Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[pengbuzz]

41 minutes ago, SpacePirateNeko said:

small update...its a bit sloppy

 

 

Looks great to me!

 

[Thom]

@SpacePirateNeko I'm liking it! Looks really good.

[arbit]

So I made my first helmet. It was very challenging. My brain needs a break. Hard surface modeling is much less forgiving than figures. It came out much better than I had hoped. Some errors here and there. Still lots to learn.  But without helmets, I can't do a lot of what I have in mind.

Now up for Patrons. https://www.patreon.com/arbitscalemodels

Edited December 14, 2022 by arbit

[pengbuzz]

3 hours ago, arbit said:

So I made my first helmet. It was very challenging. My brain needs a break. Hard surface modeling is much less forgiving than figures. It came out much better than I had hoped. Some errors here and there. Still lots to learn.  But without helmets, I can't do a lot of what I have in mind.

Now up for Patrons. https://www.patreon.com/arbitscalemodels

I hope Minmay's going to tuck her feet in; otherwise, that's gonna hurt when Hikaru closes the canopy!

[MechTech]

@SpacePirateNeko The detail painting in the leg looks good, so does your weathering!

@arbit You making a Rabbit to go with that space helmet?

Thank you guys, I appreciate it! It drives me nuts that all these aftermarket guys have cool machined metal parts and I can't do that. Looks like I'm closing the gap on that now - slowly. - MT

Edited December 14, 2022 by MechTech

[derex3592]

@MechTech -.....wanna make me some custom metal gun barrels for the Missouri???!!!....

[Thom]

6 hours ago, arbit said:

So I made my first helmet. It was very challenging. My brain needs a break. Hard surface modeling is much less forgiving than figures. It came out much better than I had hoped. Some errors here and there. Still lots to learn.  But without helmets, I can't do a lot of what I have in mind.

Now up for Patrons. https://www.patreon.com/arbitscalemodels

Seeing this reminded me about those still shots from the series, with Hikaru and Misa. This is just after he rescued her from the ruin of the Grand Cannon.

This is just after an exposoin has shattered the canopy

 

Watching the Macross descend into the crater.

 

And going to meet the ship.

 

[pengbuzz]

15 minutes ago, Thom said:

Seeing this reminded me about those still shots from the series, with Hikaru and Misa. This is just after he rescued her from the ruin of the Grand Cannon.

This is just after an exposoin has shattered the canopy

 

Watching the Macross descend into the crater.

 

And going to meet the ship.

 

Always loved that scene; I like Misa far better than Minmay TBH. ❤️

[Bolt]

@arbit that helmet looks awesome! Now you've hot me thinking of building my 1/72 Rabbit ! 

[Thom]

3 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Always loved that scene; I like Misa far better than Minmay TBH. ❤️

There's just something about a mature woman - who just happens to be a hot brunette!😜

[arbit]

4 hours ago, Thom said:

Seeing this reminded me about those still shots from the series, with Hikaru and Misa. This is just after he rescued her from the ruin of the Grand Cannon.

Great shots! But honestly how can they stand straight up in the cockpit? 😁

[Thom]

18 minutes ago, arbit said:

Great shots! But honestly how can they stand straight up in the cockpit? 😁

It's a variable cockpit...

 

I'll be here all night folks, enjoy the veil!

[arbit]

16 hours ago, Thom said:

Seeing this reminded me about those still shots from the series, with Hikaru and Misa. This is just after he rescued her from the ruin of the Grand Cannon.

This was the source...

[Bolt]

So finally I've made some progress on this one. For my ongoing Megaroad hangar dia. The Enigma squadron will be there. I took some liberties with the masking. Tried to keep true to the original but working with an entirely different shaped VF posed some challenges to keeping it the same. Apparently the forefront of the port side wing got some extra dark gray shapes. I'm not sure how that happened as i had it all masked up tighter than a mummy(or so I thought!).  Easy enough to fix it, though I'll leave it for now.  Originally i had a lot more going on with the markings, but i woke up and realized it would be way too busy. Though the temptation to add a little more to the thrusters/ arms/ legs is very tempting. I keep telling myself the key is-less is more! Anyhow, here's where she's at , as of now. Definitely more to come!

See you next Deculture Space Cowboy !

Edited December 15, 2022 by Bolt

[Thom]

@Bolt That's a pretty nice looking scheme!

[Bolt]

Thanks! There's definitely some touch up to do but , overall , I'm happy with it. 

[Urashiman]

I couldn't hold myself back. I started building the new Plamax 1/72 VF-1A/S...

First impression:

The kit goes together nicely. What I like is that it is not trying to fight hasegawa, but doing it's own thing. I've build many hasegawa VF-1s since 2002 and the Plamax defo feels way different during build up. It is a nice refresh, and I like the details to it. Even being a bit more expensive than the Hasegawa one, this one really is worth it. I'd recommend it.

If you expect something that is snap-fit here, it is not. The piece go together properly, but are not tight fit.

First thing here: Black runner and colored instructions.

One plus over the Hasegawa VF-1? The little dude here that comes with the kit. No need to purchase a weapons upgrade kit

Second: from here on, no glue was incorporated. Everything is just "snapped together" (really losely).

Just a small comparision to my failed VF-1P nose print. I am glad the dimension of my VF-1 nose fit, which makes me happy a bit, knowing I am on a good way with the VF-1P. Notice the bend outwards walls of the 3D printed nose, around the cockpit area.

This is how far I got. I repeat: no glue used except for the pilot, the seat and the control panel in the cockpit.

Edit:

I'll go to my basement later and grab a Hasegawa VF-1 kit to compare some of the parts.

Edited December 16, 2022 by Urashiman

[arbit]

17 minutes ago, Urashiman said:

I couldn't hold myself back. I started building the new Plamax 1/72 VF-1A/S...

Thanks, Keep us updated on your progress.

[MechTech]

@arbit That's cool! I guess that scene was from the fanliner flight back to Japan.

@Bolt Your build is looking good! Definitely keep on it and us updated!

@Urashiman Thanks for posting the photos and doing a comparison! I was thinking of that kit, but not sure.

@derex3592 I'm honored! I have that kit too! I would have to say that the best way to go is to search aftermarket stuff. They will be WAY better than my stuff (and cheaper 😁) They even have wooden decks for it! I have the barrels Aber made. There are others too. You'll find them on ebay or hobby stores in the Pacific area like Australia. HLJ carries them, but is out.

It's sad, Tamiya makes the barrels AND projectiles for the Yamato, but not the American battleships. That set is great too. - MT

[Urashiman]

Okay, here is some stuff for the hase vs plamax thing. Unfortunately I only had the spare parts from the ve-1 left over and a mint vt-1. so here, grey parts are hase, black and white are plamax.

The VE-1 was a first issue kit, meaning it wasn’t produced with the now worn out vf-1 molds. The hase vf-1 is a bit thinner on the walls and details are really fine. The plamax vf-1 has really thick walls and the details are feeling deeper and broader.

Sizes of the nose and mainbody are matching. The cockpit interior varies. The Hasegawa cockpit is smaller. The plamax pilot won’t fit into it.

A giant!

I started priming on the cockpit parts today.

and - behold! I continued my F-14D. Love it, airbrushing with my „new“ airbrush goes so much easier now.

 

[arbit]

On 12/14/2022 at 10:56 PM, Bolt said:

@arbit that helmet looks awesome! Now you've hot me thinking of building my 1/72 Rabbit ! 

Which reminds me I need to make a male version for the Rabbit pilots.  Could you give me a photo of the cockpit and seat so I can pose correctly?

[MechTech]

@Urashiman Looks like the Plamax kit is better detailed than I thought - besides the colored part gimmicks to minimize painting (if you so desire). - MT

Edited December 17, 2022 by MechTech

[wm cheng]

@Bolt That's looking amazing!!!  I love LOVE LOVE splinter/ferris schemes and its looking so good on a VF-4.  Can't wait to see it finished.

@Urashiman Thanks for your posts, I was wondering why do we need another VF-1 in 1/72 scale, its nice to see the differences and your build.  Looking great so far!

 

"I wanna introduce you to a personal friend of mine. This is an M41A pulse rifle. Ten millimeter with over-and-under thirty millimeter pump action grenade launcher."

OK finally got a little bit of time to re-assemble my Nerf Pulse Rifle.  It took so long because it takes 5-7 days for the Rustoleum primer and black top coat to dry/cure, so most of that time was hanging it up and trying not to touch/play with it putting finger prints all over it.  However the semi-gloss black for some reason is a dust magnet, its the paint and I would not recommend using Rustoleum spray paints on this.  The silver rub turned out great, I used the Tamiya silver marker on an old rag/t-shirt and rubbed all over the semi-gloss paint and it really gave it a metallic sheen and especially catching all the highlights.  I liked it so much I did it on the brown parts (note: Brown Bess is not available as a colour anywhere in North America - I didn't want to pay the exorbitant shipping from UK, so I got a really close brown with Tamiya TS-90).  I'm not sure if I'm going to do all the silver chipping, I'm thinking the silver rub might be enough, as I don't see the chipping in the Aliens stills, but its dark.  I used aluminum foil duct tape on cut styrene at the grenade launcher ejection slot and it turned out pretty well, they had this stupid raised "ALIENS" logo in there and I was sure I wasn't able to sand that curve perfectly smooth for a nice metal finish.  I've also spray rubberized (spray can plastic-dip) the handle and grenade pump action handle and it feels great - not sure how to weather rubber though.

In my rush I forgot to screw on the metal attachments I got for the strap (I will have to take the entire gun apart again to do this as that damn non-retractable stock is in the way of the screws), unfortunately I didn't get the 2" wide nylon webbing that's screen accurate, it would have cost more than the Nerf gun, instead I got a 2" wide cotton webbing in olive green.  I couldn't match the screen accurate fittings either, but hey, the Nerf gun already has an extra barrel that I didn't remove, so I'll forgive myself for not being screen accurate.  Being able to rapid fire Nerf bullets is way more fun than being screen accurate. 

I've ordered some 5mm dia eraser refills that I'm thinking I'd paint and plug those screw holes with (so that they are removable if I need to take it apart for any reason)

It's come a long way from the yellow and white toy and I love it!

Should I age it down more?  All the prop examples I see online are much more scuffed and worn, but I can't find any references to the original props, but the freeze frames don't seem to be that worn.

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by wm cheng

[Bolt]

Awesome job @wm cheng ! Maybe a very light weathering on the pulse rifle? A weapon that's seen combat will have a few scuffs. But it does look pretty good in that picture reference, without much wear. BTW , thanks for the support and encouragement  

[pengbuzz]

4 hours ago, wm cheng said:

wanna introduce you to a personal friend of mine. This is an M41A pulse rifle. Ten millimeter with over-and-under thirty millimeter pump action grenade launcher.

5 hours ago, wm cheng said:

@Bolt That's looking amazing!!!  I love LOVE LOVE splinter/ferris schemes and its looking so good on a VF-4.  Can't wait to see it finished.

@Urashiman Thanks for your posts, I was wondering why do we need another VF-1 in 1/72 scale, its nice to see the differences and your build.  Looking great so far!

 

"I wanna introduce you to a personal friend of mine. This is an M41A pulse rifle. Ten millimeter with over-and-under thirty millimeter pump action grenade launcher."

OK finally got a little bit of time to re-assemble my Nerf Pulse Rifle.  It took so long because it takes 5-7 days for the Rustoleum primer and black top coat to dry/cure, so most of that time was hanging it up and trying not to touch/play with it putting finger prints all over it.  However the semi-gloss black for some reason is a dust magnet, its the paint and I would not recommend using Rustoleum spray paints on this.  The silver rub turned out great, I used the Tamiya silver marker on an old rag/t-shirt and rubbed all over the semi-gloss paint and it really gave it a metallic sheen and especially catching all the highlights.  I liked it so much I did it on the brown parts (note: Brown Bess is not available as a colour anywhere in North America - I didn't want to pay the exorbitant shipping from UK, so I got a really close brown with Tamiya TS-90).  I'm not sure if I'm going to do all the silver chipping, I'm thinking the silver rub might be enough, as I don't see the chipping in the Aliens stills, but its dark.  I used aluminum foil duct tape on cut styrene at the grenade launcher ejection slot and it turned out pretty well, they had this stupid raised "ALIENS" logo in there and I was sure I wasn't able to sand that curve perfectly smooth for a nice metal finish.  I've also spray rubberized (spray can plastic-dip) the handle and grenade pump action handle and it feels great - not sure how to weather rubber though.

In my rush I forgot to screw on the metal attachments I got for the strap (I will have to take the entire gun apart again to do this as that damn non-retractable stock is in the way of the screws), unfortunately I didn't get the 2" wide nylon webbing that's screen accurate, it would have cost more than the Nerf gun, instead I got a 2" wide cotton webbing in olive green.  I couldn't match the screen accurate fittings either, but hey, the Nerf gun already has an extra barrel that I didn't remove, so I'll forgive myself for not being screen accurate.  Being able to rapid fire Nerf bullets is way more fun than being screen accurate. 

I've ordered some 5mm dia eraser refills that I'm thinking I'd paint and plug those screw holes with (so that they are removable if I need to take it apart for any reason)

It's come a long way from the yellow and white toy and I love it!

Should I age it down more?  All the prop examples I see online are much more scuffed and worn, but I can't find any references to the original props, but the freeze frames don't seem to be that worn.

 

Like Bolt said: awesome job, but maybe a few light scratchers. And perhaps a slight darkening around the barrel muzzle(s) and cartridge ejection port??

[Thom]

@wm cheng Wow! Awesome work on that pulse rifle. I agree with the others and say just a slight bit more wear and you're there. Lovely job!

[derex3592]

@wm cheng DUDE!!!! That looks AWESOME! I'm so jealous! I always loved Aliens and the weaponry in it!   "We sonic electronic BALL breakers, we got nukes, we got knives, sharp sticks, WHOO!" - Hudson

[Rock]

When outside is below 0F, we build, wheels down in 20! Seeing the little bits contrast the Light Ghost is really rejuvenating. Still dreading the ordnance's repetition to come. Must be done before she gets some oil.

[MechTech]

@wm cheng That prop looks AWESOME! Great job refinishing it and recoloring it. Some "professional" advice on military weapons: They are kept in good shape. Minor scratches are OK, but when they get bad, they get replaced or re-blued. Oxidation is your enemy and makes parts jam. Most current and futuristic arms have a lot of plastic - which doesn't oxidize like that. So I think you're good to go. The green should be scratch free - looks "plastic". Maybe minor wear (dry brushing) on the barrel. Minor scuffs (similar color) on the green.

Congrats on a AWESOME modification!

@Rock That's a GREAT looking paint job. I like your weathering and shades. - MT

[MechTech]

Quick update on the 76mm Oto Melara barrels and other stuff. I FINALLY completed the machining on the barrels. Here they are and some back-story. (No magnifying glass used here)

There is what looks like a giant nut that goes around the barrel by the fume extractor. Because there has been so much effort put into this build so far, I thought it should include this detail too. Every detail makes it that much more realistic. So here's the cuts into the barrel to give that effect. The rounded fume extractors got some more sculpting too. This detail is hard to see with the naked eye, but you see it here with a magnifying glass over the lense.

The barrels also have a lug eye at the base (for turret removal) and a holder for the ejection chute and water cooling hose (the actual barrels are water cooled. At up to 120 RPM, they'll bake!). So the barrels went back into the mill multiple times to make all those cuts. The lug eye goes on the little tab on top. The chute attaches to the bottom.

The barrels test-fit into the turrets.

Part of the problem, taking so long to build something so big is that stuff you already made gets broken. The crane did that. Something froze-up and this bar was broken. And the new bar with it.

The bar (originally a square tube) was replaced with the same sized tube and a solid square insert. This made it a solid piece. MUCH harder to break now! And the frozen pieces were fixed too. A "bolt" was used to cover the damage and re-enforce the joint. And the crane is "working" again. That's it for this time. Thanks for checking in! - MT

[derex3592]

Sometimes in life one is in need of a little bit of humbling. No matter how good you think you might or might not be, there come those days once in a while that remind you just how much you are NOT a pro. Take today for example. Two weeks ago, I built a small prototype of the Marconi radio array that goes from mast to mast on the Titanic. Ok, great. Had my plan in place, knew what I was going to do when the time came well....today was the day!  Up bright and early, at the model desk ready to rock at 7:30AM. All that was on the plate for today was make the array, get it on the ship. HOW HARD CAN IT BE RIGHT? 

Well.....it's now 10 hours later, and I have exactly the square root of JACKSH*T to show for it.  I've made two complete arrays and had both snap back on me and knot into an unholy mess. UV superglue and Hobbytown "INSTA-SET 3-5 seconds can both KISS MY BIG WHITE A**!  I OFFICIALLY GIVE UP on make one of these. I knew going in that it would be extremely difficult, but I had a plan dammit!  Anywhoo, I've lost my temper, I refrained from smashing the ship into bits, and will run a single line from mast to mast and call it a day later in the week.  OVER AND OUT.  Ohh did i mention in order to make the Xmas deadline now I'm going to be getting up at 5:00AM at least three days this week to get the stupid PE figures on the deck before work every day? No? OH JOY!!!! 

Edited December 19, 2022 by derex3592

[pengbuzz]

1 hour ago, derex3592 said:

Sometimes in life one is in need of a little bit of humbling. No matter how good you think you might or might not be, there come those days once in a while that remind you just how much you are NOT a pro. Take today for example. Two weeks ago, I built a small prototype of the Marconi radio array that goes from mast to mast on the Titanic. Ok, great. Had my plan in place, knew what I was going to do when the time came well....today was the day!  Up bright and early, at the model desk ready to rock at 7:30AM. All that was on the plate for today was make the array, get it on the ship. HOW HARD CAN IT BE RIGHT? 

Well.....it's now 10 hours later, and I have exactly the square root of JACKSH*T to show for it.  I've made two complete arrays and had both snap back on me and knot into an unholy mess. UV superglue and Hobbytown "INSTA-SET 3-5 seconds can both KISS MY BIG WHITE A**!  I OFFICIALLY GIVE UP on make one of these. I knew going in that it would be extremely difficult, but I had a plan dammit!  Anywhoo, I've lost my temper, I refrained from smashing the ship into bits, and will run a single line from mast to mast and call it a day later in the week.  OVER AND OUT.  Ohh did i mention in order to make the Xmas deadline now I'm going to be getting up at 5:00AM at least three days this week to get the stupid PE figures on the deck before work every day? No? OH JOY!!!! 

I'll trade you bro:

Two hours ago, I went to pour myself a drink of soda and lost control of the bottle in the kitchen, dropping it on the floor from the counter...

1.5 liters ALL OVER THE FLOOR (KITCHEN IS A LARGER ONE), UNDER THE STOVE, REFRIGERATOR, SINK, LITTER BOX AND INTO THE HALLWAY.

Anyways, mopped it up, then had to do dishes. I finished literally about five minutes ago. My wife offered to take us our to dinner, but I know we cannot spare the money. I'll make her something, but my appetite is shot.

Edited December 19, 2022 by pengbuzz

[Bolt]

5 hours ago, MechTech said:

That prop looks AWESOME! Great job refinishing it and recoloring it. Some "professional" advice on military weapons: They are kept in good shape. Minor scratches are OK, but when they get bad, they get replaced or re-blued. Oxidation is your enemy and makes parts jam.

This is truth ! I only weather props a bit more to give it the just been through some sh*t look. But when it comes to keeping and storing real life weapons, you always keep them honed and beautiful.

@MechTech your work is coming along nicely! Always a pleasure to see what you're up to!

@derex3592 and @pengbuzz you both are so good at what you do. Thank you for voicing your downs and not just your victories! It helps to remind myself that i need to keep going when everything goes south. And that this is part of the process to becoming a better modeler. 

[Urashiman]

@MechTech & @wm cheng Basically, there is less detail on the Plamax VF-1 compared to the Hasegawa one, but the Plamax one stays true to the master file line art. The Hasegawa VF-1 has a bit more added detail (not in the official line art) like the small little holes on the panel lines to emulate screw/bolt holes. I like that Plamax made sure to give the RCS on the VF-1 more depth. I wonder: when bandai had the 1/72 VF-1 already, would people complain why there would have to be a Hasegawa 1/72 VF-1? The Hasegawa mold is over 20 years old by now and Plamax is introducing new technique to their mold.

@wm cheng I dunno about your experience with real life guns, but let me explain a bit. A mint gun or rifle looks really fresh. No scratches, no chipped off color, no rubbed off plastic. Over time, the gun black would start to rub and chip off on edges and corners, as well as the spaces where a soldier would put down their hands often. The plastic parts are usually molded in the color they have on the battlefield and are not painted. Plastic starts to "polish" the more it is used. I remember my army rifle which was in service since 1964, and was really worn out. The handhold was really glossy as well as the grip. The trigger was basically rubbed blank, no more gun black on it. The hinge to reload was rubbed blank as well. The nozzle was matte, and edges were chipped off. The mag eject button was super rubbed off and polished. In ALIENS I think they used the fresh out of the box look, as the rifles where supposed to be super new. What kinda annoys me about all the customs and recreations online is, that the color on the handle and the mag holder of the M41a are always super chipped and worn out, showing metal beneath, where obiously the piece is supposed to be made out of plastic. It looks fancy but is not accurate to the movie. Yours has a mostly clean look, which I like, and kinda warhammer 40k like highlights

@derex3592 & @pengbuzz I feel you ... how often did I spill lacquer color or solvents, or managed to break an almost ready wing for an RC plane and would just leave the room, to not throw a temper tantrum and smash it all to smithereens...

@MechTech I wonder - will that ship eventually float and be RC controlled?

Edit: ah man ... it sounds like I am super mean again. Sorry - that is not intended

Edited December 19, 2022 by Urashiman

[pengbuzz]

Thanks Bolt!

Urashiman: no worries! My temper is legendary; I've been known to get into shouting matches with myself  just for breathing too loud while painting! lol

On the note of projects: the latest from my carrier:

The hull is finally glued together; still need to add more decals, but I'm doing it in stages. Planes have been painted and glued into place on the hangar deck

Stay tuned...