Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[Big s]

54 minutes ago, Urashiman said:

Any advice how to get rid of the bubbles?

If there don’t end up too many and they aren’t too big, you could try a pin prick and filling with gloss coat.

[Urashiman]

58 minutes ago, Big s said:

If there don’t end up too many and they aren’t too big, you could try a pin prick and filling with gloss coat.

Well… the bubbles are super tiny and inside the print.

[Big s]

57 minutes ago, Urashiman said:

Well… the bubbles are super tiny and inside the print.

Try filling one on a print you don’t plan on using first to see if it works. Just make sure the hole is big enough to let the air out

[Rock]

12 hours ago, SteveTheFish said:

Thank you! Thanks to you, I now know what they call it and I managed to buy a tube on Joshin Web. It's actually made by a company called Work, but Wave sells it. It may be discontinued? I did find a tube of the individually-sold Tamiya poly putty hardener, but I do not know if it is compatible. I ended up paying more for the Morimori hardener than I had hoped to, but at least it looks like a larger tube and should last me.

You should just do yourself a favor and buy a quart of polyester body filler from your auto parts store. SMC, Evercoat and Bondo are all acceptable brands. Same 2 part polyester putty as Tamiya, Mori Mori and H.Mio bit with a way higher volume to cost. Just make sure you stay away from 'lightweight' body fillers. Not that they are bad, its just they used air pockets to fill volume, and in the hobby word you want a denser (stronger/finer) putty.

[electric indigo]

My experience with Bondo & co auto fillers is that they get hard as a rock and are a pain to blend to the plastic. Mori Mori & Tamiya had the best consistency, and you could still polish them super smooth. The true test is when you have to re-engrave all the panel lines you recklessly puttied over. The softer puttys will crumble at the edges.

Also, polyester putty has a limited shelf life; at one point hardening takes forever or doesn't happen at all.

@Urashiman 3D printing surely is tedious business...😳

Edited November 9, 2023 by electric indigo

[Chronocidal]

2 hours ago, electric indigo said:

@Urashiman 3D printing surely is tedious business...😳

Quite, it's a ton of waiting on pins and needles for your parts to finish, all the while praying that your power doesn't wink out or the print come loose and fail hilariously.

[SteveTheFish]

14 hours ago, Urashiman said:

I found the .STL by navigating to the folder where I saved the exported STL.

Oh, that's great. I'm new to this forum, and, and fairly new to this thread. I am not familiar with what your custom build is and I'd have to navigate back to see what exactly you're building. M3 is that Sega Dreamcast game, right? I was living in Japan at the time that game came out and I was excited in anticipation, but then I saw on IGN and other websites that the game was crappy and the best part about it is its anime intro and cutscenes. Being a Macross fan and a Dreamcast fan (I'm wearing my Dreamcast jacket today even), I really wanted this game to be great but I gave it a pass. I've never once played it myself, but I think my friend probably has it. He'll buy even bad games, especially if they are Macross. 

OK, I just found the anime intro to the game. I suppose the suits are a little bit different from the movie, especially the helmet pattern is a bit different. That daughter in the game... is that supposed to be Komilia who was in the PC Engine games? 

  

7 hours ago, electric indigo said:

My experience with Bondo & co auto fillers is that they get hard as a rock and are a pain to blend to the plastic. Mori Mori & Tamiya had the best consistency, and you could still polish them super smooth. The true test is when you have to re-engrave all the panel lines you recklessly puttied over. The softer puttys will crumble at the edges.

Also, polyester putty has a limited shelf life; at one point hardening takes forever or doesn't happen at all.

I once saw a YT video of a guy using Bondo to try to fill in the faux aztec panel lines on a Starship Enterprise Refit and he made a mess of it. In my experience, I find it best to just buy stuff that is specifically made for the modeling hobby. Buying something at an automotive store might be cheaper in bulk, but it would go to waste since it's not something I'd use constantly and it'll take more space in my room. I don't use automotive paints on model cars like some people do. I just stick to hobby supplies made specifically for the hobby. Plus people don't realize I live in Japan and this stuff is cheaper for me than for them. 

