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Working on this clear Hase Vf-1J, I ordered by accident. I really don't know what to make of it. It's all brittle like a canopy and difficult to work with. I'm definitely building it clear, so testing white glue and clear canopy glue. I've even tried a bit of normal cement to see how it looks. But what do I do with seam lines, especially the nose cone? Can't hide those. Because I have to build this basically without any sanding so I don't ruin the clear cast. One idea is to treat it all like a canopy... micro sand and dip in clear. But that nose cone isn't going to be pretty. On the positive side, some lighting would make good use of the clear cast, but all those wires will show through... Maybe a good thing? Not sure. Or do I keep lighting to a minimum, under the cockpit and engines, and maybe the wings. And then in the end how will decals look on it. It's a bizarre thing.... but it is a nice challenge to build a clear valk without messing it up.

The Arduino sketch for lighting and sound is attached for anyone who wants a look. (The sketch for the reversing motor was attached separately earlier. ) VF-1_Project_Full.ino WS2812_Definitions.h

I need a video showing this application if anyone has seen a good one. The videos I've found on youtube are different approaches that havent worked for me.

Thanks for all your advice. I have saved the note for next practice session.

Agree. I can paint gundams or small pieces okay sometimes, because you spin them on the paint stick and get good glossy coverage. The problem is when airbrushing wide surfaces like hulls and fuselage. I doubly suck when I'm glossing. I airbrush future and Super Clear (and Vallejo Varnish), and it doesnt build up, even if I spray 50 light coats, the enamel wash seeps right in.

True. I thin A LOT, so I think I am too far and I live in a hot desert climate. And I've only been painting 2-3 years. It doesnt frustrate me, I've sucked at painting since I was a kid. I just think its funny when I see guys with their first paint job and it's a hundred times better than mine!!

I think I have seen those before. But if you highly recommend it, I will go through them again. (I've watched hundreds of painting tutorials... but the best advice, I get from you guys.)

Wow, you nailed the classic scheme. What were your ratios for the gray and orange? (I really need someone to teach me how to improve my painting. I get a grainy finish, and my gloss is useless...)

CrossAir, That's some superb paint finish. I think you're on a roll. Electric Indigo, Not sure where you're going to end up with that yummy burnt tone, but I can't wait to see, Derex, Don't give up. I'm sure you will find a solution for the canopy. It shouldn't slow you down on the body anyway, while you figure it out with a little help from your friends.

Go for it. I will help walk you through it. But you probably don't want to add as many lights as I did at first, because it is really tight for space. I was lucky to pull it off, but I also had a lot of practice from previous projects.

Surely its not the longest build in the world. Were you using an Xacto to trip those canopies? Looks bad, but I wouldnt give up on it just for that. I'm sure someone who has the kit can recast it for you, maybe even the Captain himself if you ask him. Check out how well the recast Fan Racer canopy came out by one of the members here. It has its own thread.

Back to the wing lighting issue. As you know from this WIP I had a lot of problems with those because I insisted on a red, blue and white leds, wired on only a single pair of wires to save space for the motor. One solution: I have seen others use 3x white leds, which are no problem to parallel on a single pair of wires, and then paint the ports red and blue. Second solution: I am not sure if they will fit in the 1/72 yet (that's for my next project), but definitely okay in the 1/48, we can use smd resistors to parallel red, blue and white leds safely. Third and easiest solution: Use a red and a blue SMD in each wing, and forget the whites.

Well, if you want help building a Hasegawa VF, you've come to the right place. There are a lot of experts here who will be glad to help you. While I'm not one of them, I will give you a few tips to get started. - Don't be too afraid to start. Hase valks are challenging because they have some particular flaws in the molds, but not that much that you can't get a handle of it. - Some basic skills you will need to Youtube are puttying and concealing panel lines, and polishing and glossing the Hase canopy. You might want to practice puttying on something else first if your concerned. But if you can do that, then the rest is easy. - The first place to go is WCheng's Links to My Old Step by Step which is pinned here atop the Workshop main thread. Find any VF-1S guide, because all the Hase valks are the same and have the same issues. Anyway, when you are ready to start, you can go slowly and post your work here with questions and I'm sure everyone will be there for you. Go for it dude.

Very fine results on the Yamato. And great photography too!

Cool! But it deserves some better photos. Give us another look on white background.

Looks amazing. I can't afford it and don't have the space ether, so I made my own! Here is the clip in case some of you guys have not been on the model threads.

Nice to see you're tackling kits again. I also came back after about a 20 year break. With these modern Bandai kits, there is really not much effort or skill required. You're paint looks great. Spray cans can still go a long way, even for people who prefer to airbrush. Take a look at what I did with my little 1/1000. Hope you like it.

Whoaaaaa! You've been busy dude. Show us the WIP on this behemoth.

I like it!

I'm all in. The Rick figure looks pretty much perfect to me. Minmei is only so-so: I think they could have done better with the face and shoes. But overall, these are a dream come *almost* true... And soooo much better than the Toynamis.

Nice to see lots of Valks in progress! Herve, that's a really nice finish. Lovely colors and nose work, especially the checkers.

Hey Xigfrid. I would be interested to see a video to illustrate at this stage what is and what is not working in different modes. Looks like you will need more adjustments and reprints. It sucks to have to spend more, but I guess you cant really expect such a complex model to come together with the first prototype.

I've learned that those capacitors have important uses with Arduino to control power surges. You know I have no real electric circuit knowledge, everything I do with Arduino is off the shelf, like wiring for dummies. You don't need a lot of skill to make it work. A lot of tutorials advise putting a capacitor on neopixel leds and servo motors to steady the current and avoid burnout or overload/reset. So a question for you real techies: do you need a separate capacitor for each object connected to the Arduino for surge protection, or would one capacitor on the main +- protect everything? And going even further, would putting the capacitor right on the battery that leads into the Arduino protect everything? The thing is, when used just for protection, you can't really tell if the capacitor is doing anything or not.

I'm planning to cover this to a VF-1J Hikaru scheme with an extra set of decals I have. Any reason why I can't,? I accidentally ordered a VF-1J Clear version, and I have no interest in building it, because the parts are all the brittle clear parts, not the soft styrene, which makes it difficult to drill and customize.

Yes, those N52s are strong. But I learned that they can still swivel when you dont want them to. So keep that in mind when choosing the size.