LUNA by Pegasus Models
Built 12/2017
Painted 9/10/2018
Base 10/27/2019
This simple kit of a classic spacecraft was one of the two - along with the Rocketship X-M, also from Pegasus - that inspired me to finally get back into model building, back around Christmas of 2017. As with the X-M, I assembled it and painted it long ago, but I didn't consider it "completed" until I made a custom display base for it. The kit did come with a lunar surface base, but it didn't resemble the cracked, jagged terrain depicted in the 1950 Destination Moon film, so I didn't want to use it.
Anyway, last night I broke out a fresh box of Super Sculpy and went to work. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.
COSMOSTRATOR by Pegasus Models
Built 2/2018
Painted 9/10/2018
Completed 11/7/2018
Another terrific, easy-build & paint (just silver from a rattle
can) classic sci-fi spaceship, from the 1960 Crown-International Picture, First Spaceship on Venus. I admit, I've only watched the movie all the way through once - it's badly-dubbed from German, and all available prints look like crap - but I love the design of the Cosmostrator ship.
The base was hand-sculpted from Super Sculpey (no tools), baked, and painted over a few hours. I gave it a base coat of a greenish-black, then drybrushed lighter layers of green over that, finishing with highlights of "neon" green for an otherworldly look. Finished it off with some green sand from the dollar store.
ROCKETSHIP X-M by Pegasus Models
Built 12/2017
Painted 9/10/2018
Base 10/31/2018
I bought this kit last Christmas as a gift for myself because Rocketship X-M is one of my favorite 1950s sci-fi movies, and I love its design. It was the first new model kit I'd built in a couple of years.
A very simple kit, simple paint job - but technically the first spaceship
model that I ever properly painted. Did a bit of putty & sanding on
the seams, and a little black paint on the windows and rocket exhaust
(which you can't see here.)
The base was my first attempt at creating a custom base for a model kit. I sculpted it entirely by hand (no tools) from Super Sculpey, baked it, and painted it in a few hours. Because the movie has the ship landing on Mars (despite setting out for the Moon!), I went with a reddish-brown wash on the ground (with some faint black scorch marks under the X-M's exhaust), and added a little bit of scenic grass.
I'm very pleased with how it all came out.
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Glorious Black & White
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MARTIAN WAR MACHINE by Pegasus Models
Built/Painted 9/2018
I love this ship from the 1953 George Pal production of H.G. Well's War of the Worlds -- and I didn't screw up a single thing on the model.
The copper spray job is nice and even and looks a lot better in reality than it
does in these photos. I'm really happy with how it turned out.
I didn't paint the base, though I may do so later.
