Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[Chas]

Looks great so far. One question, are the lights all going to be the same colour?

[pengbuzz]

2 hours ago, Spacecore said:

Well, I suppose these go here.

Last few months, got really into Macross. This seems to happen every summer, I dedicate myself to a new older sci-fi anime franchise (last year was Legend of the Galactic Heroes, year before was Space Battleship Yamato, both resulted in a lot of spaceships being built). But, I ended up with a 1/4000 Hasegawa SDF-1, DYRL version. That opening shot of it emerging from the shadow of Jupiter, with all the blinking lights, was just so iconic, that I've spent the last few weeks painstakingly drilling hundreds of tiny holes and feeding .25mm fiberoptics through them. It's been an interesting project so far, still not even sure how it'll come together, but the pieces I have right now are pretty good looking at least.

I've lost count of how many I've installed already, but I'm breaking them up into 3 groups, so I can later install LEDs that blink in sequence, with the help of a pi nano. The general idea is for 2/3 to be on at all times, so the sequence goes 1/2 on, 2/3 on, then 3/1 on. This way, some will always be lit, and it looks more active than not. The engines are going to be on a separate circuit, running into 12 LEDs that all flicker slightly, so the engines look active and humming. 

Honestly, the biggest roadblocks I've encountered are what steps to do in what order, and lack of space in the ship/stand for wiring and batteries. The latter can be easily fixed with a 3d printed addition to the stand, but the former is more of an issue. Because of how I plan to install the LEDs and fiberoptics, combined with how the legs are built, there's not a lot of room to work with, meaning I'll need to paint stuff in sub-assemblies before finishing the wiring and assembling, before finishing the painting. It's a more complex assembly process than any of my builds in the past, so I've just been struggling to wrap my head around it, hahaha.

Hope I didn't screw up the formatting, I'm not really used to forums.

Looks fantastic so far!! And don't worry: your "format" is fine here; we don't grade on that!!

And while we're at it: Welcome to Macross World Forums!! 😍

[Spacecore]

1 hour ago, pengbuzz said:

And while we're at it: Welcome to Macross World Forums!! 😍

Thank you for the warm welcome!

also, as for what Chas asked, I am going to use some clear paint to make some of them red. I'll also be using glow in the dark and florescent paints to add a lot more small light pinpricks, which won't be lit, but will give it a good sense of scale and help keep it looking alive when the LEDs aren't on. Also, a lot of DYRL shots of it look like it has red and white markings, and not lights, so those should help keep it from being pure grey.

[pengbuzz]

Just going to leave this here....

 

[Thom]

@pengbuzz that's cool!

[sketchley]

 

On 9/13/2024 at 3:19 AM, pengbuzz said:

I would say: paint the entire circle black, then use a cotton swab to remove it from the raised areas once it's dry.

I'm still waffling over what to do with it.  When I looked through the instructions again yesterday, I thought I saw another small part that needs to be painted black.  I'll have to double check, but if so, I think I'll hand draw both parts with manga ink.

 

14 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Just going to leave this here....

Battle damaged models are something that I simultaneous say "why would you want to mess up such a pretty model?!" and "cool!!" (mixed in with a bit of envy). 🤣

How did you get the rolled up effect on the foot damage?  It's a neat effect that suggests there are more layers under the surface.

[sketchley]

Hobby Color Paint Restoration - the water-based paints strike back

They are truly striking back.  Of the 5 (the Mr Hobby Color still had life in it), only the red and yellow returned to factory fresh after adding the X-20.  They were also the only two that had a significant amount of 'liquid' paint in them.

The white is reacting slowly, so I'm leaving it for now.  The blue and silver were both bone dry, and the X-20 had virtually no effect.  There was only a little blue left, so I was hoping for some kind of reaction, but after 2 days, the solvent still looked like water.  There was quite a bit more dry paint in the silver jar, and the X-20 reacted a little with it, but no where near enough.

