Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[Urashiman]

18 hours ago, joscasle said:

Almost finish 

wow man ... that is awesome! Almost like Shuishi Hayashi

[MechTech]

@Cheese3 That is a COOL and UNIQUE scheme! Unforgettable too!

@electric indigo Looking good! I miss my ole' 1/100 scale vinyl kit of that I used to own.

@joscasle Those fighter look BEAUTIFUL!!! The exhaust finishing is realistic too and tough to re-create.

 

ANYBODY need a hand?!😁 My apologies for all the hand construction photos, but I thought they might help somebody out with scratch building or modifying their kit's.

As you saw before, the stock hands that came with the 1/35th Dougram are lacking. Plus, they're only fists, so, no posability or second pose of hands comes with the kit.

First I had to create the palm and thumb joints. The ball joint is on a hinge (you can hardly see it here). The finger bases are all leftover Gundam polycap pieces. The palms were two styrene pieces glued-together and cut/drilled out to ensure the finger joints line up.

The bases of the fingers were cut from Evergreen square stock and square tube and lathed to make round ends. Thick wire was tinned on one end to be glued into the finger bases.

How do you paint all those hollow finger joints without them moving around? I thought about it for a while. The answer, para-chord and a hack-saw frame.

Here you can see how the pieces of finger went together in segments. The finger tips were solid, square stock, drilled out. Then they were filed to match the finger tip shape. Finally, they got two coats of CA glue to fill any cracks and smooth them over before a light sanding. I used Hi-Q 3.4mm springs to cover the mid-sections. They are SOFT and NOT springy at all. They almost feel like fabric, but ARE spring steel.

And the fingers dry-fit to test them out.

Then some paint to cover the dark primer color, a little panel liner, and Hi-Q 2mm gun barrel nozzles. The barrels are steal which meant I could heat them up and give them realistic heat wear. The final step was to take an old printer belt and cut segments out to fit the joint pieces. I used Gorilla Glue Clear Grip and CA to make them stick. Hopefully the added materials and colors add realism to the hands.

The final photos are to show how the hand cables (costume jewelry "chain") or hydraulic lines fit into the arm to add details. The cables just fit loose so the hand can twist easily.

No weathering yet. It would get rubbed off while I still continue to build the model and modify it. Again, sorry for all the photos, but I hope they inspire; and thank you for your feedback and ideas! - MT

Edited November 8, 2024 by MechTech

[derex3592]

1/72 Academy A-10 is FINALLY getting a primer coat. Terrible fitting kit. Modded for gear up. 

[derex3592]

Marbling done and base coat of Tamiya Lacquer Light Ghost Grey down yesterday. 

[Urashiman]

Got something new for my stash…

[Thom]

@MechTech That is some great work on those hands! Wow!  Could you post post a side-by-side with the kit hands?

@derex3592 Academy seems to have some hits and misses, but glad to see you you worked past them. Looking really good.

@Urashiman Real nice addition to the stash. Great they are including the Fold Booster. I may have to get the VF-19 of that.

 

[Urashiman]

2 hours ago, Thom said:

@MechTech That is some great work on those hands! Wow!  Could you post post a side-by-side with the kit hands?

@derex3592 Academy seems to have some hits and misses, but glad to see you you worked past them. Looking really good.

@Urashiman Real nice addition to the stash. Great they are including the Fold Booster. I may have to get the VF-19 of that.

 

I got that YF-19. just above the YF-21 in my stash now.

and here a little box shot of what is in the YF-21 box.

[MechTech]

Thanks Thom! Here they are above and below. The only stock thing left is just part of the hand's back. - MT

[Thom]

4 hours ago, MechTech said:

Thanks Thom! Here they are above and below. The only stock thing left is just part of the hand's back. - MT

Dude, that is a vast improvement!

[wm cheng]

22 hours ago, MechTech said:

Thanks Thom! Here they are above and below. The only stock thing left is just part of the hand's back. - MT

Wow!  Amazing improvement is an understatement, complete new rebuild that looks F#$%King AMAZING!!!

[Gabe Q]

@MechTech I am in awe. Flabbergasted. You continually raise the bar. The hand looks like it could come to life and squish a head or something! 

@Urashiman That's quite the stash of kits you have there! I imagine that picture is just a small portion. 

@derex3592 That A-10 is coming along nicely! Good work! 

@joscasle Flawless. You've attended to every detail. You're an excellent modeler. You're in the home stretch and that's always a good feeling. 

[Urashiman]

1 hour ago, Gabe Q said:

@MechTech I am in awe. Flabbergasted. You continually raise the bar. The hand looks like it could come to life and squish a head or something! 

@Urashiman That's quite the stash of kits you have there! I imagine that picture is just a small portion. 

@derex3592 That A-10 is coming along nicely! Good work! 

@joscasle Flawless. You've attended to every detail. You're an excellent modeler. You're in the home stretch and that's always a good feeling. 

Oh, you have no idea. This was the stash prior to the arrival of the YF-21.

[MechTech]

@Thom, @wm cheng, @Gabe Q Thank you, guys; I appreciate it! I'm trying to make this a cool build for upcoming shows. A lot of people never even heard of Dougram, so this might inform them. The cockpit will be the fun part! - MT

[electric indigo]

Meawhile, in the Kastepo desert...

[Cheese3]

It’s done! Por fin! I coated in a  ton of pearl clear by Tamiya! 

