Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[derex3592]

1 hour ago, 505thAirborne said:

@pengbuzz  "Talk to me Goose!" Looking good!! 

@derex3592  Thank you! Just ordered some, looking forward to using it. 

To everyone else, keep up the good jobs. 

My Tamiya paint arrived today so I figured why not try them out, I wanted to do something different for both of these as my other 31A's have more of a Gull grey finish, I decided to try intermediate blue this time around... same for the 19. A small accomplishment today, more to go. 

 

Tamiya sprays are damn good paints. Used properly, they can rival an airbrush for large single color needs on jobs IMHO. 

[505thAirborne]

40 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

Tamiya sprays are damn good paints. Used properly, they can rival an airbrush for large single color needs on jobs IMHO. 

^^ This! 

[peter]

On 3/28/2021 at 9:11 AM, MechTech said:

For the past few weeks I've been trying to engineer and machine the parts for the 1/72nd scale Oto Melara 76/62 76mm naval gun. Since the parts are small and don't have much "meat" on them, it has been tough with a lot of reject parts, but a lot of gained knowledge too. Some parts were just redone so they looked more accurate. It all adds up! Badly scaled parts and things don't look right.

The magazine that sits below the deck looks like a sort of bottling plant. It actually spins around independently from the turret which sites inside it (the interior green colored cylinder). Each row holds TWO 76mm rounds. The whole magazine holds 80 rounds total between the carousel and the feed mechanism. That is what you're looking at here:

My son thought these looked like torture devices. It was fun cutting all those tiny lengths of brass wire and the gluing the into place on the top row. The bottom row is friction fit. You can see a complete round in one of the rows.

Do you know how hard it is to line up all those tiny pins with all those tiny pieces? It took hours just to do that - before the gluing. I then made a couple of jigs to keep the parts evenly spaced while gluing them in. Flush cutters were used for trimming the excess ends off.

And FINALLY, trimmed, sanded and test fit around the turret piece. The 1/72nd scale figure and a complete round are for scale.

If you noticed the big bolt is no longer attached to the turret? I VERY CAREFULLY machined-out the interior roof so the feed mechanism (next part of this project) can fit up in there.

Thank God I'm only making one of these! - MT

That is simply amazing.

 

Do you do requests?  I for one would love to see you build the barbette for this kit:

1/72 scale Yamato turret.

 

[peter]

On 3/28/2021 at 11:28 AM, pengbuzz said:

 

Definitely will guys!!! She deserves it with what I've put her through!

@peter I found the heads; unfortunately, they are missing the laser cannon and back plate on both, but you're welcome to them. I'm sure you could scratch something up if needbe, here's a pic:

If you want them, just send me an address and I'll try to get them to you!

------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE:

Okay...some work on the cockpit tub and control panels for my new kit. Since this is the last  'cat I'm ever building...time to pull out all the stops and cut out the limiter.

I began by scraping the molded panel detail from the cockpit tub, using a needle file and xacto knife:

Then, the rough part: cutting individual panels out and fitting them so there was a tiny amount of space between them. I wanted the panels to look individual and not "one giant panel" when paint was applied:

I also added in some missing details, such as the hydraulic for the canopy lift behind the RIO's seat, the canvas cover on the left side besides the Pilot's seat, and a few other odds and ends that got left out (such as the throttle, I mean yeah, it's not like the pilot actually needs that, right?)

While that was setting up, I took the time to prep the seats for Maverick and Goose:

The older seat designs needed some modifications 9as did the pilots) in order for maverick and Goose to look like they were sitting in the seats, not just  plastic figures sitting on top of them. That meant using a dremel tool to grind away seat belts, shave down the pilot's backs and other areas, and ensure they fig snugly. not 100 percent, but close enough where looking in the cockpit does not reveal any issues:

 

"is this your idea of fun, Mav?"

- Lt. JG. Nick "Goose" Bradshaw.

