Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[Chronocidal]

So here's another unique item I picked up, kind of a crossover between hobbies.

This little 3D printing group has licensed several of the designs for Star Citizen, and is making some official kits of the ships.  Not what I would call "cheap," but I think they're competitively priced for what you would see with resin garage kits.

They've gone all-in on the sort of in-universe marketing typical of the game, and packaged this more like a collectible, with custom foam layers to support each of the major printed part groups.  Maybe overkill, but I received the kit shipped from the UK in perfect shape, so I'm not going to question it.

I'd love to know what printer they are using for these, because while I can see some of the typical layering artifacts on some of the smaller parts, they are very subtle, and the model has some of the finest printed detail I've ever seen.

Yes, that's a 1/100 ejection seat with an attached ejection handle.

The kit came with a stack of tiny magnets and alternate parts to allow you to swap the wings and landing gear between flight and ground displays.  The only work I've done so far was some minor print support cleanup, and gluing the magnets in place.

Really looking forward to detailing this one up.  Only disappointing thing I can say is that the printed resin canopy is fragile.  I managed to snap the rear portion in half very easily with minor pressure trying to get it to seat properly.  Fortunately the printers were quite happy to send me a free replacement, but I may actually try to make my own from another material.  It's impressive that they were able to print something as transparent as this one is, but the material is far too brittle to hold up to any polishing, and I think the shape is angular enough to make a fair replacement with either clear styrene or something like clear bubble packaging.

I'm really hoping they'll make more of these.  This is probably my second favorite ship in the game, after another of the light fighters called the Gladius, which looks straight out of the classic Wing Commander games.  I'm going to see if I can't request that one, and possibly offer my help in producing these kits.

Edited June 24, 2021 by Chronocidal

[MechTech]

@derex3592 @peter The guys in my club swear by "Wonder Wire." It is 0.006 mil, great for rigging 1/48 and 1/72 aircraft, useful as well for armor vehicle antennas or aircraft that have aerial wires running from antenna to antenna. Here is the contact info for the guy that sells the stuff. He only takes credit card order over the phone (ol' yankee Vermonter for ya...), no web site or eBay: Precision Enterprises Unlimited 802- 885- 3094.

We made a group order in the club and the guys love it! They say it is like ceramic ( I wonder if it's fiber optic, I haven't seen it under a magnifier). You don't cut it, you score it and break it, but it does flex. I have not ordered any myself, but once again, the guys in my club sweat by it. They have made several biplanes rigged and aircraft wire antennas with it and love it. There are other "filaments" you can search for on modeling sites. Even HLJ has some. Stretching sprue over heat works, but it is weak and will droop with age, especially if any heat like sunlight is involved.

@Chronocidal That's a cool looking kit! The magnets being included are a nice touch instead of having to be modified that way.

@derex3592 Your ship is looking good and it looks like you will get plenty of help "rigging" your ship (don't use a ball of yarn)

@peter Looks like your shipyards are turning out more great ships! The clear parts look cool.

@Thom Your Spitfire is looking slick! - MT

[arbit]

Minmay Project Cont'd... 

Green Pokka-Dot Dress version. This is probably the last Minmay, unless I find some cool files to play with.  I'm not interested enough in the available Crossover stuff to go through the trouble.

And this one was a test to see if it was possible to fix and print from strange files . There is an artist at DeviantArt making Leiji Matsumoto mesh xps files.  Not sure what they are meant for, but this opens up a lot of possibilities, because there are very few classic anime 3D files out there. It was a lot of work to fix the file, but well worth it.

[Thom]

@Chronocidal That is a great looking model! Bit too pricey at 1/100 for me, but awesome looking.

@MechTech Thank you. Now if I can keep from futzing it up!

@arbit More fine work on those figures. Well done.

[MechTech]

@arbit Great looking prints! What happened to break dancing MinMei?😅 Which printer are you using? Are you going to put the "big arrow" on your Yamato figures to help with painting? - MT

[Thom]

I futzed it! Ugh! I was looking for the clear gloss and all I could find was a big can of Krylon. Won't hurt, right? Wrong! As soon as I sprayed it on, it looks like it turned the AK paint translucent! I could suddenly see all the color gradiations, like splotches of shadows all over. On the plus side, I did it on the bottom first, so the damage was restricted to there. Still, shazbot!