As an experiment, I've put a bit of Mr Color Replenishing Agent into both.  Within a few hours the blue was liquefying and starting to look like paint.  I'm not sure if it's worth salvaging or not as a pseudo Mr Color paint.  The silver... it doesn't look like there's much of a reaction going on.  Just like the X-20, only the top layer of paint appears to be dissolving.  Looks like I won't be able to avoid having to chip it out with a used spoon or something... 😫  Edit: It's starting to attain a consistency like wet sand.  Not sure if it can ever return to something resembling paint.  But at last I don't have to chip it out! 😅

 

Anyhow, the restored red paint went down as well as can be:

 

If you're wondering what's up with all the black on the other parts: I'm attempting to kill two birds with one stone.  Some of the parts (E.g. the interior of the cone around the sensor eye) are supposed to be painted black.  I've used the water-color wash to get both a matte-black colour, as well as aiming for a seamlessly blend with the final wash when the kit is completed.

All the black on the parts that become the front and back of the missile pods are to pre-wash the parts that will be nigh-impossible to properly do when assembled.  I'm also aiming at representing the scorching and soot from repeated missile launches—akin to what a Space X Falcon 9 looks like after a dozen landings.

I'm waffling over whether or not to wipe off most of it, some of it, or none at all.  Scorched black louvres looks neat, but as there's a dark grey part going in behind them, they won't be as visible as they are in the pictures above and below.  What do you guys think?  Is the soot covered Falcon 9 the right or wrong direction to head in?

Edited September 14 by sketchley

[pengbuzz]

5 hours ago, sketchley said:

Battle damaged models are something that I simultaneous say "why would you want to mess up such a pretty model?!" and "cool!!" (mixed in with a bit of envy). 🤣

How did you get the rolled up effect on the foot damage?  It's a neat effect that suggests there are more layers under the surface.

Answer: Mr. Soldering Iron!

[pengbuzz]

UPDATE: My diorama fell off the shelf it was on (I knocked it over by accident), and the walker separated from the base. That's the bad news...

The good news: it landed on top of something I had been trying to find, but was missing-

(it had fallen between my shelf and the bookcase next to it, to where you couldn't see it unless you were right on top of it!)

Anyways, seeing as the model was separated from it's base now (and rather cleanly, I have to confess!), I decided that the base was too small anyways and...

...well...

See for yourselves:

 

 

 

Just waiting for the "water" to cure (it takes 24 hours and I just did this last night, so it'll look a little cloudy until then). If it doesn't, I'll paint it with a bit of transparent blue, watered down.

 

Stay tuned...

 

 

Edited September 15 by pengbuzz

[Thom]

Quite the happy accident @pengbuzz!

[Big s]

2 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

UPDATE: My diorama fell off the shelf it was on (I knocked it over by accident), and the walker separated from the base. That's the bad news...

The good news: it landed on top of something I had been trying to find, but was missing-

(it had fallen between my shelf and the bookcase next to it, to where you couldn't see it unless you were right on top of it!)

Anyways, seeing as the model was separated from it's base now (and rather cleanly, I have to confess!), I decided that the base was too small anyways and...

...well...

See for yourselves:

 

 

 

Just waiting for the "water" to cure (it takes 24 hours and I just did this last night, so it'll look a little cloudy until then). If it doesn't, I'll paint it with a bit of transparent blue, watered down.

 

Stay tuned...

 

 

I think it was meant to be. The diorama has much more to look at now

[wm cheng]

Argh DISASTER!!!  I guess you can't put Mr. Hobby clear coats over top of Alclad Aqua Gloss.  First time using Alclad Aqua Gloss (as everyone told me I was a dinosaur for still using Future) to create a glossy base for the decals then I sealed in the decals.  I wanted to try that weathering technique using acrylic inks, but it needed Tamiya X-20A thinner as a base to thin the inks - unfortunately, the X-20A ate past the Aclad Aqua Gloss.  So I thought I'd protect it with Mr. Hobby Super Clear - but that's a lacquer and it reacted badly with the Aqua Gloss underneath and ruined the smooth finish.  I'm walking away from it for a few days to let the reaction cure and stop, I might try to sand it down with 6000 to 10000 grit sanding sponge to see if I can salvage it.  If I can't then its trash as its not worth stripping it back to bare plastic as I can't save the decals.  I hate frakking up at such a late stage.  Now I know that Alclad Aqua Gloss is useless - being a water based clear coat, it can only be used if its a final coat with nothing to go on top.  I guess newer isn't better.