Back to the cockpit tub:

From here, detail painting, weathering and decalling will commence, followed by painting the seats and attaching everything into place.

Stay tuned... revving up the engines, listen to them howl and blow...

 

Oh, awesome, thanks!  I could use any spare 1A heads I can get, bought too many 1S Valks, but recently, I've found an appreciate building non-hero kits.

I'lll shoot you a PM with my address.

Your build makes me want to build my F14, but I'm going to peck away at my stack of Valkyries first, haha!

[peter]

On 3/28/2021 at 6:09 PM, Chronocidal said:

The tooling on all of the AMT Enterprise E kits should have been retired before ever being released.  I got both that mold and the 1/1400 one when they were brand new, and they haven't changed.  They're just disappointing kits.  Incredibly mushy detail (for what they bothered to mold, anyhow), lousy accuracy, and just a general level of rubbery-looking blandness that most of the other Trek kits seemed to avoid.  If we make the comparison that the details of the Polar Lights kits are crisp like Pringles, the AMT Enterprise E kits are like month-old re-microwaved crinkle fries.

I would have absolutely loved to see Polar Lights tackle a new mold of the Ent E, but seems like they're just not making anything new lately?  Honestly, the best option for an Enterprise E at this point is buying the Diamond Select version.  

Check this out.  They printed the registry backwards.

This is the only one printed correctly, lol!

 

[peter]

On 3/28/2021 at 7:02 PM, derex3592 said:

WOW! Great work everyone! @peter - The fleet came out fantastic!!!   @pengbuzz -man!!! She's a keeper all right! What a great story!  @MechTech - You sir are either a non human godlike scratch building machine OR a complete MADMAN who should be committed immediately for psychiatric evaluation!  Either way, amazing work! 

Over here today, MILESTONE DAY - Engines attached to main body and lights still work! Whew! ***Mental note!!*** - Next time, mask off large sections of bare plastic where big parts attach, it would have saved me a LOT of time sanding back paint and primer today!  Next, make new set of windows and install and then it's time for the main event...wire up everything together inside and get the top and bottom halves together....somehow...After that, it's all down to masking and painting panels....hopefully. Finally got a mock up shot of what this thing will look like! Been a long time coming! 

 

 

Sort of want a runabout now!

[peter]

11 hours ago, electric indigo said:

The Messerschmitt is finished & photographed.

More pics in my Flickr album.

Dude, that looks like a real aircraft on a stick.

[peter]

3 hours ago, 505thAirborne said:

@pengbuzz  "Talk to me Goose!" Looking good!! 

@derex3592  Thank you! Just ordered some, looking forward to using it. 

To everyone else, keep up the good jobs. 

My Tamiya paint arrived today so I figured why not try them out, I wanted to do something different for both of these as my other 31A's have more of a Gull grey finish, I decided to try intermediate blue this time around... same for the 19. A small accomplishment today, more to go. 

 

Ok, I don't feel so bad seeing others build Macross kits anymore now that I'm working on one again.  I think I have a YF-19 buried in the pile somewhere.  Are they as much of a PITA as the regular VF-1?

Not a lot of progress on my end, but it does seem less scary this time around.

The gun mount never made any sense when I was building the Super/Strike Valks, it still doesn't make sense.  Those two tiny pegs up front....does anyone know why they designed the attachment point this way?

Uncharted territory for me here as this is my first time building a straight VF-1 without the strike/super parts.

I remember I had a bunch of these parts leftover, so I used these little tabs on my Refit to spruce up the photo torpedo launchers

This is all I have so far......work and kids sure are are distracting from model building, lol!

 

 

[505thAirborne]

@peter  I would say the VF-1 is a more pleasurable kit to build than the YF-19, mine is the VF-19 Advance and I'm having some issue with the fast packs, I can see I'll have to tinker with it so the parts fit. Also the piece that holds/swivels the feet is rather fragile, luckily I had spare parts handy. 

