Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[pengbuzz]

3 hours ago, MechTech said:

Pengbuzz - The weathering looks great on that! The nozzles are cool. I don't think I've seen a valk with discolored nozzles (besides the fast packs) before which is an overlooked idea. Is that the fully transformable valk you built a while back? If so, what did you do for the leg joint connections? I searched our boards and found an old post for it, but the photos are no longer linked.

Thanks MT! This is just the Imai VF-1S I built a while ago (not the FAST pack modded one), with interchangeable noses. I still have the other one, but I had to borrow it's gun pod (the IMAI one met a tragic end when I dropped it and accidentally stepped on it! O.o).

Speaking of which: sometime soon, I have to post pics of that one, as well as the custom-designed valk I built some years ago.

[CrossAir]

9 hours ago, MechTech said:

Cross Air - There's a tiny mech in your yard! That paint scheme is cool! It fits it perfectly. The decals and splinter camo all compliment each other. I built the green version of that kit last year with our model club at the county fair (to recruit members). That is a neat little kit. The cockpit is cool. A lot of our members were surprised by it because they are mostly plane and tank guys. Gundams (that's they're general termed) are something new to them. Next year we actually have a Bandai theme night which should be interesting. - MT

Thank You MechTech. In the end it was fun to build. And as you say, in a way it felt a little bit when building 1/35 scale tanks back in my youth .

Meanwhile the mech got its own pilot, too:

[arbit]

Hi CorssAir, I like how smooth and clean your paint always looks. What's your process?

[CrossAir]

34 minutes ago, arbit said:

Hi CorssAir, I like how smooth and clean your paint always looks. What's your process?

My standard process: At first of course preparing the surfaces of the parts by sanding and filling if needed. Normally I don't use surface primer, currently only for resin kits. But this may change cause I made good experiences with priming, so I might us it also for upcoming plastic models.

Nowadays I try to paint almost everything by airbrush. On the other hand this means a lot of masking, but for me the result proves it. For paint I work almost entirely with Tamiya acrylic colors, except for gold or chrome, here i use Vallejo. I try not thin the colors too much. Depending on the color I try to go over with a maximum of 2 or 3 runs. For some tones it is still some kind of trial and error .

For finish I use solely the TS sprays from Tamiya. Normally a first layer of semi gloss clear, then panel lining and/or weathering and the one or two other layers of gloss/semi gloss/flat clear again.

[electric indigo]

Korobukiya has some interesting designs in their Hexa Gear series, but the still look too much like toys for my taste. Your paintjob  definitely helped to make this machine look more serious.

Do you also have some pics of the kit from Suisei no Gargantuan I see in the background?

[CrossAir]

1 hour ago, electric indigo said:

Korobukiya has some interesting designs in their Hexa Gear series, but the still look too much like toys for my taste. Your paintjob  definitely helped to make this machine look more serious.

Do you also have some pics of the kit from Suisei no Gargantuan I see in the background?

Thanks. Chamber in the back is not the kit, it's the completed figure from Goodsmile. But the finish of the figure is really good and it looks like it is completely painted (in contrary to Goodsmiles' Arhan from 'Expelled from Paradise'). I have to admit it is hard to tell if the black surfaces are painted or not.

[pengbuzz]

While waiting to find repair parts for another project, i dug up an old one from 2012-2013:

I found an AMT Bell-222 1/48 scale kit. While it wasn't the "Airwolf" version, it was the base model for it. So, after some outer mods, I did a complete interior using sprue and printouts of all the controls for the CIC (Dom's "office" aboard the lady). Then in a genius moment of stupidity...I glued it all shut.

So, after finding this in my stuff, i did an experiment, and was able to open her up to show off the interior. Don't worry: I still have the outer panels! I cut them carefully along panel lines and am working on tabbing them so they can pop back into place. I'll just need to rework it slightly to make sure the fit is as seamless as possible. But after remembering the work I did, I think gluing it back would be just wrong!

My paintwork isn't all that great in there, but this was nearly a decade ago! Classic pengbuzz work here; see what you think!

[derex3592]

Love it @pengbuzz! I wish some company would make like a 2020 new mold Airwolf in like 1:32 scale with removable side panels to reveal the inside and swap the weapons out for the "closed" position when you wanted. That would be SO an instabuy! 

