Noyhauser

Funny, I've been using tamiya paints for about 10 years now and I've recently gone over to Gunze. The quality of finish is much much better and I have less issues with colours. I can also use them for brush paints, something you really can't do well with tamiya. Mr Surfacer is probably one of the best products they put out, though tamiya's rattle can primer (white and normal) are better than Mr Surfacer from a can.

you know what really rocks that I just found out? It works with Mr thinner... I've been spraying the stuff non-stop for the past few months now because it makes it so much more useful than any other primer I have. Now if it only came in black...

So... basically this is gundam updated with twitter, vampires and an teenager who can't bother to read the instructions... or the worst aspects of our pop culture. Pass.

It should be okay... it depends what it is, but I doubt it would damage it. I built a lot of resin aircraft and I use thinned out Mr Surfacer and that works great.... but Gunze also makes a "mr resin primer" too.

Hey, its a good idea that a lot of people use for cars or gundams, like you do. With planes however I usually have to be more focused on a specific area in order to avoid wrecking a lot of other details that took a long time to work on. Scribing take a bit of practice, but having rulers and templates help... ...as does the realization that you can just fill it in with putty and do it over again.

That has been a major head scratcher for me. I really considered going to the wood deck (and I still toy with the idea) because it just looks nice. Most people wouldn't appreciate that I've got the correctly weathered color of japanese spruce because its a brownish light gray. Going to wood "looks awesome" because, well, it looks like wood. I'm considering maybe adding more brown to the tone in order to make it pop a bit more. Unfortunately recribing sapped a lot of energy from the build and I plodded along with it. Its also a money pit. PE with barrels was about 200 dollars alone. I've got to buy a turret correction set for 60 dollars, because, well, the nichimo turrets are wrong in shape. Its just one cost after another.

So I use a bunch of different tools... really depending on the effect I'm trying to achieve. So from left to right: JLC Razor saw. Basically that's my #1 tool right there. Its actually a phenomenal for cutting items off of sprues because it does not do any damage to the part's plastic. clipers can do a little bit (turning it white), which can be a problem in some cases like clear parts. However In this case, the saw is really great for scribing straight long lines on kits. Its probably the second advanced items I'd suggest any aspiring modeler buy. This is the deck of my 1/200 yamato that I've been rescribing and the effect I've gotten with the Saw (it was the first time I did it... so excuse some of the errors.) #2 Some Unamed japanese scriber. Truth be told I don't know its manufacturer's name, and I'm even less clear about its use. I bought it recently and haven't figured it out yet. Its part of my tool kit so I added it. #3 Rosie the Riveter tool. I actually have two of them in different sizes. I think this is the slightly larger one. Its for making lines of rivets you see on aircraft. I also use it for punching holes on miniature seat belts. This was my first attempt at riveting an aircraft... in this case a 1/72 DB-8 in natural metal finish. In many cases rivet lines are more realistic than panel lines. #4 Brass metal straight edge I lied... this is actually my most critical tool. I use this to keep my lines straight when scribing. I've got smaller pieces and I often tape them to a surface to keep them straight as I scribe. #5(right top) Hasegawa Tritool Template Set 1. I searched for years until I found this set by hasegawa. Its great for making little hatches and the like. #6 (Right bottom) Model Design Construction 1:48 riveter kit. I use this little set for two things. One is riveting; the Rosie tool can't do circles and the like and this set is very good at that. I also use it with the template set to scribe circles or other shapes as well. The sharp end really does great at scribing... but I may actually buy a proper tool for this in the future (hasegawa has a nice one for about 1400 yen.) On the whole most of my scribing is taking a raised panel line kit and converting it to a engraved kit. In those cases I don't use #4, rather I trace the panel line with the raised line and sand it off after I'm done. It often comes down to what my references tell me. With the DB-8 above, alot of photos show multitudes of rivets, so I took the opportunity to use the rosie riveter. Hope that helps. The problem I have with that is that you might lose the cockpit detail. In most cases I have an elaborately done up cockpit and if there is a leak or something... well that hard work goes away. That's the ideal primer. Alot of people decant it from the spray and shoot it through their air brush.

