DBMiller's 1/960 Scale Nostromo

[DBMiller]

You would think that, with this year being the 40th anniversary, I would build one of the many Star Wars Kits I have. Instead, I've decided to risk a special kit from another special movie: The Nostromo from Alien!
I've had it for ages and it was pretty pricey for me back then, so I'm a bit nervous about tackling it.
Here is the box art. I will post more photos later.

Nostromo_box by Donald Miller, on Flickr

[Lysus]

Oh SWEET! Ya gonna hang the Christmas lights underneath it?

[TheSmoo]

wow that kit looks fantastic looking forward to this one

[kiwigav]

Wow interesting kit look forward to the build shots mate

[DrSprue]

Oh such a creepy ship... not your kit, just the movie. Saw it back in the day in 1979 an it still creeps me out to this day. Had the TI-99/4a computer with Alien (or the Attack as it was renamed) that I played on it as well. I got it when I worked for the company.. it still creeps me out. And no... havent seen, covenant... yes I live under a rock! haha!!

Good luck DB, super nice pick for this event!

[Skullfish]

Nice choice! Something mysterious about this ship. Maybe even ominous.
Following along.

Jase

[privatepete]

Hi, fantastic looking kit, I know you will do it justice, will you be doing a dio base for it, good luck with the biuld

[DBMiller]

Hi, fantastic looking kit, I know you will do it justice, will you be doing a dio base for it, good luck with the biuld

Thank you (and all of you)! I sure hope so!

Pics coming today!

[Primus1]

Great choice of kit, love a bit of retro
No kit should make you nervous, you will do it justice .. of that im sure.
Count me in for the ride

[DBMiller]

Alien. Back then, wow, what a film! Cool looking sets. Scary monsters. It had everything! So, here are some shots of my inspiration for this build. I’ve had these items for ages and haven’t looked at them for just about as long.

First up, though - my work space. It needs work.
Nostromo-1 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

My special edition laser disk!
Nostromo-2 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

From the insert.
Nostromo-3 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

Not every one was thrilled with how it came out. On a side note: Dan O’Bannon’s crohn’s disease was his inspiration for the chest burster. Ouch!
Nostromo-4 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

Ron Cobb’s design work from Alien.
Nostromo-5 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-6 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-7 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-8 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-9 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-10 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

The official movie book!
Nostromo-11 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

Ah, the old days of kit bashing!
Nostromo-12 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-13 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

Up next - the parts! Stay tuned!

[DrSprue]

Oh yes DB, great collection of books and the Laser disk (now thats a collectible you have there) and your pic at the "the insert" just below the mentioned disk... just look at the size of the movie set with the alien space jockey area and all those movie guys standing around it... Your whole overview of this movie and ship is so cool. Thanks for sharing. OK now where is my popcorn

[DBMiller]

Not much in the way of instructions but what there is looks a bit cramped. I’ll need to study these carefully before gluing!
Nostromo-14 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-15 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

A bag o’ parts!

Nostromo-16 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

The parts!
First the PVC bits. They are very sharply cast and look to be mostly un-warped from the time in the box. One piece needs a bit of twisting back into shape, but not by much.

Nostromo-18 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-19 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-20 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-21 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-22 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-23 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-24 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-25 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-26 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

The injection molded parts. Some of these will need a lot of cleanup!

Nostromo-17 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-27 by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-28 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

Copyright 1992!
Nostromo-29 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

[Primus1]

Wow thats a hell of a parts count, greebles galore

[DrSprue]

Not bad, a bit of flash on the sprues, but quite workable. Wow, never did PVC myself, but the detail on them looks really nice.
Man thats gonna look great.

In space.... they cant hear you scraping the knife along the sprues....

[rcfanuk]

Looking good

[Lysus]

Awesome details on that...

What I always liked about Nostromo was that it looked like someone took a big rig and lopped it in half, the ship looked like the trailer nut and the frame.

Then the truck pulled a spooky cathedral around the galaxy

[TheSmoo]

impressive kit what will you use for glueing the pvc parts?

[DBMiller]

impressive kit what will you use for glueing the pvc parts?

