Less than Super Ostrich

yep... its cold here in Chicago.

I did my weathering in an odd way... I left the oil wash spill over onto the panels enough to turn the color somewhat darker. I still don't have enough airbrush control to do the pre-shade or post shade technique. Overall I am pleased, but I think the only color this will work on is dark gray, IMHO. Oh, and when I was talking about the similarity to the VF-4... I meant only the forward section. The rear is clearly its own thing. I agree that the VF-4 aft section is a tribute to the Blackbird.

I just finished the Yukikaze Super Sylph and I was thinking that many of its lines look very similar to the VF-4. At least the front half of the aircraft does. What do you think? I had a lot of the same problems as WM Cheng did with his Yukikaze Super Sylph. This is the Version 1.5 from Bandai. I wish I had it in 1/72 scale, but unfortunately this is the 1/100 version (Platz makes the 1/72 scale). I enjoyed this aircraft very much. I used Tamiya paints and all the decals. The decals went on fairly smooth, but in hindsight I should have painted all the white parts on the wings. I think it turned out pretty good. I had problems with those light blue decals going down the back. I tried a oil wash for the weathering details. I used some of the Alclad metalizer paints for the shiny parts (underside radar and the exhaust on the rear). I mixed sky gray and rlm grey to get the color for the underside; and dark gray and rlm gray for the top. Overall I am pleased, but the colors are definitely not the colors on the cover of the box. What do you think... I'd love any feed back. http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/uploads/po...-1073845851.jpg http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/uploads/po...-1073845916.jpg http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/uploads/po...-1073845993.jpg http://www.macrossworld.com/mwf/uploads/po...-1073846086.jpg

Here is the underside. I mixed sky gray and rlm grey to get the color right. Overall I am pleased, but the colors are definitely not the colors on the cover of the box. What do you think... do you like mine instead?

I used some of the Alclad metalizer paints for the shiny parts (underside radar and the exhaust on the rear). Somehow they didn't turn out as nice as WM Cheng's did.

Here is another shot... I had problems with those light blue decals going down the back. I tried a oil wash for the weathering details.

I just finished the Yukikaze Super Sylph and I was thinking that many of its lines look very similar to the VF-4. At least the front half of the aircraft does. What do you think? I had a lot of the same problems as WM Cheng did with his Yukikaze Super Sylph. This is the Version 1.5 from Bandai. I wish I had it in 1/72 scale, but unfortunately this is the 1/100 version (Platz makes the 1/72 scale). I enjoyed this aircraft very much. I used Tamiya paints and all the decals. The decals went on fairly smooth, but in hindsight I should have done what WM Cheng did and paint all the white parts on the wings. \ I think it turned out pretty good. One thing... I would ask the Mods please do not move this thread to Other Anime. All of us Modelers like to see this stuff in this thread and we don't check the Other Anime Section very often. Please do not move it. Thanks.

By the way, I also just finished the Yukikaze Super Sylph... anyone want to see pics or should I post them in "Other Anime" section of the boards?

Good work... glad to have another fellow modeler! Keep em coming!!

I finished one of Ken's VF-4's... Great quality kit. Good resin... limited flash. Please post some pics if you finish yours.

Here is my finished picture of Valkyrie's VF-4 recast. Aside from my poor modeling skillz... the recast is very nice (so nice I bought two!). Valkyrie uses good resin with minimal problem areas. Even the vacuum-formed canopy was nice.

Thanks guys for all the encouragement. Especially you WM CHeng... you are really the inspiration for me getting back into the hobby. On to my next project... my half finished yukikaze super sylph from Bandai. As for the stand, it couldn't have been easier to build. As I said before bending the acrylic rod was super easy with a coffee can, heat gun, and a pair of gloves. As for the stand. I just drilled a hole at an angle into the base. As for the attachment to the VF-4, all I did was drill two little holes in the acyrlic rods and the plane. Then I superglued two nails that I sawed in half into the base. Turned out great... you can barely see the attachment points underneath and you can take the plane off the stand fairly easily. I'd love to put the Macross Kite on the stand, but I have NO idea how to accomplish that so it looks nice. I imagine I'll just paint it black (in the words of mick jagger). Happy modeling all.