[pengbuzz]

2 hours ago, wm cheng said:

Argh DISASTER!!!  I guess you can't put Mr. Hobby clear coats over top of Alclad Aqua Gloss.  First time using Alclad Aqua Gloss (as everyone told me I was a dinosaur for still using Future) to create a glossy base for the decals then I sealed in the decals.  I wanted to try that weathering technique using acrylic inks, but it needed Tamiya X-20A thinner as a base to thin the inks - unfortunately, the X-20A ate past the Aclad Aqua Gloss.  So I thought I'd protect it with Mr. Hobby Super Clear - but that's a lacquer and it reacted badly with the Aqua Gloss underneath and ruined the smooth finish.  I'm walking away from it for a few days to let the reaction cure and stop, I might try to sand it down with 6000 to 10000 grit sanding sponge to see if I can salvage it.  If I can't then its trash as its not worth stripping it back to bare plastic as I can't save the decals.  I hate frakking up at such a late stage.  Now I know that Alclad Aqua Gloss is useless - being a water based clear coat, it can only be used if its a final coat with nothing to go on top.  I guess newer isn't better.

I've had something similar happen to a kit before, WM! Try wiping it down carefully with 91 alcohol; it seems the two coats wrinkled due to interaction, but if they could be removed safely, you may have a shot at saving this one. Try it on a small area, and you might want to start with 70 first in case 91 might be too strong.

If that doesn't work, I can always see what I can do with it (if you're willing) and if I can, send it back to you so you can pick up where you left off.

[Urashiman]

@wm cheng that is aweful man…

my rule: never do lacquer colour on top of acrylics.

[Big s]

2 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

I've had something similar happen to a kit before, WM! Try wiping it down carefully with 91 alcohol; it seems the two coats wrinkled due to interaction, but if they could be removed safely, you may have a shot at saving this one. Try it on a small area, and you might want to start with 70 first in case 91 might be too strong.

If that doesn't work, I can always see what I can do with it (if you're willing) and if I can, send it back to you so you can pick up where you left off.

I find that the 91 is pretty harsh, but great for removing paint. I’d definitely go lighter with the 70

[pengbuzz]

1 hour ago, Big s said:

I find that the 91 is pretty harsh, but great for removing paint. I’d definitely go lighter with the 70

Right; I'm hoping the 70 can remove the top coats for wm chang without doing the decals or paint any harm. That's why I recommended starting with the 70 and testing it on a small area.

[SteveTheFish]

On 9/13/2024 at 6:28 AM, Spacecore said:

Well, I suppose these go here.

Last few months, got really into Macross. This seems to happen every summer, I dedicate myself to a new older sci-fi anime franchise (last year was Legend of the Galactic Heroes, year before was Space Battleship Yamato, both resulted in a lot of spaceships being built). But, I ended up with a 1/4000 Hasegawa SDF-1, DYRL version. That opening shot of it emerging from the shadow of Jupiter, with all the blinking lights, was just so iconic, that I've spent the last few weeks painstakingly drilling hundreds of tiny holes and feeding .25mm fiberoptics through them. It's been an interesting project so far, still not even sure how it'll come together, but the pieces I have right now are pretty good looking at least.
 

That is fantastic! I've never used a Pi Nano or Arduino before.

OK guys, so I guess I am done with my sofubi Y-Wing, but I'm not so sure about it.

Look at this. Isn't the fuselage supposed to be level with the ground? It looks like the front landing gear sits way too high. What do you think?

