Star Wars Episode 2 - Jango Fett w/ Jet Pack

Seeking models to fuel my Star Wars addiction, I recently found this incredible looking model of Jango Fett from the Episode Two film, "Attack of the Clones." Remember the fight scene on the planet of Kamino between Obi-Wan and Jango? This remarkable model depicts the bounty hunter using his jet pack to rise above his opponent and fire his pistols. It really looks great and is brought to us by the Print, Cut & Paste website. The PDF/PDO template can be downloaded for free.

Jango Fett

Space Shuttle Atlantis Trip

Well, I've returned from my Space Shuttle Trip to Florida. I'd like to say it was spectacular, but we didn't have the best viewing location. I was only able to shoot a few of photos. None of them were very good. But, here are couple anyway. We were on a boat in Port Canaveral in 4 foot swells about 7 miles NNE of Launch Pad 39A.

There are many great sites for quality video and pictures on the net. I'm going to include a few links to sites I've found since my return. There are some fabulous images here; many more can easily be found. Post some of you favorites in the comments. I'd love to see what you come up with.

Video:

360 Degree Video of Shuttle Vertical Assembly Building (VAB)

Pictures:

360 Degree View of Atlantis Flight Deck

Jeffery Ross Photography

The Last Shuttle

My last post included a site that specialized in Shuttle Models from every flight over the last 30 years. I'm planning to do a build in the near future to commemorate STS-135. I'll keep you updated. 

At least I can say that I saw the final space shuttle launch. Congratulations to the crew and all of NASA on a safe and productive journey, and for a successful end to the shuttle era. On to the future!

Space Shuttle Paper Card Models

On Friday, July 8th, at about 11:30 am EST, the final NASA Space Shuttle mission, STS-135, featuring shuttle Atlantis, is scheduled for launch. And I'm gonna be there! I've never been to a launch, so I'm very excited. This will be historic! In searching for information on past flights, I came across this little gem of a website: AXM Paper Space Scale Models: The Site for Space Shuttle Card Modelers.

This highly detailed site contains International Space Station models, international satellites, capsule models from Russia, America, and other countries, and of course, space shuttle models, including reference documents to individual missions. Models include different external tank configurations, crawler transporter and mobile launch pads, and even the 747 jumbo jet carrier shown below.

This site is great for everyone interested the shuttle program, with bits about the crews, histories, mission goals, and payloads from various missions, from test flights from the '70s to present. When I get back, I'm planning to build a model to commemorate my trip. Man, this should be fun! I'll post about the experience when I get back. Have a great Independence Day!

HP Blackbird 002 Paper Model

Hey. Guess what? I finished one. I finished a model. I know. Pretty hard for me to believe, too. It's a pretty simple one. But, alas,I made it harder than it had to be. This model was published as an advertisement on the back of one of my Maximum PC magazines. The paper wasn't the strongest, so I figured gluing it to a piece of card stock would shore it up a bit. Well, this was a rather foolish idea.

As I cut out the parts, each one wanted to curl, leading me place the pieces under a heavy book to flatten them out. This added about a week or so to the build time. Good thing I wasn't in a hurry. Also, I applied the adhesive unevenly, resulting in bubbling on the surface, and unsealed edges. Fixing these, of course, added time to the project as well. But, I persevered and the results are not great, but OK.

Fortunately, you are spared the toil of my past mistakes, thanks to a gracious individual who scanned the page into an Adobe PDF file and submitted it for download on Media Fire. Something I really should have thought of. The link has a different case design than mine. Too late now. Sorry for that. I blame the meds.

The model has three main parts; the body, the base and a removable side. If you're looking for a glossy finish like the magazine edition pictured above, I would try printing the template out on photo paper.