Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[arbit]

5 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Well....as per usual, things were going a little toooo smoothly..LOL. I jinxed myself thinking "Oh, I'll be able to finish up the Ent C today!" Yeeeh.... right.  So I can't actually tell you what happened, but I think I need to press PAUSE on that new Home Depot Gloss clear coat over Tamiya Acrylics.  Lacquer Tamiya TS sprays aren't affected at all by it. However the blue for the warp nacelles was airbrushed Tamiya Acrylic Sky Blue.  After I brought it in from the garage I noticed it looked like I had lightly misted grey over the blue somehow. Now the blue was painted 7 days ago and not touched until today when I hit with the Gloss coat, so I'm assuming some kind of funky chemical reaction happened to the Tamiya Acrylic when the gloss coat was applied.  You can actually  see it in the picture above on the left one.  Anyways, ok, whatever, remask and respray the blue, no biggie. Did that, then went to decaling. No, I didn't seal the blue this time, because I didn't want a repeat of that. So the top engine decals were a little to big and the extra film folded down onto the blue Tamiya later in the afternoon and stuck down without me seeing it happen. UHHGGG. So now I've scraped off the excess decal and will now have to RE-MASK and RE-SPRAY the blue for the nacelles a 3RD EFFING TIME. But not today. I'm out. .

 

P.S. The warp engine decals for the C are by far the hardest yet. Uhhgg... Hindsight being 20/20 I should have cut them into a million little itty bitty bits and trimmed them all to fit but for F*CKS sake, you don't KNOW that they aren't going to fit and lay down right until you have them on the fracking model and then it's to late! 

 

Sorry...rant mode OFF. 

 

 

I'm guessing that gray tinge may be frosting from the gloss? Happens a lot to me with clear coats, including Future. I've found that a second spray of clear removes the frost.

In any case, the hardware clear coats are just too thick, unless you know how to handle them. I particularly fear Krylon colormaster clear, which seems to have a yellow tinge, as well as being sticky.

And I have my own rant: I've yet to figure out how to safely clear coat anything reliably yet, which is a bummer because it means I cant weather or panel line too much.  90% of the time my clear is not thick enough to withstand the oils, no matter how much I spray the oils seep right into the base coat (I've tried airbrushing Mr. Hobby superclear, Vallejo varnish, and Future, with varying results.  It's particularly hard for me to gloss a large or flat surface. Small parts are okay.) I hope that with practice I will get there.

[pengbuzz]

13 hours ago, MechTech said:

Pengbuzz, Rustoleum for metal is hot towards plastics. This stuff is great. I use the primer for most of my models.

Cool Thom and Derex! Looking good! This place is starting to look like the Starship Modeller's Boards

Its slow going, but you can see the helical drive from last posts at the bottom and the bolt it drives above it. The backplate will hold everything and the semicircular part is where the caps will feed around. The round milled piece (on top of double sided duct tape) will be cut in half to also be part of the cap feedway. It will all eventually come together. - MT

Awesome, MT!! I'll have to give it a try, as Walmart is phasing out Krylon for some stupid reason. >:(

Meantime, liking the progress you have here! Looking forward to seeing this part done!

[pengbuzz]

6 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Well....as per usual, things were going a little toooo smoothly..LOL. I jinxed myself thinking "Oh, I'll be able to finish up the Ent C today!" Yeeeh.... right.  So I can't actually tell you what happened, but I think I need to press PAUSE on that new Home Depot Gloss clear coat over Tamiya Acrylics.  Lacquer Tamiya TS sprays aren't affected at all by it. However the blue for the warp nacelles was airbrushed Tamiya Acrylic Sky Blue.  After I brought it in from the garage I noticed it looked like I had lightly misted grey over the blue somehow. Now the blue was painted 7 days ago and not touched until today when I hit with the Gloss coat, so I'm assuming some kind of funky chemical reaction happened to the Tamiya Acrylic when the gloss coat was applied.  You can actually  see it in the picture above on the left one.  Anyways, ok, whatever, remask and respray the blue, no biggie. Did that, then went to decaling. No, I didn't seal the blue this time, because I didn't want a repeat of that. So the top engine decals were a little to big and the extra film folded down onto the blue Tamiya later in the afternoon and stuck down without me seeing it happen. UHHGGG. So now I've scraped off the excess decal and will now have to RE-MASK and RE-SPRAY the blue for the nacelles a 3RD EFFING TIME. But not today. I'm out. .

