Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[MechTech]

@Urashiman Those bubbles are inside the resin somehow. Looks like its mostly just at the bottom too!? Weird! In Europe, the floor wax is Pledge, last I heard. It MAY fill in some of the bubbles better and it has a great translucent effect to it in certain light.

@Bronze Knight You're making that nightmare kit look great! Lots of parts not fitting well with that kit. Great looking, vibrant paint colors too! - MT

[Urashiman]

22 minutes ago, MechTech said:

@Urashiman Those bubbles are inside the resin somehow. Looks like its mostly just at the bottom too!? Weird! In Europe, the floor wax is Pledge, last I heard. It MAY fill in some of the bubbles better and it has a great translucent effect to it in certain light.

@Bronze Knight You're making that nightmare kit look great! Lots of parts not fitting well with that kit. Great looking, vibrant paint colors too! - MT

The bubbles are inside the resin. That is what i try to explain the whole time. It is not like I could pin into them with a needle because they are inside the print, and not on the surface. The „buttom“ of the canopy is actually one if the sides, as during the print, the canopies hang from the print bed. No wax will fill up those tiny bubbles. The bubbles are around 50 to 70μm. Maybe it is called pledge in the UK. I‘ve never seen it in any store in Germany.

 

btw: I got this on a Chinese online store for roughly 5€.

[Thom]

7 hours ago, Bronze Knight said:

 

Hello everyone. Getting back into this project and after looking over everything found out I was missing a piece so starting work on making a replacement winglet. I got a lot more paint touch up, fitting, and detail work to do still but I really do like this model.  

Nice! An armored valk in trainer colors! Welcome, welcome!

[Bronze Knight]

52 minutes ago, Thom said:

Nice! An armored valk in trainer colors! Welcome, welcome!

Thankyou!

Yeah Lore wise its a really odd kit. The 1D’s were two seater trainers and yet this one has the FAST pack and the optional parts for the Super/Strike FAST with the cannon (Which is the way I’m building it). Why would it have been put on a trainer? Who knows.

[SteveTheFish]

I find that Tamiya gloss acrylics do not dry very hard. Even letting it set for days, it is still easy for a fingerprint to cook into the surface. Modeling friends of mine say the same thing, and the one time I ever used Tamiya gloss acrylics to paint a car model will likely be my last. Tamiya masking tape will also disturb the surface. But someone on another forum says that this never happens to him. I dunno... I'm not impressed with Tamiya. The color spectrum is not good for anything but Tamiya WWII models, etc. Future dries hard though. Although it may be difficult to get in North America and elsewhere, Mr. Hobby Aqueous acrylics dry very hard. Even using sticky, gummy box tape won't ruin the surface. You can't easily scratch it off with your fingernail, either. Very sturdy. The only downside is that painting lighter colors atop darker colors doesn't work so well and may require a base coat of white over the darker surface.

[Big s]

58 minutes ago, Bronze Knight said:

Thankyou!

Yeah Lore wise its a really odd kit. The 1D’s were two seater trainers and yet this one has the FAST pack and the optional parts for the Super/Strike FAST with the cannon (Which is the way I’m building it). Why would it have been put on a trainer? Who knows.

It gets even weirder than that. The arm packs are from the show and the dual cannon is from the movie. In the movie they had a different trainer, but you could tweak the lore a bit since it is a trainer from the series. You could kinda say that they were using it to test out a dual cannon pack and had a two seater for help with targeting or something 

[Big s]

5 minutes ago, SteveTheFish said:

I find that Tamiya gloss acrylics do not dry very hard. Even letting it set for days, it is still easy for a fingerprint to cook into the surface. Modeling friends of mine say the same thing, and the one time I ever used Tamiya gloss acrylics to paint a car model will likely be my last. Tamiya masking tape will also disturb the surface. But someone on another forum says that this never happens to him. I dunno... I'm not impressed with Tamiya. The color spectrum is not good for anything but Tamiya WWII models, etc. Future dries hard though. Although it may be difficult to get in North America and elsewhere, Mr. Hobby Aqueous acrylics dry very hard. Even using sticky, gummy box tape won't ruin the surface. You can't easily scratch it off with your fingernail, either. Very sturdy. The only downside is that painting lighter colors atop darker colors doesn't work so well and may require a base coat of white over the darker surface.