He's talking about the canopy... I don't think you want to use tamiya putty on that The way I do it is this; I get two grits of sandpaper, 600 and maybe something above 1200. I sand it down so its flat with the 600 and then sand it really fine down to nothing with the 1200. Now I get some polishing agent.... tamiya makes one but you can use any one... I've seen people use toothpaste before. and really really get it smooth. It should have a milky or distorted texture once you're done and washed the part thoroughly (this is important). Next, get future and dip the canopy (or just pour it over like I do and let it set. You should have a clear canopy as a result. In general you should always dip canopies in future: it protects the plastic and gives off a really nice sheen that makes the canopy look realistic. Hope that helps.

Hey WM So a couple of tips. First, the Alclad black primer is actually not a lacquer but enamel. The mineral spirits will attack it no matter what so it needs to be sealed directly by future if you're going to use an oil wash... and it doesn't matter what paint you apply. I think Dark aluminum and jet exhaust are particularly tough alclad paints, but I have been able to remove them with not too much effort and some mineral spirits.I've learned that the hard way. Personally I don't like the black stuff, its why I've gone to buying older bottles of MM dark green or blue for cheap, OR my new favorite; thinned Mr Surfacer, with Mr Thinner. To repair this I have two suggestions. I've been exactly where you are right now... see the lighter area behind the cockpit: In that case I used rub and buff to simulate some wear and tear on a panel, but nothing too extreme. That's one option. My suggestion is get yourself an black MM bottle or thin the alclad black with the mineral spirits (I'm not sure if that will work so test it out first). Mask out the affected areas and take a high grit sand paper and gently flatten out the mess. just get it so that the alclad won't show any discrepancies. Rescribe any panels as needed. then hit it with the thinned out black primer... really going slow and light with each pass. That way you avoid it showing unwanted shadows. I used Rub and buff without doing too much and the wrinkling looked okay. But I've also did it with alclad and it went okay too. It might make sense to use a different tint here (dark aluminum) so that if there are any minor errors, it looks more realistic... look at how CF-104 starfighters or F-100s have this effect with different metal types. Trust me, I'vebeen where you are many a time with Alclad, and you can fix it. It just takes a bit of careful effort.

Maybe try a thicker paint then and give it a half week. The great thing about oil is that if its too dry you can use mineral spirits to remove it (or soften it just enough to remove the excess)

How long after did you remove it? I usually wait 6+ hours, and then am really gentle on how I remove it. I often use the removal technique to introduce stains and other lines, like from oil leaks or fuel spills.

I've actually moved away from using black gloss... I use a thinned british racing green enamel now because it gives it a different tint and allows for more detail to show through. You can see an example or two in the first page of the basic modeller tips thread.

Oh, its significantly better... as you say it blows it out of the water. I like the old school hasegawa because they are easy to build and their shape is pretty accurate. However the Academy cockpit is far far more realistic, it has more details across the aircraft, and just more options. Of the two the academy's F/A-18 is better than their F-16.... and with the F-16 you can go with the better Revell version. A common problem between the two F/A-18s is that they do not have true intake trunking... its particularly bad on the hasegawa kit, but the academy kit isn't much better. The Fujimi kit Hornet is really odd. Some have said its its inaccurate in shape... I don't think I've seen a definitive answer on that however. Its also a very complex and a challenging build (think Hasegawa F-14 fiddlyness X2) . However if you're really into detailing and want an accurate model OOB, I'd go with it. It has intake trunking, its easier to cut the flaps off to drop them, you can display the radar, has photo etched mirrors and slime lights. it also has a boarding ladder. Hope that helps! I'd love to see a F/A-18 out of you.

Probably not... The truth is that I want to make it a close combat scene in a built up area with the spartan ready to strike with a combat mace (that was my big lame surprise). I think adding missiles would just make the kit too "busy" and not too realistic... would you really fire missiles if you're close enough to strike with a mace? I might also add a CF battroid, but the display might get too big if I did that. I know exactly what you mean about the feet. I really want to avoid the goofy looking gundam legs (you know, the awkward the straight legged first generation gundam models)... so I think its partly going to require the hip to open up. Another option would be to have it kneeling behind a building... which might open up greater space for the valk too. That would require a lot more engineering, but it would also probably look cooler and hide more of the modifications. We'll see once I get to the legs... as I said earlier, I'm excited to build this kit.

