Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[Thom]

2 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

eah, that's the rub right there! Shipping can turn a 2 dollar part into a 12 dollar one! And when you only paid 5 bucks for the kit, that is often more than one's better half can tolerate. o.o

Anyways, setting that aside right now: got an early birthday gift from a friend that I'm currently working on:

My progress so far:

Wish I had this kit when I built the "Storm Attacker" version; I think i like the carriers on this better, as well as the booms! Anyways, this means I can now fix the Storm Attacker into solid position and leave it that way, while having both versions for photography.

Stay tuned...

 

Cool!

[peter]

5 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Yeah, that's the rub right there! Shipping can turn a 2 dollar part into a 12 dollar one! And when you only paid 5 bucks for the kit, that is often more than one's better half can tolerate. o.o

Anyways, setting that aside right now: got an early birthday gift from a friend that I'm currently working on:

My progress so far:

Wish I had this kit when I built the "Storm Attacker" version; I think i like the carriers on this better, as well as the booms! Anyways, this means I can now fix the Storm Attacker into solid position and leave it that way, while having both versions for photography.

Stay tuned...

 

Woah, nice!  I sort of want one of those now.

 

[derex3592]

Yes..you do want one.  I've built two, one back when I was a kid that was lost/thrown away when I left home, and one as an adult and it now is in my Macross display cabinet.  It remains, incredibly, sadly, the most proportionately accurate TV SDF-1 model kit to be made.... Whyyyyy a company hasn't done a newer one???...we can only speculate. 

[pengbuzz]

10 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Yes..you do want one.  I've built two, one back when I was a kid that was lost/thrown away when I left home, and one as an adult and it now is in my Macross display cabinet.  It remains, incredibly, sadly, the most proportionately accurate TV SDF-1 model kit to be made.... Whyyyyy a company hasn't done a newer one???...we can only speculate. 

Very tempted to make it transform, but not really wanting to attempt it.

[pengbuzz]

UPDATE:

Got some more work done on it:

Did some work on the connecting arm to the Prometheus; it just looked pretty weird the way it was and I wanted it to credibly look like the arm from the Macross:

 

 

Aside from that, I'm not going to use the antennae from the kit;. Rather, I'll make my own with stretched sprue and add something to the radar mast for the bridge. Most of the spray work is done; just need to do the body colors and details, then we'll go from there.

Since the decals on this kit are just stripes, I'll most likely try painting them in instead of applying the decals. Really don't want to attempt nearly 40 year old decals, as I've seen firsthand what can happen.

 

Stay tuned...

[peter]

Not on the workbench yet, but the local hobby shop is having a 25% off sale.

[peter]

Look how tiny the 1/2500 is compared to this monster!

I'll probably start one of these soon.

Edited March 7, 2021 by peter
Edited for spelling

[Chronocidal]

Oh, whoa.. is that the Polar Lights 1/350?

As much as I would absolutely love to build that kit... I really have no place to put something that big.  

The multi-kit though, I've yet to dig into.  I've built up all of those molds before in separate kits, so I know what I'm getting into with the plastic, but I'm really (not) looking forward to all the insane decals.

Except for the Enterprise-E... I don't know why they cheaped out so hard on the decals for that one, but it looks like they didn't even attempt to give you the hull plating details for that one for some reason.  

Edited March 6, 2021 by Chronocidal

[Thom]

I was close to buying the 1/350 at a model show, then I saw that the saucer was just about the size of a small coffee table!

[pengbuzz]

24 minutes ago, Thom said:

I was close to buying the 1/350 at a model show, then I saw that the saucer was just about the size of a small coffee table!

I wonder if anyone ever thought to use it as a steering wheel?

[peter]

4 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Oh, whoa.. is that the Polar Lights 1/350?

As much as I would absolutely love to build that kit... I really have no place to put something that big.  

The multi-kit though, I've yet to dig into.  I've built up all of those molds before in separate kits, so I know what I'm getting into with the plastic, but I'm really (not) looking forward to all the insane decals.

Except for the Enterprise-E... I don't know why they cheaped out so hard on the decals for that one, but it looks like they didn't even attempt to give you the hull plating details for that one for some reason.  

