Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[SteveTheFish]

2 hours ago, Chas said:

Scalemates says the Bandai is a reboxig of the '84 kit, which is what I've read and heard since forever, but my eyes are telling me a differet story. At some point Bandai engineered a whole new kit. Parts layout on the sprues is completely different, not to mention the parts themselves being different sizes and shapes with different details.

Bandai completely retooled those Tsukuda kits. I built the Tsukuda Ohmu kit a long time ago. I bought the Bandai version and they resculpted Nausicaa's face and it looks far better.

[Rock]

Light mods to the oob pilots to get them into the slightly smaller resin cockpit amd to get them to look more like IRAF pilots rather than repainted Navy aces.

Some harnesses/seatbelts for the bandits using a few layers of some tape and buckle details from some PE belts I had stashed away. Good enough for a closed canopy.

[505thAirborne]

13 hours ago, Rock said:

Light mods to the oob pilots to get them into the slightly smaller resin cockpit amd to get them to look more like IRAF pilots rather than repainted Navy aces.

Some harnesses/seatbelts for the bandits using a few layers of some tape and buckle details from some PE belts I had stashed away. Good enough for a closed canopy.

That looks amazing, those harnesses/seatbelts look great. So, is this going to be a US Navy Tomcat or an F-14 Persian Cat when you're all finished? Since you mentioned IRAF Pilots.

[Thom]

19 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

UPDATE: alternate head self-destructed on me this morning after I just got done painting it....

That sounds like that could have been one of the scenes of the prototype robocops from the first movie.

Shame it didn't work out, but you still have a cool Robocop there. Keep your eyes open though, you could come across broken version of this, or there are 1/6 heads that you could find for cheap.*

 

* cheep being relative, as looking at the prices for just a 1/6 head is pretty up there! WOW. 

[Thom]

@Rock That cockpit and pilots look so good!

[pengbuzz]

4 hours ago, Thom said:

That sounds like that could have been one of the scenes of the prototype robocops from the first movie.

Shame it didn't work out, but you still have a cool Robocop there. Keep your eyes open though, you could come across broken version of this, or there are 1/6 heads that you could find for cheap.*

 

* cheep being relative, as looking at the prices for just a 1/6 head is pretty up there! WOW. 

Yeah; they had 1/6 heads for Murphy, but none now. I'd settle for a spare Horizon Robo head to modify.

[Kurt]

OK, calling this done for now.  Added some stowage and found a nice pair of crewmen.  I left them standalone for now, may use them and the tank in a future diorama.  Again, not meant to accurately represent any particular Abrams variant or unit.  Now on to the next.... which I have several to choose from.  Thanks for looking.

[Big s]

1 hour ago, Kurt said:

OK, calling this done for now.  Added some stowage and found a nice pair of crewmen.  I left them standalone for now, may use them and the tank in a future diorama.  Again, not meant to accurately represent any particular Abrams variant or unit.  Now on to the next.... which I have several to choose from.  Thanks for looking.

Nice job on the crew there

[Thom]

^^ Agreed! Tank, stowage and crew, they all look excellent.

[pengbuzz]

UPDATE: I proceeded with the diorama backdrop-

 

Used everything from spray paint to melt the foam, to plaster of paris, to everything in between. Hopefully, it looks a little more now than painted foam:

 

Custom "Delta City" mini-poster I sketched using refs from the movie (along with a citizen's "opinion" about it):

 

And one last shot:

 

 

 

Still stuff to do, but I hope I at least got this diorama right.

 

Stay tuned...

[Big s]

1 hour ago, pengbuzz said:

UPDATE: I proceeded with the diorama backdrop-

 

Used everything from spray paint to melt the foam, to plaster of paris, to everything in between. Hopefully, it looks a little more now than painted foam:

 

Custom "Delta City" mini-poster I sketched using refs from the movie (along with a citizen's "opinion" about it):

 

And one last shot:

 

 

 

Still stuff to do, but I hope I at least got this diorama right.

