Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[derex3592]

Buuuuusy Sunday morning at the paint / model benches! Submarines all at next level on paint , Enterprise A painted to next level and I built Zentradi feets!😁 All under the watchful eye of my model helper... 

[Bolt]

Fantastic progress @derex3592 !

[Thom]

@derex3592 Kitty Overlord looks pleased!

[MechTech]

@derex3592 You got it easy! Looks like your supervisor sleeps a lot! - MT

[arbit]

On 5/30/2023 at 2:49 AM, ahiachris said:

Urashiman the kit is a 1/72 release by Plastic Cretins 

Here's a Rabbit for you!

[Bolt]

18 minutes ago, arbit said:

Here's a Rabbit for you!

Yep, i need this and  the pilots in their seated position too !

[MechTech]

Cool @arbit ! Looks like you got the helmets right too for that funky design. It's actually got rabbit ears😁! - MT

[arbit]

A custom request I made for WM Cheng.

[Bolt]

7 hours ago, arbit said:

A custom request I made for WM Cheng.

Nice one 👍🏼

[pengbuzz]

UPDATE:

Got some work done (finally!) on the 1/72 VF-1 Wolfpack F-14:

I need to buff the entire thing down with steel wool for the next coat (particularly on the bottom); then get the framing on the canopy done. The color is a little lighter than normal, but this is deliberate, so when I do the washes and pre-shading, it doesn't darken beyond the normal color. I still need to do missiles, missile rails, tail hook fuel tanks and detail painting/ decalling.

Speaking of 1/72, a friend recently sent me this kit as a surprise (which was truly appreciated, as I was depressed as all git-out😞

There's only one of the two planes in there, but since I wasn't expecting this, I'm not complaining! lol

In all seriousness though: since this is fighter mode only, and I still have the catapult dio from my Roy VF-1, I have a concept in mind:

Idea part 1: Axoid Fighter

Paint up the fighter as "Axoid", only the name would be the callsign of a UN SPACY pilot, and the fighter's unique paint scheme was intended as a stealth coat for Mars. Added to the paint job would be the usual UN SPACY livery (roundels, signage, squadron MODEX, etc.)

Idea Pt. 2: Diorama-

Permanently glue the Axoid fighter w/ landing gear to this diorama, and add whatever launch crew I can.

Stay tuned...

Edited June 11, 2023 by pengbuzz

[derex3592]

1/1000 Enterprise A Refit Aztecs 80% done! 

[foundshaian]

Hey, I have made progress on the Hornet. The fitting for this kit is horrible but it's been really fun to build.

I don't know if this kit has any photo edge parts on the market but I just went with the original peices and I'm hoping painting it will help draw attention from the misproportioned.

Also, will soaking these peices in water to clean them before painting  dissolve the putty fillings I have made? This is the first time I have used tamiya putty and I don't really know how it would do submerged in water. 

PS. Sorry for the terrible images. It doesn't really help how rickety this build looks.

Edited June 12, 2023 by foundshaian

[Big s]

3 hours ago, foundshaian said:

Hey, I have made progress on the Hornet. The fitting for this kit is horrible but it's been really fun to build.

I don't know if this kit has any photo edge parts on the market but I just went with the original peices and I'm hoping painting it will help draw attention from the misproportioned.

Also, will soaking these peices in water to clean them before painting  dissolve the putty fillings I have made? This is the first time I have used tamiya putty and I don't really know how it would do submerged in water. 

PS. Sorry for the terrible images. It doesn't really help how rickety this build looks.

The solvent type of tamiya along with the epoxy and polyester resin putties are usually ok. I don’t think it would be a good idea to soak the water based kinds without sealing them first.

[MechTech]

@arbit She looks fantastic! You're not really going to let her fly that are? 🤣

@pengbuzz Your Tomcat is looking great! Your dio idea sounds like a good idea too!

@foundshaian Your Hornet is looking good. What a pain with BIG seems. I use Tamiya's putty sometimes. While it's probably waterproof, its VERY porous, so it will probably soak up water and bulge or mess with the paint going over it later on. Like Big S said, seal it first. - MT

[Thom]

18 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

UPDATE:

Got some work done (finally!) on the 1/72 VF-1 Wolfpack F-14:

I need to buff the entire thing down with steel wool for the next coat (particularly on the bottom); then get the framing on the canopy done. The color is a little lighter than normal, but this is deliberate, so when I do the washes and pre-shading, it doesn't darken beyond the normal color. I still need to do missiles, missile rails, tail hook fuel tanks and detail painting/ decalling.