Well, I used a bit more poly putty last night. The hardener I bought will arrive Monday night. I'll take pictures of my Armored Valk project tonight.

Edited November 10, 2023 by SteveTheFish

[arbit]

22 hours ago, Urashiman said:

You probably haven't found one online because there is none out in the wild, I think. I created this pilot figure myself, because there are no Macross M3 suit pilots out there.

I can send it to you after I fixed it. The proportions are a bit bad, as I basically created this with only little reference material (the Macross M3 intro and the back cover of the Macross M3 booklet in the disk case). She got a bit too ... "ample" as well. I am not good at 3D modelling people...

I did it by low poly modelling the pilot and then running turbo smooth over it.

Pretty cool.  I like the helmet the most.

If you try to smooth each item separately, you will get better definition. For example separate the shoulder pads, chest pads shoes, helmet, etc.  and then smooth them.  Sometimes I don't smooth smaller details if they ruin the main body.

You can also bevel all the sharp edges and thin edges before smoothing to also improve definition.

If you want, you can send me your original low-poly file, and I will try to "upgrade" it for  you.

Edited November 10, 2023 by arbit

[SteveTheFish]

I think I am done articulating my Imai Armorded Valk. I've used ball joints by Yellow Submarine and Wave. For inside the body, I first used poly putty (the yellow stuff) and then reinforced the crap out of that with epoxy putty. I'd hate for these to bust loose once I try to pop the balls into the sockets.

[Urashiman]

@SteveTheFish That's okay - no one can know everything. Well - the game plays kinda like VF-X 2 with enhancements that make the gameplay a bit weird. In VF-X 2 you would have been able to solve a mission without ever switching modes, so you could be in fighter mode all the time. In M3, you have to switch around. You cannot finish the first mission without switching around. The game is a bit hard due to the tight time constraints, but can be played through in roughtly a day. The M3 is referring to Max, Milia and Moaramia. So no Komillia. Moaramia is an adopted Zentradi/Meltrandi. The story is simple. You fight Zentradi fundamentalists... and bugs ... that's that.

@arbit I use "chamfer" for that. Let me show you.

Let's make a cube.

Turbo smooth it with 3 iterations, you basically get a weird ball.

Go back to the base and chamfer some edges.

Then check the turbo smoothed mesh and et voilà... fun commences!

[Thom]

@SteveTheFish I don't think I have ever seen a VF-5000 before. Very sleek looking plane!

[wm cheng]

Well its been a while since I built up a Hasegawa Valkyrie.  Hard to believe its almost a 20yr old kit, still very nice, but some flash and ejector pins to fill.  Tried my best to paint up Minmay and Hikaru from @arbit's amazing 3D prints (thanks for making the helmet a separate piece it made painting her much easier). I wish I could paint in Minmay's eyes, but I just didn't have a brush small enough to lay down paint, I ended up just using a pin to make some depressions where I thought they should be.

 

With the Canopy (dry fit) on you don't see as much as I would have hoped.  (I really should have dusted before I took these photos)

 

These are just some other reminders of the injection pin depressions I filled (with crazy glue) some added cut styrene and notching out the thruster pivots so I can paint them separately and install them at the end after everything is filled/sanded and painted.

Now that the strikes are over, I hope to be getting a paycheque from my real job, so I might not be able to finish this baby up too soon.

[Urashiman]

@wm cheng this is so awesome to! Great work! I‘ll need a minmay for my VT-1 as well haha.

I spend the night fixing my M3 Milia. Test printed her three times and seems so work now.

detaching from the support went easily, nothing broke so it has enough strength.

and it fits the VF-9 pilot seat.

I will upload the STL later the day, so who ever wants to print an army of Milias can do that.

Edited November 11, 2023 by Urashiman

[Thom]

@wm cheng I'd counter and say I can still see a lot of detail in there. They look good. For the canopy, did you have to add material to the lower edge?

@Urashiman A Milia Army..? Yes please!

[Urashiman]

@Thom Anyone can print that now. I released the model.