[Thom]

11 hours ago, wm cheng said:

Argh DISASTER!!!  I guess you can't put Mr. Hobby clear coats over top of Alclad Aqua Gloss.  First time using Alclad Aqua Gloss (as everyone told me I was a dinosaur for still using Future) to create a glossy base for the decals then I sealed in the decals.  I wanted to try that weathering technique using acrylic inks, but it needed Tamiya X-20A thinner as a base to thin the inks - unfortunately, the X-20A ate past the Aclad Aqua Gloss.  So I thought I'd protect it with Mr. Hobby Super Clear - but that's a lacquer and it reacted badly with the Aqua Gloss underneath and ruined the smooth finish.  I'm walking away from it for a few days to let the reaction cure and stop, I might try to sand it down with 6000 to 10000 grit sanding sponge to see if I can salvage it.  If I can't then its trash as its not worth stripping it back to bare plastic as I can't save the decals.  I hate frakking up at such a late stage.  Now I know that Alclad Aqua Gloss is useless - being a water based clear coat, it can only be used if its a final coat with nothing to go on top.  I guess newer isn't better.

Ouch!! I saw the first pic and I felt that in my gut! I hope the corrective measures work, but even if not, you know there is still good plastic underneath all of that. Good luck!

[wm cheng]

Unfortunately its somehow damaged the orange sections underneath the clear coat (the orange areas were Tamiya Acrylic) and gave it a very light crackling crazing.  I think I can sand down carefully the raised folds/cracks but I don't know if I can do anything about the orange sections that have this fine lighter colour cracking that's below the clear coat surface and I can't strip it back without loosing the decals (which I already had a lot of problems with breaking up and definitely do not have enough spares to redo - or want to).  I will see how carefully I can sand down the texture and re-coat, maybe if I can get it smooth again and try to recover and protect, the ink weathering can hide some of the sins?  Don't know if I'll have enough patience for that.

[pengbuzz]

5 hours ago, wm cheng said:

Unfortunately its somehow damaged the orange sections underneath the clear coat (the orange areas were Tamiya Acrylic) and gave it a very light crackling crazing.  I think I can sand down carefully the raised folds/cracks but I don't know if I can do anything about the orange sections that have this fine lighter colour cracking that's below the clear coat surface and I can't strip it back without loosing the decals (which I already had a lot of problems with breaking up and definitely do not have enough spares to redo - or want to).  I will see how carefully I can sand down the texture and re-coat, maybe if I can get it smooth again and try to recover and protect, the ink weathering can hide some of the sins?  Don't know if I'll have enough patience for that.

Whatever you do, take it in small sections a bit at a time WM.

[Chas]

6 hours ago, wm cheng said:

Unfortunately its somehow damaged the orange sections underneath the clear coat (the orange areas were Tamiya Acrylic) and gave it a very light crackling crazing.  I think I can sand down carefully the raised folds/cracks but I don't know if I can do anything about the orange sections that have this fine lighter colour cracking that's below the clear coat surface and I can't strip it back without loosing the decals (which I already had a lot of problems with breaking up and definitely do not have enough spares to redo - or want to).  I will see how carefully I can sand down the texture and re-coat, maybe if I can get it smooth again and try to recover and protect, the ink weathering can hide some of the sins?  Don't know if I'll have enough patience for that.

Sent you a PM

 

[SteveTheFish]

@wm cheng I really feel for you. I have a bottle of Alclad Liquid Gloss, but I only use that on metallic surfaces. I rarely use it, but recently I used it on my Mr. Color Silver-painted P-38. I know now for sure that I should not use anything other than an acrylic for a top coat then. 

For what it's worth, you can apply lacquers over acrylics if you don't go too heavy all at once. I've done lacquer clear coats over Tamiya and Mr. Hobby acrylic paint jobs and had no problems.

[Urashiman]

On 9/16/2024 at 5:50 PM, wm cheng said:

Unfortunately its somehow damaged the orange sections underneath the clear coat (the orange areas were Tamiya Acrylic) and gave it a very light crackling crazing.  I think I can sand down carefully the raised folds/cracks but I don't know if I can do anything about the orange sections that have this fine lighter colour cracking that's below the clear coat surface and I can't strip it back without loosing the decals (which I already had a lot of problems with breaking up and definitely do not have enough spares to redo - or want to).  I will see how carefully I can sand down the texture and re-coat, maybe if I can get it smooth again and try to recover and protect, the ink weathering can hide some of the sins?  Don't know if I'll have enough patience for that.

Best of luck man!

