Skyhook C57-D miniature Diorama

Skyhook is one of my favorite garage kit makers on the planet. I had a blast making their Planet Express and when I saw their booth at the 2001 ImagiNation Expo I spent more there than any other booth. Among the kits I got were a couple of their then new miniature space diorama ships.

The mini C57-D depicts the famous ship from Forbidden Planet in a scale that won’t need coasters to display (unlike the Polar Lights coffee table version). I gave the ship to Marcus at the show. He liked it a lot and kept pestering me to finish it. He’d sneak into the study and take it out of the bag and play with it, eventually losing the land gears!

A quick e-mail to Dave Bengel at Skyhook and the replacement pieces were in the mail. That’s the kind of customer/fan support that all makers should have! I love this company!

With the new gear in hand and Marcus at the door looking over my shoulder, I knew I had to make the model. It was simple and fun.

I washed the kit, glued the gear on, primed it and painted it. I used a steel silver on the ship, airbrushed in two thin coats. I sealed it with Future and used an oil black wash for the edge and the gear bays. Another sealing and the ship was done.

I used umbers and sienas on the base, a bit of brown oil wash and some dry brushing of yellow oxide to approximate the planet surface and steel/silver for the ship part,. Another sealing and Marcus could play with it.

This is a marvelous little model. It fits on the shelf, is very accurate and was a blast to make. It was simple enough to make in a couple of hours with great results. It didn’t break the bank and is of a subject dear to all starship modelers’ hearts. Great work!

As for the other miniature diorama, Caius made it himself, and it's displayed on his page. See it here.