Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[Thom]

@nightmareB4macross That VF-Trainer is so cool!

@SteveTheFish Those old kits just keep giving and giving. And the colors on that Klingon battlecruiser are looking great.

 

[Urashiman]

13 hours ago, SteveTheFish said:

Is this the one you are designing yourself? That looks incredible.

OK, here you go!

 

Yep, that’s the one.

[Papa Rat]

On 3/14/2025 at 8:21 PM, SteveTheFish said:

Well, lookie there. Once again, an old Imai kit just happens to accommodate an LED perfectly. The flood lights on the knees don't have holes for LEDs, but I can take care of that.

 

So nice. I can’t wait to see this bad boy all built up. 

Edited March 16 by Papa Rat

[electric indigo]

On 3/15/2025 at 9:15 AM, SteveTheFish said:

OK, here you go!

Thank you! It's an awesome kit, hope you'll finish it.

[SteveTheFish]

On Sunday afternoon I laid down the decal patterns on the Enterprise E. The decals slide off after only soaking them for a few seconds, which is nice. However they do not like to slide around and might crack if I am not careful! I took my chances and did not use Micro Decal Bonder because I didn't want them to be too thick. You've just gotta make sure you have them lined up properly. The trickiest were the upper part of the sides of the engineering hull, since they wrap around to cover the top of the back, all the way to the shuttle bay in the very back. Fortunately they didn't rip in the process!

I'm having to use Tamiya Mark Fit Super Strong though, since they do not like to conform over concave areas. Oh, and look at the forward tips of the nacelle undersides. They didn't properly taper the decals to fit the surface, so I have to use decal scissors to try to cut them to fit properly. AMT didn't do their math right. I am used to the precision of Japanese models.

[Papa Rat]

@SteveTheFishLooking good. Decals are my nightmare lately. 

Edited March 18 by Papa Rat

[Papa Rat]

Having fun with this Plamax kit. There are some really slick assemblies eliminating lots of seams. Masking time in an effort to avoid some color correcting decals. 

[Big s]

3 hours ago, Papa Rat said:

Having fun with this Plamax kit. There are some really slick assemblies eliminating lots of seams. Masking time in an effort to avoid some color correcting decals. 

They really did a great job hiding the seams, they’re there in a few spots, but in completed builds online, you really really have to look close to see them

[MechTech]

Sorry guys, it's been a while! Too long! I literally ran out of "likes" for all the cool builds you guys are doing! Sorry, I'm also short on time to post comments, so I'm squeezing this in on a break. You guys have been building some AWESOME stuff!!!

In trying to spend more time with my wife (so she's not a "hobby widow"), I'm working on Gundam kits in the living room while sitting with her. They take no special tools or stinky glue work just to knock out for fun. The serious scratch building work is taking longer - like weekends only now, so progress has been slow on this build.

Speaking of my wife, while at Homegoods with her, I found these cool looking, swirl-blue, water-looking plates. They'll be AWESOME to make under water or over-head water back-drops for your Z-goks or other aquatic mecha and subs. They are styrene so are easily cut, glued or heated up to shape. Just sharing!

 

The Dougram rotary cannon is FINALLY done!!!

1. I took the re-milled Tamiya 1/35 Sherman shells and clear coated them with clear nail polish, then painted the tips red with a fine Sharpie marker. The red isn't canon (ha ha, get it), but stands out in this sci-fi build.

The day of and after our cat Shadow was diagnosed with cancer, I was building and painting this cannon. So I decided to dedicate it to his memory with a decal and combining all those tiny identifier letters at the bottom of decal sheets to make his name. Plus, "the Shadow Cannon" sounds kinda cool!

The cat decal splintered like crazy! But I fixed it and painted parts. Then in went the ammo with Evergreen clear canopy glue (white glue) to lock them all in snug.

The cannon body and site parts got painted and decals as well too.

To go that extra mile, I lathed some short 1cm tubes to fit snug into the cannon barrels and rammed a Dremmel cutter down the center with the lathe to "rifle" them. I added a black wash to help the grooves stand out. This photo is with an old binocular lens to magnify one of the barrels. It took SEVERAL photos to get this visible, mostly in-focus one.

Then all assembled and weathered with Tamiya Panel Liner, paints, Tamiya dusts and a regular Prismacolor "Silver" colored pencil to "chip" it.

And cycling through a couple of times (slowed down for the GIF creation)... It does rotate clockwise from our view. Again, the GIF goofs some videos up!

Thanks for your support and checking in everyone! - MT

[Papa Rat]

@MechTech

This is amazing! Sooooo cool.
What a great dedication for Shadow. 

[Big s]

26 minutes ago, MechTech said:

Speaking of my wife, while at Homegoods with her, I found these cool looking, swirl-blue, water-looking plates. They'll be AWESOME to make under water or over-head water back-drops for your Z-goks or other aquatic mecha and subs. They are styrene so are easily cut, glued or heated up to shape. Just sharing!

 

 

That’s actually a cool idea, might try that with a set I was working on. Got a few hg amphibious kits almost ready for paint, A Z’Gok, Hygog, and a Z’Gok E type. That Might add a simple flair to them rather than just in a plain shelf

[pengbuzz]

Won't be posting for a bit; just had a lower bicuspid/ premolar pulled with an abscess underneath it. "In pain" is a mild description; more like "the gates of hell just spewed lava into my jaw and side of skull" .

 

Needless to say, modelling isn't on my "to-do" list at the moment. 😭

[arbit]

6 hours ago, MechTech said:

Sorry guys, it's been a while! Too long! I literally ran out of "likes" for all the cool builds you guys are doing! Sorry, I'm also short on time to post comments, so I'm squeezing this in on a break. You guys have been building some AWESOME stuff!!!