It's been a while since I built one yet I remember the VF-0 kits (Fighter & Battroid) to be very enjoyable. 

[peter]

5 minutes ago, 505thAirborne said:

@peter  I would say the VF-1 is a more pleasurable kit to build than the YF-19, mine is the VF-19 Advance and I'm having some issue with the fast packs, I can see I'll have to tinker with it so the parts fit. Also the piece that holds/swivels the feet is rather fragile, luckily I had spare parts handy. 

It's been a while since I built one yet I remember the VF-0 kits (Fighter & Battroid) to be very enjoyable. 

I've had my YF-19 kit for almost 20 years....think I got it back in 2002 or something.

Wierd thing is, it's a Hasegawa kit, but the shop I bought it from wrapped it with a Tamiya wrapper, lol!

They used to wrap everything in Japan, lol!

Not a Super Duper M+ fan, so I may not build it screen accurate....maybe try to paint it with real world colors, so low vis gray scheme or something.

Edited March 30, 2021 by peter
Edited for spelling

[peter]

Saw this at the local hobby shop was thinking maybe a diorama with some sand and an excavator?

[Bolt]

34 minutes ago, peter said:

Saw this at the local hobby shop was thinking maybe a diorama with some sand and an excavator?

LMFAO !

[Sanity is Optional]

How is the Hasegawa 1/48 YF-19? I have one in my backlog, plus the photo etched add-on kit.

[peter]

49 minutes ago, Sanity is Optional said:

How is the Hasegawa 1/48 YF-19? I have one in my backlog, plus the photo etched add-on kit.

Oh man, I feel bad, but I haven't opened it beyond slightly unwrapping the Tamiya wrapping paper that the clerk originally wrapped my kit in when I bought it almost 20 yrs ago, lol!

Maybe I'll get to it after a few more VF-1s

I think this build might be a lot easier now that I'm finally using an airbrush.....or it might be worse, who knows, lol!

So, last year this time, when I built those 4 Super/Strike Valks, I was only using rattle cans and brush painting.

Those dark spots inside the leg I hammered out in a few minutes.  Last summer, it probably took me 20 minutes per Valk with a Sharpie, lol!

I'm just refamiliarizing myself with the VF-1, but it's coming back to me.  I can barely make out some of the details and some of the parts are so small for my sausage fingers that it's hard to work on them.  

 

 

Edited March 30, 2021 by peter
Edited for spelling

[arbit]

After a long year with the kids online school, and physio for my hands, I finally got back to my workbench.

I'm adding a new motorized peek-a-boo airlock with a front view of my hangar.  There will be a super secret diorama inside, if it all works out.

I might need a kick in the pants from you guys to stop procrastinating!

Edited March 30, 2021 by arbit

[derex3592]

13 hours ago, peter said:

Sort of want a runabout now!

@peter -- yeh, it's the only game in town for the ship, but if you do, just be aware, the fit is atrocious on most all the parts, there is NO interior included, but on the plus side, there is a lot of room for lighting and custom ideas should you want to go that route. 

Edited March 30, 2021 by derex3592

[derex3592]

13 hours ago, peter said:

Check this out.  They printed the registry backwards.

This is the only one printed correctly, lol!

 

Yeh...It's like they stopped caring when they got to the E. I put them on anyway. 

[derex3592]

10 hours ago, Bolt said:

LMFAO !

+1   Actually, that model looks kinda fun, definitely something out of the ordinary. 

[Bolt]

8 hours ago, arbit said:

After a long year with the kids online school, and physio for my hands, I finally got back to my workbench.

I'm adding a new motorized peek-a-boo airlock with a front view of my hangar.  There will be a super secret diorama inside, if it all works out.

I might need a kick in the pants from you guys to stop procrastinating!

Wowza !!

[Urashiman]

9 hours ago, peter said:

Oh man, I feel bad, but I haven't opened it beyond slightly unwrapping the Tamiya wrapping paper that the clerk originally wrapped my kit in when I bought it almost 20 yrs ago, lol!