Ended up masking the decals, carefully, and then hitting the bottom with Tamiya silver leaf to cover it, and then going over with the AK Dark Aluminum again. Good thing there are no decals on the bottom.😑Still, damage was done. There are some areas of 'orange peel' now on the bottom... 

Not trashing it though! The top side looks really good and I have no plans to display this on its back.

The real kicker? After all that, I found a brand new can of Tamiya Pearl Clear - which looks great on the top side!

[arbit]

5 hours ago, MechTech said:

@arbit Great looking prints! What happened to break dancing MinMei?😅 Which printer are you using? Are you going to put the "big arrow" on your Yamato figures to help with painting? - MT

 I have hip-hop Minmay and Ballerina Minmay if you want (which reminds me, I need to do that one).

Yes, grumble, grumble, I would like to learn how to put the Big Arrow and other details.  But when I am learning new stuff, I like to get some quick wins.  I'm at the tip of the ice berg. 3D Printing is insane.

I'm using Elegoo Mars 2 regular version. I didn't know what I was getting into, so I got the cheapest and best reviewed I could find. Elegoo also has great customer service.  I'm sold.

But I recommend the Mars 2 Pro version for the exhaust (it's important for clearing out the air and humidity, which causes the FEP sheet to stick to the LCD). They also have a new Mars version coming out, so if reviews are good, you might want to consider that.)

There is a learning curve, but it's doable. PM me for the details.

 

  

[Dobber]

Been working on a custom Trek TOS ship. An off-shoot of the Constitution Class. I’m using the old AMT 1/650 TOS Enterprise as the base kit.

She’ll be the U.S.S. Ranger NCC-1777 in honor of the original U.S.S. Ranger commissioned in 1777.

 

 

 

 

 

Using a mixture of scratch built parts and custom alternate after market parts.

Chris

Edited June 25, 2021 by Dobber

[electric indigo]

So - will there be Aztecs?...

_

I made some real progress on my V-Siren (about time...)

First there's the scratch build head armor

Some heavy blending on the legs:

and I finally found the formula for the Neptunium

Now on to the fun part:

[derex3592]

Titanic main hull primed/light blocked. 1st LED light test... 

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by derex3592

[Dobber]

Wow, that looks great Derex!

@electric indigo not sure yet but leaning towards no. May do slight paneling like what the TOS remastered did. 

*the first picture really shows the difference between what the TOS Enterprise looks like compared to my changes, for those that aren’t as familiar. 

[Thom]

@electric indigo I'm not familiar with the subject, but I like the details on the pieces.

@derex3592 That already looks good all lit.

@Dobber Noted on SSM. Love the detail and changes you've made.

[derex3592]

After sleeping on it, I decided the "warm white" LED's I have for the Titanic weren't warm enough for what I think early 1900's lighting might have looked like. So this morning I did a test spray with some Tamiya Clear Orange over the clear half dome cover material of the LED strip itself.  I think that's MUCHO better.  Running it at 7.5 volts it doesn't even get warm, so I don't think I'll have any issues with the paint doing odd things over time. If any lighting gurus around here have a different opinion on that, I'm all ears.  Runabout painting update tomorrow!  Stay Tuned! 

Edited June 26, 2021 by derex3592

[derex3592]

Here's the result with the main deck temporarily in place...it glows...LOL.

 

[Thom]

6 hours ago, derex3592 said:

After sleeping on it, I decided the "warm white" LED's I have for the Titanic weren't warm enough for what I think early 1900's lighting might have looked like. So this morning I did a test spray with some Tamiya Clear Orange over the clear half dome cover material of the LED strip itself.  I think that's MUCHO better.  Running it at 7.5 volts it doesn't even get warm, so I don't think I'll have any issues with the paint doing odd things over time. If any lighting gurus around here have a different opinion on that, I'm all ears.  Runabout painting update tomorrow!  Stay Tuned! 

Good thinking on the tint to the lights. I'd say let it run for a while, just to be sure. Or tint a film to go between the lights and the hull.

