Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[MacrossJunkie]

32 minutes ago, wm cheng said:

Woohoo!!! After a long journey, its finally starting to look like an airplane... (this is my favourite stage, decaling and weathering :P)

Looking good so far! I've been watching a lot of F-14 builds on Youtube and it's been making me want to build one as well.

I have some Uschi Van Der Rosten photo etch stencils I'd like to try using on one for the weathering portion to see how well that comes out.

[NZEOD]

15 hours ago, MechTech said:

Derex - So you decided to not put it off after all? Cool. Yeah, you need to "replicate" a fruit bowl to put on the table!

NZEOD - So how do you like your printer? I'm thinking of getting one someday. - MT

Love it. Steep learning curve but my 6yr old now has an endless supply of Battlemechs to battle with (and break) and I have a full custom Sith fleet for X-Wing and Custom tau and harlequins for 40K.

 

[NZEOD]

5 hours ago, MacrossJunkie said:

Looking good so far! I've been watching a lot of F-14 builds on Youtube and it's been making me want to build one as well.

I have some Uschi Van Der Rosten photo etch stencils I'd like to try using on one for the weathering portion to see how well that comes out.

Do the Macross F-14

[MechTech]

WM Cheng - Looks just like it's on the hangar paint shop floor (minus wheels)! Nice-n-smooth finish too.

Working on my ship weapons systems, I thought, "Sharks with frickin' lasers" would be cool! But I thought some people might look down on that. Ill tempered, mutated sea bass, are hard to model in 1/72nd scale. So I built the Super-heating Automated Repulse & Kill System (ShARKS) turret instead. Does that sound like an anime acronym or what!

I started by carefully gluing 1/4" styrene pieces together to form rough blocks.

Then drilled a 5mm hole for a screw to go through and machined them on the mill. A rotary table and angle plate were used to rotate and index them 45 degrees (for eight sides).

Holes and slots were machined-out to fit old, leftover PC parts used to add friction to the joints.

I took the optics out of a dead camera and CD player and saved the tiny bits because they looked cool. I knew I'd use them someday. Also shown are the completed parts that were hollowed out for weight and maybe LEDs.

And final - VERY - LOOSELY - fit together assembly photos with the various lenses just sitting on top without glue to check fit. The optics have coatings giving them a realistic red or blue tint as the light glances off them - similar to the real laser optics. The kerf marks in the plastic are picking up oil from the machines showing dirt - and that I have more sanding to do!  Thanks for checking in guys! - MT

Edited September 6, 2020 by MechTech

[derex3592]

Death Star II finished up. Eagle eyed viewers will see the next project to be finished up..... 

[peter]

On 9/6/2020 at 9:58 AM, MechTech said:

WM Cheng - Looks just like it's on the hangar paint shop floor (minus wheels)! Nice-n-smooth finish too.

Working on my ship weapons systems, I thought, "Sharks with frickin' lasers" would be cool! But I thought some people might look down on that. Ill tempered, mutated sea bass, are hard to model in 1/72nd scale. So I built the Super-heating Automated Repulse & Kill System (ShARKS) turret instead. Does that sound like an anime acronym or what!

I started by carefully gluing 1/4" styrene pieces together to form rough blocks.

Then drilled a 5mm hole for a screw to go through and machined them on the mill. A rotary table and angle plate were used to rotate and index them 45 degrees (for eight sides).

Holes and slots were machined-out to fit old, leftover PC parts used to add friction to the joints.

I took the optics out of a dead camera and CD player and saved the tiny bits because they looked cool. I knew I'd use them someday. Also shown are the completed parts that were hollowed out for weight and maybe LEDs.

And final - VERY - LOOSELY - fit together assembly photos with the various lenses just sitting on top without glue to check fit. The optics have coatings giving them a realistic red or blue tint as the light glances off them - similar to the real laser optics. The kerf marks in the plastic are picking up oil from the machines showing dirt - and that I have more sanding to do!  Thanks for checking in guys! - MT

Those are the coolest greebles ever, that camera part was a great idea!  I wish i didn't recycle all of my old broken camera now and saved the parts.

