Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.82

My Neuschwanstein Castle Model by Doyusha - Progress Report No.2:

(continued from Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.81)

After gluing on the Styrofoam rock additions and smoothing out the Styrofoam's natural bubble look with some Acrylic Modeling Paste, as shown in my Blog No.81, I then painted the rock with Flat Black Acrylic, adding layers of dry brushed Dark, Medium and Light Grey. I also added a little Burnt Umber for surface soil on flat rock areas.

Once the rocks were totally dry, I masked the edge of the base pine board with 3/4 inch painter's green masking tape, letting the tape stick up above the board half way - 3/8 inch. I put lots of old newspaper under and around the model. I then poured and spread out with a brush my Liquid Scenery Cement/Glue (white glue that dries clear would work also) around the rocks and up to the taped board edge. I then sprinkled crushed railway type ballast rock pebbles into the glue. I had to do a little little pushing and mixing of the pebbles and glue with an old brush and my finger to make sure the glue was securely surrounding the pebble stones.

I let the surface pebbles settle and dry for a day, before I shook the board lightly to remove any non-glued pebbles. My trusty shop vacuum is always close by for cleaning up.

The stone pebble material I used is very brown/sandy looking. I will now add some gray dry brushing over the pebbles to blend in with the rock mountain color.

With the holidays coming up very fast, I will leave it for now.

In the new year I will add a decorative wood trim/moulding all around the base. Then I will return to paint detailing all the castle building components from my online collected reference photos.

I am also looking into lighting the castle's interior with some battery run LED lights, which will include an on-off switch.

In case I don't get back to my blog before the holidays, "I Wish You All a Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year ...and Many Thanks for Viewing My Blog Blurps!"

Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.81

My Neuschwanstein Castle Model by Doyusha - Progress Report No.1:

(continued from Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.80)

Before continuing on with the Castle Parts of this model, or applying the Landscaping Shrubs and Trees, I am finishing the actual Ground of the Mountain that it sits on. My Styrofoam created slopes are pretty steep. Maybe a little too steep for applying the forested trees to the mountain. So I am adding a little extra mountain pieces to the main base which will give me more flat areas for planting the trees and shrubs.

These are all hand cut out of scrap packaging Styrofoam and glued with a caulking gun to the existing mountain and pine board base. The foam pieces have been cut at different angles and sizes for a random natural look.

All of the mountain will be painted Black. Then wet and dry brushed with Dark Grey, then Medium, to eventually a light White/Grey painted mountain rock base. A little Burnt Umber (a dirty brown) will be added to the Greys, which adds a ground soil look to the flat areas of the mountain.

Styrofoam, when hand cut, tends to look like popcorn in areas (is too pitted - potholes) instead of looking like textured rock/ground. To give it a more natural look I apply (with a Palette Knife) some Acrylic Modeling Paste to the surface where required.

My Model's Base Pine Board is 12 inches x 25 inches. A Mitred Frame will be added around when I have completed the mountain base.

Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.80

Two Large and Quite Different Model Projects that I'm Working On:

Before I write about other Star Blazer YAMATO Battleships that I've finished, I'd like to share a little about these two large models:

1. The Royal Neuschwanstein Castle (in Germany) by Doyusha.

2. The 1/400 scale, huge WHITEBASE E.F.S.F. Pegasus-Class Assault Landing Craft SCV-70, Gundam Collection by Bandai .

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1. The Royal Neuschwanstein Castle by Doyusha

I've mention this large castle model, quite a while ago, in my blog Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.9 (towards the bottom of blog) that I created a display base using Styrofoam built up on a pine wood board. When I finish the base texture, I will add a wood design moulding frame all around the bottom board.

Presently I am adding texture to the castle's styrofoam mountain side, and preparing to make several trees. Looking at the photos (on the model's box and below) you will see that the real castle Neuschwanstein is located on a rugged forested mountain plateau top high above a valley.

To make the ground cover and trees, I used Woodland Scenics hobby supply. They supply a variety of hobby materials and landscaping materials to model railway builders and other model/diorama makers.

