Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[CrossAir]

7 minutes ago, arbit said:

I always wondered what kind of paint people use when customizing their valks, and what are the steps for clear coating to avoid scratching during transformation? 

I would scare me to death to touch my gokins.

I think I have to sand down some edges to avoid scratches during transformation. I had good experiences with Tamiya acrylics and TS clear coat with my V.F.G valks, which are transformable to a certain degree.

Or, never transform it again! 

[arbit]

Here is a new Minmay at 3.5cm 1/48 scale. I am in total shock at the detail. I used the same steps as the first one, but took the risk of not thickening her up at all. The fringe of her dress is under 0.1mm, and I didn't know if the print would be possible.  

[pengbuzz]

3 hours ago, arbit said:

I always wondered what kind of paint people use when customizing their valks, and what are the steps for clear coating to avoid scratching during transformation? 

I would scare me to death to touch my gokins.

One thing I do is make note of the transformation on my customs; I will  make a diagram of all three modes with areas prone to scratch circled and notated. For example: on the VF-1 chunkies, the nose where the swing bar locks into place is ripe for scratches. To combat that, I use a paint like Krylon Fusion or Rustoleum "Painters Touch 2x" that actually bond to the plastic. I will also use the same clear coat as the Krylon or Rustoleum so I don't get formula conflicts (some paints don't play well with one another), and let the clear dry for 2-3 days before doing anything.

Sanding: I use caution on sanding parts for "clearance", simply because some parts like the chunky's swing bar need that friction to lock into place. Examine how that part of the transform works and what you'd need to make it work with paint. In some cases, I will leave a part the plastic color and find a way to work it into the paint job as to not cause issues.

[Thom]

3 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Out of town down to the TX coast with the wife's family last week, it came up in conversation that back in the late 90s my mother in law and my wife and her brother had purchased a model of the Titanic for my father in law as he loved the movie and the history behind it. Now he hasn't ever really built a model as far as I know and never really expressed interest in the hobby.  So I piped up and said "oh really? Why don't you let me build it for him!!?? "... thinking to myself they went to some hobby store and bought some little Revell kit for $30, I can slap it together in a weekend or two and get some cool son in law points. Well, yesterday my wife brought it home. And uhhh yeh... IT AIN'T THAT!!! Open mouth, insert both feet and bend over.. LOL. Ohh dear GOD... what have I gotten myself into???...I've been doing my research yesterday and this morning on this kit and it's really a kit from the mid 70s repackaged after the movie came out in 1997. I feel a year long battle ahead... I'm already looking for PE upgrades for the railings....LOL 

hAhA!! This is a time for mondo SIL points!! Maybe see if you can schedule some In-Law Build Dates, to see if he wants to partake, and you can show him how awesome a modeler you are.

[CrossAir]

27 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

In some cases, I will leave a part the plastic color and find a way to work it into the paint job as to not cause issues.

That's my thought, too. As the VF-25F is mostly white colored, I hope I can leave most of the locking points in color of plastic to avoid paint scratches and keep the friction.

[CrossAir]

2 hours ago, arbit said:

Here is a new Minmay at 3.5cm 1/48 scale. I am in total shock at the detail. I used the same steps as the first one, but took the risk of not thickening her up at all. The fringe of her dress is under 0.1mm, and I didn't know if the print would be possible.  

Congrats, that is really an awesome outcome of the print!

[MechTech]

@derex3592 You know, you can build that as the sunken version - it won't have to be as "perfect."

@slide As far as I know, the steel is not hardened. It was originally rollers in an inkjet printer. I haven't treated them myself not seeing the need in a model. I used Birchwood/Casey Super Blue ($8.99 at Wallyworld). The instructions end saying to allow to cure overnight. You must do that. I rubbed it a bit after treatment, and it came off slightly. The next day the coating was on solid. I've read other places to boil it after finishing to ensure all the acid is flushed out. I've also heard the heat helps to cure it. I may try that too after a cold rinse.

A lot of companies use brass or aluminum for their model accessory parts. Steel has actually been easier for me to use. It holds up better in smaller pieces. Aluminum really never has a natural finish, even after polishing it will rub off. That's why it gets anodized a lot. Steal I have found to be solid. It just needs rust protection of some kind. - MT

[pengbuzz]

3 hours ago, MechTech said:

@derex3592 You know, you can build that as the sunken version - it won't have to be as "perfect."

