Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[Bolt]

THAT ! Is BEAUTIFUL!!!

[pengbuzz]

1 hour ago, Rock said:

Bench cleared!

Few issues. Canopy popped someyime while painting. Glue held but, it is slightly raised on the corner. Secondly, got a better feel on shading these birds, just need to get a bit more comfortable with highlighting instead of replying somly on filters and preshading. I also need to spend a bit more time with decaling. I've had the process down but, painting OVER them and such is mixed. For example after 2 topcoats and doing a white/black dot filter you can see how the filter still managed to find the decals edges and react differently. Maybe mineralspirits is too strong for the acrylics/laquer topcoats.

I feel I hit a lot of my hobby goals in 2022... yeah still don't finish much but, I really wanted to break away from clean, solid paint jobs that 20 years of gunpla will do to 'ya. Really focused on improving my ground work (putty/primer,) moving away from grabbing that rattle can when to lazy to pull out the airbrush. Lastly a large goal of not buying every damn kit in sight! At one point I can say I had over 21 models of Wing Zero... lol

Anyways One more Tamiya cat left to go!

See you all next year!

That cat looks really sharp, Rock!!!

Speaking of Tomcats, I got a surprise gift for Christmas recently: a 1/72 Hobbyboss F-14 in VF-1 Wolfpack livery-

I also got a 1/72 F-4 Phantom set from another friend as yet another surprise gift:

*To those that sent me these: you've done this weary heart a world of good; thank you and Merry Christmas!*

As to the Tomcat: I started that kit while I'm waiting on parts for the Enterprise carrier (thank you to yet another friend for their generosity!):

I'm planning on painting and slightly weathering the cockpit, but since I plan on having an "in-flight" 'cat (closed canopy, wheels up configuration), I don't know if putting the display decals in is necessary, since much may not even be visible.

Your thoughts, folks?

[Thom]

That is an awesome looking 'cat @Rock! 

But Sergeant @pengbuzz they ain't got no legs.🤯

[pengbuzz]

7 minutes ago, Thom said:

That is an awesome looking 'cat @Rock! 

But Sergeant @pengbuzz they ain't got no legs.🤯

I had to do that so they would fit in the cockpit; even with the channels for the legs and sanding the legs down, they wouldn't fit!

[Thom]

47 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

I had to do that so they would fit in the cockpit; even with the channels for the legs and sanding the legs down, they wouldn't fit!

That's alright, they'll have two good engines and a strong pair of wings to carry them!

[wm cheng]

Hey @pengbuzz, I'd put the cockpit control/panel decals on, you will make out that the arm consoles are blank if you look down through the canopy. 

 

Absolutely stunning Titanic @derex3592 - how could you ever part with it?!?!  I could never do commissioned work as I can't part with my babies after all the hours poured into them.  Unfortunately I don't have much space to display them either.

 

Beautiful Cat @Rock - congrats, the GWH kit is really great!  Might get another one after my 3 Hasegawas, 2 Finemolds are actually done?!  Also I keep hearing good things about the Academy F-14 new tool.

Edited December 29, 2022 by wm cheng

[pengbuzz]

3 hours ago, wm cheng said:

Hey @pengbuzz, I'd put the cockpit control/panel decals on, you will make out that the arm consoles are blank if you look down through the canopy.

Yeah; I had those thoughts and when test-fitting, could see them. So I'll just run with that.

Thanks!

[arbit]

New DYRL helmet sculpt.  Almost there...

[Bolt]

That looks really good @arbit ! Love the DYRL style 👍🏼

[MechTech]

@Rock Your Tomcat is beautifully weathered and detailed! I like that they even have one of the TARPS recon pod cameras detailed (we have one at the local museum). Congrats on achieving your goals too.

@pengbuzz It's too bad they wouldn't fit in with the legs. Who engineers these things? Gotta have leg space!

@arbit ANOTHER great sculpt! Maybe 2023 we'll have a "family" printer for "teaching" the children new technology and techniques.😉😁 - MT

[pengbuzz]

2 hours ago, MechTech said:

@pengbuzz It's too bad they wouldn't fit in with the legs. Who engineers these things? Gotta have leg space!

