Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[NZEOD]

Liking that weathering!

[Thom]

Nice VF-1D and carrier scene, and that battlepod is killer!

[edstuff]

Sexy

[arbit]

I had a green stunt bike, a Green supercharged Accord and half my work DPMs used to be Green... weird.

So many green things...

I would watch this Green Lantern movie.

You need a green valk I think.

And by the way, DO NOT pick a bar fight with that guy.

Edited November 8, 2016 by arbit

[NZEOD]

haha working on one.

[mickyg]

Have had a number of things "on the bench" lately but mostly non-Macross. Been working on some home theatre speakers mostly.

But last night, finally had a chance to start working on some Macross stuff and pulled my VF-25G Super Packs out of the closet. Given how outrageously expensive Alto's Super pack is on the second hand market, I decided to modify my second set of Michael parts to suit.

The plan is to strip the blue and white paint, where necessary, change the numbers from 003 to 007, and repaint the red, black, white scheme.

I discovered by accident recently, that good old Gundam Marker eraser will strip the stock Bandai paint quite easily. I think this is mostly alcohol in these pens but there may be other solvents as well. Either way, it does the job very nicely. And note to customizers out there, don't use the eraser pen to clean up any Gundam marker mistakes, unless it's over plain plastic. You'll end up with a nasty surprise.

Here are a few pics of the process (apologies for the horrendous white balance. I couldn't fully correct it without rendering the blue as a horrible gray instead):

These are the parts I'll be modifying (not pictured are the leg armor with the 003 to be removed)

First swipe with the gundam marker remover

The marker remover

Working on the blue parts

And a group shot, post paint removal (along with the cotton swabs I used to get it all done). I switched to Gunze lacquer thinner for a few of the more stubborn areas. This worked a little bit faster but if all you've got is Gundam eraser, the added hotness of the lacquer wasn't really that big of a difference.

Some observations on the process so far:

• Anywhere there's blue paint, it's undercoated with white first
• This makes paint removal messy, with a cloudy slurry leaking into the panel lines that you really have to be careful about
• The paint apps are messy from the factory, but not everywhere. Those hip covers are particularly bad and I'll be happy to make them a lot neater during my repaint.
• There's no need to completely remove the white paint in some places. I'll have to undercoat the red anyway so I have left it in some places. Hopefully it adds to the look of weathering.
• The shoulder missile mounts are molded in blue. This will have to be painted white. I hate painting white, especially over a dark blue.
• I see no need to completely remove the blue from the shoulder missile covers. I plan to mask over the white triangle and other white mark to preserve them, then paint a white undercoat, followed by the red. The paint will be thick as a result but hopefully not too noticeable.

The replacement 007 markings will come from either the Bandai transformable kit or the Hasegawa Super Messiah kit. The size difference between 1/72 and 1/60 is negligible.

Edited November 8, 2016 by mickyg

[derex3592]

Slowly sanding and priming the rest of the SDF-1 kit... slowly but surely so I don't screw up any other parts. I hate this part.. doesn't ever feel like I'm making progress on seam lines on these old kits.

[chyll2]

@mickyg

I actually did the same but ended up totally repainting everything to a personal white Super scheme for Alto. I also used the spare 007 markings from the Hasegawa kit since I built mine for Ozma. The size difference is really negligible. Now, if we can only do the same for the yf-29 supers

[mickyg]

That would be a huge amount of work for the supers! Actually, I suppose if you start from a neutral one, it wouldn't be so bad...

[NZEOD]

Working on a mad side project for a mini diorama using a GiMIX Gerwalk...the basics should be down and dry by tomorrow assuming I don't melt it all in the oven and I'll post up a pic OR it will be a total flop and I'll burn it

Edited November 11, 2016 by NZEOD

[Nyankodevice]

painted the yamato vf-1d ensamble kit

Very Nice paint job, and weathering.

[arbit]

Working on a mad side project for a mini diorama using a GiMIX Gerwalk...the basics sould be down and dry by tomorrow assuming I don't melt it all in the oven and I'll post up a pic OR it will be a total flop and I'll burn it

Show us. At least your pain will provide us some laughs.

[NZEOD]

Ok then.... I started this last night after putting up the VF-1J Box art as my work desktop background. This is the Mk1 to see if it would even work. Next comes a more refined Mk2 version, then hopefully I can do the final version on a bigger base with an old guy in a dingy fishing and unaware of whats about to toss him out of his boat!

Obvious faults I've glossed over, the legs are too close together, the arms are in a crap position and its on too much of a lean forward, there should be a depressed section of smooth water under each foot from the down draft the effects things between the two rooster tails but as I design case study... I think it worked.

Edited November 11, 2016 by NZEOD

[Big s]

I think if you do a little reposing it will look perfect. Nice work on that display.