From my experience, the tamiya gloss is good if it’s thinned down a lot and used in thinner layers. If it goes on too thick then it takes a long time to dry and gets a little gummy almost rubbery. When it’s thinned though I’ve never run into problems. Just try not to use water. I find it’s oddly better with lacquer thinner 

[SteveTheFish]

12 minutes ago, Big s said:

From my experience, the tamiya gloss is good if it’s thinned down a lot and used in thinner layers. If it goes on too thick then it takes a long time to dry and gets a little gummy almost rubbery. When it’s thinned though I’ve never run into problems. Just try not to use water. I find it’s oddly better with lacquer thinner 

I always use it with lacquer thinner as it helps make it sturdier. But to do a high gloss finish, I spray it on in thin coats to build it up, then go on heavy at the end...

[pengbuzz]

1 hour ago, SteveTheFish said:

I find that Tamiya gloss acrylics do not dry very hard. Even letting it set for days, it is still easy for a fingerprint to cook into the surface. Modeling friends of mine say the same thing, and the one time I ever used Tamiya gloss acrylics to paint a car model will likely be my last. Tamiya masking tape will also disturb the surface. But someone on another forum says that this never happens to him. I dunno... I'm not impressed with Tamiya. The color spectrum is not good for anything but Tamiya WWII models, etc. Future dries hard though. Although it may be difficult to get in North America and elsewhere, Mr. Hobby Aqueous acrylics dry very hard. Even using sticky, gummy box tape won't ruin the surface. You can't easily scratch it off with your fingernail, either. Very sturdy. The only downside is that painting lighter colors atop darker colors doesn't work so well and may require a base coat of white over the darker surface.

For the Tamiya Acrylics (which I've used in the past), I've used a hair dryer on low to bake the paint as it dried. Perhaps that could help?

[Urashiman]

7 hours ago, Big s said:

From my experience, the tamiya gloss is good if it’s thinned down a lot and used in thinner layers. If it goes on too thick then it takes a long time to dry and gets a little gummy almost rubbery. When it’s thinned though I’ve never run into problems. Just try not to use water. I find it’s oddly better with lacquer thinner 

That is my experience as well. Thin down the tamiya stuff a bit and it'll work good. I usually don't use tamiya colors, except for a few clear ones or metal colors. I mostly use Revell and Humbrol Lacquers.

[electric indigo]

I started the hobby with hand brushing Humbrol enamels and it was fine, but they must have changed the formula at some point (I should probably thank them from a health perspective) and now are as gooey as the Revell paints.

Once I switched to airbrush, I stuck with Tamiya acrylics. I can mix almost any shade I desire, the smell doesn't kill me, and yes, the surface is sensitive compared to laquer, but once you got all the antennas and ordnance on a kit, you have to hadle it like a live grenade anyway.

For high-gloss surfaces, polyurethane seems all the rage, but I haven't tested it.

[SteveTheFish]

2 hours ago, electric indigo said:

Once I switched to airbrush, I stuck with Tamiya acrylics. I can mix almost any shade I desire, the smell doesn't kill me,

Yeah, the best thing about Tamiya's acrylics is the smell. It's almost kind of sweet smelling.

[pengbuzz]

4 hours ago, Urashiman said:

That is my experience as well. Thin down the tamiya stuff a bit and it'll work good. I usually don't use tamiya colors, except for a few clear ones or metal colors. I mostly use Revell and Humbrol Lacquers.

I use the clear mostly from Tamiya (thinned with alcohol), as their clears are the best I've ever used. For most other stuff, I use Krylon flat (white or grey primer) for the base, and Apple Barrel for main colors (unless it's something I can get a can of Krylon for).

[Thom]

I've rarely had a problem with Tamiya acrylics. But then I use it mainly for paint and glossing for decals and leave the final clear (mostly) to an enamel.

