Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[Chas]

Oooo! Spiffy looking. Congrats.

[derex3592]

1 hour ago, Chas said:

Oooo! Spiffy looking. Congrats.

Thanks!

[MechTech]

@electric indigo Miami Blassty! The Crocket and Tubs mecha!😅 There's a flashback!

@Papa Rat @Thom The BEST CA accelerator, gap filler, or for building up areas with CA is plain ole baking soda (like Arm and Hammer). It's non-toxic and gives body to the area you build it up in. MUCH cheaper too!

@derex3592 How did you get stuck with the litter box!?!😁 That's going to be a sweet bench area!

Made some progress on the Dougram kit. The switch for the main gun (two position - up and down) is much smaller than the original switch that came with the "missile switch" assembly. So I had to make a spacer for the hole and a new cover to go over the top.

I've have the guts of an "electronic sparkler" sitting around. Originally I bought it for the fiber optics that came out of it. Now the rest of the guts are going to make the light flash and give it a little pulsating white noise. Better than just a light. Radio Shack (which has so many stores closing down - including the one by me😕) had these cool pink LEDs. More anime realistic and not plain ole white or red.

Looking for a good location to install everything, the gun itself seemed good. So I milled out the vents for detail and the speakers to vent through. I took coffee filter screen and cut some pieces to fit into the slotted areas.

And everything neatly installed.

1. The PC board was shortened and re-soldered with new wire runs.

2. A recycled laptop speaker was used instead of the cheap stock unit (and sounds better).

3. The PC board was glued to the speaker to keep it all a small package.

4. The ABS speaker was glued to the styrene bits by using acetone on the ABS and Tamiya cement on the styrene. Both joints were well soaked and put together. You can weld unlike plastics together - sometimes.

And the whole thing put together.

It looks and sounds pretty cool now! Thanks for checking in! - MT

[Papa Rat]

@MechTech”The BEST CA accelerator, gap filler, or for building up areas with CA is plain ole baking soda (like Arm and Hammer). It's non-toxic and gives body to the area you build it up in. MUCH cheaper too!”

Wow! I will give that a go next time I fill some gaps. Thanks so much for the insider tip. 👍

[SteveTheFish]

I could've sworn I already posted this on here, but I guess not. I'm nearly done with my modified Imai 1:100 Armored VF-1J.  It's altered with custom ball joints, better hands, and aftermarket decals. Actually, the only decal I used from the original decal sheet (which was pretty worn, ugly, and barely usable) is that flame/torch thingy on its waist. Uncannily, several spare decals from the 1:72 Hasegawa kit fit perfectly on this 1:100 kit. the standard UN Spacy roundel I used for the wing on the back came from a sheet of basic Macross decals from China on eBay. Other warning labels and such came from HiQParts generic aftermarket decals. I used the same leftover mixed paints from the 1:72 Hasegawa one, but made this one Millia's red Valk instead. 

Yes, I know that Nichmo made a hypothetical Millia's Armored Valk in 1:200 scale back in the day, but I don't prefer that scheme because I figure that the armor parts would all have the same, uniform paint scheme across all the Valks. 

[nightmareB4macross]

1/55 project is still alive.

[SteveTheFish]

I worked a lot on my Enterprise E kit last night, laying down more decals. The topside decals went down more easily because the surface doesn't have deep concave sections. I've cut out the red and blue warp nacelle parts of the decals to lay them down without interfering with the blue fluorescent paint. I got to the point where I had to stop. Due to the nature of having to handle the kit, I wouldn't want to run the risk of handling it with wet decals lest they come off on my hands, right? I just did one side of one nacelle so far. My plan to just cut out the red and blue parts from the decals worked though, so I'm pleased with that. Oh, and there's one big U-shaped decal that goes along the front. I did not have confidence that it would survive, so I cut it essentially in half (in a blank part of the aztec pattern) and put it down in two sections. 

[Thom]

@nightmareB4macross Those are some really marked improvements over the stock. Wow. I'd say the original one is looking jealous.

@SteveTheFish Good looking work with the decals. Where are the eyes going..?

[Papa Rat]

@nightmareB4macross

Oh yeah! Love seeing the updates. 

[pengbuzz]

9 hours ago, SteveTheFish said:

I worked a lot on my Enterprise E kit last night, laying down more decals. The topside decals went down more easily because the surface doesn't have deep concave sections. I've cut out the red and blue warp nacelle parts of the decals to lay them down without interfering with the blue fluorescent paint. I got to the point where I had to stop. Due to the nature of having to handle the kit, I wouldn't want to run the risk of handling it with wet decals lest they come off on my hands, right? I just did one side of one nacelle so far. My plan to just cut out the red and blue parts from the decals worked though, so I'm pleased with that. Oh, and there's one big U-shaped decal that goes along the front. I did not have confidence that it would survive, so I cut it essentially in half (in a blank part of the aztec pattern) and put it down in two sections. 

Nice work on yours! Looks really good there, and I see no bubbles or misaligned decals!

(That reminds me: I have my own 1/1400 E-E (thrift store model rescue!) I have to obtain wallpaper decals for.)

[SteveTheFish]

17 hours ago, Thom said:

@nightmareB4macross Those are some really marked improvements over the stock. Wow. I'd say the original one is looking jealous.

@SteveTheFish Good looking work with the decals. Where are the eyes going..?

The eye decals are leftover for the Hasegawa Eggplane Girl resin kit I'm also working on. You can see the face in the lower left-hand corner of the photo. Fortunately, not only do they give you a choice of eyes, but they also provide several in case you screw it up.

14 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Nice work on yours! Looks really good there, and I see no bubbles or misaligned decals!

