Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[arbit]

5 minutes ago, Convectuoso said:

I was top coating some of the parts of my Tornado kit yesterday, and it's looking like this:

What kind of top coat did you use?

You may be able to lightly sand till smooth with 4000 grit, then gloss it again with a wet coat.  It will turn out fine, unless there was something wrong with your base coat.

[Convectuoso]

5 minutes ago, arbit said:

What kind of top coat did you use?

You may be able to lightly sand till smooth with 4000 grit, then gloss it again with a wet coat.  It will turn out fine, unless there was something wrong with your base coat.

Won't sanding it damage the decals?

[arbit]

5 minutes ago, Convectuoso said:

Won't sanding it damage the decals?

Lightly sanding the gloss coat with a high grit will not damage the decal (4000-5000 grit). But you need a thick gloss coat to do that, and know when to stop. Sand gently and smoothly just to get the rough texture out.

In your case, ONLY sand the part that is rough. Then gloss the sanded area, then gloss the entire part again to bring it all together.

But if your problem started with the base coat, you will need a different process after sanding smooth (Mask off the decal, lightly spray highly diluted base coat color to repair damage, then gloss again.)

[peter]

29 minutes ago, Convectuoso said:

Hi. 

I was top coating some of the parts of my Tornado kit yesterday, and it's looking like this:

Any ideas on what the problem may be, or how to fix it?

 

Thanks

Is that top coat a gloss coat or dull coat?  I got that effect with a dull coat and just left it, haha!

[Urashiman]

On 8/10/2020 at 11:44 PM, peter said:

Got excited thinking my Klingon K'Tinga decals arrived today but it turned out something else came.

Totally forgot I ordered these for a monster I picked up at a model swap meet.

Wonder if I can make this thing look good box stock without having to buy any photo-etch or accuratizing parts......well, back in the pipe of to-do builds.

That F-14 ... no ... no - never again. I had to use 3 tubes of putty to fill all the gaps on this one. Worst kit ever... I wish you the best of luck on this one.

[MechTech]

Convectuoso - Is that a rough finish (lumpy or speckled), or a crackled (orange peel like) finish? It's hard to tell in the photo. Lumpy may be how the media is coming out. Crackled probably means the finish is reacting to something, like grease, oil, or mold release compound -  if it's still on there. Arbit is right about how to go about fixing it. You may be able to use a safe solvent to wipe it off (other than over decaled areas). Sorry. I usually clean areas with 70%-91% Isoprpyl alcohol to completely clean all that off. I know guys who use gloves to keep their hand oils from getting on the model to prevent the same thing. I hope you can fix it!

Peter - That is an AWESOME looking wreck! Now you got book-ends! "Before and After!" - MT

 

[Convectuoso]

Thanks @arbit and @MechTech

I'll try cleaning the part some how, maybe masking the decals, and let you know how it goes.

[peter]

51 minutes ago, Urashiman said:

That F-14 ... no ... no - never again. I had to use 3 tubes of putty to fill all the gaps on this one. Worst kit ever... I wish you the best of luck on this one.

Lol, it couldn't possibly be worse than the AMT 1/537 Enterprise Refit kit, hahahahaha!

This is my second one.  Long story short, I bought my first one years ago and my dad  decided he wanted to build it so I let him have it.  My dad is a casual builder and never got too serious, so he put it together and I have a complete one to look at for reference.  There are definitely gaps in his build, so at least I know what to look for. 

I bought a second one at a model swap meet last year, but sadly, it will probably go into the pile of things to do for a while.  I actually don't have space to display another monster like that so I have to do a little house cleaning and make some space

Edited August 13, 2020 by peter
edited for spelling.

[peter]

13 minutes ago, MechTech said:

Convectuoso - Is that a rough finish (lumpy or speckled), or a crackled (orange peel like) finish? It's hard to tell in the photo. Lumpy may be how the media is coming out. Crackled probably means the finish is reacting to something, like grease, oil, or mold release compound -  if it's still on there. Arbit is right about how to go about fixing it. You may be able to use a safe solvent to wipe it off (other than over decaled areas). Sorry. I usually clean areas with 70%-91% Isoprpyl alcohol to completely clean all that off. I know guys who use gloves to keep their hand oils from getting on the model to prevent the same thing. I hope you can fix it!

