Tintin: Red Rackham's Treasure

zenrat · January 12, 2017, 02:26:09 AM

Quote from: strobez on January 11, 2017, 03:50:26 PM
I wonder if there's a scale model kit?...

I vaguely remember seeing a resin body somewhere on the internet some years back.
It would have been 1/25 or 1/24.

strobez · January 12, 2017, 08:20:28 AM

Didn't have a lot of time tonight to work n the build, but I was able to drill out the wheel from a Spad XIII for the steering wheel.

Basically just buttoned up a dry fit to make sure everything still fits.

Not sure the rear tank will be visible in the final construction, but it's in there regardless of how much of it you'll be able to see.

KiwiZac · January 12, 2017, 01:09:28 PM

THIS IS AMAZING! It's one thing to model a Tintin aircraft, but scratch/bashing the sub? Awesome!

strobez · January 13, 2017, 08:27:48 AM

Heh. Well, I was inspired by Nils' build... and he's the one who tipped me onto using the Me262 kit. I just decided that the 1/100 scale would make a closer 1/72 version and it sorta just rolled down him from there.

I did a bit more scratch building and added some sidewall details. After the cockpit is primed and painted, I've left room (I think) to string some wires for cables. Anyway, because the side walls slope towards the top, putting stuff too high up results in a bottle neck. So I had to do some dry fit trial and error to make sure it would fit.

strobez · January 14, 2017, 09:08:58 AM

Got the cockpit primed and painted. Now she's up on blocks in the dry dock;).

TheChronicOne · January 14, 2017, 09:26:27 AM

Awesome! Quite cozy.

zenrat · January 15, 2017, 01:52:44 AM

Fast work. Looking good.

strobez · January 15, 2017, 08:09:01 AM

Fooling around with the canopy is going to slow down the speed of this build. I experimented with a few options for framing before settling on a plan. It's the "slow and steady" path, but I think it will work the best.

In the mean time, I got all the fins attached. It was tricky to make sure they were all the same size and aligned properly, but even harder to drill out post holes that lined up but didn't interfere with each other while glueing.

I also discovered that a discarded upper wing from an Academy 1/72 Spad XIII makes a good display stand...

strobez · January 15, 2017, 09:56:00 PM

ok... that was weird. Somehow I locked the topic. I suspect cold fingers on the iPad this morning... apologies to the hoards of fans following who couldn't express their amazement.

KiwiZac · January 15, 2017, 10:28:37 PM

Gorgeous work, and clever stuff using the wing as a stand!

Are you going to include Tintin and Snowy at all?

strobez · January 16, 2017, 08:00:10 AM

No real plan to incorporate Tintin... unless I get a good idea of how to do that.

Anyway, the putty has been applied. While that's drying, I got to work on the base stand. I also started work on the canopy. Glued the frame to the base and will carefully bend it over the top.

strobez · January 17, 2017, 08:07:17 AM

I glued together the base after carefully measuring the arms to make sure the sub will sit properly. One problem I had was the curvature of the wing piece I'm kit bashing means one side is a little higher than the other. To compensate, I just shaved the base slightly to make sure the sub sits plumb and level.

I got ahead of myself on the canopy and tried to do too much too soon and completely botched it. Luckily these are all just trial runs and I have lots of do-overs after I figure out what I should've done. I was also extremely pleased with myself for turning an "electric eraser" (gotta love Asia!) that I picked up at a stationary store for less than $3 and successfully modified it into a sanding dremel. Don't you love it when something works just the way you envisioned it!? Sanding was a breeze!

Old Wombat · January 17, 2017, 08:29:10 AM

Coming together very nicely!

VickersVandal · January 17, 2017, 03:27:38 PM

That looks brilliant!

Have you seen this?
http://www.baecklund.eu/scalemodels/gig/tintinsub.html

strobez · January 17, 2017, 06:14:31 PM

Quote from: VickersVandal on January 17, 2017, 03:27:38 PM
That looks brilliant!

Have you seen this?
http://www.baecklund.eu/scalemodels/gig/tintinsub.html

Hold the phone! I hadn't seen that build. A very nice job indeed. I'm still trying to decide how much of the existing panel lines I should keep. I know in the comic it looks completely smooth, but I think a few light lines will look cool - it's not 100% true to the comic anyway. Still... that build makes a good case for a completely smooth finish. I'm still trying to work out how to scratch up the propeller. Anyone with any good suggestions for that would be welcome.