Maybe I'll get to it after a few more VF-1s

I think this build might be a lot easier now that I'm finally using an airbrush.....or it might be worse, who knows, lol!

So, last year this time, when I built those 4 Super/Strike Valks, I was only using rattle cans and brush painting.

Those dark spots inside the leg I hammered out in a few minutes.  Last summer, it probably took me 20 minutes per Valk with a Sharpie, lol!

I'm just refamiliarizing myself with the VF-1, but it's coming back to me.  I can barely make out some of the details and some of the parts are so small for my sausage fingers that it's hard to work on them.  

 

 

I dunno - I have sausage fingers as well and build four VF-1s from Hasegawa already. They were a pleasure to build. Only thing I noticed is the mold degration over time. My First VF-1 was build somewhen 2003-2004ish (but originally purchased in 2001) when the molds were still new. My latest build was from a VF-1A/J/S (2005 rebox, purchased in 2013) around 2016ish. The parts were a bit distorted, the panel lines less accentuated and I had to sand a bit more here and there compared to my 2001 VF-1 purchase. Do you remember (love?) when your kit was issued/purchased? Maybe you got one of the bad molds.

The YF-19 was almost a perfect fit for me. I had a first issue kit and everything was a dream, except for the intakes. There were some nasty seams and it wasn't easy to sand them away. Really nice kit - thrilled to see what you will come up with as soon as you are on it

[peter]

8 hours ago, arbit said:

After a long year with the kids online school, and physio for my hands, I finally got back to my workbench.

I'm adding a new motorized peek-a-boo airlock with a front view of my hangar.  There will be a super secret diorama inside, if it all works out.

I might need a kick in the pants from you guys to stop procrastinating!

Oh wow, that is super cool.  I wish I had the intelligence to be able to illuminate things, let alone build such an amazing diorama.

[peter]

2 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Yeh...It's like they stopped caring when they got to the E. I put them on anyway. 

Lol, me too, just threw them on, didn't care, I personally can't see it without a magnifying glass or reading glasses anyway.

[peter]

28 minutes ago, Urashiman said:

I dunno - I have sausage fingers as well and build four VF-1s from Hasegawa already. They were a pleasure to build. Only thing I noticed is the mold degration over time. My First VF-1 was build somewhen 2003-2004ish (but originally purchased in 2001) when the molds were still new. My latest build was from a VF-1A/J/S (2005 rebox, purchased in 2013) around 2016ish. The parts were a bit distorted, the panel lines less accentuated and I had to sand a bit more here and there compared to my 2001 VF-1 purchase. Do you remember (love?) when your kit was issued/purchased? Maybe you got one of the bad molds.

The YF-19 was almost a perfect fit for me. I had a first issue kit and everything was a dream, except for the intakes. There were some nasty seams and it wasn't easy to sand them away. Really nice kit - thrilled to see what you will come up with as soon as you are on it

I'm definitely enjoying this build a bit more this time around.  My kits were all first releases, ordered them from HLJ or bought them on trips to Japan when they first came out.

Hahaha, I also know they're old because I didn't build any Macross kits for about 17 years.  I started one 1/72 Strike Valk back then, decided it was beyond my abilities and quit half-way through.

Anyway, I set my fears aside and just hammered out a few with what little skills I had and built them like I just didn't care last year. 

This time around, it seems a bit easier, but challenging at the same time.  Trying to figure out better ways to assemble and paint, seeing how far I can go with the assembly before any paint.  

Been watching Plasmo videos a lot so hopefully I can apply some of the techniques I see him do.

Look at all this detail.

Bam!  Covered, lol!  Bit of a waste, but would be great to see in a future diorama or something with a Valk taken all apart in a hangar scene.

I think I can take assembly a bit further before paint.  When I see Plasmo build fighters, he has most of the plane assembled before even laying on primer.  Once I figure out this fighter, I'll have the confidence to slap together a few more.

