Pete composed this astounding scene with Polar Lights' 1/72 scale C-57D Starcruiser (from the 1956 movie Forbidden Planet) and computer software, using Photoshop to add the moon and clouds to the sky. Pete improved the Starcruiser model by eliminating large hull seams, adding detail to the interior, and wiring LEDs and fiber optics on the boarding ramps and instruments. The photos was taken at Arches National Park in Moab, Utah.
In honor of the legendary author of The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451, Pete named his kitbashed rocket The Bradbury. Starting with Dragon's 1/32 scale V-2, he added three fins made from plastic sheet as well as fin pods cast from resin (the master was made from a 1/48 scale B-58 engine pod) and he lit up the interior with LEDs and fiber optics. The photo was taken at Arches National Park in Moab, Utah, but Pete created the fantastic sky in Photoshop.
This one might show up anytime, anywhere: Pete built the Time Machine in 1995, the 100th anniversary of the publication of H.G. Wells' book. The model is 7-inches long, weighs 27 ounces, and was scratchbuilt from basswood, acrylic rod, and several brass parts turned on a lathe. Pete photographed the model at home, shot the Bak Tower in Lake Wales, Fla., then went back home and combined the images.
“This is the old Lunar Models resin kit of the Luna from the 1950 George Pal movie Destination Moon,” Pete says. “I built it in 1988, then recently rediscovered it. After a final sanding with 12000-grit, I painted the craft black, then sprayed it with Alclad II stainless. I found a colorized moon image and used Photoshop to replicate a scene just after the ship inverts to brake and start the landing sequence.”
He wasn’t crazy about the kit, citing poor fits and foggy clear parts, but Pete got a good result from Airfix’s 1/72 scale Ford Trimotor. He replaced the windows and canopy with thermoformed plastic sheet and added livery for Star Air Lines, which served Alaska with Fords into the 1940s.
Pete writes: “This Alouette II helicopter is the Revell Germany 1/32 scale kit. Everything fit almost perfectly. I added operational cockpit doors (which can be removed if required), engine ‘plumbing,’ seat belts, mic/headphone sets with coiled cords, tie-down hardware, control cables, prototype antennas, navigation/collision lights, and snow pads. The kit’s landing struts were too fragile, so I made new ones from brass rod.”
Photographic magic let Pete perform a lunar landing of his atomic-powered rocket ship Galileo. He added an airlock, landing skids, and nose and belly thrusters to Fantastic Plastic’s 1/144 scale resin kit. Pulling back the curtain, he says, “Earth is 2" across and mounted on black velvet. The mountains are cut from an old astronomy magazine, and the lunar surface is grouting cement.”
This is the Heller 1/72 scale kit of Lockheed’s Constellation, “the sexiest-looking ’liner ever built!” he says.