[Dobber]

Yeah I like that orange tint a lot. I agree it has that early 1900’s bulb glow better. More like candle light.

Chris

[505thAirborne]

@derex3592  That Titanic is off to a great start, liking it!! 

Taking some baby steps with my yellowed VF-1J and one of these days it becoming a 1A or maybe keep it as a 1J Cavaliers. Just want to say that Mr. SURFACER is amazing! 

May not be Anime but a couple of customs WWII & Vietnam helmets on the old workbench as well. 

 

 

[peter]

@Chronocidal I don't know that series but it's an awesome looking craft.

@arbit Is that Kodai from Yamato?

@Dobber Nice custom work on that TOS gen ship!  Love the extra detail....thinking about building a TOS Enterprise next, but it will be boring and straight out of the box if I do, hahah!  I do have some custom work on the defiant I'll post later, but don't get expect much, its not very exciting.

@electric indigo I still don't know what mecha that is, but it's coming along nicely, haha!

@derex3592 I wonder my if childhood Titanic build is worth digging out for a few laughs, yours is looking great....illumination...will need to figure that out one day.

 

@505thAirborne Yes!  A Valkyrie!  I honestly can't tell, is that a Yammie 1/60 or 1/48?

 

 

 

[peter]

Helmet on the workbench pic

[505thAirborne]

23 minutes ago, peter said:

 

@505thAirborne Yes!  A Valkyrie!  I honestly can't tell, is that a Yammie 1/60 or 1/48?

 

 

 

Whoops, that's an old school Yamato 1/48. She'd seen some serious yellowing from the previous owner, so ideal for a custom. 

Helmet on the workbench... Nice!! 

[peter]

Cleanest Refit I've ever built.  

Three 537s as a kid (all fell apart or broken) 

One 537 resurrected into an auto destruct

One 537 built last summer with HDA Aztecs and markings, still a mess.

One 1/2500 Refit.... Turned out pretty bad, made a mess of the wallpaper decals on that one. 

This one went together nicely, everything actually lined up, no major gaping holes (Well, there are still a few gaps, but nothing catastrophic compared to my 537 builds) that were hard to fix, even the decals went on nicely, the Aztecs were amazing. 

More details than I even knew about, more details than the larger 537, and it even came decals and details that the the HDA 537 decals didn't. 

I did have a bit of a problem with the nacelles through, a bit of a pain to snap fit.  I put a little too much English into it and actually fudged the Aztec decal on the pylon.  This is after the Pledge and after the Flat clear went over the decal and cured.... Guess it didn't cure long enough. 

Anyway, it's not perfect (for example, I still had trouble lining up the strong back decals) but I am quite happy with it.

This kit could really benefit from lights, but if it isn't idiot proof (like my Bandai Yamato lighting kit), I would probably make a mess of it. 

 

Besides, it's easier to woosh it around the room when it's not wired to the stand, Hahaha! 

 

 

 

Edited June 27, 2021 by peter
edited for spelling.

[peter]

18 minutes ago, 505thAirborne said:

Whoops, that's an old school Yamato 1/48. She'd seen some serious yellowing from the previous owner, so ideal for a custom. 

Helmet on the workbench... Nice!! 

I've always thought about buying up an old yellowed toy and doing a custom.

So, what do folks do after building it?  I'd imagine transforming it would risk scratching the hell out of the paint job?  Once I build a model, even if it has ball joints and stuff, I don't touch it much after posing it, let alone transform it.

Also, what about decals?  I guess sealing them in under several layers of clears helps, but where do people even get custom decals for toys?  Print your own?

Customizing a toy might be still quite a bit beyond my skill level.

[505thAirborne]

18 minutes ago, peter said:

I've always thought about buying up an old yellowed toy and doing a custom.

So, what do folks do after building it?  I'd imagine transforming it would risk scratching the hell out of the paint job?  Once I build a model, even if it has ball joints and stuff, I don't touch it much after posing it, let alone transform it.

Also, what about decals?  I guess sealing them in under several layers of clears helps, but where do people even get custom decals for toys?  Print your own?

Customizing a toy might be still quite a bit beyond my skill level.