[MechTech]

@pengbuzz Sorry to say this, but I'm GLAD it fell off the shelf. You're improvements have made it look much more realistic and COOL!

@wm cheng Holy orange peels Batman! Wow, sorry your finish came out like that! That is agrovating! If you have it in Canada, "LA's Totally Awesome" is a cheap, general purpose cleaner that will safely strip styrene models. I've used it several times now with now harm to the plastic in any way.

@SteveTheFish Your Y-wing looks great! I don't know about the gear though, I'm not that into the Force.😁 - MT

 

[Chas]

2 hours ago, MechTech said:

 If you have it in Canada, "LA's Totally Awesome" is a cheap, general purpose cleaner that will safely strip styrene models. I've used it several times now with now harm to the plastic in any way.

Is this the stuff you're talking about?

I'm gonna look around for it.

Do you use it straight up, or diluted?

Edited September 17 by Chas

[pengbuzz]

57 minutes ago, Chas said:

Is this the stuff you're talking about?

I'm gonna look around for it.

Do you use it straight up, or diluted?

I use it straight, and it works wonders!! I like it better than easy-off oven cleaner; it smells a lot better, will strip chrome off chromed model parts, and is super-cheap at Dollar Tree!

 

3 hours ago, MechTech said:

@pengbuzz Sorry to say this, but I'm GLAD it fell off the shelf. You're improvements have made it look much more realistic and COOL!

@wm cheng Holy orange peels Batman! Wow, sorry your finish came out like that! That is agrovating! If you have it in Canada, "LA's Totally Awesome" is a cheap, general purpose cleaner that will safely strip styrene models. I've used it several times now with now harm to the plastic in any way.

@SteveTheFish Your Y-wing looks great! I don't know about the gear though, I'm not that into the Force.😁 - MT

 

Thanks; I wonder if this was "meant to be" as Big s said?

[MechTech]

@Chas @wm cheng That's the stuff! Clears acrylics off in a short soak. Enamels may take longer, even a day or too. It only requires a cleaning with soap and water afterwards. I've used it on many things, even saved an old 80's kit I got that was already painted. No harm done in any way and its CHEAP! - MT

[Rock]

On 9/15/2024 at 10:01 PM, wm cheng said:

 Now I know that Alclad Aqua Gloss is useless - being a water based clear coat, it can only be used if its a final coat with nothing to go on top.  I guess newer isn't better.

The only thing I recommend Aqua Gloss for is brush painting on lens/sensors after you've matte (lacquer) top coated a kit. Things like Gundam Eyes, Camera's and Screens inside cockpits.

[pengbuzz]

2 minutes ago, Rock said:

The only thing I recommend Aqua Gloss for is brush painting on lens/sensors after you've matte (lacquer) top coated a kit. Things like Gundam Eyes, Camera's and Screens inside cockpits.

That, or overcoating Molotow Chrome Marker.

On that note: long time no see, Rock!! You have any projects going right now?

[pengbuzz]

UPDATE:

Final on my diorama-

Finally got the water right, even if it is a slight bit murky!

Still can't make my mind up on the cockpit /"head" position though:

Oh well.

Thanks for watching!

[sketchley]

13 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

 

Still can't make my mind up on the cockpit /"head" position though:

 

The one with it pitching backwards feels the most appropriate—defeated in a way that keeps the Jedi safe.

For comparison: the one with it pitching forward doesn't feel "Jedi" enough—it looks like it might fall on top of the Jedi!

[pengbuzz]

10 minutes ago, sketchley said:

The one with it pitching backwards feels the most appropriate—defeated in a way that keeps the Jedi safe.

For comparison: the one with it pitching forward doesn't feel "Jedi" enough—it looks like it might fall on top of the Jedi!

Well, the Jedi is running so I'm not sure it would fall on top of him, but that's an interesting point. I just want to make sure the physics are on point!

[wm cheng]

What kind of lacquer clear coat gloss that is airbrush-able would everyone recommend?

Edited September 20 by wm cheng

[Thom]

@pengbuzz I'd go with it pitching backward.

[Big s]

I think it looks great either way. When it’s pitching forward, it looks like it will just fall on the other side of the river