Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[Salamander]

On 7/29/2018 at 3:26 AM, pengbuzz said:

Update:

The Dougram project just skidded to a permanent halt; while working on it, my hand slipped off one of the parts as i was test-fitting the pieces for modification and collided with the main body of the mode.

Upon impact, all the blue pieces disintegrated. Total Loss.

Thanks for tuning in folks, but with the amount of fragments, I think this one is out of my hands.

On that note: I'm taking a hiatus from MWF. Burned out, depressed and just hate life right now.

Be back in roughly 6 months (more or less)

 

Ah, the old blue plastic problem that haunts certain old toys and model kits. It's none of your fault, some plastics age really badly. Brown plastic can do the same, and you can also Google "gold plastic syndrome" (let's just say that some Transformers crumble to dust as if they are in the process of being eaten by TF: The Movie Unicron...).

[Urashiman]

12 hours ago, arbit said:

Wow, you nailed the classic scheme. What were your ratios for the gray and orange?

(I really need someone to teach me how to improve my painting. I get a grainy finish, and my gloss is useless...)

Thanks! Well ... I didn't really measure the ratio. I just put colors together and do it drop by drop until I have the right tone.

I was using the following Revell colors:

SM 374 - Light Grey

SM 378 - Grey

Glossy 30 - Orange

Glossy 04 - White

Additionally I used the following Humbrol Enamel Color

Matt 42 - Violett

[slide]

13 hours ago, arbit said:

Wow, you nailed the classic scheme. What were your ratios for the gray and orange?

(I really need someone to teach me how to improve my painting. I get a grainy finish, and my gloss is useless...)

Maybe this playlist can help a little?

[arbit]

5 hours ago, slide said:

Maybe this playlist can help a little?

I think I have seen those before.

But if you highly recommend it, I will go through them again.

(I've watched hundreds of painting tutorials... but the best advice, I get from you guys.)

[electric indigo]

If you get grainy surfaces, either your paint is too thick and you need to add more thinner, or you spray too far from the surface and the paint dries mid-air, so to speak. Try to get closer to the surface or get more output from your airbrush (I'd recommend the first, if you're not dealing with large, uniform surfaces like a car body).

[arbit]

6 minutes ago, electric indigo said:

If you get grainy surfaces, either your paint is too thick and you need to add more thinner, or you spray too far from the surface and the paint dries mid-air, so to speak. Try to get closer to the surface or get more output from your airbrush (I'd recommend the first, if you're not dealing with large, uniform surfaces like a car body).

True. I thin A LOT, so I think I am too far and I live in a hot desert climate.  And I've only been painting 2-3 years.

It doesnt frustrate me, I've sucked at painting since I was a kid. I just think its funny when I see guys with their first paint job and it's a hundred times better than mine!!

Edited August 1, 2018 by arbit

[Grayson72]

Don’t forget the third factor, air pressure. Too high air-pressure will also cause orange peel on your paint. Tweak all three, thinness, distance and air pressure to find the sweet spot. 

[arbit]

2 minutes ago, Grayson72 said:

Don’t forget the third factor, air pressure. Too high air-pressure will also cause orange peel on your paint. Tweak all three, thinness, distance and air pressure to find the sweet spot. 

Agree. I can paint gundams or small pieces okay sometimes, because you spin them on the paint stick and get good glossy coverage.

The problem is when airbrushing wide surfaces like hulls and fuselage.

I doubly suck when I'm glossing. I airbrush future and Super Clear (and Vallejo Varnish), and it doesnt build up, even if I spray 50 light coats, the enamel wash seeps right in. 

[electric indigo]

Another thing to consider for a good gloss finish is to move "forward", i.e. in the direction of the airflow, over the surface, so that the mist of paint will be pushed away from areas with fresh paint. Do this while spraying at an angle and not perpendicular to the surface.

It all sounds terribly complicated, but it will like driving a car after a while.

[wm cheng]

All great suggestions arbit, just don't get discouraged.  You just need a bit of experimentation to get the hang of it.  Future gloss coat spraying is different than regular painting, and I find different paints behave differently too (like spraying Tamiya Acrylics versus Alclad Lacquers). 