@SteveTheFish Here you go, have your friend print this:

https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/art/1-72-macross-m3-milia-pilot

[derex3592]

Today the B1 got Mr Surfacer 1500 White and I tried out AKs Real Colors Gunship Gray. Layes down nicely. Used my GSI Creos .03 for both.

[arbit]

On 11/11/2023 at 2:25 PM, Urashiman said:

I spend the night fixing my M3 Milia. Test printed her three times and seems so work now.

Looks very good. Great job!

[arbit]

On 11/11/2023 at 2:53 AM, wm cheng said:

Well its been a while since I built up a Hasegawa Valkyrie.  Hard to believe its almost a 20yr old kit, still very nice, but some flash and ejector pins to fill.  Tried my best to paint up Minmay and Hikaru from @arbit's amazing 3D prints (thanks for making the helmet a separate piece it made painting her much easier). I wish I could paint in Minmay's eyes, but I just didn't have a brush small enough to lay down paint, I ended up just using a pin to make some depressions where I thought they should be.

Cool.  Little eyes are a problem, but only when zoomed in like that.  Did you consider putting some shadow on the area and going from there?

[MechTech]

@SteveTheFish Your custom articulation will make that a MUCH better model for posing. The stock styrene joints just don't last.

@wm cheng Your Valk cockpit and figures look fantastic! I think you'll see more detail than expected. Your "pinpoint pupil was a good idea!

I'm hoping there's a GOOD tutorial on painting 1/72nd scale figures. Having "little Orphan Annie eye's" can be distracting from all the great work on the rest of the figure. I have a LOT to do in the coming months or so. Three now for my gun turret model.

@Urashiman Nice and smooth prints!

@derex3592 Clean coating! - MT

[Big s]

3 hours ago, MechTech said:

I'm hoping there's a GOOD tutorial on painting 1/72nd scale figures. Having "little Orphan Annie eye's" can be distracting from all the great work on the rest of the figure. I have a LOT to do in the coming months or so. Three now for my gun turret model.

I tend to start with the face in the flesh color and then use either a darker flesh or black as a wash to outline the eyes. I then just get a little bit of flat white in there and draw the pupil with a mechanical pencil or color pencil depending on eye color. After everything is basically colored in I use a gloss coat to add some shine and protect it in case I want to do a little wash for lining eyelashes. You can also do a little tiny spot dab of white on the top corner to give an anime style light glare effect.

Edited November 13, 2023 by Big s

[Chronocidal]

6 hours ago, Big s said:

I tend to start with the face in the flesh color and then use either a darker flesh or black as a wash to outline the eyes. I then just get a little bit of flat white in there and draw the pupil with a mechanical pencil or color pencil depending on eye color. After everything is basically colored in I use a gloss coat to add some shine and protect it in case I want to do a little wash for lining eyelashes. You can also do a little tiny spot dab of white on the top corner to give an anime style light glare effect.

At 1/72 scale, I think at that point you're literally working in individual molecules of paint.   

[Big s]

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

At 1/72 scale, I think at that point you're literally working in individual molecules of paint.   

It almost works at1/144. But at that scale it’s best to just let the wash act as a shading.

At 1/72 it does work and works pretty well. That’s why a the outlines with the wash work to help outline the eyes before going in with the white. The smaller colors of the eyes at that scale work best drawing them in with either colored pencil that’s sharp or a mechanical pencil. It’s one of those things that since it’s so small that the idea is to just leave a little white on the edges and color the middle and make sure it’s a flat white so the pencil stays in.
If for example you want blue eyes you shade the eyes to get the outline and then a little drop of flat white in the between the lines. Then take a sharpened color pencil and you don’t have to make a perfect circle, just use the pencil to live a little white on the outer edges of the eyes. Then you can center the eyes better by putting a tiny dot with the point of the mechanical pencil and it’s all done with no art degree needed. When you put the gloss over it can give a little shine and protect the eyes in case you need to do some touch up work in case you need to do a darker wash to make a eyelash effect.

it all sounds way more complicated and difficult than it really is. This technique will also work on 1/100, but it gets tougher to see the details and at 1/144 you’re probably better off just using a darker skin or brown wash to make it appear like shadows. 
I wish I had some examples to show, but a lot of my stuff is still in boxes from last years move. 