I think these are the decals for the Ent E.  I'm going to be honest, I haven't done a lot of needing out or research on the E or what it's supposed to look at so I'm not sure if these decals are garbage or not.

I do know the refit and the Ent D decals were good.

As for space for the 350 Refit, I don't have space either, lol!

My shelf.

So, I will have think of something.

 

The kit was 25% off today so it was $110 CAD and it was too hard to say no.

 

I'll figure out the space for it later, but I have to say, I felt like a kid again.  I remember back then I used to think the 537 Refit was huge, haha!

[peter]

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/absolute-models-abm-1701-e-ultimate-grade-enterprise-1701-e-1-2500-scale-decals--1259164

 

Damn....I wish I could unsee these now.

[Chronocidal]

2 minutes ago, peter said:

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/absolute-models-abm-1701-e-ultimate-grade-enterprise-1701-e-1-2500-scale-decals--1259164

Damn....I wish I could unsee these now.

Yeah, just... yeeaaahhh.

I can kind of understand why they didn't put the windows, since those are molded into the hull, but they made the whole freakin ship a pile of blank beige panels.  That's some profound garbage there.  

 

[Thom]

11 hours ago, peter said:

I think these are the decals for the Ent E.  I'm going to be honest, I haven't done a lot of needing out or research on the E or what it's supposed to look at so I'm not sure if these decals are garbage or not.

I do know the refit and the Ent D decals were good.

As for space for the 350 Refit, I don't have space either, lol!

My shelf.

So, I will have think of something.

 

The kit was 25% off today so it was $110 CAD and it was too hard to say no.

 

I'll figure out the space for it later, but I have to say, I felt like a kid again.  I remember back then I used to think the 537 Refit was huge, haha!

A deal like that on a monster of a kit? You'll get nothing but praise here! 

[Bolt]

This particular thread has always been the most prolific and productive model resources for me. You ALL keep me so inspired.

And so, I've renewed interest in my 1/72 VF-24 project. Here's the current stage. Basic shape and some initial sanding.

Based on Hasegawa's 1/72 VF-25S/F Super Messiah and the Delta 1/72 VF-31A ,that I've kit bashed.( I've put so much mental energy into it) , lol . So here we go..

 

[arbit]

40 minutes ago, Bolt said:

This particular thread has always been the most prolific and productive model resources for me. You ALL keep me so inspired.

And so, I've renewed interest in my 1/72 VF-24 project. Here's the current stage. Basic shape and some initial sanding.

Based on Hasegawa's 1/72 VF-25S/F Super Messiah and the Delta 1/72 VF-31A ,that I've kit bashed.( I've put so much mental energy into it) , lol . So here we go..

 

My motto is, just get it done. And I like your background.

[pengbuzz]

31 minutes ago, arbit said:

My motto is, just get it done. And I like your background.

And getting it done I am indeed...

UPDATE:

Sorry for the dook me a bit, since my camera's memory card self-destructed and my PC's card reader mo longer works (had to use my wife's on both counts):

The main support for the stand gave out and snapped clean in half; I remedied this by tracing a new one onto two pieces of very thick styrene , cutting them out and gluing them together. Some sanding, shaping and whatnot later, I had a new, serviceable stand that has absolutely no wobble and will stay perfectly still in the middle of a hurricane.

(yes, I even drilled out the holes like the original had. :D)

Still in progress on this:

The prongs on the bow were a bit too weak, so I removed them in favor of replacing them when i am nearly done with this project.

 

As planned, I forewent the kit antennae in favor of stretched-sprue versions. While i was at it, I redid the main radar mast:

Still need a few touch-ups here and there:

Overall, a neat kit to build; my only regret is that Imai never did an Storm Attacker in 1/5000 scale. But alas, we'll never know, shall we.

Maybe one day I can obtain a Matchbox SDF-1 to accurize... a pengbuzz can dream, can't he?

(and it will remain a dream as long as they keep the price at at least 2 c-notes! I'm so poor, I can't even pay attention!! lol )

 

Stay tuned...

Edited March 8, 2021 by pengbuzz

[peter]

17 hours ago, Thom said:

A deal like that on a monster of a kit? You'll get nothing but praise here! 

Lol, you never know, I could totally blow it and botch this thing....

