Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[pengbuzz]

2 hours ago, Thom said:

And that is one great looking build-n-bash! Sauce?

Sauce? Er.... jet fuel?

Edited November 20, 2018 by pengbuzz

[electric indigo]

Belly of the dragon

Decals are flat coated and misted over with light grey to bring down the saturation.

Edited November 22, 2018 by electric indigo

[slide]

4 hours ago, electric indigo said:

Belly of the dragon

Decals are flat coated and misted over with light grey to bring down the saturation.

That's gorgeously done Indigo!

Query: were they simply too saturated off-the-decal-sheet? or did you do it for weathering purposes?

if the latter: would the underside roundels really fade like that [being on the "dark side"of the plane 90% of the time]?

I would assume the paint they use for hi-viz national markings like Sweden is pretty vivid out-of-the-can.

Edited November 22, 2018 by slide

[Gabe Q]

2 hours ago, electric indigo said:

Decals are flat coated and misted over with light grey to bring down the saturation.

Your builds are always so clean and professional looking! I always enjoy everything you post. 

[electric indigo]

Thanks, guys, alway a pleasure to entertain you.

Slide, I have seen photos of faded roundels on the underside of the plane, I guess they pick up a lot of dirt from the runway. But I mainly dusted them to tie them into the overall color scheme, I like to approach my builds with a baked-in atmospheric haze in mind. When I was younger, I noticed that my aircraft kits always looked more realistic in color after a thin layer of dust had settled on them, so now I try to get that look from the beginning.

The Hasegawa kit is absolutely awesome, btw.

[derex3592]

Gorgeous as always! 

[Thom]

On 11/20/2018 at 1:27 AM, pengbuzz said:

Sauce? Er.... jet fuel?

Sorry. Too much 4chan...

Sauce = Source.

So, source?

 

 

[arbit]

On 11/22/2018 at 5:46 PM, electric indigo said:

Decals are flat coated and misted over with light grey to bring down the saturation.

Well done! So is your light grey diluted 80-90%?

[pengbuzz]

On 11/23/2018 at 8:02 PM, Thom said:

Sorry. Too much 4chan...

Sauce = Source.

So, source?

 

 

Lol no worries Thom!

Parts:
1/48 Revell F-15E "Strike Eagle" model kit (plane parts, decals)
M.A.R.S. Converters '57 Chevy "Valve Charger" (torso, legs, head)
Transformers Universe Ultra-class Powerglide (arms)
Transformers Classics Voyager-class Ultra Magnus (shoulder joints)
Materials:
Devcon Plastic Welder
Hot Melt Glue (high temperature)
3M Masking Tape
Apple Barrel Acrylics
Testors Model Masters Enamel (silver)
Krylon Crystal Coat (Clear)
Sharpie Markers (assorted)

And of course: sheet styrene and Testors Model Cement

Edited November 25, 2018 by pengbuzz

[electric indigo]

On 11/24/2018 at 4:50 PM, arbit said:

Well done! So is your light grey diluted 80-90%?

2:1 thinner:paint, light, low-pressure pass.

Here's the upper side:

I just learned that the red labels mark the spots where you're supposed to punch through the hull with a fire hose in case of an engine fire...

[Thom]

On 11/25/2018 at 12:46 PM, pengbuzz said:

Lol no worries Thom!

Parts:
1/48 Revell F-15E "Strike Eagle" model kit (plane parts, decals)
M.A.R.S. Converters '57 Chevy "Valve Charger" (torso, legs, head)
Transformers Universe Ultra-class Powerglide (arms)
Transformers Classics Voyager-class Ultra Magnus (shoulder joints)
Materials:
Devcon Plastic Welder
Hot Melt Glue (high temperature)
3M Masking Tape
Apple Barrel Acrylics
Testors Model Masters Enamel (silver)
Krylon Crystal Coat (Clear)
Sharpie Markers (assorted)

And of course: sheet styrene and Testors Model Cement

Very cool!

[valkyriepm]

Hi guys! Long time since I built  a Macross model. I have like 15 models to build, so it was about time. Anyway, working on Kakizaki's super battroid. Working on fast packs and gun pod right now....

 

Martin

[Kelsain]

Nice weathering!

[Thom]

Nice!

[derex3592]

Looking good! 

[MechTech]

Brett and Pengbuzz, I love the creativity you both took with your projects.