Edited July 3, 2020 by derex3592

[Thom]

Great job,Pengbuzz! Looks like time has shown the error of your younger days. Also looks pretty neat in there. I wonder if you could salvage the interior and put that into a newer kit, including the removable panels from the start?

[CrossAir]

7 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

So, after finding this in my stuff, i did an experiment, and was able to open her up to show off the interior. Don't worry: I still have the outer panels! I cut them carefully along panel lines and am working on tabbing them so they can pop back into place. I'll just need to rework it slightly to make sure the fit is as seamless as possible. But after remembering the work I did, I think gluing it back would be just wrong!

My paintwork isn't all that great in there, but this was nearly a decade ago! Classic pengbuzz work here; see what you think!

I built the AMT Airwolf kit back in the 80's. And as it came with the original CIC stations, I glued the cabin shut, too. So the whole work on the interior was for nothing.But was even more worse, I "painted" the entire exterior with a black paint stick from Tamiya. What can I say, it looked horrible and a short time later I scrapped the whole helicopter - though I really liked the design. I wonder if I could have "saved" it with my "improved" skills of today 

45 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

Love it @pengbuzz! I wish some company would make like a 2020 new mold Airwolf in like 1:32 scale with removable side panels to reveal the inside and swap the weapons out for the "closed" position when you wanted. That would be SO an instabuy! 

I have the Aoshima 1/48 kit on my watchlist on eBay but I'm still uncertain to buy it or not. But indeed, a bigger and newer version would be much appreciated!

[derex3592]

@CrossAir, I own the weathered edition of the Aoshima, got it when it came out, while an awesome piece, the motor stopped working after not many uses, and there are just two pilots in the front cockpit and then a grey wall. No "Dom" area. Also one the door hinges doesn't close all the way, and the weathering is a bit weird, kind of like the old Yamato Rickaru Weathring Specials. I guess the point here is, it's cool, but not worth a ton of $$$ on Evilbay.

[pengbuzz]

6 hours ago, Thom said:

Great job,Pengbuzz! Looks like time has shown the error of your younger days. Also looks pretty neat in there. I wonder if you could salvage the interior and put that into a newer kit, including the removable panels from the start?

I like that idea, Thom! I would love to find a newer kit (preferably an actual Airwolf kit) and put the internals into it. The figures were scratched up from sprue (and admittedly, this was before I learned that glasses would help my vision!); i would want to revisit them and detail them out a bit better. The exterior of the helicopter is crap because it was just a Bell 222 that I had to mod into Airwolf and do the add-on turbines and armor myself.

Another reason for wanting an actual Airwolf kit: the white plastic on the Bell 222 is quite soft and easily bent/ broken. I recall the black plastic on the Airwolf kit (I had it some years previously to this project) was a bit more rigid, so it wouldn't be such a pain to work with. Only issue is that they are currently pretty hard to come by, and money is always an issue around here (groan). If I ever happen to come across one (unlikely) at a flea market or such, that would be nice.

[CrossAir]

5 hours ago, derex3592 said:

@CrossAir, I own the weathered edition of the Aoshima, got it when it came out, while an awesome piece, the motor stopped working after not many uses, and there are just two pilots in the front cockpit and then a grey wall. No "Dom" area. Also one the door hinges doesn't close all the way, and the weathering is a bit weird, kind of like the old Yamato Rickaru Weathring Specials. I guess the point here is, it's cool, but not worth a ton of $$$ on Evilbay.

Oh, ok. Good to know. So I quit on Aoshima. Wether the die cast nor the plastic kit. The prices for both are ridiculous high anyway.

I would go for an old AMT/ERTL kit again but these seem even harder to grab than Aoshima by now.

[Thom]

1 hour ago, pengbuzz said:

I like that idea, Thom! I would love to find a newer kit (preferably an actual Airwolf kit) and put the internals into it. The figures were scratched up from sprue (and admittedly, this was before I learned that glasses would help my vision!); i would want to revisit them and detail them out a bit better. The exterior of the helicopter is crap because it was just a Bell 222 that I had to mod into Airwolf and do the add-on turbines and armor myself.

