12/02/02 I won't go into any of the techniques that I've used here simply because I've described most of them in the rest of the site.

Built specifically for the STARSHIP MODELER competition this ship is about 450mm in length. IMAGE 1. IMAGE 2.

I used parts from just about every known vehicle type in existence. IMAGE 3. IMAGE 4.

These images were taken just before the final sanding and the application of an undercoat. IMAGE 5. IMAGE 6.

The undercoat will help me pick some of the minor flaws not visible at this stage with all the multi-colored parts and filler.

20/02/02 After a couple of sessions of filling and sanding, this is the final result before I start doing all the beauty paintwork. IMAGE 7. IMAGE 8. IMAGE 9. IMAGE 10.

10/03/02 At the 11th hour I decided to scribe some panel lines in the hull. This was done firstly by drawing pencil lines where I wanted the scribing to be done, I then proceded to scribe the lines using the back of the tip of a hobby knife and a steel ruler. With a very light touch I slowly scribed down the line 3 or 4 times till I was happy with the depth. If I over-shot my mark, all I had to do was fill it in and sand.

Once I was satisfied with the completed work I gave the ship a a couple of coats of gloss red. The gloss was used so when I use my custom made decals, they should adhere seemlessly to the hull. I will then give the model a coat or two of cleat matt spray. IMAGE 11. IMAGE 12. IMAGE 13. IMAGE 14. IMAGE 15. IMAGE 16. IMAGE 17.

17/04/02 Here is the model complete. IMAGE 18. IMAGE 19. IMAGE 20. IMAGE 21.

You may have noticed from the photos that the model looks extremely bland. I thought I would give it a more interesting finish by applying masking tape to areas and then giving it a coat of satin clear, this idea helped. IMAGE 22. IMAGE 23.

After all that, I still wasn't happy with the result.

4 Days before the competition I decided to totally strip the model and start with a completely different color scheme.

Using a product called 'MR MUSCLE' (which is an oven cleaner) I sprayed the whole kit and left it for about half an hour, I then gave it a light scrub under running water. This process is so amazingly easy and quick to do. I was now left with a 'blank canvas' to start again.

This time I thought I would do something a bit more industrial looking so I opted to spray it in different shades of gray.

After the base coat of gray I figured I could speed up the drying process by leaving the model in front of a heater. I had done this many times before with great success...... but this time I screwed up!

I came back an hour later to find that my precious model entry had melted on the front corner. SHIT!!!!!!

My only option was to rebuild it.

Turning my model room upside down, I found a part of the hull from the Monogram Nautilus kit. This was going to be my new battleship front.

The shape of the hull gave me a great new idea. Using just about every spare part that I had left created this: IMAGE 24. IMAGE 25. IMAGE 26. IMAGE 27. IMAGE 28. IMAGE 29.

After some very stressful days I made into the comp on time.