Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[derex3592]

My Brother In Law got the glass back from the glass place this week and he did the print on the glass for me. It looks amazing.  Here is a pic of the glass fresh off the printer and also a mockup of how this 10 month long project is going to look in the end. More detail painting continues... but we're getting there! Bring the warp engines on line!! Hype train now boarding!!! 

[Thom]

@MechTech Thank you! and a happy 4th to you as well! Also, very nice work on your mech. Looking awesome.

[Thom]

@derex3592 That is already looking fantastic!

[derex3592]

Bit more painting progress on the Titanic...base drilled out for wiring later, sanded, primed and painted with multiple layers of Rust-O-Leum gloss black from a rattle can.  Gold supports assembled, puttied the cracks as best I could, primed and painted with Tamiya Gold from a rattle can.  Tamiya Racing White applied to upper hull.  Now the fun part, the yellow stripe.... Hindsight being 20/20, I should have painted the black section first then the red, then the white, THEN the yellow line. Oh well.  

Also got a minute to play with the very cool and stretchy E-Z line I purchased for the rigging!  This stuff is really cool!  Recommended by the The Midwest Model Shop guy, Ben who's YouTube channel I watch for all things ships nowadays.  Not nearly as scared to attempt the rigging now that I have this stuff, still gonna be a challenge, but I'll practice more before the time comes. Stay tuned! 

[electric indigo]

@derex3592 The Titanic is moving ahead quickly!

_

Some girly colors on my workbench today:

 

[peter]

3 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Bit more painting progress on the Titanic...base drilled out for wiring later, sanded, primed and painted with multiple layers of Rust-O-Leum gloss black from a rattle can.  Gold supports assembled, puttied the cracks as best I could, primed and painted with Tamiya Gold from a rattle can.  Tamiya Racing White applied to upper hull.  Now the fun part, the yellow stripe.... Hindsight being 20/20, I should have painted the black section first then the red, then the white, THEN the yellow line. Oh well.  

Also got a minute to play with the very cool and stretchy E-Z line I purchased for the rigging!  This stuff is really cool!  Recommended by the The Midwest Model Shop guy, Ben who's YouTube channel I watch for all things ships nowadays.  Not nearly as scared to attempt the rigging now that I have this stuff, still gonna be a challenge, but I'll practice more before the time comes. Stay tuned! 

E Z Line!  I've never heard of this stuff!  I just picked up an old 1/250 Musashi kit and was wondering how much pain and tears I wanted to put into it.

The last time I tried rigging was in grade 5 (easily 35+ years ago).  I took runners, held them over a candle and stretched them out, so they were all different sizes, and prone to breaking. 

I'm going to have to look into this E Z Line stuff for the rigging.

I'm also planning to pick up a 1/200 scale Yamato eventually, but I'll put a bit more effort into that build.  This 1/250 will just be a slap together test bed to see if I can build a battleship model better than when I did in grade 5.

Any ideas for the railing/fence without going into PE?  PE is pretty scary for me, and expensive....looking for a cheap alternative to simulate that fence that goes around the deck of the ship. 

 

BTW, the Runabout display base is amazing.  I don't usually put much thought and effort into my display bases, but I probably should.

Edited July 5, 2021 by peter

[peter]

On 7/4/2021 at 7:05 AM, MechTech said:

@505thAirborne That is dark blue! It does look smooth too!

@arbit That print looks awesome! Have a good summer!

@Thom That is looking beautiful! It's actually nice to see a civilian paint job for once - but don't quote me on that

For all my fellow "Yanks," HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

This weekend I got the lower torso done and added the defensive sensors.

These are the main parts used. Note the ABS stairs. I glued them to the styrene using simple acetone. It worked great.

One of the completed units ready to go.

Side view without the legs mounted.

3/4 rear view.

With the legs mounted.

Does this make my butt look big!?

3/4 rear all together with smoke / decoy cannisters

Rear sensors mounted.

And the collar sensors for the front.

That"s it everyone! Thank you for checking in.

I really want to see some of your Macross builds now (apart from your epic Daedalus).

[peter]

Newest item on the workbench:

1/2500 Discoprise. 

Begin rant:

Same size box as most other 1/1000 kits. 

Back of the box says nearly 12" long.  Ok, should look nice with with my Refit and eventual TOS. 

Open the box and find instructions, but 80% of the box is empty.  Ok, they must have forgotten some parts, or no display stand. 

Nope, that's all the model there is.... looks a bit small. 

Mock it up and it's nowhere near the same size as my Refit, not even close to the box's description of 12".

#$&@?!

Rant over. 

