade, I'm as slow as next Christmas, and I don't mean the one this month. Anywho, good luck with these shuttles, there going to be great, Cheers,

Joe C.

[Wombat]

(12-14-2009, 06:42 AM)bwayne64 Wrote: Yea that would be awesome ! Save me from having to draw up blueprints, and cut all that styrene, LOL. But that's actually something I enjoy. I like going from flat paper and styrene, to finished shape. It's very satisfying. Of course there's something to be said for actually finishing a model this decade, I'm as slow as next Christmas, and I don't mean the one this month. Anywho, good luck with these shuttles, there going to be great, Cheers,

Joe C.

Oh,theres nothing wrong doing it that way either Joe,it's very satisfying as you mentioned.Only done the CM before myself but i know exactly what you mean mate.
I was just thinking about a short cut way,that's all!!

[LastBattlestar]

Not a bad idea. I could build that shuttle body with 20 bucks of styrene sheet, but it would be a pig of a thing to get right with all those angles. I'd seriously think about it if I could get a full set of greeblies....

Mike

[Wombat]

^
You could,and i'd say you'd already have most of the kit's that are required to do the build.


Nothing much is happening with the build at present.I'm rying to get my head around the proper placement of some stuff,the engines being one of those areas.I think i have that bit pretty sussed now after some help.
The main hold up is the armature,it appears the one's that were sent to Jase,Mike and myself have gone walkabout.They haven't landed and it's been more than long enough that even if customs was looking at em they would have cleared by now.So i've given up that they will land and thanks to a bloody good member on this board,i'll be getting a helping hand with another.Infact,this will be spot on as he's doing one for himself also.So no build progress but theres some planning going on behind the scenes.Lighting will be what Doug has shown in his thread,that's mighty impressive the look of that 5W halogen as well as the light it cast's.The colour and brightness look real good to me.
So,i'm keen to get into the build pretty soon,it was sitting for age's as i had no motivation,but it's really given it back to me,these thing's really are bloody cool!

Alright,so about all i've done since i started the build is drill a few holes for the armature,cleaned up the casting's i'm using and robbed the rest outa kit's that i can spare.

This is the first part i've made up and replaced from the kit.

   

   

[dbhs]

Very cool, Phil. It will be interesting to see yours with the real parts going on.

I might primer my parts different colors ahead of time so I can pretend I'm scratchbuilding.....

[Wombat]

LOL!!
I like that idea!!

Oh,these are basicly the same as a scratch build except someone pre built the hulls and did some work with the greebles ready for use.The only difference is i'm kit bashing for some of those greebles instead of using all the kit one's.If i've got em and don't need em for something else i can't think of a betta subject to use em on at present.
It's gonna be very colourful before the splash of primer though.

[dbhs]

Actually it isn't a bad idea since many of the parts have hollow spots or sit on top of other making painting all the surfaces difficult once glued down. Probably easier with an airbrush, though. My next challenge....

[Wombat]

There won't be much of a challenge to ya from what i've seen ya do mate!
Some areas are gonna need pre painting before applying to the model from where i sit,although,if the paint can't get in there when assembled i doubt the eye would see it anyway?Still,betta ta be safe than sorry!

[Otis T]

    I tried to email these Phil but they were too large. Hope they help.

Enjoy!

---

    A couple more.

[Wombat]

^
Thank you very much for posting all them Jon!

They are a help for me and i'm sure the same will apply for plenty of others also mate.
It was really good of you to go to the trouble of getting em for me and i do apprciate all the help you always assist me with.One day it'd be nice if i could assist you,but so far it's only been a oneway thing.
Anyway,I can get those top part's above the engine aligned pretty well with these picture's,i can see i was a smidgen off with how i thought the inital one sat which put everything else out by a whisker also.I'm still a little stuck on how that AA piece goes to be positioned like that.Perhaps some material needs to be removed not just from the engine but the part itself?
Looking forward to getting really stuck into this thing soon,but if i can get everything sussed in the meantime it'll make that part so much easier than going through all this when i could be building.
If it turn's out like your's Jon,i'm gonna be very happy!!

Well see how it goes,but thanks again for the help in trying to get it there mate!

[JAWS]

Thanks Jon nice close ups for the boys. So glad to have you on board mate! The boys have really got stuck into this subject

[79 Daytona]

Yeah i'll second that, Thanks for posting the pic's they will be a big help!

[bwayne64]

Wow ! Those are Beautimous Jon. Thanks for posting those. I'm loving this ship more and more. Can't have too many reference pics, Cheers,

Joe C.

