Much to my surprise, the model took second place in the Northern Illinois Modeler's Open (NIMO) Sci-Fi Diorama category.

The model is Lindberg's awful kit built straight from the box. After a gallon of putty and a good primer coat, I masked off the "glass" and painted the entire thing Testor's Model Master (TMM) "Gunmetal Metallic". After this had dried I buffed it out with an old T-shirt and sealed it with TMM Metalizer Sealer. Then the fun began. Recessed areas got a heavy wash of TMMFlat Aircraft Interior Black. Then, details were picked out in various metallic colors - gold, chrome silver, copper, jet exhaust, aluminum and steel. Various panels on the underside also were (randomly) painted with these colors.

After this had dried for several days, I sprayed thin, random patterns of Tamiya Clear Blue, Smoke (black) and Clear Green over the gunmetal areas. Finally, I sealed the finish with a combination of randomly sprayed TMM Dullcote, High Gloss and Sem-Gloss clear paints.

The diorama represents a captured fighter on display outside the maingate to the US Marine Corps' base in the California High Desert. The "sand" is microballoons (a filler used with radio control aircraft that is great for modeling snow or fine sand) painted tan. The base is fromthe R/M Starfury kit, with a brass tube as the "stand". The tumbleweed is a bit of dried weed from the garden; the birds' nest in the underwing jet engine is steel wool painted brown. To top it off, I dabbed several small white streaks across the windscreen and upper surfaces to represent bird droppings.

Top View

Bottom View

Right Side View

Front View