# Sneak peek at Pegasus Hobbies WOTW Tripod kit



## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

Happened to have dinner with Larry Thompson of Pegasus Hobbies over the weekend and he gave me a test shot of the tripod kit from Spielberg's 2005 film "War of the Worlds". Though it is a technically a test shot, there were no revisions needed before going into production, so I'm reasonably sure that what I have is what you are going to get. This is going to be a basic preview of the parts. A build up will follow soon and it looks like I'll be doing some sort of diorama for an upcoming issue of Sci-Fi & Fantasy Modeler.
*
The basics - *This is a fantastic kit of an unusual subject. I applaud them for picking something different. Say what you want about the movie, its stars, or the ending - the designs of the tripods and ILM's execution of the VFX were superb.

There are something like ten trees of parts. The smoked hood is a separate part (ABS? Styrene?) and not on a tree per-se. Ditto the base. I'm going to assume these will be bagged separately. One tree is clear styrene (the people collection baskets and lenses). 

Most of the kit is the usual ABS that Pegasus uses. Having built most of Pegasus' kits (or knowing modeler's who have) the ABS is NOT an issue for me. I treat it like any other model kit and have not had any issues.

Looking at the parts on the trees, I can see that this kit is a big step up for Pegasus. The engineering is more complicated than anything I've seen from them, and the level of detail is far more sophisticated. Larry also brought over a built up sample and the kit looks impressive when built, standing around 15" tall.

Detailed comments below - 

HOOD -
This is the smoked clear part - 


Lots of detail. Finely scribed panel lines. The triangular web-like sections at the bottom appear have light shine through them in the movie - 


This part is the underside of the head. Again, more recessed panel lines - 

The two round things at the rear are the attachment points for either the collection baskets or the destructo-ray arms.

Lots of room for lights and batteries? 

Actually, I don't know how this will work. You cannot run a wire down the inside of the leg since it is solid. So the hood will have to be removable for access to batteries I guess.

These barb strips go on the inside of the hood. They poke out the holes in the top. And they look cool on the finished piece without having to glue each one on. Yay for good engineering!


Nice detail - 






More to come........

Gene


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

Very nice pictures! Thanks for posting them. 

I'm so looking forward to this one. 

Sean


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

Continuing with the review - 

Waist parts -

Sockets are keyed to make sure the legs go in straight. So are the different parts of the legs -




The bottom part of each leg consists of one piece with two "ankles" and a separate third "ankle". Each is detailed with little barbs and ribs - 


I tried to do a test fit of one leg this morning without the benefit of the instructions. It seems fairly intuitive with parts interlocking together with pins. On the built-up that I saw, it looked pretty sturdy and level. Here's a quick test fit - 


Destructo-ray arms - 




The round piece below the arms in the photo above is part of the main "eye" that lights up under the hood. It's molded in gray plastic, but the little vents are open. So, those of you lighting the kit may be able to take advantage of that - 


Part 3 to follow.

Gene


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

Odds and ends - 

The feelers / people grabbers are molded as individual pieces and (I guess) can be glued/trimmed to suit - 

In the movie, the tips of these things seemed to light up. I wonder if we can get clear styrene rod thin enough to warp and use as a fake fiber optic?

Baskets - 

Again, you have the option of either displaying the destructo-ray arms or the collection baskets.

You get a nice diorama / logo base with a destroyed street/building/car - 

The scale of the kit is 1/144th. It's a common architectural scale, and close enough (+/- 10%) to 'N'-scale train accessories that you could easily expand and make a diorama.

I'm very impressed with what I see here. The detail is great. The engineering seems to be thought out. And it's something different. I'm looking forward to building this and doing a fancy diorama with one.

More photos on my Flickr site - http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/sets/72157627563141972/with/6100087451/

Gene


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

Wow. Thnaks for the photos and review.

I've been wondering about this kit since the subject appeals to me but I thought it just might be too fragile to display. Your review has given me hope there.


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## Capt. Krik (May 26, 2001)

Like Pegasus' other Sci-Fi kits this looks fantastic. Truthfully, I wasn't sure I was going to pick up this kit but after seeing those pictures I will be buying one for sure.

