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wm cheng

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Everything posted by wm cheng

  1. wm cheng
    Boy, could they have put those fan blades any closer to the front of the intakes?!
  2. wm cheng
    At least now we know where the paint will scratch off...
  3. wm cheng
    Oh, a reason to NOT have to modify the FMMF kit... (procrastination pays off again!)
  4. wm cheng
    It looked totally CGI... unfortunately.
  5. wm cheng
    I loved that scratch build of the live action film - wished there was a kit form of that one!
  6. wm cheng
    Beautiful model, so well executed... really gorgeous. However, it isn't really in keeping with the anime, its got the live action movie engine tail cone, but there just too many "greebies" panels all over it, the wire antenna is just too WWII old school to be convincing and the rust streaks are just a little much for a space faring vessel. It just lacks the flavour of the overall subject matter - a beautifully technically perfect model that was built though.
  7. wm cheng
    THIS IS NOT A JOKING MATTER! Spent too many sleepless nights for it to be funny anymore...
  8. wm cheng
    Yep, same here... its 3:45am our time. Thank my guardian angel TechnoBlue (if HLJ doesn't fink out on us?) I hate not knowing. So is there any confirmation that this is being massed produced and will become available when they are issued?
  9. wm cheng
    Hey, Bandai had done a waaay better job at this than the blank Arcadia YF-19 we got for $150 more!
  10. wm cheng
    Wow! Simply amazing. Congratulations Jefuelmon on that huge build, it turned out beautifully. I always loved the Phantom, especially in those colours. Thanks for pointing me to this thread, I have never even seen it till now - I'm definitely subscribed. I'm honoured to be amongst such talent on these boards here.
  11. wm cheng
    Really?! It's confirmed that these are being massed produced or are you just saying that because there were 28 left?
  12. wm cheng
    I couldn't imagine an American version without a major re-design of all the iconic elements (ie; the battleship in space) - there just isn't the kind of sensitivity or respect to original source material in Hollywood.
  13. wm cheng
    Beautiful work as always MJ! Yes, I do exactly the same, Gerwalk mode for the majority then Battroid to hit the unexposed surfaces.
  14. wm cheng
    Hey, I'm on auction! In case you're wondering what I actually look like, I'm on the right ID badge. http://propstore.auctionserver.net/view-auctions/catalog/id/9/lot/1887/?url=%2Fview-auctions%2Fcatalog%2Fid%2F9%2F%3Fpage%3D2
  15. wm cheng
    It's funny but I feel the complete opposite and love my Bandais over the Yamacadias (even though I hate the PO process) and still play with my YF-30 almost on a daily basis while my YF-19 just looks like a static fat toy (and I'm still trying to get together enough waterslide decals to do it justice) - its not very playable or fun to transform IMHO (too plasticky that I'm afraid for all the sharp fragile edges - just like my VF-4G which is amazing to look at, not so fun to transform or play with). The fact that it was $150 more also bites - that's whole other VF-25! At least for me, it seems like the Yamacadias require so much more work to (decal & weather) bring it up to the same level of display/finish as my Bandai renewals - of course a lot of that could be solved with more tampo printing, but also more consistent panel lines - the depths on the Yamacadias are so shallow on some and fine that they don't take a wash - but they vary so much!
  16. wm cheng
    I think its a wonderful update... very respectful of the original intent and unmistakably iconic, yet much more modern and advanced. I just love Darren Gilford's sensibilities, so hard to attempt to update something so iconic and embedded into everyone's collective consciousness - I just hope JJ doesn't cover up all his amazing work with lens flares!
  17. wm cheng
    Ok, had some time to play with my new light tent and lights on the weekend, so here's some very much overdue shots of some of my collection. Thanks to Saburo for the photo tips and MacrossJunkie for the tips on weathering and clear-coating. This VF-25G was done last year, but I just haven't gotten to photographing them, I will make my way through my collection starting now, enjoy. I usually clear coat the Valkyries semi-gloss and the fast packs in matte/flat just like my models so there is a contrast in sheen.
  18. wm cheng
    It's really not NY's fault, its FedEx. It seems so easy for everyone to jump on the hating NY bandwagon - if it wasn't for them, I don't think I would have gotten any renewals. Coming from Canada, I've come to terms with an extra $40-$50 customs & duties for my toys so there's not much sympathies here However, NY is the only place that under-declares the amount and have gotten past the Canadian system for me.
  19. wm cheng
    I'm shooting with a 18-300mm Nikon DX lens, not the sharpest, but I try to keep it at F11 to bring down the distortion.