[electric indigo]

@derex3592 I just happened to stumble upon the works of aero photographer Sławek Krajniewski, he has an awesome B-1 gallery that might provide some inspiration. His other gallerys are not too shabby, too, btw.

https://www.hesja.pl/galeria,825,b-1b-lancer-w-polsce.html

[MechTech]

Thanks @Big s! I'll have to try it out. I'm trying to avoid the "Brock" look from Pokemon and the "Little Orphan Annie" look of just white eyes. I try to avoid using figures because of those reasons, but they need to be in this for reference of size and to show function.

@derex3592 That's a COOL shot! I didn't know they putting pods on them too. That's the first I've seen of them. Probably to add optics that weren't put on the craft from the design stages. -MT

[pengbuzz]

Normally, I would have an update; but yesterday, I had a project self-destruct on me as well as another situation related to it.

Going silent for a while here folks.

[Urashiman]

Got some stuff to show again. I have been testing around with polishing the clear resin stuff and basically came to the conclusion, that even with microfiber pads on a hobby drill to polish the stuff and using polishing compound, the canopies stayed slightly milky and never went full clear. So I went another approach.

Left to right.

1. Unprocessed cured print of the canopy
2. Unprocessed cured print of the canopy coated with hairspray (because someone told me, they coat their models in loreal hair spray)
3. Unprocessed cured print of the canopy dipped in Tamiya X-22
4. Unprocessed cured print of the canopy dipped in Humbrol Laquer Clear Coat
5. Sanded (up to 500 grit) cured print of the canopy brushed with Humbrol Laquer Clear Coat
6. Sanded (from 180 to 2500 grit and polished with microfiber) cured print of the canopy, dipped in thinned (mr. color leveling thinner) Tamiya X-22

The last one on the list is by far the clearest and shiniest of the canopies. I used the failed prints with the bubbles inside to test around, so no worries. I will pick one of the good prints later and start sanding and polishing, then dipping in thinned X-22. That should be good I think.

@pengbuzz sorry to hear about that... hope everything is okay.

Edited November 14, 2023 by Urashiman

[Big s]

7 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Normally, I would have an update; but yesterday, I had a project self-destruct on me as well as another situation related to it.

Going silent for a while here folks.

Don’t get yourself too discouraged. We all miss it when you’re gone for a while and I’m sure you’ll find a solution to the problem in some way or another 

[Thom]

1 hour ago, Urashiman said:

Got some stuff to show again. I have been testing around with polishing the clear resin stuff and basically came to the conclusion, that even with microfiber pads on a hobby drill to polish the stuff and using polishing compound, the canopies stayed slightly milky and never went full clear. So I went another approach.

Left to right.

1. Unprocessed cured print of the canopy
2. Unprocessed cured print of the canopy coated with hairspray (because someone told me, they coat their models in loreal hair spray)
3. Unprocessed cured print of the canopy dipped in Tamiya X-22
4. Unprocessed cured print of the canopy dipped in Humbrol Laquer Clear Coat
5. Sanded (up to 500 grit) cured print of the canopy brushed with Humbrol Laquer Clear Coat
6. Sanded (from 180 to 2500 grit and polished with microfiber) cured print of the canopy, dipped in thinned (mr. color leveling thinner) Tamiya X-22

The last one on the list is by far the clearest and shiniest of the canopies. I used the failed prints with the bubbles inside to test around, so no worries. I will pick one of the good prints later and start sanding and polishing, then dipping in thinned X-22. That should be good I think.

@pengbuzz sorry to hear about that... hope everything is okay.

I like your dedication to the canopy-issue, but have you thought of making a solid buck and doing a plunge mold for the canopy?

@pengbuzz Sorry to hear there is a set-back. I'm sure you'll overcome it.

