nightmareB4macross Posted May 5, 2020 Posted May 5, 2020 (edited) 47 minutes ago, tekering said: So, I've been experimenting with a way to give those flat, featureless portions of the hull a greater sense of scale... Still using the Hasegawa as a guinea pig, I tried the ol' ILM approach, with intersecting lines and raised panels. This is how the Star Destroyer studio models were detailed. Unfortunately, the results looked crude and sloppy, so I abandoned the analog approach and decided to rely on digital tools instead. I created this pattern in Photoshop, and printed it onto clear decal paper. This is far more detailed than what I could do by hand. The results were definitely more encouraging this time. Love your devotion to the build. what about “azteking?” Could you achieve the same effect with masking and paint. I believe WMCheng did this with his 1/3000 Yamato SDF-1 and the results were incredible and produced a results that made the ship feel bigger. You guys are giving me inspiration to do another custom SDF-1 but with a ridiculous amount of bells and whistles. That’s why I love this forum, people are great in sharing and the possibilities are endless for customizing. Edited May 5, 2020 by nightmareB4macross Added “azteking” effect link. Quote
tekering Posted May 5, 2020 Author Posted May 5, 2020 6 minutes ago, nightmareB4macross said: what about “azteking?” Could you achieve the same effect with masking and paint. Indeed, I've given some serious thought to getting laser-cut stencils custom-made for masking purposes, since (as recent efforts have proven) doing it by hand is labor-intensive and ultimately ineffective... The feedback and encouragement is always appreciated. Quote
nightmareB4macross Posted May 5, 2020 Posted May 5, 2020 1 minute ago, tekering said: Indeed, I've given some serious thought to getting laser-cut stencils custom-made for masking purposes, since (as recent efforts have proven) doing it by hand is labor-intensive and ultimately ineffective... The feedback and encouragement is always appreciated. Your dedication to this project is damned inspiring good sir! I was wondering about the panels themselves. I never really noticed a particular size of panel that would be used on areas like the booms or legs. Do you have a reference you’re using to determine the size? Quote
tekering Posted May 5, 2020 Author Posted May 5, 2020 If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well... If it's not worth doing, give it to Rimmer. 33 minutes ago, nightmareB4macross said: I never really noticed a particular size of panel that would be used on areas like the booms or legs. Do you have a reference you’re using to determine the size? Nope, just real-world logic. The smaller, the better. Honestly, at this scale, there shouldn't be visible panel lines at all... but if they're too small to be visible, what's the point of doing the work? Quote
nightmareB4macross Posted May 5, 2020 Posted May 5, 2020 (edited) 51 minutes ago, tekering said: If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well... If it's not worth doing, give it to Rimmer. Nope, just real-world logic. The smaller, the better. Honestly, at this scale, there shouldn't be visible panel lines at all... but if they're too small to be visible, what's the point of doing the work? That was my thought process. I originally purchased a set of multicolored .07 led pencils to draw panel lines, but the results made the ship feel smaller. Another alter move was to create panels using Tamiya tape but it just didn’t look right as the edges appeared too raised. Can’t wait to see what you decide to do with this. Edited May 5, 2020 by nightmareB4macross . Quote
DYRL VF-1S Posted May 5, 2020 Posted May 5, 2020 Great work man! Once you get it down, you could do commissioned work!! Quote
MechTech Posted May 5, 2020 Posted May 5, 2020 Cool ideas Tekering! I think your decal idea was great! Have you considered multiple colors of lines, maybe slightly off color panel lines? Similar to regular models or metalic model finishes? I'm thinking about getting one of those cri-cut machines. It could cut masks, stencils, thin styrene and my decals out after printing. Thin styrene may help too. I think you had a good idea with that. It just has to be straight or it looks off. Keep up the great ideas! - MT Quote
pengbuzz Posted May 6, 2020 Posted May 6, 2020 On 5/5/2020 at 2:33 AM, tekering said: Indeed, I've given some serious thought to getting laser-cut stencils custom-made for masking purposes, since (as recent efforts have proven) doing it by hand is labor-intensive and ultimately ineffective... The feedback and encouragement is always appreciated. I would try using pencil to do slightly off-shade "panels", then use a kneaded eraser to fade them (dab them with the eraser), rahter than "lines". Once you're happy with them, then you could clear-coat it to make it permanent (keeping in mind it gets a bit darker with clear coat). I'd get a scrap of flat styrene, paint half white and half blue (hull colors) and try it out on that first to see if it would work for you and to see if the clear coat would make the pencil too dark. On that note: I've also used colored pencils to do a "color filter" effect on models; you might want to look into those as well if you get a moment. Quote
