To be perfectly frank with you, this was my first resin/vacuformed assembly job. I got it when it first came out and the resin was quite different. Now the chariot is made of a different resin and the canopy is of different clear plastic, all in all a better kit to start out with.

It took me over the course of 4 months to complete this model because I just took my sweet time with it. I added quite a bit of scratch built pieces to this model.

John is a Tamiya 'tank' commander and Don is a Escii soldier. Both from 1/32 military figure kits. The curtains are just 'Kleenex' sprayed silver and folded into shape, I kept out the resin ones.

The laser rifles are doctored up from a Tamiya 1/32 scale armor set( I also used two bayonets from this kit to double as the control joysticks Don has his hands on). The controls are decals from WWII airplanes. The foot wells are made from scratch plastic sheet as are the center console and control box.

I kept and used the provided resin luggage but made some others from Plastruct square tubes and added them inside the vehicle to add "clutter" for a visual impact. I used painted construction paper for the seat cushions and belts.

As for the rocket belt, I just used scrap wire and plastic along with a 'Tamiya' 1/32 kit's motorcycle seat to make it up (at that time Lunar didn't have it.) To add a dimension of realism, I used 'Pactra' red trim tape to line the interior ribbing of the model. Then instead of painting the outside ribbing, I used the 'Pactra' silver trim tape to make straight smooth lines. I used a spray can of automotive touch up paint that was 'steel' in color for the chariot chassis.

Now the treads at that time were very difficult to work with because of the type of resin used(now the newer resin is much easier). Here you have only to be patient and take your time in filing out the open areas and doing a bit of sanding. Like I have already said, this is much faster and easier now due to the new resin. Paint the treads a color approximating 'rubber', lay them over the wheels, conform them to the shape desired over said wheels with a Hair dryer, trim off excess and superglue in place. I substituted small paper staples for the resin pieces to hold all the exterior lights, because the resin pieces may break off if handled too much.

Now to keep the model relatively safe to handle I made a base from a pressed wood small table top. I used spackle to make the rocks, then poured a generous amount of white glue cut with a little water and dishwashing liquid to the top of the base and then sprinkled railroad modelers soil over it for adhesion of said soil. Before the glue dries I used spare pieces of the tread to make indention in the soil so it will look like the weight of the chariot made an impression. Afterwards I used white glue to secure the model's treads to the base(white glue in case I wanted to remove the model from the base in the future). Then real lichen and twigs were added for realism of an alien world.

This came out to be a real show piece because of all the added clutter to the kit, an idea I got from seeing some really neat military tank models.

Joel Tavera