I purchased the Forest Canopy trees (shown below) to use together with other packages of foliage by Woodland Scenics of Light Lichen Mix, Autumn and Greens (3 types). I keep a few of these in stock for a variety of model landscaping, along with Scenic's Glue and Cement. The castle model's trees will be in colors of green; with a few added in Autumn colors (the beginning of fall - this will give my model some nice color interest).

Click the tree directions (above and below) to enlarge. They give detail on how I constructed my trees below. I have a few more to do. There is also a list of typical foliage/tree types available on the instruction sheet below.

I'll probably need twice as many trees than what I've shown in the photo above. It does take time and patience to get them looking good! While they dried, I stuck them into a styrofoam block.

Some natural dried foliage (shown above) is supplied in the 'Forest Canopy' package (which is also shown in a previous photo).

One of the trees (shown above) where I applied Green and Autumn foliage material.

As well as natural plant material tree foliage, plastic and aluminum type material branched trees are available also, in a variety of tree types, for adding the foliage.

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2. The 1/400 scale, huge WHITEBASE E.F.S.F. Pegasus-Class Assault Landing Craft SCV-70, Gundam Collection by Bandai .

I will be building a total of three of these models. The two that I have started will be painted in traditional color as recommended by the instruction sheets. The third ship that I will build, at a later date, will be a camouflage version.

Some parts are factory color finished. These have very glossy plastic look. I prefer to paint all parts. The parts shown on the above table have been painted.

I am presently waiting for some Gundam color line markers that I ordered from Hong Kong. Apparently they are stuck in Canada Customs - they should have been here two weeks ago. Postage delivery certainly has been slow, and very costly, since 911. The markers are fine lined and used to detail the groove lines of many Gundam type character and science fiction ship models. Other Gundam Markers are available in a variety of point types, and sets are available for specific Gundam Model Types. Color that accidently goes over, or outside, of a groove can be removed carefully with a white art type eraser/rubber.

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Once again, I will again up date you as I proceed further along on these models.

Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.79

Space Battleship YAMATO

In the World of Space Battleship YAMATO (AKA: Star Blazers in the USA) there are several Capital/Official Ships and Smaller Craft under different areas/or groups. Included are EDF, Gamilon/Garumman, Comet Empire, Dark Nebula, Bolar Federation and Deingil. I don't know a lot about this world, but I did find this incredible Starship Schematics Database created over several years by Jim Steverson and the SSDB. This is the link.

I will be sharing several of these Battle Ships/Cruisers with you here, and in future blogs, as I complete them. Some of the models are around 8 to 10 inches long. I also have a boxed set of 30 smaller ships in this series. I have assembled them all, but they will require finishing yet.


Some Space Battleship YAMATO information from Wikipedia:

Space Battleship Yamato is a Japanese science fiction anime series and the name of its eponymous space craft. It is also known to English-speaking audiences as Space Cruiser Yamato or Star Blazers; an English-dubbed and partly edited version of the series was broadcast on North American and Australian television under the latter title. An Italian-language version was also broadcast under the name Star Blazers in Italy, and a Portuguese-language version was successfully shown in Brazil under the title Patrulha Estelar ("Star Patrol"). The Space Battleship Yamato series generally involves themes of brave sacrifice, noble enemies, and respect for heroes lost in the line of duty. This can be seen as early as the second episode of the first season, which recounts the defeat of the original battleship Yamato while sailors and pilots from both sides salute her as she sinks (this scene was cut from the English dub, but later included on the Star Blazers DVD release). The movies spend much time showing the crew visiting monuments to previous missions and recalling the bravery of their fallen comrades. Desslar, the enemy defeated in the first season and left without a home or a people, recognizes that his foes are fighting for the same things he fought for and, eventually, becomes Earth's most important ally. In this — the Japanese concept of "the honorable enemy" — and many other respects, Star Blazers is almost certainly the most "Japanese" anime to survive the editing process and be widely syndicated in the United States.

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Space Battleship/Cruiser, Name ______________
1:6000 scale # 0011580-700 Bandai, Japan
Illustration by Nishizaki

This is the first battleship model that I completed in this series (Box top shown above). Presently, I do not know its' name, nor do I know this ship's storyline.

