MechTech

@wm cheng That indeed was a GREAT and patient save! I would have stripped the whole thing down and started over! @pengbuzz WOW!!! More flashbacks! I used to have that kit! The blimp used to fly over my house all the time back in California. My dad and I would hear those lumbering engines and run outside to see the cool animated graphics at night. I even remember the race car sequence in the photos above! - MT

Cooool! - MT

@pengbuzz Cool! An unusual subject too! - MT

First off, my apologies for not posting any projects in a while. I've just had less time for modelling lately. Also, my apologies for making up for lost time with a lot of photos! I put the scratch-built aircraft you saw me working on earlier to the side for a while - I got distracted. Long story, but I was going to get one of the 1/48th Dougram "Blockheads" that were marked down at Wise Guys for box damage. But, I waited too long and they sold quick! While looking online, I forgot all about Max Factory's 1/35th "Dougram Version GT, DX Complete Edition." It's been released for awhile now. At first I wasn't interested because it's not canon to the original anime. It is revised (DX) after a newer comic. Also not canon means I can make slight changes without "screwing up" anything. But the DX Complete version has all the original main "Fang of the Sun" characters and everything is a BIG 1/35th scale! I saw it on sale fora GREAT price and got one! The kit is BEAUTIFUL and BIG! My only gripes so far is that a few pieces had slight fit issues making hiding the seams difficult. Also, for a large 1/35th kit, the cockpit is a bit sparse for details. Finally, several parts were molded with voids in them instead of making them two-pieces or molding them solid. A perfect example is that ALL of the red roll bars are hollow with voids in the underside. They aren't solid or completely round. They're about the same thickness as the sprues too! I'm sure they did that to minimize shrinkage in the plastic while cooling, but it's a bummer when you take a good look at the kit. There a few other parts made the same way. The great part is that they've done like Bandai and made most seams and sprue gates invisible or hidden. Some sprues are molded undercut to hide stress marks. And the whole thing is molded in the various colors of the design. You can get away without painting it if you just want a cool model for your display case. ***FIRST OFF - QUESTION***: With two main colors, I experimented with two colors of Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color, Light Gray on the Blue and Black on the Light Gray. Does it look overly contrasted, should I go with only one color - black? Or, does it look good as is? It will be pretty weathered. Dougram was ALWAYS getting shot up in the series. In fact, my son and I JUST finished watching it for the first time. You'll also see LOTS of hand-holds all over this thing. I had to drill them out and clean them up with an Xacto knife. The kit is AWESOME on may levels. One is that the cockpit window and frame are TWO pieces. NO MASKING! The downside, no opening top hatch. So I took a DSPIAE 0.1mm scribe and etched it completely through. Of course it wouldn't fit anymore, so I surrounded the door with sprue and sanded the edges to fit. Next, I made very simple hinges by cutting .015" brass sheet with scissors and folded it around .020" wire. Then crimped it with pliers. ANYONE can make these simple hinges! Then just to make it more rugged, covered the hinges with filed-down sprue sheet plastic to match colors. No scratching after painting here - there's only touch up paint needed! NEXT, I have to drill-out the window to match the hatch area and for the top hatch. My evil plan is to make animated cockpit displays with a strobing LED circuit. The board needs a place to fit, so I milled out the rudimentary seat and back wall to fit in a 1/32nd ejection seat with better details and fit the board in on the backside. The center tab was also drilled out to fit the battery wires through (as in the first photo). Here's the LED circuit, a $1.50 to $2.00 toy at most online shops. You've seen me use them MANY times here on the boards. It has multiple colors and 7-8 modes you can select. When the circuit board is cut up, it will fit here below: This will be the cockpit front. The circuit has to be close by, so I made the switches near it too. A power switch and a button to select the flashing modes. EVERYTHING got CRAMMED into the small back head piece. They were then glue-gunned in place to keep solid. Clear red and green were used for solid color "on - off" markers. The non-canon red button looks like it belongs and the switch is TINY. The LARGE shoulder cannon (Linear Gun) had a shallow indentation for the barrel muzzle. Again, for a kit this big and detailed, not cool! So, I machined a partial barrel liner sleeve out of aluminum. Then I "rifled" it with a Dremel bit by carefully ramming it through with my lathe drill section as a press. It does have a slight twist. Two had to be made before one looked alright. The sleeve on its own, and inserted into the barrel muzzle piece are below. The molded detailing on this kit beautiful!!! Since I'm thinking of entering this in a future modeling show, I'm adding extra details. The original screen mesh molded into the arms was replaced with photo etch screen. The original detail is alright, but the edges lose detail because of how the molds work in only 2 dimensions. I scraped them out and cut mesh to fit. Then colored the mesh with Brass Black and glued them in place with Gorilla contact cement. Now they stand out better too. Again, GREAT molded details on this kit! That's it for now. Thanks for your opinions and checking in! - MT

Oooh! !/20th! Thanks for posting! - MT

@pengbuzz WOW! Great modifications and COOL work on the stand! It looks great and is a nice touch to the project. I'm sure most people don't have a key either😎. @Urashiman DUDE! I'm like having 80's flashbacks with that Modela CO2 engine and shaped foam fuselage. I had a one of those engines, but never really used them. They were little gems. A lot of power for weight to power ratio too. That plane will run awesome with a brushless motor too! - MT

