mickyg

Took some better pics tonight. I'll explain what I've been trying to accomplish with all the different cameras and focal lengths and distances, blah, blah, blah... I wanted to try to approximate what something real of this size would look like if I were there, in scale, taking a picture. The little point and shoot I recently acquired is super old (2003, perhaps?) and it's pretty noisy. But it does have full manual controls, and a real aperture, with real depth of field adjustments. And I can get really close with it. It also shoots in raw format, so I can apply noise reduction and do lens distortion correction in post production, to clean things up. My second camera is another point and shoot, has no aperture control, no depth of field settings and no real control over quality other than jpeg compression. But it does focus close and it's newer than the first camera and also tends to have less noisy images. Both point and shoots are 5 megapixel, which is fine for post on the web. And my "good" camera is a DSLR - quality is really good, it works well in low light, it's got the flexibility of multiple lenses and full control over just about everything. The downside is that no lens I have will allow me to get "close" to the model. If I were a scale person, I'd be reasonably close to the "life-size" aircraft I was photographing. Probably the equivalent of a 6 inches or so? My lenses won't get that close. So there lies the dilemna - to approximate the correct perspective, I have to use a camera that doesn't produce the best quality. If I want to use a good camera, I have to lose the whole feel of this being an accurate portrayal of scale. So these were taken with the good camera with a 50mm lens, which approximates what your eye sees in terms of perspective. Good for viewing a model, not so good for making it look "real" in a photo. This ends our photography lesson for the day... So here's what I ended up with (link to the gallery with some more pics - HERE):

In my opinion, your best bet is fighter mode. The wing is what seals it for me. It's only held on with the hinge in battroid and gerwalk and if you can't fix that hinge with some amount of success (and I think that's very limited, given where it broke) there's no way it's going to last. The fighter mode though, I think that would allow you to glue the wing to the leg, right on the edge where it touches (along the back of the leg and towards the front, too). That, and the hinge area would likely be strong enough to keep the wing on indefinitely. I'd stick with super glue as the adhesive. The polystyrene parts (the wing glove part) are fine to use model glue on, but the hinge is ABS, as you've already mentioned, and that won't glue with normal modelling glue. You can get some specialty glue for it, but super glue should be fine to hold in position if you're just displaying it from here on. You might also be able to fill that hinge area with epoxy but it's pretty likely you'd see it and equally likely it'd drip everywhere and drive you insane! Hope that helps. Bummer about the breakages - makes me more than just a little bit worried about mine! Did you nail polish any of the joints? Just wondering if that potentially stressed the joints and led to the breakage.

Quick post with some pics from yesterday... The parts I'm currently working with: Some distractions along the way (may as well work on two things at once, right?): Everything painted (except the head rest - I'm not happy with it and will have a second attempt): And my tools, along with my attempt at the same colours on the Hasegawa VF-1D kit (Paint didn't cover well and I plan to hit it with the air brush): All brush painted because I got lazy! There will be some oil washing and (hopefully) some dry brushing on these parts too.

No more progress on the tracing I'm doing yet. But I did manage to get the cockpit parts painted today! Not much but it's a start! There's should be more progress this week.

So I found a LHS that can get the Testors MM Acryl range in for me! Only it sounds like they'll be close to $10 per bottle! Ouch!!! I'll likely pay it with a smile on my face though, knowing that at least this will do what I want it to. And it's $30 as a one off. Most of what I've purchased has been expensive but not terribly frequent so this is not going to kill me. It'll be a few days before it's in stock. I also got a chance to get some experience with the Tamiya weathering kit. I was actually quite surprised by how it went. The material is quite hard and I wasn't able to get it to stick to the "brush" side of the applicator. The sponge side though, was great! It went on very lightly and I was able to have a few passes to get it as dark (or light) as I wanted it. My experience and "feel" for where shading needs to be is definitely needing some work though. There are pics but they're all pretty lousy so it might be a few days before there's any progress posted.

Hah! I know what you mean. And to think, I was planning on getting all of them prior to building this one! I've got the VF-27 (Brera) that I'm seriously considering NOT building. I've got 4 Hasegawa kits that I really want to get started on, plus my custom Yamato VF-1 paint scheme I'm (slowly) working. And in my spare time lately, I'm decaling and panel lining my other 1/60 VF-1 valks. So that Bandai kit is getting farther and farther on the back burner! This kit (the VF-25G) will get some attention and hopefully get finished first, though.

I think I'll try to source some. There has to be somewhere that will sell and ship it internationally. It sounds like the best possible barrier to use for this sort of thing. One last question, is it as soft or fingerprint prone as the Tamiya clearcoats? I haven't had any issues with the flat coat but the gloss is incredibly soft in my experience.

