Kit bashing and modification of existing kits has been a topic very heavy on some of the paper model forums, as of late. We thought it would be of interest to show a few that we considered well done by their builders :-)
This Messerschmitt Bf-109T Modification of a Marek design was very well done by Ted Schnitzler.
..as built by Bob Penikas
Free Download at Canon's Web site
6 pages of parts and 5 Pages of illustrated Instructions produced a cute paper dog 9 inches long seven inches high.
Printed on 67 lb Hammermill Cover Stock White.
Given a dusting of Krylon Clear UV Spray.
As a welcome change over a period of a week Shiba was worked on for ten or fifteen minutes at a time while I cut out and assembled a more involved paper model and had to wait for glue to dry.
A small opening in the rear and another just behind the Canon logo on the bottom allowed the insertion of a wood dowel that could be pressed against when attaching parts such as the head and hind quarters.
I brushed on two or three Gesso coats at the seams, sanding in-between when dry, to help take away the heavy joint lines. Artist gesso is used as a base coat for smoothing and preparing artist canvas for oil or acrylic painting. It may be sanded in-between coats for a level of smoothness that will hold a fine detailed line.
The final coat was Liquitex Acrylic Yellow Oxide and Liquitex Titanium White right out of the tube and for some areas I mixed in Liquitex Flow Aid flow enhancer for thinning the paint.
Since I played with the construction and experimented with the acrylics rather than concentrating solely on this one model I cannot give even a ball park estimate of the time spent. It wasn�t much however. As the final picture shows more filling and sanding could have been applied to make those seams disappear.
I had to rush it a bit so that Canon�s Shiba along with a note wishing a happy trip could be placed next to the coffee maker my wife would use before she departed in the wee hours for her trip.