Another reason for wanting an actual Airwolf kit: the white plastic on the Bell 222 is quite soft and easily bent/ broken. I recall the black plastic on the Airwolf kit (I had it some years previously to this project) was a bit more rigid, so it wouldn't be such a pain to work with. Only issue is that they are currently pretty hard to come by, and money is always an issue around here (groan). If I ever happen to come across one (unlikely) at a flea market or such, that would be nice.

You know, your mods to the base 222 kit are pretty good and I'm sure your skills have only improved since then. But however you choose to go about it, I'm also sure it'll look good!

[MechTech]

That's cool Pengbuzz! Not even the "real" helicopter got any respect! Looking online, any model of it is INSANELY expensive! That's crazy! Thanks guys, now the dumb theme song is stuck in my head - MT

[peter]

I finally finished off the Hasegawa 1/72 VF-1S Strike Valk I started 17 years ago.  Also built three more Valks right after.  Started a thread about it here:

Anyway, after building 4 Hasegawa kits (plus weapons kits), I decided to slap together a Bandai 1/72 Super Valkyries kit I stole a 1A head from.  Long story short, I needed to build one Strike 1S and three Super 1A but I didn't have enough 1A heads so I got one from the Bandai kit.

I had a few spare weapons, pilots and decals from the previous builds so I'll try to spruce up this old kit.

Be gentle guys, I don't know what I'm doing.

 



Since I already built a Hasegawa Roy, I decided to turn this one into a brownie.

Edited July 4, 2020 by peter

[arbit]

Great work peter!

I wonder how the old Bandai 1/72 compares to the Hase? I've never built a Bandai valk, excpet for the transforming type.

Edited July 4, 2020 by arbit

[Thom]

3 hours ago, peter said:

I finally finished off the Hasegawa 1/72 VF-1S Strike Valk I started 17 years ago.  Also built three more Valks right after.  Started a thread about it here:

Anyway, after building 4 Hasegawa kits (plus weapons kits), I decided to slap together a Bandai 1/72 Super Valkyries kit I stole a 1A head from.  Long story short, I needed to build one Strike 1S and three Super 1A but I didn't have enough 1A heads so I got one from the Bandai kit.

I had a few spare weapons, pilots and decals from the previous builds so I'll try to spruce up this old kit.

Be gentle guys, I don't know what I'm doing.

 



Since I already built a Hasegawa Roy, I decided to turn this one into a brownie.

Outstanding!

[pengbuzz]

17 hours ago, arbit said:

Great work peter!

I wonder how the old Bandai 1/72 compares to the Hase? I've never built a Bandai valk, excpet for the transforming type.

 

The Bandai ones are wider and a bit "squatter" than the Hasegawa ones, while the Hase versions tend to be thinner and more slender overall. Currently fitting some hase parts to a bandai and noting the variations.

[peter]

The plastic on the Bandai seems to be "softer", easier to sand.

 

At first, I thought the old Bandai kit would be simple, easy to build, but it was actually a pain in the dick as well.

Decal sheet for the Bandai Super

Decal sheet for the Hasegawa

In order to save time and headache in the build process, I chopped the hell out of the model.  Figure I don't need these parts to move so I'll just glue all the sub assemblies together, sand the seam lines, paint and assemble.  Should be easier than glue, sand, paint, glue, sand, mask, paint, glue, sand, mask, paint and so and and so forth.

[peter]

I didn't follow the paint and decal guide that came with the Bandai at all.  I probably won't use more than half of the non-sensical decals that came with it either.  Some of them are way too big for this scale and look too cartoony 

I have a pile of left over Hasegawa decals so hopefully they will help mask some of the simple appearance of this old mold.

[peter]

Oh, as someone mentioned, the nose is wide and fat.  It also turns downward like a vulture so a pro would resculpt it.  I did not, lol!

[peter]

DYRL pilot doesn't want to sit in the TV seat, lol!

[Gabe Q]

10 hours ago, peter said:

Oh, as someone mentioned, the nose is wide and fat.  It also turns downward like a vulture so a pro would resculpt it.  I did not, lol!

I agree about the nose on that thing. I hate it. Looks like you're doing a great job on the build tho!