three of three pic

two of three pic

Ok folks... I think I'm done for now. I'm actually pretty pleased for my first resin model, but its clear that I have ALOT to learn about modeling. I'm still frightened to do anything except an oil wash in terms of weathering. My airbrush skills keep letting me down every time I try pre shading or post shading. I think adding those touches would really make it nice. I over sanded, over glued, over scribed, over everything, so it looks really choppy in parts. I think alot of that has to do with a lack of patience. I only have opportunities to model for about 30 minutes at a time, so I think I rush through the steps to quickly. I really like the base and the stand. I need to paint the base (as you can see it only has primer on it now. I can't wait to do more In-flight models like this. I have sooooo many acrylic rods now that it should last me for a lifetime. I should have thought about the decals before I started the model. As you can see they are a hodge podge of scraps from old Hasegawa models. By the way... if any of you are interested in this resin kit... Valkyrie has some available for sale. I think he is charging $50, if I'm not mistaken.

The gloves I guess are for the hot rod? Exactly. and for holding the can which gets hot too. Where online is US Plastics? It is www.usplastic.com and here is the link to the acrylic rods: http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.a...ded+Acrylic+Rod Funny thing... in the package they sent me was the acrylic rods and some religious literature about being a born again Christian. Who knew that Bible Beaters were big into plastic manufacturing? The heat gun, is it just the kind to strip paint? Exactly. I had one from working on the house when I was painting. Very cheap and you can direct the heat source better. spray booth, neat set up, where did you get it, and how much do they cost? It is a Paasche hobby spray booth and it is BIG! I got it on ebay for $179. I actually live in Chicago, and picked it up right at the Paasche manufacturing facility (NO SHIPPING COST!!). Here is the guy I got it from on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&category=28111 So does it vent outside? Yep... the vent booth has an exhaust motor by which you attach a 4" dryer vent. I bought a little vent from Atlanta supply Co. to exhaust to the outside: Exhaust vent is toward the middle of the webpage

Well... I thought I'd take a little break from the model and build the stand. Since this is an in-flight model, I thought I would have to make some sort of rig to hold it. The coat hanger thing won't cut it, so I decided on something I saw is FineScale Modeler. The article had a guy who used acrylic rods which I kinda liked. I ordered various sized extruded acrylic plastic rods from U.S. Plastic. I got more clear acrylic plastic than I will go through in six lifetimes for $8.00 shipped! As you can see below, I'm not done yet. I took the straight acrylic rod and taped an end to a coffee can side. I heated the plastic with that heat gun (very cheap too!), and then pushed the rods along the groves in the can until I got a U-shaped piece of plastic. Remember to use gloves! I cut off the ends, smoothed them too. Finally I drilled a hole in the base and fed the plastic rod in. Now I plan to hand drill two holes near the top for small metal rods... then glue those in place... then drill similar holes in the base of the VF-4, so the rods will fit in to hold it to the top of the acrylic base.

I expect to finish circa 2044. Seriously, I get about 5 minutes here, 20 minutes there, an hour if I'm lucky. Truth is very young children are a modelers worst nightmare. Keep in mind this is only my third model since I got back in to the hobby and my first resin kit. Hopefully, I will get better. I really want to get my weathering skills down.

Yeah baby. Do I get a free gunpod for doing an advertisement for your beautiful work? Yep... very displeased with the paint job... but it is my first resin try. The UN Spacy logos are big, but I had to work with what I had... not many extra decals.

By the way, I don't have any VF-4 reference materials, so I made up where the markings are and the decals go. I'm sure I made some mistakes, but I don't mind.

Here's another view... I am not horribly pleased with the paint job. I had to rescribe some panel lines, and I did a HORRIBLE job. (see near the cockpit). Next time I plan to use label tape to guide the scribing saw that I just got.

Ok... I added some decals tonight. I basically scrounged these up from old Valkyries I had (mostly Hasegawas). I have not done the panel lines yet. I plan to do an oil wash. I also may use some pastel chalks. I put down a coat of future first, so the decals would glide on nicely. Then I plan to seal it with another coat of future. Then do the wash and other weathering. And then a flat seal at the end.

i have a morbid curiousity to know whatever became of the Tanmen debacle. Any news?

you know I used to say don't prime the polystyrene kits... but now I am a primer. If you plan to keep the models a long time, model will adhere (and less apt to scratch off) with primer than without. All else being equal... prime. You could, however, sacrifice some of the depth of your panel lines.

I think if the ratings are good enough... then we should expect a series.