Brett, that was cool going with a Vietnamish-era looking paint scheme.

Pengbuzz, that was great taking an F-15 and bashing it with a Transformer!

Electric Indigo, I love how you treated the decals to make them look more realistic. That is the next best thing to decal setting solution. Both together look very realistic!

Valkyriepm - You're still alive! Good to see Kakizake getting some love! Great paint effects.

Long work hours and the commute has cut my "fun" time down. So sorry I don't chat with you guys more. I'm glad to see the great work being posted here though!

What have I been doing? For the past several months, bits and pieces as time (and family) allows. I'm calling the Dougram Ironfoot done. The right knee joint broke and I can't fix it due to the wires running through it. So any more handling like further painting could permanently damage it. Sorry, my camera needs to be replaced!

Lathed down the old rocket ends and fitted them into styrene tube to extend them and make them more white painting wise. Too much paint will get scraped off if they are removed.

What has taken up my hobby time the most is an upcoming ship build. I want to build a large and fast R/C ship. A modern corvette or light frigate which of course there are no large kits of in 1/72nd scale or similar. I think a cool idea would be to have the cannon fire caps! There are no electric cap guns that I have found, so I had to engineer one (actually two).

The first design is small and lightweight. It uses a rotating cylinder to pick-up a brass tube piece with a cap on the end from the spring-fed magazine below it. One end of the cylinder is a helix that simultaneously cocks the hammer back and releases it at the right point.

PROS: Lightweight, fast and small. CONS: Jams easily, caps don’t always sit right on the tube despite a tight fit and caps have to be cut-out and refitted each use. Only holds 8 rounds.

First cylinder auto-cap-cannon photo, at rest. Second, cocked.

The second design uses a bolt that is hollow. It has gear teeth on the bottom that are engaged by a pinion gear that cocks it back. The bolt has an insert that strikes the cap as it is released backward when the pinion gear’s teeth run out (similar to some airsoft gun mechanisms). The same shaft also turns a cam that drives a feed arm to advance the cap strip.

PROS: Highly reliable, louder (caps and striking force). Can fire several strips inter-locked as a belt. CONS: bigger, heavier, slower, needs more power to run (also making it heavier).

First auto-cap-cannon photo, at rest. Second, cocked. Third, loaded with a cap strip.

The second design will be used because I can trust it to not jam and it is louder.

Next step is to create the turret. It will be the Leonardo (ex-Oto Melara) 127/64 light weight (5 inch/127mm) gun. The barrel is already turned to match its appearance. The barrel only weighs 1 gram by the way. Its hollow to allow smoke and effects to pass through it as a real cannon.

That’s it for now. Chat with you guys later! - MT

 

[mickyg]

Wow @MechTech that's some amazing work!  I know what you mean about life and work (and commute) taking up a lot of time.  I keep thinking I'm going to have an hour here and there to work on various projects that have been stalled for well over a year.  Sometimes time is scarce, and sometimes you flat out forget what "time" is altogether!

I love popping over here to see what everyone's up to though.  Keeps things my creative mind alert and gives me lots of ideas for when I do rediscover some free time.

[valkyriepm]

@MechTech great to see you too! Same position as you, life and family. Keep modeling all the time but on different topics each time as to maintain interest. But Macross always present. Amazing work you'r doing there

And thanks everybody for your comments. 

Martin

Edited December 2, 2018 by valkyriepm

[Chronocidal]

So I discovered after sorting out my Bandai Star Wars kits that I'm missing one cannon for one of my Tie Interceptors.  Does anyone know if there's a way to request missing pieces through Bluefin now that they're distributing the kits officially, or would I be better just attempting to mold/cast one, or scratch-build my own replacement?

[MechTech]

Thank you Mickyg! You are so right! Time is more valuable than our old Macross stuff!

Thank you Martin! I guess we're all in the same boat with time and life leaving less time for hobbies. - MT

[electric indigo]

On 12/2/2018 at 10:24 PM, MechTech said:

 

Amazing work! But won't you run out of space when the "ammo belt" advances?

[Lt. Z0mBe]

Here's an update for today.  Basically, I deleted a lot of the greeblies between the engines as well as removed the rails from the underside since they're not needed in the nu-BSG universe based on what I see in the Mk II.  The exhaust nozzle detail is finished and the vertical stabilizer details are more-or-less where I want them.  You can see how the exhause nozzles should look once installed.  Finally, the leading edge wing beveling is complete.