[Wombat]

^
You're right there Joe!This subject absolutely rocks and again Jon has been a big help to us all with the pictures he's allowed posted of his build.Can ya imagine trying to work out where a lot of the part's go without his help?I think it's a fair call when i say,Jon is a bloody legend mate!!

OK,i'm still not really doing much to the build,same issue's in that i don't really wanna be gluing stuff on till i've got an armature and light's installed in the thing.Unfortunately thing's don't always go to plan and both myself and Jase have been waiting for a package to arrive containing the pipe's for the armature.It's on a barge it seems as it's been age's since it was sent.So thats lead to me trying to get another lot of pipe and with a lot of help from Doug it's all in the work's.Theres just still one lil issue but it should be some real progress pretty soon on the building side of thing's.But Doug is another that has been more than going outa his way to try and help get this happening.Onya Mate!!
So,theres still been plenty going on with the planning though still,but thats not something you can photograph really.

Anyway,even though theres no real building going on i thought i'd share a couple of thing's i've done or had to do still.
The domes i've glued on using Mike S guide for there positioning that he's posting over at RI.I'm not sure that this is correct when looking at the b&w Apogee picture but it's where they are gonna stay,they won't be coming off,well,in one piece again anyway!
For the cockpit i've made some styrene sheets that i hope will help reflect the lighting better in that interior.They'll be glued in once the cockpit has been fitted.
I've also reworked the front cover plate as per those b&w pictures again.The holes have been positioned like shown in that front shot picture and i also ground off the cast Karl part that is on the front and added a kit part.Two reasons,thats just what i'm doing with the build with part's i have that i can spare and also that part in the kit on the plate is back to front in that,it should be face down with the back edge showing but it was vice versa.So that cover hatch is now a lot closer to what the original was,well i hope it is?
OK,i had to dip the back edges of the cockpit lid that i've highlighted,in boiling water to get them to sit what i think isn't too bad now.A lot betta than they were,you couldn't have both touching the body before at the same time before doing this.I just dipped em both in the water and held it in place against the body till they cooled enough to hold there position.
Then today my Marder kit arrived,so it was out the back to cut the bugger up into what is needed for the shuttle.

None of that is glued on i just like the look with the kit part's!! LOL.

[DarthDuck]

Nice to see you working on something simple and quick Phil.
With your focus for perfection I'm sure it's going to be a stunning piece!

[Wombat]

Thanks Don,we'll see how it goes.
I sorta blame you for my acquired laid back,slap it on approach i have these days my friend.
It seeing the sorta stuff you do that has rubbed off on me a bit i guess?
Oh,and there will be brass on this one as well!

[DarthDuck]

(01-04-2010, 10:27 PM)Wombat Wrote: Thanks Don,we'll see how it goes.
I sorta blame you for my acquired laid back,slap it on approach i have these days my friend.
It seeing the sorta stuff you do that has rubbed off on me a bit i guess?
Oh,and there will be brass on this one as well!

I am no more responsible for your skills on display than I am for the odiferouse state of your burrow.
So, you'll be showing us some brass on this one as well? Oh, good, SHINY!

[JAWS]

Damn this is going to be good. Actual kit parts is great. Brass wicked. good stuff mate.

[79 Daytona]

That's COOL!! I can't wait to see what brass parts you have cooked up for this kit.

[Wombat]

Thanks guy's,there aint gonna be anywhere near the amount of brass that our feathered one use's but,there will be a little required for the build.
OK,i'm happy how something has gone,yeah hard to believe i know,but i am.Today was about doing not much but inbetween that it was scratching up the antennas for the shuttle.There is still one part required for the very tip but bar that the rest of it is done.Now,these look different on the back face of the dish to the kit part's and the one's even on Jon's shuttle.Why?Well i'm basing the build on what i see or think i see in the b&w Apogee picture's that are posted here and elsewhere.In those picture's i see something like what i've done here,well hopefully.It's just tacked onto the Marder part and i'll alighn it all properly when it's time to glue em on for good,but i just wanted to see how they would look,you guy's understand i'm sure!


So was the look i was trying to achieve.


  Gal%20Shuttle%20top%20Apogee.jpeg (Size: 11 KB / Downloads: 167)

And this is what i ended up with.

       
           

[79 Daytona]

That looks outstanding Phil!!!!

[Wombat]

Thanks there Mark!

[JAWS]

Yep I second that outstanding & raise it to wicked mun!

