[Fly-n-hi]

What's up? I've been hangin' out in here for a while reading up on all the cool builds going on and I figured I'd finally join the fun and post some pics of my latest build. I just finished this model today (01-29-2007). Its the Halcyon 1/72 scale Dropship from the movie "Aliens".

The kit has been sitting in my closet for about 15 years..which is also how long it's been since I built my last model! I was flipping through the Dec. issue of FSM and saw the Dropship that was featured and I decided to get back in the game.

Anyways, I had about 2 weeks of vacation in January so I went full throttle building this thing. I posted some pics in the FSM forums but I figured I'd post some here, too.

I think I might touch up the weathered look. I tried to make it extra dirty like it appears in the movie:

I did quite a bit of modification to this kit. In the pic below you can see the rear landing skid. I added the two large pistons and completely redesigned the rest of the strut/piston assembly. I also modded the skid and the skid "bay":

The rear weapons arms, when completed per the instructions, sat at a very high angle. I modded those so that they would sit a bit more level as they appear in the movie. I also added some of my own weapons to replace the "cheesy" weapons supplied with the kit. This pic is before the weathering:

I tried to add a little detail to the boring flight deck as well:

This should be the link to the entire album of about 130 pics:

http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k206/Fly-n-hi/Aliens%20Dropship/?start=all

I'll say this much...I'm alot more patient now than I was 14 years ago (I'm 30 now) and I can tell the difference in this build.

I've been reading through these forums for a while now and I've seen alot of cool stuff. I definately want to build one of those Polar Lights Enterprise refits.

I've searched through a couple of times but I haven't come accross a post that just explains how to do the wiring. Maybe someone on here can direct me to a good site that has instructions on how to do the wiring and some of the electrical "know how" to do that sort of thing.

Anyways, have a nice day.

 

[Robert Hargrave]

With all the time away from the hobby, this first project turned out awesome. Very good detail, sharp lines and all the little touches really make a kit come to life, or stand out from the rest. Will be interesting to see what you do with your next project.

 

[John P]

Excellent!

 

[fluke]

SWEET!!! Its always cool to see one of these bad boys built.

Nice work :thumbsup:

 

[747]

Welcome and looks as though it was a good thing you decided to get back into it - great stuff!

 

[abu625]

A beautiful job on one of my favorite vehicles.

 

[PhilipMarlowe]

Nice dropship! :thumbsup:

Still one of my favorite pieces of sci fi hardware!

 

[PerfesserCoffee]

Wow!

Great looking dropship! The paint color looks just right.

 

[Raytheon]

One of those SF designs that just looks righteous and can do what it's supposed to do, simple as that and your build has done it justice :thumbsup:

Splendid work and welcome aboard !

 

[miniature sun]

That's a fine job you've done there Fly, all the better considering your lengthy lay-off and the fact that the problems with this kit are legion. Poor fit of parts, lack of detail, dodgy decals and possibly the worst moulded missiles ever made. If it wasn't for the fact that this is the ONLY kit available I don't think anybody would bother with it.
If only someone like FineMolds would tackle the Alien series....

 

[Fly-n-hi]

Thanks for all the comments. Alot of the ideas and methods I used were things I picked up here.

I used Tamyia OD for the fuselage and Tamyia Gunmetal for the landing skids. Also, I decided to paint the red and white panel lines since my decals were 15+ years old. I wasn't sure of their integrity. Here's a pic of the masking process:

I watched the DVD a few times and made a rough sketch of the rear landing skid:

Here's a pic of the modded rear landing skid:

I decided to fill in the panel lines because the movie version doesn't really have them:

As far as the parts fitting together...I thought most of them fit pretty well. But the parts that didn't fit were off by alot. The cockpit, for example didn't fit well at all. Either it fit snug on top of the fuselage or the bottom...not both. So it fit it snugly on top and did a whole bunch of filling and sanding on the bottom.

Some of the parts just didn't look right, like the speed brakes and some parts didn't even exist, like the gear doors. So I made my own:

The guy in the Dec. issue of FSM added styrene inserts to the pod arms so the would look like one solid piece. I used his idea here:

In the film the Dropship has some detail not included in the kit like this vane, so I made my own:

There were a few other little things I wanted to do but I lost the will towards the end. I should have spent a little more time smoothing down the surface before painting. There are some rough spots under the paint. Oh well.

 

[CessnaDriver]

We're on an elevator ride to hell!!!!

Somebody wake up Hicks!


Good work! Worthy tribute to an epic film.

I have this kit squirreled away too.

 

[robiwon]

Very nice. As far as smoothing it down, eh, it's a military vehicle, it's gonna be lumpy, bumpy, and dented from getting dropped out of space ships! It's not a ferrari. I gave up on mine years ago

 

[Lloyd Collins]

Very impressive!