 

P.S. The warp engine decals for the C are by far the hardest yet. Uhhgg... Hindsight being 20/20 I should have cut them into a million little itty bitty bits and trimmed them all to fit but for F*CKS sake, you don't KNOW that they aren't going to fit and lay down right until you have them on the fracking model and then it's to late! 

 

Sorry...rant mode OFF. 

 

 

I feel for ya bro: it reminds me of when I was doing the big refit's aztec decals: THOSE. WERE. A. PAIN.

Starting to wonder if maybe on your nacelles, you should have molded them and resin cast them in clear blue! O.o

[derex3592]

5 hours ago, arbit said:

I'm guessing that gray tinge may be frosting from the gloss? Happens a lot to me with clear coats, including Future. I've found that a second spray of clear removes the frost.

In any case, the hardware clear coats are just too thick, unless you know how to handle them. I particularly fear Krylon colormaster clear, which seems to have a yellow tinge, as well as being sticky.

And I have my own rant: I've yet to figure out how to safely clear coat anything reliably yet, which is a bummer because it means I cant weather or panel line too much.  90% of the time my clear is not thick enough to withstand the oils, no matter how much I spray the oils seep right into the base coat (I've tried airbrushing Mr. Hobby superclear, Vallejo varnish, and Future, with varying results.  It's particularly hard for me to gloss a large or flat surface. Small parts are okay.) I hope that with practice I will get there.

@arbitHonestly, the absolute best I've found is the the Tamiya TS-13.  It's not cheap and the little cans don't last terribly long, but a couple of coats of that and let it dry for 24hrs is the best I've come across. Quick, easy to control, and solid as a rock. I feel airbrushing clears for the purposes of protecting things from weathering and panel lining is just to thin hence your issues, which I've experienced,  that's why I started laying it down with spray cans only. 

 

EDIT --- I fear anything Krylon as well!!! 

Edited March 9, 2020 by derex3592

[electric indigo]

I stay away from clear coats as much as possible and use Gouache paints and chalks for panel lines and weathering. But large decals leave you no choice.

[Bolt]

I've been airbrushing clear coats for decals. Seems to be fine. Just sucks up a lot of time. Been very tempted to use the spray cans.. 

[pengbuzz]

Taking some time off folks. My b-day (last friday, of all things) turned into an epic disaster that screwed me out of a b-day gift, lost a friend due to a misunderstanding, and didn't even get a b-day cake (this was even before any of the COVID-19 stuff wreaking havoc). So no projects or anything else, and frankly I'm disgusted.

I'll pop in when I can...

[MechTech]

Sorry to hear that Pengbuzz! I hope all works out for you! - MT

[pengbuzz]

20 minutes ago, MechTech said:

Sorry to hear that Pengbuzz! I hope all works out for you! - MT

Thanks, but with everything going on now.... it isn't going to be working out for some time to come. Family finances just fell through, as did a job offer that was contingent upon my getting my IT certification (testing centers are closed until further notice). Add to that a royal reaming out I got that I did nothing to deserve, and I'm about ready to find a cave and just hide in it.

Be back on sometime when I'm not so pessimistic.

[Gabe Q]

Pengbuzz, we're all gonna be quarantined so be like me and set aside a few kits and get to building while we wait this out. I'm looking forward to my unexpected vacation. 

[pengbuzz]

2 hours ago, Gabe Q said:

Pengbuzz, we're all gonna be quarantined so be like me and set aside a few kits and get to building while we wait this out. I'm looking forward to my unexpected vacation. 

That's just it Gabe: with the family finances in tatters, the new job falling through at the last second and my birthday a bust, there are no kits to set aside, and no money to buy any. The certification and job were going to put us back on solid ground; now I'm back to square one, and we have gas and electric bills backed up from over the winter coming due in April that will just about break us. And a family friend that had been helping us has turned their back on us due to a dumb misunderstanding.

Anyways, I've gone on long enough on this. I'll leave this up for a day, then pull my p0osts off so as not to derail this thread any further. I appreciate the advice, but it won't help, sad to say.

