Assembling the SemFed Models
by Tony Francis

The Brigade Models starships range has now been re-organised is no longer tied to the SemFed background. Brigade have provided a conversion list showing the product codes in the old and new ranges.

Unlike some SF house journals (which shall remain nameless, but you all know who I mean), that regurgitate the same articles time and again on how to assemble/paint their models, I thought it might be more useful to pass on some of the little foibles and points that you need to watch for with the new SFSFW starships.

Dayan Class Fleet Carrier

This one isn't hard to put together. Much to my amazement, the flight deck and main hull fit really well, so all it needs is plenty of Araldite or similar to hold them together. The control tower will clip into place easily although some are a tight fit and may need a bit of force. You shouldn't need to do any filing or filling. One tip- make sure you paint the underside of the control tower and any markings on the deck lifts before you glue the control tower on, otherwise you'll find (as I did) that it is impossible to get a brush under there with any degree of accuracy.

Ideally this model could do with one of the larger (black octagonal) Citadel stands as a base, although it will sit (rather unsteadily) on a normal (clear hexagonal) base. If you put it on a normal stand, drill a 4mm diameter hole about 4mm deep into the main hull (use the pilot hole marked as a guide) and snip off the top, small diameter part of the stand. Push the main part of the stand into the hole and glue with Araldite or superglue. Don't try just gluing the top of the stand into a smaller hole, this will snap off very quickly.

Bar Lev Class Battleship

There are two control towers in this kit. The lower one of the two goes for'd, about 10mm from the bow, and the taller one sits in the recess at the rear.

Meir Class Heavy Cruiser

This cruiser had a receptacle for a base built into the bottom of the hull, but this hasn't cast too well on the examples I've done so far. The best bet is to cut/file this off completely and drill a new hole. Also the fin on this cruiser has given me no end of trouble so you can either replace it with a plasticard one or remove it altogether. Eventually a new mould will be made which should overcome this.

Sharon Class Light Cruiser

No problems with this model, just be careful not to drill too deeply when making a hole for a stand, as you could easily come out the top of the ship!

Hofi Class Frigate

My personal favourite of all the ships, it is also the one that has given the best casting results. Again the only thing to watch is that you don't drill too deep.

Negev Class Heavy Freighter

This is a very chunky kit, weighing almost as much as the carrier - perhaps I should have made the master hollow (too late now).

Really needs a large stand but will sit reasonably well on a small one. Drill the hole for the stand in the bottom of the bridge (front) section for normal freighters, or in the centre of the cargo module for extended freighters. Each section has locating lugs and corresponding square holes, but I have to admit to a mistake when cutting the access channels in the mould for the bridge which means that the locating hole in the rear of this is rather obscured by flash. This can be cleaned out with a combination of scalpel, drill and file.

Assembling the SemFed Models by Tony Francis