Three ramps:
[ATTACH=full]87060[/ATTACH]
Forbidden Planet C-57D - WIP- Three Landing Ramps by Steve J, on Flickr
I'm happy with the external silver face or underside of the ramps. For the conveyor belt I masked off the black primer coat before spraying the rest with silver. The conveyor belt was later sprayed with Krylon dark grey primer which is a medium grey.
This is after about 6 coats of metallic silver with sanding and buffing in between:
[ATTACH=full]87061[/ATTACH]
Forbidden Planet C-57D - WIP- Saucer Parts Silver by Steve J, on Flickr
I'll give everything a light wet sanding with the 8,000 and 12,000 polishing sheets as the surface is a just a tiny bit rough to the touch. I could probably leave it as is but the light going over will give the saucer a smoother feel.
After laying down sections of Tamiya masking tape and laying some brown paper over the rest of the saucer top I sliced along the recessed line of the inside edge of the outer, darker ring using a sharp exacto knife. Then I peeled the tape away from the edge. Looks good. Ready for spraying:
[ATTACH=full]87062[/ATTACH]
Forbidden Planet C-57D - WIP- Painting the Ring by Steve J, on Flickr
Hallway glued in:
[ATTACH=full]87063[/ATTACH]
Forbidden Planet C-57D - WIP- Hallway Glued In by Steve J, on Flickr
The leaf springs were inserted into slots in the sides of the ramp hallways (no glue as they need to flex and move) and the housings were glued into the lower saucer half with the struts in the closed position. The instructions said to make sure the inside end of the housings were glued strongly before trying to operate the struts.
You can see how the leaf springs will flex when the struts are pulled down allowing the pointed peg to travel forward and lock into place on the other side of the spring's bulge:
[ATTACH=full]87064[/ATTACH]
Forbidden Planet C-57D - WIP- Strut Opening Mechanism by Steve J, on Flickr
All three ramps operate perfectly. It helps to pull the ramps open if you have at least one longer fingernail to slide under the lips at the end of the ramps and pry. They really snap into position on their own at a certain point as they open. They also snap shuT:
[ATTACH=full]87065[/ATTACH]
Forbidden Planet C-57D - WIP- Ramps Installed and Open by Steve J, on Flickr
This is after about 4 coats of Krylon Metallic Dark Metal over the metallic silver. I'll leave the masking in place for now. After she dries I'll remove the masking and drill some holes for installing cool white LEDs to light the hallways:
[ATTACH=full]87066[/ATTACH]
Forbidden Planet C-57D - WIP- Metallic Dark Metal Ring by Steve J, on Flickr
Epoxy putty was used to strengthen the ramp hallway to hull joints against the strains imposed by the leaf spring mechanisms during lowering and raising of the ramps:
[ATTACH=full]87067[/ATTACH]
Forbidden Planet C-57D - WIP- Epoxy Putty by Steve J, on Flickr
As I am not using the circular lower core engine cage, the center mounting tube was unnecessary. Removing it with my Dremel tool gives me room to place a 9 volt battery in the lower dome:
[ATTACH=full]87068[/ATTACH]
Forbidden Planet C-57D - WIP- Tube Removal by Steve J, on Flickr
Since I am building the landed version of this ship the lower dome was painted metallic silver over a coat of black. I glued the landing pedestal to the center of the dome with 5 minute epoxy:
[ATTACH=full]87069[/ATTACH]
Forbidden Planet C-57D - WIP- Lower Dome and Pedestal by Steve J, on Flickr
More to come...