 

Stay tuned...

It looks like crap, exactly how I imagined old Detroit to look. 
Awsome work there and love the poster

[MechTech]

Posted on behalf of @neptunesurvey Mods, he's having problems logging into his account, and has no reply to his email. Can a mod message him and unlock his account? Thanks!

These are my words, not his😎. Neptunesurvey completed this BEAUTIFUL Prometheus, build in 1/1000 scale. It took him about a year. It was a 3D print; some of you may recognize the sculpt. I'm posting full size photos so you can see all his details.

We usually only see the carrier, or the aircraft. Now we get to see BOTH together. And even some RARE birds on deck too - look carefully! Even the stand helps bring it all together with class! Enjoy!

If you like his work, please send @neptunesurvey your comments directly so he'll eventually see them. If you "like" it, only I get the credit for what he did. - MT

[Kurt]

2 hours ago, Thom said:

^^ Agreed! Tank, stowage and crew, they all look excellent.

Thanks guys.  My figure painting skills are very rusty.  And my photography skills are non-existent!

[MechTech]

FINALLY posting some slow progress on my OTO Melara diorama build.

The canon has a control panel below deck adjacent to the gun mount. I wanted to light it, so it had to shield the light and be small. That meant plastic would be bad to use to make it. That left brass as the best candidate. A smart man would have used photo etch, but I didn't have that option, so I had to use scissors and thin brass.

Backside cooling screen from old tank parts.

The motor only uses a single 1.5 volt cell to run and adding more batteries for lights would be a pain. So I got a flashlight circuit (A "Joule Thief") to use 1.5volts for the 3volt LEDs. One LED uses a color changing LED (the monitor) and the other uses an LED "candle" light to flicker under the buttons side of the panel.

EVERYTHING got coated with nail polish lacquer to insulate it.

The LOOSELY fitted control panel before painting.

You may remember this from last post. Most sensitive equipment on board ship has some type of shock absorption system due to the pounding ships hulls can take. Those shock absorbers are usually simple loops of heavy cable. I tried SEVERAL ways to do this. The best resolution was THIN wires soldered (tinned) and wrapped around a couple of brass tubes.

Here's the ammo rack with the loops added and a brass rod to "invisibly" attach it to the base. The figures are the 1/72nd Hasegawa ground crew HEAVILY modified to to look and pose to fit the equipment. I screwed up on the brass name plate. The guy dropping empty plastic cases will cover that up.😉 I also had to re-sculpt his face to look surprised.

That's it for now. Thanks for checking in! - MT

[MechTech]

@Kurt AWESOME detailing and figures man! Those 1/35th figures look 1/12th at least and the uniform camo is spot on. You could definitely get some metal at a model contest with that baby!

@pengbuzz FANTASTIC scratch building of the backdrop! Your mods to that figure are next level and also AWESOME! Like Kurt, I think you could get a trophy at a model show with that build! - MT

And sorry, it took me so long to post my stuff, I missed your guys stuff😁 - MT

[derex3592]

@Kurt - MAN! That Abrams and crew look AMAZING! I hope mine turns out 1/2 that good! 

@pengbuzz - Dude....Robo looks GREAT! LOVING the Old Detroit diorama. You can just hear "Dead or alive, you're coming with me" 

@MechTech - You're a madman. I LOVE it! 

Got the Bradley base coat down yesterday morning, pics coming soon! 

Edited January 8 by derex3592

[pengbuzz]

1 hour ago, MechTech said:

@pengbuzz FANTASTIC scratch building of the backdrop! Your mods to that figure are next level and also AWESOME! Like Kurt, I think you could get a trophy at a model show with that build! - MT

And sorry, it took me so long to post my stuff, I missed your guys stuff😁 - MT

No problem. And thanks!

34 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

@pengbuzz - Dude....Robo looks GREAT! LOVING the Old Detroit diorama. You can just here "Dead or alive, you're coming with me"

Thanks man!

