Ongoing Project with DreamForge Games Kits

[pocoloco]

     

Now I want one too! Just to have it collecting dust in the cabinet for sure but still... I want one!

Have you thought about the markings for it?

[rwwin]

     

Now I want one too! Just to have it collecting dust in the cabinet for sure but still... I want one!

Have you thought about the markings for it?

Thanks.  I've been thinking through some ideas but nothing firm yet.  Right now I'm leaning towards something spare, like simple black or white ID markings.

[rwwin]

I've now got the upper torso together.  I've had to give up on the idea of detailing a cockpit and pilot, but I did manage to magnetize the extra exhaust parts that came with the kickstarter.  Torso is in painting now and should be done by the end of the week.

This has been a fascinating build.  Mark Mondragon's take on mold design, coupled with the innovative slide mold technology that Wargames Factory has used have created a new way of making parts.  Take the gothic vent stacks in the picture below.  They are made with a stacked set of round parts.  On any other kit I've built over the years (Bandai, Tamiya, Hasegawa) these would have been cast in halves along the vertical axis and wouldn't have been able to acheive the deep detail in the grooves.  It's not a perfect solution as now you have horizontal seams versus vertical seams, but it's an interesting take on the process nonetheless.  I thought about puttying the joints, but I'll wait to see if the primer coat makes them blend a little more.  I've looked at some pictures of painted Leviathans without any work on the joints and they don't stick out too bad.


http://thecolorblindmodelpainter.blogspot.com/2013/05/building-some-upper-body-strength.html

[dwartist]

"I've had to give up on the idea of detailing a cockpit and pilot" why?

[rwwin]

"I've had to give up on the idea of detailing a cockpit and pilot" why?

My explanation won't make a whole lot of sense unless you look at the instruction sheet (steps 36 & 37 in the lower right hand corner):

http://www.dreamforge-games.com/Revised%20Leviathan%20Crusader%20Instructions.pdf

Here is the challenge as I see it.  I had built the upper torso to step 36 where the roof goes on (part G2).  In the next step you attach the "chest" part (J1) which sandwiches in the "face" part (I01).  There is just enough room to put a decent 1/48 scale cockpit between the chest and face.  At this point there is still enough room to slide the face part in and out.  But then you add an extention to the roof (G1) which locks the face part in place.

Here's a couple of pics:



Here's the torso dry fitted together.  As you can see the face (green part) gets locked in to the torso (primed black) by Part G1 (unprimmed).



Here are the face and top part removed and a possible donor cockpit from an old 1/48 Mig-29 kit.  To make a cockpit that you could actually see after completion, you'd need to make part G2 magnetized, hinged or in some way removable so that you could get the face cover off.

Another option would be to glue part G2 directly to the top of the face so that they could be removed as a single piece.

It's all workable, I just wasn't sure I could pull it off.

[dwartist]

hmmm...

[Elbows]

I'd say just find a way to pin or mount the locking collar (the unprimed top piece) so it can be removed or pivoted up or out when you want to show off the cockpit. Or...failing that I'd put some lenses in the eye-slits and put an LED inside (plenty of room for batteries in that huge model).  Then you'd have neat glowy eyes.  I think amber would go well with the scheme you have going.

[rwwin]

More progess on the Leviathan Crusader.  I've got the torso painted along with the sword arm.  I magnetized the arm so that you can swap between the standard sword and the special one that came with the kickstarter rewards.  More info and pictures at my blog:

http://thecolorblindmodelpainter.blogspot.com/2013/06/i-can-see-end-from-here.html

[Elbows]

Puny lil' thing ain't it? 

[pocoloco]

Just awesome! 

[von Lucky]

Love the muted colours and the weathering.

[hubbabubba]

Looks great, the tank decals are a fine choice, they make it look a lot more military like in my eyes.
I'm looking forward to seeing it finished

[rwwin]

Thanks everyone!

[rwwin]

DONE!

Well not really, done-done, as I still have the base, the original smoke stacks and the left cannon arm, but done enough for now.  Between Scout camp with my boys and three weeks at my parents house, I'll be cold turkey on hobby time for at least a month, so the crusader came in under the wire.

A more detailed write up on my blog, but this was a great kit all around.

http://thecolorblindmodelpainter.blogspot.com/2013/06/leviathan-crusader-complete-sort-of.html

[OSHIROmodels]

A fine job indeed 

cheers

James