The instructions say super glue or epoxy. I'll try a gel super glue and see how that holds.

[Tiger213]

Very interesting, good luck mate!

[DrSprue]

impressive kit what will you use for glueing the pvc parts?

The instructions say super glue or epoxy. I'll try a gel super glue and see how that holds.

Good to know DB. CA gel should do well I would imagine.

[DBMiller]

Started on removing the casting gates. I was using a heated knife blade but found that a scriber worked better and safer.
It will make a pretty impressive piece when done!

Nostromo-1_6June by Donald Miller, on Flickr
Nostromo-2_6June by Donald Miller, on Flickr

If I can straighten out the warped parts!

Nostromo-4_6June by Donald Miller, on Flickr

Heating in hot water then rapid cooling in cold is supposed to work for PVC. I will also fill the spaces with foam insulation spray to help keep it from warping over time.

A little parasite! My Micro Machine Nostromo - hitching a ride!

Nostromo-3_6June by Donald Miller, on Flickr

Up next- Washing the parts!

[Tomcat64]

That's definitely not a kit subject you see every day - really looking forward to seeing how this comes together. I learned a lot from your build last year and I can see the schoolroom looming up again this time around too

[Skullfish]

ohhhhh ive got to get one of these bad boys! Gel glue is great to work with, gives you time to footer around a bit before it grips. i always leave the join to cure fully for the night before handling again tho.

J

[Twokidsnosleep]

Great set up for an impressive build
You are a serious fan to have such disk and books....that should translate into a fabulous build
Is a diorama in the works as well???
I shall follow

[Lysus]

I think we had a couple LD (not for Alien) gifted to us but never bought a player. Wonder where they went...

I do remember having some anime bootlegs (back in the day that's all you could find--japanimation they called it those dark times) copied from LD and you'd have these pauses where they had to flip the disks

Good luck on the squaring off on that piece, I do appreciate the diagram above

[DBMiller]

Here is a very quick update to get me off the bottom of the list!

This is where the trouble starts for the Nostromo and her crew.

[youtube]FSRp9HuOreg[/youtube]


A quick wash up!

Nostromo__01_June_11__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

Traveling through the foam of space.

Nostromo__02_June_11__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

[DrSprue]

So cool to see the computer interface for 1979! Even that was scarey to watch, haha! DID most people think that that room with all the small lights, a better place to be than anywhere else on that ship if anything went wrong? I did, but it was cool to see that. Always loved the equipment on that space vehicle. We all new something very creepy was going to happen very soon! Good luck with your build!

[DBMiller]

You know I'm in trouble when these are the next tools I'll be using for my build...

Nostromo__01_June_18__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

So, everything was going well with the clean up and other prep work. The inward bow on the lower piece was there when I started. That I should be able to put right. The spray foam is supposed to add support for the flexible PVC and went in well enough...

Nostromo__02_June_18__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

...for the most part. The two engine pods expanded too much and...

Nostromo__03_June_18__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

I don't want (however cool it would look!) an egg plane Nostromo!

Nostromo__04_June_18__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

So, drill it out and hope I can flex them back into shape with hot water.

Nostromo__05_June_18__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

I feel my concussion coming back.

[Lysus]

Turning out to be a lot of work but at least it makes for an interesting build to watch

[DBMiller]

Yes, I'm still here! We had a few hot days that put me off (90 to 100!) but I managed a bit anyway.

Those inflated engine nacelles:
The removal of material inside the engines has already started to release the pressure on the sides. A little more work will set them right!

Nostromo__06_June_20__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

I didn’t overfill this piece…

Nostromo__03_June_20__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

but…

It’s a bit off square. An easy fix with some hot water then cold.

Nostromo__10_June_25__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

How’s this for fixing the shape? It was a bit flat and this was the easiest way to fix it!

Nostromo__09_June_25__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

Here is the nose piece with the flatness corrected. The fit is still poor and will need careful filling.

Nostromo__04_June_20__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

The underside of the same pieces. That gap actually belongs on top - where the upper engine bit will cover it pretty well.

Nostromo__05_June_20__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

Here is that upper engine bit. There is a slight warp (on the right of this image).

