Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[Thom]

@Ignacio Ocamica That's not cheating. That's making it work! He's looking good.

@Urashiman That VF-9 is looking nice! Good luck with the casting.

@pengbuzz I feel the pain! I too have made my finger and knife share the same temporal and physical plane of existence a time or two. As to 2020 never having happened, I think we deserved this as a leap year... As in we all leap the hell past it, sharing that scream you uttered!

Edited November 17, 2020 by Thom

[Urashiman]

1 hour ago, MechTech said:

@Ignacio Ocamica That's looking awesome! You gonna make casts we can buy?

@Urashiman That would be an excellent kit to own! I know I thought about making one a while back, but too much going on. Are you going to sell to us too? - Phill

@MechTechI don't think I will start selling it. Too much trouble with business taxes in Germany. I was thinking of releasing it under GPL, so anyone can print it.
@Thomthanks! Only 3D printing, no casting

[pengbuzz]

UPDATE:

After a day and a half to let the finger heal (thought when it first happened I'd need stitches, but thankfully not; just some neosporin and a bandaid), I got some work and a bit of priming done today:

Arm armor, shoulder armor and waist armor were worked on and built up. All still need more work and detailing, but they're starting to get there finally. The rear boosters on the back needed to be removed, sanded down and redone (they were angled oddly and not very convincing looking):

Once I can make the square thrust vectors, they should be all set; meantime I'm working out how to make all the missiles and opening doors on the chest, shoulders and legs to house/reveal them. That's gonna take some time, so we'll leave that for a bit later on. Lastly, the head lasers kept snapping off and acting as a major pain (weren't scaling right and whatnot), so I cut a spare VF-1s laser set in half and used those for the barrels:

It may need just a bit more work to resemble the set the 1J has, but at least these won't keep popping off continually.

Overall, I'm making progress that while slow, is at least resulting in some satisfactory results. The real test will be the final detailing and missile load-outs; if I can pull those off (and their respective covers and hinges) successfully, then I'll have something here worthy to replace the regular VF-1J in the Armored Factory Diorama.

Ultimately, the goal is to entirely replicate the Macross Armored Factory, right down to the mecha in the set (including the MBR-04-Mk VI Tomahawk), and a second Factory setup (instead of smoothing both into essentially one half of the entire setup). It will require a second build of the diorama, but with some mat board and a few other supplies, it should be feasible.

(Hopefully, the detailing. scratchbuilding lessons learned here can apply to redoing a Matchbox large scale SDF-1 or Hasegawa TV transforming version, should i ever get my hands on one or the other).

Stay tuned...

[Thom]

3 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

UPDATE:

After a day and a half to let the finger heal (thought when it first happened I'd need stitches, but thankfully not; just some neosporin and a bandaid), I got some work and a bit of priming done today:

Arm armor, shoulder armor and waist armor were worked on and built up. All still need more work and detailing, but they're starting to get there finally. The rear boosters on the back needed to be removed, sanded down and redone (they were angled oddly and not very convincing looking):

Once I can make the square thrust vectors, they should be all set; meantime I'm working out how to make all the missiles and opening doors on the chest, shoulders and legs to house/reveal them. That's gonna take some time, so we'll leave that for a bit later on. Lastly, the head lasers kept snapping off and acting as a major pain (weren't scaling right and whatnot), so I cut a spare VF-1s laser set in half and used those for the barrels:

It may need just a bit more work to resemble the set the 1J has, but at least these won't keep popping off continually.

Overall, I'm making progress that while slow, is at least resulting in some satisfactory results. The real test will be the final detailing and missile load-outs; if I can pull those off (and their respective covers and hinges) successfully, then I'll have something here worthy to replace the regular VF-1J in the Armored Factory Diorama.

Ultimately, the goal is to entirely replicate the Macross Armored Factory, right down to the mecha in the set (including the MBR-04-Mk VI Tomahawk), and a second Factory setup (instead of smoothing both into essentially one half of the entire setup). It will require a second build of the diorama, but with some mat board and a few other supplies, it should be feasible.