[Wombat]

Well finally i'm able to start getting into this build properly.An armature arrived a couple of day's ago from a good mate that goes under dbhs!He's also known as Doug at time's also.Thanks bud,this thing you concocted is fuckin great!
By no fault of someone else i would have been into the build more sooner,but postage took forever so i've ended up with something different than was originally intended to be used.Just as this one was finally being sorted the other was landing in the country,bloody typical really.I will add though that this version is more to my liking as it's allowed the full front pipe to be included.This is pretty much the same as you've all seen in Doug's build and early mock up's.The only difference is for the front pipe instead of using a coupler i've tapped a thread in that pipe like on the original Shuttle.
So hopefully now this side of thing's is sorted i can get the lighting fitted and get this thing together.Just waiting on some more LED's,one's that throw a better colour light than the previous one's i ordered.So that'll probably be the next hold up,but i still got the halogens to get fitted and then i can mount the engines for good also in the meantine.
Hopefully some more frequent updates from here on,on this one.

[79 Daytona]

Looking good Phil !!!

[Wombat]

Thank's Mark!!
Hope to get this thing cranking now,just the bloody LED's i stuffed up on ordering the first time that i'm waiting on now!

[LastBattlestar]

SHAWEEEEEET! Your blowing me away with your attention to detail on this project, matey!

Mike

[dbhs]

(01-20-2010, 11:18 PM)Wombat Wrote: Well finally i'm able to start getting into this build properly.An armature arrived a couple of day's ago from a good mate that goes under dbhs!He's also known as Doug at time's also.Thanks bud,this thing you concocted is fuckin great!
By no fault of someone else i would have been into the build more sooner,but postage took forever so i've ended up with something different than was originally intended to be used.Just as this one was finally being sorted the other was landing in the country,bloody typical really.I will add though that this version is more to my liking as it's allowed the full front pipe to be included.This is pretty much the same as you've all seen in Doug's build and early mock up's.The only difference is for the front pipe instead of using a coupler i've tapped a thread in that pipe like on the original Shuttle.
So hopefully now this side of thing's is sorted i can get the lighting fitted and get this thing together.Just waiting on some more LED's,one's that throw a better colour light than the previous one's i ordered.So that'll probably be the next hold up,but i still got the halogens to get fitted and then i can mount the engines for good also in the meantine.
Hopefully some more frequent updates from here on,on this one.

Glad to help.

Now - get to work !!!

[LastBattlestar]

Will it be finished this weekend? I want to drop in for a look.

Mike

[Wombat]

(01-21-2010, 09:05 PM)LastBattlestar Wrote: SHAWEEEEEET! Your blowing me away with your attention to detail on this project, matey!

Mike

Thanks Mike,this is half the fun as you are more than aware there yourself.Theres been a lot of looking at this one with Doug and myself,and i hoping we both end up with a pair of half descent looking shuttles when done.I just hope his isn't perfect and mine crap to get that half descent!!

(01-22-2010, 12:32 PM)dbhs Wrote: Glad to help.

Now - get to work !!!

I'm getting there,but progress is still a little slow here.I did get them light sockets epoxied in last night but that was about it.I went for something like you did and cut a hole in the bells so the glodes can be inserted a little deeper.
Thanks again my friend for everything you've helped me with!

(01-22-2010, 07:23 PM)LastBattlestar Wrote: Will it be finished this weekend? I want to drop in for a look.

Mike

I don't think it'll be finished this weekend mate,but i'd like to have it all done before some of the new project arrives in a few weeks.You can drop in and check it out,but it's not a lot different to how ya last seen it.
Still,drop in,theres always plenty to talk about!

[Wombat]

A small bit of progress,the rear lighting sockets are installed and the engines are now on the body.I just used epoxy putty like Doug to mount the sockets,although mine is a little more rougher to look at than what Doug achieved.Still'it's hidded behind the bell so i couldn't be bothered smoothing it out too much.But it does the job none the less!!
So,i got a bit of filling to do around the engines and when thats done with i'll be concentrating on the cockpit area.Need to get some stuff sorted for powering this thing but i need to have things in place to fix my power feed onto.
But it's finally taking some shape!

[79 Daytona]

WOW!!! That looks so COOL Phil.

[dbhs]

Outstanding - the effect with these lights is perfect. How's the heat on the bells?

[Wombat]

Thanks guy's!!

Ya right Doug,the effect from these globes is just perfect in the pictures,looks just like how the shuttle appeared on the screen to me!
The bells are just taped on mate,but i ran the globes for around three minutes or so and the heat they were putting out wasn't too extreme.It didn't effect them in that short period of time but i'm unsure how long it would take for the heat to distort them.It is a small concern that side of thing's,but i'm unsure really what we can do about it.I guess to use one bell as a guinea pig to see if things will be effected by longer running would be good.It'd just mean ordering another from Mike if things go bad with it,but least we'd get an idea how well these things are gonna stand up to those globes?