@F18LEGIOSS The decals look cool! @Goodman Models That Gundam Booster Unit brings back some 80's memories! The paint, especially the faded blue and custom colors with the extra details looks awesome! @Cheese3 Thanks for sharing! That looks like a great kit and pretty big too! @Urashiman WOW! Now that is OLD SCHOOL!😁 Also, REALLY COOL! I haven't seen a balsa and doped tissue kit in decades (we used to sell them too). - MT

I agree with keeping it original. In art, you should keep symmetry to some degree. Mixing angles with curves can backfire - not always - but it can. It does here. - MT

@Chas @wm cheng That's the stuff! Clears acrylics off in a short soak. Enamels may take longer, even a day or too. It only requires a cleaning with soap and water afterwards. I've used it on many things, even saved an old 80's kit I got that was already painted. No harm done in any way and its CHEAP! - MT

@pengbuzz Sorry to say this, but I'm GLAD it fell off the shelf. You're improvements have made it look much more realistic and COOL! @wm cheng Holy orange peels Batman! Wow, sorry your finish came out like that! That is agrovating! If you have it in Canada, "LA's Totally Awesome" is a cheap, general purpose cleaner that will safely strip styrene models. I've used it several times now with now harm to the plastic in any way. @SteveTheFish Your Y-wing looks great! I don't know about the gear though, I'm not that into the Force.😁 - MT

@tekering That's cool! The detail is pretty good too. @no3Ljm Thanks for posting! That is AWESOME! I like how the actuators are quiet. The motors don't sound like a garbage disposal running like some projects have had. - MT

@sketchley Honestly, I would do a little at a time and build it up - do a test. Sometimes some of the paint may not break down. That's an issue if you're going to airbrush. I hope it works out for you! The fighters came out great! Nice squadron going on there! - MT

@derex3592 That Super Hornet looks realistically weathered! GREAT job on the finish over all and congrats! @sketchley I have Tamiya paints about 30+ years old (plus means I don't remember HOW old - maybe 40 years)😁 I've revitalized them too. You just have to watch the goop in the bottom. Sometimes they don't always thin out right - especially for airbrushing. - MT

@sketchley Wow! Lots on your bench! It is COOL haw they designed the Gundam kit for beginners and then said, "For experts only" and added instructions for advanced articulation! The advantages of living in Japan... I couldn't live there. I'd be broke or lose too much weight from blowing my money on hobby stuff instead of food!😁 - MT

Cool and no problem! - MT

@pengbuzz Model Remover🤣 and then 😕 when reality sets in. @sketchley I have a tin of straight up Acetone. I don't know if that's available in Japan (without tons of paperwork). I think I use it for gluing (Acrylics and ABS) more than as a solvent for cleaning. Acetone can be considered pretty hazardous. I knew a guy who cleaned B-52 bomber turbine parts in it back in the day - no gloves or anything! He was battling cancer last time I saw him. Propylene glycol (also hazardous) could impede the bonding process. Its almost like an oil (and is used as one in some chemical compounds). I hope that helps out. - MT

@sketchley If its not too late (just saw the post), plain ole' Acetone is perfect for ABS. It WILL cement it together. @nonner242 WOW! That sucks about the panel lining. I think I only use it on bare plastic. The ingredients are part of the same formulation for glue! I guess the Flory stuff would be MUCH safer. It's only a clay. - MT

@pengbuzz Yeah, some AWESOME work! Basara and the zip line!🤣 - MT

@Big s Thank you! I'd accuse you of using a "Dad Joke", but I've used it myself!😁 @nonner242 Your mod work makes that old toy look MUCH better! @pengbuzz I'm GLAD you're feeling better! I hate taking a break from model building, but sometimes its a must🥲 - MT

@electric indigo BEAUTIFULLY done!!! Looks realistic in the sunlight too! - MT

Last year for my birthday I got the RX-93-V2 Hi-V Gundam from Hobby Lobby on their 40% off sale they always have. Researched it and kept seeing models with GIANT cannon on them and researched it for more info (nope, I've never seen the series). Then I found the gun is a kit! There is the Chinese knock-off and the Bandai version, so I got the Bandai version. It went together in a couple of hours. No paint yet. The gun is about twice the size of the mecha. Huge box compared to the gun, BUT, it has a VERY extensive set of stands INCLUDED to pose the mecha with the gun (floating in space). Backstory, this cannon came from a battleship and they converted it to this. The power cable reels attached to it fit two AAA batteries internally perfectly! I think I might light it up or do some kind of effect lighting. - MT

@nonner242 The colors look great on the SDF-1. I also noticed the Orguss Nickick - cool! @pengbuzz WOW! I'm sorry to hear about all the neurology issues. I'm praying for ya' man! - MT

@nonner242 I think your filter did the trick! Though it is VERY blue. Maybe adjust the colors in Photoshop or other software? @electric indigo That Labor is looking COOL! @HWR MKII NICE paint! @Urashiman OK, you get BONUS point for COOLNESS AND engineering! That is AWESOME! You better post a video 😁 - MT

Thanks for sharing the photos! I must admit, I DO like the newer design, even if I am a bit of a purist. I think they aged the design well as a "next generation" iteration. - MT

I'm not a toy collector, but those DO look cool! - MT