Going to be slowing down a bit, as I'm sick with a nasty cold (first chest, then head ). I plan though on making a discarded newspaper lying on the ground somewhere, and a knocked-over trashcan (found a tutorial for making it from heavy foil pie tins).

[neptunesurvey1]

Thanks MT for posting some of the pictures.  Here are some more.  Enjoy.

[wm cheng]

So much amazing work going on here (I just stepped away for the holidays a little and its a buzzing workshop here!)

@derex3592 funny I just read your post about your airbrush and really glad you got it working after all that.  My HP-BC from 1986 (my receipt says it cost me $202 37yrs ago) finally broke apart at the siphon tube to the body.  I was too chickensh@# to try to solder it back together with plumbing solder and a blowtorch.  So I was going to replace it with the Eclipse HP-BCS but luckily they had me try both and immediately I felt the trigger of the Eclipse with a very short travel and no feedback vs. my HP-BC which is now High-Performance HP-BC1 had the trigger travel I was used to for more control.  You might want to look into trying an HP-BC1 in your hands should you need to upgrade next.

Your FA-18F is looking amazing BTW!!!  Nice that there's some detail under the forward LERX - the Hasegawa one I've built has nothing but a smooth surface there, no even the ladder panel

@electric indigo I always love your 1/72 models - they always look like 1/48 with the amount of detailing and your superb silky smooth paint job!  I love the Intruder now I'm waiting for the new one you pointed me in that direction.  I always loved the 70s colorful Navy schemes, but your grey newer schemes has a nice splash as well.

@pengbuzz It always amazes me what you cobble together from found objects to make your art.  I absolutely love the background diorama you made for the Robocop and your pose is just spot on!!!  I couldn't believe how convincing your foil looks as a metal finish - bravo!  Everyone is getting sick, take care and get better.

@Rock Tomcat is my favourite plane, can't wait to see what you do with that amazing kit.  Thanks for posting so I can live vicariously through you.  I'm a strictly 1/72 scale guy, but that Tamiya kit is so good that I had to break my rule and get one with all the upgrades too - but its just sitting in my stash waiting for "someday".

@505thAirborne Love that YF-23!!!  Shame it didn't beat up the awkward turned up nosed F-22 (at least from an aesthetics point of view)

@Thom Been meaning to get that Academy new tooling (only one I don't have in 1/72 aside from my GWH, FineMolds and countless Hasegawas).  Is it as good as people say?  Lots of rivet detailing from your photos.  Love your wheel well plumbing - I'm a huge sucker for that, wished Eduard had some resin upgrades or some new 3D prints - but your plumbing looks amazing!  There's a round recess in the flat portion of the well, is that a detail or injector pin mark - I'm not familiar with that detailing?  Is the external fuel tank attachment molded onto the lower intakes so you can't model it without external fuel tanks?

@Chas Great Phoenix, that brings me back; running home afterschool!

@Kurt Wow Kurt, absolutely love the cooler box and bottle but the facial painting blows me away!!!  What kind of paints and brush do you use for the shading and eyes (especially)?  I'm trying to paint my 1/72 Minmay's face in the cockpit of my VT-1 and can't seem to get into the details (especially the eyes and right now it looks like a Zombie!).  I also love the 3D mud as well, so realistic!

@MechTech Thanks for sharing @neptunesurvey amazing Prometheus.  Wow, that must be huge and those planes must be micronian!  Amazing.  Let him know I had my troubles signing in as well for a few months there and I totally understand what he's going through.  Your build looks amazing, but I have no idea what OTO Melara is, I asssume its some kind of armour.

 

I'm sorry if I missed anyone, just so much to get caught up on.  So glad everyone seems to be happily and productively modeling away!  I'm really slowed down and back to work so there isn't much progress to show.  Plus everything seems to be breaking down in the house that needs replacing all at once from 37yr old airbrushes, to 22yr old speakers, to 17yr old motorized drop down projector screens to 17yr old dishwashers to my beloved 15yr old BMW M3 that needs repairs - argh!