In trying to spend more time with my wife (so she's not a "hobby widow"), I'm working on Gundam kits in the living room while sitting with her. They take no special tools or stinky glue work just to knock out for fun. The serious scratch building work is taking longer - like weekends only now, so progress has been slow on this build.

Speaking of my wife, while at Homegoods with her, I found these cool looking, swirl-blue, water-looking plates. They'll be AWESOME to make under water or over-head water back-drops for your Z-goks or other aquatic mecha and subs. They are styrene so are easily cut, glued or heated up to shape. Just sharing!

 

The Dougram rotary cannon is FINALLY done!!!

1. I took the re-milled Tamiya 1/35 Sherman shells and clear coated them with clear nail polish, then painted the tips red with a fine Sharpie marker. The red isn't canon (ha ha, get it), but stands out in this sci-fi build.

The day of and after our cat Shadow was diagnosed with cancer, I was building and painting this cannon. So I decided to dedicate it to his memory with a decal and combining all those tiny identifier letters at the bottom of decal sheets to make his name. Plus, "the Shadow Cannon" sounds kinda cool!

The cat decal splintered like crazy! But I fixed it and painted parts. Then in went the ammo with Evergreen clear canopy glue (white glue) to lock them all in snug.

The cannon body and site parts got painted and decals as well too.

To go that extra mile, I lathed some short 1cm tubes to fit snug into the cannon barrels and rammed a Dremmel cutter down the center with the lathe to "rifle" them. I added a black wash to help the grooves stand out. This photo is with an old binocular lens to magnify one of the barrels. It took SEVERAL photos to get this visible, mostly in-focus one.

Then all assembled and weathered with Tamiya Panel Liner, paints, Tamiya dusts and a regular Prismacolor "Silver" colored pencil to "chip" it.

And cycling through a couple of times (slowed down for the GIF creation)... It does rotate clockwise from our view. Again, the GIF goofs some videos up!

Thanks for your support and checking in everyone! - MT

Unbelievable clean detail work.

Can we see it all in your hands or next to a cola can to get a sense for the scale of this beauty?

[Big s]

8 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Won't be posting for a bit; just had a lower bicuspid/ premolar pulled with an abscess underneath it. "In pain" is a mild description; more like "the gates of hell just spewed lava into my jaw and side of skull" .

 

Needless to say, modelling isn't on my "to-do" list at the moment. 😭

That sounds horrifying. Hope the pain at least subsides soon and everything gets back to normal 

[Papa Rat]

Such a fun one. Felt like building an action figure more than a model kit. Next step is to weather it up. It will help me hide some areas that came out rough. Hahahaha.

[Big s]

1 hour ago, Papa Rat said:

Such a fun one. Felt like building an action figure more than a model kit. Next step is to weather it up. It will help me hide some areas that came out rough. Hahahaha.

Lookin good so far

[Papa Rat]

Thanks. I’m not going super dirty like those old box art pics but it needs a little something something. 

[Big s]

24 minutes ago, Papa Rat said:

Thanks. I’m not going super dirty like those old box art pics but it needs a little something something. 

Yeah, he was rolling around quite a bit in that intro, there’s no way it would be clean

[Cheese3]

Next on the agenda! 

[Thom]

@Cheese3 Now that looks like a fun agenda!

[SteveTheFish]

On 3/21/2025 at 5:53 AM, Cheese3 said:

Next on the agenda!

The Scout Regult is pretty nice. The ones with missle pods have oversized missle pods, making them look awkward. The scout though is nice. Here's mine. I filed off some detail and replaced them with Wave's H-Eyes lens pieces.

https://stevethefishdotnet.tumblr.com/post/768755550031921152/arii-1100-macross-regult-scout-type-battlepod

[Papa Rat]

20 hours ago, SteveTheFish said:

The Scout Regult is pretty nice. The ones with missle pods have oversized missle pods, making them look awkward. The scout though is nice. Here's mine. I filed off some detail and replaced them with Wave's H-Eyes lens pieces.

https://stevethefishdotnet.tumblr.com/post/768755550031921152/arii-1100-macross-regult-scout-type-battlepod

That looks great!

 

I decided to try my hand at a Grober Hund. I want to see what all the fuss is about. Haha

[Big s]

4 hours ago, Papa Rat said:

That looks great!

 

I decided to try my hand at a Grober Hund. I want to see what all the fuss is about. Haha

I have one that’s been in my stash for a few years. I still tell myself I’ll build it someday 

[Papa Rat]

7 hours ago, Big s said:

I have one that’s been in my stash for a few years. I still tell myself I’ll build it someday 

When you do get to it be ready for every piece having a seam right down the center. Besides that it’s a very straightforward build so far.

I haven’t painted any form of camouflage yet and look forward to it. I may also try out that salt technique for chipping. I also haven’t sprayed acrylic before so that will be fun too. 

Edited yesterday at 01:39 PM by Papa Rat

[Big s]

2 minutes ago, Papa Rat said:

When you do get to it be ready for every piece having a seam right down the center. Besides that it’s a very straightforward build so far.

I think that’s why I keep putting it off. Everything is split in half on that thing

[MechTech]

Sorry guys, been too busy to get on line!

Thank you for all the compliments and likes!

@arbit I'll have to pose it with a can or something. I'm working on parts for the weapons backpack now.

@Big s There are those 30 minute mission bases, but they are narrow and kinda short for a lot of mecha. I saw these and the color is great and being styrene is a bonus!

@Papa Rat That 1J came out great! I didn'y have that on my list, but may rethink that!

@Cheese3 Make that old pod look good!😉 The seams on it are tough. - MT