@slide As far as I know, the steel is not hardened. It was originally rollers in an inkjet printer. I haven't treated them myself not seeing the need in a model. I used Birchwood/Casey Super Blue ($8.99 at Wallyworld). The instructions end saying to allow to cure overnight. You must do that. I rubbed it a bit after treatment, and it came off slightly. The next day the coating was on solid. I've read other places to boil it after finishing to ensure all the acid is flushed out. I've also heard the heat helps to cure it. I may try that too after a cold rinse.

A lot of companies use brass or aluminum for their model accessory parts. Steel has actually been easier for me to use. It holds up better in smaller pieces. Aluminum really never has a natural finish, even after polishing it will rub off. That's why it gets anodized a lot. Steal I have found to be solid. It just needs rust protection of some kind. - MT

Typically, steel does tend to be more resilient than aluminum at scale; it's one of the strongest metals out there per se.

As for bluing, you could always heat it until it turned blue. :D

[peter]

Did a bit more work on the BOP/Grissom

Too lazy to mask all those feathers, definitely not screen accurate. 

The blue-gray came out a wee bit darker than I hoped. 

And a bit of over spray on the bottom side.

I didn't fill in any seams or use any putty on this kit, though I probably should have. 

This was an extremely lazy build,  and I know next to nothing about this ship other than the BOP blew it up.  I didn't research a lot into what the studio model looks like so it already looks better than I was expecting. 

Next step is Pledge, then decals and maybe some weathering, then flat clear. 

Guess I better get back to the sister ships. 

I knocked back the brightness of the engine nozzles just like @pengbuzz suggested, looks better when it doesn't contrast so much, thanks again for the tips

Ohhhh.... Just binge watched Yamato 2202 this past weekend so I'm pretty motivated to finish the second ship, though it won't be screen accurate, hahahahaha! 

 

[MechTech]

@arbit Sorry Arbit, your thread didn't pop-up when I made my last post, so I didn't see it until after the fact. That's awesome how your figure came out! Do they advise against sunlight to cure the resin? I know it can make a difference. The problem with all SLA prints is that they get brittle with age. Exposing them to light can affect that from what I've seen.

@peter Despite a quick build, it looks good!

@pengbuzz Thanks, Pengbuzz! Torching can make an uneven finish and then doesn't give you that nice deep black color that the acids can. I tried it before with disastrous results - MT

[arbit]

1 hour ago, MechTech said:

@arbit Sorry Arbit, your thread didn't pop-up when I made my last post, so I didn't see it until after the fact. That's awesome how your figure came out! Do they advise against sunlight to cure the resin? I know it can make a difference. The problem with all SLA prints is that they get brittle with age. Exposing them to light can affect that from what I've seen.

Hi, Thanks!

Yes, curing the resin outside in the sun is one approach, or a UV light indoors. I have a hand nail UV machine. Just can't expose the machine or fresh resin to the sunlight to UV. (I just finished training all my family to not open the drapes if the machine is on!)

Regarding longevity, I really don't know too much, I think it's not a major issue with new good quality resin. But you shouldn't over-cure the resin to begin with.  My little figures are done in 3 minutes. And then I plan to gloss with UV-protection.

 

[Photogirl]

pleased to find this replacement decal sheet in my mail today.
Its not a perfect substitute for the Virgin Road sheet, but it has enough i can use to put the kit into my "Done" list.

Birthday thursday, so i know what i'll be doing. 

[Salamander]

Be sure to first try a decal you don't need...

[Photogirl]

1 hour ago, Salamander said:

Be sure to first try a decal you don't need...

i usually test the copyright info.

 

[peter]

Speaking of decal, this came in the mail today..... Look at the size of these things. 

The smaller set are 1/48

[peter]

On 6/6/2021 at 7:01 AM, MechTech said:

Whet the heck happened!? I was a kid building models, and then all of a sudden, my oldest "child" has graduated high school! It's been a good, but bittersweet week! Where does the time go?

Sorry for all the photos, there was a lot I got done between last weekend and this week. Progress is going well with the "Bobbsey Twins." I spent last weekend trying to up-gun the second unit. I originally built the 57mm cannon barrel in the last post, but decided to go with a 75mm cannon instead. At the same time (25 years ago) I was working on the original mecha, I got a bunch of Tamiya brass ammo on sale. It too has been sitting around waiting to be used. So I made the bigger barrel to go with it. The barrel was easy. Making realistic muzzle brakes was another story. I went through five types before settling on the final version. I just didn't like the smaller muzzle brake. It looked like the vents were too small to actually work. That's what drove me to redo the whole design.

