First look: A Wah Chang model build-up
By François O. Beaulieu

Gary Caroll is a pioneer of sorts. He made one of the earliest build-ups of the Alan Terry kit (click here) and – nineteen years later - has just completed one of the very first build-ups of the new Masterpiece “movie miniature” kit.

Indeed, Masterpiece Models released their new 1:12 kit based on Chris Perotta’s renderings only last October and, as of this writing (December 20, 2007), no one has reported completing a build-up from that kit… except Gary.

Gary found the kit relatively easy to build except for the rails, which required substantial sanding. He also found the decals somewhat of a challenge. Gary used Krylon spray paint for the dish and rails. Everything else was done with Folkart acrylic paints. Pike green was used for the motor housing, a mixture of grey and black for the pods and bright red for the seat. He applied Napa pinstripes to the base of the column.

Gary was generally happy with the kit parts (except for the rails) and feels that because many of the parts are moulded together, it makes the kit less difficult to build. Others however would have liked more individual components such as are found in the Lunar Models kit and previous 1:6 Masterpiece kit as well as some parts (the tumblers and lamps) cast out of translucent resin. For this reason, Gary replaced the rear lamp cage in the kit with a small light bulb. Other than that, he built the kit with no further modifications.