[MechTech]

Looking good Peter! I remember when I got my first Bandai 1/72 "Super Fighter." I was so stoked, and then I saw that nose! I was bummed out! You're making it look good though. - MT

[peter]

Thanks guys

 

So, since I sort of took my time and was mostly careful to build my Hasegawa kits, I relaxed a bit with the Bandai.  I originally rattle-canned the brown bits with Tamiya Light Sand

But then I ran out in the middle of the night and didn't feel like waiting until the next day to buy a new can to finish the model.  So what did I do?  I went to my shelf and found two rattle cans of Khaki I used to paint a few of my rifles, one from Rustoleum and one from Krylon.

 

I did a test spray to see how they would turn out and ended up going with the Krylon because it seemed to go on smoother.

The color looked ok, it's a real world military color (albeit rarely seen on aircraft).  My mistake was going in the cheap, skipping the sealing process and assuming it would be resistant to thinner as quickly as Tamiya paint.  I did the decals then straight to the panel lines with Tamiya Panel Line like I did with my Hasegawa kits.  When I cleaned the panel lines, the Tamiya paint was solid and didn't come off against the thinner, but the Krylon came right off, lol!

Anyway, I already put more time into this kit, have to go play with the kids and get some work done so I'm just going to matte coat the thing and slap it together the way it is, lol!

 

 

[peter]

Krylon Khaki on one of my rifles after a few years.  It's bee abused, but doesn't look that bad considering.  But it didn't quite feel completely dry to the touch for a few weeks, something I completely forgot about when I painted the Bandai.  It went in smooth, but I should have waited, or at least sealed it before doing the panel lines.

[peter]

Btw, building models at 0300 when you're sleep deprived is probably not the best.

I got Tamiya glue mixed up with Mr. mark Softer when I was doing decals for the Bandai and splashed a bunch of glue all over the nose decals.  I was lucky the decal had already set and the matte coat hid the gloss from the glue so it's not that noticeable.

 

You can also see I sort of tried to fix Bandai's nose.  I've seen at least one example of someone resculpting the nose, but I wasn't brave enough to experiment.

Edited July 5, 2020 by peter

[peter]

One more comment about the Bandai.  The kit came with almost enough parts to do a Super Gerwalk.  The only thing I could tell that was missing was the arm armor.

[derex3592]

Sneak preview of Sunday funday at the Bandai workbench! No paint, no nothing, just straight out of the box. 

[pengbuzz]

6 hours ago, Gabe Q said:

I agree about the nose on that thing. I hate it. Looks like you're doing a great job on the build tho!

You could always cut the nose end off and glue it on upside down.

Seriously though: yeah, the nose is just misshapen to all heck. I'd resculpt it or something.

  

4 hours ago, peter said:

One more comment about the Bandai.  The kit came with almost enough parts to do a Super Gerwalk.  The only thing I could tell that was missing was the arm armor.

I ran into that as well on my project: I ended up using a couple of pieces of very light wood and just cutting them to the proportions I needed:

Edited July 5, 2020 by pengbuzz

[peter]

Woah, nice!

 

[peter]

I thought I was done with pieces so small I could barely see.....

[peter]

While I'm waiting for my Bandai super cannon fodder to dry, I'm sitting here wondering how feasible it would be to fit the GM Sniper (I don't even watch Gundam) inside of the Bandai 1/100 Super Battroid......

[peter]

Bandai 1/72 Valkyrie Super Fighter done.  I already built Roy's Strike in Hasegawa, and I stole the 1A head from this kit to complete the squadron, so I figures I'd do a brownie VF-1J.  I probably would have done a 1A if I had enough.

I didn't follow the paint and decal instructions that came with the kit, instead, I loosely followed my previous Hasegawa builds, which was loosely based off my Yamato 1/48 toys.  Threw on whatever leftover Hasegawa decals I could find that would sort of work.

Most of the decals that came with the kit look way too cartoonish.

Leftover weapons from previous builds.

Leftover DRYL pilot leftover from previous builds.

Sort of sanded the tip of the nose a bit....any more and I would have completely butchered this kit.

The Bandai kit wants to hang out with the coop Hasegawa kids.

I know this formation doesn't make any sense in the real world.  Photo is just for comparison between the Hasegawa and older Bandai.