Spindrift from Land of the Giants by Polar Lights

[MSgtUSAFRet]

trekriffic, sympathies on RL. Sometimes it sucks, but you will recover.

And....you did the plaid dress! SMH. Is there anything you don't do well?! It looks great!

Love the antenna also!

Keep moving forward!

Steve

[trekriffic]

Thanks for the kind words Steve. The antenna is painted brass now and looks great IIDSSM.

Here's this morning's update after putting in a couple of hours on Sunday....

I added the decals to the rear cockpit wall for the speakers, passenger status indicator panel over the door, and the door controls. I also cemented Steve and Dan into position:

Cockpit with Pilots by trekriffic, on Flickr

I keep thinking Dan is just coming back from the restroom:

Dan Erickson Standing by trekriffic, on Flickr

I decided to have Dan Erickson standing with his seat at an angle so you could get a good view of the seat thru the bow windows:

Dan and Steve from Above by trekriffic, on Flickr

I positioned Steve Burton's hands as close as I could to the control yoke handles:

Steve Burton at the Controls by trekriffic, on Flickr

I glued the remaining ceiling girders in place with 5-minute expoy:

Support Girders by trekriffic, on Flickr

I laid a few strips of matte aluminum bare metal foil along the center of the accordion doors to the closet. In the pilot episode Fitzhugh goes into the closet to check his gun and you can see him grabbing the metal latching strip to close the accordion doors so they were not just curtains:

Closet Accordion Doors by trekriffic, on Flickr

The closet wall with the accordion doors was glued in place with epoxy. Still need to clean it up a bit and putty the seams along the sides:

Closet Wall by trekriffic, on Flickr

Lastly for the day, I attached Fitzhugh's legs and gave him a potbelly using AVES Apoxy Sculpt. I even added his tie which will be painted black. Need to finish adding his lapels before I glue the briefcase (seen on the right) onto his chest:

Fitzhugh and Briefcase in Progress by trekriffic, on Flickr

Next thing will be attaching Fitzhugh's arms (they will be clutching the briefcase tight) and his head. Then I'll give his shirt a collar. Then more putty for his corpulent face and hair. I'll also start work on the translucent ceiling panels and wiring up the LEDs for interior illumination.

[Spencer]

I continue to be amazed at the attention to detail!

[trekriffic]

I continue to be amazed at the attention to detail!

Thanks Spencer.

Moving right along...

Finished assembling Alexander Fitzhugh and puttying him with AVES to give him his girth and double chin:

Fitzhugh WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

Fitzhugh WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr


Finished painting Fitzhugh. Here he is clutching his valise filled with stolen cash just like like in the pilot episode.
His epaulets were done using black decal film over which I painted gold stripes. He's been sealed with Future and sprayed with Dullcote:

Fitzhugh Finished by trekriffic, on Flickr

Fitzhugh Clutches His Briefcase by trekriffic, on Flickr

Next up... a boy and his dog...

Chipper and Barry by trekriffic, on Flickr

[trekriffic]

Not a lot to report for this update. Got sidetracked by RL. Refinishing upstairs and downstairs cabinets this past week.

Anyway, I did manage to get Barry Lockridge (the boy) put together. The main challenge with Barry is his smaller size relative to the other passengers. Every part had to be shaved down a tad, all except for his head. A child's head is proportionally larger than an adult's :

Barry in Primer by trekriffic, on Flickr

Barry Lockridge by trekriffic, on Flickr

After brushing with Tamiya lacquer primer:

Barry Lockridge by trekriffic, on Flickr

I little rough looking to the DSLR's eye but he'll look fine after painting.

Next up is Chipper, the dog. I think the easiest thing would be to make him out of epoxy putty; I'll probably break out the Tamiya epoxy putty, it's stiffer than AVES and will hold detail better. Found this good profile shot of him:

Chipper by trekriffic, on Flickr

Before I place him in Barry's lap though I'll paint Barry's shirt and tie, jacket, and pants.

Saty tuned!

[trekriffic]

Got into a sculpting groove and made some good progress on Chipper.
Still have some tweaking to do which these photos showed me...

Can you see the dog?

Barry Lockridge and Chipper WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

Barry Lockridge and Chipper WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

How about now?

Barry Lockridge and Chipper WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

Barry Lockridge and Chipper WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

Certainly by now:

Barry Lockridge and Chipper WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

Chipper WIP by trekriffic, on Flickr

I've already done some more sculpting after these images were taken. Removed a fair sized chunk out of Chipper's mid-section (between Barry's knees) and did some more texturing on his hair. I may go back and add a bit more hair above his eyes using Tamiya epoxy putty again.  Best stuff to work with for fine detail and it's still soft enough for me to add texturing even after curing overnight.