 

Edited March 30, 2021 by peter
Edited for spelling

[MechTech]

16 hours ago, peter said:

Saw this at the local hobby shop was thinking maybe a diorama with some sand and an excavator?

@peter Dude, you are so wrong! That's funny! And thank you. Regarding the Yamato turret, no thank you! It's an awesome looking kit though! In your model stash, is that the M-82? I was thinking that would be cool to go with a mecha.

@arbit Consider yourself virtually kicked in the pants and finish that baby! - MT

 

 

[Chronocidal]

So I decided to take a break from banging my head against the wall with old AMT Trek molds, and tackle something a bit different.

This is probably the most unique kit I have ever owned.

This is the entire kit.  It is four parts.  Six if you count the stand, and I'm actually missing the tailhook, but it's a simple enough part I can make one from sprue, and I don't actually know if the version I'm making needs one, since it's an early prototype.  There are no panel lines, and no sprues.

Judging by the logo stamped on the interior of the wing, I believe this is literally one of those contractor-manufactured promotional models offered to engineers who worked on the aircraft.  I'm guessing maybe the molds were acquired by Microscale years later, and they figured it would be a good vehicle to advertise their decals and supplies?  Or maybe they even made the original kits.  After a little research, it's clear the plane is modeled on a very early prototype, which never used the markings it came with, which is all the same, since the decals were missing when I got it.  

General plan for this is to mark off a few key panel lines and scribe them in, things like control surfaces and major details like gear doors, maybe the canopy separation line, but there is something that feels oddly special about how utterly smooth this is.

On the other hand though, it's also a blank canvas with a lot of room for improvement.  I'm not feeling like building a cockpit for it, but I did decide to try out a little inspiration I got from browsing resin upgrades for the Tamiya 1/48 version of this plane (which I also have, and will be my main reference for panel lines).

Some of the really popular resin upgrades I see for many kits are seamless intake ducts.  I think to myself, "Hmm.. I wonder if I could print something like that."

A few caliper measurements, and several hours later:

So far it's fitting pretty well, and I could probably make a few adjustments to the print to make it more solid, and add supports to hold it in place in the fuselage, but I'm thinking that'll be plenty easy to do with scrap sprue.  Given how well this worked out, I might do something similar with the exhaust, and add a simple afterburner can, since right now the back end is just a flat blank.

This will be a fun build, partly because it's so simple (and the fit is actually amazing), but also because I'm not planning on making this look "real," so much as I'm going to make it look like a display model.  I've got no intention of adding a ton of markings, and the ones I do intend on including I'm planning to mask off and paint.  I'm thinking of making some masks to apply and spray everything.  We'll see how that plays out, since I've never tried anything like that, but I figure something with so few details to mess up is the ideal canvas to give it a shot.

Edited March 30, 2021 by Chronocidal

[505thAirborne]

Hi all, if I were going to paint my VF-1A 1/48 kit as a Cannon Fodder scheme, what color of spray paint comes closest to what Yamato used? Does that shade possibly exist? 

Thank you! 

[peter]

6 hours ago, MechTech said:

@peter Dude, you are so wrong! That's funny! And thank you. Regarding the Yamato turret, no thank you! It's an awesome looking kit though! In your model stash, is that the M-82? I was thinking that would be cool to go with a mecha.

@arbit Consider yourself virtually kicked in the pants and finish that baby! - MT

 

 

Yes, Barrett!

Haven't built it it yet, but I picked up this toy and it seems to fit the DX:

A bit to shiny though so I'm going to paint it a more flat dark Earth color.

 

[peter]

1 hour ago, 505thAirborne said:

Hi all, if I were going to paint my VF-1A 1/48 kit as a Cannon Fodder scheme, what color of spray paint comes closest to what Yamato used? Does that shade possibly exist? 

Thank you! 

Sorry, I can't help you with the color matched rattle can color, I used Krylon FDE which doesn't look right.

