AMT Klingon Bird Of prey

mcusanelli

Well-Known Member
Hi Guys,
Here are some pics of my Bird of Prey, built pretty much out of the box. The only details I added were some styrene bits here and there to spruce up some areas that looked a bit blank. This is really a beautiful kit, and doesn't need much work to have a great model. It even gives you the option to build the wings in the attack position. It's from the first release, but I think the later release added a third wing pose and optional landing gear. It was painted with Testors paint applied with a make- up sponge for the main colors, then dry brushed with lighter shades in acrylic. It needed something more, so I tried a thick wash with black oil paint, and wiped it off with a soft cloth. That really brought out the detail, but if you try this, don't leave it on too long or it's hard to get off! I probably should have sprayed it with Future first, but luckily, no harm done. Then came some more dry brushing with lighter shades again, windows were painted white with a bit of yellow, followed by a few coats of future to seal it all. I lost the decals, so I hand painted some Klingon-like script on the wings Hope you like it!IMG_5201.JPG IMG_5198.JPGView attachment 143788 View attachment 143788 IMG_5195.JPG IMG_5202.JPG IMG_5199.JPG IMG_5200.JPG
 

micahrogers

Moderator "Where am I, and how did I get here?"
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Nice... I love the colors...thumbsup

it was originally planned to be a Romulan Bird of Prey, but when news of Romulans in the third movie leaked, they changed the bad guys to Klingons... but kept the model the same.
 

Revell-Fan

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it was originally planned to be a Romulan Bird of Prey, but when news of Romulans in the third movie leaked, they changed the bad guys to Klingons... but kept the model the same.
It was once explained that the BoP was a Romulan product which was stolen by the Klingons (hence it has that cloaking device).
 

micahrogers

Moderator "Where am I, and how did I get here?"
Staff member
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The Canon explanation was that is was a collaboration, Romulans gave up cloaking technology, and Klingons gave up Disruptor tech... Klingons kept using it, but Romulans quickly shelved it in favor of the WarBird...
mcusanelli's build is a fine example either way. looking closer at the pics show the sponge technique worked well with the lighter green color.
 

zathros

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Now comes the rain on the parade. I was a mold maker for many years. Making graphite plugs of various sizes until you got close enough, and you would make the final graphite plug, and in an EDM bath, pulverize the steel with 400 amps of electricity in a dielectric solution till the metal negative was made. The came hand polishing to make it perfect, as only human hands can do.

The paint job on this is beautiful, no doubt, nothing I comment is about that.

My problem is with the model itself. The rounded corners, just look at the following pictures to see how this model fails to capture the sharpness, with someone who got happy with an ultrasonic polisher. Look at the Pic #1 below, from The "Whale Rescue" movie. One can clearly see that the ships panels do not have the gaping lines, and the edges are much sharper. Pic#2 just shows how lazy AMT got with thee model. These pics are from movies. It could be argued when making paper models, there are limitations that don't allow for certain shapes, this is when I believe moving into multi-media is the answer, Two part epoxies, some creative sanding, "greebling", I believe that a better representation of this ship could be made in paper, in done in a mixed medium.. Still that is not the issue.

My beef is that AMT, and a lot of these other companies charge quite a bit for thee models, and they produce shapes that are more akin to a toy of the ship, not a serious reproduction of the model. Some would say you get what you pay for. You also buy only what's available, and if a super, properly detailed version of this ship were available, people would buy and build them. Tamiya has proven this over and over when almost all their models. I remember buying Tamiya models for $15 to $75 dollars and people thought I was nuts. I actually built the huge CB750 Cafe Racer,, build ever single link in that chain. I wish I had never let it go, but I sold the completed model for $300 bucks, at a time when you could buy real bikes at that time (Pic#3). That model looked that good, and was that detailed. I paid $60 bucks for it. One on EBAY now at $106 dollars, last one, at the last few minutes shot up to $250 dollars!! (Pic#4). You would have to have owned or worked on one of these to know how exact this model is.

Why doesn't AMT put the same effort, and there not the only ones. Model mold making has become even easier with the advent of CNC machines and 3D mold Makers.

This was why I gave up on plastic models. I allowed a few on the forum, I am starting to regret it. You clean off the flashing, glue together, then paint. Pic#5 is a $20 dollar toy my son begged me for. He was 5 and I could deny him nothing. He is 15.5 years old now. He still treasures this toy. He felt the need to fill in the overly wide lines on the nose with a Black Sharpie. I told him to ask me next time. It's about 3.75" long.