[peter]

1 hour ago, derex3592 said:

Death Star II finished up. Eagle eyed viewers will see the next project to be finished up..... 

Looks awesome!  I have mine sitting in a pile waiting to be done.  Bandai should make a larger scale version, I bet it would sell.

I've been trying to clean out space in my home so I can actually display completed models, so the K'tingas haven't been touched for a while.

I'm also still waiting for the strongback decals for my Auto-destruct refit, but USPS seems to be a bit mucked up right now with no updates since 16Aug.  I contacted HDA Modelworx and they said there is no rhyme or reason on when things eventually get delivered (I already got my K'tinga decals which I ordered around the same time).  

Hope to get back into it all soon.

[wm cheng]

Thanks for the tip @MacrossJunkie on those airbrush splatter stencils.  Just ordered those - exactly what I was hoping for before I ever get to the newer Tomcats.

That Death Star II is looking great @derex3592!!  Amazing how much detail they can pack into something that small.

 

[Gabe Q]

3 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Death Star II finished up. Eagle eyed viewers will see the next project to be finished up..... 

Cat's Eye!!!

Your death star looks great!

[derex3592]

Thanks guys! I really wasn't happy with the panel gaps, but it would take a lot of effort to putty and paint those once you snap it together.  YUP! Cat's Eye is next up on the "it's been two years since I touched it" shelf. I don't like the plain off white paint job as seen in the anime, it just looks blah. Gonna get creative and have some fun, My biggest problem, really the only problem is the canopies. They just don't fit right.  Not quite sure how I'm gonna do that, and I've had two years to think about it...

[arbit]

Mechtech, nice use of spare camera parts.

Derex, I would build it and not worry about the canopy for now. Just don't glue it on until you come up with a solution.

[MechTech]

Derex - The Death Star is looking great! That is a lot of detail crammed into such a small space.

Thank you guys. Hopefully the final turret comes out as planned. - MT 

[NZEOD]

Started this a couple of hours ago. Almost done, just the eye lens to go.

[pengbuzz]

12 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Thanks guys! I really wasn't happy with the panel gaps, but it would take a lot of effort to putty and paint those once you snap it together.  YUP! Cat's Eye is next up on the "it's been two years since I touched it" shelf. I don't like the plain off white paint job as seen in the anime, it just looks blah. Gonna get creative and have some fun, My biggest problem, really the only problem is the canopies. They just don't fit right.  Not quite sure how I'm gonna do that, and I've had two years to think about it...

As far as the canopies go: I would consider gluing the canopies to the cockpit and filling the gaps with something like Future floor acrylic. Then, using very thin styrene, make frames for the canopies where they meet the cockpit and disguise the join. This would allow you to then paint over the styrene and have a clear decent-looking canopy.

One time, I used masking tape in that endeavor on a model kit where the canopy was being a royal pain.

[MechTech]

Looking good NZEOD! It's a good anime lookin' color.

It's time to get down to the nuts n bolts! I took a punch I made for large squares and drilled a tiny 1/16th  inch hole in it. Punch a similar sized Allen wrench and you get bolt heads. They are actually two-sided. One side is narrow and the other larger. Came out weird. But as you can see, the same heads look like two different sizes when flipped over. Still more work to go on it... - MT

 

[NZEOD]

WIP Nousjardeul-Ger 1/285 scale... almost done

[wm cheng]

@NZEOD those are amazing!!!  So small and detailed.  Fantasic, what kits are they?

@MechTech I still can't believe you make that out of scratch (I know I sound like a broken record) but its amazing.  Do you build ships for a maritime museum?  What do you do with your big boats afterwards?

