Tom's Le' Beumb

[Model Man]

(original post: 19 Feb 2008 09:29 pm)

I have just ordered le' beumb from George!


I hope to have it soon and will start this page up properly then!

[Model Man]

(original post: 03 Mar 2008 02:19 pm)

My beumb has arriv-ed!

Lots more parts than I would have thought! And this is not all of them. There are many tiny parts not shown...


There is one ugly seam going down the length of both sides of the main body.







I will study the parts in greater detail later and give some more thorough thoughts. Apart from that seam line, it looks really great! Sharp details, sturdy pieces, even a page of directions and layout references!

Thanks George!

[Model Man]

(original post: 05 Mar 2008 03:05 pm)

The seam that concerned me was easily xacto'd away using the flat edge of the blade. It will need very minor filler, but is in excellent shape! I am looking to have this kit washed and primed over this coming weekend.

[Model Man]

(original post: 11 Mar 2008 06:38 pm)

The kit was cleaned and primed black this past weekend. Yesterday I gave it a light silver coat so as to keep the shadowing from the black. And today I gave the body a light white coat so as to keep the silver shine underneath and the black in the nooks and cranies. I will know how it came out tonight when I get home.

[Model Man]

There is one particularly ugly part othis kit and that is its' french ass.

George had offered to unconditionally replace anything needed. I greatly appreciated his offer, but declined preferring to deal with what is there.





I am thinking about creating some kind of cowl to hid that rim. It is a very plain area if not.

The other part that needs major camouflage is the rear of the upper module. There was excess resin from the pour holes that needed slicing away and then there are the bubbles which could not be sliced away...



The only solution I have for this is to simply cover it up with styrene panels.

[Model Man]

For more shots of this kit, go back into the WiPs and check the 'side by side thread. Or click here...
odec.proboards83.com/index.cgi?board=wips&action=display&thread=21

[Model Man]

April?!? It's been awhile.

The last body paint wound up being the final base coat. As I re-tape the US bomb coming up, I will also be painting this one as they share the same color palette.

It turns out that I have lost track of a lot of the fiddly bits for this kit. I will have to talk with George about that soon as that will be the last thing to do now that the airbrush is upon it. I also have to think of display. It will likely hang with the US bomb, but I don't know where.

Also I have to consider some kind of rig stand for it for when I shoot it with video in the coming months. But that is an overall consideration I now have to think about before I construct all future kits.

[Timeslip]

Oh, d**n. You should have told me about the back of the top. I would have replaced it. The best "fix" is to use AVES Apoxy. It is awesome. That wicked seam is a problem on almost all of them. I'm actually phasing out that caster. The problem is it is round. A real pregnant dog to cast. Any way keep up the great progress shots.
George

[Model Man]

Got my missing parts this afternoon, George. BIG thanks for these TINY parts! And there is no problem on te upper 'bridge'. I'd forgotten all about it and will simply go ahead as planned. I still have to cut the styrene covers. I may do some for the aft cylinder too as that is kinda scroungy.

[Model Man]

I had a full gig of pix covering seven kits I am knocking off. There were a couple dozen of Le' Beumb blank, all taped up and round one shots of the new airbrush paneling.

Wanting to get a couple more pix in before uploading to my system, I went through and deleted some. One was listed as 'image error'. I deleted it and moved on. When I deleted the 2nd one I came across, the camera froze w/ blinking leds. The card's format was lost. Tried a few things but no good.

Reformatted, took a couple pix, the camera froze up and gave dead battery status and shut down. The card wanted to be formatted again.

Re-Reformatted, got a dozen pix when the camera froze w/ the blinkies...

W/ a new primary camera in house, it would seem that the old camera was unhappy with being exclusively relegated to workbench duty . So in a fit of anger decided to freak out this now completely unreliable memory card I bought with it the same day. They were buddies, d**n it! That vindictive SOB!

;D

I'll get some pix for the 3rd time now w/ the new camera.
It's just was well.
It's so much better.

(stupid point and shoot!)

[Model Man]

So, yes. Round one of the paneling is down.

There is some overspray to deal with, the blue tape pulled up some top coats revealing the silver undercoats. Nice as it's patchy and raw, bad as these are supposed to be pristine clean satellites.

I've got the bag of bits to paint and glue on. I might leave some bare for further difference.

Almost there...

[Model Man]

[Model Man]

I did some hack mask work last night and got most paint errors repaired. I have a few more areas that need a fast mask and the body is done.

Tonight, I hand brushed white onto the smaller panels. It worked well overall, but there is one panel that was a little too large to carry the illusion. Additionally, I went easy on tiny silver panels thereabouts and completed the panels with light gray.

Pix to come! Of five kits in the pipeline, 3 are finalled as of tonight, leaving Frenchie finishing next then the BigBaDaBoom.

Lastly: All this model's fiddlebits need painting. Once glued on, that completes this kit.

I haven't figured out a display method yet.

It will hang, but I have no idea where the model's COG is yet. It's not under the platform. I may need two lines. ... Well, it'll keep until the kit is finished.

Then I gotta figure out where in the apt. to hang it. I'm actually running out of good ceiling space!

[lunadude]

Looking nice. Waiting for more photos.

[Model Man]

Wait no longer! These were fast and intended to cover the whole thing.

It's close, but still a ways from done as you will see. However, the next round of photos may be the finished ones, so I will post those in the Gallery. Hopefully very soon.



























A ways to go...

The colors used are Rustoleum white metal primer lightly over a black and silver base. MM's Camo gray, Lt gray and basic white w/ a Testors silver (or aluminum). The dark panels are a gray toned down w/ black. The silver was handbrushed, as well as a couple white panels (most noticeable in the third above the big one above.

Overall, the body got very dirty. This was from the red pinstripe tape (I wish those pix weren't lost). It left a goo behind that made things ugly everywhere. (It is clearly still in the central ribs.)

A number of panels need to be redone and the underside of the cannon-end needs complete painting again. As well as the central ribbed area.

I'd like to final it this weekend so I can tag the US Boom.

[Model Man]

PS. I did not use any reference when painting. Not so smart a move...

[lunadude]

How are you approaching the markings? Decals, hand painting...?

[Model Man]

Markings, you say? Aside from the french flag? I am going to have to watch the film again.

Just looked thorugh our ref section. The original looks far more complicated (texture and color) than the model. I will have print these up for a side by side as I leap in with the coup d'grace.

[Model Man]

Oh crap! I just looked at the direction sheet! I thought I was nearly done! The real work is still ahead of me! Wow!

BTW folks, the kit is now discontinued and there are less than a handful left! Get 'em while you can!

[Model Man]

I'm stuck.

I mostly gotta fix panels still. And I've still goto goo-muck here and there from that dreaded pinstripe tape I used initially. And over the last few weeks of just sitting around doing nothing, it has picked up dirt/scratches.

I'm so freaking close. But I can't get impatient and rush it.

Basically, I just gotta dig in and finish it off. I'm not touching my US until this one is done.