[Froy]

45 minutes ago, wm cheng said:

So much amazing work going on here (I just stepped away for the holidays a little and its a buzzing workshop here!)

@derex3592 funny I just read your post about your airbrush and really glad you got it working after all that.  My HP-BC from 1986 (my receipt says it cost me $202 37yrs ago) finally broke apart at the siphon tube to the body.  I was too chickensh@# to try to solder it back together with plumbing solder and a blowtorch.  So I was going to replace it with the Eclipse HP-BCS but luckily they had me try both and immediately I felt the trigger of the Eclipse with a very short travel and no feedback vs. my HP-BC which is now High-Performance HP-BC1 had the trigger travel I was used to for more control.  You might want to look into trying an HP-BC1 in your hands should you need to upgrade next.

Your FA-18F is looking amazing BTW!!!  Nice that there's some detail under the forward LERX - the Hasegawa one I've built has nothing but a smooth surface there, no even the ladder panel

@electric indigo I always love your 1/72 models - they always look like 1/48 with the amount of detailing and your superb silky smooth paint job!  I love the Intruder now I'm waiting for the new one you pointed me in that direction.  I always loved the 70s colorful Navy schemes, but your grey newer schemes has a nice splash as well.

@pengbuzz It always amazes me what you cobble together from found objects to make your art.  I absolutely love the background diorama you made for the Robocop and your pose is just spot on!!!  I couldn't believe how convincing your foil looks as a metal finish - bravo!  Everyone is getting sick, take care and get better.

@Rock Tomcat is my favourite plane, can't wait to see what you do with that amazing kit.  Thanks for posting so I can live vicariously through you.  I'm a strictly 1/72 scale guy, but that Tamiya kit is so good that I had to break my rule and get one with all the upgrades too - but its just sitting in my stash waiting for "someday".

@505thAirborne Love that YF-23!!!  Shame it didn't beat up the awkward turned up nosed F-22 (at least from an aesthetics point of view)

@Thom Been meaning to get that Academy new tooling (only one I don't have in 1/72 aside from my GWH, FineMolds and countless Hasegawas).  Is it as good as people say?  Lots of rivet detailing from your photos.  Love your wheel well plumbing - I'm a huge sucker for that, wished Eduard had some resin upgrades or some new 3D prints - but your plumbing looks amazing!  There's a round recess in the flat portion of the well, is that a detail or injector pin mark - I'm not familiar with that detailing?  Is the external fuel tank attachment molded onto the lower intakes so you can't model it without external fuel tanks?

@Chas Great Phoenix, that brings me back; running home afterschool!

@Kurt Wow Kurt, absolutely love the cooler box and bottle but the facial painting blows me away!!!  What kind of paints and brush do you use for the shading and eyes (especially)?  I'm trying to paint my 1/72 Minmay's face in the cockpit of my VT-1 and can't seem to get into the details (especially the eyes and right now it looks like a Zombie!).  I also love the 3D mud as well, so realistic!

@MechTech Thanks for sharing @neptunesurvey amazing Prometheus.  Wow, that must be huge and those planes must be micronian!  Amazing.  Let him know I had my troubles signing in as well for a few months there and I totally understand what he's going through.  Your build looks amazing, but I have no idea what OTO Melara is, I asssume its some kind of armour.

 

I'm sorry if I missed anyone, just so much to get caught up on.  So glad everyone seems to be happily and productively modeling away!  I'm really slowed down and back to work so there isn't much progress to show.  Plus everything seems to be breaking down in the house that needs replacing all at once from 37yr old airbrushes, to 22yr old speakers, to 17yr old motorized drop down projector screens to 17yr old dishwashers to my beloved 15yr old BMW M3 that needs repairs - argh!

37 years ago?!?! I was still eating mud at 3 years old when you got that airbrush!

This place is full og histories.

[Thom]

@Kurt = selling oneself short. Waaaay short!!