 

Bye.

[Thom]

Sorry things are going bad for you 'Buzz. Hang in there. Can't do much else but give you positive thoughts, so here they are...

[Mazinger]

Just now, Thom said:

Sorry things are going bad for you 'Buzz. Hang in there. Can't do much else but give you positive thoughts, so here they are...

^ This 100x's.

[Bolt]

"Shelter in place" here in Norcal. Hopefully will soon have the opportunity to make major headway on a few projects 

[pengbuzz]

4 hours ago, Thom said:

Sorry things are going bad for you 'Buzz. Hang in there. Can't do much else but give you positive thoughts, so here they are...

Thank you Thom; hey, you already did me a HUGE favor a few years ago bro!

[electric indigo]

The plan here is to stay fit & build a Fitter

[Sanity is Optional]

15 hours ago, Bolt said:

"Shelter in place" here in Norcal. Hopefully will soon have the opportunity to make major headway on a few projects 

Same, almost done with all the weapons, shields, backpack, etc... for my MG Full Armor Thunderbolt+Weapon/Armor hangar.

[Bolt]

20 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Same, almost done with all the weapons, shields, backpack, etc... for my MG Full Armor Thunderbolt+Weapon/Armor hangar.

That sounds bad ass!

[Sanity is Optional]

It's quite a thing. Which is why I'm doing everything aside from the suit first.

SO MANY ADD-ON PARTS.

[pengbuzz]

On 3/17/2020 at 7:52 AM, pengbuzz said:

That's just it Gabe: with the family finances in tatters, the new job falling through at the last second and my birthday a bust, there are no kits to set aside, and no money to buy any. The certification and job were going to put us back on solid ground; now I'm back to square one, and we have gas and electric bills backed up from over the winter coming due in April that will just about break us. And a family friend that had been helping us has turned their back on us due to a dumb misunderstanding.

Anyways, I've gone on long enough on this. I'll leave this up for a day, then pull my p0osts off so as not to derail this thread any further. I appreciate the advice, but it won't help, sad to say.

Bye.

Well... I gotta admit when I'm wrong, and that's one of those times folks. I'd like to apologize for my negativity; no one needs it, especially right about now. I really appreciate everyone's support here, and I'm lucky to have folks online like y'all to help me keep perspective on things and focus on what's important. What's more, things are happening now in the background that are working in my family's favor, and hopefully, we'll be okay. it may take longer than I had hoped, but things have brightened up considerably since the last time I posted in here.

Thank you to everyone here for your kind words and thoughtfulness towards me and my family

On that note: a friend IRL has helped me out by sending mea few kits to keep me going during this time. One of these has been a kit I've been dying for years to take on: Hasegawa's VF-1!!!

My progress last night:

I got this one on Friday, and started it after giving the parts a good accounting and washing! I really like the build on this: very instinctual in many areas and a pleasure to build in comparison to Bandai's recent transformable blunder kit. The only thing that was a minor setback was the heavy mold parting line right down the middle of the canopy, but some ultra-fine sandpaper, steel wool and a good rubbing on my pants' leg fixed that issue.

Where I am now:

 

(Light wasn't so great, so I took some with a flash as well)

Got some paintwork on the inner parts (cockpit, intakes, gunpod, engines and vector/feet); on the parts that would get ho, I went for a "burnt metal" heat-discoloration scheme I saw elsewhere online:

  

I also did the same for the gunpod:

  

(Okay...better like this? Or like this? lol )

Since Hasegawa is known for their aircraft models, I wanted to treat this as an aircraft model first, then as a sci-fi/anime model second. I plan on using this when completed to permanently take the place of the original Bandai VF-1S on the flight deck diorama I built some time back. That way, it can be displayed appropriately while the transformable one can stay in the factory dio safe and sound.

Stay tuned folks.... the Pengbuzz is back!!

Edited March 22, 2020 by pengbuzz

[pengbuzz]

UPDATE:

Got much of the main body done. I then decided to do something a tiny bit radical, seeing as this is going to be the centerpiece of a catapult launch diorama...

