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Alistair Gauld
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I‘ve felt the coldness of my winter – Upon us all, upon us all a little rain must fall – Roden 1/144 Boeing 720 Starship One

March 15, 2020 · in Uncategorized · · 16 · 2.2K

Hi There,

This just finished. Well, I'm calling it.

Many, many years ago...1979 I was a young naive Highlander at College in the big city of Edinburgh and on my first weekend there The Playhouse had a late night Friday showing of:-

Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

The Song Remains the Same

and Woodstock.

I had to borrow a driving licence from a friend as I was only 17 and Woodstock was an X. That's an 18 certificate for those young ones amongst you.

Of course this plane was in right at the start of the Zeppelin film.

I spotted the Kit and thought that would look good in the cabinet if I can do it justice and would be a lovely reminder of my younger less cynical days.

The kit was fairly straight forward, some sanding, some filling but nothing too taxing. I did one or two things that I would change. I left the intakes and exhausts off the engines thinking that I could fit them after all the painting easily.

That didn't work very well as the was filler and sanding involved in the aftermath along with more paint and masking.

But the transfers...Oh Dear Bod...They just disintegrated as soon as you tried to position them let alone manoeuvre them into position.
Out came the Microscale Decal Film...Nope didn't help. This was the point that I was about a picosecond away from launching it into the bin but decided to soldier on.

So, they were positioned as well as possible and when dry paint was mixed to fill in the gaps.
I managed to get an almost exact match with my paint mix but when it dried it darkened considerably. Next tried a lighter shade but this was also dark and then thought that rather than ruin it all I would give it a clear coat in the hope that it would sort of blend in.
That didn't quite work but it looks pretty good from two feet out so it's done.

Lots learned, not to sure if it was fun but I'm glad it's done.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

Alistair

Reader reactions:
7  Awesome

3 additional images. Click to enlarge.


16 responses

  1. Beautifully done, nice results from the problems you had! Looks like it's on a stairway to heaven.

  2. Hi Alistair. Well done on this labour of love. If you have not already done so, please do yourself a favour and listen to the song in the link below. By a band called Sun Kil Moon - called “I watched the film The Song Remains The Same” - it is a truly beautiful piece of writing about a kid watching that movie for the first time; it’s a very special song that captures awe, wonder, nostalgia, inspiration, childhood, regret. Hell, I could go on. Just listen.

    youtu.be/Sy8cklFZ3sA · on youtube

    ‘Liked’ the B-720 lots.

    @alistairfgauld

    • Hi David,

      I hadn't heard that song before and it's beautiful.
      zeppelin are quite probably my favourite band of all time. They're the albums I always come back to anyway and also the source of one of my biggest regrets in life.

      I had tickets to Knebworth but the person I was to go with pulled out at the last moment and my parents would not let me go on my own.
      We all know what happened next.

      Thanks for that,
      Alistair

    • Hello David, great find, the songs of the late sixties and seventies are a major part of my being and I assume of most people of my vintage. Hearing them always triggers great memories of good time and great friends.

      • Cool find David, Way back on a cruise to the Med [1976]on Nimitz we took over an as yet unused space [room] behind our squadron berthing space. we set up a stereo system and Blasted tapes of Zepplin, ELP, Tull, to name a few. In ways I'm still connected to that music, so much so that at my daughters wedding this past Sept me and her danced to Greg Lake's 'Watching Over You'. @dirtylittlefokker.

  3. I have the movie on DVD and have watched it a few (dozen) times--so I love it !
    I considered giving the build a shot before the Righteous Brothers hit the thumbs.
    My band has a couple of Zeps in our repudiator---loads of fun. I did some self promoting with the Husky for a band poster. Looks pretty good hey ?

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

  4. Nice! I love early jetliners. I grew up next to OHare airport and loved the noise, smoke, and smell! Thanks for sharing this.

  5. I was 11 in 1979, when I bought "In through the out door". Some said it was not their best effort, but I was hooked. The intro of "in the evening"...unforgettable. It is so amazing to mysteriously connect present and past with the hobby we love.
    This is a beautiful job, Alistair. Nice that you persisted - and shared with us your outcome and your story.
    All the best!

    • Hi There,

      In Through the Out Door is a stunningly good album and a lot of the criticism came from the time when it was released. Punk and New Wave were very much in vogue in the music press and Zeppelin were "Dinosaurs".

      Many Thanks for your kind comments.

      Cheers,
      Alistair

  6. Amazing work! Overcoming all that and getting this for a result - how wonderful. Just super.

  7. That was some triple feature! Perseverence certainly paid off on the build.

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