I hope we'll see more Sci-Fi kits from Pegasus in the future.


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## Husker Adama (Sep 1, 2011)

so cool, i'll be getting one for sure!


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## Wolvster (Mar 14, 2006)

Very, VERY COOL !

Man, that really is _DAMN_ impressive there !
The details on the Hood alone make this
an *A+++* kit...

:thumbsup:

We Sci-Fi Modelers have had to put up with some
sub standard kit's for far too long compared to
the insane details of some Armor and Plane kit's.

But I love what they did with this puppy !

Shows you what CAN be accomplished if they apply themselves..


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## RMC (Aug 11, 2004)

Awesome....many ideas for kitbashing !


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

I'll pass this along to Larry and Scott. They are pretty hard core SF geeks and there will be some cool stuff coming from them. 

I played with the built up a bit (but stupidly, I didn't take any photos of it really) and it didn't feel fragile at all. Yeah, the feelers are susceptable to being bent or broken, but the legs were surprisingly sturdy. That, to me, is the lynchpin in this kit. 

I clipped some parts off the trees and test fit them. It is NOT a snap kit, but you let excellent locator pins and everything was keyed or tabbed. Pegasus has really done their homework and gained experience from their earlier kits.

Gene


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Thanks for sharing! The kit looks really good. While I hate the movie, the tripod is pretty cool. I like Pegasus kits and will definitely pick this one up.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

I hate the movie too but looks like Pegasus has done a great job there. I'll buy a few of those.


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## fluke (Feb 27, 2001)

Thanks.....now I gotta go change my Under Dog undies.

*HOLY COW!!! Can't wait!!*  :thumbsup:


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## Marco Scheloske (May 16, 2000)

GKvfx said:


> but the legs were surprisingly sturdy. That, to me, is the lynchpin in this kit.


That's the benefit of using ABS instead of styrene. ABS is much stronger.


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## btbrush (Sep 20, 2010)

Any word on when it'll be available? Not like I don't have enough to do right now.


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

Should be out in store next month, barring any issues with shipping and customs.

Got the legs glued and drying now. Taking photos as I go, so it's slowing me down a bit. Update tomorrow. I love this kit.

Gene


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## Hunch (Apr 6, 2003)

Not big on the film myself, but the detail on this looks amazing! Looks like I'll be getting one after all...


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## btbrush (Sep 20, 2010)

Yeah, like what ever happened to the mother ships? Where all these tripod personel came from. Did they such say, " Ewww, this is a nasty planet. Let's try Alpha Centauri."?
Got to get one of these tripods, though.


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## razorwyre1 (Jan 28, 2004)

question: did you tint the cowl yourself, or did it come "smoked"?


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## chiangkaishecky (Oct 4, 2000)

razorwyre1 said:


> question: did you tint the cowl yourself, or did it come "smoked"?


From the initial post



GKvfx said:


> The smoked hood is a separate part (ABS? Styrene?) and not on a tree per-se....
> This is the smoked clear part - ...


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

OK, I've got a good chunk of this built and the sub-assemblies for painting figured out.

Larry was able to give a set of instructions. They're pretty good, but you will have to pay attention and use some common sense (check twice, glue once). Thankfully things are keyed to go together a certain way, and it will look odd if you mix up some parts. It's not idiot proof, but you don't need a degree in engineering to build one. Sans lighting, this could be a (long) weekend build.

*Starting at the bottom with the feet and legs - 
*
This is the basic layout of the leg parts. You will make three of these. Two (Left/Right) are mirror images of each other, and the rear leg has a different curve - 








I went through the instructions and labeled each part with a sharpie - L, R, and RE to keep things clear.

First thing to remember orientation-wise is that these "shin guard" thingees always face forward - 








They can only attach to the leg one way. Nice and simple. Two of the feet are integral to the lower leg, and one foot is separate.