Speaking of 1/72, a friend recently sent me this kit as a surprise (which was truly appreciated, as I was depressed as all git-out😞

There's only one of the two planes in there, but since I wasn't expecting this, I'm not complaining! lol

In all seriousness though: since this is fighter mode only, and I still have the catapult dio from my Roy VF-1, I have a concept in mind:

Idea part 1: Axoid Fighter

Paint up the fighter as "Axoid", only the name would be the callsign of a UN SPACY pilot, and the fighter's unique paint scheme was intended as a stealth coat for Mars. Added to the paint job would be the usual UN SPACY livery (roundels, signage, squadron MODEX, etc.)

Idea Pt. 2: Diorama-

Permanently glue the Axoid fighter w/ landing gear to this diorama, and add whatever launch crew I can.

Stay tuned...

Great idea, Peng! Will be staying tuned.

@foundshaian Nice progress on the Hornet! Seeing another WWII carrier in the works makes me want to get back to mine!

[pengbuzz]

19 hours ago, foundshaian said:

Hey, I have made progress on the Hornet. The fitting for this kit is horrible but it's been really fun to build.

I don't know if this kit has any photo edge parts on the market but I just went with the original peices and I'm hoping painting it will help draw attention from the misproportioned.

Also, will soaking these peices in water to clean them before painting  dissolve the putty fillings I have made? This is the first time I have used tamiya putty and I don't really know how it would do submerged in water. 

PS. Sorry for the terrible images. It doesn't really help how rickety this build looks.

This is why I'll use an epoxy (or plastic welder) rather than filler putty on big seams; those tend to to be weaker, and if they need that much filling, become a structural issue.

I'm not above shaving down parts or even scratchbuilding new ones it they're missing or out of scale.

[foundshaian]

@pengbuzz What epoxy do you use?

[pengbuzz]

5 minutes ago, foundshaian said:

@pengbuzz What epoxy do you use?

My general epoxy I prefer is this one:

It's called "plastic welder", but it's a more akin to an epoxy. It's not as brittle as regular epoxy, sets in 5 minutes, and cures hard enough to hold weight in 1 hour. I prefer the black version, as it's easier to paint over in my opinion. When cured, it's pretty much like the plastic around it and is very stable. I'm not sure where you live so availability may be an issue. But auto parts shops like autozone, hardware stores like Ace hardware and Amazon online have it last I checked. I use it for construction and modifications constantly: it's strong enough to hold the warp pylons on my 1/537 refit Enterprise easily (after both were snapped off clean at the joint).

[foundshaian]

@ThomI think most of this kit could be replaced with resin or PE parts. Obviously, if you ever look for a 1/700 Hornet, get the tamiya version. This version is extremely fun to build though, because of its already low bar of quality.

[Thom]

2 hours ago, foundshaian said:

@ThomI think most of this kit could be replaced with resin or PE parts. Obviously, if you ever look for a 1/700 Hornet, get the tamiya version. This version is extremely fun to build though, because of its already low bar of quality.

Yeah, I'll stay away from that one!

[Thom]

I'm a sloooow builder!

Here's where my 1/700 Tri-Deck Akagi is at the moment. I messed up the details on the stern deck when I was squeezing the hull sides to the deck, and so I ended up getting another PE set to cover it after it was sanded flat. It's made for the full deck Akagi so some fettling had to take place. Also had to buy some 1/700 resin fairleads to replace the kit ones that were also damaged...

[Rock]

2 hours ago, Thom said:

I'm a sloooow builder!

Slow and stead my friend.

[foundshaian]

@Thom What is that battleship sitting behind the akagi?

[Thom]

17 hours ago, foundshaian said:

@Thom What is that battleship sitting behind the akagi?

That's actually battlecruiser Akagi Fujimi had released the proposed original versions of both the Amagi and Akagi in separate boxings. I am slowly in the process of building Akagi in all three versions, battlecruiser, three-deck and full deck.