[pengbuzz]

On 11/14/2023 at 5:32 PM, Big s said:

Don’t get yourself too discouraged. We all miss it when you’re gone for a while and I’m sure you’ll find a solution to the problem in some way or another 

I'll be around, just not as involved as I usually am.

[Urashiman]

Finished this thing today. V Gundam „China Ware“ in 1/144.

Super easy snap kit (probably an older HG from Bandai, copied). The parts fit tightly, so no glue, no paint. Just snap fit.

For 5€, I cannot complain.

[Big s]

1 hour ago, Urashiman said:

Finished this thing today. V Gundam „China Ware“ in 1/144.

Super easy snap kit (probably an older HG from Bandai, copied). The parts fit tightly, so no glue, no paint. Just snap fit.

For 5€, I cannot complain.

It’s a fairly recent one actually. That’s the entry grade NU Gundam if I’m not mistaken. No poly caps and separate eye piece. And doesn’t appear to be the fin funnel version. oddly, it looks like they added a few bits of detail to the kneecap armor and around the side skirts 

[Urashiman]

8 hours ago, Big s said:

It’s a fairly recent one actually. That’s the entry grade NU Gundam if I’m not mistaken. No poly caps and separate eye piece. And doesn’t appear to be the fin funnel version. oddly, it looks like they added a few bits of detail to the kneecap armor and around the side skirts 

Ah interesting. Yeah, there are some more panel lines.

[Big s]

7 hours ago, Urashiman said:

Ah interesting. Yeah, there are some more panel lines.

I think if you were to do some simple panel lining a lot of people would be mistaken in thinking you did those modifications yourself for added detail 

[Urashiman]

4 minutes ago, Big s said:

I think if you were to do some simple panel lining a lot of people would be mistaken in thinking you did those modifications yourself for added detail 

I'll add some panel lines later with Tamiya Panel line stuff haha.

[electric indigo]

Used the rare ray of sunlight to work on Sol Tekkaman. Once the paint is on the parts, construction proceeds swiftly.

The custom mixed blue wouldn't go down smoothly so some parts had to be polished with compound. I wanted a glossy motorbike finish.

[MechTech]

@electric indigo Those colors came out really nice!

 

If you guys haven't seen these, Hobby Lobby has them. They make great eyes or sensors and are translucent (light shows through them). Nice price too!

I've gotten a little further on the Oto Melara diorama.

Polishing the shell casings using a reamer to hold them and a Dremmel tool with a buffing "wheel" (what's left of it).

The projectile drive bands were "painted" using an orange fine-tipped Sharpie. Fast and furious!

The individual shell carrier cases were made with styrene dowel and that punch I made from a Torx bit.

The ammo shelves are made from Tichy Train Group's grating. They are FINELY molded and clean with no flash. I then "butchered" them to make this.

The next step is to make the coiled cable shock absorber springs that the bottom mounts to. Also modify the Hasegawa ground crews to be ammo crews. Thanks for checking in guys! - MT

[Big s]

2 hours ago, electric indigo said:

Used the rare ray of sunlight to work on Sol Tekkaman. Once the paint is on the parts, construction proceeds swiftly.

The custom mixed blue wouldn't go down smoothly so some parts had to be polished with compound. I wanted a glossy motorbike finish.

I’ve got this one as well as the Balzac version in the one day pile. I’m still preparing my first set of front mission kits and a set of all four Regult kits from hasegawa. I’m hoping to have time to do the Queadluun Rau when that comes in since it’s probably gonna jump to head of the line. But I think the Tekkaman kits will be at least getting the trim and part clean up soon.

Thanks for posting pictures, it shows what I’ve got to do coming up soon. Although I’d probably put everything else from Tekkaman off to the side if they put out Dagger. For some reason he was my favorite of the Bad guys on the show 

[Urashiman]

And now for something completely different.

Build a RC boat out of a 1:72 revell kit? Possible - but it is still a revell kit. The stockholm syndrom of any model kit builder.