I will try to take my time with it.  Not brave enough to mask the thing and paint the 5 stage pearl paint, just going to try and track down a set of Aztec decals when they reissue them.

I'm also looking into lighting it.  Scary for me as I've never illuminated any of my models.

[peter]

1 hour ago, Bolt said:

This particular thread has always been the most prolific and productive model resources for me. You ALL keep me so inspired.

And so, I've renewed interest in my 1/72 VF-24 project. Here's the current stage. Basic shape and some initial sanding.

Based on Hasegawa's 1/72 VF-25S/F Super Messiah and the Delta 1/72 VF-31A ,that I've kit bashed.( I've put so much mental energy into it) , lol . So here we go..

 

Umm.....what is that under the Valk?

It looks like part of the SDF1 or one of the ARMD carriers?

 

Looks awesome so far!

[peter]

39 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

And getting it done I am indeed...

UPDATE:

Sorry for the dook me a bit, since my camera's memory card self-destructed and my PC's card reader mo longer works (had to use my wife's on both counts):

The main support for the stand gave out and snapped clean in half; I remedied this by tracing a new one onto two pieces of very thick styrene , cutting them out and gluing them together. Some sanding, shaping and whatnot later, I had a new, serviceable stand that has absolutely no wobble and will stay perfectly still in the middle of a hurricane.

(yes, I even drilled out the holes like the original had. :D)

Still in progress on this:

The prongs on the bow were a bit too weak, so I removed them in favor of replacing them when i am nearly done with this project.

 

As planned, I forewent the kit antennae in favor of stretched-sprue versions. While i was at it, I redid the main radar mast:

Still need a few touch-ups here and there:

Overall, a neat kit to build; my only regret is that Imai never did an Storm Attacker in 1/5000 scale. But alas, we'll never know, shall we.

Maybe one day I can obtain a Matchbox SDF-1 to accurize... a pengbuzz can dream, can't he?

(and it will remain a dream as long as they keep the price at at least 2 c-notes! I'm so poor, I can't even pay attention!! lol )

 

Stay tuned...

Those stretched sprues are a great idea....I haven't tried that in ages....like 35 years or so.....will need to learn that skill again if I ever get back into building battleships.

[peter]

Ok, so, BOP refurbish project.....it's become a guinea pig test bed to see what the limitations of my skills and tools are.

I brush painted the thing some sort of Testors OD green 30+ years ago so I tried to strip it off last summer (unsuccessfully) along with those two K'Tingas I refurbished.  A few days ago, I gave the BOP a shot of Rustoleum charcoal and today I tried to mix some green to get it close.

I painted my two 537 K'Tingas OD Green (as well as that little 1/2500 K'Tinga to match), and now I sort of wish I had an airbrush at the time to mix a color that's more screen accurate.  Oh well, I'm not going to refurbish those things again, lol!

Anyway,  I didn't take exact measurements, I just I took two drops (ish) of Park and a drop of Olive and got this funky thing.  

Next I took a drop of this and threw it through the airbrush.

Another experiment.  This time I was testing to see how fine a line I could get and how steady I could paint without the aid of masks.  I ended up with a bunch of fuzzy feathers, lol!

After I clear coat it and give the thing a wash with Tamiya panel line, maybe that will sharpen up some of the edges.  If not, well, this thing was a write off to begin with so as long as I got some practice in, no loss.

Next experiment was thinning paint.  I used pure Windex on Tamiya Red and started layering it on top of the Rustoleum charcoal.  I wanted to test to see if Windex could work as a thinning agent in the event I was not able to obtain more Tamiya X20A.  I wasn't concerned about adding a blue tinge to the red as it's not supposed to be a bright red anyway.

Took my time building up very thin layers, but it seemed to take.

Also focused on a few feathers to vary the color so some will appear brighter than others.  This was also some more practice for me to see if I could hold the airbrush steady enough to not use masking.  

Gave it a shot of Pledge and will let it cure for a day, more to follow later.

Looking forward to building a larger BOP eventually

 

[Thom]

7 hours ago, Bolt said:

This particular thread has always been the most prolific and productive model resources for me. You ALL keep me so inspired.

And so, I've renewed interest in my 1/72 VF-24 project. Here's the current stage. Basic shape and some initial sanding.

