Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[505thAirborne]

Making some progress here. I have some Tamiya paints on the way and eventually I'll get some Mr. Finish top coat for these. Still deciding weather to go Flat or Matte on these. 

Before I order it, is Mr. Finish safe for decals? 

 

[arbit]

42 minutes ago, 505thAirborne said:

Making some progress here. I have some Tamiya paints on the way and eventually I'll get some Mr. Finish top coat for these. Still deciding weather to go Flat or Matte on these. 

Before I order it, is Mr. Finish safe for decals? 

Is that a Kairos battroid you made?

Why are you going to use the finish? You plan to polish it? Sounds risky over decals.

Better wait for the pros to reply first. 

[505thAirborne]

Hey arbit, that is indeed a 31A Kairos Battroid. Since I bought six 31A Hasegawa kits, I used some of the parts on my old Bandai kit. 

If I do apply any Top coat, it certainly won't be on those clear parts... that would be a bad thing. 

[derex3592]

SIX???!!!!

[arbit]

5 minutes ago, 505thAirborne said:

Hey arbit, that is indeed a 31A Kairos Battroid. Since I bought six 31A Hasegawa kits, I used some of the parts on my old Bandai kit. 

Good job, I doubt we will ever see an official Kairos battroid.

What parts did you bring over?

[505thAirborne]

I used the main wings, stabilizers, head and those little parts around the neck (not sure what their called but they are specific to the 31A. 

I was hoping Hasegawa would just do a straight Battroid kit like the VF-0A/S but that seems very unlikely... which is a shame, I'd have bought some!  

[arbit]

6 minutes ago, 505thAirborne said:

I used the main wings, stabilizers, head and those little parts around the neck (not sure what their called but they are specific to the 31A. 

I was hoping Hasegawa would just do a straight Battroid kit like the VF-0A/S but that seems very unlikely... which is a shame, I'd have bought some!  

So you did bring the wings. Good thinking. We need to see them. More pics!

[505thAirborne]

1 hour ago, derex3592 said:

SIX???!!!!

Yeah, I got a little carried away there!  

[505thAirborne]

1 hour ago, arbit said:

So you did bring the wings. Good thinking. We need to see them. More pics!

Once I get those attached I'll post some more pics, when the Tamiya paint gets in I can get the Gun Pod done too! 

[slide]

2 hours ago, derex3592 said:

SIX???!!!!

 

47 minutes ago, 505thAirborne said:

Yeah, I got a little carried away there!  

 

I thought I got a little carried away with 4! lol

[MechTech]

That looks good 505! Nice kit swapping.

I'm mostly done with the Native Dancer from Dougram. Just need to decal it and and paint it. I wanted to add a long antenna, so I used thin piano wire and then realized even with a spring to make it "springy," it could put someone's eye out! So I made a styrene flag No eyes poked out, but the drill bit skipping off the nearly paper thin edge got my thumb! - MT

[mickyg]

Poor guy'd get absolutely roasted if there's an emergency need to fire those rockets!

[CrossAir]

@MechTech: Nice little kit. In retrospect I think I was lucky that kits like this one weren't available to me when I was young. I would have spent even more of my pocket money on these. 

Concerning antennas I always heated up the styrene of the runners and pulled it out. I everything works out fine, the result is great. But mostly you need several runs to get a good result. And afterwards these antennas tend to break easily. On most of my 1/35 tanks which I stored away the antennas have gone . At least you're eyes are not in danger. But with the flag you're on the safe side 

[Xigfrid]

@MechTech I had the same concern for my kid when searching for a suitable wire to make an antenna, I finally went for a 1mm aluminum "weaved" cable, they are strong enough to keep the desired shape but they will ploy with any slight pressure. The total diameter cable can be as small as 0.3, and from a reasonable distance they look just like a plain wire.

just a picture how they look like, but probably steel would be still a bit too tough for your need, I recommend Aluminum ones.

Edited March 27, 2018 by Xigfrid

[CrossAir]

Just put on the last layer of clear coat and finished my first Frame Arms Robot and 1/100 scale mecha - the GOU-RAI. As the original paint scheme of olive drab was far to dark for me I went for a real light grey color. So I let myself be inspired by the color design of its upcoming counterpart form the Fram Arms Girl line (Frame Arms Girl Gourai by Jun Watanabe). Damn much color needed to cover the dark molds .

I really like the Gou-Rais' unique design with its retractable tank tracks and the back mounted big gun. Hm, concerning the gun, take a look at the last pictures. I think it could be a little bit bigger .

[Hiryu]

I've been on a roll lately with Hasegawa VF-31 kits. Here is my newly completed Delta-5 along with my current work in progress. I guess you can call it a Mirya inspired color scheme. 

[505thAirborne]

1 hour ago, Hiryu said:

I've been on a roll lately with Hasegawa VF-31 kits. Here is my newly completed Delta-5 along with my current work in progress. I guess you can call it a Mirya inspired color scheme. 

Nice! Liking that red 31A. 

[MechTech]

You're right MickyG! But of course in the series-they just chase down the mecha and fire away! No getting off to a safe distance to "light the fuze."

Thanks CrossAir! I've made a ton of antenna from styrene, and like you said, they break easily. I've even made them from softer materials like some of the leftover PC sprues, but those bend too or don't hold their shape well. You mecha looks great! My son and I considered getting one of those, but we're still not sure. Nice use of the GIANT canon!

Thanks Xigfrid! I may try that out. I have several types of steel for doing engineering stuff. I didn't know they made it in aluminum. I'll have to check some out.

