Any tips for first time 1/55 jetfire conversion?

[Mazinger]

The goal is convert it to a Roy focker color scheme. The source Valk is in decent condition with an average, even amount of yellowing. No broken joints.

My initial instinct was to primer it with a Tamiya white primer, then go over it with Laquor white, black, and yellow.

I'm not a modeler so, yeah, I'm nervous. What are the typical rookie mistakes that I could easily avoid?

If the paint job doesn't come out too horrible, if will probably apply a couple of coats of Future floor polish.

One aspect I'm not sure about is decals. I bought a set of 1/60 size water slide decals of off the bay that I could use, but it would be nice to find some vinyl decals that wouldn't require so much work. Unfortunately, the reprolabels folks have yet to make a 1/55 set for the Macross focker color scheme. Ideas?

[EXO]

Here's an oldie but goodie extreme conversion done by Ken Brennan/Valkyrie from the old page

http://www.macrossworld.com/macross/submissions/ken_brennan/vf-1d.html

That may be too much info, but you can pick up whatever you need to convert a 1/55 from there.

The type of paints you're going to use sounds good. I believe Tamiya surface primer is lacquer so it should be safe to use with lacquer on top. Just remember that Future is super glossy in case that's not the finish you want. Also, let it sit for a week or so after you apply Future.

I may have some 1/55 decals sitting around, but they'd be way old. I'll go see if they're still good.

[Mazinger]

Thanks Exo, not sure how I missed that link before, but looks like exactly what I need.

[Mazinger]

BTW, I stumbled on to tfkingdom.com which sells some macross related decals and the price seems really low so I might give them a try.

[Mazinger]

So I'm well into the process of converting my first 1/55. I've learned that I'm awful at spray painting and am keeping my fingers crossed that the actual paint job comes out better than my primer jobs:

Source:

The candidate by Mazinger

Disasembly / Cleaning:

Clean donor parts by Mazinger

Primering, with the next candidate looking on:

The next candidate, checking out the results by Mazinger

[MechTech]

It's looking good so far! - MT

[Mazinger]

Well, here's where the disappointment begins...

As you can see from the pic below there are a ton of mistakes. I don't think there are straight lines anywhere. Next up re-assembly.

Decals applied, next up, re-assembly. by Mazinger, on Flickr

But like I said, this is my first try at painting anything myself. My first tries at other things, like coding, or surfing were also ugly, but I've gotten better at both.

[Mazinger]

And here are the final results.

Before:After - Front

Before:After - Back

Before:After - Top

The lines aren't as clean as I would have liked them to be, but certain things are a marked improvement.

For one, the head looks so much better with the sides of the antenna cannons painted white.

Already having fun swooshing it around.

[derex3592]

That's pretty darn good for a first attempt! Congrats! I share your pain of masking straight lines!

[Mazinger]

That's pretty darn good for a first attempt! Congrats! I share your pain of masking straight lines!

Thanks. Make me wonder if there's a "trick" besides pressing down real hard on the tape. I got lots of bleed through. This was my number one problem in the end.

[VF-1A Grunt]

A trick recommended by model railroaders (I haven't tried it yet myself), after burnishing the edge of the tape, is to seal the edge by spraying a thin layer of the base color (under the tape). Then the second color is sprayed on top, with the layer of paint underneath preventing it from bleeding under the tape.

On a different note, I've always wondered about the blunt Jetfire nose. Did they blunt the point specifically for the Transformer line, based on some idea that it was too sharp to sell to American kids? I don't recall ever seeing a Japanese model with the rounded nose like that. Great work on this "transformation!"

Edited April 2, 2016 by VF-1A Grunt

[Mazinger]

Thanks for the tip. I was just watching a few model masking videos on youtube and a couple also mentioned to avoid the basic blue masking tape.

This one makes the point to spend about $20 for Scotch Fine Line Tape :

"Masking Tape Tips for ScaleModels"

This other video makes the point to use 3M Vinyl Tape which isn't as wide, but also costs less.

"How to get perfect edges Masking Tape"

One probable reason which I got so much bleed through was that I applied too much paint. I will definitely be more careful with the next conversion, which will probably be my stab at a 1D.

As for nose cone, I've haven't come across an explanation yet. If anyone here can provide a reason site a source, I'd love to hear it.

[derex3592]

If you were using spray cans, then yes, too much paint was probably your problem. Rattle cans are notorious for this. If you can swing it, try to get yourself an airbrush and compressor. Doesn't have to be a Rolls Royce. It will open up new worlds as you get better with it.

Thanks for those videos, I'll be watching those!

Edited April 3, 2016 by derex3592

[kajnrig]

A trick recommended by model railroaders (I haven't tried it yet myself), after burnishing the edge of the tape, is to seal the edge by spraying a thin layer of the base color (under the tape). Then the second color is sprayed on top, with the layer of paint underneath preventing it from bleeding under the tape.

I had never considered doing this. Thanks. I'll have to try this out next time I'm experimenting. It definitely seems like a sound strategy, in theory at least.