[pengbuzz]

6 hours ago, Thom said:

That's actually battlecruiser Akagi Fujimi had released the proposed original versions of both the Amagi and Akagi in separate boxings. I am slowly in the process of building Akagi in all three versions, battlecruiser, three-deck and full deck.

You forgot the fourth version: submarine. 😛

[Thom]

8 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

You forgot the fourth version: submarine. 😛

Well, if that one kit I stole parts from doesn't sell, that could be a possibility!

[wm cheng]

This is what I've been up to the last few months.  I've finally started on the Moebius Nu-Galactica.  Luckily I've been able to collect some upgrade parts and the Acreation paneling decals which will cover the entire model. 

Wow, what a crap kit, I've been spoiled by modern Japanese toolings and forgot what building US plastic was like.  So many huge gaps at are 2-3mm that won't close up (landing bay wells) as well as horrible mis-aligned neck/forward section where I had to shave away 2mm of plastic and an entire deck to make it fit with a straight back. 

I forgot about how much puttying I had to do and subsequently how much sanding both of which are the parts of modeling I absolutely hate.  I love painting, weathering and decaling.  The kit is so poorly designed that no one paid any attention to build order and how to compartmentalize pieces to allow access to sand and paint afterwards.  The problem compounded itself by my stupid idea of trying to light this model up so I had to throw the useless instructions out the window and do what makes sense for wiring as well.  The landing bays were done first and sealed up to protect the interior runway decal.

I'm no wiring expert, so I cut apart a cheap dollar store string of LED lights and re-soldered them in assemblies that allowed me to assemble the model and close it up for painting.

You can see how much filling and sanding that gap was, I started to add some spare photo-etched parts to the engine greebling before priming.

Horribly stupid places to put sprue gates?!?! (more sanding, filing and repairs)

Lighting test before closing her up!

Finally primed (it shouldn't take months to get to this!)

You can tell I'm not very patient... gloss black undercoat for the Alclad metalizer.

I should have sprayed the darker Steel colour first and then masked for the lighter armored panels - but I didn't think it through first and sprayed the lighter Stainless Steel Alcad on first which makes masking all the armor panels a huge pain.  So I decided to try to free-hand spray the darker Steel in the engine areas and ribs around the armored panels which turned out ok.  It would have been better if I did break my IWATA HP-BC dual action airbrush (its been with me for 37yrs!) and just fell apart while cleaning.  I ended up having to do this on my old 40yr old single action Badger 200IL.  I don't think it has to be too crisp as the entire thing gets decaled over both the ribs and armor plating - the metalizers would only show through the transparency of the decals underneath.

Well here's where I am today.  I'm ready for the decals, but the time I cut up each and every piece between the ribs, it will be hundreds of decals to apply so this should be the next most time consuming part of the build.  Wish me luck!

[Thom]

Awesome work @wm cheng! Nice seeing a BSG build and in such fine form too.

[pengbuzz]

10 hours ago, wm cheng said:

This is what I've been up to the last few months.  I've finally started on the Moebius Nu-Galactica.  Luckily I've been able to collect some upgrade parts and the Acreation paneling decals which will cover the entire model. 

Wow, what a crap kit, I've been spoiled by modern Japanese toolings and forgot what building US plastic was like.  So many huge gaps at are 2-3mm that won't close up (landing bay wells) as well as horrible mis-aligned neck/forward section where I had to shave away 2mm of plastic and an entire deck to make it fit with a straight back. 

I forgot about how much puttying I had to do and subsequently how much sanding both of which are the parts of modeling I absolutely hate.  I love painting, weathering and decaling.  The kit is so poorly designed that no one paid any attention to build order and how to compartmentalize pieces to allow access to sand and paint afterwards.  The problem compounded itself by my stupid idea of trying to light this model up so I had to throw the useless instructions out the window and do what makes sense for wiring as well.  The landing bays were done first and sealed up to protect the interior runway decal.

I'm no wiring expert, so I cut apart a cheap dollar store string of LED lights and re-soldered them in assemblies that allowed me to assemble the model and close it up for painting.

You can see how much filling and sanding that gap was, I started to add some spare photo-etched parts to the engine greebling before priming.

