This model is based on a drawing I first documented in July of 1978. Bad spelling aside, this is the very earliest version of the Interceptor ever recorded. Back then, the story that would become Starstrikers, was called Galaxy Collision.
I was 13 years old when I drew that picture! We built three of these Interceptor models in cardboard. These are visible on the bed (screen left) with my good friend Ed Halbig, also age 13.
Later on, I built one out of plastic sheet. It was my very first scratch built plastic model and it even had a light inside the cockpit! The light was from a flashlight and it needed two D cell batteries to make it work, just like a flashlight.
Above is Ed holding the plastic version. Behind it on the desk are a Skimmer and a Ravager model in cardboard and a couple of MPC X-Wings. I love the tiny Testers paint bottles!
Start with a Mount
It’s all about the mount. I start most builds with some sort of isometric drawing as much to scale as possible. So I usually just tape a couple of pieces of paper together, get out a pencil and a ruler and draw what I feel the basic shape of the model will be.
I started this model with the thought that it would be 1/72 scale. It’s difficult to judge the size of an imaginary vehicle, so the scale of this model has changed as I realized that my 1/72 scale pilots felt too big to fit in the cockpit of the ship. I ordered some 1/144 scale pilots and when they came, it was immediately apparent that 1/144 was the better fit for this size of model.
In the above photo you can see the 1/72 scale pilots. While they look fine in this side view drawing, when you actually build the thing, you can see that the width is too narrow for two pilots. I wanted this size to be similar to a transport plane with a pilot and a copilot. Below you can see that a 1/72 crew could fit, they would also be very snug and so that was clearly not the scale of this model.
I had no kit pilots in 1/144 scale, so I ordered some resin 3D printed modern pilots from EBay. They are super tiny, but I feel like they fit much better inside the cockpit of the Interceptor.
The first thing I build on any scratch model is the mount. I don’t build these models to sit on a shelf and be looked at. They are working models that are built to be photographed for my novel book covers. So I have to think about how they are going to be photographed and from what angles in order to decide how to build the mounting system. In this model’s case, it must be mounted from behind while photographed and from underneath while building and displaying the model after it’s done being photographed. I didn’t require side mounts on this one.
This is what the mount block looked like before I trimmed it down and installed it into the model. The set screws tighten against the bottom and stern mount holes. Also shown is the 3/32 drill used for the tap and the threaded tap 10-24. If I ever lost these two items, I would order them again ASAP. During the drilling of the mount holes, I broke the first block. I have since glued it back together and will probably use it in another model.
Skipping ahead a bit, here’s a shot of the mount block glued into the model. You can clearly see how the stern mount goes through the bulkheads and the bottom one goes down only.
Next up we’ll get the body together and show how the head is built.