[NZEOD]

thats not the one thats going on it. I'm using brownies on these displays so that ones just a place holder and the rod isnt glued in. My finger is holding it, sort of, underneath

[NZEOD]

[derex3592]

Dude....that's awesome!!!

[Mechleader]

Great Job!!!!

[coronadlux]

Very cool. I'm sure with the noise the fighter makes, the fishing boat guys would probably taking dives into the water by then. Haha

[arbit]

Great work on your new diorama skills. Fantastic. No idea how its done though...

[spanner]

that is crazy good!! nice work!

I'd love to have something like this for one of my 1/60 VF-1!

[NZEOD]

Dude....that's awesome!!!

Thanks, I'm thinking having one carving round a rock outcrop in the middle could be a cool version, or two crossing paths like a VF31 and a Draken

Very cool. I'm sure with the noise the fighter makes, the fishing boat guys would probably taking dives into the water by then. Haha

I was working on a low and fast and perhaps close to Mach1 theory. Ive been in situations where I was in field as air support came in low and fast and you really didn't hear them until they roared over head, dumped their ordnance and boosted for the horizon.

Great work on your new diorama skills. Fantastic. No idea how its done though...

Sheet of acrylic, pasted over roughly with this stuff called Mod Podge,

then layers of Artists Gloss Gel Medium.

The waves are made from plastic sheet, could be old coke bottles or anything similar, I used a sheet of A4 laminate I fired through a laminator to make it harder, then just cut the wave to shape and used a hair dryer to curve it.

Stuck it on with a ton of 3D Heavy Gloss Gel Medium,

fired it back in the oven for 20mins or so on 60C, then painted layers of Gloss Medium and the Heavy medium all over the place to build the wake and wave.

Kept heating it in the oven to speed the drying.

Then painted the underside in Ultramarine Blue, Heavily and messily so it would look less uniform from the other side.

Then dry brushed white over the tops of waves and in the wake.

Then 4 HEAVY, like flooded heavy, coats of Future.

All done in 24hrs

that is crazy good!! nice work!

I'd love to have something like this for one of my 1/60 VF-1!

Do you want one? I could make you one and send it over to OZ

Edited November 11, 2016 by NZEOD

[spanner]

All done in 24hrs

Do you want one? I could make you one and send it over to OZ

24hours! impressive skills you have!

how much would you want for it!?

[NZEOD]

pm me

I'd need to know the width apart of the feet that you want in your pose for the waves and how big you want the base to be. I'm guessing this style would work for a Low and fast Fighter mode too.

Also, let me know if you want anything else in the plate, like boats, birds, sealife (shark fins etc) rocks and so on and if its just one gerwalk or a squad or a fight between 2.

I'll practice a bit more before I'd do your one to refine the wave form so it would be a week or two max

Edited November 11, 2016 by NZEOD

[spanner]

ok will do! I'll take some measurements and decide which style I want.

[arbit]

pm me

I'd need to know the width apart of the feet that you want in your pose for the waves and how big you want the base to be. I'm guessing this style would work for a Low and fast Fighter mode too.

Also, let me know if you want anything else in the plate, like boats, birds, sealife (shark fins etc) rocks and so on and if its just one gerwalk or a squad or a fight between 2.

I'll practice a bit more before I'd do your one to refine the wave form so it would be a week or two max

Can you dremel into the surface after its done, for adding a stand for the valk, or will it crack?

[NZEOD]

nope, you can drill it just fine. I drilled this one after it was done with a big assed 240v drill.

[NZEOD]

oh no... just had another 2 mad ideas - see why my side project is called AsylumArt - what about a desert scene with sand billowing up in the fighters wake! and mayne a camel bolting or some date palms having the fronds ripped off.

AND....

what about a fighter cranked over hard with a bunch of flares (SMD LEDs) jetting out from under it? Or an ES11D seeing as I have a couple.

Edited November 12, 2016 by NZEOD

[Thom]

That looks fantastic! Nice job.

Edited November 12, 2016 by Thom

[mickyg]

Your background will be fantastic for replacing with whatever you want later. Built-in green screen!

[arbit]

Your background will be fantastic for replacing with whatever you want later. Built-in green screen!

lol

[Benson13]

Been away for a loooong while, went to the Con last month and totally reinvigorated my interest in Macross so here's what I'm working on.

[slide]

Been away for a loooong while, went to the Con last month and totally reinvigorated my interest in Macross so here's what I'm working on.

what kit is that?

[Benson13]

That's the Scale Solutions Space Cucumber (Zen-Nup-Ver).

[Hervé]

Hello

few pics of my 1/48 Mistel 1... Building is completed, painting job in progress :

Edited November 12, 2016 by Hervé