Just about this time last year the local sci-fi club announced the next special category for the local Sci-Fan contest…a Spaceracer loosely based on the 1939 Lester Del Rey short story Habit. The race described in Del Rey’s story is an eight day race from Mars to Jupiter and back in any form of one-man ship that the entrant can provide. Except for launch and landing on the surface of Mars, the entire race takes place in space. I spent some time at the end of the club meeting browsing the shelves for possible fodder for my kitbash. I found it in the form of the Silhouette Show Car. More specifically, two show cars. My concept would only use the upper body half from each of the two donor kits. The rest of the spacecraft would come from the spare parts box , found items, and possibly some scratch built bits.

Once the ball was essentially complete I could turn my attention to the body. The trunk detail on the body shell was removed to open up the rear area so that the pilot would have a way out of the craft after landing. In the place where the engine should have been, a large fuel cell was built using several plastic cylinders acquired from a local crafts store that deals in recycled materials. The end of each fuel cell was connected using "tubing" made from electrical solder. A bulkhead was made for each side of the body where the cockpit ball would be attached. A brass tube was installed in each bulkhead as a pivot point for the ball. The rest of the interior was filled with spare parts and aluminum tubing to simulate the plumbing and machinery would might expect to see.

Once the interior of the body was complete, the shell could be assembled and the wings trimmed and glued to the hull. Both the main wings and the forward canards were scavenged from a couple of small snap together shuttle kits. The tip of each main wing was sanded flat and a small brass rod installed as reinforcement for the engine ring that would come next.

All of the parts came from items I found at the recycling store I mentioned earlier. Since most of the items were originally soft vinyl or other mixed materials, I chose to take the plunge into casting my own parts. RTV molds were made of the necessary shapes and multiple copies were cast using a two-part resin. After a little cleanup and final sanding/shaping the parts were glued together following a pattern drawn to ensure a proper final configuration. I made sure that the engine pods that would be opposite the wing tips had corresponding holes predrilled to accept the brass reinforcing rod already installed.

It was during the construction of this project that I was told of the contest being sponsored by Starshipmodeler. After some encouragement from others I decided to submit my efforts for consideration. I hope you all enjoy my creation…or, at least, don't laugh too loudly.

Image: Front view

Image: Port side

Image: Cockpit, in landing position