Tomcat's 1/144 Rocinante (The Expanse)

[RangerNeil]

Looking good despite the fighting its given you. I like the way the digi-cammo went on.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Ya that camo pattern looks great. Very neat and tidy

[Tomcat64]

Hey Tomcat,

That's a great choice of subject and wonderful build so far. Keep up the good work.

Cheers,

Steve.

Looking good despite the fighting its given you. I like the way the digi-cammo went on.

Ya that camo pattern looks great. Very neat and tidy

Thanks guys

[Tomcat64]

It's been a while since I last had chance to work on this beast as we've had a few weekends where getting out of the house was the better option that sitting in the den... but that's not always a bad thing as it gave me a chance to break out the camera and relax from work's madhouse






Anyway this weekend I stumbled back into the den


Only a couple of photos to show for it, but the digi camo is coming along - here's the underside


There's still some tidying up to do where the masking lifted but I think the end is almost in sight


Thinking on next steps I stumbled by accident across an article which mentioned another FP kit and the need to treat the decals with Microscale Decal Film, so I've given them a couple of coats in the hope that they might get used soon @RangerNeil if you've still got the Eagle decals I sent over to you this stuff might be the best way of sealing them too.

I'll continue to plug away and hopefully get the main paintwork completed soon.

Thanks for looking

[RangerNeil]

It's been a while since I last had chance to work on this beast as we've had a few weekends where getting out of the house was the better option that sitting in the den... but that's not always a bad thing as it gave me a chance to break out the camera and relax from work's madhouse






Anyway this weekend I stumbled back into the den


Only a couple of photos to show for it, but the digi camo is coming along - here's the underside


There's still some tidying up to do where the masking lifted but I think the end is almost in sight


Thinking on next steps I stumbled by accident across an article which mentioned another FP kit and the need to treat the decals with Microscale Decal Film, so I've given them a couple of coats in the hope that they might get used soon @RangerNeil if you've still got the Eagle decals I sent over to you this stuff might be the best way of sealing them too.

I'll continue to plug away and hopefully get the main paintwork completed soon.

Thanks for looking

I did actually use Microscale on them - worked a treat for me!!

[digger303]

[hakkikt]

Making great progress towards the finish line... I like your solution to the "gazillion differently-colored" plates problem! Crossing fingers that the decals will work!

[Tomcat64]

Having had a week and a bit off work exploring the Lake District (again) I decided it was time to take this project on and stop prevaricating.

So two decent sessions in the den this weekend while the weather went slightly bonkers outside...

Firstly my brother kindly donated a small chunk of shaped MDF to which I added a couple of brass rods


That seemed to do the trick

Just to be completely open & honest, this was my second attempt as the first pair of brass rods were a wee bit shorter and looked fine until I realised that the rear ventral gun turret would foul the base

Ok this has been annoying me


So I sanded it back a bit and made more of a feature of the door panel - it's not completely perfect but shows up more in the photo than it does in reality


I also masked off & painted a few other hatches & details


And down the sides


Here's how it looks dry fitted on the base now


And becasue it'd been a while, I dug out the engine bell and blutacked that on as well for a final look


There's still some tidying up to do around the free-hand paintwork that I've done but it'll soon be ready to have a go with those decals.

Thanks as always for looking

[Stokesy44]

Looking good, it looks great on the stand too.

I keep expecting to see the Sulaco from Aliens flying in formation.

[digger303]

A far cry from what you started with.

[cor]

Thats awesome

[Tomcat64]

Looking good, it looks great on the stand too.

I keep expecting to see the Sulaco from Aliens flying in formation.

A far cry from what you started with.

Thats awesome

Thanks chaps

@Stokesy44 I think it was the addition of the stand that actually got me back interested as I could finally see how it was going to end up looking

[Tomcat64]

Despite the best efforts of work I did actually manage to get a couple of quick sessions in the evenings this week to continue tidying up paintwork and picking out more details... and then a deep breath and plunged into the decals on a good session today...

Being very VERY wary of how indifferent these things might be I started small with the orange triangles down the back end and underneath in case anything went seriously wrong


These things are as thick as the lino on my mum's kitchen floor in the 70s... they laughed at microset and it was only by drowning the things in microsol that I managed to get them around any corners

Ok - I worked around the engine section with all eight triangles and then went in with a proper logo


Well - they were going on and sticking even if they weren't settling into contours etc so I ploughed on and did the lot


The red stripes should really be orange but hey... they're on!

Around the other side and I had a slight panic as depending on which sources you look at the "Rocinante" picture is in different panels and at different angles, but then the Beratnas Gas logos are varying sizes too - so this is what I've gone with


I'll let the decals dry overnight and then hit them with some stronger solutions and see if they have any effect - otherwise I might just gently push in with a pointed cotton bud to try and give some level of detail especially down the tail end.

The last two photos also show the work I've done around the command centre "windows"

So - as well as some general tidying up the hit list is starting to get shorter

1. Run washes into the thruster exhausts
2. Finish & add the gun turrets
3. Finish & add the probes down the front

Oh and try and kill down that shiny off the decals

Thanks as always for looking

[Twokidsnosleep]

Superb work
The camo and decals just look amazing

[Stokesy44]

Looking tasty

Bad decals - does for modelers what the charge of the Light Brigade did for recruiting!

[Kevthemodeller]

Never seen the programme but do like Si fi. Lovely work dispite all the challenges it's thrown your way mate

[Tomcat64]

Superb work
The camo and decals just look amazing

Looking tasty

Bad decals - does for modelers what the charge of the Light Brigade did for recruiting!

Never seen the programme but do like Si fi. Lovely work dispite all the challenges it's thrown your way mate

Thanks guys - appreciate the support

[Tomcat64]

I finally felt like I'd gotten onto the finishing straight at last so just a few more things to do yesterday...

First up the landing thrusters were given a couple of coats of Tamiya black panel line wash - in this shot the top set are done with the bottom set left untouched to show the comparison


The engine thruster intake thingies were treated in the same fashion


The whole thing was then given a veritable drenching in AK Ultra Matte and left to dry - in the meantime attention switched to the gun turrets which were painted up in varying grades of grey & dark metal and then given a heavy black wash as they appear almost black in reference shots


And finally the various bits were assembled this morning - it's done!


I could carry on fettling & tinkering for weeks yet, but I just want it off the bench & on a shelf now.

I'll break out the grown up camera and do some reveal shots but for the moment I'd just like to sincerely thank everyone that stopped by and offered encouragement on this one; it started out as a challenge and gradually turned into a mojo-sapping nightmare.

But it's done

[RangerNeil]

Looks amazing - congratulations!!
All the more so given what you had to work with and the battles on the way.....

[digger303]

I know the feeling, never the less you've managed the impossible and turned a pig's ear into a silk purse.

[Stokesy44]

Nice finish, good to see you get it over the line and in fine style

[MrBowcat]

Looks good to me Neil, Holden would be proud.

[hakkikt]

This has turned out great - looks the part, and she's complete, and something to be proud of on the shelf!
Congrats on a project that went well after those twists and turns!

[Kevthemodeller]

Top draw Neil, another great Sci-fi offering from you mate

[DRUMS01]

Wow Neil, this was a fun one to follow, and regardless of the age or quality of the kit and decals, you made this thing look awesome!

Nice work my friend