Shown above, a rendering (side/top/front) of the battleship - from the Starship Schematics Database.

The model comes with the above printed card illustration that can stand up with supplied braces. The card has holes for projecting wires to hold and suspend the ship model in front if you wish.

Another rendering above from Starship Schematics Database showing the large object(?), which is shown in the above card illustration, along with a character (?).

New Japanese mini ships, shown above, from Mugen Toys. Box shows similar ship that I've built.

Instructions were easily followed. The front, middle and rear tail are separate components that fit together. Patience is required while installing all the ship's tail fins, many guns and the angled wing tips. Note: I did not install all the guns facing straight, but slightly angled them in different directions for interest.

Right side view (above) showing underside with its' large removable component/missle?

The model is 10 1/8 inches long by 2 1/2 inches high without any mounting support.

After detailing and fine sanding I decided to give this battleship a rough textured surface. I applied a layer of Matte Black Acrylic with a flat faced 1/2 inch brush, going in different directions.

When it was completely dry I then sprayed the model with a Deep Navy/Prussian Blue Acrylic for Plastic. I sprayed quick passes with the color until it just covered the black. This way I did not over paint and cover the flat brush texture created underneath.

A middle range Bright Navy Blue Acrylic was then chosen and painted for accenting the front area, the wing tips, and the tail section.

Citadel's Mithril and Boltgun Metal Silvers were used to hand paint all of the ship's mechanics and guns.

Liquitex Acrylic Fluorescent Orange (a complimentary color to the blues) was used for various small warning lights and the large front lights.

A couple of light blue and white logo type decals, left over from another model, were applied.

Top Tail View shown above. Citadel's Tin Bitz with a touch of Black Ink was used to dirty the ship's rear exhaust area.

The model photos are shown before I applied a final Matte Varnish to the complete ship for its' look and protection.

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Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.78

My Hobby/Scale Modeling Limitation/Frustration:

"VS WHO???"

I've stated before that "I wish I could read the Japanese Language". It would make many of my Japanese Models' history, themes, purpose and instructions so much easier to understand. So, as an English speaking person only, and an amateur modeler; I'll state that "I'm certainly not an expert on the thousands of Japanese models that have been created/designed for Anime, Gundam, the thousands of other characters, or sci-fi/space ships".

I mention the above, because I have completed, and will be tackling many more Japanese models that are totally in Japanese - I don't know anything about them, or very little. Presently, I have not found a Japanese speaking friend in my area ...which would probably help a lot!

Luckily, Japanese instructions, like their model quality, are excellent. Instructions are usually better than those supplied to assemble that home barbecue or computer desk.

I will however include some web reference when I find it. If it is incorrect - I apologize - email me (right-hand column) and educate me! I do take the time to do research on every model ...I'm learning as I do!

With almost 50 years of art and design experience I will tell you why (why I created something the way I did), and how (the methods I use to end up with my satisfied [hopefully] results).

As a retired old artist dude; I'm having fun applying my 2D painting talents to the world of 3D models. It keeps my artistic passion alive. I hope that you also enjoy, and learn from my attempts.

...back to finishing this Xxxxxx Spacecraft!

Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.77

An Easy Customizable Display Base

The above Wooden Boxes are sold at Art Supply Stores. They are sold as a fine art painting alternative to buying framed canvas boards. They could be stained, screened or painted on directly - example: for a more hand-crafted look, or that olde look. I'm sure there are many creative applications that they could be used for. They come in sizes, approximately) from 3 x 4 inches up to 24 x 36 inches (some sizes are square). The top ply wood surface is 3/16 inch thick and the solid wood side frame is minus 1/2 inch thick (15/32 inch). All surfaces including the inside are supplied super smooth ready for any application. Prices start at around $3.

Use as a Model Base:

As the boxes are reasonable enough, and as mentioned can be finished many ways, they make excellent sturdy model bases. With the boxes being hollow, you could drill and hide a model's support securing threaded rod/bolts below. The top and edge can be paint, textured, or stained finished in many different ways. You could even add a decor moulding around for your design display. A custom plexi/glass display cover could be fitted over also.

I'm looking forwards to customizing some bases!

Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.76

Keeping my 'On-Desk' Model Supplies Organized

I was using this old 3 inch high computer platform with an interior sliding keyboard tray. But now my computer station has changed. I also switched to a large Wacom Drawing Tablet last month.

So I found a good use for it. It now holds my most used modeling tools and paints.

Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.75

LOWRIDER
-My Lowrider Bicycle Model

With my love of bicycle design, an appreciation of different styles and trends of art and design, and being a collector, I became aware of what I call various kinds of 'street LA or California' culture design. Among these design trends was the customization and creation called Lowrider Bicycles. Most of us have seen videos of those lowered custom automobiles (ex: a1961 Chevy convertible) that bounces up and down with hydraulics; but you may not be aware of Lowrider Bikes.

So before I discuss my Lowrider Bicycle Model, here is information from wikipedia encyclopedia (I've added some photos):

A lowrider bicycle is a highly customized bike with stylings inspired by lowrider cars.
These bikes often feature a long, curved banana seat with a sissy bar and very tall upward-swept handlebars known as apehangers. Excessive chrome, overspoked wheels and velvet are common accessories to these custom bicycles. Lowrider bicycles use as many as 144 brightly chromed spokes per wheel.

1960's Schwinn Sting-Ray

Lowrider bikes first appeared in the 1960s in America. It was started by 'Custom King' Sean Johnson who customized automobiles. Kids would copy his work on their bikes usually using common muscle bicycles, allowing those who were too young to drive a car to have a custom vehicle.

Schwinn was the first company to launch a muscle bike in the form of the Sting-Ray.
Sean Johnson was the first to customize the Sting-Ray and had them featured in the Munsters. Eddie Munster's bike was the must have item of the time.

1960's CCM and Raleigh Banana Seat Bikes in my collection

Some make bicycles are particularly popular among lowrider builders. Most well known of these are the American-produced Schwinn Stingray (usually 20", but 16" and even 12" Schwinn tigers are used) and in Australia the Malvern Star long frame dragsters and bratz beutie bikes. Another favorite of the period was the Iverson Dragstripper, which featured a long "exhaust pipe" body that gave it a distinctive look.

A New Custom Lowrider Beach Cruiser Bicycle

The new lowrider trend is also related to the trend in Cruiser or Beach Cruiser style bikes. Today, pre-built and even custom made one of a kind lowriders are available from Lowrider bicycle shops, Custom Chopper Bicycle Designers and even some Lowrider car workshops.

Lowrider Bicycle from BicycleDesigner.com

Some basic or classic characteristics of a lowrider bike are: Baby Daytons (like the car rims, they are overspoked and do not cross over each other) with white-wall tyres. Banana Seats, usually custom upholstery and a customized sissy bar. Ape or Schwinn type handlebars. Old school spring action suspension for the front forks known as "springer forks". Fenders both front and back. Sometimes a chain steering wheel is attached. Most accessories are highly polished chrome, however gold is also used for added flare though for economical reasons chrome is the standard.

A Custom Designed Lowrider Tricycle

Some lowrider bikes are modified into lowrider tricycles, allowing them to sit much closer to the ground while still being rideable, to hop without falling over if they have air bag or hydraulic suspension and given them extra carry space in the back. The space between the two rear wheels is often used to mount either a 2-seater "love seat", a "boom-box" or even pumps for hydraulic or air "suspension".

Some custom modifications include twisted forks, spokes or handlebars, what are known as "bird cages" (twisted metal strips that resemble a bird cage) that are cut and welded onto handlebars, sissy bars or pedals. Many of the bikes also feature custom frame work such as tanks and skirts which are the addition of sheets of metal, usually welded on, to the frame to give it a "filled-in" look. Some lowrider bicycles even have air or hydraulic cylinders set-up to emulate the Height adjustable suspension of lowrider motor cars.

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My Lowrider Bicycle Model:

This is Hoppin Hydro's Lowrider Show Street Cruiser Item #5000 a 1/6 scale Lowrider Bike Model Kit.

The bike is 11 1/2 inches long. It is advertised as "the first and best lowrider bike model kit in the world with a 2009 price of $ 22.99 US.