Point is, Papermodels, mixed media, and very occasionally, a super tricked out plastic model, lights, working suspension, something to knock your socks off, fine. That is the focus of this forum. More Paper models, learn how to water form compound radii in paper, and build something unique, so when you paint it, it will be something truly unique. Use Balsa to get those radii. Balsa is unrealized paper!

I opened a can of worms with Plastic models, and I am going to start closing than can. The paint job shows fantastic, better than I could ever do, capability. Paper models look more real than plastic ones, IMHO, if you can get certain shapes right. They always get more attention though. They show passion, and understanding of the shapes you are working with. AMT dropped the ball on this model. The paint job saved it.

Pic#1
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Pic#2

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mcusanelli

Well-Known Member
Thank you all for the kind comments! It was a lot of fun to build, and one of my favorites in my collection. Part of what makes modeling fun for me is enjoying ALL forms of it, paper or plastic. To me, it;s more fun to take an ok kit and give it some love, try to make it the best model I can. Zathros, I understand where you're coming from, being a professional in the field, I also worked in house for a toy manufacturer for many years before becoming a freelancer. So I saw some amazing stuff made by amazing craftsmen. Most of these older kits were made using handcrafted wooden patterns, and as far as I'm concerned, it means more to me personally to take an older kit, engineered and made by a human's hands, maybe not as fancy a kit as todays , and use what I know to make it the best model I can. I find it more rewarding than building something of say, Tamiya quality that falls together effortlesly - And costs as much as a weeks groceries to boot. Building older kits has allowed me to stay in the hobby I love in a time when my wallet is shrinking, and kit prices keep going up. Having this forum to share my builds is really fun for me, and i hope the plastic section stays put. I'm sure I'm not alone. Since I'm on my soapbox, I need to say that not everything we make here has to be a special effects worthy replica. Personally, i think the Bird of Prey kit is really nice, and I was able to buy it without breaking the bank. WE DO THIS FOR FUN, and I for one need to have fun that puts my daily problems on hold for a little while. Cheap therapy, I guess you could say.
I have loads of old kits that aren't perfect, but maybe by showing them, some budding modeler might be inspired to try their hands at a new tecnique or try a model that might seem unworthy of their efforts - Like the Eagle Transporter that Micah R did - So many modelers said it was a piece of junk, but his build thread proved them wrong! So instead of getting rid of the plastic category, maybe you could look at it as just another expression of creativity that gives a lot of people satisfaction, even if you aren't one of them.
 

zathros

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It's not a matter of getting rid of plastics category. For instance, take any Jo-Han plastic model. The molds are old, worn, tons of flashing, but if you take the time, you cab build a car that frankly, you may never see again. This is what I am trying to say. Also, those Tamiya kits fall together only if you have the technique. That CB750 was one of the hardest models I ever built. A 108 link chain, that worked, flawlessly! I have built probably 40 or more Tamiya's. They were a lot cheaper back then. I tended to build Military miniatures, my preference. The Bren Gun Carrier was my favorite. My models were displayed in all the hobby shops in Fairfield County, Ct.. Heated pins to duplicate bullet holes, rust scraped into paint, to make rusted pieces, adding rust just as the paint was tacky to finish off the effect.

There are the models I want to see. If someone is going to build plastic, then take something that requires much to bring it to it's potential. I sold off virtually eery model I had because when I broke my neck, I went 6 months without pay. I sold many things I wish I had not. I am happy you responded. Build the Jo-Han Phaeton below from the box and make it look like that. That is professional modeling. I still have a Renwahl Visible V-8 I plan to build with my 15.5 year old son. The model is from around 1966, in the original box, untouched.

Still though, I'd rather see it done in paper. The Fenders water formed on surfaces made of whatever, 2 part epoxies work, then sanded, trimmed to shape. This is far more than anything done is plastic, unless you hand form a model in plastic. We have a member here who makes ships 4 and 5 feet long out of PVC and other materials, they must be worth $1000's when done.

This forum will not turn into a plastic model forum.The focus is paper, and other mixed media. If you make a car, and use plastic fenders, or wheels, I have n problem with that. But to see the work, done but people like Allen Tam, Alan Rose, these are artists. We have people on this forum who do work for the movie business. If you need to make a part with compound surfaces, then get a block of Balsa, and start working on it. This forum's focus is fabrication with paper, metal mixed media. The people who make fantastic works are not going to have their work detracted by slap together plastic models. It just isn't going to happen. There are 100's of plastic model forum's that anyone can go too and they will gladly rip your models apart, or praise them. I have found many to me extremely critical, but then again, they are making plastic models that look real. They machine, out of metal, engines, and many other parts.

