Hey Moebians !!

Any idea where one could find a definitive layout of the canopy panels for the LIS Chariot. I am trying to nail down what is clear, what is silver and what is orange.

The instructions do not provide an overhead view.

Good timing. Right now I'm sanding and polishing a canopy after correcting the placement of the frames underneath the luggage rack. Here's a scan of a wet canopy smeared with crystal clear to fill the misplaced attachment holes in the clear parts and all sanded and about to get polished. (Really, it doesn't look as bad as the scan!) The square marked "r" is either red or international orange, depending on your preference. The rest of the canopy is clear. The panes marked "s" are clear and have a fabric silver light shield snapped into place on the frames from the inside so they could either be painted silver on the inside or covered with dull foil from the inside. The fabric looks a bit crinkled on the full scale Chariot. The square base of the dome is aluminum. The inner surface of the dome base (up to the bottom of the clear dome) is also aluminum but the flat bottom inside is inside color. All of the exterior frames are chrome. The parallel frames that the dome slides back on are aluminum.
Back to sanding and polishing. I'm up to 1500 grit so far. A couple more finer grits and polish and then finally! a Future bath.
Edit: thank you for your question!!! Otherwise I would never have scanned this and I wouldn't have noticed on the scan that one of my new frames is out of square. Didn't notice with everything wet and muddy. Even tho it's under the luggage rack, the crooked frame still would have bugged me to no end.
Good luck on your Chariot! Please post photos, we're in dire need of models here.

I don't know how definative it is (we are dealing with an Irwin Allen production after all) but here goes.

all of the framework inside is orange. I also made the main panel (the one with the sensor dish and spotlights orange on the inside. the side curved panels I left clear but attached foil covered pieces to the inside to simulate the snapped in reflectors.

on the outside i made all of the framework aluminum but made the flat part of the sliding dome as well as that main panel magnesium ( I have seen it done in orange as well, but I don't know that either is more official than the other)

Pretty much did it the way Lou painted it, with a couple exceptions. I didn't realize until too late that the upper curved side panels were not painted on the outside, but had liners on the inside. I painted mine on the exterior with aluminum. It looks good that way, but if I had to do it over again I would either have painted them on the inside or have put in some type of insert.

The exterior of the upper panel above the drivers I painted the body color as the instructions indicated. The color should have been orange, as I discovered by watching the opening episode of season 2. There is an overhead shot where you can clearly see that the panel is orange. However, I have no regrets on that one. To my eye it looks a lot better as a metallic gray.

I'm going to have to make some compromises on mine. I had some really bad tape bleed in those rounded rear corners which totally pissed me off. I may paint mine on the outside in silver all the way around to cover that disaster, which I don't think will be too bad looking. I was so disappointed after spending hours of meticulous taping and burnishing. My big mistake was using a rattle can instead of my airbrush to do the orange inside. It would have been dry when it landed not runny as a typical rattle can job. My goof cost me looks and more time on this build, but it will have to do I guess.

Tim, try using a wooden toothpick to scrape away the paint , it won't scratch the clear...

Tim: an old standby that works well for me most of the time is to find some styrene sprue that is softer than the Moebius canopy. The grey Chariot sprue should work well, don't use the clear. You want it a softer plastic so it won't scratch the clear. Shape it into a small, sharp chisel shape. Or several, perhaps curved. Now carefully score the canopy frame again with a new Xacto blade, just like you did between the frame and the masking when you removed the masking, this time through the paint surface. You just want to redefine the frame. Then use the sprue chisels to scrape away the excess paint. The paint has to be cured first, or it will make a mess. If it's enamel, wait about a week, if its lacquer, wait about a month. The Moebius kits are a textbook example why you want to wash model parts before assembly - they have a nuclear strength mold release. If you didn't wash the parts, that actually should make it easier to remove the excess paint. You can also wrap the chisels inside soft cloth and use Novus 2 polish to buff out any small scratches you might have. An airbrush hit with Future will return the part to at least near original clarity.

