Colonial Viper by Monogram

[Dick Montgomery]

I just finished the original Monogram Colonial Viper # 6027 and, in fact, the glue has yet to set holding the craft to the base. I've had this kit since 1987 when I purchsed it from its previous owner, stored in a plastic bag. The original decals were used and other than some strange gummy substance which appears on the transfer sheets the decals went on as though they were new. I didn't install the rubber band missile launcher though. Lots of fun!

 

[MattLeBlanc]

[AZRhino]

Did you just blank off the "missile tube"? I have been debating what to do with the nose depression, since there are very few shots of the front of the viper.

[ewahl]

Blank off the nose hole for the "torpedo" with a thin disk of card plastic and paint it the same color as the rest of the structure inside the nose intake. The TV shots of the short-nose forced perspective set would suggest flat black inside the intake.

 

The canopy was always the big problem because the interior of the cockpit was omitted from the original kit and later reissue before the last release with the clear canopy (same piece) and cockpit tub (which is marginally accurate). The black windows were a disappointment for me. I have eight of the original issues because K-Mart was closing them out at $1.64 each. With the later reissues, I have enough Vipers to equip Blue Squadron.

 

FYI, the official set plans from Universal provided the scale of the model. Measuring the center-to-center dimensioned distance on the two lower engines, the kits scale out to 1/36, not 1/32. Moebius claims 1/32 for the Viper MkII.

 

Dick, nice job on the model. I like it against the black background. My monitor hardly shows the base, so the model looks like it is in midair.

 

Ed

[TimHortman]

Nice work Dick - Thanks for sharing!

I have several of these that I would like to get around to building myself!

[Dick Montgomery]

Ed hit the nail on the head with his advice on how to handle the weapon launch opening in the nose. I borrowed one of my wife's scrapebook holepunch tools, painted a square of some sheet plastic the same color as the fuselage, popped the "hole" and glued it into place.

 

I thought about tricking out the cockpit but didn't do it. I tend to build straight from the box on these older classic kits.

 

That "black background" is actually a very dark green/black card table. In direct sunlight it looks black in the images and I used some basic editing software to eliminate any background other than the table top.

 

I don't know what's next on the list for Space/Sci-Fi....perhaps I'll restore an old XSL-01 that I picked up in an estate sale. It'll need to be disassembled and cleaned, but I think its all there. In the meantime I've switched to an aircraft for my next project. But that's a story for a different thread.

[odwinn]

Another Idea here would be to do as i have done.

I bought some pipe screen from a local Tobacco shop. and cut it to fit flush inside the nose.

killed a few screen trying to get it right. lol

panted it all a flat black . the results were amazing.

If you can find it . there is a nice shot of the Viper studio model out there on the web that if you look close you can see the screen

inside.

real nice kit there buddy.thanks for sharing it

[Dick Montgomery]

Thanks for the kind words and for the suggestion on the pipe screen. One can also find such items at LHS's that sell HO scale detail parts.

 

Or one can wait until a neighbor repairs a torn screen and discards the orignal....lots of material can be had.... Dumpster diving should be an Olympic sport.

[odwinn]

an that case I ought to get a Gold medal LOL

and thanks for the other ideas

 

 

kev.

[Roktman]

Looks great!