Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[CrossAir]

Perhaps some kind of „hook“ towards the inner side of the saucer could help? 

[peter]

1 hour ago, derex3592 said:

Regular model cement just ain't gonna cut it man, I know, I have been there plenty of times!  CA Glue, 5 min epoxy or I use to have this liquid stuff called Ambroid Pro-Weld, it was amazing, basically it melted the plastic together. I don't think it's made any longer though. 

CA Glue or Epoxy....I might try those.  I've never used them on a model before.  I have some really old Krazy Glue, but I've had it forever.  

[peter]

1 hour ago, CrossAir said:

Perhaps some kind of „hook“ towards the inner side of the saucer could help? 

Hmmm....that might be a good idea.  Will have to rummage through my hardware and see if I can find more stuff to throw into this thing, hahahaha!

[peter]

What I should have done was screw the saucer to the neck before closing the saucer, but I wanted to build them as sub-assemblies.

I'm exploring this as an option because I don't have confidence of filing and sanding for better contact points.  Cut a bigger hole under the bridge to see if I can run a screw into the neck from the saucer.

[Sanity is Optional]

Could also glue in some plaplate into the slot along the saucer, and then re-cut it to actually match the neck?

[peter]

1 hour ago, Sanity is Optional said:

Could also glue in some plaplate into the slot along the saucer, and then re-cut it to actually match the neck?

I might look into that as well. 

I can now look into the saucer and see where the neck comes into the saucer, but visibility is limited.  

I was going to assemble the whole thing then gloss, then Dullcote, but I'm sealing the surface now so when I handle the subassemblies, the decals don't get damaged or come pealing off again.

Also, it will give me time to take a step back and find a resolution before rushing back into it and end up destroying the thing.

[Chronocidal]

I remember that assembly being a pain, but I also wonder which sort of glue you tried.

This is actually one of those cases where I think the good old gunky orange Testors tube did a fair job, because that's all I used when I made mine.

What might actually work as an after-the-fact support though... what if you used some kind of hardening putty in the pylon, and jammed a pair of metal support rods into it and let it harden, then filled the slot on the saucer with the same material, and pressed it down onto the rods?

The pylon looks rigid enough that you could probably open up that slot towards the front, and that would give you some more room to fit supports into it.  If you mounted a support into the leading edge (I'm thinking something like maybe stiff coat-hanger wire), you could potentially bend it so that it slips inside the saucer, and runs along the inside surface supporting it. 

In theory, you should have a nice through-line from your new hole, all the way into the neck, if you wanted to run a single support all that way.

In hindsight though, I think you made the right choice gluing the pylon to the lower hull first.  The alternative would mean you have to support the entire saucer when you attached the pylon to the lower hull, and that would make it much more difficult to get a solid connection there, to say nothing of keeping the pylon straight, or managing to keep the gray panels from caving in.

Edited July 29, 2020 by Chronocidal

[Chronocidal]

The nostalgia bug got me, and I went to go check up on my own Disasterprise.

All in all, I'm fairly sure it was knocked off at least two bookshelves, and was found hanging by the nacelles from my closet shelf after the earthquake last July.  Glue around the nacelle pylons is all crackled, and they wobble a decent amount, so the only thing holding them on is the screws.

The last retrofit to its current state came after the most recent shelf dropping destroyed the nacelles.  I broke the model down, reinforced the interior, screwed the pylons on, and sprayed it with whatever white rattle can I had laying around.  Before the rattle canning, I had painted most of the main details by hand, so the paint cleaned up a lot of mess.  I built this before I actually cared about seams, so the sanding is kind of all over the place.  The best seam is probably where I glued a strip of scrap styrene directly over the spine.

A part of me really wants to scrap this one and start over, but I'm overly attached to the kit, since it was a gift from my grandma, and it's still in "good enough" shape that I could probably revive it.. I'm just not sure whether the ship could handle another round of refitting.

Edited July 29, 2020 by Chronocidal

[peter]

Lots of good ideas floating around here guys, thanks!  

I actually tried to fire a screw into the neck through the bridge hole and saucer, however the saucer just flopped forward.  I also cracked the glue on the neck.

I hate this thing.

One more roll at the dice before I either park this thing or set the self destruct to 60 seconds.  I cut the little peg off since it wasn't doing anything.  Besides it was already soft and gooey from all the times I tried to glue the damn thing.

I drilled a hole where the peg was.  You can also see where I drilled a hole near the front of the neck where I planned to throw in a screw from the bridge.  I might still do that as long as it doesn't crack again.  On the right there is my Mickey mouse hardware solution.