[MSgtUSAFRet]

I'll say it again, Steve, and probably keep saying it "Your attention to detail if phenomenal!"

And you did all this while working on cabinets?! Outstanding!

I'm not sure I could have sculpted a dog from Aves, epoxy or anything else. Nicely done!

BTW, I went to IPMS Regional Show in San Antonio this past weekend and saw someone selling a Spindrift kit. I thought of you and this build when I saw it!

Keep going! Looking good!

Steve

[trekriffic]

Thanks Steve!  I went into highly focused state while working on the dog. Just tuned everything else out and started applying bits of putty until the shapes started materializing.

Here are the other passengers taken with a better lighting setup on my workbench. I've been tweaking them a little adding shadows and highlights to their faces, hands., and arms. Valerie got a subtle mascara added to her cheekbones made by mixing metallic purple and cream with thinner. I also gave her dress and boots a light wash with purple. Fitzhugh got a light 5 o'clock shadow by mixing cream with a tiny bit of black and thinner.  Same with Mark. Betty got a light pink wash and highlighting with cream  mixed with a tiny bit of red on her cheekbones.
She's had a few coats of future so her face has this luminosity to it.
Looking at her and Valerie. their faces have this quality seen in old movies where the beautiful woman has a soft glow about her.
I think that's called a soft filter.
They used it a lot on TOS Trek too.
Anyway, it's a neat effect seeing thru transparent layers on their faces gives their complexions depth...

First up, Valerie Scott, the headstrong jet-setting heiress:

Valerie Scott by trekriffic, on Flickr

Valerie Scott by trekriffic, on Flickr

Valerie Scott by trekriffic, on Flickr

Valerie Scott by trekriffic, on Flickr

[trekriffic]

Here's Mark Wilson, the impatient millionaire engineer... Ready to leap up out of his seat...

Mark Wilson by trekriffic, on Flickr

Mark Wilson by trekriffic, on Flickr

Mark Wilson by trekriffic, on Flickr

Mark Wilson by trekriffic, on Flickr

Mark Wilson by trekriffic, on Flickr

He looks rather monkey-like doesn't he? More from the side than from other angles maybe.
I made his arms and legs slightly longer than normal to show his hands gripping the ends of the seat arms and have his feet on the floor; so that contributes a lot to the simian aspect I think.
Well I still like the overall pose and he is sort of like a mixed media "art" sculpture to a minor degree so I think I'll just leave him as is.
The only thing I might do is repaint his sideburns a little.

[MSgtUSAFRet]

Nice figure modeling!

Keep this awesome build going!

Steve

[trekriffic]

Here's Alexander Fitzhugh, the nervous bank robber clutching his valise filled with cash...

Alexander Fitzhugh by trekriffic, on Flickr

Alexander Fitzhugh by trekriffic, on Flickr

Alexander Fitzhugh by trekriffic, on Flickr

Alexander Fitzhugh by trekriffic, on Flickr

Alexander Fitzhugh by trekriffic, on Flickr

Alexander Fitzhugh by trekriffic, on Flickr

[trekriffic]

And last but certainly not least, the nurturing stewardess, Betty Hamilton...

Betty Hamilton by trekriffic, on Flickr

Betty Hamilton by trekriffic, on Flickr

Betty Hamilton by trekriffic, on Flickr

Betty Hamilton by trekriffic, on Flickr

[trekriffic]

So here's the boy and his dog after I reworked Chipper's head a bit more. I added a tiny strip of styrene down the bridge of the dog's nose as he was kind of flat. Then I used Tamiya epoxy putty to add more hair to his bangs and to his muzzle. I also created a little tiny ball of epoxy to make his button nose. Some filing and sculpting with my dental tools and a day later, Chipper was ready for final paint. First he was brush primed,  then he was and painted with mixes of beige, grey, black, white, brown and mixes of all of the above.
Here he is before painting or I think this was the first layer of white and black:

Barry and Chipper by trekriffic, on Flickr

 Finally I'm done with figures! Time to jump into wiring and lighting the interior! Yeah!


Here's the LED wiring for the upper hull:

LED Wiring by trekriffic, on Flickr

A couple of light tests:

Light Test by trekriffic, on Flickr

Forward Light Test by trekriffic, on Flickr

More to come!

[ImWolf]

If you mentioned it earlier I missed it Steve, but what kind of power source are you planning on for this?

Also....  is that a 12V section of LED strip?

I bet you're glad to be past the figure forming stage!

Wolf

[trekriffic]

If you mentioned it earlier I missed it Steve, but what kind of power source are you planning on for this?

Also....  is that a 12V section of LED strip?

I bet you're glad to be past the figure forming stage!

Wolf

Power is provided by a 12V wall DC adapter.

Yes, that is a 12V LED strip section.

And yes, I am more than gladd to be done with the wee figures!