[Urashiman]

18 minutes ago, Thom said:

I like your dedication to the canopy-issue, but have you thought of making a solid buck and doing a plunge mold for the canopy?

@pengbuzz Sorry to hear there is a set-back. I'm sure you'll overcome it.

hehe... I actually did, but that would be the easy way out. Imagine you want to print something clear that is a little bit more complex than a canopy... plunge molding wouldn't do for that.

[SteveTheFish]

I dip canopies in Future Floor Polish, but I imagine that might not be available in Germany. It isn't available here in Japan, so I asked my friend in America to bring me a bottle once when he came to visit me. That bottle has lasted a long time.

[Chronocidal]

Honestly, for a self-made canopy, even the last two or three would be plenty shiny for me, that's fantastic that you can make them so clean.

My biggest concern would be how brittle they are, since my few experiences with printed resin canopies have all been extremely fragile, and would never have survived any level of polishing.

[Urashiman]

@SteveTheFish Haha, yeah. The Future Floor Polish. We don't have that here, but we have similar stuff. Unfortunately that stuff yellows over time, same as Future. As far as I know, Future is discontinued and the model kit community in the US was going nuts for the hunt of Future bottles. I think it was re-named to "Pledge floor gloss" so they get that now. Indeed, any acrylic wax can do, not just Plesge. But, instead of using that, I was going the actual "coat" approach, checking what colours are actually developed to be coats. The Revell gloss and mate coat stuff is really bad. I didn't have luck with vallejo coats as well. The Citadel Ardcoat is kinda working good, but it has to be coated on several times. I had best results with Tamiya X-22 for anything acrylic based and humbrol coats for anything lacquer based. In the past I would have used Model Master clear top coat, but they are hard to get because they have been discontinued. I haven't gotten to try the testors top coat yet, as it is super expensive. Testors is not widely available in Germany.

@Chronocidal Thanks! Well, it is challenging, but it can be done. So far no canopy broke. Just gentle sanding in steps 180, 320, 500, 1500, 2000 and 2500, then microfiber polishing and done. When I polish the next canopy I will go through each step and take pictures. The most annoying part is sanding the inside, because my fingers barely fit into the canopy.

[pengbuzz]

2 hours ago, Urashiman said:

@SteveTheFish Haha, yeah. The Future Floor Polish. We don't have that here, but we have similar stuff. Unfortunately that stuff yellows over time, same as Future. As far as I know, Future is discontinued and the model kit community in the US was going nuts for the hunt of Future bottles. I think it was re-named to "Pledge floor gloss" so they get that now. Indeed, any acrylic wax can do, not just Plesge. But, instead of using that, I was going the actual "coat" approach, checking what colours are actually developed to be coats. The Revell gloss and mate coat stuff is really bad. I didn't have luck with vallejo coats as well. The Citadel Ardcoat is kinda working good, but it has to be coated on several times. I had best results with Tamiya X-22 for anything acrylic based and humbrol coats for anything lacquer based. In the past I would have used Model Master clear top coat, but they are hard to get because they have been discontinued. I haven't gotten to try the testors top coat yet, as it is super expensive. Testors is not widely available in Germany.

@Chronocidal Thanks! Well, it is challenging, but it can be done. So far no canopy broke. Just gentle sanding in steps 180, 320, 500, 1500, 2000 and 2500, then microfiber polishing and done. When I polish the next canopy I will go through each step and take pictures. The most annoying part is sanding the inside, because my fingers barely fit into the canopy.

I wonder if Caranuba wax would help at all? Maybe test a little bit on one of your spare canopies?

[Urashiman]

1 hour ago, pengbuzz said:

I wonder if Caranuba wax would help at all? Maybe test a little bit on one of your spare canopies?

It could, but unfortunately it has a natural yellowish tint to it. There are processed versions of it, but they don't run as caranuba wax.

[Bronze Knight]

 

Hello everyone. Getting back into this project and after looking over everything found out I was missing a piece so starting work on making a replacement winglet. I got a lot more paint touch up, fitting, and detail work to do still but I really do like this model.