You can build it one of two ways, street cruiser (basic lowrider with chainguard) or a radical show version (customize it with supplied panels which includes two graphic decal options, and textures for the banana seat).

Skill level is III. It is a good looking model but I'm afraid I swore (*#!@+) a lot while making the bike (not my Forte!) I found the illustrated instructions are well drawn, but important details are missing for assembling key parts the correct way (step-by-step). I had problems with the rear wheel, chain and foot petal components, even though I have several real bicycles in my possession. Most plastic parts are chrome plated which requires exact scraping away of the chrome areas, so that glue will adhere to the surfaces. The plastic seemed very weak in structure to me - delicate - small plastic parts broke easily. In general my model looks good, but I had to repair/make new holding parts to complete it. I would find re-making of this kit a second time - much easier.

Before assembly:

The bicycle's frame and design panels are supplied as raw black plastic. I cleaned them with fine wet sandpaper, primed them with White Acrylic Primer, and then sprayed a coat of Burgundy-Red Acrylic ...to match my chosen burgundy/red/blue decals.

The bicycles tires are real rubber which fit over the pre-chromed and finished wheels. Most other parts are pre-chromed plastic. A kick-stand is supplied.

Rubber inserts are supplied for the foot pedals. I left the bicycle chain off, as I damaged it badly!

The banana seat is black plastic. I finished this in Matte Black Acrylic. When dried, I applied a wet coating of Clear Matte Varnish on the seat's top and then sprinkled the supplied velvet textured material.

I added the handlebar multi-colored streamers. I made them by stripping a little rubber/plastic of different colored large paperclips.

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To get you into the Lowrider Culture 'Street LA/California' here are some cool links:

Hoppin Hydros Flash Intro: http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/locsters/introflash.swf Hoppin Hydros Online Hobby Store: http://locsters.stores.yahoo.net/modelkits1.html

http://www.lillocsters.com/

Lowrider Bicycles - Bike Tech, Features, Events, Models, Forums: http://www.lowriderbike.com/index.html

Bicycle Designer - Custom Bicycles and Parts:http://www.bicycledesigner.com/

Lovely Lowrider - Custom Bicycles and Parts: http://www.lovelylowrider.com/

Aztlan Lowrider Bicycles: http://www.aztlanbicycle.com/

Dave Gonzales is the graphic artist behind the HOMIES. He has been doing art about Chicano life and lowrider culture for over 20 years.

HOMIES: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homies
HOMIES - The Official Site: http://www.homies.tv/
HOMIES Art Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBEoXPLmcOo&feature=player_embedded http://www.hoodhounds.com/hounds.html http://www.hoodrascals.com/


OG ABEL LA Artist/Designer - UntouchAbel Collection: http://ogabel.com/flashcatalog/abel-catalog-09.html

Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.74

Gundam MOBILE ARMOR Normal Type
by BANDAI, Japan 1:550 scale No.30
0008671-300 1993

*Click a photo to enlarge



Box Top & Instruction Sheet

This is a cute little Gundam ship about 3 1/2 inches long x 4 inch wingspan. It is a stubby spacecraft with a bug-like shell covering that has slots for movable weapon/gun barrels. It must be fast because it's all engine! Note that its' landing wheels are a skii type.

The model includes a 1 1/4 inch tall Gundam Warrior that you can stand by the ship with his shield and gun or hook him to the ship's projectile rod ...which is what I chose to do. I hope he won't get burned feet from those massive engines, or get struck by lightning!

The above illustration also shows small round little things flying in space around the vehicle ...I have no idea what they are or their purpose? One is shown in the above photo ...10 are included with the model. At first, because they were so small, I thought they were runway lights! Those 'little thingies' are shown in the image below - bottom right.

I scanned the above page of illustrations from a Gundam Mechanics reference book that I have. Always wishing I read Japanese! Note the vehicle is labeled as the MAN-08.

Finishing my model:

The ship was assembled; except for the bug-like canopy cover which I attached on completion.