Plastic is a turn off to the majority of people who contact me and ask what's with all the plastic models. With paper models, I can offer techniques, actually fabricate templates, but what do you do with a plastic model? Do you say"You didn't tape off that area and the pain went on area it should not have. Or, "Wow, you really did well painting the seats black, gluing that chassis to the painted body, and the dots you painted kind of make it look like a real dash?" If you built a 1/8th scale Jaguar Model, that would be different, but if the windows did not roll up or down, then I would say you flubbed it. Of course, if you started such a model, I would tell you the gears have been messed up in the molds, and mu be reformed to work, and I would show you how using gap filling crazy glue.

Thre is no interaction with these types of modes, and that is why I feel it is a mistake. I though maybe members would bring really excellent quality of build, like jo-Han's, but that has not been the case. There is no discussion, just, "Hey, that came out nice." There can be no sharing. Think of all the Thunderfighters that Revell-Fan and Rhaaven Blaack (on a Personal Sabbatical) have built. They have built a fleet of ships by sharing ideas with many members.

None of that can happen with plastic models. Plastic models are a one way interaction. You display the model, and the only thing that can be said, is "Nice job' or something similar, and it ends there.

That is not what this forum is about. The plastics category will not be locked, not yet, but if I don't see some really special model models being build, and I think you know what I mean, then that section will be locked. Use of plastics in models if fine. A kit bash, I means something really awesome, anything would be allowed, but it has to have paper in it, as it's main material. Paper makes the models take on shapes that plastic cannot. Paper makes models that cannot be purchased. You can't offer a model you have designed and built in paper, it just can't work, and that's what this forum is about. It is not about ,"Look what I made" You can't make it unless you buy it. Yes, there are paper model sold, but people here build from scratch, they design from scratch, and after all that hard work, they giver it away, and it ends up in our "Resource" section for all members who wish, to build.

Plastic models do not offer the exchange of ideas that this forum is about. Funny thing is that you have built some of the most awesome Paper Models, and if you did a build thread with them, you could have taught many, who find these models intimidating, anyone who could build this, damned, why would you bother with plastic? In any event, I truly respect your work, but my beef is with crappy plastic models. I don't want to deal with them or tell someone, that model sucks, no matter what you do to it. I have incredible designers who wonder why simple slap together plastic models are here. I am not going into detail, but when you see a car, and non of the wiring is under the hood, either that person doesn't know where they go, or just didn't care. That kind of model has no place of this forum. I am a click away from ending plastic models, as a whole. I really only want models people build, fabricate, not put together from pre-made parts. I will tell you I am going to close the "Plastics" section, it just is not in line what this forum's direction lies.
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Cybergrinder

Member Extraordinaire
@zathros, If I may make a suggestion; screen new posts in the plastics section (like new members are) before allowing the post? (Instead of closing the thread) As a former plastic modeller (now redeemed ;)) it's still nice to see someone else's efforts pay off in a really good build.

That way the "slap-it-together" guys would not get any "airtime" and only the good stuff would stay.

Just a suggestion, I do understand this would demand more time from moderators/administrators :)
 

zathros

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I appreciate where your coming from, but I won't screen models. This is why I am making these suggestions. By the way, this AMT model was painted beautifully, I just feel the model sucked. His paint job saved it, but this isn't what this forum is about. I am seriously considering closing the plastics section and telling members they can still submit a plastic model, but t has to be something really special. Think about the guys who make these fantastic models, completely out of paper, tanks with 200 parts, Enterprise Star ships 3 feet long, and absolutely perfect. I feel these ready made models are a slap in their faces. I set the tone of the forum, and the hairs on the back of my neck are telling me to nip it right in the bed, before people start getting hurt, or offended. Until we (Rhaven and I) let plastic models in, people knew this forum was for paper based models. It's my fault, as my word is final. I expect to be closing that section. I don't have a problem with plastic, or any other material being used n a mixed media plastic, or a model scratch build from plastic. I have seen guys make Hot Rods like that, completely from scratch, wheels made on a lathe, metal leaf springs, etc., these are beautiful and exactly what ZEALOT is about.. Next thing we'll have someone posting snap together models!

I am going to give it a little time, if someone buys one of those old Jo-Han models, and turns it into a beauty, they will have satisfied the direction of this forum.

