SteveTheFish

I'm bulding mine as-is, without modifications. I wish I had puttied in the dumb rivet holes in these kits before painting them, though. The nice thing about these ships is that they'd look fine without the decals since you don't see them that way in the show.

One thing I really like about Japanese YT modeling videos is that there is a lot more content for older kits from the '80s and such. Seems like the English-language YT modeling scene just focuses on newer kits and there's not the same labor of love for doing the extra work to make older kits look great. For example, this guy has already done what I've set out to do, lighting the old Imai/Bandai Defender. His videos have that annoying computer voice narration, but he really knows his stuff. He added extra surface detail that is lacking on the molds, and even constructed a completely scratch-built cockpit interior, so his sandals I am unfit to tie. This is the same kit I've been working on! My plan is to also light the floodlights on the knees as well as light the guns and have those firing, possibly through direct LEDs in the gun barrels or fiber optics. Pyoo-pyoo-pyoo!

I started building all four Zentraedi ships about a year ago. The decals for the LST ship turned out alright, but the ones for Breetai's flagship turned brittle. I just tried a tiny decal first, one that was inconsequential. I fed Micro Liquid Decal Film into my airbrush and went over the decal sheet a few times that way. It makes the decals thicker, but it'll provide a better chance at keeping them together. I did this when I built the old Takara Crusher Joe Fighter kits a few years ago. (There's some more Shoji Kawamori love for you all!) Those decals were real old, so I had to soak them in warm water for a very long time and had to be VERY patient with them, lest they'd rip. I got a bit bored with this Zetraedi ship project and haven't gotten into it since I finished painting Kamjin's flagship. Seeing the discussions on here about these is getting me back in the mood to punish myself with this decal roulette.

Jibungous Glaug box is jibungous. I can't get over how huge this kit's box is. I remember the Q-Rau box being huge too, but I can't remember what the dimensions on that are. This kit has a full interior, complete with a seat, display screen, and HUD. I wasn't expecting a clear piece for the HUD like that. The mono-eye is clear orange. All the sensors are clear red as expected. Last night I watched some vids on YT of Japanese modelers building the old 1:72 Arii Glaug. Apparently it just hunches over due to its weight disbursement. All the builds I've seen of it are like that. Plus the arms look perhaps a bit too long. Other than that, Arii managed to make it with good proportions, and they employed polycaps which Imai never seemed to do at that time. I did a brief unboxing of the kit in a video I uploaded Saturday after I got the kit. The Glaug is featured 20 minutes into the vid. Before that I show the Misa Hayase model by Plamax.

EDIT: Here is a box size comparison. It's Big McLargehuge! I haven't get gotten the Q-Rau to compare size to that one.

I began working on the entire Zentraedi fleet sometime last year. I should get back to it. I had a decal rip, so I dumped Micro Decal Film into my airbrush and sprayed it all over the decal sheets. Hopefully that will keep the decals together.

This banner is directly from Hasegawa's website. This aligns with what will be on display at the Shizuoka Hobby Show. Let's hope for some neat Macross stuff to be announced!

The Scout Regult is pretty nice. The ones with missle pods have oversized missle pods, making them look awkward. The scout though is nice. Here's mine. I filed off some detail and replaced them with Wave's H-Eyes lens pieces. https://stevethefishdotnet.tumblr.com/post/768755550031921152/arii-1100-macross-regult-scout-type-battlepod

On Sunday afternoon I laid down the decal patterns on the Enterprise E. The decals slide off after only soaking them for a few seconds, which is nice. However they do not like to slide around and might crack if I am not careful! I took my chances and did not use Micro Decal Bonder because I didn't want them to be too thick. You've just gotta make sure you have them lined up properly. The trickiest were the upper part of the sides of the engineering hull, since they wrap around to cover the top of the back, all the way to the shuttle bay in the very back. Fortunately they didn't rip in the process! I'm having to use Tamiya Mark Fit Super Strong though, since they do not like to conform over concave areas. Oh, and look at the forward tips of the nacelle undersides. They didn't properly taper the decals to fit the surface, so I have to use decal scissors to try to cut them to fit properly. AMT didn't do their math right. I am used to the precision of Japanese models.

Is this the one you are designing yourself? That looks incredible. OK, here you go!

Well, lookie there. Once again, an old Imai kit just happens to accommodate an LED perfectly. The flood lights on the knees don't have holes for LEDs, but I can take care of that.

I think I mentioned before on here that I have resolved to complete the 350 scale Klingon K'tinga by Polar Lights, which I'd had in a box on the floor for 6-7 years. I had done most of the pattern painting for the design on the wings and such, but had yet to paint the main hull green color. Well, I finally painted it and it was time to remove the masking tape and masking solution that's been stuck on the model for all these years. A lot of it did not want to cooperate. Fortunately, none of the Tamiya acrylic paint was lifted off, but a lot of residue remained and the masking solution in particular was extremely stubborn. I've been using Locktite blue tack to lift up the stickiness with great success, and applying Zippo lighter fluid with a swab to slowly loosen up the old masking solution and then using the blue tack is doing the trick. The paint has not been disturbed.

Thanks. I knew about the tape trick. I actually tried that first. There is no clear coat, so I can just apply some Micro Sol to it and try from there. I didn't think about doing so, but that makes sense because it re-loosens the decals a bit. Thanks!

This week I bought myself a birthday present and pre-ordered the upcoming Hasegawa Glaug kit on Hobby Search. I imagine it'll ship around the 1st of April. So does anyone have any recommendations on how to strip decals off a model while leaving the lacquer paint job underneath intact? I had some decals on a Star Trek Enteprise model break apart and I did buy replacements, however I'd already applied the Micro Sol to melt the bad ones onto the pylons. I often use Zippo lighter fluid to remove price tags from cardboard and plastic without ruining the surface. Do you think that would work? It's either that or lightly sanding the decals away with 3000 grit sanding sponges or something. It's been eight years since I gave up on that model, but it would be nice to get back to it. and finally finish it.