@neptunesurvey That Prometheus is gorgeously massive! One of my favorite looking ships from the series. Awesome job!

@pengbuzz That dio is looking outstanding! Murphy looks great, and as said above, the foiling looks top-notch. An idea for another poster would be the TV guy from the movies with the 'I'd buy that for a dollar!'

That crew coming into fine shape @MechTech.

@wm cheng I looked around for a good 1/72 Tomcat that wasn't going to break the wallet and Academy really fit the bill. Great detail (IMO) for the price, though everything is buttoned up without an option to open panels. I'm far from finished yet, but it is going together pretty cleanly. That circle depression in the bay is as molded and I really didn't think anything about it. I may see about cutting a little disc to set it flush.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 9 by Thom

[pengbuzz]

1 hour ago, Thom said:

@pengbuzz That dio is looking outstanding! Murphy looks great, and as said above, the foiling looks top-notch. An idea for another poster would be the TV guy from the movies with the 'I'd buy that for a dollar!'

That would be the in-movie show It's Not My Problem!, starring Bixby Snyder:

https://robocop.fandom.com/wiki/It's_Not_My_Problem!

And I like that idea; going to see about that later if I feel better tonight. Thanks!

[derex3592]

Never heard of this company, but uhhhh YEHHH I'm gonna NEED that model kit ASAP!!! 

 

 

[pengbuzz]

A brief update:

[derex3592]

Tamiya XF-59 ENAMEL base coat on the M2A2. Did I mention yet how much I LOOOVE having a great enamel paint line to use again??? 🤔 🤣 

[Kurt]

13 hours ago, wm cheng said:

Wow Kurt, absolutely love the cooler box and bottle but the facial painting blows me away!!!  What kind of paints and brush do you use for the shading and eyes (especially)?  I'm trying to paint my 1/72 Minmay's face in the cockpit of my VT-1 and can't seem to get into the details (especially the eyes and right now it looks like a Zombie!).  I also love the 3D mud as well, so realistic!

Thank you!  The faces were done with oils and Kolinsky brushes.  I know acrylic is all the rage these days for flesh, but I just love the subtle blending abilities of oils.  Doing faces is 1/72 would be difficult!  I wish you luck.  Personally, I wouldn't even try and pick out eye details on something that small.  Just add some shadows in the appropriate areas. 

[Big s]

13 hours ago, wm cheng said:

@Kurt Wow Kurt, absolutely love the cooler box and bottle but the facial painting blows me away!!!  What kind of paints and brush do you use for the shading and eyes (especially)?  I'm trying to paint my 1/72 Minmay's face in the cockpit of my VT-1 and can't seem to get into the details (especially the eyes and right now it looks like a Zombie!).  I also love the 3D mud as well, so realistic!

I’m getting some 1/72 scale figures in as a bonus with the next batch of front missions kits later this week. If all goes well and they detailed the eyes decently I’ll post a quick thing about how I do small figure eyes. 
basically on small scale after the flesh base is set then I do a panel lining usually with a brown or tan to have a line to base the eyes on. Then I use a little dull white for the eyes. Then to do the pupils, I like using water color pencils or colored pencils since they can be sharpened to a point you can just do a little spot of color like a blue or green and then you can take a mechanical pencil and just put a dot over that. After that you can top coat it and you can add a little gloss to it if you want.

[wm cheng]

1 hour ago, Big s said:

I’m getting some 1/72 scale figures in as a bonus with the next batch of front missions kits later this week. If all goes well and they detailed the eyes decently I’ll post a quick thing about how I do small figure eyes. 
basically on small scale after the flesh base is set then I do a panel lining usually with a brown or tan to have a line to base the eyes on. Then I use a little dull white for the eyes. Then to do the pupils, I like using water color pencils or colored pencils since they can be sharpened to a point you can just do a little spot of color like a blue or green and then you can take a mechanical pencil and just put a dot over that. After that you can top coat it and you can add a little gloss to it if you want.