Really looking forward to seeing a CF in 1/48 though, there doesn't even to be many out there in the wild!

I have one sitting in my pile, and originally wanted to build it as either a Roy Strike or Hikaru Strike.  But then I thought, I have DX Roy, a Yamato Hikaru and Yamato Max, so maybe I ought to build up the 1/48 as a Kakizaki?  Kind of a waste of the strike cannons though...

 

Edited March 31, 2021 by peter
Edited for spelling

[peter]

The way the vertical stabilizers attach is bonkers.  Two little nubs barely visible to the naked eye.

This doesn't feel like a very sturdy build and it feels like it should be reinforced, but I would not be able to see where I'm drilling anyway.  Guess I won't be wooshing my Valkyrie around the room.

I don't even know of they are aligned properly, lol!

Next, chopping that front landing gear to lower it.  I don't even know if this is the right thing to do.  I see F14s kind of crouch down when they're being launched, so this is the look I want to replicate, but honestly, there wasn't a lot of material to remove.

Don't know what this part is called, but I figured it should be squished down too.

I can barely see this part, let alone attach it to the nose gear.

 it's on there now.

Testing out a new primer.  This stuff dries fast, was worried my airbrush was going to get gunked up.  I need to learn to work faster.

It looks pretty smooth.  I'm thinking maybe I should have gone heavier.  Let's hope it's enough.

Test fitting the pilot, decided DYRL Hikaru is flying his SDFM -1J.

More to follow.

 

[Chronocidal]

Always thought the 1/72 VF-1 mold was wacky for the way it did the entire backpack assembly.  No real support for the tails, and that goofy way of attaching the rear flap underneath the backpack.. don't know why they didn't make it a single level piece.

You planning on doing any adjustment to realign the lower legs?

[peter]

49 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

Always thought the 1/72 VF-1 mold was wacky for the way it did the entire backpack assembly.  No real support for the tails, and that goofy way of attaching the rear flap underneath the backpack.. don't know why they didn't make it a single level piece.

You planning on doing any adjustment to realign the lower legs?

Oh man, probably not, I think that's beyond my abilities.  

Although, I actually have the magazine being referenced here:

 

Maybe I should take a look.

Edited March 31, 2021 by peter
Edited for spelling

[Chronocidal]

If I'm remembering correctly, I think that mod was done by entirely filling the slot in the thigh pieces, and re-cutting it?  That always seemed like a lot more work than necessary, since I think the way the lower leg goes together would be much easier to mod by just changing the way the attachment tab fits between the halves of the leg.

I could also be entirely imagining things, hard to say, I haven't dug into my copy of that kit for a long time.

[peter]

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

If I'm remembering correctly, I think that mod was done by entirely filling the slot in the thigh pieces, and re-cutting it?  That always seemed like a lot more work than necessary, since I think the way the lower leg goes together would be much easier to mod by just changing the way the attachment tab fits between the halves of the leg.

I could also be entirely imagining things, hard to say, I haven't dug into my copy of that kit for a long time.

Oh man, I just looked at the mod, this section is a collosal pain in the dick to test-fit.

I was just trying to figure out a clever way to mask the feet.

Last time around I cut out tiny bits of masking tape, so hopefully this method will be easier.

More tiny tabs that are utterly useless, lol!

[peter]

Bloody hell, I've had this book the entire time, and I never thought to even look through it when I built my first four Hasegawa Valks.

I'm more than half way through this one when I remembered I even had this book.

I've decided to skip this mod.  Half laziness, half concern I'll make it worse.

I've already glued those leg sections in place in a subassembly and I don't want to muck around with them now that they are glued down.

Also figure this Valk will be at a slightly funny angle anyway since the nose will be dipped a bit and "launch ready".

[peter]

Flipping through for of the 1/72 VF-1 build.  There is Plasmo-level OCD in there in terms of accuratizing and modding, lol!