Based on Hasegawa's 1/72 VF-25S/F Super Messiah and the Delta 1/72 VF-31A ,that I've kit bashed.( I've put so much mental energy into it) , lol . So here we go..

 

Man, I would have loved for them to have made a kit of the VF-24! I'll have to live vicariously through you! Looks like quite the job.

6 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

And getting it done I am indeed...

UPDATE:

Sorry for the dook me a bit, since my camera's memory card self-destructed and my PC's card reader mo longer works (had to use my wife's on both counts):

The main support for the stand gave out and snapped clean in half; I remedied this by tracing a new one onto two pieces of very thick styrene , cutting them out and gluing them together. Some sanding, shaping and whatnot later, I had a new, serviceable stand that has absolutely no wobble and will stay perfectly still in the middle of a hurricane.

(yes, I even drilled out the holes like the original had. :D)

Still in progress on this:

The prongs on the bow were a bit too weak, so I removed them in favor of replacing them when i am nearly done with this project.

 

As planned, I forewent the kit antennae in favor of stretched-sprue versions. While i was at it, I redid the main radar mast:

Still need a few touch-ups here and there:

Overall, a neat kit to build; my only regret is that Imai never did an Storm Attacker in 1/5000 scale. But alas, we'll never know, shall we.

Maybe one day I can obtain a Matchbox SDF-1 to accurize... a pengbuzz can dream, can't he?

(and it will remain a dream as long as they keep the price at at least 2 c-notes! I'm so poor, I can't even pay attention!! lol )

 

Stay tuned...

That's a great looking SDF Peng! Nice idea with the stretched sprue.

 

5 hours ago, peter said:

Ok, so, BOP refurbish project.....it's become a guinea pig test bed to see what the limitations of my skills and tools are.

I brush painted the thing some sort of Testors OD green 30+ years ago so I tried to strip it off last summer (unsuccessfully) along with those two K'Tingas I refurbished.  A few days ago, I gave the BOP a shot of Rustoleum charcoal and today I tried to mix some green to get it close.

I painted my two 537 K'Tingas OD Green (as well as that little 1/2500 K'Tinga to match), and now I sort of wish I had an airbrush at the time to mix a color that's more screen accurate.  Oh well, I'm not going to refurbish those things again, lol!

Anyway,  I didn't take exact measurements, I just I took two drops (ish) of Park and a drop of Olive and got this funky thing.  

Next I took a drop of this and threw it through the airbrush.

Another experiment.  This time I was testing to see how fine a line I could get and how steady I could paint without the aid of masks.  I ended up with a bunch of fuzzy feathers, lol!

After I clear coat it and give the thing a wash with Tamiya panel line, maybe that will sharpen up some of the edges.  If not, well, this thing was a write off to begin with so as long as I got some practice in, no loss.

Next experiment was thinning paint.  I used pure Windex on Tamiya Red and started layering it on top of the Rustoleum charcoal.  I wanted to test to see if Windex could work as a thinning agent in the event I was not able to obtain more Tamiya X20A.  I wasn't concerned about adding a blue tinge to the red as it's not supposed to be a bright red anyway.

Took my time building up very thin layers, but it seemed to take.

Also focused on a few feathers to vary the color so some will appear brighter than others.  This was also some more practice for me to see if I could hold the airbrush steady enough to not use masking.  

Gave it a shot of Pledge and will let it cure for a day, more to follow later.

Looking forward to building a larger BOP eventually

 

For such a lil guy, it's turning out really nice, even if it is just a test-bed.

[TMBounty_Hunter]

13 hours ago, Bolt said:

This particular thread has always been the most prolific and productive model resources for me. You ALL keep me so inspired.

And so, I've renewed interest in my 1/72 VF-24 project. Here's the current stage. Basic shape and some initial sanding.

Based on Hasegawa's 1/72 VF-25S/F Super Messiah and the Delta 1/72 VF-31A ,that I've kit bashed.( I've put so much mental energy into it) , lol . So here we go..

 

Awww heck, I guess this is a reminder for me to get back to working on my attempted YF-24 that's been gathering dust for months

 

[MechTech]

Wow guys, I don't check in for a few days and you go bazerck! Got some work done on the cannon, but need to take photos.