Peter - That is an AWESOME looking wreck! Now you got book-ends! "Before and After!" - MT

 

Lol, it still needs a lot of work, but thanks for the words of encouragement.  I just recently discovered a FB page with lots of other 1/537 builds.  Lots of anger, blood, sweat and tears in there, lol!

[peter]

7 minutes ago, Convectuoso said:

Thanks @arbit and @MechTech

I'll try cleaning the part some how, maybe masking the decals, and let you know how it goes.

If it's a gloss coat, there's a youtube channel called Plasmo.....he sands his decals a lot, but from what I understand, he loads up the gloss coat on top of the decal before sanding.

[slide]

3 minutes ago, peter said:

Lol, My dad built that kit, just a casual builder and never got too serious.  There are definitely gaps in his build, so at least I know what to look for.  Sadly, that build will go into the pile of things to do for a while.  I actually don't have space to display another monster like that so I have to do a little house cleaning and make some space

I built that Revell Tomcat when I was about 12... There was so much wrong with it: fit, shapes, details, I decided the only way to save it was to recreate the Hollywood/Wolfman shootdown from Top Gun. So I got a "Mig-28" and had them hanging from my ceiling about 4 feet apart from each other with the missile trail and explosion in cotton batting/balls on wire... 

 

If you're a Tomcat lover don't put yourself through that build, friend.

If you're in it to put your skills to the test, then giv'er!

 

55 minutes ago, peter said:

If it's a gloss coat, there's a youtube channel called Plasmo.....he sands his decals a lot, but from what I understand, he loads up the gloss coat on top of the decal before sanding.

Waterslide decals have the Ink beneath the carrier film, so it's relatively safe to lighty sand them.

Glosscoat first, wet-sand with high-grit to level everything off, repeat as necessary [can take a couple times depending on how thick your decals carrier film is]

As @peter recommended, check out PLASMO on Youtube.

[pengbuzz]

2 hours ago, Urashiman said:

That F-14 ... no ... no - never again. I had to use 3 tubes of putty to fill all the gaps on this one. Worst kit ever... I wish you the best of luck on this one.

I had that kit a long time ago; I remember using plastic card and plastic welder to fill gaps on it (it was that bad!). I would love to try it again and use sprue to make my own pilots!

[peter]

Lol, your responses about the F14 are giving me nightmarish flashbacks about the 537 Refit, hahahahaha!

[derex3592]

Mean while...back over here in the land of "Expensive Bandai kits that are SUPPOSE to just snap together but don't"..... So the Star Destroyer is ready to go on the stand permanent like and final connections made, however, one small problem..HA! The upper and lower halves DO NOT line up and go together.  The engine block makes that impossible once you get the back of the ship together, the middle and front pegs don't align.  I've been doing some reading on other threads and apparently this is a common problem unfortunately.  A lot of reports of the hull warping upwards when the build is completed, and now I understand why. Surgery and a lot of superglue may be needed to get this thing together..*SIGH* SO close....but yet so far. Gotta say, the newer Bandai Star Wars stuff is not as great as the little bit older Bandai stuff. IT was for intents and purposes, perfect. 

[arbit]

5 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

Mean while...back over here in the land of "Expensive Bandai kits that are SUPPOSE to just snap together but don't"..... So the Star Destroyer is ready to go on the stand permanent like and final connections made, however, one small problem..HA! The upper and lower halves DO NOT line up and go together.  The engine block makes that impossible once you get the back of the ship together, the middle and front pegs don't align.  I've been doing some reading on other threads and apparently this is a common problem unfortunately.  A lot of reports of the hull warping upwards when the build is completed, and now I understand why. Surgery and a lot of superglue may be needed to get this thing together..*SIGH* SO close....but yet so far. Gotta say, the newer Bandai Star Wars stuff is not as great as the little bit older Bandai stuff. IT was for intents and purposes, perfect. 

That is really strange. I thought all the Bandai kits come together smooth as butter.

What caused the warping?

Personally I don't like gluing hulls with electronics in case I need to get at them in the future.