So, what am I building? A rescue cruiser with the name "Berlin". This kit first popped up in 1988 and it shows.

https://www.scalemates.com/de/kits/revell-5226-seenotkreuzer-berlin--120489

One thing I really recommend to anyone touching revell kits: if the mold was made prior to the year 2000, don't touch it. Unless you like putty and sanding like crazy.

And well - there is a reason Revell doesn't distribute this kit anymore.

Gaps ... Gaps everywhere!

I mean, looking at it from far away is okay. It looks nice and so on.

Ah yeah, and here a floating test, just to check if all the RC components are not too heavy.

 

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Urashiman

[Thom]

@Urashiman It is in good hands!

[MechTech]

@Urashiman Whoo hoo! Another R/C boat! You DID take on a tough subject! But I KNOW you can do it!

 

Anyone need an interesting theme for your F/A-18C model? Here's an idea and more photos linked.

DVIDS is another good source for US military photos and video in general. Free account needed for full sized downloads. - MT

https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7487368/vmfa-312-flies-armed-teeth

[Urashiman]

Oh man ...

I love milliput and I have used it on many kits, but not on Revell ones yet. I puttied like crazy and got this.

Then when sanding, the effing stuff just came off! It didn't stick! This never happened before. I am confused. The interesting part? It was sticking to the hull without issue.

So ... I had to use Revell Plasto again.

Needs to dry now for a bit before I am going to sand this again...

Edited December 1, 2023 by Urashiman

[Big s]

8 hours ago, Urashiman said:

Oh man ...

I love milliput and I have used it on many kits, but not on Revell ones yet. I puttied like crazy and got this.

Then when sanding, the effing stuff just came off! It didn't stick! This never happened before. I am confused. The interesting part? It was sticking to the hull without issue.

So ... I had to use Revell Plasto again.

Needs to dry now for a bit before I am going to sand this again...

It could be due to oils or release agents on the surface. Some companies really go overboard with the stuff and it makes it tough for glues or paints or putties to stick.

[Urashiman]

23 hours ago, Big s said:

It could be due to oils or release agents on the surface. Some companies really go overboard with the stuff and it makes it tough for glues or paints or putties to stick.

Well, it is a really old kit. So maybe that is the reason. The plasto stuff ist sticking though.

[Bolt]

On 11/30/2023 at 7:19 AM, MechTech said:

@Urashiman Whoo hoo! Another R/C boat! You DID take on a tough subject! But I KNOW you can do it!

 

Anyone need an interesting theme for your F/A-18C model? Here's an idea and more photos linked.

DVIDS is another good source for US military photos and video in general. Free account needed for full sized downloads. - MT

https://www.dvidshub.net/image/7487368/vmfa-312-flies-armed-teeth

I like it ! It has the "enigma" vibe. This looks to be the source of that inspiration..

Edited December 3, 2023 by Bolt

[Urashiman]

#$%&!?

I kid you not ... almost every second piece on the cruiser I build looks like this.

I truly believe the REVELL skill level is based on the mark the mold maker got during their mold making exam or something. This cruiser is set as "Skill level 5". Meaning they got a 5 for delivering something but being really bad at it. In the US that would be like an F on your exam.

Anyway...

... you can get something decent from it, I think.

I am constantly reminded why I am not doing REVELL kits anymore.

[Thom]

From here @Urashiman it looks like you are doing it very well!

[MechTech]

@Urashiman OK, the kit gets an ENORMOUS F, but you get AWESOME "A" for courage and craftsmanship!👍  Nice cleanup of flash on that thing besides the putty work. - MT

[Urashiman]

thanks alot @Thom & @MechTech!

it is a journey to get this thing done. Next I will focus a bit on the RC innards to make it actually RC. I was waiting for another battery box. The 2x2AA box was to big and bad for balance, so I got two 2AA boxes which I can place in the hull left and right next to the electric engine. This was I get a good balance and the ship won't be able to tip over due to the lower center of gravity. Or at least, in case it tips over, it will turn around itself again. So is the theory...

[derex3592]

NOT impressed AT ALL with Cardograph water slide decals on the Academy B1. Didn't expect to be tripped up by decals....Uhhgg.....🤬