(Hopefully, the detailing. scratchbuilding lessons learned here can apply to redoing a Matchbox large scale SDF-1 or Hasegawa TV transforming version, should i ever get my hands on one or the other).

Stay tuned...

Keeping my eyes pealed for more posts!

[MechTech]

@pengbuzz The masking tape is almost giving it an organic look. It's looking like a Sumo alright! - MT

[Kylwell]

On 11/15/2020 at 9:46 AM, MechTech said:

@pengbuzz Your design is looking cool!

Starting to get there with the lighthouse. The F-86 "flying" around the lighthouse will have LED fiber optics in the gun ports. This is the heavily modified circuit board from a dollar store toy for the gun LED and the 1/16" thick button to fit in the lighthouse top to trigger it.

This is the lighthouse finial I turned on the lathe that is also the push button for gun LED circuit in the previous photo.

Third time's a charm! Here is the all new rotor and brushes. The flat thing sticking up is the lighthouse LED that rotates. I don't like using rubber bands because they dry out and fail, but it was the only thing to help add tension to the brushes. I thought the weight of the brass brushes would be enough on their own to make them keep contact with the circular circuit board, but that idea failed.

I used a 3mm "candle" LED and machined tubing really thin to house it and contain the light for the rear "flames." Hopefully this week it all comes together on schedule! - MT

 

I've got an assortment of springs that would probably work if you give me a length & diameter I'll see what I have.

[pengbuzz]

UPDATE: "First colors":

This first painting is just to give myself an idea of how the final colors will "play out" on it, and allow me to adjust as needed. it also gives me a "milestone" by which to judge how much work is left. Speaking of which: had to re-work the shoulder armor/missile bays:

They were the wrong shape, somewhat too large, and I needed to empty them out a bit inside to put in some actual missiles as well as the mechanisms to hinge the doors on them.

 

Stay tuned...

 

 

[MechTech]

@Kylwell Thank you very much, I appreciate it. There isn't any room for even tiny ones so I'll have to leave it as is.

@pengbuzz It's great to see this take shape! - MT

[MechTech]

Got a bit more done this weekend on the lighthouse project.

I drilled out the six tiny holes for the .50 cal gun ports and angled them to get the fibers through and glued them in place. The fibers were glued into a brass sleeve and mating sleeve was made to cover the LED. You can see my foil work to black out the LEDs. You can just see the "Y" the LED branch of into both sides. Had to do this twice! First LEDs were damaged when glue got on them and cracked the acrylic strands. This also made the gun ports larger.

Completed gluing the fuselage together. You can see the metal foil to cover up the LEDs (it breaks up into a "Y" going to both sides). Gonna have to black out the windshield.

Got the arm glued on and the wires colored and installed through the arm.

Also completed construction on the 1/60 (more like 1/72)) kit that had the VERY brittle plastic (not normal for the kit line). He's gettin' a lot of battle damage to hide all the places I had to glue parts back together. It was like brittle bone syndrome with this particular kit. It's a great sculpt and has great proportions in case anyone is thinking of getting this kit. My other kit from this line has perfect plastic, so I don't know what happened with this kit.

Shown with a razor blade for size and an Abram's tank to scale. - MT

Edited November 22, 2020 by MechTech

[CrossAir]

I have been absent from model building for more than three months. You guys have posted a lot of great builds and projects during this time.  Awesome!

So I just started over again with some Hexa Gear kits (two more figures and a crossbike) to add to my Bulkarm Alpha. Planning to put them in a small diorama. Just finished the last figure today and this is a first example for the planned setup (I have to go on a hike and get me some rubble to place around the mech):

Edited November 22, 2020 by CrossAir

[derex3592]

Great update @MechTech! That's some tiny detail work!  Welcome back @CrossAir! 

Over here we've got some actual work being accomplished on the Runabout.   Stripping of the Cat's Eye back down to the resin still goes on slowly out in the garage from time to time...

 

[pengbuzz]

@MechTech Really liking the work you put into that little guy! Seeing that whip around the lighthouse is going to be a blast!