[derex3592]

3 minutes ago, arbit said:

That is really strange. I thought all the Bandai kits come together smooth as butter.

What caused the warping?

Personally I don't like gluing hulls with electronics in case I need to get at them in the future.

The parts aren't warped out of the box, if I went balls out, clamped and glued the sh*t out of the thing I think it would cause the upper hull to have a slight upwards bend to it, so I'm going to try to find a better way. And yeh, I didn't WANT to have to glue if for that exact reason, if my LED's have a problem down the road, I could pop it apart and try to repair. 

 

[arbit]

6 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

The parts aren't warped out of the box, if I went balls out, clamped and glued the sh*t out of the thing I think it would cause the upper hull to have a slight upwards bend to it, so I'm going to try to find a better way. And yeh, I didn't WANT to have to glue if for that exact reason, if my LED's have a problem down the road, I could pop it apart and try to repair. 

 

If you are willing to put in the work, you can mount magnets on opposite sides. To relieve warping you might need a very strong pair at the warped point.

[peter]

56 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

Mean while...back over here in the land of "Expensive Bandai kits that are SUPPOSE to just snap together but don't"..... So the Star Destroyer is ready to go on the stand permanent like and final connections made, however, one small problem..HA! The upper and lower halves DO NOT line up and go together.  The engine block makes that impossible once you get the back of the ship together, the middle and front pegs don't align.  I've been doing some reading on other threads and apparently this is a common problem unfortunately.  A lot of reports of the hull warping upwards when the build is completed, and now I understand why. Surgery and a lot of superglue may be needed to get this thing together..*SIGH* SO close....but yet so far. Gotta say, the newer Bandai Star Wars stuff is not as great as the little bit older Bandai stuff. IT was for intents and purposes, perfect. 

Oh, that would suck, all that work.....hope it works out.

[peter]

Added a few greebles to the verticals bits.

Itching to weather without the strongback decals and finish this thing off.......

[peter]

I had a sip of whiskey, took the masking tape off, and the thing didn't fall apart.  Awesome.

 

Now I wait for decals, then weathering.

Oh, that's the first Revel 1/32 F14 I bought, but my dad claimed for himself.

I'll get around to building my own one of these days.

Edited August 14, 2020 by peter
Edited for spelling

[sketchley]

47 minutes ago, peter said:

Added a few greebles to the verticals bits.

Itching to weather without the strongback decals and finish this thing off.......

 

VERY nice!

I was going to mention something about how some of those greebles you added aren't straight, then I reminded myself: it's been in an explosion!  Of course they're not supposed to be straight! 

Are you planning to add any colours in the guts?  For example, add a couple of spots of different lighter tones to suggest the original colour before they were scorched?  I wonder if you can get away with adding a few red (or white or blue) dots to imply that some of the power systems are running?  (think of my suggestions more as a way to draw the viewer's eyes to the parts you want them to focus on, rather than adding detail for details sake).

[peter]

4 minutes ago, sketchley said:

VERY nice!

I was going to mention something about how some of those greebles you added aren't straight, then I reminded myself: it's been in an explosion!  Of course they're not supposed to be straight! 

Are you planning to add any colours in the guts?  For example, add a couple of spots of different lighter tones to suggest the original colour before they were scorched?  I wonder if you can get away with adding a few red (or white or blue) dots to imply that some of the power systems are running?  (think of my suggestions more as a way to draw the viewer's eyes to the parts you want them to focus on, rather than adding detail for details sake).

Oh, yeah, the verticle bits....that's due to poor construction on my part.  It started off straight, but ended up leaning in some parts....made it from a Costco muffin tray, so I have no one to blame but myself for that.

 

I should have taken my time, gotten some styrene sheets, meaasured and cut, but just wanted to build it with whatever I had laying around.  And I also thought of justifying the lean as simulating the aftermath of an explosion, lol!

 

[Convectuoso]

Thanks everyone for your tips. The piece is looking like this after some sanding:

[peter]

Looks good!

[sketchley]

3 hours ago, peter said:

Oh, yeah, the verticle bits....that's due to poor construction on my part.  It started off straight, but ended up leaning in some parts....made it from a Costco muffin tray, so I have no one to blame but myself for that.

