Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[Big s]

37 minutes ago, wm cheng said:

OK, I've left it to breath and walked away from it for a few weeks and I've calmed down.  After the Alclad clear coat crackling, it dried but attacked the paint underneath, but only the Tamiya orange areas (Tamiya Acrylic thinned with Mr. Color leveling thinner - which works amazingly), the lighter tan area is Mr. Color Tan Radome which is a lacquer and seemed to resist better.  However there is still a very raised pronounced texture over everything.  I've sworn off Alclads now (I only use them for metalizers - this is the 4th time I've had problems with their stuff like the gloss black enamel undercoats).  I'm going to try switching over the Mr. Color Super Metallics - nice to have something brushable for touch ups.

So after walking away from it a while I can come back with a bit of calm.  So I started to sand everything down working from 4000 grit to 6000 to 10000 grit.  I think I got pretty good at gauging how far down to go without removing too much paint, just getting through the layers of clear coat to a smooth finish.  I've seen people sand down decals and I didn't have the guts to do it before, but now after sanding down the clear coat just to the decals, I think I got the hang of it.  Plus it gave a really smooth finish and blended all the decals in so they looked painted on with no carrier film.  Unfortunately, I can see now that the Alclad aqua clear when it reacted with the Mr. Color Super clear (lacquer) actually attacked the orange Tamiya Acrylic paint and created this weird pattern.

But I noticed that the decals protected the orange paint underneath and it was perfect (look at the space between the 0 and 7 in the 607 and you can see the carrier film protection.  So I thought I would sand everything down to a smooth finish without disturbing the decals and mask them and re-spray the orange.

I got everything smooth now.  There were a few spots I went a bit too far and I had to repair with some lighter tan.  Unfortunately, the orange separation to tan was no longer crisp because the paint reaction somehow made it seem to bleed into each other.

I managed to take the masking off today and it looks pretty good - so I'm pretty happy with the repairs other than the added 2wks of heart stopping sanding.

Here's some before and afters...

I'm going let the orange cure (luckily I still have some mixed from Tamiya Orange + Red) and then hit it with a light mist of Mr. Color GX100 Gloss clear.  I want that lacquer clear coat because I want to try doing that ink weathering technique that uses Tamiya X-20A thinner.  Hopefully things will go more smoothly over the next few weeks after this save.

Looks like a good save so far. I tend to sand the clear coats over decals often. It’s actually a great way to get rid of the decal edges and makes things appear painted on.

sometimes you gotta try methods that seem scary to get results 

[Thom]

Awesome save @wm cheng! Looking really good!

 

[pengbuzz]

10 hours ago, wm cheng said:

OK, I've left it to breath and walked away from it for a few weeks and I've calmed down.  After the Alclad clear coat crackling, it dried but attacked the paint underneath, but only the Tamiya orange areas (Tamiya Acrylic thinned with Mr. Color leveling thinner - which works amazingly), the lighter tan area is Mr. Color Tan Radome which is a lacquer and seemed to resist better.  However there is still a very raised pronounced texture over everything.  I've sworn off Alclads now (I only use them for metalizers - this is the 4th time I've had problems with their stuff like the gloss black enamel undercoats).  I'm going to try switching over the Mr. Color Super Metallics - nice to have something brushable for touch ups.

So after walking away from it a while I can come back with a bit of calm.  So I started to sand everything down working from 4000 grit to 6000 to 10000 grit.  I think I got pretty good at gauging how far down to go without removing too much paint, just getting through the layers of clear coat to a smooth finish.  I've seen people sand down decals and I didn't have the guts to do it before, but now after sanding down the clear coat just to the decals, I think I got the hang of it.  Plus it gave a really smooth finish and blended all the decals in so they looked painted on with no carrier film.  Unfortunately, I can see now that the Alclad aqua clear when it reacted with the Mr. Color Super clear (lacquer) actually attacked the orange Tamiya Acrylic paint and created this weird pattern.

But I noticed that the decals protected the orange paint underneath and it was perfect (look at the space between the 0 and 7 in the 607 and you can see the carrier film protection.  So I thought I would sand everything down to a smooth finish without disturbing the decals and mask them and re-spray the orange.

I got everything smooth now.  There were a few spots I went a bit too far and I had to repair with some lighter tan.  Unfortunately, the orange separation to tan was no longer crisp because the paint reaction somehow made it seem to bleed into each other.

I managed to take the masking off today and it looks pretty good - so I'm pretty happy with the repairs other than the added 2wks of heart stopping sanding.

Here's some before and afters...

I'm going let the orange cure (luckily I still have some mixed from Tamiya Orange + Red) and then hit it with a light mist of Mr. Color GX100 Gloss clear.  I want that lacquer clear coat because I want to try doing that ink weathering technique that uses Tamiya X-20A thinner.  Hopefully things will go more smoothly over the next few weeks after this save.