@derex3592 Sorry that the Cat's Eye is being such a pain! I know all too well the "joys" of stripping paint back down to plastic (which is why I had offered to help!); that recently ate one of my projects and gave me grey hairs! But the Runabout looks like she's getting power now and that will be a diorama within a model indeed! Going to be very interested in seeing the final on that one!

UPDATE: began installing missiles in the shoulders (after hollowing them out for that purpose), as well as fitting missiles and their covers to the chest:

 

I plan on using a single pin in the middle to joint both halves of the chest doors. It's going to be a bit of a pain to fit, but I was expecting that. Then the shoulder covers will be the next issue. After that, a bit undecided on trying to hinge the lower leg missile covers, as those simply fold out and are going to be flimsy as all get out. I'll see how things go from here and feel my way though this.

I also cleaned up around the neck area a bit and did a little repainting around the armor; nothing worth taking specific pics for this time around. Also need to work the angle on the chest chamfer surrounding the missiles and blend that in a bit better; adding the strip didn't go as planned and was a bit wonky, so just another issue to consider.

Not bad for starting from half a Battroid, right?

Stay tuned...

 

[Chronocidal]

On 11/22/2020 at 11:59 AM, derex3592 said:

Great update @MechTech! That's some tiny detail work!  Welcome back @CrossAir! 

Over here we've got some actual work being accomplished on the Runabout.   Stripping of the Cat's Eye back down to the resin still goes on slowly out in the garage from time to time...

 

That looks amazing, seriously.  You might want to put a blue filter over the bulbs to give it a more TV-ish look, but the interior details look perfect.

[derex3592]

Thanks @Chronocidal.  Yeh, I had warm white and cool white LED's, but I'm a warm white interior kinda guy for Trek interiors, especially Starfleet stuff. I haven't decided how to pull off the windows yet, but I was considering a slight blue tint to either the plastic ones that come with the model (easier and pre made to fit, but will lose clarity into the front and rear areas where all my hard work will be seen) OR just make custom window sheets out of lighting gel (harder only because of those canted front two cockpit windows). Stay tuned! 

Edited November 23, 2020 by derex3592

[Thom]

14 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

@MechTech Really liking the work you put into that little guy! Seeing that whip around the lighthouse is going to be a blast!

@derex3592 Sorry that the Cat's Eye is being such a pain! I know all too well the "joys" of stripping paint back down to plastic (which is why I had offered to help!); that recently ate one of my projects and gave me grey hairs! But the Runabout looks like she's getting power now and that will be a diorama within a model indeed! Going to be very interested in seeing the final on that one!

UPDATE: began installing missiles in the shoulders (after hollowing them out for that purpose), as well as fitting missiles and their covers to the chest:

 

I plan on using a single pin in the middle to joint both halves of the chest doors. It's going to be a bit of a pain to fit, but I was expecting that. Then the shoulder covers will be the next issue. After that, a bit undecided on trying to hinge the lower leg missile covers, as those simply fold out and are going to be flimsy as all get out. I'll see how things go from here and feel my way though this.

I also cleaned up around the neck area a bit and did a little repainting around the armor; nothing worth taking specific pics for this time around. Also need to work the angle on the chest chamfer surrounding the missiles and blend that in a bit better; adding the strip didn't go as planned and was a bit wonky, so just another issue to consider.

Not bad for starting from half a Battroid, right?

Stay tuned...

 

Looking good! It has come a long, fine way.

On 11/22/2020 at 2:59 PM, derex3592 said:

Great update @MechTech! That's some tiny detail work!  Welcome back @CrossAir! 

Over here we've got some actual work being accomplished on the Runabout.   Stripping of the Cat's Eye back down to the resin still goes on slowly out in the garage from time to time...

 

The interior looks great. Nice work. I love how much of it you can see through the openings. 

[MechTech]

Thank you guys, I appreciate it!

@CrossAir Great paint job. Looks like it might have given you a great headache too with all that splinter cammo masking.