The leg is divided into upper, mid, and feet sections. The upper sections have covers that go around the parts - 



























I am recommending that you not glue the upper leg to the mid leg till after you paint it. There are some undercuts (nice!) that you may have difficulty in painting if it is all together. But I'm pretty hard core about that stuff. If you want, just glue it all together. The upper leg keys to the mid leg......








........and you need to think about that when you install the covers since they form something of a knee guard.

If you've done it right, they will all have a graceful curve in one direction - 









Do it *wrong* and it should look obvious - 









The parts are not as rigid as, say, resin. But they aren't bendy like vinyl. when everything was in place, it was able to stand on it's own. Without gluing the model to a base.

Next up is the waist assembly.

Gene


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## Buc (Jan 20, 1999)

enjoying your play-by-play, Gene! Kudos!


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

GKvfx said:


> OK, I've got a good chunk of this built and the sub-assemblies for painting figured out.
> 
> Larry was able to give a set of instructions. They're pretty good, but you will have to pay attention and use some common sense (check twice, glue once). Thankfully things are keyed to go together a certain way, and it will look odd if you mix up some parts. It's not idiot proof, but you don't need a degree in engineering to build one. Sans lighting, this could be a (long) weekend build.
> 
> ...





Coming along nicely GKvfx but if the legs were resin.........they'd most probably snap within 2 seconds.


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

SUNGOD said:


> Coming along nicely GKvfx but if the legs were resin.........they'd most probably snap within 2 seconds.


Yep. That's why ABS (which some people whine about), is ideal. I've been using Tenax as my glue on this and see no difference in how it bonds ABS to ABS.

Gene


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

GKvfx said:


> Yep. That's why ABS (which some people whine about), is ideal. I've been using Tenax as my glue on this and see no difference in how it bonds ABS to ABS.
> 
> Gene




I'm not sure if Tenax is available over here but I've got a tube of B&Q ABS glue so looks like it might be a job for that. It seemed to work well on Monarchs Nosferatu anyway.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Could we please resist quoting entire strings of pictures? Seeing them once is enough, and waiting for them to load once is enough.


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

John P said:


> Could we please resist quoting entire strings of pictures? Seeing them once is enough, and waiting for them to load once is enough.


Good idea!

Gene


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

Finishing up the lower part of the tripod with the waist - 

I guess the first thing you really have to decide is which version of the tripod you are going to build. The version with the snake like feelers in front also had the people collection baskets in the rear. The version with the destructo-ray arms had none of that. (Or you could, I suppose, do a hybrid and have both. Or both the feelers and the arms, but minus the baskets.) 

The reason I bring this up is that the front end of the waist has location holes for the feelers that are included in the kit - 









- and if you don't want to use them, you should putty them in now before you add the extra detail parts to the front section of the waist - 










The lower hole looks like the place where the remote feeler "eye" should come out. I don't think you see the exact spot in the film, so I'm just going to take credit for it.

The only fit issue I've seen so far is with the sponsons that attach to the side of the waist. The locating hole is mis-aligned slightly - 









This was easily fixed by opening up one of the holes ever so slightly with the Xacto. (This may just be an issue with my sample. It is an easy fix if you run into it.) Note that the sponsons need to float away from the waist pieces - 










As I mentioned before, everything is keyed. The rear leg has a different key than the left/right legs - 









- and though the left/right legs have the same key shape, they are oriented differently, and I think it will be pretty obvious if you stick the right peg in the wrong hole  .....










I'm going to paint the mid/lower legs as one set of sub assemblies, with the three upper legs and the waist as additional sub assemblies.

Later,

Gene


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## Marco Scheloske (May 16, 2000)

GKvfx said:


> I've been using Tenax as my glue on this and see no difference in how it bonds ABS to ABS.


Tenax seems to bond ABS to ABS, but it won't last long. So if you don't want your model to fall apart after a few months you should use Tamiya Extra Thin instead (this one _really_ bonds ABS to ABS).


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## fluke (Feb 27, 2001)

Mr.P I dig what your laying down brotha but please don't tell us your using dial up?.....or worse Clearwire? LOL


*WOW!!!! * and man thats a bad pun in this case! This is going to be a cool kit!