This actually worked on its own.  Saucer stayed in place, no glue or secondary screw from the other side.

Anyway, I pulled it all apart again to dullcote the whole thing.  Will assemble and post pics later.....unless I trip and fall while moving it and the whole thing blows up because AMT/ERTL.  Yes, I would blame them for that too.

Hahahah!

[Thom]

Way to persevere! You know, building any model is really a test of character, and I'd say yours is shining!

Edited July 30, 2020 by Thom

[derex3592]

Way to go dude! 

Edited July 30, 2020 by derex3592

[peter]

1 hour ago, Thom said:

Way to persevere! You know, building any model is really a test of character, and I'd say yours is shining!

Lol, I dunno about that.  Not sure the folks in the M7, MF and MD forums  share that sentiment - I used to shoot my mouth off a lot in there......

Which reminds me, when I'm done this Refit, I need to get back to building a Macross kit..

I found these guys downstairs and although I love the box art, the models inside aren't very inspiring, lol!

Need to keep digging and see what else I have.

[Duymon]

Making some progress on the 1/48 VF-1. Went for more of a black aces style black paint around the canopy.

[peter]

37 minutes ago, Duymon said:

Making some progress on the 1/48 VF-1. Went for more of a black aces style black paint around the canopy.

Oh awesome!  A 1/48 brownie!!  

I dunno, I've recently developed a thing for non-hero Valks.

[peter]

Calling this POS almost done. 

Just need to add the clear parts for the blinky lights the kit didn't come with, for now there are just holes there.

Please don't zoom in...looks like a 10 year old slapped it together.  Best viewed from afar, hahahah!

Nacelles are level...saucer is dipping a bit, but at least it's not falling off.  Double screwed and glued.

She's big.  

I think.....the decal that came for the deflector dish....it was actually sized bigger before I used Mr. Mark Softer and actually sat over the dish like a drum, semi transparent.  I wonder if I should have left it like that.  I should have taken a picture of it before I started setting it.  This is all I have, but you sort of get the idea.

Next to the Bandai 1/1000 that I sort of used as a decal/paint guide.

Anyway, challenging as hell this kit, can't say I recommend it.  Would have liked the Polar Lights 1/350 version, but not sure I have space for that thing....must be HUGE.

 

 

[Chronocidal]

Honestly, I would be thrilled to have something that good on my shelf, in spite of all the pain to make it.  It really came out better than the source material should have allowed.

But yeah, the size is the reason I haven't touched the 1/350 kits.  Those are over three feet long.  I'm going to try my best at the 1/1000 ones, and maybe get the bigger ones someday when I have a full-blown display room.

[peter]

19 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

Honestly, I would be thrilled to have something that good on my shelf, in spite of all the pain to make it.  It really came out better than the source material should have allowed.

But yeah, the size is the reason I haven't touched the 1/350 kits.  Those are over three feet long.  I'm going to try my best at the 1/1000 ones, and maybe get the bigger ones someday when I have a full-blown display room.

Actually for 1/1000, this one intrigues me:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B082WNB393/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_moLiFbKE4DXKY

[peter]

[peter]

Also this kit:

Especially if it already comes with all the decals

[Chronocidal]

I'm a glutton for punishment, so I have those, plus a matching Reliant to build.  The notes I have on the 1/1000 Refit are a few pages back, where I had to do minor surgery to get the pylons aligned, but it's a very nice little kit. 

One thing to keep in mind is that you should never trust a snap-fit transparent part.  They oversize the snaps, and I've managed to crack both the deflector and one nacelle grille because they just didn't fit.  Trim the triangular latches off the parts before attaching them, and you should be golden.

Frankly, there's no reason for them to even be transparent in this scale, so I'm just going to paint them anyway.

Edited July 30, 2020 by Chronocidal

[peter]

14 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

I'm a glutton for punishment, so I have those, plus a matching Reliant to build.  The notes I have on the 1/1000 Refit are a few pages back, where I had to do minor surgery to get the pylons aligned, but it's a very nice little kit. 

One thing to keep in mind is that you should never trust a snap-fit transparent part.  They oversize the snaps, and I've managed to crack both the deflector and one nacelle grille because they just didn't fit.  Trim the triangular latches off the parts before attaching them, and you should be golden.

Frankly, there's no reason for them to even be transparent in this scale, so I'm just going to paint them anyway.

Oh, I heard about the cracking of the clear parts on that kit .

[electric indigo]

7 hours ago, peter said:

 

That must have been a very rewarding moment after all the hardship. Congratulations!

