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Exploring Mars

By Dave Allen




Assembling and painting the "First Men on Mars" vignette from EVA Models was my first experience with a kit from this company, but it won't be my last. The scale is 1/32, which translates into 54mm for those of you who deal more with figures and are used to the metric scale. The figures are cast in resin, and the detail is crisp and imaginative.

After a soapy wash and dry, I assembled the figures. Parts must separated from the gates carefully, and the instructions are very clear that a sharp knife and eye protection are requirements for this task. Other than removing the gates there is very little preparation required and the parts fit is superb. I used Zap-a-Gap CA as glue and Squadron white putty to fill in gaps where the arms join the upper torso and where the upper torso joins the lower. I temporarily attached both figures to a craft stick with hot glue, and dabbed a bit of glue onto the resin base where the feet of each figure were to be attached later.

Next I primed the figures all over with Krylon white sandable primer. I used several light coats with an hour or so drying period between coats. Since the pressure suits are white anyway this was all the spray painting I did. After the primer had dried I applied a wash of thinned Tamiya black paint with a drop of dishwashing liquid soap added to help break the surface tension of the wash. I applied this wash only to the pressure suits, not to the backpack, since I wanted to convey a difference in the materials. When the wash had dried completely I drybrushed white over the entire figure to restore highlights. I then used a 00 brush to apply red, blue, yellow, gold, gray, and black Tamiya paints to add details to the figures similar to those shown in the photo that comes with the kit. I deviated from the photo in a couple of details, such as the fingertips of the gloves and the gold visors.

I prepared the resin base by spray painting it with a flat terra-cotta colored paint. When that was dry I applied a heavy wash of thinned black Tamiya paint. At this point I removed the figures from their temporary perch and glued them in place on the base (first peeling away the hot glue from both the feet of the figures and the base and revealing unpainted resin, which is essential for obtaining a strong bond between figure and base). I sprayed the entire model with Model Master clear gloss and let it dry while I cut out the decals. The kit comes with a decal sheet, but I used decals from the separately-available decal set from EVA. While technically the decal sheet does not include decals for this kit, the American flag is better on the separate sheet and at this scale very few people could tell that my Mars astronauts are sporting insignia from the Apollo 15 mission! I liberally applied MicroSol to allow the decals to conform to the figures.

Next I brushed rust-colored chalk dust over the feet and gloves of the figures to portray -- well, dust! I brushed additional chalk dust over the base. I then dabbed a bit of glue on the end of each of the short lengths of wire that come with the kit to represent the backpack antennae. They slip right into pre-drilled holes in the top of each backpack. I applied a thick coat of Tamiya white paint to each.

Lastly, I assembled the American flag. I cut a rectangle of lead foil the size and shape of the flag decal and applied a flag decal to each side (again, with lots of MicroSol). I had originally intended to "crinkle" the foil to give the flag a wrinkled look like those you see in the Apollo photos, but I was worried that the decal would crack if I did this so I left it with a slight "wave" instead. Next time I will use thinner aluminum foil and "pre-crinkle" it. Wish me luck. After the flag decals had dried I glued it to the wire "staff" that comes with the kit. I did not paint the staff. The flag fits neatly into a pre-drilled hole in the base.

Finally, I coated the entire model with Model Master lusterless (flat). In the photo I had not yet performed this step, so the model is a bit shiny.

Overall, I had a blast assembling and finishing this kit, and I highly recommend it.




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