Both those paint jobs look great Hiryu! The Mirya inspired one is classy! - MT

[GMK]

Thought I’d post my progress converting Tamiya’s display 1/16 M1A2 Abrams into an Australian M1A1 AIM SA:

https://imgur.com/gallery/0XQx5

[Lt. Z0mBe]

We're getting close on this one but it is taking a long time.

I had a lot of problems after laying down the preshading.  The first was I used some Createx Wicked Black airbrush paint for the preshading over a Mr. Surfacer primer.  I shot this unthinned at about 25 psi.  EVERY SINGLE PLACE on the model where Tamiya tape was used, the %$#@%$#@$ Wicked Black would lift away from the primer - taking the color coat too - when Tamiya tape was pulled up.  Yes, I know masking and used all the usual tricks for masking to prevent this kind of stuff but it didn't matter.  This left "steps" in the color coat I had to either polish out or "level" with Future.  I had no problems with subsequent re-preshading and color coats when I preshaded with Vallejo Model Color black thinned with Vallejo airbrush thinner and a bit of Future for strength.  The color scheme I went with was substantially simpler to cut down on masking (paranoia!) than what was used in the first attempt.

The other issue was I used Model Master Acryl Camouflage Gray for the light color.  I thinned with distilled water and strained it as usual.  I also added Future and Liquitex Slow Dri for toughness...and to try to mitigate the absolute worst airbrush experience I've ever had.  Basically, if I didn't clean the airbrush nozzle every 15 seconds (I had to count, lol), I would get "white boogers" shooting out on the build (Thinning with Acryl Thinner - yes, the correct formula - wouldn't let me airbrush for more than 10 seconds without boogers).    This happened at 12 psi up to 22 psi or so.  Again, this was strained paint, with Future and retarder.  Shooting through my Iwata HP-CR or my HP-CH didn't seem to make much of a difference.  So, I would have to paint, fix the boogers with cotton swabs or a micro chisel, paint the fixes, fix the mistakes from painting the fixes, and on and on, ad infinitum.

All of this got us here:

Comments and criticisms welcome.

Kenny

[MechTech]

I like it Kenny! Right now it has that underwater look of light patterns hitting it. That sucks about your experience. It may just be the rapid drying, I don't know. A friend told me to strain the paint with pant hose fabric. I haven't tried yet, but he says its the best thing prior to painting. Despite it all, it is coming along great! - MT

[505thAirborne]

One step closer! 

 

Edited March 30, 2018 by 505thAirborne

[arbit]

Sweet Kairos. Im not into the F1 colored valks, but I love that one.

[electric indigo]

Just finished that Big Bad Guy

More photos here

[CrossAir]

Gorgeous! I admit I was not a fan of this design but with that color shade it looks really awesome. You did a damn good job, congrats! 

[arbit]

4 hours ago, electric indigo said:

Just finished that Big Bad Guy

Faaaar better than the box art.

[arbit]

18 hours ago, 505thAirborne said:

One step closer! 

Lookin good. Try to tone down the panel lines.

How hard was it to swap the wings?

[505thAirborne]

6 hours ago, arbit said:

Lookin good. Try to tone down the panel lines.

How hard was it to swap the wings?

I agree, luckily the panel lines can be toned down they're a bit strong right now. 

As for the wings, pretty darn easy. This kit is now fixed in Battroid mode only so she'll never transform again . I just lined up the wings & stabilizers & glued them on. Once everything is all touched up and maybe some airbrush it'll look very cool! 

Though I need to add some weight to the legs, it's very back heavy. 

[arbit]

I've decided its time to quit Macross modeling and switch over to Transformers, because Jetfire is cooler.

[NZEOD]

you better be joking.

 

btw... the real jetfire is far less glamourous.

[arbit]

Google search tells me you have April Fools in New Zealand.

[Kelsain]

10 hours ago, arbit said:

I've decided its time to quit Macross modeling and switch over to Transformers, because Jetfire is cooler.

About 20% cooler.

Credit:

http://bar1scorpio.deviantart.com/art/MY-Little-Macross-262727717

[MechTech]

Your VF-31 is looking good 505!

Hammina hammina! Your Hamma Hamma looks great Electric Indigo! Great finish and colors too! It just goes to show you can never have enough engines.

You scared me Arbit! I thought you were sniffing glue or something. Plus there aren't many Transformers models anyhow

My daughter will love the Kelsain! Coolest Pony mod ever!

For those that "like it dirty," I completed the Dougram Bromry JRS Native Dancer with a little "mud." Modifications: added tiny screws and covers to hold the missile pods in place. The surface area to glue with was small and wouldn't hold up well under pressure. Created a new stick shift. The original was tiny. If I had a 1/72 scale skull, I could have used that for the shifter handle. The two holes on the roof were made larger to match drawings and artwork. Added reflective material for the mirrors. And of course the antenna and flag mentioned last week. The crew still needs painting.

There is a gaming store nearby so I tried the Games Workshop paints out. I used the brown wash and the darker tan color you see in the photos. Great paints and the lid has a special decanter on it to pick some up on your brush.

This was a fun kit all in all. I have this in the new 1/72 scale kits too so I'm not really done. The 1/48th Iron Foot / Hasty is next on my workbench / coffee table for construction. - MT

Edited April 1, 2018 by MechTech

[arbit]

3 hours ago, Kelsain said:

About 20% cooler.

Credit:

http://bar1scorpio.deviantart.com/art/MY-Little-Macross-262727717

MLP rocks. Cant mess with that. My girls would kill me.

[electric indigo]

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