01.12.04 » Independent Permanant Mars Colony and Terraformation Study

"...The Men of Earth came to Mars. They came because they were afraid or unafraid, because they were happy or unhappy, because they felt like Pilgrims or did not feel like Pilgrims. There was a reason for each man. They were leaving bad wives or bad towns; they were coming to find something or leave something or get something, to dig up something or bury something or leave something alone. They were coming with small dreams or large dreams or none at all.... it was not unusual that the first men were few. The numbers grew steadily in proportion to the census of Earth Men already on Mars. There was comfort in numbers. But the first Lonely Ones had to stand by themselves..."

--Ray Bradbury: The Martian Chronicles

ter·ra·form
tr.v. ter·ra·formed, ter·ra·form·ing, ter·ra·forms
To transform (a landscape) on another planet into one having the characteristics of landscapes on Earth.

During the Sentinel Era of the Universal Century, let's say 0086 or something (Whatever, I'm not that big of a fan boy.) Aneheim Electronics Advanced Research and Projects Group (AEARPG) led an independent study on the feasibility of placing a permanent colony on the martian surface. This colony would be the launching point for a terraformation project. To make Mars into another Earth could solve the problem of overpopulated space colonies in the Earth Sphere.

A special task force dubbed the Fourth Planet Terraformation Initiative was created to oversee the project. Phase one of the Independent Permanent Mars Colony and Terraformation Study (IPMCTS) would be to seal off large portions of the Valles Marineris Canyon system making the Canyon itself into a colony.

Having no support from the Earth Federation, AEARPG took it's own security measures in the form of three mobile suit squadrons amid fears of terrorism from Zeon remnants and other military capable groups. These MS squadrons would patrol and scout the martian landscape and defend the project if necessary.

For the first year of the project, all was quiet. Work proceeded on schedule and the 29th Zeta Plus MS Squadron spent most of their time mapping the landscape and escorting shuttle and transport craft.

01.12.04 » Concept Work

I've been very interested in Mars and especially the exploration of since reading several sci-fi novels. The first is a classic: The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. The other three Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson which chronicle the colonization and eventual terraforming of Mars based on the science of today. It was really an enjoyable series.

Because of this I decided to do a kit based on a martian theme. The Master Grade Zeta Plus A1 Type seemed to suit this quite well. It's transformable nature made it a great choice for exploration/defense.

I'll be giving the kit a martian style camo. Now you're thinking "why isn't it all orange?". Well, while Mars does have an iron rich soil giving it an orange/red appearance, the martian surface actually has a variety of warm colors. You can see this in many of the satellite probe images from Mars.

I don't think I'll be doing any modifications to the kit itself. Probably just a custom color scheme and custom decals seen below »

01.21.04 » Head Modifications

Here are a few shots of my modifications to the head to make it more like the A2 type Zeta Plus. I'm making this front piece interchangeable with the standard so that I can display either.

01.28.04 » Head Modifications Complete + Painting

Here's the final shots of the head modification. You can see the build/prime/sand/prime/sand/ etc...

I have gotten pretty far with the painting. I have the internals, light gray, gold, red-orange, beige and darker beige painted. You can see where I have painted the red and gold first, then masked them off for the grays and beiges.

01.30.04 » Camo Painting

Okay, I'm gonna go step-by-step on painting this camo pattern. THis will help you do it yourself, but more importantly, it will help me remember how to do it for a later kit I'm planning.

Here is a top-view of the camo pattern that I quickly threw together as a guide for where I need to mask. »

First, I masked and painted all of the parts with the martian rust color I custom mixed.

Next I masked off everywhere that I needed to keep the rust color. Afterwards I painted the areas where the brownish purple rust color goes. Note that the image of the wing is the closest to the "real-life" colors. The other pics were taken with a flash and are over-saturated.

Tomorrow morning I will need to mask and paint the gray-brown. Tomorrow evening I will mask and paint the reddish brown which is the final color. The reason I'm waiting to long between coats is to allow some time for the paint to cure. Also, I am not removing the tape until all of the colors have been painted. Otherwise I will have trouble remasking the previous areas.

01.31.04 » Camo Painting is Done

I finished the camo painting today. Here are the final pics.

02.07.04 » Panel Lines

I am trying a new technique for my panel lines. Check it out here on my tips page.

03.08.04 » Base

I started and almost finished the base for the mars Z+ this weekend. The only things I have left to do is to give it a flat coat and drill for the rods that will hold the waverider up.

The base is another circular wooden plaque exactly like those I used for the Griffon and PGM Cloud 09. I coated the plaque with glue and baking soda and sanded it down to a rough surface when it was dry. Then I primed it with flat black spray paint and drybrushed many layers of reds and oranges. They don't show up too well in these pics due to the gloss, but will show up better when I flat coat it.

The ejecta (rocks) are little bits of petrified wood which I pummeled with a hammer. They're attached to the base by a coat of future. After the future dried, I dusted the whole thing with a very transparent coat of the same orange I used on the Z+.

I'll apply the flat coat when I flat coat all of the other pieces after I'm done with the decals.

03.20.04 » Internals

The internals are all done on the FPTI Zeta. I painted them a dark gray, then drybrushed them with silver Rub 'n Buff, then post-shaded them with a martian dust color. The "dust" was made using the orange color from my camo mixed with a good bit of Future to make it semi-transparent. The weathering looks nice when combined with the brown ink panel lines.

03.22.04 » Final Update!

Everything's all set and ready for the final build. I'll post photos up after I build the kit and attach it to the base. Here's a few shots of the dusted externals.