Yep, that's the one. Here's a link from hobbysearch.

Yep, I know your technique well! And I'd use it to the letter except that I can't find model master acrylics here in Australia. They really sound like the ultimate paints for this purpose alone - to be able to seal your hard work in with a layer that won't react to the one it coats, and also be able to use a solvent that would normally disolve that sort of paint, on top of it, that would be fantastic! Maybe I should get some of my relatives in the States to send me a bottle of clear and flat. Does it thin with windex when it's still a liquid or do you use the Testors thinner on it?

Thanks a ton! So just use a slightly lighter colour than the base? That makes sense and I must admit, I'm stuck in this "weathering is only made from black, white and combinations thereof" mindset. It didn't occur to me to use a lighter base colour. Although, if I thin out some white, I suppose that would serve to lighten up the base also. Hmmm... I'll see what I can do. As for the wiping it off, since everything I'm using is acrylic, that might not go real well. My base coat is GSI Acrylic, the clear is also GSI gloss, the wash is oil, and then another gloss clear, then followed up with a hand mixed satin acrylic. So if I go another acrylic, diluted with clear or otherwise, it's likely to be hard to get off if I make a mistake. It's times like these I wish I had been able to mix up the paint types a bit!

Thanks cool8or! You build some great stuff yourself so I'm humbled by your compliments! I think perhaps my decision to put this in the building/customizing section has made it less visible to others. Not sure why but I see there are just as many build threads in the regular models section. Oh well. WM - I'll look at your booster build again. That hadn't occurred to me actually, it's been a long time since I read that build. It's very similar to the super parts in finish though so should be a perfect reference! As for lightening the edges of the panel lines, would you suggest dry brushing? I must admit, I'm a bit nervous about the technique and since it's not exactly easy to undo, like we can with acrylics, I'm hesitant to jump into it without knowing what I'm in for. I've got several brushes, but my small ones are expensive and I don't want to ruin them. I've also got some really cheap ones but I'm not sure if they're suited to dry brushing. I'll do some reading on the technique. If there are any other tips, I'm all ears! And thanks for your comments.

Apparently the Tamiya weathering kit is meant to allow dry brush effects without actually dry brushing. But I'm certain it wouldn't be durable in the slightest. I bought my kit because I saw how good Shinagami's RVF turned out and he mentioned he'd used the weathering master set. So it's possible but that doesn't mean I can achieve those results! It's also worth noting that the RVF is relatively light in colour, compared to my dark blue scheme. I think the darker colour presents its own difficulties. And just to clarify, I'm not sure I'm wanting a worn look, so much as a more realistic subtle shading look. You can have variations in colour for something like, say a Blue Angels F-18. Those don't necessarily look "worn" as they're show aircraft. But they do have subtle weathering and the colours do acquire some shades (or start out that way). Does that make sense? I don't know but I don't imagine the VF-25G would see a whole lot of abuse and wear the way a grotty fighter jet would. It's maintained fairly well, and since it's a covert sniper sort of role, I just think of it as being out of harm's way and not right in the thick of it (yes, I know Michael does get up close and personal occasionally). And couple the energy converting armour into the mix and do any of these newer valks actually wear at all? Way too much thinking... No problem at all about the airbrush tips. I'm happy to pass on whatever tips I learn along the way!

Thanks everyone! Not completely done yet but it's so close that motivation to actually finish it, is lacking lately. To finish it, I really just need to do some subtle weathering. Only, I'm not sure where to begin or how to not ruin what I've done so far. Dark colours are really hard for me to visualise how they'd look worn. I don't want to overdo it because in my head, this fighter doesn't see a lot of action that would cause it to wear, and as it's configured, it's a space craft and there's not much dirt or grime to be had in that environment. I think I want to concentrate on oxidation effects for the engine nozzles, and perhaps some subtle shading in other areas. Just something that will add some realism. As previously mentioned, any tips?

Not at all - no one wants to buy mine so I figure I'll have it for a while longer. Ask away!

Many, many thanks Mr March!

Nope! When companies ship overseas and the packages are big, it's often more expensive for the shipping charges than to just send a replacement and let the customer keep the old one. They only pay shipping once that way. I'm guessing the manufacturer gives them some sort of credit, or it'd be too costly for the retailer otherwise. I honestly thought my broken SV-51 would not end up being fixable. I was pretty happy when I discovered it was!

Those are sweet! I've done a quick search in months past, looking for something similar for the VF-1 valks. I know we've got the side ones in this thread but are there any top views around?