When I watch the film I buzz it to my fave scenes....that way I can watch the whole movie in 30 minutes! hehehehhe :tongue:


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## Antsnest (Jul 26, 2011)

SUNGOD said:


> I'm not sure if Tenax is available over here but I've got a tube of B&Q ABS glue so looks like it might be a job for that. It seemed to work well on Monarchs Nosferatu anyway.


Have a lookout for EMA Plastic Weld - available from a lot of UK suppiers. Works fine in the other Pegasus kits I've built so far. MUCH nicer than tube cement 

Ant


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

fluke said:


> Mr.P I dig what your laying down brotha but please don't tell us your using dial up?.....or worse Clearwire? LOL


Not me personally, but I'm sure some people do (but mainly, who the heck needs to scroll thru all those pictures yet again just to see a "looks cool!" comment at the end?)


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## Antsnest (Jul 26, 2011)

If you're browsing on a phone, copies of big pictures are an unneccesary drain on mobile data quotas though!! (assuming you're not on 'all you can eat')


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## KUROK (Feb 2, 2004)

Nice looking model and great pics too.

Oh, and thanks for spelling peek correctly instead of the usual "peak". That annoys me almost as much as spelling hangar with an "e"!


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

John P said:


> Could we please resist quoting entire strings of pictures? Seeing them once is enough, and waiting for them to load once is enough.




I'd normally agree with you....but it was only *1* post.


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

KUROK said:


> Nice looking model and great pics too.
> 
> Oh, and thanks for spelling peek correctly instead of the usual "peak". That annoys me almost as much as spelling hangar with an "e"!


I like punctuation, too.

Gene


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

SUNGOD said:


> I'd normally agree with you....but it was only *1* post.


Yeah, so?


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## fluke (Feb 27, 2001)

OK...alright..... bad selling and too many pics aside...lets move on. This is a fun HOBBY place...not College. 

Funny....I could not spell worth beans until the net....mainly here....spell check really sinks in after 10 years. LOL :tongue:

HMMMM......It looks as if the power supply may have to be inside the main body some how....The lower part of the legs look pretty solid to me........unless a very fine channel can be dremeled out or using a panel line scribing tool?


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

fluke said:


> OK...alright..... bad *selling* and too many pics aside...lets move on.


Now THAT's irony! :lol:


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

John P said:


> Yeah, so?




So why make an issue of it?


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## fluke (Feb 27, 2001)

Good grief! Thats the bad thing about relying on spell check. If its spekked correctly but the wrong word.....you still took the short bus! :freak:


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## btbrush (Sep 20, 2010)

Maybe too many people texting and forgot how to spell. Should take a look at some of the posts over at the clubhouse, and these are from monitors.
Now back to the WOTW tripod, already in progress. Definately gonna be an early Christmas present for MOI. Just when I decided I have enough kits stashed away. Got my Nautilus and thought that would be the end. Oh well.
Bruce


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

SUNGOD said:


> So why make an issue of it?


I didn't, I mentioned it once. _You're_ making an issue of it, however, by dragging it out into a multi-post discussion. ;p

I was nipping it in the bud, so people didn't continue to do it, leaving us with another thread pointlessly full of reposts of the same mass of pictures. It may not be a problem for us at home with cable modems, but as someone pointed out, it's tough when reading from a portable device.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

John P said:


> I didn't, I mentioned it once. _You're_ making an issue of it, however, by dragging it out into a multi-post discussion. ;p
> 
> I was nipping it in the bud, so people didn't continue to do it, leaving us with another thread pointlessly full of reposts of the same mass of pictures. It may not be a problem for us at home with cable modems, but as someone pointed out, it's tough when reading from a portable device.




Well I commented on what you said but then I couldn't help but react to your slightly belligerent "yeah so" answer. 

Anyway....that's my last say on the matter.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

Antsnest said:


> Have a lookout for EMA Plastic Weld - available from a lot of UK suppiers. Works fine in the other Pegasus kits I've built so far. MUCH nicer than tube cement
> 
> Ant




Forgot about that. Might try some on this tripod.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

SUNGOD said:


> Well I commented on what you said but then I couldn't help but react to your slightly belligerent "yeah so" answer.
> 
> Anyway....that's my last say on the matter.