The old barrel and the new one, both fluted for detail.                                              The 57mm muzzle brake and newer ones. The middle was a reject due to spacing.

 

Here's the new 75mm cannon recoil dampers close up...                                        And an overall shot with the new muzzle brake (the aluminum tubes will be cut shorter).

 

Close-ups of the new muzzle brake. The vents aren't perfectly spaced, but it will have to do. I'm at the limits of my machining abilities drilling at an angle.

 

The gun is now complete for the heavy unit. The ammo drum got some anime styled details and bolt heads to make it look that much more convincing.

 

And finally, people spend so much time trying to make model gun barrels look so realistic. Since these are machined in steel, I thought, "Why not blue them like a real gun barrel?" So here's a test on a reject part. It doesn't get any more realistic than the "real thing." So the barrels will be blued and I won't have to worry about paint peeling off them. Bluing is about the same cost as getting the paint for them. Thanks for checking in! - MT

That is so cool. 

I only had one gun in my entire collection with a blued finish - 1911.

The rest were either parkerized, anodized, cerakoted and in some cases, krylon'd. 

[arbit]

Minmay project continues. Two more outfits to go.

Edited June 9, 2021 by arbit

[Thom]

@peter That little Grissom could be a good learning experience before you get the new 1/350!

Did a little more work on Race 80. The AK Extreme Metal came in the mail and I hit the back with the dark aluminum.

And a little look through the paint supply awarded me with Tamiya XF-8 Flat Blue as a good match for the prop cone and the trim around the canopy.

 

 

[Chronocidal]

1 hour ago, Thom said:

@peter That little Grissom could be a good learning experience before you get the new 1/350!

 

Two questions...

1. Where did you hear about this?

2. Who on earth asked for a 1/350 of that ship, and who approved it before all of the other MUCH more noteworthy designs they could make kits of?   I could name a few (dozen) I would much rather see first.

[Thom]

Dangy double-posty!

Edited June 10, 2021 by Thom

[Thom]

29 minutes ago, Chronocidal said:

Two questions...

1. Where did you hear about this?

2. Who on earth asked for a 1/350 of that ship, and who approved it before all of the other MUCH more noteworthy designs they could make kits of?   I could name a few (dozen) I would much rather see first.

I didn't go, but at the R2 table at Wonderfest, among the 1/48 Hawk, the 1/1000 Voyager, the CAD image of the AMT 1/72 Razor Crest - there was also pics of the prototype 1/350 Grissom. About 13 inches long.

And I'll say that the Grissom would not be my first choice if I was buying 1/350 Star Trek ships. But... Looking at it there, I am very tempted, esp if they can keep the price around the $50 mark that I've heard about. I'll being buying one,

Edited June 10, 2021 by Thom

[Chronocidal]

It's not a bad looking kit.. but I think I would very much rather have a new mold of any of the old disgustingly sub-par AMT kits.  A modern 1701-D or E would be an absolute must buy, in pretty much any scale.  Just.. anything even remotely equivalent in quality to even the 1/1000 snap kits would put the old AMT kits to utter shame. 

I think 1/1000 would be way too big for those, but even if they just matched the original scales of the AMT kits, I'd be tripping over myself to buy them.

That voyager is pretty much as good as bought though.  I have the old Monogram kit, and while it's very detailed, I'd love one scaled with the rest of the 1/1000 line.  It's just a really good size for that scale of ship.

Edited June 10, 2021 by Chronocidal

[peter]

19 hours ago, arbit said:

Minmay project continues. Two more outfits to go.

Man, that Minmei fig looks pretty good. 

[peter]

9 hours ago, Thom said:

@peter That little Grissom could be a good learning experience before you get the new 1/350!

Did a little more work on Race 80. The AK Extreme Metal came in the mail and I hit the back with the dark aluminum.

And a little look through the paint supply awarded me with Tamiya XF-8 Flat Blue as a good match for the prop cone and the trim around the canopy.

 

 

Race plane? 

Lol, not sure I like the Grissom enough to get a 1/350.....only reason I got it was because it came with the BOP

Just need to add decals then flat clear the thing tomorrow.  With the old resurrected BOP I did a few months back.

Some more work on the Grissom.  Decals are sturdy, but a bit stubborn.  Lots of decal solution on these curvy ones. 

Flat ones seem to be cooperative. 

 

[peter]

8 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Two questions...