For a Future gloss coat I usually spray heavier than regular paint as un-thinned Future tends to be self-leveling, but you need to get enough on there for the liquid to self-level.  Glossiness can only look shiny if the surface is smooth, so a heavy coat of Future (not dripping or running) and letting it self-level will work better than lots of thin coats of future, because if you get a pebbly/orange peel texture between coats, that defeats the shinyness,  I also turn down the airbrush to 15-18psi and spray 6-8 inches away.

When painting, I usually up the air pressure to 18-20psi and spray from a little farther away 8-10 inches (unless I'm doing detail work then I get in real close at 4-6 inches, but turn down the PSI).  Regular paint is when its better to build up in thin layers.  Better to error on too thin of paints and build up in layers than one thick layer.  Thinner paints tend to level out better and has a longer drying time which is good for you, especially when its hot and you're in a dry climate.  It should be thinned to a milk consistency.

Good luck!

[wm cheng]

On 7/9/2018 at 10:37 AM, peter said:

Lol, I saw those clips in Hobby Japan years ago as well, just never bothered to order them or try to DIY them.  They helped a lot

 

Anyway, wrapped up the build, it was fun to get it together.  My kit looks like it just rolled off the assembly line though.  I did some panel lining, but it doesn't appear that obvious in the photos compared to in-person:

 

 

 

I actually lost a piece and though the kit came with a few spares, it did not come with a spare of the one I lost (rocket launcher behind the smokestack).  I was painting outside and when I walked away for a bit, the wind blew everything into my lawn.  I recovered everything except for that one piece.  I just ended up throwing an extra turret in it's place.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I probably should have used a less glossy wood finish

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure if the lighting was better outside, but I did my best to capture a few images:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, this kit was a pleasure to build.  The last kit I started was a Hasegawa 1/72 scale VF-1S Strike Valkyrie and I never got past the cockpit.  I should go back to it, but I remember it being a lot harder to work on than this kit.

 

Maybe I should just go back and slap it together and not really care about the results.  The problem is, it was 10 years ago and I'm staring to get middle-age eyes.  I'll probably need reading glasses or a big magnifying glass to work on it, lol!

 

Well, if it ends up too challenging, I may start the 2199 1/500 scale Yamato instead.  Since it's bigger than this kit, it might be even easier to work on

 

 

 

 

Hey Peter, it came out great!!!  I really enjoyed your photos, it even got me looking at my 1/350 Bandai Yamato again (ahh, someday!).  I totally get your middle-aged eyes comment, I can't work without my jewelers head magnifying glasses and a big magnifying glass on an arm now which sucks!

[Duymon]

I just finished the test-fit on the EVO GM Spartan Conversion kit. Will need throw everything in a bin with some dish soap before the priming begins.

[arbit]

Thanks for all your advice. I have saved the note for next practice session.

 

[arbit]

On 8/3/2018 at 12:13 PM, electric indigo said:

Another thing to consider for a good gloss finish is to move "forward", i.e. in the direction of the airflow, over the surface, so that the mist of paint will be pushed away from areas with fresh paint. Do this while spraying at an angle and not perpendicular to the surface.

It all sounds terribly complicated, but it will like driving a car after a while.

I need a video showing this application if anyone has seen a good one. The videos I've found on youtube are different approaches that havent worked for me.

[GMK]

Trying out a new 3D printer with a large-scale print of a Warhammer 40k Space Marine..

 

[MechTech]

The print looks pretty good. It doesn't look too badly biased either (the layered lines). - MT

[GMK]

Yep. Pretty happy with it. Just need some priming & sanding. 

[GMK]

Backpack done...

[GMK]

Printing continues apace...

 

[Tage]

On 8/3/2018 at 4:54 PM, Duymon said:

I just finished the test-fit on the EVO GM Spartan Conversion kit.

Looks good! do you know what colour scheme you're going to do it in yet?

[Sanity is Optional]

Decided to tackle one of the larger boxes in my backlog. Nothing that requires too much skill, but it's satisfying none the less.