To build this Chrysler Turbine to this standard would be quite an effort. Like at the tree it comes on. This must have taken a month if not more! Let raise the Bar, and save that section of the forum. Otherwise, it's gone. I'm not trying to b a jerk, but seeing the quality that goes on here, I feel compelled to maintain the standard.


Just for the record, these models are disappearing rather quickly. My local Hobby shop, after 29 years is closing down, and I am going to try and beat him down on some of the Jo-Hans, and other vintage models he has. Nobody makes models of these cars any more. It is an era going by before our eyes!
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Cybergrinder

Member Extraordinaire
Valid points Zathros :) I do remember feeling vaguely disappointed after completing a few SF plastic models, in that they we're not challenging enough (hence my switch to the ships which I posted elsewhere) and then comparing to the satisfaction I felt when I finished Voyager...

I do understand your decision though
 

mcusanelli

Well-Known Member
Again, thanks for the kind comments about my work. It's obvious I'm beating a dead horse, so I'm not going to bother posting any more of my plastic models. You made your feelings perfectly clear, so do what ever you want with the category.
 

blake7

Well-Known Member
mcusanelli I like your BOP model, and how you painted it. I would love to have one for my collection. Thank you for sharing. I thought about doing a plastic model to relive my childhood days. The last one I did was thirty years ago. All my models from then was destroyed. Don't let your mom "put them away" so they will not be broken! "CRUSHED" under other stuff she put away. I only paint, and detail plastic models. I don't modify them, except when I was twelve years old , then we used to do demolition derby. Anything fell off the other guys model was yours. So, if the temptation gets the better of me and I break down and buy a plastic model I guess I will not post it either. Too bad I like looking at how people paint them. It gives me ideas, but I do agree that the "Snap Tite" is too simple to be worth building let alone sharing. However that is just my view on "Snap Tite".
 

mcusanelli

Well-Known Member
Thanks blake7! Yes, most of the snap- tite stuff is very simplified, but in a few cases, with a little work, they can be turned into fine models. I built Revel's Clone Wars Jedi Starfighter and turned it into a very nice finished product, addind a sculpted pilot of my own, and a few corrections here and there, and my own paint job. So it depends on the kit, and how much work you want to put in. Look before you leap!
 

blake7

Well-Known Member
Sorry mcusanelli. I was referring to the model built as is not modified, or painted in reference to "Snap Tite".
 

mcusanelli

Well-Known Member
blake,
No need to say sorry, I agree about a lot of the snappy stuff! I've only come across a couple of them that are actually detailed and nice enough to look twice! I hope my stuff gets you to try out models yourself:)
 

blake7

Well-Known Member
Been thinking about it. Like I said it has been thirty years since they were destroyed. Had twenty-five models crushed. Looked on e-bay to see how much to replace them. "Small fortune", anyway it is for me, which is why I started doing paper. Plus my wife can't stand the paint, and glue smell. Elmers don't really have a smell.
 

zathros

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Again, thanks for the kind comments about my work. It's obvious I'm beating a dead horse, so I'm not going to bother posting any more of my plastic models. You made your feelings perfectly clear, so do what ever you want with the category.

You ave convinced me it should stay open. So it shall.

Actually, Snap Fit models have come light years from the ones you snapped together, then had to glue because all the snaps broke.

So I visited my soon to be, after 29 years, local Hobby shop, and have made it a point to buy something every time I go in there.

No Jo-Han models, unfortunately, someone with insider information bought them all. So I purchased this Lindberg:

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This is for two reasons, one, to say , keep posting the models you REALLY like. Second reason is because I always wanted one of these and this is as close as I will get. I have a pile of un-built kits, including a 1/6th Jaguar XKE, I sold the other one some months ago for $275. No bad, as I only paid $40 for it 20 years ago!

I haven't opened this yet, and must hide it or my wife will kill me. It cost me $29.95, 10% off. 16% actually, he didn't charge me tax!

This car is extremely detailed. The box says level two yeah, in who's book? Crappy video of the car built rather nicely. I think I will try and find micro-weave cloth for seat covers though. Side view and front 3/4 view look best. I don't like the name "Plastic" You guys think you can come up with something better? :)

 

mcusanelli

Well-Known Member
Kudos to you sir for keeping an open mind. I appreciate that this is a place that is willing to appreciate creativity in many forms. I'll continue to post pics and hopefully some of the fine people here will enjoy seeing them:)
 
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