On The Bench 304: Joel Tavera’s Chariot

Years ago, way before Polar Lights reissued their Aurora Lost In Space Cyclops and Chariot kit, I purchased a poorly cast resin version of the kit. I put it away after only the Chariot was sanded and primered cause it didn’t seem worth the pursuit at the time. However since a number of the Polar Lights styrene kits were built for clients, I opted to try my hand at it.

The casting was very poor with it’s share of tiny air holes in it. It was re sanded and re primered. Most of the extraneous detail, like the ladder rungs and bumpers were removed. After some more of the surface detail was augmented using Testors White putty, sand paper and tiny files and thick gel super glue, it was airbrushed Tamiya Metallic grey acrylic. This was followed by coat, after coat after coat and another coat of Model Masters Gloss clear from the spray can. These clear coats helped the decals from the Polar Lights kit adhere to the recast resin and filled up what tiny air holes I missed. These were spare decals from previous clients Chariot kits since their detail was airbrushed on.

Portions of this model were scratch built like the top dome, the radar dish support and ladder rungs and bumpers. Two different size staples were used for the bumpers and ladder rungs. The dish was taken from a spare Polar Lights kit as was the luggage rack. Afterwards the whole assembly was topped off with a Model Masters dulcote application for decal protection.

The recast tread section was atrocious so it was decided to make this chariot a water line version as if it was going through the Hungry Sea even if crew members were not visible in the decals(Oy!). Here are a few pics of the process with the completed Chariot canopy, hopefully the water line section will be forth coming soon.

Joel Tavera