Didn't mean it that way, sorry.


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## SUNGOD (Jan 20, 2006)

John P said:


> Didn't mean it that way, sorry.



Ok John:thumbsup:


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

OK, getting this thread back on track......

I played around with the head a bit this weekend, so we'll focus on that. 









When I first saw all the barbs on the hood, I thought, "great, another evening of frustratingly small parts being launched from my tweezers and getting lost in the carpeting."

Wrong. 

Pegasus has come up with an ingenious way to get all those little barbs in place, and in register, using 4 parts total. The barbs are arranged like little spike strips - 









- that line up with a set of corresponding holes in the *inside* of the smoked hood - 









You still have to use a certain amount of care to not bend them, but they do fit perfectly - 









Once down, you just apply the liquid cement and they are locked in place. The 4 spike strips are even keyed to each other in pairs. Of course, you have to now exercise a certain amount of care to not break them off or impale yourself with them. But that is a small concession to make.

This is essentially a blanking plate that fits on the inside of the hood. This prevents you from seeing any hollow space if you decide to....... look up the skirt (so to speak) - 









I'm pretty sure the instructions will mention this, but you should glue down the spike strips prior to securing the blanking plate.

The blanking plate may be an issue if you are trying to accurately light the kit. Looking at the ILM model, the triangular, webbed parts around the perimeter are backlit in shades of purple. In CG land, the placement of the "lamps" to create that effect is irrelevant. But in the model, all those lights and batteries have to fit - somewhere. The blanking plate will obscure some of those parts. I am building a separate head model with lighting in mind, and I think if you trim the blanking plate a bit, you can kinda get an approximation of the effect. 

[









Of course, if all you want to do is light up the three "searchlights" in the front - that should be easy. You will likely need to use watch batteries for the lighting so as to not affect the balance of the model. That means leaving the hood removable from the model to switch it on/change the batteries. I think that if you trim the pins that go in these locators - 








- you should be able to achieve that. I'll let you know later..........

Another update soon

Gene


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## fluke (Feb 27, 2001)

More...please sir.....can we have more?

Is there any word on the Pegasus Nautilus?


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## ClubTepes (Jul 31, 2002)

Yes, more please.

This is my most wanted kit for 2011......(now that I've already got all my other most wanted kits for 2011).


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## GKvfx (May 30, 2008)

A brief update and a pleasant surprise.......

I tinkered with some painting since the last update. I'm doing two heads - one with lights, and one for the diorama version for SF&FM. Similar techniques, but I'll probably do a more in-depth paint job for the magazine.

Looking at the movie, it seems that the triangular webbed areas around the perimeter of the hood - 








- are all backlight with reds/blues/purples.

That means that each webbed triangle needs to be masked twice - once on the outside of the hood, and once on the inside of the hood.

I love Tamiya masking tape and since the webbed areas are slightly recessed, applying the tape, burnishing it down, and trimming it is a relatively easy task - 









I copped out by simply applying a strip pf blue painter's tape to mask off the inside area of the hood - 








- This was just a quickie to test the proof of concept. I came up with a way to do a more precise masking job on the other hood.

I took the hood and some of the other head parts and sprayed them with Testors Metallizer paints. I used Stainless Steel. The hood got sprayed on the outside and the inside. This was sprayed not so much as a color coat, but as an opaquing material to block the light. I just used a rattle can from the paint rack - 









The results seemed to work -








- though if I were doing it for real, I'd leave the masks in place throughout the weathering process so I wouldn't have to deal with overspray.

As a bonus, I discovered that Pegasus has included some of the etched hieroglyphics on the front part of the hood - 








- (they were hard to discern w/out paint and should stand out even better with a wash.)

That's about all for right now.

Gene


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## fluke (Feb 27, 2001)

Super sweet! Thanks for the heads up....and LOOKING GOOD! :thumbsup:


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