Lol!  I did research on the scaling of the Discoprise after I bought this kit.  Oh well, I should have known it was a bit off when the box said 1/2500 scale. 

Was wondering if it was worth filling in these seam lines.  Lines I could not see without magnification, but I guess the camera would pick it up for the entire internet to mock me for being lazy and leaving them in. 

Definitely had to fix the one on the secondary hull.  I'm leaving the seam around the rim of the saucer.... Not going to mask all the tiny clear parts, will just sandwich them in after the base coat is down on the ship. 

Now to decide which color scheme to go with.  Since I haven't watched STD, not really concerned with the rivet counters and screen accuracy, lol! 

Odd choice to up scale the ship though because I thought they wanted STD to be in the prime universe?

Anyway, I like the design, but it looks wierd with the rest of the fleet. 

 

 

 

 

[Dobber]

The 1/2500 model scales nicely as a 1/1400 ship in prime universe proportions.

Chris

[Thom]

@derex3592 Your Titanic is already looking magnificent, and with a real nice base.

@electric indigo 'Girly colors' can look really cool!

@peter It's a real shame how they futzed up the scales on those models. They look either ridiculously over-sized or ridiculously under-sized!

Which reminds me, I should finally finish my kitbash USS Sprite...🤔

[slide]

8 hours ago, peter said:

E Z Line!  I've never heard of this stuff!  I just picked up an old 1/250 Musashi kit and was wondering how much pain and tears I wanted to put into it.

The last time I tried rigging was in grade 5 (easily 35+ years ago).  I took runners, held them over a candle and stretched them out, so they were all different sizes, and prone to breaking. 

I'm going to have to look into this E Z Line stuff for the rigging.

 

Any ideas for the railing/fence without going into PE?  PE is pretty scary for me, and expensive....looking for a cheap alternative to simulate that fence that goes around the deck of the ship. 

E Z Line is great stuff, highly recommended.

 

PE is the way... and it's why I don't build ships! lol

[MechTech]

@derex3592 Two great looking ships in the yards! That glass base is GREAT and will add a nice touch to your model. Might even be show-worthy (some shows have different rules).

@Thom Thank you, Thom! They're getting there... One more item to build for the group.

@peter Thank you, Peter! I think your Enterprise scale problem is that they were using the metric system - MT

[peter]

20 hours ago, Dobber said:

The 1/2500 model scales nicely as a 1/1400 ship in prime universe proportions.

Chris

Only had this toy by pure luck.... Picked it up on Marketplace for $20 (lights don't seem to work, bought as is). 

*EDIT* opened the battery compartment, found the typical fluffy white corrosion so I cleaned off the contacts and now the lights and sound work.

@Thom Right??  It still irks me, lol!

@MechTech Lol, Metric vs Imperial......I remember when we transitioned from Imperial to Metric in Canada back in grade 2 or 3....not exactly a smooth and complete transition as maybe 50% of the population use one, and the other half use the other.

@slide E Z Line....adding to cart now, haha!  I guess I'll eventually have to work with PE one day....it's just so small and I can barely see as it is, lol!

 

Edited July 6, 2021 by peter

[Dobber]

Nice! Looks just right. 
 

Chris

[electric indigo]

V-Siren gives you the eye...

[Dobber]

Love the color!

Chris

[peter]

10 hours ago, electric indigo said:

V-Siren gives you the eye...

Nice paint work! 

[peter]

A bit more work on the STD Discoprise. 

I really like the silver look that matches the NX-01, but I guess just wanted to go a different route. 

Just for practice anyway, going to see how splotchy looks under the Aztecs. 

Not a bad looking ship. 

Decals are very cooperative, the only thing that's a bit phucky are the instructions for the decals, which are of no help to anyone on the planet. 

Would have been nice to k ow that the decal had to go on before these fins. 

Just broke them off and glue them back later. 

Of course I have to go off script.  This build may trigger the STD purists, lol! 

Leaving the red pinstripes off the nacelles and moving the registry to the back like the Refit.... But they are a bit big. 

 

More to follow. 

[Thom]

@electric indigo Really like the shades on that mech!

@peter Good looking progress. Shite about the ins though. As for the registry, those could have moved around during the ship's operational life.

 

For myself, she's DUN!

I glued the prop on today and called it finished. Not my best work. Most of the problems were self-incurred, as the kit is pretty good. I think I prefer the Academy version more, but the decals in this boxing were great. Except for the prop blade decals, which were slightly shaped wrong on the front, and not reversed on the back.

 

With that done, and before I do another GB on Britmodeller, I'm going to resurrect my USS Sprite build. @peter has inspired me to get back to it. Just some painting to do left on it.