WOW!!! Really nice save there, WM Cheng!!! I was hoping you'd be able to pull this one back from the edge, and it looks like you came through with flying colors!!!

On that note: I have the Goodyear blimp plastic model (wife picked it up for me as an early gift), and nearly had the paint finished, when an alcohol splash ruined the paintjob and sent me all the way back to the start. 😠 Part of the kit is a plastic "screen" (acetate painted with a "pihole grid' pattern) that the alcohol removed part of and I now either have to try to find a replacement, or try to use a toothpick to mask the holes with white glue and then spray paint.

Ain't painting just so much fun? >_>

[derex3592]

GREAT SAVE @wm cheng!!!!

[Thom]

4 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

WOW!!! Really nice save there, WM Cheng!!! I was hoping you'd be able to pull this one back from the edge, and it looks like you came through with flying colors!!!

On that note: I have the Goodyear blimp plastic model (wife picked it up for me as an early gift), and nearly had the paint finished, when an alcohol splash ruined the paintjob and sent me all the way back to the start. 😠 Part of the kit is a plastic "screen" (acetate painted with a "pihole grid' pattern) that the alcohol removed part of and I now either have to try to find a replacement, or try to use a toothpick to mask the holes with white glue and then spray paint.

Ain't painting just so much fun? >_>

Dangy!! Can you find an image on-line of the grid, then print it onto decal film? 

[pengbuzz]

2 hours ago, Thom said:

Dangy!! Can you find an image on-line of the grid, then print it onto decal film? 

No; the grid has to be opaque enough to block out the light projected from inside the blimp. Decal paper won't cut it.

[Thom]

dope!

Edited October 7 by Thom

[Thom]

45 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

No; the grid has to be opaque enough to block out the light projected from inside the blimp. Decal paper won't cut it.

If you could copy what's left of the grid, and put it on decal paper, then you could apply it to the fully cleaned off plastic sheets from the kit.

Edited October 7 by Thom

[wm cheng]

How tight are the holes @pengbuzz - I've seen perforated paper/card stock at art stores and some cross-stitch papers that are more like card, just don't know how tight you need the holes.   There are also perforated vinyl films, they put ads on glass to see through them, different closeness of holes for different transparencies - that's pretty opaque and light blocking.

[pengbuzz]

1 hour ago, wm cheng said:

How tight are the holes @pengbuzz - I've seen perforated paper/card stock at art stores and some cross-stitch papers that are more like card, just don't know how tight you need the holes.   There are also perforated vinyl films, they put ads on glass to see through them, different closeness of holes for different transparencies - that's pretty opaque and light blocking.

Let me get you folks some pics (from online, as my kit is not able to be moved at this point):

As you can see, the holes are larger than just "pinpricks"; they're meant to emulate the thousands of bulbs on the goodyear blimp. The entire blimp assembled (with nose and end cone on) is 13 inches; I'll try to get measurements of the actual grid insert itself later tonight. But you can see why I'm not happy about mine being damaged.

@wm cheng If I could get a replacement (cardboard or vinyl would do), then I would simply layer it on a new piece of acetate and affix that inside. You idea I think will work, provided we can figure out the spacing on the holes.

1 hour ago, Thom said:

If you could copy what's left of the grid, and put it on decal paper, then you could apply it to the fully cleaned off plastic sheets from the kit.

Yeah, but a printed decal would still be too "light transparent". I've tried this before on a different setup that was similar and it didn't work out that well. But we'll get thiss olved; we usually do!

Really appreciate the help guys!

Edited October 7 by pengbuzz

[Chas]

Way to @wm cheng! Patience and Perseverance pays off!

@pengbuzz is this the Revell kit with the "make your own sign" gimmick ?

Edit ok I see it is ( you posted while I was typing.

This is the best I found so far ( from an Ebay listing)

Edited October 7 by Chas

[pengbuzz]

3 minutes ago, Chas said:

Way to @wm cheng! Patience and Perseverance pays off!

@pengbuzz is this the Revell kit with the "make your own sign" gimmick ?

Edit ok I see it is ( you posted while I was typing.

1) Yeah; we're all celebrating with WM on his victory over the evil clearcoat monster!

2) Yeah; I had that as a kid (my grandmother actually rode in the blimp at the invitation of Goodyear way back in the '70's and bought me the model kit for my birthday!) and wanted it back.

[Gabe Q]

@wm cheng Bravo, Mr. Cheng! Nice save! I dunno how many of us would've had the patience to go back and attempt to salvage the kit. 

[MechTech]

@wm cheng That indeed was a GREAT and patient save! I would have stripped the whole thing down and started over!