Thanks!  I'll definitely look forward to seeing that.

[pengbuzz]

BTW: if anyone needs to do a gold-tinted canopy on their fighter model(s), someone at ARC Forums found a way to do it without making them opaque:

http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/305865-techniques-for-recreating-gold-tinted-canopies/

Specifically:

https://www.hobbylinc.com/gunze-sangyo-clear-gold-gloss-18ml-bottle-hobby-and-model-lacquer-paint-gx111

(note: since it's a lacquer, you should user pledge with future shine or an acrylic to protect your canopy before application)

Edited January 9 by pengbuzz

[wm cheng]

Thanks @pengbuzz one of the obstacles in preventing me to start on my F-22 (along with time and the metallic greys).  Too bad almost all the ArcForum links are dead, but thanks to your other clear gold gloss link looks very promising.  I would be really afraid to have lacquer on anything clear as it is the "hottest" of all the paint types and could attack the transparent plastic beneath and I'm not confident enough the Floor Polish undercoat would protect it but it's definitely worth an experiment on a scrap piece of clear styrene plastic - I wish I had multiple canopies lying around 😜 - maybe clear spoons?)

[505thAirborne]

@wm cheng the YF-23 will be one of the ultimate "what ifs" in aviation, while the F-22 can turn on a dime & give you 9 cents change at lower speeds, the Black Widow II minus thrust vectoring with those "Ruddervators" made it super maneuverable & surpassed the YF-22 in just about every other category, including stealth & speed. If the 22 barely shows up on radar just imagine the 23. 

The Airforce really missed out in not having at least one squadron of these deadly fighters. 

[MechTech]

Thank you everyone for the positive feedback!

@neptunesurvey1 Looks like you had to get another account working. I'm glad you had more pictures to share! That thing is a printed brick! LOTS of plastic in that print. Thanks for sharing the additional COOL photos!

@pengbuzz Looks like Robo made the headlines again!😁 COOL looking paper!

@derex3592 That is a SMOOTH paint scheme. Are you going to dust or muddy it up (almost sad to). - MT

[Rock]

On 1/7/2024 at 12:28 PM, 505thAirborne said:

...Since you mentioned IRAF Pilots.

A very well known, photographed Ali Cat carrying very unique payload!

 

One doesn't always get a snow day, but when you do, there is no better way to kill it than painting!

All a bit premature when I still have some work to do finishing up the bay doors and another unique feature.

Still in love with my Black Mr. SURFACER 1500! 1:2:0.5  paint, ak high combatability thinner, and mr color leveling thinner. Just a dream to airbrush at 15psi on large surfaces! Thin, smooth and fast drying!

[derex3592]

@MechTech - Ohh yes...she's gonna be a dirty muddy, sandy girl...

@Rock Verrry nice! YES! Mr. Surfacer 1500 Black cut 2:1 with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner is the absolute best thing out there! 

[pengbuzz]

7 hours ago, wm cheng said:

Thanks @pengbuzz one of the obstacles in preventing me to start on my F-22 (along with time and the metallic greys).  Too bad almost all the ArcForum links are dead, but thanks to your other clear gold gloss link looks very promising.  I would be really afraid to have lacquer on anything clear as it is the "hottest" of all the paint types and could attack the transparent plastic beneath and I'm not confident enough the Floor Polish undercoat would protect it but it's definitely worth an experiment on a scrap piece of clear styrene plastic - I wish I had multiple canopies lying around 😜 - maybe clear spoons?)

Thinking about it, I agree that I wouldn't trust floor polish alone. Let me look to see if I can find an acrylic version.

UPDATE: I wonder if this would work:

https://www.jerrysartarama.com/liquitex-professional-acrylic-ink-30ml-iridescent-bright-gold-83645?srsltid=AfmBOorupxvk64KMFflr5SIj63SRh73HpbJBIeSO5bSk3pXI6TS_5qkOafw

Edited January 10 by pengbuzz