 

Thom

[peter]

3 hours ago, Thom said:

@electric indigo Really like the shades on that mech!

@peter Good looking progress. Shite about the ins though. As for the registry, those could have moved around during the ship's operational life.

 

For myself, she's DUN!

I glued the prop on today and called it finished. Not my best work. Most of the problems were self-incurred, as the kit is pretty good. I think I prefer the Academy version more, but the decals in this boxing were great. Except for the prop blade decals, which were slightly shaped wrong on the front, and not reversed on the back.

 

With that done, and before I do another GB on Britmodeller, I'm going to resurrect my USS Sprite build. @peter has inspired me to get back to it. Just some painting to do left on it.

 

Thom

OK, that is just drop dead gorgeous.  Will have to dig through my pile, see if I have any prop planes. 

Speaking of props.... My 3 yr old loves helicopters and anything with propellers. 

Not my finest work, but I had to make it child proof.  Don't judge, it's on my workbench so it's a valid post.  

 

Hahahahahaha! 

[electric indigo]

15 hours ago, Thom said:

I'm going to resurrect my USS Sprite build

Please put a Mass Effect color scheme on it so I don't have to.

[Dobber]

Great work @Thom and @peter! 
 

Chris

[MechTech]

@electric indigo Cool colors! I rather be given the eye than the finger

@peter Great progress! The problem with the instructions not being for anyone on the planet is they are all out in space That's some spiffy glue gunning!

@Thom Your racer came out beautiful! The paint is smooth and clean. The tires look realistic too! Too bad about the prop decals. - MT

 

[peter]

17 hours ago, MechTech said:

@electric indigo Cool colors! I rather be given the eye than the finger

@peter Great progress! The problem with the instructions not being for anyone on the planet is they are all out in space That's some spiffy glue gunning!

@Thom Your racer came out beautiful! The paint is smooth and clean. The tires look realistic too! Too bad about the prop decals. - MT

 

My wife said it looks like the toy helicopter is wearing diapers, just like my kid, hahahaha!

 

[peter]

STD Enterprise done. 
Polar Lights 1/2500 USS Enterprise from Discovery, aka Discoprise.

Not screen accurate because I haven't watched STD yet.

Still peeved about the inaccurate size description, but the kit turned out to be ok.  

Box says these two are the same size (both boxes say 12")

All the same scale, but just looks wierd to me. 

I'm going with this, hahahaha!

Overall, pretty easy, straightforward build.  You could get away with minimal filling and sanding as the decals hide some of the seam lines.  I filled in the seam on the secondary hull and nacelles, but not well.  My putty work is still quite sloppy and I missed a few gaps. 

The decals went on beautifully, with little difficulty and they conformed to unusual shapes quite well.  They were fairly durable as well, and didn't fragment into a million pieces like typical AMT Star Trek decals.  The decal guide wasn't much use to anyone on this planet.

$50CAD is a lot of money for such a tiny amount of plastic, better off paying a bit more and getting the 1/1000 scale version. 

 

[Chronocidal]

1 hour ago, peter said:

$50CAD is a lot of money for such a tiny amount of plastic, better off paying a bit more and getting the 1/1000 scale version. 

Seriously an insane amount of money for such a tiny thing, I can't believe it costs more than the 1/1000 TOS/TMP kits.

The bigger one (I'm calling closer to 1/600) costs a bit more, but downside to that is that it doesn't come with the hull decals, just a basic registry and marking sheet, and the "painting guide" is a photo on the box.

It's a decent kit, but the prices for these are getting really excessive for what you get.  The full kit to get the aztec markings and lighting set will set you back about $150 now.

[peter]

4 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Seriously an insane amount of money for such a tiny thing, I can't believe it costs more than the 1/1000 TOS/TMP kits.

The bigger one (I'm calling closer to 1/600) costs a bit more, but downside to that is that it doesn't come with the hull decals, just a basic registry and marking sheet, and the "painting guide" is a photo on the box.

It's a decent kit, but the prices for these are getting really excessive for what you get.  The full kit to get the aztec markings and lighting set will set you back about $150 now.

Yeah, I heard it can be pricy once its dressed up with the decals and lights.  Did you guys hear about Round 2 reissuing the TOS light kit?  Heard the price for the lighting kit is now $212 USD

[Chronocidal]

Glad they're reissuing it for people who absolutely can't live without it, but no thanks, I'll buy my own LEDs and motors.  Sheeesh.

This is a large portion of why I'm planning a TOS repaint of the Discoprize.  Don't need no fancy decals if the ship is just solid gray.  