After priming and finishing, I sprayed the model and canopy shield cover using Tamiya Color for Plastics TS-60 Pearl Green. This color is very thin. Apply using one or two passes only and let it dry before building it up to a solid coverage. I used it like a regular spray can - it bubbled and I had to strip it and start over #!@*...this is the way we learn!

Mithril Silver was hand painted for the guns, front intake vents, rear engine area, skii wheel parts, and the front window sunray pattern. Yellow was added to the front window pattern also.

Tin Bitz and Black Ink were used to dirty the rear engine areas.

The little Gundam Warrior was finished in a complimentary color of Burgundy Red with Mithril Silver accents. His boots and other details were added in Black. His head eye visor was finished in Fluorescent Orange Liquitex Acrylic. His shield was painted using a mix of Mithril Silver and the ship's Pearl Green. Black and Yellow were also applied to the shield.

The ten 'little thingies' were painted using the Burgundy and Pearl Green. The front tip was finished in the Fluorescent Orange.

Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.73

Update: "Super Dimensional Fortress"

In my blog Surf - Design Planet Blurp No.70, under model components (item no.7), I mentioned that I had lost, but then found the "Super Dimensional Fortress" spacecraft ship (aka SDF-1 Macross). In this blog I will share the completion of this spacecraft ship; and include a similar model, in 'attack mode' by IMAI - the "Macross SDF-1 Storm Attacker - Construction" model.

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The "Super Dimensional Fortress" - by ARII
part of the System Fortress South Ataria Island diorama:

The spacecraft ship was easily assembled, with only patience required, in assembling all the small guns. Researching ahead of time for web photos of the item helps in understanding what is what. Example: Model box top illustrations can be quite different than the original artist or anime created ships. I used the above illustration (also shown in my blog No.70) as a guide for colors. Personally, I feel that an artist doesn't have to make it identical to someone else's rendering - if it doesn't feel or look right - zap (pimp) it up a bit ...change it!

Once the model was assembled and cleaned up, I spray finished it with Plastic White Primer and then a Deep Navy Blue coat using Rust-oleum Paint for Plastic. Rather than use stark white, I chose a light grey (Fortress Grey) to hand paint the light areas on the ship. I masked the rear banding and painted it White, then covered it with Bright Yellow. Most of the ship's guns were detailed in Mithril Silver. I highlighted some mechanical areas and the ship's control tower in Bolt Gunmetal Silver. The model is 6 inches long x 3" high on the supplied stand mount. I finished the stand in White. A couple of small decals were applied before a clear coating protection.

The rear exhaust areas were dirtied using Bolt Gunmetal mixed with a touch of Black Ink.

Red lines were hand painted on the arm runway. Arms have a swing movability.

Red Gore was used on the underside ship arms. Shadow Gray (blue/gray) was used for window areas.


The above ship is part of the System Fortress South Ataria Island diorama that I blogged about in Blurp No.70. My island diorama is fully detailed with system warriors and Valkyrie ships, leaving no room for the above spacecraft ship. It came with a stand to mount it in flight position. I decided to use and display it with the other ship, which is in 'standing attack mode' (which I discuss below) .

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Macross SDF-1 Storm Attacker - Construction
by IMAI Macross No.10

The above rending showed two color versions. As I had completed the flight version System Fortress in the middle-darker range, I decided to start this model with White. The parts and assembly was a little different for this model also- as you'll see by the photos. It also has more movability in it's arm and weapon joints ...it is in its' movable attack mode.

I primed and base painted the partially assembled model in White. I left the arms and large weapon parts (shown below) un-assembled - easier to paint. Model Master's Acrylic 'Dark Ghost Gray' (A medium neutral grey) was chosen for body parts along with the White. The arm runway was left White with Red lines. Yellow leg banding was complete like the previous model. Chainmail Silver was used for all guns and mechanical and highlighted with Boltgun Metal. Small warning type lights were hand painted with Liquitex Fluorescent Orange Acrylic. Five small decals were added - leftover from a Warhammer model.

Movable top weapons shown above and below.

Rear view shown above.

Front view - arms extended. Feet type pads also rotate slightly. This model is also 6 inches high x 4 to 5" wide depending on its' arm outreach distance.

I will be creating a display base to feature both of the above System Fortress models.