Onwards and upwards !! Here is the promised shot of the post filled ring at the bottom. At least, it seems to have the engine int he middle (not yet fitted) so I'm calling it the bottom. The Mr Surfacer 500 is really good and filling small gaps, and sands easily with a wet sanding stick.

A few more details are added.


The two daughter satellites are assembled. All easy stuff. These are made from clear blue plastic as the body is completely covered in solar panels as far as I can tell.

Now it's time for a lick of paint. A squirt of black for the main body

The solar panels were painted Tamiya Chrome. Not a paint I like as the 'chrome' flakes are quite coarse and unrealistic looking. However, I think the effect works quite well for a solar panel. Then they were given a coat of clear blue. Needs another couple of coats to darken the blue, or perhaps a coat of 'Smoke' might give a good effect ? or risk mixing a drop of black white clear blue ? What do you think ?
If I've got time, a coat of gloss varnish will finish the job.

Pretty much an out of the box build. The real satellite has what looks like a black plastic covering, although I'm guessing it's a bit more high tech than a bin liner !! I haven't managed to come up with a good way of simulating that at a small scale. The main antenna looks wrong as well, although photos on the web (there aren't many) seem to suggest it is right. The only ones I could find showing the antenna are CGI, but they are from the manufacturer.