[Thom]

5 hours ago, Chronocidal said:

Seriously an insane amount of money for such a tiny thing, I can't believe it costs more than the 1/1000 TOS/TMP kits.

The bigger one (I'm calling closer to 1/600) costs a bit more, but downside to that is that it doesn't come with the hull decals, just a basic registry and marking sheet, and the "painting guide" is a photo on the box.

It's a decent kit, but the prices for these are getting really excessive for what you get.  The full kit to get the aztec markings and lighting set will set you back about $150 now.

1/600 or /650, it's just about the same size as the old AMT Enterprise, and the Moebius Kelvin is pretty much the 'same' scale as well.

[Dobber]

She looks great @peter  What base Hull color did you use? It works really well with the paneling decals.

Chris

[Dobber]

14 hours ago, Thom said:

1/600 or /650, it's just about the same size as the old AMT Enterprise, and the Moebius Kelvin is pretty much the 'same' scale as well.

Here are my R2 1/1000 Discoprise and the Moebius 1/1000 Kelvin. They size very well together. As you know I’m working on an old 1/650 TOS kit and while they are similar sized models (1/1000 Discoprise and the 1/650 TOS) honestly they don’t look right next to each other. The size of details are just off. The Discoprise is just clearly a larger ship or the details of the TOS ship are just larger more bulbous. It would be like taking a fletcher class destroyer and just saying it’s about the same length as an Iowa class Battleship. The lengths would match but the details are out of proportion. If that makes any sense. 
 

 

 

Chris

[Thom]

7 minutes ago, Dobber said:

Here are my R2 1/1000 Discoprise and the Moebius 1/1000 Kelvin. They size very well together. As you know I’m working on an old 1/650 TOS kit and while they are similar sized models (1/1000 Discoprise and the 1/650 TOS) honestly they don’t look right next to each other. The size of details are just off. The Discoprise is just clearly a larger ship or the details of the TOS ship are just larger more bulbous. It would be like taking a fletcher class destroyer and just saying it’s about the same length as an Iowa class Battleship. The lengths would match but the details are out of proportion. If that makes any sense. 
 

 

 

Chris

They do look really good together! Nice job.

And yes, what you say does make sense. The TOS would require a little bit of work to get the detail proportions 'correct.'

Edited July 10, 2021 by Thom

[Thom]

Work continues once again on the Sprite! I had hit the bottom with Tamiya Silver Leaf before it was set aside, and then masked some areas off. And today I hit it with Model Master Light Ghost Gray.

Once that dries, I'll mask again and lay down a lighter gray, and then think about an 'accent' color.

More to come.

Thom

[Dobber]

Love it Thom! Nice little kit-bash you got going there.

Chris

[MechTech]

@peter Your Enterprise came out great! Did you say it has STDs?😅 Seriously, it is sad how much it cost.

I think we're going to see prices fluctuate. The Chinese Communist Party is cracking down on freedom in Honk Kong. They are already responsible for shutting down several companies including some model companies. A lot of kits for other companies were made there too. As new sources have to be found, including home grown molding, we may see higher costs - even for age old molds.

@Dobber Those look great! I love the lighting on the Enterprise.

@Thom That looks great with paint! You can't tell its a kitbash!

 

Speaking of kitbashing...

Thank God the weather was great today! We had a huge thunderstorm yesterday (not Elsa) that brought a colder front behind it. Humidity was just on the line of what's safe. Thankfully this is a matt paint job and not gloss or things may not have worked out good. I got all the parts painted. Just in time too! My wife was grilling burgers for dinner (in the background) and I just had time to get cleaned up. This time I got smart. I painted two spoons to test clear coats. That 1/144 F-86 I did got jacked up by incompatible coatings.

Another project on the workbench - and it is partly styrene - is a sunning platform for our aquatic turtle. Long story short, the old aquarium filter died and the new one didn't fit right. I also wanted to give her more swimming room so I moved the sunning area ABOVE the tank. Which meant a new platform AND a top! The platform is made out of styrene egg crate also known as a defuser. It is the grid that sits up in fluorescent light fixtures in the ceiling to defuse the light. It is great for making sci-phi backgrounds or as structural material in dioramas with styrene sheet. You get one guess what I glued it with. I didn't want to waste my good Tamiya cement on this thing. It would use a lot.

And the BIG pain in my rear. The above tank "expansion" where the sunning area goes. Aquatic turtles must have access to sunlight or simulated sun light to dry off and get vitamin D. If they stay in the water too long, disease can set in. And besides, everyone needs vitamin D! All the clear glass and plastic on the right side got messed up by my camera.

That's it for now everyone! Thanks for checking in. - MT