Perfect Grade Astray Red Frame Kai.

No other plastic kits I have ever seen beat Bandai's Gundam kits for sheer mechanical intricacy and moving parts.

Edited August 14, 2018 by Sanity is Optional

[SuNDuK]

On 7/2/2018 at 6:37 AM, Kylwell said:

Industria Mechanica's production of Kallamity's Breigel.  Scratched a new gun, vents, smoke launchers. tanks, and right shoulder armor.

 

 

 

 

 

Fantastic looking! But why texst says "Cheese under pressure"?

And my under costruction:

Spoiler

\

 

Edited August 14, 2018 by SuNDuK

[Thom]

Great work and photography on that Valk!!

[GMK]

Print done, cleanup to come:

 

[GMK]

Done some surface prep:

 

[Tage]

Wow, amazing how a bit of primer really makes the details pop. Nice work GMK

[Kylwell]

On 8/14/2018 at 4:23 AM, SuNDuK said:

 

Fantastic looking! But why texst says "Cheese under pressure"?

 

  Reveal hidden contents

\

 

It's a running joke. Can't remember why exactly but large containers of pressurized cheese just seem funny. A friend is going to have a largish pipe running to a spaceship he's building that'll be labeled 'Warning Pressurized Cheese".

[arbit]

Working on this clear Hase Vf-1J, I ordered by accident.  I really don't know what to make of it.

It's all brittle like a canopy and difficult to work with.

I'm definitely building it clear, so testing white glue and clear canopy glue.  I've even tried a bit of normal cement to see how it looks.

But what do I do with seam lines, especially the nose cone?  Can't hide those. Because I have to build this basically without any sanding so I don't ruin the clear cast.  One idea is to treat it all like a canopy... micro sand and dip in clear. But that nose cone isn't going to be pretty.

On the positive side, some lighting would make good use of the clear cast, but all those wires will show through... Maybe a good thing? Not sure.

Or do I keep lighting to a minimum,  under the cockpit and engines, and maybe the wings.

And then in the end how will decals look on it.

It's a bizarre thing.... but it is a nice challenge to build a clear valk without messing it up.

 

[arbit]

I learned some tricks for cutting and polishing clear parts here. 

But still not sure how to hide seam lines on the nose cone with clear parts. I plan to do some tests on spare parts to see if I can glue the seam with a non-corrosive glue and repolish to a glass finish.

 

[Grayson72]

Arbit, just for kicks see if you can glue the parts together with future floor polish. I have no idea of this will make those seams disappear but I have glued photo etch together with Future and it worked well. 

Edited August 22, 2018 by Grayson72

[Chronocidal]

I think the thing to keep in mind, and what will make that kit really difficult, is that even if you can polish the seams, you will have seams on the inside too.

I'm thinking that the only way you'd ever truly be able to get rid of seams would be to physically melt the parts together, and then polish the seams on both front and back.

[arbit]

2 hours ago, Grayson72 said:

Arbit, just for kicks see if you can glue the parts together with future floor polish. I have no idea of this will make those seams disappear but I have glued photo etch together with Future and it worked well. 

Good idea. Definitely will do that for the small parts, because even with canopy glue, while it dries clear, it does not level very well and you can see its texture through the part.

13 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

I think the thing to keep in mind, and what will make that kit really difficult, is that even if you can polish the seams, you will have seams on the inside too.

I'm thinking that the only way you'd ever truly be able to get rid of seams would be to physically melt the parts together, and then polish the seams on both front and back.

Agreed. The seams cannot be hidden as far as I can tell. The trick is to put minimum glue, so that the glue doesnt run on the reverse side, which shows through the top layer, and to at least get a glossy clear seam (after a canopy style polish).

Edited August 22, 2018 by arbit

[arbit]

Fold Boost!

[Grayson72]

That looks really cool!

[arbit]

5 minutes ago, Grayson72 said:

That looks really cool!

Glad u like it. I'm just trying to figure out what to do with it. Realistic lighting seems out of the question.