Lunajammer

Despite the age of this kit (tooling), building it was a delight. The 65 parts count kept construction uncomplicated and with many parts fully visible, detailing was fun too. Seam clean up was better than expected considering the age of the kit, with the exception of the wheel spokes. The is was my first effort at any full body weathering. The flat paint really takes the washes and chalk pastels, decals were home made. It's one of those kits I didn't intend to detail much but it drew me in. Here is the build thread.

The decals worked out okay. The Microscale carrier is a little thick but looks decent. I put the finishing touches on it and experimented with weathering tonight and took my beauty shots but it's gotten too late to post tonight. So look for this project to be put to bed tomorrow.

Wow. Wasn't expecting that when I opened the thread. Black and red, a bold choice and I love it. Superb.

Well, I'm fluent in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop as part of my job. However the core tools needed to make very respectable decals are shared by many less exclu$ive programs. I'm lucky that I didn't have to figure it out for myself. I learned low basics at tech school, the rest on the job.

I have a narrow tip in my tools, but it's the side of the large nib that draws the lines. I suppose a guy could sharpen a narrow Sharpie to get into the crevasses. Thanks for the overcoat warning Tom. I don't think I have to ask. I made my decals on the printer at work. Unfortunately, in the name of haste, I bought the Microscale decal sheet from our LHS. It's all they carried and I didn't want to wait for BMF decal sheets for this project. So far so good, of course I haven't transferred it yet. This weekend I wired the engine. Meh. Could be better, but I'm forging ahead. You can tell I also got the fenders on.

My GF and I (children of the '60's) have discussed how the ride has changed. Back in the day full size cars glided like magic carpets but had tons of sway. Today almost all cars ride harder on a more firm suspension. I assume safety and more rigid control is the reason. I enjoy the firm control, like in my '96 Mustang, but miss the "cloud" ride in full size cars.

Well that's something you don't see every day. I'm definitely interested in where this could go.

Ooooh, good eye. I hadn't noticed that they might be directional but they sure like it in the pic. Thanks for the catch, I'll look again.

There are many ways people weather and rust, but I'd like to know your technique. It's pretty realistic.

This is where the project lost its luster. In all my fine detailing I failed to take notice of how warped the body sides were until I was assembling the finished panels. It's creating problems with the fit of the floor, roof, and front panel and created a noticeable gap at the floor. Really disheartening because it's my own fault for not paying closer attention and its too far along to find the will to backtrack and correct it. I think the overall piece will view fine since the faults are mostly out of sight.

@ David and Gator, thanks for the kind words and encouragement.... I didn't relish the idea of masking around all the trim work to paint it black, but I started doing so using BMF for masking. I didn't get far before stopping and re-thinking it for a better way. After some testing I chose to use a Sharpie. It actually worked better than I expected. The finish was decent semi gloss and gave me razor straight lines. The only downside is you can't ink all the way down to the groove.

My monthly update: PT Cruiser is in the box. I've been distracted by a light commercial Model T van that I hope to finish up soon.

In about 20-years the whole will be worth less than the sum of its parts.

Yup. Sure came together well.

Dude! That would be enough to make me walk away. My least favorite part of modeling. And you're only half done, those ends go somewhere(?)

Not in, say, 1977. My understanding is there is no event date, so your sleeper can apply to whatever year you want it to be. It would be logical that your era (or later) will be defined by the newest piece of technology you're carrying. Tim or Jant?

I thought of you too Harry when I received my copy. I admire magazine layout designers. I once had a conference call interview for editor at SAE. They opened by apologizing that the position had been filled internally (curses JH!) but said they had a design and layout spot opening up and would I like to compete for that. I told them no because I thought the position would be too demanding to enjoy, so I always appreciate your work Harry.

Yeah, I had clear decal paper in mind when I laid my plans. I just hope my "antique" white isn't too tan. I guess we'll know after I get my hands on some BMF laser paper. I have some old Microscale stuff but it seems to have gotten brittle.

The chassis pieces have come together and it's got its shoes on. The kit windshield, like most kit glass, is about three scale inches thick. Really disrupts the believability of the rest so since the front is such a flat piece, replacing it with clear plastic sheet was a no brainer. I also tried to continue with the chalk pastel weathering up the front panel.

That's some Class A work Karl.

Here is a screenshot of the decal I'm making to go on the side. The logo is inspired by a piece of a label I found through some archival info put on the net by the Institute for Regional Studies at NDSU. I recreated it in Adobe Illustrator. Logo fonts are not exact to the hand lettering of the original but should be period appropriate.

The project itself may even have killed him, as he was so dedicated to the task of getting KeeBird flying that he neglected his own deteriorating health. All so that some maverick could get himself a B-29 on the cheap. Reckless and tragic. Wonderful to see another airworthy Super done right.

Interesting story, I appreciate the insights Tom. I've always wanted to know. It's amazing to me that thousands of these were produced based on a misunderstanding between built diecast and unbuilt plastic. I'd think there would have been some proofing at some step of the order before production and distribution. Just curious what scale the diecasts were?

Probably one of the most confounding mainstream style choices of the 60's. To me a real head scratcher. Your model looks great though, totally my idea of a sleeper.