TTA Avery Hornet

[Martin H]

she's looking good Ron.

[sotoolslinger]

Thanks Martin. 

[Weaver]

Thanks for that y'all I now have the idea to do a white primer. Then checkerboard it with gray primer so that when I spray the Yellow I get a suggestion of individual panels

That's a good idea! Reminds me; I did a bit of that using dayglo orange on the first thing I ever built on here.

Two points:

1. use a LIGHT grey plus white to start with,

2. Do some tests first, because the results are unpredictable.

[sotoolslinger]

Well now that you mention it I have Dayglow yellow that I know for a fact is basically transparent. I see using the white and gray then that yellow. Then we'll see where we go from there

[Rafael]

Ron, this one has been a total pleasure to follow from the first page. I love TTA designs and the hornet is one of my faves. This is my class of scratchbuilding. But you have taken it to levels undreamed of. I can't wait to see her all dressed up. Texas Trade Authority, perhaps?
Where is the applauding emoticon?
Rafa

[sotoolslinger]

Rafa, this is my most extensive scratchbuild yet. I have thought of your builds numerous times as it has progressed.....wood ,yum

[sotoolslinger]

She is getting smooth enough to start adding details

Little launchers


I scribed the engine bits


And installed exhausts


I still have some minor work to do here


I also found a little turret for up here

[Rafael]

Love the way your scribed detail looks, Ron. What do you use to scribe?
Rafa

[sotoolslinger]

Thanks Rafa. First I cut a line with an Exacto. Then I have an actual scribing tool which I cant remember where I got but is basically a really pointy little piece of metal about the size of a pencil lead set in a handle. Looks like an Exacto Then I use a triangular curved file to clean up the lines. As you can see from the pics I have a lot of cleanup to do to get really good lines. But I am trying to scribe lines over surfaces that are part wood part several different kinds of putty .

[frank2056]

Ron, in the picture, some of those engine area lines seem to have portholes/windows. Looks like four decks worth.

The model is looking great, though.

[sotoolslinger]

Yeah I noticed that but I think the little marks are just paint work. The specs list the ship as an interceptor with 2 crew. I am thinking That these ships are relatively small

[Doc Yo]

Yeah I noticed that but I think the little marks are just paint work. The specs list the ship as an interceptor with 2 crew. I am thinking That these ships are relatively small

I see what Frank's talking about, but I tend to agree with you-that they're detail, decoration, what have you.
Its tricky business, as the overall "story" of the TTA books is imposed on illustrations that were often for very
different works...

[sotoolslinger]

I prefer to imagine these ships as space shuttle size craft. Bigger than such stuff as x-wings or Vipers (and more primitive) but not like huge starships.

[Weaver]

I've always suspected that the artist intended the little yellow marks on the back end to be windows because some of them appear to "glow" where they're in shadow, and should be dark whatever colour of painted mark they might be. Having said that, the technology is loosly defined enough that they can be explained as 6" long "ports" in order to fit the imposed backstory.

I've also always thought, with no evidence other than instinct, that the two small black D-shapes on the front, directly above the dark double-hexagon marking, are cockpit windows, thus supporting Ron's hypothesis that it's approximately shuttle sized. You get the impression from the rest of the book that most ships have small crews but are relatively large, in similar fashion. To me, the "proof" is the Partisan (Hornet's predecessor) which is described as having two crew lying in cramped conditions amid the machinery, but which is armed with "53 x OPA-8 particle accelerators". That armament only makes sense if the ship is fairly large: you wouldn't build, say, a Mosquito and then arm it with fifty-three pistols, you'd arm it with four cannon. If it was armed with a dozen cannon, you'd expect it to be B-29 sized.

[sotoolslinger]

I agree with your analysis Weav. Just took some quick measurements
My Stingray model: 13.75 inches
Hornet : 14.75 inches
Shark : 15.25 inches
What I have in my head is that these models are 1/100 scale
This would translate to
Stingray 35+ meters
Hornet 37+ meters
Shark 38+ meters
The Shuttle is 37.23 meters?
Please check my sources and math as I am American