1 Mar 08 The Journal of SCI-FI, Fantasy, & Horror Modelling The Phantom Illuminated Classic Galactica Showcase Moebius Models Interviewd ScratchBuilding The Elson The Staff Data Burst By GeekBot Editor in chief Welcome to the premiere issue of Psycho Styrene Modelling Magazine, The GeekBot philosophy behind this publication is to fill in the gaps that are left by most of the print magazines that cater to modellers since the demise of Sci-Fi & Copy Editor Fantasy modeller as a monthly publication, and that this magazine should be a Vickie Miles magazine for modellers made by modellers who love sci-fi and fantasy. Graphics & Layout I’m hoping that we will be able to fill this publication with projects, for Darren Llewellyn both the beginner and the more advanced modeller to try, hints and tips to help newbie modellers, as well as being a show case for your work. I am also hoping to see some out of the box builds/reviews to let other modellers Contacts know what great kits are out there currently, there will also be interviews with modellers, model companies and some pro model makers. Editorial Staff GeekBot@PsychoStyrene It also my hope that the editorial will not be me droning on each issue over what’s in the issue or just what I think is happening in the model world, but Submissions will reflect and also contain the views of the readers, and what they have to Submissions@PsychoStyrene say about the subject. Readers Gallery OK that’s enough of me rambling on here, I hope you enjoy this issue and ReadersGallery@ come back for more if you have any questions or would like to contribute PsychoStyrene to this publication, feel free to contact me here. Publisher Admin@ RetroModernModels Graphic Design Graphics@ RetroModernModels All Characters, their likenesses and their related titles and logos are ™ and © of their respective owners. All content of this publication is property of Psycho Styrene and its publisher Retro Modern Models unless otherwise stated and may not be used without permission of us or the authour. All views expressed in the articles printed in this publication are those of the authour, and are not nessacarilly those of the publication, publisher, or any related enterprises. Front Cover By Brian Wilkinson & Darren Llewellyn Rear Cover By Brian Wilkinson Editorial 2 The Phantom of the Opera 4 The Elson 7 Snap-Fix to Snap-Force 9 Galactica Refit 19 Resin kits – are they worth it? 21 Model Blueprinting Basics: 24 Display Bases 28 The Micronauts Endeavor! 30 Resources 33 Pin-UP 35 The Phantom of the Opera “glued on look”, (picture 9).I drilled out the arms to By Brian Wilkinson insert them (Picture 10).giving them a more natural look This subject has been one of my must have’s for a long time, and with the Polar lights kit having an organ. It had to be this one. Fist impressions on opening the box were good, with memories of old Aurora kits wafting back, the instructions were styled on the old Aurora After putting it off for a ones and are pretty easy to while it was time for the part I was dreading! follow. There was only one The pinstripes on the trousers, after a bit of thing was missed off and that was head scratching on how to mask them I went the cloak tie. One good thing was for electricians tape. The first step is to stick a the inclusion of the sheet music. All length to a glass sheet and using a steel rule cut into that you have to do is cut it out and paste it to the thin strips, how thin is dependant on your eye sight. music stand (nice touch). After base coating the leg in dark gray the masking The figure itself went together with no problems strips are peeled off and stuck to the leg starting using liquid cement. This helps to “fuse” the joints, from the front, working around to the back. It is which are then scraped with a scalpel then sanded important to try not to stretch the tape as it will one thing did emerge, The spring off the plastic don’t figure needs to be painted worry if it doesn’t quite before the cloak is attached match, the cloak will hide as painting all of the it. (Pictue11). Once all are figure seemed impossible once the front folds were added.(Picture 1). When attaching the cloak I noticed that it done and pressed down had some pretty badly placed seam lines. To fix spray the legs black then these the seams were glued, filled and sanded; this peel off when touch dry. was repeated a few times till I got a smooth joint. (Picture 12), the rest of (Pictures 3/4/5). the figure was then finished, with a white shirt with pale gray shading a dark gray waistcoat with Gold buttons and cufflinks. A Red cravat with deep red shading.(picture 13) inside the cloak was airbrushed white with With this done and the body painted I went to work grey shading then glued on the rest of the phantom. The first problem I hit to the figure.(Red if here, the hands didn’t quite fit so instead of that you prefer)All the front folds were added filled then sanded. The figure was dark flesh (picture15), then a flesh colour (raw masked with paper towels and Play Doha (great sienna/burnt for awkward shapes) then sprayed with Games sienna/white workshop (GW) black. mix) was lightly dry brushed over The organ’s lower sides needed styrene to fill out the the skin, slowly inside before assembly (picture2), the organ itself building up the went together very depth with out well and really looks filling in the the part. (Picture 7) folds. The teeth were brushed in GW unbleached titanium (Picture 16) lastly, I used pastel chalks to shade around the eyes and skin folds. painting of the organ was going to be the tricky part, to achieve a timber grain I mixed black with effect, I used a light tan colour for the base coat, I red to give a crimson followed this step with thin washes of various shades colour which looked of brown with a worn out brush. like burns from the acid/fire (Picture17) if This is one time you want streaks have a look at you haven’t used pastels some grained timber o get a feel for the looked before, buy some now. we need a light touch is must here, and try not to They are really useful overload your brush, drag the brush across the piece for punching in shading but don’t do straight lines, and don’t worry if they in small areas and you overlap in a few places. You might want to mask the have more control than an airbrush they’re quite side uprights and do the cross pieces first to replicate cheap, and should last you years. The eyes were the way furniture is put together. based in an off white then brown pupil’s added (Chaneys Lightly use matt varnish between coats so you won’t colour) with a black centre. A smear each coat. Build up in layers till you have the dot of white for the reflection effect you want. then gloss coated and was done. Finally I mixed (pcture18). up some clear brown (I used The music was cut from the tamiya clear red instructions and pasted on to and orange) and the stand and I replaced the spray a few coats. plastic feather with a This really is the real one trimmed to key and gives it size. The candelabra a much deeper was dry brushed with and richer look. GW shining gold then (Picture 8) reds for the wax.(Picture 19), lastly the floor I was quite worried about doing the face as it was mottled with doesn’t have the same amount of detail as a resin various shades of grays model would have, but in for a penny.... First the and browns with a head and hands were coated in Games Workshop sponge to break up the blocks(Picture 20). The figure was then fixed to the base with location points on his left foot. but I also used epoxy glued to both feet just to ensure a secure fit. Overall I found this to be a really good kit to build and a nice change to resin, the only faults I found was having to build the cloak around the painted figure, and the lack of detail in the face but this last thing is more of a injection molding problem as it seems to turn up in a lot of kits. I can definitely recommend this kit if you can track it down. Nice build, nice size and nice on the shelf The Elson On the left here we have all By Eric Moore three parts just Blu Tac’d together to see what it looks like. The start of this project was the clear ball that I used for the cockpit. I’d had it for a long while, so long I thought I’d start with the that I don’t remember what it was originally used cockpit. I’d decided to have for. Though it might’ve been one of those things that just a clear ball with a chair in it would look daft go in the washing machine – but it has hinges so I even for a 70’s illustration.