Joel Tavera’s Narcissus

Here is a Halcyon model of the Narcissus that I did for a customer. It is the second that I have assembled. Yes, yes, I do have one of my own waiting in a box somewhere to be assembled on my old age. Ha, ha.
After the basic assembly of the kit and filling all the seams, I filed the bad fit on the underside of the snout of the ship since it was sticking out like a sore thumb.

Here is a cool overhead view of the model with the streaking effects

I re-etched the lines lost in the process and checked for additional blemishes.

This view shows the weathered underside. It was actually heavier than it appears in this shot.

The rear hatch was applied last and an aluminum foil was adhered to the inner side to reflect outside light through the clear piece.

Engines are painted black and additional scorching was made by applying black pastel with a Q-tip around the edges of the engines and on the exterior of the engine cowling.

A 3/4 top forward view showing the additional thrusters above the main viewport.

The main viewport was masked with regular masking tape.

For a base coat I used a Gloss White (no grey primer since the plastic is white) for the hull sprayed from a can of Nybco Spray Enamel. Decals were next applied with a setting solution as per the box art and instructions and not what was on the actual movie prop.

This side of the rear skirting was whiter than the innerside due to debris being captured in space.

Tamiya Flat Black was airbrushed into each engine, and some additional Medium Grey and Desert Tan was subtly airbrushed also from the Tamiya line onto certain strategic spots on the ship for character. Tamiya Flat Black wash was applied to bring out all the nooks and crannies.

Now from this view you can see why the studio model was nick named “Miss Piggy” due to the snout and breaking thrusters of the ship

As an additional touch the ship was further dirtied using black pastel applied with a semi coarse paint brush and a Q-tip in backward sweeping motions.  Lastly a coat of Testors Dulcote was applied to keep the weathering and decals in place.

This was built straight from the box. I would have gone by the actual studio model for my own personal version.  If any of you guys get to acquire one of these, you won’t be disappointed. Trust me, it is a cool model.

Joel Tavera