@pengbuzz WOW!!! More flashbacks! I used to have that kit! The blimp used to fly over my house all the time back in California. My dad and I would hear those lumbering engines and run outside to see the cool animated graphics at night. I even remember the race car sequence in the photos above! - MT

[Big s]

9 hours ago, MechTech said:

My dad and I would hear those lumbering engines and run outside to see the cool animated graphics at night.

My dad and brother were always super excited for it and would basically drag my mom and I out to see it as well. On event days it would go overhead earlier and you could get a great look at it and later at night, it would be like a weird billboard in the sky. This was before streaming and before we had cable, so often nothing to watch on weekends, so we were entertained by the simple things back then. I don’t think kids these days would be quite as interested as kids from those days 

[MechTech]

@Big s Thanks! You are absolutely right! People are SO distracted these days!

EVERYONE! I thought you guys might like this. It's expandable sleeved tubing, or on models, meshed tubing. Perfect for details and builds. It comes in various thicknesses, the smallest being 1/8" or 3mm. It can expand to about 1/4" or more. The photo below shows my example over a mechanical pencil. It costs about .20 cents a foot and you have to buy at least ten feet, so about $2.00 - what a deal! Much cheaper than modeling accessories and you get WAY more! It comes in four colors. I should have gotten white, but didn't see a need for it. This stuff is awesome for mecha detailing and engine detailing.

This tube is perfect with contrasting colored wire or tubing underneath it to add detail and depth. US Plastics sells it along with styrene sheets (and tons of other cool stuff) if you want them LARGE! They also trim the sheets down for a fee. Just thought I'd share this cool stuff!

https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=133515&catid=1051

 

Working on the 1/35th Dougram hands now. I cut pieces for the finger joints and test fit with paracord for the core, but will substitute it with coiled springs. A copper wire core will make it posable. You can see the original fist has little detail in it. No other hand options either, so that why I'm making it new hands.

Thanks for checking in guys! - MT

[Thom]

Great idea on that @MechTech!

 

 

 

 

Edited October 10 by Thom

[SteveTheFish]

@MechTech I'd say black on the blue and dark gray on the light gray would look better, assuming you have dark gray panel line color.

@wm cheng Brilliant recovery!

[Chronocidal]

12 hours ago, MechTech said:

@Big s Thanks! You are absolutely right! People are SO distracted these days!

EVERYONE! I thought you guys might like this. It's expandable sleeved tubing, or on models, meshed tubing. Perfect for details and builds. It comes in various thicknesses, the smallest being 1/8" or 3mm. It can expand to about 1/4" or more. The photo below shows my example over a mechanical pencil. It costs about .20 cents a foot and you have to buy at least ten feet, so about $2.00 - what a deal! Much cheaper than modeling accessories and you get WAY more! It comes in four colors. I should have gotten white, but didn't see a need for it. This stuff is awesome for mecha detailing and engine detailing.

This tube is perfect with contrasting colored wire or tubing underneath it to add detail and depth. US Plastics sells it along with styrene sheets (and tons of other cool stuff) if you want them LARGE! They also trim the sheets down for a fee. Just thought I'd share this cool stuff!

https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=133515&catid=1051

Working on the 1/35th Dougram hands now. I cut pieces for the finger joints and test fit with paracord for the core, but will substitute it with coiled springs. A copper wire core will make it posable. You can see the original fist has little detail in it. No other hand options either, so that why I'm making it new hands.

 

 

Thanks for checking in guys! - MT

Really nice idea, I've used that cord for some other purposes in much larger diameters.  Really handy to have, though it tends to shred if you don't melt it or coat it on the ends.

Only question I'd have is whether you intend to make a solid fingertip cap for each finger, or use the wire in some way.

[MechTech]

@Thom @SteveTheFish Thanks guys! I'm thinking the lighter panel liner on the blue maybe TOO much contrast myself.

@Chronocidal Thanks! The paracord is only temporary, but I almost used it. I'll be using spring steel tube to go through the joints with a copper wire core. There will be fingertips of some type. I'm still working out the design. - MT

[pengbuzz]

Finally got the blimp done:

 

Replaced the solid plastic gondola with a transparent custom made one:

 

Other side:

Ended up printing the Goodyear lettering and tail decals at the library on regular paper, cutting it all out ( royal pain!) and gluing it to the model kit. The lighting system (bulbs and all) went to crap, so I simply tore it all out and soldered in the guts from a Harbor Freight LED light (blue one with  a"strip" of lights down the center) along with the battery enclosure, and plastic-welding it to the old battery compartment in the center of the "message drum":

 

The stand is a custom-made cradle, specially designed to hold this (since the kit has to split in half to change messages/ batteries):