I'm still amazed how beautiful the design of the refit is - it's an icon of utopia. Which is somewhat counter-productive in that it makes all the other aspects of the actual show look rather pedestrian IMO.

[Thom]

10 hours ago, peter said:

Lol, I dunno about that.  Not sure the folks in the M7, MF and MD forums  share that sentiment - I used to shoot my mouth off a lot in there......

 

Hey, a shining character is built, not born!

And considering the silk purse you made out of that Connie, I will wait anxiously for you to crack open those Macross models!

10 hours ago, Duymon said:

Making some progress on the 1/48 VF-1. Went for more of a black aces style black paint around the canopy.

Ooh, that's looking great! Love that tan-tone.

9 hours ago, peter said:

Calling this POS almost done. 

Just need to add the clear parts for the blinky lights the kit didn't come with, for now there are just holes there.

Please don't zoom in...looks like a 10 year old slapped it together.  Best viewed from afar, hahahah!

I think she looks great! You don't want to get too close to some of my models too... But I like the look of her.

 

 

[derex3592]

@peter  - Man --- don't sell yourself short! That turned out great! Most Trek kits have to be viewed from a few feet away..Mine do!  You did great considering all the roadblocks that gone thrown in your way! Congrats!

[electric indigo]

Getting the decals done on the Fitter was kind of an uphill struggle. The mechanics must love a good read - there's a stencil on every panel. I got an aftermarket set from Authentic Decals, only to discover that a good part of them were way oversized (as if designed for a non-existing 1/32 kit), incomplete, and the instructions were a mess. So I hunted down every available photo of the real thing from the depths of a russian modeling board, only to discover afterwards that czech kit maker Eduard has the instructions for their Fitter for download on their site, including a comprehensive overview of the stencils. I was already in fantasy mode and distributed the available decals at will across the fuselage.

So while not accurate, the overall appearance is somewhat convincing. And technically, the decals were high quality with a clean print & thin carrier film. 

After a coat of flat & overspray of the camo colors to bring down the saturation:

There's still a lot of detail work ahead.

Edited July 30, 2020 by electric indigo

[peter]

11 minutes ago, electric indigo said:

Getting the decals done on the Fitter was kind of an uphill struggle. The mechanics must love a good read - there's a stencil on every panel. I got an aftermarket set from Authentic Decals, only to discover that a good part of them were way oversized (as if designed for a non-existing 1/32 kit), incomplete, and the instructions were a mess. So I hunted down every available photo of the real thing from the depths of a russian modeling board, only to discover afterwards that czech kit maker Eduard has the instructions for their Fitter for download on their site, including a comprehensive overview of the stencils. I was already in fantasy mode and distributed the available decals at will across the fuselage.

So while not accurate, the overall appearance is somewhat convincing. And technically, the decals were high quality with a clean print & thin carrier film. 

After a coat of flat & overspray of the camo colors to bring down the saturation:

There's still a lot of detail work ahead.

Nice.  This is the reason I need to get an airbrush and learn how to use it.  Pretty hard to do that sort of work with rattle cans.....

Do you guys find it's cheaper that spray cans in the long run?

 

[MechTech]

If anyone asks, "Hey, MechTech, why don't you build any Star Trek models," just ask Peter! I have to agree with Thom, it takes a lot of character to persevere with that model judging by the posts you made. But I got to say - CONGRATS - IT LOOKS AWESOME!!! I noticed you added even MORE hardware onto tit. Definitely need to rename it now U.S.S. Hardware Store or Perseverance! Now you just need to protect it from an unexpected "reentry" into the floor!

Duymon - I like the colors! It's looking nice and clean too!

Electric Indigo - Your decal job looks great! They probably have all those stencils since the Soviets had less training on their machines than the West. Plus, when you're a conscript, you just plain out care less! - MT

Edited July 30, 2020 by MechTech

[peter]

M 5 year old wanted to build a model so I gave him this and he slapped it together:

Pretty clean kit for 1/144 scale.  It actually looks really good, but I'm not super familiar with the VF-11 (old guy here, only the VF-1 exists in my world).  Compared to my old ARII 1/100 kits, this thing looks miles ahead. 

It was simple enough to build for my 5 year old to build, and Bandai seemed to do a pretty good job of making sure the parts fit nice and tight, and hide most of the seam lines in the assembly.

I tried to find other kits in this series and scale, but sadly, it doesn't appear that they made any kits from SDFM or even Mac Plus.  Would have been nice to have a YF19 and a YF21 to go with this.