Comments and criticisms welcome.

Kenny

[Chronocidal]

Looks like an awesome remodel, can't wait to see it painted up.  

One thing I noticed though, is the top engine missing that inner 6-toothed ring the other two engines have?

Edited December 4, 2018 by Chronocidal

[MechTech]

Lt. Zombie, that's a great change to the engines!

Electric Indigo, Thank you! The belt will actually bend into a loop inside the turret. The strip caps can link together so it will be a big loop inside the turret and into the base. - MT

[arbit]

valkyriepm, really nice weathering on that valk. I've been watching TONS of weathering tutorials. Now I need a subject to work with.

Lt. Zombie, great scratch work there. I follow Ken Spriggs amazing detailed scratch work step-by-steps. Check it out! 

Mechtech, your lathe hobby continues to shock and awe me.

As for me, I really like making my models move, so I have been studying how to control stepper motors with different Arduino driver boards and CNC conrol boards. I've never used steppers yet in my builds, only servos and DC motors so far.  Since  I have no programming knowledge, it's always months of study and research till I figure things out and find codes and wiring diagrams that work for me.  I'm really excited about micro stepper because they don't need limit switches and are as small as 6mm.  But so far I've found that micro steppers have too little torque to be useful in our models, unless I learn how to gear them up or design nearly weightless moving parts with low friction.  Big Nema steppers are very powerful, but of course they don't fit in my scale models.

 

[Sanity is Optional]

The other issue with steppers is that if there's inertia, they can coast part their desired position (in addition to friction stopping them short). Though I suppose you can use hard-stops rather than limit switches with them.

[arbit]

2 hours ago, Sanity is Optional said:

The other issue with steppers is that if there's inertia, they can coast part their desired position (in addition to friction stopping them short). Though I suppose you can use hard-stops rather than limit switches with them.

Interesting. Do you know if the non-geared type get damaged if they keep rotating at a hard stop?

[Sanity is Optional]

4 minutes ago, arbit said:

Interesting. Do you know if the non-geared type get damaged if they keep rotating at a hard stop?

The only danger is overheating, fundamentally there's only one moving part.

[arbit]

11 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

The only danger is overheating, fundamentally there's only one moving part.

Well, I've got a fun 1/72 Macross project in mind, if you're up to a team build. 

I need to raise that platform with about 200g of weight, and raise those blast deflectors.

I've got most of the parts ready on my bench. Just slowed down by the steppers research, though I might end up using DC motors instead.

 

[Sanity is Optional]

1 minute ago, arbit said:

Well, I've got a fun 1/72 Macross project in mind, if you're up to a team build. 

I need to raise that platform with about 200g of weight, and raise those blast deflectors.

 I've got most of the parts ready on my bench. Just slowed down by the steppers research, though I might end up using DC motors instead.



 

Most of my experience with motion control is at a professional level, so I'm not sure I'd be much help with hobby components.

Might be worth using DC and a belt drive or friction clutch, then just running it into the hardstop with a time-based cutoff in the logic. Not sure how much a mini-servo could lift. Alternatively you could do a scissor-jack type deal, which would function like gearing and do a simple contact limit switch.

[electric indigo]

Final steps on the Draken. For the cockpit, I made the two small struts inside the canopy from stretched sprue.

And we have liftoff

I have to paint & install the pitot tube and the position lights. Also, a set of missiles is on order.

[wm cheng]

30 minutes ago, electric indigo said:

Final steps on the Draken. For the cockpit, I made the two small struts inside the canopy from stretched sprue.

And we have liftoff

I have to paint & install the pitot tube and the position lights. Also, a set of missiles is on order.

WOW!!!  I absolutely love your builds Electric Indigo - they are so clean and flawlessly smooth - your paint is just so awesome that it really gives the tiny model a real sense of scale.  Plus I love the subject matter you always choose.  Thanks for posting because I can get my fix by living vicariously through you - I have such little time to model anymore and trying to go through a basement renovation means I won't have a workbench for at least another year

[arbit]

On 12/6/2018 at 6:29 PM, wm cheng said:

Thanks for posting because I can get my fix by living vicariously through you

+1

[Nyankodevice]

a little project while i wait for my plamax 1/20 gerwalk

[electric indigo]

^is that the 1/48 Hase kit?

wmcheng & arbit, it's always a pleasure to keep you entertained. Next on this channel: