Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[derex3592]

"What's Lying On Your Workbench?"..... 🤔 🙄 😂

[MechTech]

@arbit Those prints look great and so does your Freyja! It looks like you're figuring out the the whole eyes thing - they look good too (and kinda creepy).

I agree with everyone else that mentioned vectored artwork. Professionally speaking, that is almost all I use. When I do use bitmaps / JPEG images, it really limits what i can do. Especially if I find that "perfect" background image, but it's too small for what I'm working on. When you go to enlarge it, everything gets pixelated. One thing a lot of people forget about is if you are comfortable with drawing in PowerPoint, those are vectored images. PowerPoint is far from the best tool to create in, but a lot of people have it and use it, but not to its full potential.

Vectored images scale perfectly (for the most part) and usually print with better sharpness because of how the printer reads the files.

@vsim Your VF-0B is looking good! Yeah, your efforts paid off. The lines are nice and sharp!

 

Its been slow going, but I go more work done on the diorama. Most people paint to look like sand, I found sand to match the paint! Then I glued a layer onto the base.

The third part of the diorama is a wheeled armored car. I started with the Tiger Models T-40 NEXTER Turret kit. Its a great model, but waaaaay too big on the base and bigger than what I wanted for a small, lightning fast deployable strike team.

For you car guys, the next step was to "chop and channel" the chassis (say that ten times fast).

Then created new wheel wells. The good news, wheel wells get caked in mud, so my seams will "disappear".

And some fillers to go between the naked wheel wells (just temporarily fit before trimming up).

That's all for this weekend. Thanks for checking in! - Phill

[MechTech]

Hey, we can't edit posts anymore?

@derex3592 Your Titanic is looking GREAT! The pencils are a nice touch too!

That cat looks so realistic too! (popped up right after I posted this thread)😅 - MT

[pengbuzz]

53 minutes ago, MechTech said:

Hey, we can't edit posts anymore?

@derex3592 Your Titanic is looking GREAT! The pencils are a nice touch too!

That cat looks so realistic too! (popped up right after I posted this thread)😅 - MT

Click on the three dots in the upper left-hand corner of your post for a drop down that contains the edit feature.

[MechTech]

Thanks, Pengbuzz! The three dots I keep ignoring😄.

[pengbuzz]

4 hours ago, MechTech said:

Thanks, Pengbuzz! The three dots I keep ignoring😄.

It's okay... it took me forever to figure them out, then today I forgot about why they are there until you asked (other stuff going on that has me tied up inside).

Not been having a good past few days... stressed, depressed and trying not to have seizures.

Edited September 12, 2021 by pengbuzz

[arbit]

19 hours ago, MechTech said:

@arbit Those prints look great and so does your Freyja! It looks like you're figuring out the the whole eyes thing - they look good too (and kinda creepy).

I agree with everyone else that mentioned vectored artwork. Professionally speaking, that is almost all I use. When I do use bitmaps / JPEG images, it really limits what i can do. Especially if I find that "perfect" background image, but it's too small for what I'm working on. When you go to enlarge it, everything gets pixelated. One thing a lot of people forget about is if you are comfortable with drawing in PowerPoint, those are vectored images. PowerPoint is far from the best tool to create in, but a lot of people have it and use it, but not to its full potential.

Thanks for your feedback. I've used PPT my whole life and didn't know that! I moved the base eyes to PPT and scaled them down, and they are muuuuch higher resolution.

Didn't mean to creep you out 🤪

I just wonder when people make decals, how do they get the dimensions so accurate when there are so many changing factors like canvas size, paper size, and the funky margins different printers make.

 

Edited September 13, 2021 by arbit

[MechTech]

@arbit I'm glad it helped you out! To scale stuff in PPT:

 - Page (canvas) size means nothing except for the size of decal sheet you want to create. As you probably already know, just leave enough room for your margins (about 1/4" / 6mm)   since most printers don't print across the whole page.

- PowerPoint has a grid you can scale against when drawing: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/show-or-hide-gridlines-in-word-powerpoint-or-excel-47b1189c-f867-479e-a208-34ee54055f6f

I included this link for the related sub-links on the page too. There are other tools there that will help. I use grids on my screen for business too. I'd be lost without them. The grid can be customized - this will also make your life a lot easier!

- Double left click on an object and the dimensions should appear in the top right hand corner of your screen. Its also under Drawing Tools > Format > Size. You can also resize objects in increments there too.

So if you bring a scale scan of your object into PowerPoint, you should literally be able to draw right on it. I've done this with photos of objects to test paint colors on them. You could do it with eyes!

Another tidbit just in case you don't know, the cool part about vectored drawings is you can always go back and edit them later vs JPEGs. In PowerPoint, right-click on your object and select "Edit Points". Right click again on the line in this mode and you can, "Add, delete, open path, or make a curved segments." PowerPoint does all of this as a secondary function, so sometimes it is buggy. Resizing shapes (like eyes down to 1/48th scale) can also be buggy sometimes too. I've found limitations depending what shape your making or drawing.

Purpose-built software like the other guys mentioned does all of this much better and without some of the hang-ups.

I hope this helps. I look forward to "seeing" your eyes! - MT

 

[derex3592]

Some actual hobbying went on this weekend over here. Got Miria/Milia painted (be gentle, I'm not good with figures), for her QRau and also worked on my Itty bitty Zentradi Flag Ship. I also got some cool garage time to strip some more ick off the Cat's Eye 👁. 

[Grayson72]

2 hours ago, MechTech said:

@arbit I'm glad it helped you out! To scale stuff in PPT:

 - Page (canvas) size means nothing except for the size of decal sheet you want to create. As you probably already know, just leave enough room for your margins (about 1/4" / 6mm)   since most printers don't print across the whole page.

- PowerPoint has a grid you can scale against when drawing: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/show-or-hide-gridlines-in-word-powerpoint-or-excel-47b1189c-f867-479e-a208-34ee54055f6f

I included this link for the related sub-links on the page too. There are other tools there that will help. I use grids on my screen for business too. I'd be lost without them. The grid can be customized - this will also make your life a lot easier!

- Double left click on an object and the dimensions should appear in the top right hand corner of your screen. Its also under Drawing Tools > Format > Size. You can also resize objects in increments there too.

So if you bring a scale scan of your object into PowerPoint, you should literally be able to draw right on it. I've done this with photos of objects to test paint colors on them. You could do it with eyes!

Another tidbit just in case you don't know, the cool part about vectored drawings is you can always go back and edit them later vs JPEGs. In PowerPoint, right-click on your object and select "Edit Points". Right click again on the line in this mode and you can, "Add, delete, open path, or make a curved segments." PowerPoint does all of this as a secondary function, so sometimes it is buggy. Resizing shapes (like eyes down to 1/48th scale) can also be buggy sometimes too. I've found limitations depending what shape your making or drawing.

Purpose-built software like the other guys mentioned does all of this much better and without some of the hang-ups.

I hope this helps. I look forward to "seeing" your eyes! - MT

 

This is great advice, I have used PPT for creating simple decals before.

Almost all of these decals were recreated for this  old A-4 kit because the decal sheet got destroyed and the round landing circles on this aircraft carrier didn't exist anywhere else.

 

Edited September 13, 2021 by Grayson72

[pengbuzz]

1 hour ago, derex3592 said:

Some actual hobbying went on this weekend over here. Got Miria/Milia painted (be gentle, I'm not good with figures), for her QRau and also worked on my Itty bitty Zentradi Flag Ship. I also got some cool garage time to strip some more ick off the Cat's Eye 👁. 

It looks better than much of the original animation for SDFM! lol

[derex3592]

@pengbuzz LOL! Thanks! Yeh, it's not suppose to look perfect! Just like the original anime! 

[arbit]

18 hours ago, MechTech said:

I hope this helps. I look forward to "seeing" your eyes! - MT

Thanks. Unfortunately I screwed up my last print at the printers place. I don't know what we did, but the resolution dropped. Partly my fault, partly the printer kept trying to rescale on site.

I did a test print at home which was fine on my inkjet, but at the printers, the margins were all out of wack and the image was squeezed no matter what settings we tried.

This goes back to me having the wrong starting canvas size, although @Chronocidal told me exactly what size to use, but I didn't get it right.

Now I'm out of Japanese Laser water slide paper.  

I have some Hayes Inkjet water slides coming, I wonder if those will print well at home for such small objects. The Japanese stuff is .01mm thick, but can't find any info on thickness of Hayes paper.

Edited September 14, 2021 by arbit

[MechTech]

@derex3592 Your Zentraedi ship looks cool! Which kit is that?

@Grayson72 Both models look awesome! You must have got a certain local member to print the white helo markings?

@arbit That sucks about your decal sheet! For the inkjet paper, do you have a good coating to seal the decals once the ink fully dries? A coat of Microsol Superfilm over that will seal them perfectly and prevent splintering.

The inkjet paper is your best bet anyhow! I did laserjet decals for the Shinden NASCAR race scheme. I was bummed to find out the toner is actually raised and adds height / bumps to the decals. I'll never use it again. The printer also didn't have as high a resolution - at the highest setting.

I hope the new paper works out great for you! - MT

 

[derex3592]

@MechTech - It's the 3D printed ship that came with the MepToys 1/100 Breetai figure. 

Edited September 14, 2021 by derex3592

[505thAirborne]

Awesome builds & projects everyone! 

Since having some free time from everything else I finally had a chance to work on my 1/48 VF Cavaliers project. Two things I noticed, this dark blue is quite difficult to photograph and masking off the legs for where the light bluish-gray is was trickier than I had anticipated but overall it turned out pretty darn good. (How to disassemble a VF-1 leg & everything else is 2nd nature now). 

Just waiting for some Tamiya semi gloss black, red & the other gray to arrive and then it's on to decals & clear coat. 

 

[MechTech]

@derex3592 Cool. It looks good and has a great sculpture to it. Especially compared to other versions.

@505thAirborne That is a unique color scheme! I'm looking forward to the finished assembly. - MT

[pengbuzz]

Just going to drop this right here...

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by pengbuzz

[MechTech]

@pengbuzz That's cool! Nice action pose and exhaust effects!

 

Getting a little bit more work done on the "twins." This is the layout "plan" that I hope looks at least similar when done.

SSSHHHHHHhhhhh, don't tell nobody, but I got grass in clips on my workbench drying.

And then a little bit more work on the base and finish on the ARMOR. There is still A LONG way to go!

And some more work on the armored car affixing the skirt armor and wheel well areas.

The silhouette almost looks like a minivan!

That's it for now, thank you for checking in! - MT

[derex3592]

@pengbuzz very cool Master Chief!

@MechTech loving the diorama so far!

Over here, I have to report that Mr. VivoHome China special air compressor is going back, I always had a good feeling about the little blue and black Tuffiom China special air compressor but I let my want of a free craptastic airbrush and a higher number of Amazon reviews sway my initial gut feeling. And sooo, here we are, the Tuffiom is a better unit. ($3 cheaper actually) The VivoHome made an odd high pitched screaming noise when it was running... Very irritating! No thanks. I will say this to anyone looking for a new compressor.. COMPLETELY IGNORE THE NOISE DB RATING ON ALL OF THEM!!! They measure the noise of the airbrush spraying and the compressor NOT running... LOL Sneaky, Sneaky.... They both claim 47DB as do many others. It's not true. They all run about 78DB at about one foot away. Measured both with a DB meter app along with my old Paasche. Just FYI!

Also trying out Airbrush Flow Improver from Vallejo. I put about 5 drops in for 10 drops of paint and acrylic thinner. I think it does spray a little better honestly. 

😁

Edited September 19, 2021 by derex3592

[pengbuzz]

Thanks guys!

MT: are you going to impress any footprints into the ground from your mechs?

[Rock]

Survived the decals. Hit it with some gloss clear followed by a dusting of the body color that was overthinned. First time trying this. The thought process is it would help tone down/fade the contrast of the fresh yellow decals against the weathered body. Sealed with matte clear and ready for some more weathering before the black and grey accents are added.

Going to pick up some weathering pencils to try out for panel highlights instead of dry brushing this time.

[electric indigo]

Best Nora scheme I've seen!

The  sabers could use some dusting, too.

[007-vf1]

On 9/13/2021 at 10:26 AM, derex3592 said:

Some actual hobbying went on this weekend over here. Got Miria/Milia painted (be gentle, I'm not good with figures), for her QRau and also worked on my Itty bitty Zentradi Flag Ship. I also got some cool garage time to strip some more ick off the Cat's Eye 👁. 

 

 

I absolute know the struggle

anything small hand painted is just a pain-in-the-butt without some magnification help

Here my 1/700 attempts and update to a previous finished Zentran models

 

Edited September 20, 2021 by 007-vf1

[MechTech]

Thank you guys, I appreciate it!

@derex3592 That sucks about your compressor! I have a similar one (one gallon) general use one for tires and air tools. I stick it in my shop, turn it on, and close the door! Then I let it charge up. That's how I deal with the sound! They can be loud. I HIGHLY recommend the smaller diaphragm ones. They are quiet and about 1/6th the size of yours in the photo.

@pengbuzz Definitely doing footprints and tread marks. They really aren't in place yet, so I have to wait on that part.

@Rock Going over your decals with a light coat is a great idea. I've done the same, but heavier with my models here (and still adjusting the depth). Your finish is looking good!

@007-vf1 It's great to see the Cyclops up here! We haven't seen one in a while. All of your 1/700 kits look cool. How did you come by them? - MT

[derex3592]

Question for all you guys around here with compressors with air tanks, Do you leave the system pressurized when you are finished painting, or do you bleed the air completely from the system before leaving for more than a few days to a week or more?  Just curious! 

[007-vf1]

@derex3592 I have left it with low pressure on on several occasions just to find out the compressor bleeds itself to zero in a couple of days. I try to avoid this as much as possible because the moisture that builds inside will mean rust in the components in the long run. it's better to bleed it as soon as you can but it doesn't have to be immediately.

@Mechtech I asked Plastic Cretins to work in a few custom 3D printed models for me on that scale and 1/144. He's always done a pretty good job.

The MKII Monster was purchased from Shapeways if I am not mistaken. I asked the the modeler there to print me one on 1/700. I have these models for about 5 years or so stored and finally starting to work on them.

Edited September 21, 2021 by 007-vf1

[arbit]

45 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

Question for all you guys around here with compressors with air tanks, Do you leave the system pressurized when you are finished painting, or do you bleed the air completely from the system before leaving for more than a few days to a week or more?  Just curious! 

I use the AS-189, never had a problem with it for years.  I took it from a pro tip. I leave it pressurized.

My room DB is 40-50 depending on AC, the compressor runs at 65-70 when pressure is being filled, but it has an auto off when pressure is maxed.  It also has a water filter.

[arbit]

On 9/20/2021 at 5:21 PM, 007-vf1 said:

Here my 1/700 attempts and update to a previous finished Zentran models

Nice scene! That Gnerl canopy always looks hard for me to paint on resin kits. 

[derex3592]

@007-vf1 Great little kits you have there! I built the Recon Pod years ago. Still one of my favorite designs!  I know I've said this a million times before, but oh man do I wish Bandai would make new Macross Molds of all the old SDF ships and mecha utilizing the techniques they honed doing all the Star Wars and Gundam kits. How much of a dream come true would that be for all of us old and new fans?!  Come on Bandai!!! DO IT! 

[MechTech]

@derex3592 Tanks that are filled with conditioned industrial gasses are kept "empty" at a low pressure to keep water out. Home air compressors using atmospheric compressed air are best kept empty. As 007 said, water is your enemy in a tank because of corrosion and possible explosions. A friend of mine had a small air compressor like yours that powered his professional engraving shop (engraving equipment and framing equipment). It got a lot of use each day. One day he called me up and asked me to check it out. I got there and we turned on the compressor. It ran and ran and the tank never filled. When I looked at the compressor tank, there was a huge bulge in it from rust under the paint pushing it out. And of course - a pinhole in all that corrosion. Thank God it never exploded on him! Weakened tanks can be like bombs. So I told him about emptying his tank daily. And yes, he had a moisture trap on the tank. Moisture still gets through them, just not as much as straight air. Every time I use my compressor, I empty it and then open the bleed valve at the bottom. I remember how humid it got in Texas too. I also agree, I wish Bandai would show Macross the same love they have as Star Wars and Gundam.