Right?

On that note... UPDATE:

Pilots and cockpit painted up:

 

 

Cockpit, no pilots:

 

 

And the pilots:

I repainted the pilots after pulling them from the other plane; I did my best on them. Unfortunately, even with magnification, I can only do so much at 1/72 scale! As for the cockpit, I still plan on doing the decals; I just needed to get some paintwork done. Once all of this is set and the dullcote is applied, then we can get to starting the outside of the plane.

On that specific note: the panel lines are very shallow on this; I'm thinking of scribing them a slight bit deeper so they don't disappear on me!

 

Stay tuned...

 

[Thom]

Those pilots are looking good @pengbuzz.

@arbit The helmet is coming along great!

And alright, this Beast is nosing out of her cave after a near decade long hibernation!

[wm cheng]

Hey @Urashiman noticed your clamps, I want to get a set, what did you feel was the most useful sizes to get, I noticed they come in 2” all the way up to 9”.  I wished there was an assortment or variety pack.

[arbit]

1 hour ago, wm cheng said:

Hey @Urashiman noticed your clamps, I want to get a set, what did you feel was the most useful sizes to get, I noticed they come in 2” all the way up to 9”.  I wished there was an assortment or variety pack.

You want the 2 smallest sizes for scale models. The larger sizes are way too strong.  Unfortunately the small size, which is the most useful, also tends to have a short life span.

[Urashiman]

1 hour ago, wm cheng said:

Hey @Urashiman noticed your clamps, I want to get a set, what did you feel was the most useful sizes to get, I noticed they come in 2” all the way up to 9”.  I wished there was an assortment or variety pack.

Not sure what inch sizes they are because I life in a metric country

Mine are are around 6ish centimetres (which ist around 2.4 inch.

[Bolt]

Nice job on the cockpit and pilots @pengbuzz

@Thom that looks like fun. Does it come with any Vipers?

I was able to get some work in today on the VF-4. She's a dirty bird.

[ElliotGrimes]

On 12/29/2022 at 6:47 AM, arbit said:

yes, all made by hand. but IDK what software. you can ask him.

Figured out why I hadn't seen prints of your friend's design in Thingiverse: most of its users use filament-based 3D printers (FDM), and they rely on completely different slicers with constraints and algorithms different than slicers for resin-based printers (SLA). I also saw your friend's print of his own designs, and they were done on a resin printer (SLA). Now I understand...

[Thom]

@Bolt I'm sure I can gather up enough plastic dust for a few squadrons!😁

[derex3592]

Santa 🎅 was very good to me this year! Wifey  hooked it up with a 1/1000 USS Reliant Round Two snap tite kit complete with battle damage decals from Star Trek II! Already built it! What a GREAT little kit! Goes together almost as well as a Bandai kit! Good stuff! She also got me a kit I've wanted to redo since having it as a teenager! Romulan War Bird!!! Green LED warp engine lights anyone??!!! On the painting front, my mom got me my very 1st food dehydrator! Barbotos Rex uses one of these and I am ALL about it so far! I am a VERY impatient person sometimes and one of my biggest problems is not only paint drying time but CURING time before I handle parts. This helps massively! Not only does it speed up drying and curing time but also acts as a "safe space" for parts to stay where they are safe from the FOUR furry things in this house that shed like crazy!  Reliant was primed by airbrush last night with Mr Surfacer 1500 grey (which is a PAIN to do BTW) had to crank up my air pressure to like 50 PSI to push it out and I thinned it out with Leveling Thinner but boy do you really have to get the mixture spot on.. Anyways, this morning I did some preshading with Tamiya acrylic black. Stay tuned! 😁 

[505thAirborne]

23 hours ago, Thom said:

Those pilots are looking good @pengbuzz.

@arbit The helmet is coming along great!

And alright, this Beast is nosing out of her cave after a near decade long hibernation!

I want to see this completed!! 

Be glad that you (like me) bought these years, the Moebius kits are going for insane prices lately, especially the Pegasus & Galactica.

[Bolt]

A very special shout out to all you model builders.!

[Thom]

Great haul there @derex3592!