@derex3592 Your interior and details look great! The light coming through the window screams for people to look inside.

@pengbuzz Great progress on your Sumo. The missiles look cool. I think that is why I started going from conventional aircraft with only a few missiles to the whole Itano Circus thing in anime. - MT

[pengbuzz]

6 hours ago, MechTech said:

@pengbuzz Great progress on your Sumo. The missiles look cool. I think that is why I started going from conventional aircraft with only a few missiles to the whole Itano Circus thing in anime. - MT

Thanks, but tonight I suffered a MAJOR triple setback..

 

1) Hip joints broke; the plastic was not holding up well to the stress. Okay, glue those into place, as the model didn't really pose that well anyways.

2) Knee joints broke as well. Brittle plastic, too much weight on them. Not happy, but not exactly a "deal-breaker". Glued those into place and continued on.

Number 3 was waiting 'round the corner though:

3) I finally got those fixed, only for the freshly -installed missile doors to reveal that they had been glued shut and had melted all the missile detail I had installed underneath!!

So, after much "venting" (and contemplating turning the Armored Valk model into a "kamikaze"), I resigned myself to leaving the doors glued shut and am now simply building the entire thing with non-opening doors. VERY not happy, but Ce La Vie, right?

(so much for that idea).

Then, the one where my temper ran out:

4)I found out that the entire chest was misshappen and out of specs with the blueprints-

Mine:                                                                                                                                  Blueprints:

   

So, that one made me just place the model down on the shelf where I had been storing it. I'm done with this for tonight.

[MechTech]

@pengbuzz Sorry man! Been there done that too. It sucks. Now's a good time to work on something else. - MT

[Thom]

17 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Thanks, but tonight I suffered a MAJOR triple setback..

 

1) Hip joints broke; the plastic was not holding up well to the stress. Okay, glue those into place, as the model didn't really pose that well anyways.

2) Knee joints broke as well. Brittle plastic, too much weight on them. Not happy, but not exactly a "deal-breaker". Glued those into place and continued on.

Number 3 was waiting 'round the corner though:

3) I finally got those fixed, only for the freshly -installed missile doors to reveal that they had been glued shut and had melted all the missile detail I had installed underneath!!

So, after much "venting" (and contemplating turning the Armored Valk model into a "kamikaze"), I resigned myself to leaving the doors glued shut and am now simply building the entire thing with non-opening doors. VERY not happy, but Ce La Vie, right?

(so much for that idea).

Then, the one where my temper ran out:

4)I found out that the entire chest was misshappen and out of specs with the blueprints-

Mine:                                                                                                                                  Blueprints:

   

So, that one made me just place the model down on the shelf where I had been storing it. I'm done with this for tonight.

Dang, sorry to hear the troubles! You'll get over this though, we have no doubt. Sure, put it down for a little bit, then return with fresh mojo. And hey, you may decide it's worth it to redo the chest piece.

[pengbuzz]

14 minutes ago, Thom said:

Dang, sorry to hear the troubles! You'll get over this though, we have no doubt. Sure, put it down for a little bit, then return with fresh mojo. And hey, you may decide it's worth it to redo the chest piece.

The chest piece isn't the primary issue so much as all the missiles got melted behind it.

Anyways, when I get back to it, no opening hatches is probably going to be the best way to go.

[pengbuzz]

Okay...after a couple of days away from this, this is what I finally decided to do concerning the GBP-1S project:

Basically, I decided to make the Valkyrie look like it had shot off most of its' ordnance and was in the process of being refurbished and reloaded. I purposely left off the back launchers on the legs, with "aircraft zinc oxide yellow" squares denoting where modules should plug into. I envision the launchers as being pre-loaded modules that are simply plugged in and calibrated to the onboard computer (allowing for rapid reload situations). I also transferred the 1/72 seat head post piece I made so the head could be shown in "open" position; I simply had to glue a bit more plastic to the bottom of it so the head had the clearance to display properly.

It also allowed me to put this piece back into the display:

So overall, the diorama is changing and improving; just need a Tomahawk (and to build the other half of the factory!)

