Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Enterprise 1701 Refit

The Polar Lights 1/350 scale Enterprise is a really great looking kit. At 3 feet long this model is huge! The minute you open the box the kit begs for you to do an elaborate lighting job on it and that's exactly what I did. I lit the whole model using various LEDs about 80+. There are two sets of navigation lights that blink at different rates so I built two small circuit boards with 555 timers. The aztec pattern on the exterior takes alot of time and patience, but you can get vinyl masks that make the job alot easier.







Tuesday, August 5, 2008

North American P-51 Mustang

This is an RC kit by Top Flight which is about 1/8 scale of the North American P-51 Mustang. I started building this kit about 12 years ago and never finished it. I was about three quarters done when I decided to move out west and work in "hollywood". Unfortunately, my tiny studio apartment was no place for a model that had a 50" wingspan so I had to leave it behind.













And so there is sat in my parents attic until last year when my father decided to finish it. He did a great job and it was nice to finally see it done!



Unfortunately, during its 3rd flight the battery unexpectedly died and the P-51 nose dived into the dirt...



The good news is the plane is back together and should be ready to fly again in a couple of weeks.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Reaper

I'm a big fan of Blade 2 and the design of the Reaper was one of the most original vampires in years. I couldn't help but make my own version of it. I only have one pic of the early stage of the sculpt since I did this a few years ago but you get the idea.




The final cast is made of silicone that was pulled from a silicone and plaster mold.


















Saturday, August 2, 2008

Werewolf

I always loved the design of the werewolf that Rick Baker created for An American Werewolf in London and that was the inspiration for this piece. It's made out of silicone that I cast from a mold I made from the original sculpture.













Here are few pics of the original sculpt. I like using a clay called "pro-clay" which is a sulfur-free oil based clay. The best part of it is that when you heat it the clay softens so you can work quickly on the initial build up. When it cools the clay hardens again and you can work on the details.