@505thAirborne Working it now! Currently redoing the head, as I want something different than what I started 9 years ago.

As to the kits, I think I have one complete kit left of the NuGalactica and the Moebius TOS Galactica. Then there's a big box of battlestar parts, part of which came from buying damaged kits direct from Moebius at the time.

If you are interest in more battlestars, check out Colonial Fleet Shipyards on Facebook. He does Bezerks, armored Galacticas, escort ships and other battlestar ships, all in resin.

[Thom]

3 hours ago, Bolt said:

A very special shout out to all you model builders.!

 

Right back at ya!! Happy New Year!

[pengbuzz]

6 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Santa 🎅 was very good to me this year! Wifey  hooked it up with a 1/1000 USS Reliant Round Two snap tite kit complete with battle damage decals from Star Trek II! Already built it! What a GREAT little kit! Goes together almost as well as a Bandai kit! Good stuff! She also got me a kit I've wanted to redo since having it as a teenager! Romulan War Bird!!! Green LED warp engine lights anyone??!!! On the painting front, my mom got me my very 1st food dehydrator! Barbotos Rex uses one of these and I am ALL about it so far! I am a VERY impatient person sometimes and one of my biggest problems is not only paint drying time but CURING time before I handle parts. This helps massively! Not only does it speed up drying and curing time but also acts as a "safe space" for parts to stay where they are safe from the FOUR furry things in this house that shed like crazy!  Reliant was primed by airbrush last night with Mr Surfacer 1500 grey (which is a PAIN to do BTW) had to crank up my air pressure to like 50 PSI to push it out and I thinned it out with Leveling Thinner but boy do you really have to get the mixture spot on.. Anyways, this morning I did some preshading with Tamiya acrylic black. Stay tuned! 😁 

Nice!!

Now... how well does it work making pizza? 

[Big s]

1 hour ago, pengbuzz said:

Now... how well does it work making pizza? 

It probably comes out way too dry.

Although, while between waiting for paint to dry and cure it can probably do some nice jerky or fruit snacks

[pengbuzz]

8 hours ago, Big s said:

It probably comes out way too dry.

Although, while between waiting for paint to dry and cure it can probably do some nice jerky or fruit snacks

Speaking of "waiting for paint to dry". my airwing finally came in:

 

So far, I have one detail painted; sorry it's such sloppy work (aside from the black wash; have to let one of the tails dry from a repair then I can remove more of the wash). At this size, I can barely control the brush; I'll try to do better:

I also managed to get the Tilly crane painted and glued into position:

Stay tuned folks... one down, 73 more to go....

*Special note: BIG shout out to @derex3592 for hooking me up with the air wing!

Edited January 1, 2023 by pengbuzz

[Big s]

4 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Speaking of "waiting for paint to dry". my airwing finally came in:

 

So far, I have one detail painted; sorry it's such sloppy work (aside from the black wash; have to let one of the tails dry from a repair then I can remove more of the wash). At this size, I can barely control the brush; I'll try to do better:

I also managed to get the Tilly crane painted and glued into position:

Stay tuned folks... one down, 73 more to go....

*Special note: BIG shout out to @derex3592 for hooking me up with the air wing!

So many planes, now you can do that ID4 display

[Thom]

Looking damn fine, @pengbuzz! That first one looks great.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by Thom

[derex3592]

@pengbuzz Looking good!!! I wouldn't even attempt detail painting on 1/700 planes so hats off to you for doing it! 

[Rock]

@derex3592 I bought one too that should be here sometime soon. I went with the ivation because I thought it looked big enough to fit a base with a ton of alligator clips on it upright inside. I look forward to being able to cure enamels and oil paints in a few hours! I am curious to see it it effects masking tape if left on inside.

Edited January 1, 2023 by Rock

[Bolt]

9 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Speaking of "waiting for paint to dry". my airwing finally came in:

 

So far, I have one detail painted; sorry it's such sloppy work (aside from the black wash; have to let one of the tails dry from a repair then I can remove more of the wash). At this size, I can barely control the brush; I'll try to do better:

I also managed to get the Tilly crane painted and glued into position:

Stay tuned folks... one down, 73 more to go....