Scene so far:

Meantime, disaster hit my Imai VF-1S: the plastic backpack hinge broke last night when i was dusting the valk. Sick of that nonsense, I bent a wire coat hanger into a square about the size and shape of the piece, hammered the sides as flat as I could, and installed that. Slightly floppy, but then again, so was the original hinge.

At least this won't snap on me:

[Thom]

2 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Okay...after a couple of days away from this, this is what I finally decided to do concerning the GBP-1S project:

Basically, I decided to make the Valkyrie look like it had shot off most of its' ordnance and was in the process of being refurbished and reloaded. I purposely left off the back launchers on the legs, with "aircraft zinc oxide yellow" squares denoting where modules should plug into. I envision the launchers as being pre-loaded modules that are simply plugged in and calibrated to the onboard computer (allowing for rapid reload situations). I also transferred the 1/72 seat head post piece I made so the head could be shown in "open" position; I simply had to glue a bit more plastic to the bottom of it so the head had the clearance to display properly.

It also allowed me to put this piece back into the display:

So overall, the diorama is changing and improving; just need a Tomahawk (and to build the other half of the factory!)

Scene so far:

Meantime, disaster hit my Imai VF-1S: the plastic backpack hinge broke last night when i was dusting the valk. Sick of that nonsense, I bent a wire coat hanger into a square about the size and shape of the piece, hammered the sides as flat as I could, and installed that. Slightly floppy, but then again, so was the original hinge.

At least this won't snap on me:

Hey, it's looking good in that factory scene! Nice compromise. And nice recovery with the snapped hing.

[MechTech]

@pengbuzz Your diorama is looking great! Nice save with GBP-1S too. I think it all looks great. The one guy wearing a chem warfare suit next to the guy who isn't is kinda funny. "Yeah, Carl is lactose intolerant and I'm intolerant of his gas!"

Made a big rookie error. Used Tamiya AS-12 Silver on my plane and the finish came out AWESOME! I love their rattle can paints. Last time I used it was on my 1/100 Monster about 20 years ago and forgot about how nice they level out. Instead of painting a spoon at the same time to test on, I sprayed Krylon Clear gloss acrylic coating on my plane. The photo says it all! If I had tested it on a spoon or test piece, I would have avoided this problem! It really didn't need a clear coat. I cleaned the wings off and redid the coat and it's better, but not as good as BEFORE I screwed up.

The pulley drive on the lighthouse keeps slipping with the strain of the brushes and plane swinging around. So I gave up, scrapped the drive and am in the process of redoing it. Photos of both the plane and the drive to come later. - MT

[pengbuzz]

1 hour ago, MechTech said:

@pengbuzz Your diorama is looking great! Nice save with GBP-1S too. I think it all looks great. The one guy wearing a chem warfare suit next to the guy who isn't is kinda funny. "Yeah, Carl is lactose intolerant and I'm intolerant of his gas!"

Made a big rookie error. Used Tamiya AS-12 Silver on my plane and the finish came out AWESOME! I love their rattle can paints. Last time I used it was on my 1/100 Monster about 20 years ago and forgot about how nice they level out. Instead of painting a spoon at the same time to test on, I sprayed Krylon Clear gloss acrylic coating on my plane. The photo says it all! If I had tested it on a spoon or test piece, I would have avoided this problem! It really didn't need a clear coat. I cleaned the wings off and redid the coat and it's better, but not as good as BEFORE I screwed up.

The pulley drive on the lighthouse keeps slipping with the strain of the brushes and plane swinging around. So I gave up, scrapped the drive and am in the process of redoing it. Photos of both the plane and the drive to come later. - MT

Sorry to hear about the drive bro; I wonder if you need gears instead of pulleys?

As for the finish on the plane: that just stinks! I've had that kind of thing happen, and it's just a miserable thing to go through.