1. Where did you hear about this?

2. Who on earth asked for a 1/350 of that ship, and who approved it before all of the other MUCH more noteworthy designs they could make kits of?   I could name a few (dozen) I would much rather see first.

Lol, I was thinking the same thing.... Maybe they just wanted to do something easy.... Or it could be hinting at a new BOP?  Since the Grissom always seems to be associated with it.... 

[peter]

Some more work on Yamato. 

Fingers were cramping and sore by the time preshading was done. 

Gray primer below the waterline instead of Oxide Red.  Filling in each panel at a time. 

Just a bit of experimentation to see how that marbling effect will look on a ship of this scale..... Might look a bit out of place when it's done, but it will be a learning experience. 

It's quite different than her sister ship.  I might see if I can go darker but will wait until tomorrow to see how I feel about it.  Tamiya Hull Red seems almost more brown than red. 

Knocking back the pre-shading one panel at a time.  The gray I'm using for this one is IJN Gray, Kure Arsenal which was Yamato's shipyard.  It's noticeably lighter than Musashi's gray. 

Engine nozzle. 

Will knock it back with a bit of flat black later. 

The wood deck in Yamato was apparently painted a light gray for Operation Ten Go, so I put a few drops of black and gray on top of the wood deck tan.  Not as dark as her sister ship, but I want these two ships to look noticeably different. 

[Thom]

@peter Some real nice painting on all of your builds! Nice.

And this is Race 80.

[Chronocidal]

5 hours ago, peter said:

Lol, I was thinking the same thing.... Maybe they just wanted to do something easy.... Or it could be hinting at a new BOP?  Since the Grissom always seems to be associated with it.... 

That wouldn't be a bad thing, but I feel like the BoP is one of the few AMT kits that isn't screaming for a remake, at least not nearly as loudly as several of the later Enterprises.

I wouldn't turn down a new, more accurate mold though, especially if they managed to make the wings pivot.  There is a small pile of inaccuracies with the rear engine ports that I see a lot of custom builds rectifying.

Edited June 10, 2021 by Chronocidal

[Grayson72]

Was it ever determined what scale the BoP model was? 1/350 or 1/650?

[derex3592]

Depends on which dark hole of the interwebs you go down I think...LOL

[Grayson72]

19 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

Depends on which dark hole of the interwebs you go down I think...LOL

So that’s a no lol. I have Trek kits in both scales so I never know which ones I’d display it with. 
 

I’d sure go for a 1/350 Grissom. 

Edited June 10, 2021 by Grayson72

[Thom]

Just now, Grayson72 said:

So that’s a no lol. I have Trek kits in both scales so I never know which ones I’d display it with. 

I think they're just considered as different classes to explain away the size differences between appearances. Like maybe the full size design was so good that they made a smaller version for more specialized roles. 

[peter]

3 hours ago, Thom said:

@peter Some real nice painting on all of your builds! Nice.

And this is Race 80.

Oh, that's awesome....is it based off the P51?

Edmoton CANADA!

 

[peter]

@Thom

@Grayson72

@derex3592

Lol!

[peter]

The in-laws sent a care package from Japan a few days ago.  I know it's not a model, but hear me out, it is model related. 

And they threw in a DX Roy and Strike Packs. 

I ordered this ages ago and they decided it was taking up space so they threw it in the box, and I appreciate them doing that but..... 

Strangely, I wasn't as excited about it as I thought I would be. 

I opened the box, pulled the Valk out and attached the Strike packs.... But then it just sat.  I didn't feel compelled to play with it, or transform it. 

Instead, I went back to working on my models - Yamato, the BOP and Grissom.

I bought the DX Max a few years ago when I was in Japan, and I was pretty stoked about it, but I always wanted a Roy since I was a kid.  This was it, my first Roy toy.....but when I finally got it, I wasn't super excited. 

I've been building models on a regular basis during the last year or so and I wonder if my renewed interest in models has become the priority.  

I mean, the toy is awesome, all painted, lots of markings, nice proportions..... But the first thing my eyes were drawn to were the seam lines, the gaps, the gun metal colored landing gear (they should be white), that unsightly booster cradle, and other inaccuracies compared to the 1/72 Hasegawa models I made, lol!  It's like I can't unsee them, and this is something that I never noticed when I bought the Max a few years back, when I was still on my hiatus from model building. 

Has this happened to you guys? 

Maybe I'll appreciated it a bit more after my workbench is cleared... I better, because the wife knows how much I spent on this thing. 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2021 by peter
edited for spelling