  20. wm cheng
    No, thanks to you for getting me off my @ss to finally take some photos of my collection. With this tent setup, I don't have to wait for nice day outside - I still wished my lights were brighter so I didn't have to use such a high ISO or had a better camera so it was less grainy at high ISO - oh well, this means I need a new DSLR! That's the beauty of airbrushing a thinned down light mist of dark grey over the black areas, it lightens the black, but at the same time, it darkens the white tampo printed "NO STEP" so they don't appear as stark/contrasty against the black background. It was a "two-for-one" solution! Now I don't have to hunt down or make decals like I always have to with my Yamacadias (my YF-19 looks so bare next to my Bandais).
  21. wm cheng
    Late to the party, but I finally taken some decent shots of my weathered YF-30. (with the help of photo tips from Saburo... thanks!). I'm loving all these Bandai toys (very little effort to get them looking great!) way more than the Yamacadia ones now - they look so basic & bare...
  22. wm cheng
    This is a little late to the party for my VF-25F... but I love it so much especially now my weathering and clear-coat is finished. I never expected to leave my VF-25F in Gerwalk, but while trying out those extra braces and playing around, I actually love this mode and seems to show off all the parts better than Battroid or Aircraft mode. I'm so surprised how poseable and locked in tight this mode is now with those extra braces. Basically I did a dark wash (two tones, a light grey and black with Flory Pro-Modeller wash - easier than the old artist oil paints), did some panel shading with a smudge stick and grahite, clear coat with a mix of Future & Tamiya Matte Base to get a semi-gloss, dry brush with the Tamiya weathering pastels and airbrush black shading and missile exhausts, then airbrush a final clear coat of the Future mix to seal it all in and protect it during handling. Thanks to Saburo for the photo tips which I used... I got one of those cheap light tents from Amazon (http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00EJR2IH8/ref=s9_simh_gw_p421_d17_i2?pf_rd_m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_s=center-3&pf_rd_r=0M54PE7AQESNVEQC46A6&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1687860362&pf_rd_i=915398) and it worked amazingly well.
  23. wm cheng
    I would just mask off the lighter black area if you want to clear-coat it with the TS80. I don't know how it holds up to transformation and scratching, so minimizing the area to be clear coated is always going to be a plus. I very carefully clear coat my toys really at a minimum because all clear coats can scratch off - that being said, I've found a Future (floor polish) based clear coat to be the most durable so far - with a glossy finish being more durable than a matte/flat finish.
  24. wm cheng
    Hi Xigfrid, I'm afraid your reseller steered you wrong. I would not try "dry brushing" as its not the right technique for the job (trust me, I've done a lot of modeling - check my signature for tips). Also, it doesn't work with diluted paints, it only works with very small amounts of "dry" paint, not wet (diluted) paints. Additionally, you mentioned Humbrol enamels - I think enamels is too "hot" (not as hot as lacquers) to safely brush over the whatever black Bandai uses for its stripes - if you make a mistake, you'd need mineral spirits to remove the "dry brushing" because its a enamel solvent, but it will most likely also damage the black paint Bandai uses underneath. If you insist on dry brushing, try acrylics like Tamiya, if you don't like it or make a mistake, you can wash it off with Windex and it will not react to the black stripes below. In fact that's one of the reasons I still you Tamiya Acrylics for all my airbrushing work, because I make mistakes too. Dry brushing depends a lot on the surface you dry brush over top of and the sheen of the surface as well, if your test piece isn't exactly like what you want to work on, it will turn out differently - it works best on flat/matte surfaces with a bit of texture or "tooth". Trust me, if you want to lighten the black, airbrush or rattle can (if you've got really good control and masking) is the way to go to preserve the transparency and keep the "NO STEP" - if you don't mind loosing it, then I've seen people who can brush paint it absolutely smooth, but you'd have to re-apply the "NO STEP" as decals over top.
  25. wm cheng
    Thanks everyone for all the kudos! It's nice to get back in the saddle, just wished I had more time for it. Now I love it all the more. Now I just gotta figure out what to do with the canopy and it will be perfect for me. I didn't know about the tailfins. I considered the doors, but the missile doors on the toy is considerably darker than the illustration (and its metallic - gun metal) - I thought it might be too flashy to do a metallic gun metal on the leading edge and it would look too different from the rendering reference. I really liked the dark grey, and it makes the NO STEP look like a light grey (instead of obviously looking like a sprayed metallic finish over them). Yeah, well that was the disastrous initial first attempt where I used the wrong basecoat for the Aclad metalizer top coat - actually it was the correct basecoat (made by Aclad for a black glossy undercoat) - it was using a mineral spirits/turpentine based oil wash that reacted with the enamel basecoat and basically ruined the whole finish because the Aclad coat was so thin that it didn't provide any barrier. I posted some photos of the disaster on that workbench thread a while back and I have subsequently bought a second kit and have painted it to the same stage as the original failure, but I have lost steam/momentum in the project and its just sitting on my bench until I get some time. I don't think you'd get an even enough finish brushing any top/clear coat to lighten the black, when you brush transparent coats, brush marks are that much more apparent.
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