*Special note: BIG shout out to @derex3592 for hooking me up with the air wing!

Wow @pengbuzz you've got quite the air wing now. That first one looks great 👍🏼 

[MechTech]

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! Let's hope this year improves over the last couple!

@pengbuzz Your pilots and cockpits look great! Nice details on them. I hate painting 1/72 scale figures because of how tough they are. The physics of brush and paint at that size lead to less flow and coverage to be nicely thinned-out.

Your 1/700 aircraft look FANTASTIC!!! I've seen lesser at shows. You should be proud (in a humble way)😁

@Thom That IS a beast!

@Bolt The weathering is taking form on your VF-4! And Happy New Year to you too, nice graphic!

@derex3592 Congrats and that is a great idea! I remember years ago reading about a guy in Florida doing that. I remember how bad the humidity got in Texas too. Even the metal gutters were dripping on the OUTSIDE as the humidity condensed on it.

Sorry for all the photos on the Oto Melara 76mm / 62 cal gun. I haven't had time to download and update this thread with them.

I wasted most of a day trying to machine brass (for durability) making handles to go on the doors. That failed, so I went with square styrene rod, a tiny drill and micro brass rod. Here's the handles...

The steps needed to have a brace "welded" into them. I punched tiny styrene holes and cut the edges off the cut-offs to make these.

And the back-sides of the turrets minus the ladders that will be painted in another color and added when finished. Note the vents at the top made from channel and a cap on one end.

Then I wasted another day (and some brass) trying to machine the chutes for the front of the guns. The gun expels the shell casing so far, that a chute is used to direct them down onto the deck. Brass didn't work and neither did other ideas. So I got some styrene channel and bent it over a brass tube with micro clothes pins. Then they were dipped in boiling water for just a few seconds, and rapidly cooled with cold water. Too long and the channels collapsed. Ask me how I know... This keeps the shape of the styrene just like it was factory molded that way.

Then the channels were shaped on double-sided tape together to keep them aligned for mass-production.

Then tiny "brackets" were cut from channel and glued over the chutes.

And a chute shown under the barrel. The gun and drawing are identical sizes, but the gun is higher making it look distordedly larger in this photo.

The next step was to re-create the gaskets between the gun mantel and the gun casing. I wasted another day and plastic by:

1) Taking channel and cutting it long wise.

2) The cut pieces were all placed on the mill with double-sided tape and milled to make them the same height on one specific side. This created the "step" of the gasket and its base.

3) Gluing the pieces in place with regular cement, citrus based cement or superglue all made this stock split and break in areas of stress like the curves above or below the guns travel area. How frustrating! This was even after carefully pre-bending parts to fit in.

It wasn't as detailed, but I went with square rod that was easier to work with. It still split in some areas, but not as bad - and that was with pre-bending it once again. Superglue was the messiest, but least stressful of the glues on attaching the styrene. What am I talking about? Doing this:

And the turrets all gasketed-up!

That's it for now. Thank you for checking in everyone. If there's a theme in my work so far - don't give up! Hang in there and find another way to do it. - MT

[Bolt]

That looks so cool ! Your persistence and ingenuity are impressive, as always Mr @MechTech 

[derex3592]

23 hours ago, Rock said:

@derex3592 I bought one too that should be here sometime soon. I went with the ivation because I thought it looked big enough to fit a base with a ton of alligator clips on it upright inside. I look forward to being able to cure enamels and oil paints in a few hours! I am curious to see it it effects masking tape if left on inside.

@Rock I was GOING to go with Ivation, until Amazon didn't have them and when they returned they had jacked the price up by $30! For the same price this one looked better built to my eyes, guess we'll see. I will be able to answer your masking tape question later this afternoon!  There is some dehydrating as we type! LOL! 

[neptunesurvey1]

I had to create a new account because MW refused to let me log in.   It has been a busy last 6 months with class and radiation and chemo taking up a lot of time.  Here are some update pictures of the 1/350 sheldo primed and almost ready for painting.  It is 21 inches long x 17 inches wide.  Need to go back and do some more sanding and filling.