ARII Ghost box - painted and working

 

Here we go. Job done. 

Painting the stonework was quite fun. I started with Humbrol 64, pale grey. Once tacky, some 147 was sponged on lightly, followed by talculm powder to blend the colours and add texture. Left to dry overnight, the finishing touch was a thin wash of 67 grey, dried with a hardryer. This last step is partly because I was impatient, but it also allows me to see the effect and add to it if required. 

The soil is earth colour, washed with track colour. This caused the base to lift in a couple of places, I should have given it a longer drying time, so a bit of scruffy static grass held down with hair spray adds a suitably run-down look. 

On the front, you can see a skull and crossbones sticker from the sheet provided, either side of which are the metal contacts that sense a coin is in place. So that this will happen: 

Isn't it brilliant? Best of all, if the claw doesn't grab the coin properly the first time, it has another go, which is properly spooky!

Time taken - probably just over three hours, split 50:50 between building and painting. For £15, that's about the same as being in the pub (I'm not a fast drinker. YMMV) but unlike most plastic kits, there's plenty of play value for the future to be had as well. If you've never built a plastic kit before, it's not ideal, but the mechanism isn't hard to figure out and is very much part of the fascination for me, so I really enjoyed this build.