[MechTech]

@Cheese3 The first picture - "Oh no! The Zentraedi are coming down our street again!" The last picture - That's just tooo funny! Congrats on a beautifully finished model! - MT

[captain america]

On 11/14/2024 at 4:35 AM, electric indigo said:

Meawhile, in the Kastepo desert...

A Volks 1/100 Blood Temple! Is this SSS or SAV?

[electric indigo]

13 hours ago, captain america said:

A Volks 1/100 Blood Temple! Is this SSS or SAV?

It's the new fixed pose kit which is the MM kit with modified joints. There's still enough wiggle room to make getting the pose right a difficult business 😅

[MechTech]

A little more progress on the 1/35th Dougram kit. The cooling vents (I think they are) in the legs would have nearly vanished if I merely scraped them off and covered over with the blackened brass mesh. So I scraped them off and coated them with a whitish-gray coat (actually three to get it solid - I hate white paints). The paint edges were later scraped clean (not shown here yet).

Next came the fun part of custom cutting and blackening the strips of photo-etched brass mesh. Then gluing them into place. I think they stand-out better and give it more character.

Next, I used the overly priced - but REALLY COOL God Hand bits to make handles in the leg hatches and "upper calve" hatches.

You can see the difference in details. That and a fine Gundam marker. I also added all sorts of bolt heads around the leg pieces, but don't have photos yet.

Thanks for checking in guys! -MT

[Thom]

@MechTech Great work with those lil details, and with the mesh!

[arbit]

On 11/20/2024 at 8:02 PM, MechTech said:

A little more progress on the 1/35th Dougram kit. The cooling vents (I think they are) in the legs would have nearly vanished if I merely scraped them off and covered over with the blackened brass mesh. So I scraped them off and coated them with a whitish-gray coat (actually three to get it solid - I hate white paints). The paint edges were later scraped clean (not shown here yet).

Love the foil additions.

On 11/15/2024 at 2:19 AM, Cheese3 said:

It’s done! Por fin! I coated in a  ton of pearl clear by Tamiya!

I love what you did with Max's face paint!

[electric indigo]

Back to Air Force stuff: Hasegawa Corsair II – kit's pilot & cockpit with some tiny bits added.

[MechTech]

@pengbuzz@Thom @arbit Thank you guys! I hope to get more work done this weekend and post photos, but we'll see! - MT

[derex3592]

Decided to pull an old friend out of mothballs early this morning..... you know... something small.. LOL. Man, let a few years go by and you totally forget about how even an 11 year old Bandai mold just snaps together perfectly, no drama at all. Amazing engineering and tooling. Not a drop of glue yet....

[Thom]

3 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Decided to pull an old friend out of mothballs early this morning..... you know... something small.. LOL. Man, let a few years go by and you totally forget about how even an 11 year old Bandai mold just snaps together perfectly, no drama at all. Amazing engineering and tooling. Not a drop of glue yet....

Awesome!! Man, if prices weren't through the stratosphere! Does remind me that I need to finish my /1000.

[electric indigo]

@derex3592 Looks like a nice project for the coming year!

I'm ready to close the canopy:

[MechTech]

@derex3592 I loved that kit! My son and I built it years ago. I love how they engineered the guns to raise and lower sequentially.

@electric indigo COOL! An Air Force Corsair! That cockpit looks great too! An Air Force livery Corsair is a rare bird. - MT

[F18LEGIOSS2]

What paint should I use in order to avoid paint scratches, especially the arms? 

[Big s]

2 hours ago, F18LEGIOSS2 said:

What paint should I use in order to avoid paint scratches, especially the arms? 

Lacquer paints are usually pretty tough and self level thinly. You could also try pre sanding areas that will rub so there’s a little more room before painting 

[Thom]

Good looking work there! A nice follow-up to the original design.

[Big s]

On 12/1/2024 at 11:55 PM, pengbuzz said:

UPDATE: more detailing on the U.S.S. Callisto-

Will be doing more details (phaser strips, photon/quantum torpedo tubes, windows, etc) and decalling soon.

Stay tuned...

Keep up the fun builds

[electric indigo]

On 11/28/2024 at 12:12 AM, MechTech said:

COOL! An Air Force Corsair! That cockpit looks great too! An Air Force livery Corsair is a rare bird. - MT

Some more progress; ready for the second color. Going for the later grey scheme.

[MechTech]

@F18LEGIOSS2 Everything will scratch - sadly! However, Big s is absolutely right. In fact, sanding will give the paint more bite into the surface. I build a lot of parts like that and always try to get the correct color plastic so scratches won't show easily. But that's obviously not gonna work in your case. Like Big s said, try the lacquer paints. Maybe even an automotive rattle can if you can find them. Best wished with your paint!

@pengbuzz Is that another masking masterpiece!? That looks cool and the detailing on the surface really adds to the depth of it! - MT

[derex3592]

I'd like to add to the 1/72 aircraft updates finally... Academy A-10 painted up over the weekend, and all ordinance assembled and painted. Light Ghost Grey on the bottom and Dark Ghost Grey on the top more or less, layed down in light coats over the white on black mottling, the two greys are suppose to look more pronounced than they came out but mehh, whatever, all the online pics look like it's all about the same shade in the real world. Forgot what a pain 1/72 ordinance is.. Haha. Hopefully clear coat decals and detail painting this weekend! 😊 

[MechTech]

@derex3592 Paint looks smooth! Just watched one of those flying over and hitting targets in Syria. There's no replacement for that plane! - MT