 

I should have taken my time, gotten some styrene sheets, meaasured and cut, but just wanted to build it with whatever I had laying around.  And I also thought of justifying the lean as simulating the aftermath of an explosion, lol!

 

No worries!  It's supposed to look broken and all bent out of shape!

However, if you're unsatisfied, you can always do what I suggested above, and put highlights elsewhere so people are less likely to notice what you consider are flaws (which aren't flaws at all).

Please keep in mind that the artist (you) is often the most critical, and sees flaws or mistakes that are hardly—if ever—noticed by others!  Example: Tenjin Hidetaka.  He is an awe-inspiring artistic genius at painting Valkyries, right?  Look closely at those "straight" lines in his artwork.  Can you see how they're not straight?  How the painting layers he's put on top don't line up with those not-straight straight lines?  (Admittedly those "mistakes" show up in only a handful of his finished pieces, but I can't unsee them!  LOL)  If he can get away with those supposed flaws, then so can you.  And unlike him, you have a valid reason for not-straight lines, too.  In fact, it would be odd if they weren't bent and distorted...

[arbit]

11 hours ago, Convectuoso said:

Thanks everyone for your tips. The piece is looking like this after some sanding:

Ok, doesn't look like a disaster anymore.

If it is perfectly smooth now, you can dust on a light layer of the base coat, and then gloss again. You could do the same to the second mirror part, to ensure they are the same tone.

[Thom]

22 hours ago, peter said:

Added a few greebles to the verticals bits.

Itching to weather without the strongback decals and finish this thing off.......

 

It might be useful to dance a dremel off the edges of the exposed parts.

[MechTech]

Derex - That sucks man! Sorry to hear about that. You'd think with Bandai, that would not be the case.

Peter - Good move waiting on the decals. Your damage is lookin great! Most people won't be eyeballing for straight pieces, especially since it's damaged. If you're happy, that's what matters.

Convetuoso - Great save! I can't tell anything was wrong with your coating. - MT

[peter]

3 hours ago, Thom said:

It might be useful to dance a dremel off the edges of the exposed parts.

No Dremel :(. 

Impact drill?

 

[peter]

1 hour ago, MechTech said:

Derex - That sucks man! Sorry to hear about that. You'd think with Bandai, that would not be the case.

Peter - Good move waiting on the decals. Your damage is lookin great! Most people won't be eyeballing for straight pieces, especially since it's damaged. If you're happy, that's what matters.

Convetuoso - Great save! I can't tell anything was wrong with your coating. - MT

Thanks

It's a hard wait, staring at the thing without doing anything, but yeah, since they're in the way, may as well wait

Edited August 15, 2020 by peter
Edited for spelling

[derex3592]

I picked up some small slidey clampy thingies at Harbor Freight today, Sunday is my 45th Bday, so this thing IS going to have some cutting, sanding, hammering, drilling, clamping, gluing, whatever the f@ck it takes to have it completed by sundown Sunday night by golly!  Ready to move on! 

[peter]

Good luck

[pengbuzz]

5 hours ago, derex3592 said:

I picked up some small slidey clampy thingies at Harbor Freight today, Sunday is my 45th Bday, so this thing IS going to have some cutting, sanding, hammering, drilling, clamping, gluing, whatever the f@ck it takes to have it completed by sundown Sunday night by golly!  Ready to move on! 

A sledgehammer may prove useful...

[arbit]

8 hours ago, derex3592 said:

I picked up some small slidey clampy thingies at Harbor Freight today, Sunday is my 45th Bday, so this thing IS going to have some cutting, sanding, hammering, drilling, clamping, gluing, whatever the f@ck it takes to have it completed by sundown Sunday night by golly!  Ready to move on! 

Patience, young Skywalker.

Edited August 15, 2020 by arbit

[electric indigo]

9 hours ago, derex3592 said:

I picked up some small slidey clampy thingies at Harbor Freight today, Sunday is my 45th Bday, so this thing IS going to have some cutting, sanding, hammering, drilling, clamping, gluing, whatever the f@ck it takes to have it completed by sundown Sunday night by golly!  Ready to move on! 

The Emperor does not share your optimistic appraisal of the situation...