Nostromo__07_June_20__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

It causes a small gap between this part and the main hull. Still, another easy fix.

Nostromo__08_June_20__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

At least I’ve finally glued on a piece!

Nostromo__01_June_20__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

Nostromo__02_June_20__2017 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

[Lysus]

Some crazy work involved on this...I'm in awe.

[Skullfish]

A great example of how you do that, lol. Brilliant thread.
Jase.

[DBMiller]

Let me begin by saying the only thing I hate worse than this kit is hot weather! We had some nasty, over 90 (even over 100!) days this summer and I'm a big baby when I'm too hot. I finally got around to some work on it this week.

As for the kit - I'll finish, but it is being a pig. The warps are worse than I thought at the start, and not just those I created by carelessness. I guess I should not have let it sit around unbuilt for so many years.
Let the photos speak for them selves.

Some registration marks to help line it up.

_MG_0075 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

_MG_0074 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

_MG_0073 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

A bit of masking to keep the super glue filler from spreading all over.

_MG_0081 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

_MG_0076 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

I've got another update ready to go, but not tonight.

[Lysus]

Yeah...she's fighting you pretty hard.

I hear you about the heat. I'm a total baby about hot weather. Some days I think about moving to the Yukon...

[DrSprue]

Yeah...she's fighting you pretty hard.

I hear you about the heat. I'm a total baby about hot weather. Some days I think about moving to the Yukon...

Yea guys same here with the heat, we had 60's the past two days and it feels like what happens when you leave a sauna oven and come inside with the air on. It was really hot last week here in Mass. I dont know DB, from your pics it looks really nice so far and maybe some filler around some edges is all. Still looks nice and I bet soon will look great.

[Tomcat64]

Another heat-whimp here too... fortunately we don't get it too often over here.

The last thing you need is a kit acting like a grumpy teenager and refusing to do anything you tell it - keep at it though as it looks like it's gradually coming around to your way of thinking!

[DrSprue]

OK I just did some googlin.. and I see that kit cost over $300! US prices. Wow. I guess this shows how much of a cheap OOB modeler I am. Man that bunch of PVC was expensive. Hmm... maybe Im just getting too old.

[DBMiller]

OK I just did some googlin.. and I see that kit cost over $300! US prices. Wow. I guess this shows how much of a cheap OOB modeler I am. Man that bunch of PVC was expensive. Hmm... maybe Im just getting too old.

Thank you all for your support! As for the price, back when I bought this I doubt is was too much over $50! I was pretty broke back then. But not that broke if you know what I mean. Sometimes the kit just calls.

[Lysus]

OK I just did some googlin.. and I see that kit cost over $300! US prices. Wow. I guess this shows how much of a cheap OOB modeler I am. Man that bunch of PVC was expensive. Hmm... maybe Im just getting too old.

Thank you all for your support! As for the price, back when I bought this I doubt is was too much over $50! I was pretty broke back then. But not that broke if you know what I mean. Sometimes the kit just calls.

Yup. Was gonna say often times with kits like these they're reasonable when they release, but once they're gone they're gone so the price shoots up. So you grab them right away and the stash grows...

[DrSprue]

OK I just did some googlin.. and I see that kit cost over $300! US prices. Wow. I guess this shows how much of a cheap OOB modeler I am. Man that bunch of PVC was expensive. Hmm... maybe Im just getting too old.

Thank you all for your support! As for the price, back when I bought this I doubt is was too much over $50! I was pretty broke back then. But not that broke if you know what I mean. Sometimes the kit just calls.

Yup. Was gonna say often times with kits like these they're reasonable when they release, but once they're gone they're gone so the price shoots up. So you grab them right away and the stash grows...

So tru guys, but I have an AMT R2D2 and C3PO model here in my stash (R2 has been made tho) so now its a box and some parts. Had it when it when it was 1st released in 1977. I went to ebay just to see what it could be going for now.... $25 to $40... for sealed ones too... hmmm I give up. Some were higher but you could get it that cheap.