@peter  I love your molten metal pot marks! That's a great idea! I like how your ATAT came out! Nice color blending. Your battle damage on the Birds of Prey look cool too. The screen was a great idea! Admit it, you found another way to get the hardware store into a model, even a small one! It's funny you're using XF-71 for that color. I think that is the same color my gun mechanism will be when done - or close to it.

@pengbuzz That sucks about the canopies! I'd definitely vacuum form new ones. A Maverick Tomcat would be cool. It's great to see some classic plastic being built!

Your SDF-1 looks great! Great save on the stand too! That model is a CLASSIC for sure!

@Bolt Nice mods! I think that will look good when done. - MT

[Thom]

3 hours ago, TMBounty_Hunter said:

Awww heck, I guess this is a reminder for me to get back to working on my attempted YF-24 that's been gathering dust for months

 

You do that. Now!

[peter]

10 hours ago, MechTech said:

Wow guys, I don't check in for a few days and you go bazerck! Got some work done on the cannon, but need to take photos.

@peter  I love your molten metal pot marks! That's a great idea! I like how your ATAT came out! Nice color blending. Your battle damage on the Birds of Prey look cool too. The screen was a great idea! Admit it, you found another way to get the hardware store into a model, even a small one! It's funny you're using XF-71 for that color. I think that is the same color my gun mechanism will be when done - or close to it.

@pengbuzz That sucks about the canopies! I'd definitely vacuum form new ones. A Maverick Tomcat would be cool. It's great to see some classic plastic being built!

Your SDF-1 looks great! Great save on the stand too! That model is a CLASSIC for sure!

@Bolt Nice mods! I think that will look good when done. - MT

Lol, any excuse to throw some metal and plastic together

Just a tiny bit of progress tonight, threw a little Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color onto the BOP refurbish project to give the lines some definition.  The feathers were a bit fuzzy from the free-hand airbrush work so this righted up the edges a bit.

A bit more weathering tomorrow and then dull coat.....hopefully it doesn't bring out the flaws, lol!

[pengbuzz]

20 hours ago, MechTech said:

@pengbuzz That sucks about the canopies! I'd definitely vacuum form new ones. A Maverick Tomcat would be cool. It's great to see some classic plastic being built!

Your SDF-1 looks great! Great save on the stand too! That model is a CLASSIC for sure!

The Tomcat canopy issue: thanks MT. The only issue with vacforming a new one is 1) I don't have a vacforming machine, and 2) I've tried carving a buck for the "heat and smash" but I cannot get it right (and I've tried several times). I was kinda hoping someone here might have had a spare kicking around.

BTW: with Revell's new instructions (now that they are out of Germany): DO NOT use their "painting instructions"!!! I tried their paint color callout ad they are utterly wrong!

The Imai SDF-1: yeah, that one definitely is! I've always wanted to try that version of the SDF-1; were I braver, I would try to make it transformable. The thing is that with how tightly the ship is "packed" in this mode (not to mention a lack of transform joints atm), I would be very leery to try. I still need to finish corrections on it and do a wash to bring out the panels (amongst other things).

[pengbuzz]

I had an idea for trying to get a canopy for my F-14 model kit: Guillows (balsa wood planes) had an F-14 in 1/48, so I tried contacting them. While they did allow folks to buy parts separately, they didn't have it in stock and were not expecting it back in at any point.

So, frustrated, I was searching for canopies online when I went to open a window and knocked the model off the table, sending it to the floor.

Well, I solved the issue with needing parts...

 

Spoiler

I THREW THE DAMNED THING IN THE GARBAGE.

 

And so I managed to "finish" my model.

 

 

[MechTech]

@peter A wash makes a world of difference!

@pengbuzz That's one way to get models off your "to do list" fast! Sorry man! - MT

[Urashiman]

I thought about having a bit fun, so I digged up this kit my older brother gave me a while ago:

He got that one of the bargain bin from one of the many hobby stores years ago. A whopping € 2.99! Please be aware, that a simple kebap is more expensive than this.

Anyway. The kit is really simple, based upon a mold that was created by revell somewhen in the 1970s.

This kit is terrible. It has rised and engraved panel lines and the detail in general is horrible. BUT! it kinda fits well. On a scale from 1 to 10 the whole kit would be a 2/10.