 

Getting closer, doesn’t look like I’ll finish before I start work Monday   (Love 70’s hi-viz graphics - come shoot me, if you dare)  I'm going to try to finish up the plane and leave all the ordinance and tanks till the weekends between work (maybe a big break between finishing it up unfortunately).  So glossy, don't really know how to weather it to make it look a little more realistic, its kind of looks like a matchbox metal diecast toy at the moment.  I still gotta future clear coat the decals, and fix the lower ventral fins (stupidly I painted them red both sides, and only noticed that they were only red on the outside after I decaled it - argh!) - maybe a light use shading and semi-gloss clear coat would take the "toy-ish" ness down a bit.  Gotta do the wing sweep dirt pattern on the wings, but minimally since these are new planes in 1974.  I'm not used to the Navy taking care of their planes :P  (bunch of little details like the black anti-glare pattern in front of the cockpit and gunmetal gun shield that will be sprayed at the very end along with the wing bags that I want to be flat finish)

 

[pengbuzz]

.......

Edited September 24, 2020 by pengbuzz

[derex3592]

So as a cool idea, I downloaded some LCARS screens (mostly from DS9) and shrunk them down, printed them out, so then eventually I'll print them on decal paper and put them along the walls in the back as well as the front and mid cockpit area....hopefully. 

[pengbuzz]

4 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

So as a cool idea, I downloaded some LCARS screens (mostly from DS9) and shrunk them down, printed them out, so then eventually I'll print them on decal paper and put them along the walls in the back as well as the front and mid cockpit area....hopefully. 

Interesting idea!

[MechTech]

NZEOD - The male armor looks great! Painting that small is a lot of "fun."

WM Cheng - Thank you very much, I appreciate it! I love doing styrene work, so this is fun. This is still the same ship for the last two years or so! I've spent most of that time trying to make a cap cannon that works and looks right. Now I'm catching up on the actual ship. I actually volunteer doing graphics for the local naval air museum, but no models. No one would hire me because I don't have any experience Oh well, at least it's fun and not a job this way.

That Tomcat looks amazing! I wish the 1/32nd scale Revell kit I did in the 80's (with REAL rubber tires) looked like that! Same decals too. We used to joke that the Navy didn't know what aircraft soap was. Looking at the photos and Macross Junkies post after this, looks like they kept them clean. The photo below isn't even the CAG's plane, and it's clean! But the wheels wells and struts have some dirt on them.

Pengbuzz - Wouldn't it have been easier to feed that figure some 'roids? That is an AWESOME looking sculpt! I'm having 80's flash backs! "By the power of masking tape!!!"

Derex - Those look cool! Just don't forget the fruit bowl - MT

Edited September 11, 2020 by MechTech
Tomcat comments.

[MacrossJunkie]

@MechTech That's really incredible that you're scratchbuilding all that. It looks so cleanly done and detailed, even that sculpted ejection port. 

@NZEOD Are those 3D printed or from some kit? That's pretty detailed for something so small. Well painted and good decaling too.

@derex3592 If you're already already planning to light up that kit, maybe you could have those screens be backlit too. haha.

@wm cheng Well done on that Wolfpack scheme. I don't really know what you could do to weather it either as you're shooting for a new plane look. 

Using this for reference, it looks pretty much as yours does.

[MechTech]

Thank you Macross Junkie, I appreciate it! I updated my last post in response to your post for WM Cheng. That is a great photo. It looks like the squadron all had that scheme, not just the CAG's plane. It is unusually clean for a Navy plane too! - MT

[derex3592]

Today's very boring pre-work on the Runabout... 

[MechTech]

Derex - I guess it's drawing you in to work on NOW after all? The interior of that thing is going to look way better than what most people do to the outside at this rate!

Next assembly for the ship. 180 engraved dots all around the tubes. Any guesses? - MT

[arbit]

2 hours ago, MechTech said:

Any guesses?

Hmmm... No idea. Holes are too small for gun turrets.