...I dropped the flaps and slats:

Right now, I'm just waiting for the glue to dry on the leading edge of the wings before I proceed; once it's solid, I'll refine the width and shape of the front and superimpose another piece over the very front to re-create the leading edge. Then it's just sanding to shape and adjusting everything until it looks right (using pics of the VF-1 with flaps and slats open to go by):

Meantime, I'll have to check my options for a pilot and ground crew. kinda wiped myself out on the factory, so I may be hosed for that for some time. We'll see.

Stay tuned...

 

Edited March 23, 2020 by pengbuzz

[derex3592]

Looking good Peng!  Glad to see you're enjoying the hobby once again! 

IS it kinda bad I'm wanting my bosses to tell us to go home this week (with pay hopefully) so I CAN work on ALL my kits I have waiting??!! 

[pengbuzz]

4 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Looking good Peng!  Glad to see you're enjoying the hobby once again! 

IS it kinda bad I'm wanting my bosses to tell us to go home this week (with pay hopefully) so I CAN work on ALL my kits I have waiting??!! 

LOL! Hey, let your boss know you're trying to do your part to fight COVID-19!

 

[arbit]

On 3/9/2020 at 5:35 PM, derex3592 said:

@arbitHonestly, the absolute best I've found is the the Tamiya TS-13.  It's not cheap and the little cans don't last terribly long, but a couple of coats of that and let it dry for 24hrs is the best I've come across. Quick, easy to control, and solid as a rock. I feel airbrushing clears for the purposes of protecting things from weathering and panel lining is just to thin hence your issues, which I've experienced,  that's why I started laying it down with spray cans only. 

Planning to give Gloss cans a try, but it is always dusty outdoors or humid where I live. I do use Mr. Top Coat for final Satin finish, but I also find it is touch and go, hard for me to control, easy to flood.

But your TS-13 says it is Satin, not Gloss. I assume you are using the gloss version before lining and weathering? 

On 3/10/2020 at 12:24 AM, electric indigo said:

I stay away from clear coats as much as possible and use Gouache paints and chalks for panel lines and weathering. But large decals leave you no choice.

You have mentioned this before, but despite some research I can't find any info on it.

Could you walk us through your Gouache technique step-by-step?

[arbit]

I hope everyone and their families are staying safe and taking all necessary precautions.

Despite the stay at home with the kids, I don't plan on modeling anytime soon. I seem to have developed some arthritis in a couple fingers and need to sort that out first.

[pengbuzz]

1 hour ago, arbit said:

I hope everyone and their families are staying safe and taking all necessary precautions.

Despite the stay at home with the kids, I don't plan on modeling anytime soon. I seem to have developed some arthritis in a couple fingers and need to sort that out first.

Ouch, I feel for ya, Arbit! I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, and my hands can end up to where modeling is a no-go for a few days.

[pengbuzz]

Minor update: finished the leading edge slats on the wings. Just have to decide if I'm going to try to fit in the clear lights near the hinge end of the wing, or just suggest them in with paint:

 

[Thom]

Welcome back Pang! And roaring right back into it I see! Lovely work in the slats and flaps. Keep it up!

[MechTech]

Derex, I AM at home and teleworking. It's still tough to get to modelling. In fact, I've gotten less done since teleworking! Although we do get smoke breaks (minus the smoke and plus the modelling I can't sit all day, a guy's gotta get some exercise at the bench.

Cool Electric Indigo! I got to see some of those abandoned in Afghanistan. I wonder if that was the aircraft some LT sat in and pulled the ejection seat handle (and yes, it still worked)

That's coming along great Pengbuzz! The flaps add realism. No plane sits out on the ready minus flaps down.

So to relate with everyone's pains, I just had carpal tunnel surgery about two months ago. Next hand is probably coming up soon. I can only hold parts for a while before my hand goes to sleep. I miss the days of my "kung foo grip" on parts. That's one thing that slowed me down. Now it's just reworking my current design. - MT

[pengbuzz]

7 hours ago, Thom said:

Welcome back Peng! And roaring right back into it I see! Lovely work in the slats and flaps. Keep it up!

Thanks Thom! Well, you know me: I never do anything normal.

6 hours ago, MechTech said:

That's coming along great Pengbuzz! The flaps add realism. No plane sits out on the ready minus flaps down.

