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Ever since it first came screaming past the camera back in 1986, it had
quickly become a personal favorite. This model was an ambition of mine for
a long time, so after completing my first scratchbuilt model (Bird of Prey),
I decided to attempt it. I had started it back in 1995 and it spanned
over two years. It might not be completely accurate but it is still my
favorite.
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Not having access to the Halcyon kit, I used what I had for
reference, figured out the dimensions at 1/35 and drew up split 3 view drawings. It was built to
accommodate the 1/35 scale APC kit in its cargo bay.
The model started out as a wooden box (cargo bay). This ended up being the models'
backbone and had to be sturdy. The bulk of the tail was also made up of
wood to further strengthen the addition of the two horizontal tail
fins.
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The rest is pretty much all sheet styrene, a lot of superglue and
putty. I had learned to do some stovetop vaccu-forming while working on my
Bird of Prey so I ended up making both air intakes, both engine shrouds,
four aft VTOL nozzles and the nose in this fashion. These were then
trimmed, attached to the model, and putty was added to conceal
the seams.
The cockpit is entirely built from scratch for the exception of both joysticks and a couple of small parts for detail.
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This
photo was taken with a flash. This reveals some of the intricate
details of the Dropship.
This model involved a lot of filling and sanding. In the end, I think
there is about 8 to 10 coats of primer. Panel lines were then scribed into
the primer coat making it easier to fix any flaws. Small surface detail
was then added and then a final coat of primer applied to the whole thing.
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The one thing I really wanted was to be able to display the model with
its weapons stored or deployed. The secondary weapon bays (at front) are
hinged for easy positioning, while I had to settle with the main weapon
bays being positioned via 2 pins on either side.
The landing gear struts were fashioned from styrene and aluminum tubing around a brass rod inserted
in key points in the model. Most of the larger missiles were cast in resin,
while the smaller unguided rockets in the main weapon bays are styrene
tubing cut to length and sealed at the front.
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The cockpit, cargo bay and all
three landing strut wells were painted Light Gray and then dry brushed to bring out the detail.
The exterior was base coated with a mix of light and medium browns. I airbrushed
dark shades of brown towards the rear and even darker behind the
engines. White and red stripes were masked and airbrushed as well as the
larger '01' on both sides of the fuselage.
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I used generic decals around the
model; especially around the cockpit. The rest were either screenprinted by myself or done using a color copier on clear decal
paper. The model was then given a couple good coats of Clear
Flat.
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Photos
by Stephen L.
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