How do you all feel about the vinyl masking kit from Aztec? Is it accurate? Does it work well?

I saw an article on a great way to paint the framing. first mask off the outside framing then paint the outside frames orange, let dry, then, paint over the orange the silver or whatever you want for the outside framing. it will be silver outside and looking from the inside the framing will still be orange since the orange is under the silver and can only be seen from the inside.
Bert

How do you all feel about the vinyl masking kit from Aztec? Is it accurate? Does it work well?


I used it, and then hand-brushed instead of sprayed, and am very happy with the results. :thumbsup:

How do you all feel about the vinyl masking kit from Aztec? Is it accurate? Does it work well?

I've used it twice!

I Wholeheartedly endorse it!

:wave:

I've used it twice!

I Wholeheartedly endorse it!

:wave:

Who's carrying these in stock? I'd like to get a set.

Nevermind, I found them.

I used Bare Metal for the Aluminum panels and I swear it looks just like aluminum. One look and even with a mask I decided painting was not going to be fun. I got copy paper, laid it on the canopy and traced out the shapes, cut it out of the paper, laid the cut outs on the sheet of Bare Metal. Took the Bare Metal cut outs and carefully slid them on and burnished them smoothly in. I then took Bare Metal Chrome and did the trim. It really does look like real metal---because, well, it is real metal. You wont be disappointed.

I did use the Aztek Dummy orange masks for the Orange panels and they look great too!

Hi Rich

I wanted to ask about the bare metal foil for the canopy. Did you find it difficult to cut? It seems terribly fragile. I'm thinking a scapel and straight edge to cut thin strips, much like the Aztec masking. I've already ruined one canopy with masking and paint. The result was too poor to rescue.

Topper

Topper...let me tell you what I did with my Aztec Dummy mask...I said "this is an accident waiting to happen." So I cut my rectangles out and used them as a shape to cut the Bare metal out. Actually, best you do that with some copy paper and a pencil. Lay it on the squares and trace the shape of the rectangle. Cut it out and place on the Bare Metal Aluminum. Cut thin strips for the frames. Once hyou work with bare metal it's really easy to work with. It's scary at first because it is fragile but that's its advantage...if you mess up, just peel it off. That's what I like about it..you get paint under your mask, your dead but I'd mess up, peel it off and try again. When you get it right burnish it in with a Q-Tip or tooth pick in some spots. The only negative is you cant get it perfectly smooth like real sheet metal or paint, you'll find a little crinkle here and there but no one will notice it but you. it's slight flaws make it look real in my book. It really is easy to work with once you practice a little. On Moebius's site you'll see pic of my son holding the Chariot with the Bare Metal.
http://www.moebiusmodels.com/model_kit_news.php
and more pics at TSDS's Chariot page...scroll down...
http://www.tsdsinc.com/index_files/chariot.htm

Thanks for the notes on this.

I have been trying the Bare Metal Foil with so so results. It appears to be VERY fragile.

I am having MUCH better luck with thin strips of Advesive vinyl. It has worked perfectly for the inside of the canopy. So perfectly I may start selling orange vinyl on the Parts Pit :>)

Thanks Rich

I have the foil so I'll play around with it this weekend. I've also been experimenting with a silver paint pen. So the results are clean with few mistakes. Great picture of your son.

Daniel

Hi All
I took someone's advice on the boards and did a double layer paint job on my canopy but on the inside. I first masked everything but the panels I wanted aluminum and orange. I then painted two layers of aluminum, let it dry, then covered the same panels with international orange. The final look was fabulous. The outside of the canopy retained it's shiny gloss with the aluminum panels showing clearly. Inside the orange panels are great as well. Also, I used thin silver trim, typically used for detailing model cars and trains, for the canopy framing. It's a little wider than I would have liked but the end result was great. This was my second canopy having ruined the original with paint bleeding.
Daniel