So to relate with everyone's pains, I just had carpal tunnel surgery about two months ago. Next hand is probably coming up soon. I can only hold parts for a while before my hand goes to sleep. I miss the days of my "kung foo grip" on parts. That's one thing that slowed me down. Now it's just reworking my current design. - MT

Thanks MT! I wanted the diorama to look like an "actual photo" taken on the Prometheus flight deck. Going to be researching flight deck ops and get the appropriate deck crew figs and equipment to make it look like Roy is launching from Prometheus on "blue water ops" (conceptually, this would be several weeks before Launch Day for the SDF-1, so I want to tell a bit of a story with this one).

And yeah, Carpal Tunnel just plain sucks. I decided not to get the surgery, as I didn't want the "bowstringing" effect from them cutting the tendon. I manage mine with stretches and rest.

[Bolt]

Been home for a few days and haven't touched a model! Wah! Gotta get that garden in..oh well. Soon come.

[pengbuzz]

2 hours ago, Bolt said:

Been home for a few days and haven't touched a model! Wah! Gotta get that garden in..oh well. Soon come.

Lol! I hear ya!

Meantime...got some more work done. The detail got a little buried by paint, so I did my best with it. Doing this a second time around, I would forego my usual techniques, but I really don't feel like trying to strip paint off of this (not to mention there's no alcohol in the stores!). Anyway, the latest on my VF-1 Hasegawa build:

 

[electric indigo]

On 3/23/2020 at 6:22 PM, arbit said:

You have mentioned this before, but despite some research I can't find any info on it.

Could you walk us through your Gouache technique step-by-step?

There's no magic involved: I use Schmincke gouache which comes as a paste in tubes, in a wide range of colors. You mix them with water and use them as you would with any other wash, either apply them with a wide brush and wipe away the excess with a damp cloth, or paint directly over the panel lines with a small brush. Due to the higher surface tension, they will not flow as easily as enamel or alcohol based washes, but you can apply and correct endlessly (with a wet brush, paper tissue, or your fingers) without marring the base paint, and you have zero fumes to deal with.

My favorite is the cool grey color for panel lines on white paint, like here:

- 

I hope you hands get better soon and we see more electric magic from you.

22 hours ago, MechTech said:

Cool Electric Indigo! I got to see some of those abandoned in Afghanistan. I wonder if that was the aircraft some LT sat in and pulled the ejection seat handle (and yes, it still worked)

[Lt. Z0mBe]

I've still got a little ways to go on this one.  The wide and I have been spending a lot of time with the 1/1 scale baby human, who is way more fun to work with.  Build time is therefore at a premium.

The idea for this comes from the variety of limited versions of ground vehicles produced and/or field modified for special operations troops on real battlefields.  I figure in the Star Wars universe the Empire would have operators whose support vehicles were a little different than the standard fare.  As such, I added extra stowage, spaced applique armor, antennas, sensors and slightly different weapons, much in the same vein as modern Humvees, ATV's and buggies are produced/modified to meet the needs of special operations troops.

I am also adding a bit of a dioramatic base, just for fun.  The figures have been replaced with 1/48 Tamiya figures and their poses have been custom formed and sculpted.  I vacuformed armor for the Scout Troopers from sheet styrene.  Other accessories were sculpted from Aves and cyanoacrylate-varnished masking tape.  The groundwork is made from tea grounds, hand-sculpted Aves plants, and thermoformed drinking straws among other things.

The model is based on the 1/48 Bandai kit.  I am going with a moderately-weathered look, having given it a decent amount of chipping and scratching thus far.  But, I still have more weathering to do, having just completed basic washing.

Here's a few images of the beginning of the build as well as a few snapped a few minutes ago.

 

The full album is here: AT-SOT Album.

Comments and criticisms welcome.

Kenny

Edited March 25, 2020 by Lt. Z0mBe

[Gabe Q]

@Lt. Z0mBe Nice work! I always admire and respect builders that can scratch build. What an original concept and masterfully executed. 

@pengbuzz Nice mod on that hasgawa valk! I'm glad to hear things turned around for you!

I recently started a new build even though I have twenty something already in pile. I figure, it's gonna be a long haul so might as well. Anyway, here's my progress so far.