Closer look:

 

Custom-printed plaque on stand:

 

Live test of message system on blimp:

 

[derex3592]

@pengbuzz - BROH!!! Man, that's AWESOME! Very cool! Great job! 😃

[Big s]

11 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Finally got the blimp done:

 

Replaced the solid plastic gondola with a transparent custom made one:

 

Other side:

Ended up printing the Goodyear lettering and tail decals at the library on regular paper, cutting it all out ( royal pain!) and gluing it to the model kit. The lighting system (bulbs and all) went to crap, so I simply tore it all out and soldered in the guts from a Harbor Freight LED light (blue one with  a"strip" of lights down the center) along with the battery enclosure, and plastic-welding it to the old battery compartment in the center of the "message drum":

 

The stand is a custom-made cradle, specially designed to hold this (since the kit has to split in half to change messages/ batteries):

Closer look:

 

Custom-printed plaque on stand:

 

Live test of message system on blimp:

 

Pretty cool kit

[Urashiman]

11 hours ago, derex3592 said:

@pengbuzz - BROH!!! Man, that's AWESOME! Very cool! Great job! 😃

haha! Great man! Even with all the set backs, you got it done! Congratulations!

[Thom]

On 10/20/2024 at 7:57 AM, pengbuzz said:

Finally got the blimp done:

 

Replaced the solid plastic gondola with a transparent custom made one:

 

Other side:

Ended up printing the Goodyear lettering and tail decals at the library on regular paper, cutting it all out ( royal pain!) and gluing it to the model kit. The lighting system (bulbs and all) went to crap, so I simply tore it all out and soldered in the guts from a Harbor Freight LED light (blue one with  a"strip" of lights down the center) along with the battery enclosure, and plastic-welding it to the old battery compartment in the center of the "message drum":

 

The stand is a custom-made cradle, specially designed to hold this (since the kit has to split in half to change messages/ batteries):

Closer look:

 

Custom-printed plaque on stand:

 

Live test of message system on blimp:

 

That's looking so good, Pengbuzz! Nice solutions to the problems and ending up with a great looking model!

[Goodman Models]

@pengbuzz that blimp screen is looking amazing!

@MechTech the hands are coming together! 
 

Here’s my latest on the bench: jgsdf Type 89
 

 

[F18LEGIOSS2]

Still working on my 1/55 Gakken Legioss. Masking tapes were used for the canopy and decals .

 

Edited October 21 by F18LEGIOSS2

[pengbuzz]

Thanks everyone!! Yeah; nice to have that one finally done!

Meanwhile: I came across this one recently at a flea market dirt cheap:

 

May build it or trade it; don't know.

[Thom]

You find some cool things at your flea market @pengbuzz

[MechTech]

@pengbuzz That looks awesome! It almost sounds like the real thing too😁 Nice recovery and the rebuild is MUCH more reliable than stock - I'm sure!

Nice score at the market too!

@Goodman Models Thanks! Are you going to weather it at all (minor of course).

@F18LEGIOSS2 Great restoration! Those old toys deserve the love😉 - MT

[Big s]

18 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Thanks everyone!! Yeah; nice to have that one finally done!

Meanwhile: I came across this one recently at a flea market dirt cheap:

 

May build it or trade it; don't know.

The only Dorvack kits I’ve built were the odd little armor suit kits. I actually had fun with them. They remind me of Ma. K stuff a bit

[pengbuzz]

On 10/22/2024 at 5:10 PM, Big s said:

The only Dorvack kits I’ve built were the odd little armor suit kits. I actually had fun with them. They remind me of Ma. K stuff a bit

Yeah...well, this kit I started building last night, and just as I was putting the shoulder canon on, the entire kit shattered!!!! O.O O.O O.O

At least it wasn't something I spent a ton of money on...

[Big s]

3 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Yeah...well, this kit I started building last night, and just as I was putting the shoulder canon on, the entire kit shattered!!!! O.O O.O O.O

At least it wasn't something I spent a ton of money on...

That sounds scary. Some of those old kits had some questionable parts, then when you age it about 40 years it’s adding more brittleness to the mix.

[pengbuzz]

On 10/25/2024 at 4:52 PM, Big s said:

That sounds scary. Some of those old kits had some questionable parts, then when you age it about 40 years it’s adding more brittleness to the mix.

Pretty much.

That said, finally finished my Tricorder:

Now I have pretty much the Movie version of the Exploration Set:

 

Which reminds me... I should put together my own version of that box.

Oh wait...

I did:

*Wonders how long it will take Round2 to issue their own version after I just posted mine*

Seriously though folks: thanks for watching!!

Edited October 27 by pengbuzz

[Thom]

That's a great looking set there @pengbuzz!