I have to say tho that Halcyon Models is pretty specific and now really hard to get for that very unique kit, so like you guys say, the price shoots up for a very special kit. You know what DB, that kit would have called me day after day too... man I do love those kits Halcyon makes. They all call to me too.

[Lysus]

Thank you all for your support! As for the price, back when I bought this I doubt is was too much over $50! I was pretty broke back then. But not that broke if you know what I mean. Sometimes the kit just calls.

Yup. Was gonna say often times with kits like these they're reasonable when they release, but once they're gone they're gone so the price shoots up. So you grab them right away and the stash grows...

So tru guys, but I have an AMT R2D2 and C3PO model here in my stash (R2 has been made tho) so now its a box and some parts. Had it when it when it was 1st released in 1977. I went to ebay just to see what it could be going for now.... $25 to $40... for sealed ones too... hmmm I give up. Some were higher but you could get it that cheap.

I have to say tho that Halcyon Models is pretty specific and now really hard to get for that very unique kit, so like you guys say, the price shoots up for a very special kit. You know what DB, that kit would have called me day after day too... man I do love those kits Halcyon makes. They all call to me too.

This kit is MSRP about 1500 yen (~$14-18 depending on exchange). I grabbed one a year ago. Now...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Anime-The-Big-O ... rIw05S3eGA

[DrSprue]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Anime-The-Big-O ... rIw05S3eGA

Ohh yea, you cant beat Bandai kits at all. Yea, most of the good ones will climb so much. No wonder Ive got so many kits in my stash. None Bandai tho.... rock.. where are you......

[DBMiller]

Here is an un-posted update from LAST MONTH! I sure hope my mojo is having a good time where ever it is.

The engine pods flattened out pretty good. Still a bit if work before I can attach them to the hull but the thrusters (?) fit OK.

_MG_0132 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

_MG_0137 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

_MG_0136 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

_MG_0135 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

Front hull attached to main hull! I primed the rear end a bit to check my filling - and to make sure I could get to all the nooks and crannies.

_MG_0127 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

_MG_0129 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

I really need to get back to work on this before it warps out of shape again!

[Tomcat64]

Great to see you're still making progress on this DBM - hope you can track down enough mojo to get this finished because I'm intrigued to see how it all comes together.

[DBMiller]

When all else fails - buy a new kit! These BanDai are expensive but at 40% off they aren’t too bad!

DBMiller_IMG_0972 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

So, on to the build.

Started adding the landing gear doors onto the nose section. They don’t fit and the instructions are useless. I glued these two bits on and will glue on the other 2 later. Those 3 engine bells fit OK but there are gaps to fill.

DBMiller_IMG_0965 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

DBMiller_IMG_0964 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

Using these pins to add support to the joint. I got it a bit flatter so hoping for the best when I go to glue them up!

DBMiller_IMG_0966 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

Ah, the landing gear. Not good. Sink holes and ejector pin marks as well as seam lines in difficult places! Poked at them a bit (after these photos were taken) and called it done.

DBMiller_IMG_0961 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

DBMiller_IMG_0959 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

DBMiller_IMG_0958 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

The instructions say to paint them gun metal so I used Model Master Metalizer Dark Anodonic Grey right over the bare plastic. Not too bad looking. Some wash and weathering and should look much better.

DBMiller_IMG_0963 by Donald Miller, on Flickr

Plugging away!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Good to see some progress, you are doing fantastic I am a slug in the heat of summer as well
You are fighting hard to make this look how you want it to. Remeber it is going to be pretty dark with lots of surface texture and weathering, so you will be able to hide TONS of defects...different story VS say a show car
I am glad to see that it isn't just me that has to battle the "Kit Gremlins"
With your skills, you will pull out a silk purse from the proverbial sow's ear
Keep up the fight

[Lysus]

Hi there, hope all is well.

Good news! The deadline has been extended to midnight GMT October 31! Get building!

[DBMiller]

Hi there, hope all is well.

Good news! The deadline has been extended to midnight GMT October 31! Get building!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Keep her going DB....our best builds give us the most grief during construction

[DBMiller]

Keep her going DB....our best builds give us the most grief during construction

Oh, is THAT what is is!