Anyway, after the kid went to bed, Da-Da took the thing apart and added some detail:

Simple build, no primer, no sanding, no mods.

Just some panel lining, paint, and maybe a wash and a touch more paint.

I don't know this plane very well, only experience is from what I saw briefly in M+.  I might do a bit more research to get the colors and markings right, but ultimately, it's for my 5 yr old who hasn't even watched M+ yet, lol! 

When he wakes up, I'll ask him if he prefers the current low-vis look

eta:

I just looked up some line art from M+ and there is no way my shaky hands will be able to paint the orange highlights on the legs, lol!

 

I'll let him add the stickers when he's up

 

 

 

Edited July 30, 2020 by peter
Edited for spelling

[peter]

11 minutes ago, MechTech said:

If anyone asks, "Hey, MechTech, why don't you build any Star Trek models," just ask Peter! I have to agree with Thom, it takes a lot of character to persevere with that model judging by the posts you made. But I got to say - CONGRATS - IT LOOKS AWESOME!!! I noticed you added even MORE hardware onto tit. Definitely need to rename it now U.S.S. Hardware Store or Perseverance! Now you just need to protect it from an unexpected "reentry" into the floor!

Duymon - I like the colors! It's looking nice and clean too!

Electric Indigo - Your decal job looks great! They probably have all those stencils since the Soviets had less training on their machines than the West. Plus, when you're a conscript, you just plain out care less! - MT

Lol! 

The build definitely benefited from all that hardware.  I have a feeling that without it, the nacelles, pylons and saucer would just sag or break eventually.

Not sure I want to woosh it around the room, but I feel like it could withstand some light play, hahaha!

 

[Chronocidal]

1 hour ago, peter said:

Lol! 

The build definitely benefited from all that hardware.  I have a feeling that without it, the nacelles, pylons and saucer would just sag or break eventually.

Not sure I want to woosh it around the room, but I feel like it could withstand some light play, hahaha!

 

That's actually one thing the 1/1000 kits are very good for: swooshing.   They're small enough I can set one under my computer monitor, and just pick it up casually to zoom around as a work break.

The set of all 7 Enterprises is good for that as well, at least size-wise.  I don't know how much I would want to handle them with all the massive decals covering them.

[derex3592]

The 7 Enterprises are a mixed bag, some are great, some not so great, see my reviews over the last 6 months back about a dozen pages or so.   I pick mine up all the time, usually by the stand and look at them and occasionally swoosh a bit. They are fine to hold as long as you flat or semi-flat cover the models when you are finished. 

[peter]

33 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

The 7 Enterprises are a mixed bag, some are great, some not so great, see my reviews over the last 6 months back about a dozen pages or so.   I pick mine up all the time, usually by the stand and look at them and occasionally swoosh a bit. They are fine to hold as long as you flat or semi-flat cover the models when you are finished. 

I sealed the hell out of my 1/537.  A whole can of Tamiya clear, then half of a big can of Rustoleum dull cote.

My mentality was the clear coats will help keep the whole thing together.  Those HDA decals are pretty robust too, almost feel like the decals and clear coats are doing more to keep the kit together than the glue I used.

[pengbuzz]

14 hours ago, peter said:

Calling this POS almost done. 

Just need to add the clear parts for the blinky lights the kit didn't come with, for now there are just holes there.

Please don't zoom in...looks like a 10 year old slapped it together.  Best viewed from afar, hahahah!

Nacelles are level...saucer is dipping a bit, but at least it's not falling off.  Double screwed and glued.

She's big.  

I think.....the decal that came for the deflector dish....it was actually sized bigger before I used Mr. Mark Softer and actually sat over the dish like a drum, semi transparent.  I wonder if I should have left it like that.  I should have taken a picture of it before I started setting it.  This is all I have, but you sort of get the idea.

Next to the Bandai 1/1000 that I sort of used as a decal/paint guide.

Anyway, challenging as hell this kit, can't say I recommend it.  Would have liked the Polar Lights 1/350 version, but not sure I have space for that thing....must be HUGE.

 

 

"POS"??!! Dude, if mine came out looking half as good as that, I'd be thrilled beyond belief!!!

With all due respect: I don't ever want to hear you insult yourself or your work, peter (and I mean that in the nicest possible way! ). You're build looks remarkable, and I think you have something to be proud of here! Kudos on a job well done!

[pengbuzz]

Meantime: A friend gave me this and asked me to make it "screen accurate":

Give me a week, and...

[Dobber]

Peter, that looks fantastic! A lesser builder would’ve given up on that turd of a kit. Congrats sir!

Chris