It’s looking like a bit of a disaster right now … but it’s all part of the process. First low density foam was applied and shaped down to the approximate shape desired and then sanded down a bit more so it would be slightly under final desired profile. Then a whole bunch of bondo is applied over the foam and it will be shaped down to the final shape.
The hull construction has begun and the superstructure detailing is just beginning. Also started the two elevators.
Originally when I started this project I thought I was going to modify the 1/350th scale model that I bought … but it seems I’m going the scratchbuild route and just using the kit for reference and scaling everything up and rebuilding everything from scratch.
The flight deck is coming along and the main superstructure has taken it’s basic shape. Now to add details to the superstructure.
Starting to add some color to the earth. Much blending to come. Then the ground covering, bushes and trees.
This board will be a game board for the new GameCarft Al Sijood Presidential Palace. The prototype for this model is located in Baghdad Iraq and was one of Sadam’s many palaces.
I don’t think I’ve shared this photo here before. This is a photo of my game boards that I built when I was a teenager. I’m not exactly sure when this photo was taken but I think it was in the late 1970’s or very early 1980’s and it was most likely at a convention taking place at the Anaheim Sheraton hotel just a few blocks from Disneyland.
Right now I am working on this new piece. This is the Al Sijood Palace in Baghdad Iraq. This will be a resin cast kit that comes in several pieces. I’ve taken some liberties in scaling this building down, the actual building in 1/285th scale would be about 16″ long … I’ve cheated a bit and got it down to a more reasonable 10″ long while still maintaining an impressive size. So far I have done about 75% of the front facade, see the image of the real building to see the area that I’m working on right now. This is pretty early in the development of this product, many more details will be added to the facade pictured below.
I’ve decided to build a 1/285th scale USS Wasp LHD-1 and fill it full of Micro Armor vehicles and aircraft. I started the project by buying the Gallery Models 1/350th scale model kit with the intention of cutting it up and stretching it in length and width to make it sort of 285th scale. After thinking about this for a while I decided to just use the kit as a reference and draw all the parts of the model in CAD and then scale them up to 285th scale and just scratchbuild the entire thing.
Here is the kit that I bought as reference.
This is the drawing I made of the flight deck. On the bottom you can see the deck in 1/350th scale drawn directly from the model kit as a reference, above that you can see the deck blown up to 285th scale.
Next I started working on the basic superstructure. Below are drawings that I made based on the plastic model and then scaled up to 285th scale. The main superstructure will be 3D printed and then additional details will be added by hand.
A bit more work on the sand texture. This is the second layer of the process, it’s still wet in this photo and looks a little shiny. Also a lot more color blending will be done in future steps…. but this gives you an idea which direction it’s going.
The real airport in Baghdad is just pure sand everywhere but I think I’m going to add a little bit of vegetation in a few areas just to break up line of sight to make gaming a little more interesting.
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