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Oh @peter make sure you are very careful when masking to lighten the grey on the strongbacks as you have some decals on the secondary hull now and don't want that to be pulled up.  I'd even suggest using posted it notes or use the Tamiya masking tape but put it on your jeans first to take the initial tackiness off.  I wouldn't even do the strongback details in a different colour, I'd go with the base white and let the decals darken the colour - which version are you doing (silvery grey for TMP, blue for WoK or green for the subsequent movies?)

Ok here we go again!!!  Just got the new GWH 1/72 F-14A with one my favourite schemes the VF-1 Wolfpack!  Its a pretty amazingly detailed kit, but its not for beginners, there are lots of missing instruction steps and things don't exactly lock together, so you have to constantly go a few steps ahead and dry fit before you glue everything down.  Once everything is aligned it should fit well, the key is getting everything aligned and massaged before gluing which is often 4-5 steps ahead of where you are.  Well I wanted to make it easier on myself by not going nuts on the cockpit, the kit supplied seats are really well done, except for the seat cushions and no belts so I thought I'd use two pilots from my Hasegawa ground crew set (not as good as resin ones, I have those on order for my other Tomcats eventually) and decide to do this with the canopy closed.  I just used kit instrument decals, but there were such good raised details in the cockpit, luckily I managed to get the decals snuggle down to the switches really well, they even included molding and decals for all the fuses including the sidewalls!  My big ass quarter makes a comeback!

Just amazing in styrene, but as you can see, once its in the fuselage with the pilots in, very little can be seen.  I don't think there's enough detail in this tub to support an open canopy (gotta save my resin cockpits, seats and photoetched for the Hasegawas or FineMolds)

Amazing that they included so much detail, but missed out on the overhead ejection seat handles.  Had to make that out of wire - I hate scratchbuilding in 1/72 scale, my eyes are not what they used to be.

Oops forgot the shoulder belt harness I made of tape and haven't attached those from the pilot to the seat yet.  This should keep me busy while I wait to finish up my F-18 from before.

@peter those decals are really pulling it together man!  You might want to lighten up that grey before you put the "stongback" decals on it, it might be too dark especially considering how good it all looks aready!

Beautiful!!!  What plane do these bombs belong to?

Yes I love Tamiya acrylics too mostly for the easy in clean up - I use windex and it eats through that stuff great!  However they don't come in all the Military Greys now a days.  I've added Mr. Color lacquers to the mix mostly because I need to get the right kind of grey.  I haven't used the Mr. Color Aqueous line yet, but I think they behave like Tamiya Acrylics but have the right colours?  However upon using the Mr. Color lacquers I find that I can sand and feather them like a primer where the Acrylics do not sand well.

Hey @peter its looking great in the photos and I think the faint panel lines will add interest and texture to your aztec decals.  If you're buying spray paint, why not get the Tamiya Pearlescent White TS-45.  It should give that sheen underneath your aztec decals (is what I want to do if I ever get around to building my 1/1000 E)

I admire your tenacity!  Since you've already invested so much sanding, don't give up on it, its looking like it could turn out great.

1 hour ago, derex3592 said:

Get TrekWorks on YouTube to custom build you a 1:350. His name is Boyd and he does amazing work. I have no idea how much he charges, but the 1:350 build he put on YT was the most amazing paint job I've ever seen on an Enterprise! 

Yes I saw his stuff on YouTube, amazing!  It would be at least $5K-$8K I would guess (maybe more).  I've got to replace my crumbling deck at my house...

32 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

I didn't know any other type of model glue even existed from 1980-2010. When I got back into the hobby and the MW forums, I learned so much! Tamiya liquid cement? WTH is that?!

SAME HERE!!!

11 hours ago, peter said:

Ohhhhh.....I couldn't find the price on those QMX ones.....scared to ask.

I think they were $11K-$14K usd when they first were offered.  I they were pretty limited run.

Oh man that Enterprise brings back so many memories and the horror.  I was so much more simple then, I had the one with the rainbow stickers and the grain of wheat lightbulbs back then, didn't paint it or anything just slapped it together and zoomed it around the room.  I think it survived a month or so, then the bulbs burnt out one by one and it just started to fall apart in my hands.  They were great memories and its still my favourite design of all spaceships.  If only I could afford one of those QMX minatures, I just love the flashing nav lights and the strobe lights, but now I want it all - its the only time I ever thought seriously about committing that kind of cash to my favorite design, but then I had my daughter and that knocked some sense into me.  However if I won a lottery, that QMX Enterprise would be the first thing on my list!  I love watching you attempt yours, please keep posting!

19 hours ago, peter said:

This I want to see.  Please post pics

@peter this shelf is all that I have left (survived all the moves).  There's a Yamato 1/60 (version1) in the lower left corner that's just a toy, but everything else was done in highschool in the mid 80's.  You can see my old SDF-1 in the back behind those 1/200 destroids - I think the stand broke over the years.