(That reminds me: I have my own 1/1400 E-E (thrift store model rescue!) I have to obtain wallpaper decals for.)

I have the 1400 Enterprise E myself, in a First Contact box. I just recently bought aztec decals for it from HDA Modelworx.

[MechTech]

@SteveTheFish Your armored 1J looks good in that scheme! I think it's more accurate. In reality, stuff like drop-tanks and gunpods are for the fleet, not an individual. I think armored add-ons would be the same - especially with how expensive something like that would be. The Enterprise is looking good!

@nightmareB4macross "This is my evil twin brother. He's also more ugly than me!"🤣 Did I miss something, are those printed hands and fingers? - MT

[nightmareB4macross]

53 minutes ago, MechTech said:

@SteveTheFish Your armored 1J looks good in that scheme! I think it's more accurate. In reality, stuff like drop-tanks and gunpods are for the fleet, not an individual. I think armored add-ons would be the same - especially with how expensive something like that would be. The Enterprise is looking good!

@nightmareB4macross "This is my evil twin brother. He's also more ugly than me!"🤣 Did I miss something, are those printed hands and fingers? - MT

Reshaping 3P MP hands. The material is really strong and works well with this scale.

[Papa Rat]

The Wave SR3 Engage is coming along. I had to strip a few pieces last night which I had mistakenly painted the wrong color “frame vs armor” so yeah that happened…otherwise it’s been a fun one. Lots of opportunities to play with color, transparency, and sparkly layers. There are quite a few areas where masking for small color panels was a bit of a skill check for me but great learning experience. I think they came out ok. 
I’m digging the strong  L-Gaim vibes. ♥️

Edited Thursday at 02:20 PM by Papa Rat

[electric indigo]

Gerbera

[Big s]

5 hours ago, electric indigo said:

Gerbera

Is that the re 1/100 version of the baby food gundam?

 I always wanted Bandai to do an hg kit of it.

[SteveTheFish]

16 hours ago, MechTech said:

@SteveTheFish Your armored 1J looks good in that scheme! I think it's more accurate. In reality, stuff like drop-tanks and gunpods are for the fleet, not an individual. I think armored add-ons would be the same - especially with how expensive something like that would be. The Enterprise is looking good!

Thanks! That's exactly my thoughts on the armored parts. I've been building this Imai Armored Valk alongside the new Hasegawa one, and I had plenty of leftover paint I'd mixed for the armored parts on the Hasegawa one to use on this smaller kit. When I'm done, I'll take a picture of them side-by-side.

Edited Friday at 03:54 AM by SteveTheFish

[SteveTheFish]

Hey, I noticed that the contents of one of my Citadel shading bottles is getting a bit too thick. What should I thin it down with before it tries up? IPA? Water?

[Big s]

2 hours ago, SteveTheFish said:

Hey, I noticed that the contents of one of my Citadel shading bottles is getting a bit too thick. What should I thin it down with before it tries up? IPA? Water?

Most citadel can be thinned with water or alcohol, but if it’s their contrast shading stuff, they do have a contrast medium that also has a retarder if I’m not mistaken 

[Papa Rat]

Finished this FSS freak last night. I am seeing improvement in my builds, but there are always lots of places to improve.
I have an old ARII 1/100 Fighter VF-1D coming in the mail. That will be my next build and first aircraft model. Super excited to build that trainer. 
 

 

Edited 17 hours ago by Papa Rat

[nightmareB4macross]

@Papa Rat that FFS kit came out great!!

Still need to work on the shoulders, hand slider, and the other hand for improved articulation.

Little bit little it keeps getting there.

[Papa Rat]

25 minutes ago, nightmareB4macross said:

@Papa Rat that FFS kit came out great!!

Still need to work on the shoulders, hand slider, and the other hand for improved articulation.

Little bit little it keeps getting there.

👍 looking good

[Chas]

@nightmareB4macross so excited to see the updates to this build!

Don't  know if you mentioned it earlier but what are you using for filler on this build?

Is it just bondo or a more exotic polyester putty or some other material?

[Big s]

6 hours ago, Papa Rat said:

Finished this FSS freak last night. I am seeing improvement in my builds, but there are always lots of places to improve.
I have an old ARII 1/100 Fighter VF-1D coming in the mail. That will be my next build and first aircraft model. Super excited to build that trainer. 
 

 

Looks great, good luck on the 1D, I don’t remember them being too difficult in fighter.

[Papa Rat]

13 minutes ago, Big s said:

Looks great, good luck on the 1D, I don’t remember them being too difficult in fighter.

Thanks. The seller had a photo of the runners and it looked very simple. Hope I have enough putty seeing it’s an old kit. 🤣

[nightmareB4macross]

1 hour ago, Chas said:

@nightmareB4macross so excited to see the updates to this build!

Don't  know if you mentioned it earlier but what are you using for filler on this build?

Is it just bondo or a more exotic polyester putty or some other material?

Thanks.

I use two:

1. Tamiya Putty Basic Type for fine filling fine lines and scratches.

2. Plastruct Weld with ABS and Styrene scrap all turned into filler and strengthening bonds. Just be careful with this as it does take a day or three to cure depending on how much you apply. But once it on, it stays on. 

[nightmareB4macross]

I should add, it’s best to keep your empty jars to make goop for any project or repair.

- Left PW with chopped up feet parts from 1/55

- Center PW 

- Right PW with chopped up bits of ABS and Styrene. This is a good blend that also adheres to metal.

FYI. The hand in this pic has it on the back to increase its girth. Once it dries I sand it to shape and ready for prime and paint.

 

[Thom]

Not dawdling, still working. Starting to get some paint into the 'pit areas, and other fun spots.