Clark Bradshaw’s Botany Bay

The Botany Bay was a whole new experience for me! It was a vaccu-form kit Is. It really was a lot of fun and I recommend it for a first-time vaccu-form kit. It’s pretty straightforward and the parts are great! Not much detail, but the original didn’t have much either.

For the painting I used Wal-Mart brand flat gray and gloss almond spray paints (88 cents a can!). The gray was painted first, and left to dry for about three days. Then the gloss almond paint was sprayed and left to dry for about an hour. Then I sanded off the fresh paint using 150 grit paper in areas I wanted to look weathered. The gloss paint seems to sand off easier (especially given the short drying time) than the flat gray and looks like old worn off paint. Afterwards, a few decals were applied and some streaks were airbrushed. Then it was all hit with Testors matte finish.

I think it’s a cool kit and one that a few ‘elite’ people recognize and even fewer have on their shelf! The Botany Bay got a Merit Award at the 1998 Wonderfest.

Clark Bradshaw