Thanks, mine was a 1000x bigger

That looks fantastic @peter!!!  Congrats on a great build and thanks for posting here, Iove seeing everyone's work when I don't have time to build (makes me feel connected a bit).  It's not amateur - give yourself some credit.  It looks really great.  Keep going!

That's amazing @peter you still have your kids stuff!!!  I just turned 51 and boy do I feel old (I actually have a few crappy models from my childhood too!)

@peter Nice base and collection of VF-1!

@Dobber Man! You've been busy, those X-Wings look fantastic.  Yep, running out of room too.  That penciling on the Enterprise looks awesome!!! I bet it shines/gleams metallically just like the real thing!  Do you have the lighting kit for it?  I do like the design, hated the Discovery Design, but I do like this version of the Enterprise.

@Grayson72  What do you mean the electronics weren't working?  I've got this kit too, buts its in the basement awaiting my retirement - do the electronics just go sitting in a box for too long?  Now you have me worried.  I'd love to see your progress.

1 minute ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Based on every single DX release in the time I've been collecting (since before Delta), the scalper prices will go down as we get closer to release.

So don't panic and buy at a markup people, just chill and worst case you can buy on release day or shortly thereafter for at worst what scalpers are asking now.

Thanks for that bit of sanity!  I've been away for a week and a half at a cottage with my family (believe me I wasn't happy about it - my wife definitely doesn't understand!) so I'm way late to the party and after reading back 10pgs or so, I think I will have to be content with waiting till November in hopes of getting one (instead of paying 35K Y at NY) - I've never gotten one at release date before so this will be a new experience for me.  Any tips for that?

I hope HLJ or someone else will carry this new book that will allow us in Canada to buy it!

OMG   Thanks for posting!

I love its just not the points of lights, but the spills of lights in the trench too (just like the movie) - I want to try to replicate that but don't know how.

How much was MSRP for this toy?

Damn it!  I'll be away at a cottage without cell service let alone internet next week - ARGH!!!  How hard is it to get one of these at release day with the markup?  Where would that be?  How much should I budget more than the 19,800Y MSRP to get one at release date?

There isn't anyone in Toronto that wants to order an extra one for me is there?   (I'd even give them a tour of my models/toy if they wanted to come by?!)

Hey didn't know where to post this - but I've been working on this for the last year (so its kind of on my workbench) but I'm so proud of it. 

The first peak teaser...

I'm the Supervising Art Director and put together the Toronto Art Department team with my Production Designer Rory Cheyne designing these new worlds.  I got to help design a lot of the spaceships and convince them to build model miniatures to shoot instead of CGI spaceships.  As with all the films I work on I always sneak as much Macross into the sets and spaceships as I can :P!

@NZEOD  Covid has all the postal stuff delayed, I'm sure its on a boat over (no real air travel - at least for packages) anymore.

@derex3592 That SD is lookng great!  I was thinking of masking some of those rectangular patterns to get the mottled look, but your method my look as good without being insane effortwise.  Can't wait to see how it turns out.

On 6/19/2020 at 12:26 PM, electric indigo said:

Perfect finish on that classic duo. Did you add a gloss coat after the clear blue?

Thanks all!  Nope the clear blue is really glossy (gotta leave a lot of time for it to properly cure before handling, I kept getting fingerprints on it - argh).

Kept busy while I waited for NZEOD's canopy to repair and finished my F-18F Super Hornet.

My best buds are together again.  What great kits, amazing engineering, however they are a bitch to build if you want to paint them.  The tolerances are so perfect that a layer of paint throws everything off and a lot of modifications need to be cut and performed to build them out of order to facilitate painting.  I'm pretty happy with the finished product though.

I Alclad all the blue panels with chrome first, then sprayed Tamiya Blue Clear as a clear coat over it so they have a iridescent sheen to it like anodized aluminum.

...and my big ass quarter to show scale!

Sorry, I thought there was only one DX issue for the YF-19.  Is there a broken version?  (or are you guys saying that there is a broken toy for sale at Mandarake as well as new in box versions?)  Am I having flashbacks to broken shoulders of the older toys?

Yes I agree, I'm sure DHL or couriers pocket the taxes when they are not charged as I got a DHL invoice but not the Canada Customs Invoice (which I get about 1-2 items for every 5-8 courier charges) which is still way more than when I get caught with EMS/Canada Post (which always returns me a Canada Customs invoice when caught).  Yes my packages are always declared full value but I never thought to look at the declaration between collectibles and toys (I think they always say toys/models no battery).

I've been lucky enough to adorn all my 1/48 Yamatos with @Anasazi37 amazing work!!!

Seems like a lifetime ago...