by Tim Mullins

The model depicts an early class interstellar corvette long after a fateful battle.

I built it from parts box relics. The main components that form the basic shape of the hull are from an F-101, an F-104, and an F-15. The scale of these parts range from 1/100 to 1/48. These 3 parts were glued together after some filing and cutting to get a better fit. I then used Evercoat polyester glazing putty to fill gaps and contour the three main parts into a cool body shape for the ship. Many many parts from various aircraft and other models fill out the detailed areas. I also scratch built a lot of the detail from Evergreen styrene raw materials.

The paint scheme and the ship's name pay homage to two illustrators that have influenced my in my own illustration work; Peter Elson and Chris Foss. Weathering and aging was achieved with pastels and washes. The damaged areas received some real soot staining from burning sprue pieces close to these areas. I used the foil from wine bottles for the bent and twisted metal. Also, three different sized cutting bits in a Dremel tool were used to tear up parts of the ship.

After the intricate paint job was complete, I used a pretty unconventional method to add even more texture to the damage. I carefully ran the flame from a mini-torch back and forth over the damaged areas - not to create an unrealistic melted look but to blister the paint and add subtle warping to these areas. The method could have destroyed the model but instead, it worked quite well.

Image: Bow damage, from below

Image: Damaged stern, from below

Image: Port bow

Image: Port mid-section

Image: Rear detail

Image: Starboard bow

Image: Starboard mid-section