What's the plan?

- Get a somewhat proper cockpit into this kit, as the original cockpit detail consists of only two simple pilot seats (see below pictures)
- Rescribe the rised panel lines
- Fix the canopy
- Fix the exhaust
- Fix whatever comes up during building to make it look somehow acceptable.

I am not going for a 100% scale build here, just something that won't give you eye cancer while looking at it.

Cockpit work:

This is what the manual says. Glue the two seats and done.

 

I am going to recycle an old F-14 cockpit for this one. It's from the 1977 Hasegawa F-14 mold (the one that comes with the Macross Zero F-14).

Awesome fit, right? Looks like this one needs a lot of sanding. After casting some pilots with resin and a lot of sanding, I was able to go from basically no cockpit at all, to this.

It still needs fixing. The F-5B head rests are rounded, so I going to sand them down a bit. The piece in the middle of the cockpit needs to be cutted away as well. It seems to be some kind of rudimentary console for the guy in the back, but it is not looking like anything the F-5B would have. Here's another issue.

The canopy doesn't fit. It has huge gaps in the front and the back. It's also pushed up a bit due to the backseat. That'll be adjusted by sanding.

Now to the exhausts:

Just a simple part. No detail at all, so I just went all the way to drill holes into the exhausts.

So that's the current process on that. The plan is to build some exhaust detail and finish the cockpit. Then I am redoing the rised panel lines on the main body.

[peter]

3 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

I had an idea for trying to get a canopy for my F-14 model kit: Guillows (balsa wood planes) had an F-14 in 1/48, so I tried contacting them. While they did allow folks to buy parts separately, they didn't have it in stock and were not expecting it back in at any point.

So, frustrated, I was searching for canopies online when I went to open a window and knocked the model off the table, sending it to the floor.

Well, I solved the issue with needing parts...

 

  Hide contents

I THREW THE DAMNED THING IN THE GARBAGE.

 

And so I managed to "finish" my model.

 

 

Sorry to hear about the Tomcat.  I love F14s and built up a ton of really crappy ones when I was a kid.

 

I still have them, but I don't think they are good candidates for refurbish jobs, at least not with my current skill level.

 

I do have a new 1/32 scale Revell F14 sitting in my pile, but that might be a ways off (no space, lol!)

[peter]

2 hours ago, MechTech said:

@peter A wash makes a world of difference!

@pengbuzz That's one way to get models off your "to do list" fast! Sorry man! - MT

Definitely!  It really helped hide the messiness of my airbrush work

After Tamiya Flat Clear.

Not bad for 20 year old Tamiya Red thinned with Windex.

It was a good learning experience.

A shame it doesn't really scale with anything I have.  The 1/2500 ships are way too small to pair up with this BOP.

The light green one on the runners is 1/1000 so this is just a bit smaller.

 

[Thom]

4 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

I had an idea for trying to get a canopy for my F-14 model kit: Guillows (balsa wood planes) had an F-14 in 1/48, so I tried contacting them. While they did allow folks to buy parts separately, they didn't have it in stock and were not expecting it back in at any point.

So, frustrated, I was searching for canopies online when I went to open a window and knocked the model off the table, sending it to the floor.

Well, I solved the issue with needing parts...

 

  Hide contents

I THREW THE DAMNED THING IN THE GARBAGE.

 

And so I managed to "finish" my model.

 

 

Sometimes that's where they end up... Sad but true. But maybe you should pull it out and put it in the parts bin instead. You could kitbash an A-Wing out of it! You'd just need a canopy though...

 

 

[Thom]

This is a build just recently off the workbench. I took some Refit nacelles, the bridge dome and the torpedo housing and made a torpedo boat out of the Grissom.

So is born the USS Joxer!

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by Thom

[pengbuzz]

2 hours ago, Thom said:

Sometimes that's where they end up... Sad but true. But maybe you should pull it out and put it in the parts bin instead. You could kitbash an A-Wing out of it! You'd just need a canopy though...

 

 

I've wrestled with this model for years, literally. Can't find a canopy for it, can't mold a new one, can't buy one, and I don't want to try anything else with it because now the seams have let go... sorry, i'm going to have to leave off on that and go do something else for a few weeks. My blood pressure is up and I don't feel very well.