@007-vf1 Thanks! EXO has done some great model prints! That's cool the Shapeways guy re-scaled it for you. - MT

[derex3592]

@MechTech wow! Thanks for the heads up!  I really endeavor to keep my tools for a long time, so I will definitively bleed the air out completely after each use! I normally only have time to paint on the weekends anyway. 

[Chronocidal]

So, this is a slightly oddball subject, but I decided to pull out one of my VF-171s last night, and discovered that while it was mostly holding together, there were cracks forming on a few of the parts.

Decided, "What the heck, let's fix this."

I don't have pictures because my camera has recently died, but I discovered something interesting.  The tiny little lower triangle pieces that fold under the chest have always been a fragile mess, because of the metal spring-pins forced into them.  I was able to push out the pins gently, and salvage all of the original pieces, soaking them in CA glue to reinforce them and seal the cracks that had formed, and sanding them gently to fit back together.

When I went to put them back together, I decided to look for alternatives to the spring pins.  As it turns out, the spring-pins are roughly the same diameter as your run-of-the-mill plastic-coated wire-tie.    I jammed a segment into each folding panel, trimmed off the excess, and they're almost as good as new, with just a little scuffing from where I sanded them.

I also reinforced the upper triangles the same way, and fortunately neither of the upper halves or side flaps were cracked.  I just doused the lower segments in CA, sanded them to make sure everything was still toleranced right, and put everything back together.

So yeah.. plastic coated wire makes a nice easy substitute for spring-pins.  The plastic gives a nice bit of friction, without the destructive grinding of the metal teeth.

[pengbuzz]

On 9/19/2021 at 11:23 AM, derex3592 said:

@pengbuzz very cool Master Chief!

@MechTech loving the diorama so far!

Over here, I have to report that Mr. VivoHome China special air compressor is going back, I always had a good feeling about the little blue and black Tuffiom China special air compressor but I let my want of a free craptastic airbrush and a higher number of Amazon reviews sway my initial gut feeling. And sooo, here we are, the Tuffiom is a better unit. ($3 cheaper actually) The VivoHome made an odd high pitched screaming noise when it was running... Very irritating! No thanks. I will say this to anyone looking for a new compressor.. COMPLETELY IGNORE THE NOISE DB RATING ON ALL OF THEM!!! They measure the noise of the airbrush spraying and the compressor NOT running... LOL Sneaky, Sneaky.... They both claim 47DB as do many others. It's not true. They all run about 78DB at about one foot away. Measured both with a DB meter app along with my old Paasche. Just FYI!

Also trying out Airbrush Flow Improver from Vallejo. I put about 5 drops in for 10 drops of paint and acrylic thinner. I think it does spray a little better honestly. 

😁

Thanks! Looks like you're getting some progress on that Cat's Eye!

Speaking of which: gearing up to do my own 1/72 scratchbuild of the ES-11 pretty soon. Just need to figure out how to make canopies for it and I'll be good to go.

[wm cheng]

Just to chime in, I've been using an old Sil-Air 30D compressor from 25yrs ago when I was airbrushing artwork (before that, I was using a refrigerator compressor I salvaged from a junk yard for 10yrs, I had to put a wet sponge on the cylinder head to allow me more time to spray to keep it cool!).  So I went from a junker to a Cadillac and don't have much to compare.  Mind you I also went from a single action badger to a dual action Iwata as well 😛  Its nearly silent, I only hear it when it kicks in occasionally to fill up the tank and the pressure relief valve goes off when its full.  It's been bulletproof and with a slight hum when its filling the tank (quieter than the noise from the airbrush when spraying).  I highly recommend it.  When I'm done, I just turn it off and within a day or two, it eventually bleeds out empty.  Now mind you it can often go for months or years without being touched (depending on my daughter when she was young and my job) - but every time I fire it up, it makes me smile.