[wm cheng]

Well I had to finish by today (I start work Monday again )  Its by no means perfect, but I had to rush it.  I weathered it very lightly, but its hard to see in the photos through the semi-gloss finish.  The most disappointing thing is you can hardly see any of the cockpit detailing AND when I uncovered the mask, there was some hazing on the inside surface of the canopy glass (I'm just having such bad luck with canopies these days).  I've glued it shut a long time ago, I wonder if I should risk it and pry it apart (I'm sure to damage the finish around the fuselage and worst crack the canopy in doing so) to clean the interior - but I hate the hazing - I was so careful to not use any crazy glues in the construction at all.  It must of been some other paint off-gassing.  Hopefully I will gnaw away at the ordinance/fuel tanks over the next few weekends to finish her up - she's so lank/skinny without any missiles.  I do love how this kit has all the spoilers, slats and flaps open with all the proper alignment, but it does take away from a very sleek bird, I think I have to do one where the wings are swept back some day.

 

Close up of the canopy fogging - looks like something I can just brush away if I could get in there...

Boy can you see the difference a few decades make, the beginning of 4th gen fighter and the end - even the colours scream 70s.  Well this and my C3P0 and R2D2 represents this Covid Pandemic break for me.  Lets hope 2021 is a better year for all of us!

 

[Gabe Q]

@derex3592 I guess that's why I haven't been posting. All that 'boring' work is gonna pay off, I'm sure. 

@MechTech I'm not sure what the dots are on the tubes but I'm very curious now. Looks like tedious work! Hats off to your patience. 

@wm cheng Very beautiful birds you have there. Your builds are always the gold standard around here. About 90% of everything I learned about building, I learned from your build ups way back. Good to see you building. 

You're right about the differences a few decades make. The planes look very different. 

[electric indigo]

Another pro-quality finish on the F-14, and again, the pics could pass as a 1/48 build. The kit looks very detailed, are the spoilers photo etch parts?

I guess the only details you have to take care of with a closed canopy Tomcat build are the pilots' helmets and the ejection handles. I will fast-forward this section if I pick up my Hase kit again.

[MechTech]

WM Cheng - I have to agree! Very PROFESSIONAL finish. And on everything that is tough to do. White, red and gray masking all together with flying surfaces - and - sharp lines! That is tough to do right. That totally sucks about the canopy though! Two choices, put it in a DARK room forever, or get out the razor blade. It looks like you glued down that canopy tight though. - MT

[Dobber]

Beautiful build William! Which kit is that?

Chris

[peter]

The F14 looks great.  I have a big fat 1/32 waiting for me one day, hope it looks half as good.

[wm cheng]

6 hours ago, Dobber said:

Beautiful build William! Which kit is that?

Chris

Great Wall Hobby L7206 F-14A Tomcat in 1/72 scale

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/great-wall-hobby-l7206-f-14a-tomcat--1249151

Definitely not a beginner kit, lots of mistakes in the instructions, must piece together a few steps ahead before gluing things down, could use a lot more pegs/surfaces to glue or align parts and mistakes in decals both in instructions and sizing (a little over sized).  But with all the flaws, its an extremely detailed kit with the most option parts for an early block Tomcat and only one with proper spoilers/flaps assembly for the wings.  Plus how can you pass up that Wolfpack scheme?!

[slide]

7 hours ago, Dobber said:

Beautiful build William! Which kit is that?

Chris

8 minutes ago, wm cheng said:

Great Wall Hobby L7206 F-14A Tomcat in 1/72 scale

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/great-wall-hobby-l7206-f-14a-tomcat--1249151

Definitely not a beginner kit, lots of mistakes in the instructions, must piece together a few steps ahead before gluing things down, could use a lot more pegs/surfaces to glue or align parts and mistakes in decals both in instructions and sizing (a little over sized).  But with all the flaws, its an extremely detailed kit with the most option parts for an early block Tomcat and only one with proper spoilers/flaps assembly for the wings.  Plus how can you pass up that Wolfpack scheme?!

This is a full-build of the D version, but the builder highlights the same issues:

 

[MechTech]

It may be a little too obvious now what it is, but its only half way done. - MT