Its a slight bit of a bear, but I'm going to modify it a bit. Actually my biggest concern is getting the legs into a realistic stance. I'm worried it will take a lot of cutting and modding to get it right.

Well, I've started on my next round of projects. First I finished this Tamiya 1/72 mosquito: Kinda rushed it, but its okay. I'm also finishing up some A6M2 Zeros sitting on a carrier deck. might have some photos of it next time. This will be my next big project, 5 1/72 CF-18s: But I think you're more interested in this: Its that bandai reissue of the Destroid Spartan. I've modified the hand so that it will properly hold something... you'll see what later. This wasn't too easy: the hand is molded in one piece and the inside is hollow... so it was a bit of trial and error to get the fingers in this position using some plastistruct/evergreen pieces. The other hand will have some modifications so that it looks like its being used to bear some weight. I'll clean them up to remove the seamlines too, I'm just trying to get their look right before I go to the next step. Thanks for looking.

The problem with your analysis is that first you claim that there are a bazillion seam lines to fix on Hasegawa, then laud the Bandai kit which has two glaringly obvious un-fillable seam lines in the form of the landing gear doors, and several others for hand hatches, ect. If I want to make a display grade battroid, I'm not going to buy the bandai over the hasegawa kit because I'd just be spending my time covering up all of the parts that don't make it look realistic in order to allow it to transform.

I don't use enamel... I'd be worried that it dries too quickly and you have a mess. My suggestion is to go to your local art store and buy a tube of black oil paint and maybe yellow or brown, as well as some mineral spirits. Its about 10 dollars total. Do the same procedure as in your link, except mix the black with a bit of brown or yellow. Rule of thumb is darker the area you're applying, the lighter your wash should be. However the difference is that you should just slather it over an area and wait like a day. Then take paper towel and wipe off the excess. If you've done it right, you should have a nicely defined thin line. I should also say that I usually do this over top of a gloss coat of future. If you've got any decals down, its probably best that you seal them with something like Gunze topcoat (From a rattle can), future, Model master gloss coat, or alclad aqua gloss.

Yes there are specific glues to plastics. However virtually all models are styrene, toys are different. I personally suggest you get a basic glue like tamiya (square bottle, white label) or gunze glue AND extra thin. I find extra thin difficult to use on its own, but it really helps fix seams and other issues. I use it about 1/2 or a little less than the other glue which is good for major assemblies.

Seriously, can't you ask your local drug store or hardware to stock rubbing alcohol? Without that or lacquer cleaner, you're basically in a real bind.

Never built mine. Still sitting in a box. I can't speak for others, but honestly, I'm really apprehensive about building it after hearing all of the problems with warping. I guess mine is V.2.0 or V.3.0, with the metal rod running through it. My only guess would be to build it with clear wire holding up the fighter, or instituting an aggressive weight reduction program... but even then I wonder if that will be enough. I was sent an electronic folder full of photos ect... let me see if I can dig it up and I'll send it to you. Richard

Cool blog. Particularly liked the old Tect 1/144 VF-19S: I've built two of them in battroid, but never been able to find the fighter kit. The GM sniper is really cool too... I've always liked it from its 20 second appearance in 0080.

Let me take a stab at this topic. It depends what you want. If you just want a flanker, and don't care what kind, the Hasegawa SU-33 kit is probably the best oob... with some possible accuracy issues (spine and canopy shape). Its also the priciest kit and represents a relatively rare sub-version of the aircraft (less than 30 built) If you want a more representative model (SU-27 or 30 or their chinese derivatives) likely the best choice is the Trumpeter kit. Its a little less advanced than Hasegawa (particularly in the cockpit), and has many more smaller issues compared to hasegawa's one or two big issues... its still very good. The next best is (apparently) the airfix kit, which is a bear to build but seen as being very accurate. Alot of people use it for donor parts, There is a zvezda SU-27 kit coming out (or out) that a lot of people are anticipating. I've not heard anything yet however.

I like it... besides the lack of some panel lines you can't tell its not hasegawa. Reason why I ask is that I'm considering a small diorama with aspartan and a CF Valk. I was originally considering a Battroid but your Gerwalk looks awesome.

Pretty awesome... what are some of the modifications you made?