Horribly stupid places to put sprue gates?!?! (more sanding, filing and repairs)

Lighting test before closing her up!

Finally primed (it shouldn't take months to get to this!)

You can tell I'm not very patient... gloss black undercoat for the Alclad metalizer.

I should have sprayed the darker Steel colour first and then masked for the lighter armored panels - but I didn't think it through first and sprayed the lighter Stainless Steel Alcad on first which makes masking all the armor panels a huge pain.  So I decided to try to free-hand spray the darker Steel in the engine areas and ribs around the armored panels which turned out ok.  It would have been better if I did break my IWATA HP-BC dual action airbrush (its been with me for 37yrs!) and just fell apart while cleaning.  I ended up having to do this on my old 40yr old single action Badger 200IL.  I don't think it has to be too crisp as the entire thing gets decaled over both the ribs and armor plating - the metalizers would only show through the transparency of the decals underneath.

Well here's where I am today.  I'm ready for the decals, but the time I cut up each and every piece between the ribs, it will be hundreds of decals to apply so this should be the next most time consuming part of the build.  Wish me luck!

All the luck in the world, man! I know your pain, albeit is was with the Monogram TOS Galactica!!! O.o

[derex3592]

@wm cheng - Ahhhh...memoires!  Yeh, that kit needed a LOT of TLC to look good. Yours is coming along great!  Can't wait to see the final outcome!  I remember those Acreation aztecs that were NOT pre-cut...hahaha!  Good Times! 

 

I myself am in decal HELL once again with the Refit Enterprise - All saucer and main engineering hull aztecs done, just the engines left which I fear most..LOL.  Round Two makes GREAT decals....until they don't. Take this morning for example, starting to put on the "hull color plating" decals that came with the kit and some other more "fun stuff" Registry, etc, etc...the damn decals that go around the rim of the saucer ALL came off the backing paper in pieces almost like they had been cut somehow by accident during the manufacturing process. I got through it, but dang, that was waaaay more stressful than it should have been!  Can't remember if the Reliant's did that or not.. Pressing on!  Pics later tonight or tomorrow AM. 

[Big s]

2 hours ago, derex3592 said:

I myself am in decal HELL once again with the Refit Enterprise - All saucer and main engineering hull aztecs done, just the engines left which I fear most..LOL.  Round Two makes GREAT decals....until they don't. Take this morning for example, starting to put on the "hull color plating" decals that came with the kit and some other more "fun stuff" Registry, etc, etc...the damn decals that go around the rim of the saucer ALL came off the backing paper in pieces almost like they had been cut somehow by accident during the manufacturing process. I got through it, but dang, that was waaaay more stressful than it should have been!  Can't remember if the Reliant's did that or not.. Pressing on!  Pics later tonight or tomorrow AM. 

That’s just them trying to help out with the weathering with pre chipped decals

[derex3592]

Riiiiiiiggghhht..... Well anyways... I'm getting there.... slowly but surely. I really wanted to give the "A" some love. No one ever does it. So maybe I won't battle damage it... Or I guess I could and say it's from Undiscovered Country??? 🤔.......

[Thom]

1 hour ago, derex3592 said:

Riiiiiiiggghhht..... Well anyways... I'm getting there.... slowly but surely. I really wanted to give the "A" some love. No one ever does it. So maybe I won't battle damage it... Or I guess I could and say it's from Undiscovered Country??? 🤔.......

That A is definitely getting some luvins!

[Rock]

Playing with this rarity before realizing it would be better to scratch-build it myself. 1/144 head on a 1-60 body and 90's funk!

 

That endeavor... which then got me to the PC (and realizing I forgot another project I was wanting to do...) resulted in me realizing it too would be easier to scratchbuild.

 

So yeah, nothing done. lol (sigh)

Edited June 20, 2023 by Rock

[pengbuzz]

4 hours ago, Rock said:

Playing with this rarity before realizing it would be better to scratch-build it myself. 1/144 head on a 1-60 body and 90's funk!

 

That endeavor... which then got me to the PC (and realizing I forgot another project I was wanting to do...) resulted in me realizing it too would be easier to scratchbuild.

 

So yeah, nothing done. lol (sigh)

Nah, just try making the shins about 1/8 inch longer.