^^^ These are all of my thoughts when making a custom like this, since I'm a huge fighter mode fan this one will probably remain that way which is fine by me. 

I believe @Anasazi37 is still putting out some top quality decals, after my experience with my previous 1/72 VF-31A & RVF-19 kits, 5-6 coats of Tamiya clear and those decals are on there. First time I've veer done it properly and super stoked on the results.

[Chronocidal]

4 hours ago, peter said:

Besides, it's easier to woosh it around the room when it's not wired to the stand, Hahaha! 

Really a beautiful job, I love how cleanly this kit goes together, and it is definitely quite swooshable.  

I'm still in the assembly stage of mine, and needed some spare parts after the clear warp grilles and deflector cracked, but I also made a few structural tweaks to the nacelles to get rid of as much sag as possible.

[arbit]

5 hours ago, peter said:

Is that Kodai from Yamato?

Yes sir. Did I forget to mention?

[peter]

1 hour ago, Chronocidal said:

Really a beautiful job, I love how cleanly this kit goes together, and it is definitely quite swooshable.  

I'm still in the assembly stage of mine, and needed some spare parts after the clear warp grilles and deflector cracked, but I also made a few structural tweaks to the nacelles to get rid of as much sag as possible.

Yeah, some of the clear parts were a bit of a pain.  I ended up cutting off or seriously trimming down a lot of the nubs and gluing the clear parts in place. 

[peter]

32 minutes ago, arbit said:

Yes sir. Did I forget to mention?

I might have missed it, lol, reading is not one of my strong points.  Looks good! 

[peter]

Experimented with the airbrush some more. 

 I know the Defiant doesn't have wallpaper decals so maybe the varying coloration would show through. 

Some detail painting required some masking. 

I remembered Model Chili mentioned this decal was not a perfect fit so I decided to paint this section. 

Then I decided on a last minute change. 

With Roy sitting on my workbench staring me in the face, I decided to throw a bit of black and yellow on the underside. 

Finished product, no lights....wait, USS what??  Lol, the individual letters... What a pain, lol! 

 

 

I didn't bother with the USS part for the smaller decals and you can certainly see the difference in font when you zoom in. 

Business on the top.... 

Party on the bottom, haha!  Roy approved, but no pineapple sad served in the replicators.

BTW, the only decal that broke on me. 

Edited June 27, 2021 by peter
Edited for spelling

[Dobber]

@peter Hot Dog those are some buitiful builds! Love the Focker….looks like a proper wartime ship!

Chris

[Thom]

You guys have to stop posting such great models. It's hard to show my appreciation without doing a super-long post!

@505thAirborne Looking to be a nice redo of that old toy. Giving it new life. And those helms look really oogd!

@peter Very nice work on that Refit-A! When those decals work right, it really pops. And on your Defiant, you did the opposite of me. I didn't use any of the colored decals except the tan one for the top panel on the nose, and no they don't fit right... I do really like the fun on the bottom! That black/gold looks real good on the Defiant. My one and only really eany-teansy-weany critique would be the skull-n-bones. I looks backwards, but that may just be me! Great job!

 

Edited June 27, 2021 by Thom

[Anasazi37]

11 hours ago, peter said:

I've always thought about buying up an old yellowed toy and doing a custom.

So, what do folks do after building it?  I'd imagine transforming it would risk scratching the hell out of the paint job?  Once I build a model, even if it has ball joints and stuff, I don't touch it much after posing it, let alone transform it.

Also, what about decals?  I guess sealing them in under several layers of clears helps, but where do people even get custom decals for toys?  Print your own?

Customizing a toy might be still quite a bit beyond my skill level.

It depends on whether we're talking about older valks like the 1/55, Yamato v1 1/60, and the Yamato 1/48 or newer valks like the Yamato v2 + Arcadia 1/60 or Bandai DX 1/60. With the newer ones, because of the complexity of their transformation sequences, inability to disassemble some/all of the toy (especially for the DX line), and tight tolerances between thin plastic parts, customizing is very challenging. Lots of opportunities for paint scrape--if you can even effectively paint all of the parts you want to paint. With the older ones, there's a lot more breathing room because you can completely break them down and work on each piece individually. Paint scrape is a still a problem, though, so you generally modify parts to add some space, employ magnets to hold parts together that normally require friction to stay in place, or both. And a durable clear coat is definitely your friend.

