Kitbashing a BDN

My nephews, aged 8 and 6, recently had their first game of Full Thrust
(they're already HoTT and Space Hulk players). In the aftermath of their
victory (I ensured that they'd win their first game), they said they'd
like
to make some spaceships, and I promised to devize something they could
make.

The criteria are:
1) As much as possible should be doable by small persons.
2) It should be cheap enough that if it goes wrong, it's not a disaster.
3) It should be made from readily available bits and pieces.

I used a 1/144 Tornado as the basis of a FT battleship.
Either the Revell or Academy kit is usable- I'm trying both.  Academy is
cheaper (£1.99 vs. £2.99) and less complex.

I removed the wing pivots and assembled the main fuselage, including the
engine nozzles.
The intakes on the Academy kit were blocked off. The part of the cockpit
between the seats was removed, and the cockpit well was plated over (The
Revell kit's cockpit floor is ideal for this).
I fitted a rectangular plate of plastic card through the wing slot,
equalling the width of the wing gloves.  Endplates and assorted details
were
fitted on this plate to produce sponsons.

I inverted the fuselage and fitted a bridge structure (c.15x6x8mm)
between
and to the rear of the main gear bays. The underside of the Tornado
becomes
the upper deck of the battleship.

All landing gear bays become weapons bays.  Location holes etc are
covered
with small details. Assorted kit parts such as gear doors, plastic card
with
incised panel lines, Plastruct ABS strip and 1/700 spares (especially
Japanese triple 25mm as PDS! I hope it's not an omen.) formed the
detail.

The result is cheap, quick and pleasing.  The Academy prototype is being
painted, the Revell version nears completion.

Another ship can be made from a 1/144 Havoc attack helo (I'm sure
Apaches
etc would be equally usable).  The fuselage is used inverted and
reversed,
with incised plates of plastic card on the sides of the "hump" in place
of
the Havoc's engines and the fin cut off  in line with tail boom to
produce a
"ram bow".

Rob Paul