As for the guy in the chemsuit: I did that as a practical joke to see who would catch it! :D

[derex3592]

Runabout front cockpit and transporter room complete. People and chairs coming later.. Taking votes for easter egg black tie fighter pilot repainted in Trek colors standing at the console or in the transporter... LOL 

[pengbuzz]

3 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Runabout front cockpit and transporter room complete. People and chairs coming later.. Taking votes for easter egg black tie fighter pilot repainted in Trek colors standing at the console or in the transporter... LOL 

I say go for it! You may also want to so a wash on the floor to bring out the detail near the front control panels.

[pengbuzz]

Well, now that the dio is pretty well set, I'm dealing with a disaster on another project. Humidity on the East coast pretty much wrecked the Regult I built; should've sealed it before moving out here.

Anyways, replaced the knees (cracked plastic), replacing several of the cannons, repaired the lighting system, the entire paintjob is scrap and the surface is peeled and...

..well, I simply stripped away all the surface tape and redid it. Start finishing it again from zero.

Updates later.

 

Edited November 30, 2020 by pengbuzz

[pengbuzz]

Originally a double post, but since I have progress to show, may as well use it, right?

Finished re-covering the model with a new outer skin of masking tape. sealed it as a measure against any further mishaps, then primed it in black:

Once I have the final colors and whatnot on there, it will be sealed again. This time around, I took the liberty of correcting some details that were misshapen or errand on the last version (more on those in the next post).

Stay tuned folks...

Edited December 1, 2020 by pengbuzz
may as well make use of a post already here, right?

[pengbuzz]

UPDATE: some color (and a light):

 

[Thom]

On 11/29/2020 at 11:50 PM, pengbuzz said:

Originally a double post, but since I have progress to show, may as well use it, right?

Finished re-covering the model with a new outer skin of masking tape. sealed it as a measure against any further mishaps, then primed it in black:

Once I have the final colors and whatnot on there, it will be sealed again. This time around, I took the liberty of correcting some details that were misshapen or errand on the last version (more on those in the next post).

Stay tuned folks...

That's always the best way to look at it. As a way to make some slight adjustments/improvements if needed.

[Thom]

6 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

UPDATE: some color (and a light):

 

And coolness!

[MechTech]

@derex3592 Your runabout is looking good! I don't know about mixing Star Wars and Star Trek, bad things could happen like a thermonuclear blast ...At the console messing with people's heads!

@pengbuzz It's too bad the humidity got your model. Your changes and the light look really good now! - MT

[pengbuzz]

8 hours ago, MechTech said:

 

@pengbuzz It's too bad the humidity got your model. Your changes and the light look really good now! - MT

Thanks! I simply did a reprime and repaint on it. Speaking of which...

UPDATE:

Refined the detailing a bit more. I still have some stuff to add (minor details here and there like the upper head turret), but the basics are there. The legs are ball jointed in the hips, and bend 180 degrees at the knees (for reverse and regular movement), with the feet able to tilt to the sides.

As for the lighting system:

The light is simply one of those LED "finger lights" from the dollar store.I made a collar to go around it, hot-melt glued it into place, used the hot melt glue to create a "lens", then once the glue cooled, pulled the light out from it so it would be removable and the batteries could be replaced as needed:

The switch is at the top (can't really see it there). The entire unit slides into a hole and recess in the front of the Regult:

Stay tuned...more to come...

[Thom]

3 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Thanks! I simply did a reprime and repaint on it. Speaking of which...

UPDATE:

Refined the detailing a bit more. I still have some stuff to add (minor details here and there like the upper head turret), but the basics are there. The legs are ball jointed in the hips, and bend 180 degrees at the knees (for reverse and regular movement), with the feet able to tilt to the sides.

As for the lighting system:

The light is simply one of those LED "finger lights" from the dollar store.I made a collar to go around it, hot-melt glued it into place, used the hot melt glue to create a "lens", then once the glue cooled, pulled the light out from it so it would be removable and the batteries could be replaced as needed:

The switch is at the top (can't really see it there). The entire unit slides into a hole and recess in the front of the Regult:

Stay tuned...more to come...

Simple and fantastic!

[MechTech]

@pengbuzz The Master of Masking Tape strikes again!