11 hours ago, 505thAirborne said:

^^^ These are all of my thoughts when making a custom like this, since I'm a huge fighter mode fan this one will probably remain that way which is fine by me. 

I believe @Anasazi37 is still putting out some top quality decals, after my experience with my previous 1/72 VF-31A & RVF-19 kits, 5-6 coats of Tamiya clear and those decals are on there. First time I've veer done it properly and super stoked on the results.

Designing and printing your own is an option, but there's definitely a learning curve. I started making my own decals for toy valk customs about twenty years ago and it quickly turned into something I primarily did for fellow MW members. My methods and materials have evolved quite a bit over the years. These days I try to keep new projects to a minimum because I just don't have as much free time as I used to. At the moment I have a waiting list for custom sets and at least one person on it has been patiently waiting for about a year. I can occasionally crank out small sets pretty fast, like the ones I did for the DX VF-1 and the Arcadia VF-4A, because those are easy and I'm making multiple copies of the same thing, but anything one-off takes time.

[peter]

4 hours ago, Thom said:

You guys have to stop posting such great models. It's hard to show my appreciation without doing a super-long post!

@505thAirborne Looking to be a nice redo of that old toy. Giving it new life. And those helms look really oogd!

@peter Very nice work on that Refit-A! When those decals work right, it really pops. And on your Defiant, you did the opposite of me. I didn't use any of the colored decals except the tan one for the top panel on the nose, and no they don't fit right... I do really like the fun on the bottom! That black/gold looks real good on the Defiant. My one and only really eany-teansy-weany critique would be the skull-n-bones. I looks backwards, but that may just be me! Great job!

 

Lol, I totally get it about the jolly Roger, I was humming and hawing over which way to put it too.  

I think by the time I decided, I'd had more whiskey than Roy had rum in his pineapple salad and followed the chest plate of the Valk on my desk, hahahaha! 

In retrospect, I probably should have flipped the other way.

[peter]

7 hours ago, Dobber said:

@peter Hot Dog those are some buitiful builds! Love the Focker….looks like a proper wartime ship!

Chris

Actually, I was thinking a out leaving it just like this, like a Low Vis ship with some skulls here and there.  A lot of the decals are really high profile and really scream "here I am, shoot me down", especially the red pinstripes. 

Ended up throwing them all on there anyway, but honestly, it doesn't look this bright on screen right?  The colors look so much more subdued. 

[peter]

4 hours ago, Anasazi37 said:

It depends on whether we're talking about older valks like the 1/55, Yamato v1 1/60, and the Yamato 1/48 or newer valks like the Yamato v2 + Arcadia 1/60 or Bandai DX 1/60. With the newer ones, because of the complexity of their transformation sequences, inability to disassemble some/all of the toy (especially for the DX line), and tight tolerances between thin plastic parts, customizing is very challenging. Lots of opportunities for paint scrape--if you can even effectively paint all of the parts you want to paint. With the older ones, there's a lot more breathing room because you can completely break them down and work on each piece individually. Paint scrape is a still a problem, though, so you generally modify parts to add some space, employ magnets to hold parts together that normally require friction to stay in place, or both. And a durable clear coat is definitely your friend.

Designing and printing your own is an option, but there's definitely a learning curve. I started making my own decals for toy valk customs about twenty years ago and it quickly turned into something I primarily did for fellow MW members. My methods and materials have evolved quite a bit over the years. These days I try to keep new projects to a minimum because I just don't have as much free time as I used to. At the moment I have a waiting list for custom sets and at least one person on it has been patiently waiting for about a year. I can occasionally crank out small sets pretty fast, like the ones I did for the DX VF-1 and the Arcadia VF-4A, because those are easy and I'm making multiple copies of the same thing, but anything one-off takes time.

Oh, I heard about your decals, and heard they are pretty awesome!

[505thAirborne]

Got the arms & part or the fuselage/cockpit areas done. Next will be the legs, the internal section with the landing gear will be the trickiest part to reassemble.