Chronocidal Posted May 7, 2020 Posted May 7, 2020 So, as a slightly ridiculously intensive alternative.. what if you masked panels, and then sprayed from alternating directions, in slightly different shades? Only reason this pops into my head is that I've been rewatching Babylon 5 recently, and while the CGI is utterly ancient, that's a very prominent feature on the ships. Everything looked like it was slightly heat-blasted. Quote
nightmareB4macross Posted May 18, 2020 Posted May 18, 2020 Hey Tekering, Hope all is well with you. How’s the build coming along? Quote
tekering Posted May 20, 2020 Author Posted May 20, 2020 Thanks to so many of your wonderful suggestions, I've attempted to incorporate different shades and off-color panels to enhance the level of detail: I'm not sure if I want every surface covered, or how well it will show up in the darker areas, but I'm very pleased with how it's looking on the Hasegawa kit so far. In the meantime, I've built up the sides on the Matchbox Daedalus with styrene, hollowed out the interior and scratch-built a prow hatch: It's starting to look more like the ship I remember from the anime. Now to figure out a hinge mechanism...! Quote
sqidd Posted May 20, 2020 Posted May 20, 2020 Very cool!!!! I've been in the "hot rod" world (cars, motorcycles, etc) my entire life. What you're doing is classic hot rodding. I LOVE IT! There aren't enough "hot rodders" left in the world. Quote
nightmareB4macross Posted May 20, 2020 Posted May 20, 2020 Tekering, Those panels look fantastic!! I can only imagine how they would look on the 1/3000. And the reshapeing pf the Daedalus is simply stunning!! For hinges there are a multitude of sources. You can either look in model train stores or sites for PE types. Or use option parts for Gundam. Seriously, this build is breathtaking. Quote
DewPoint Posted May 21, 2020 Posted May 21, 2020 (edited) On 5/4/2020 at 9:18 PM, tekering said: If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well... Honestly, at this scale, there shouldn't be visible panel lines at all... but if they're too small to be visible, what's the point of doing the work? I'm waiting patiently to see how you decide to finish this project. I agree with the above quote. I see Navy ships all the time. Beyond a certain distance you cannot see the separate plates and welds. For something that's 1,200-ish meters at 1:3000 scale, it is difficult to see indeed. Unless the gaps are HUGE. Or you can go with the "just returned to earth/too big to wash" look. Random Thought: Star Trek Federation ships baffle me. You really should see no plates. If you use transporter technology you should be able to achieve a seamless, one piece hull. Replicate parts in-place. Edited May 21, 2020 by DewPoint Random thought Quote
claude grant Posted May 21, 2020 Posted May 21, 2020 Man, this is looking soooo good! I just keep coming back for more. That Daedalus reconstruction is a thing of beauty! So far so good with the texturing also! Quote
claude grant Posted May 21, 2020 Posted May 21, 2020 46 minutes ago, DewPoint said: Random Thought: Star Trek Federation ships baffle me. You really should see no plates. If you use transporter technology you should be able to achieve a seamless, one piece hull. Replicate parts in-place. Hmm, never thought of that; randomly or otherwise lol! Quote
tekering Posted June 23, 2020 Author Posted June 23, 2020 On 6/22/2020 at 1:35 AM, Mog said: Any updates or additional mods done? Just the Daedalus, I'm afraid... Work has kept me busy this month. I'm pleased with this color scheme, so I'll apply it to the Matchbox as well. Quote
nightmareB4macross Posted June 23, 2020 Posted June 23, 2020 Holy...That looks amazing!! The newly integrated details make it look like a model. Glad to hear you’re back to work. Quote
Return To Kit Form Posted June 24, 2020 Posted June 24, 2020 On 5/5/2020 at 4:33 PM, tekering said: Indeed, I've given some serious thought to getting laser-cut stencils custom-made for masking purposes, since (as recent efforts have proven) doing it by hand is labor-intensive and ultimately ineffective... The feedback and encouragement is always appreciated. Ted, If you make the file I can cut it on my plotter. Cheers, Brett Quote
MechTech Posted June 29, 2020 Posted June 29, 2020 That Daedalus looks AWESOME! WAaaaaaaay better than the stock boxy thingy. The panels look great too! - MT Quote
pengbuzz Posted February 14, 2022 Posted February 14, 2022 Necropost (but for a good reason): finally got one: After some repairs (broken shoulder joint), going to be fabricating booms, shoulder guns and carriers, and doing some of the mods spoken about, albeit 2 years later. Quote
pengbuzz Posted March 14, 2022 Posted March 14, 2022 Update: my progress so far- Just got through extending the lower legs, as well as modifying it for the "A" stance. Stay tuned... Quote
Mintox Posted March 15, 2022 Posted March 15, 2022 Wow great mods. I wish I had picked up one of these. I have the tactical pod which Ive always thought was a cool toy. Quote
mojacko Posted March 16, 2022 Posted March 16, 2022 This is just awesome! Nice work on the upgrade! Quote
pengbuzz Posted April 5, 2022 Posted April 5, 2022 Thanks folks! UPDATE: A LOT of progress since last I posted in this topic: Comparison to the original (I got a second one while working on the first; when it rains, it pours!): Stay tuned folks.... Quote
Nyankodevice Posted May 12, 2022 Posted May 12, 2022 On 6/23/2020 at 4:45 AM, tekering said: Just the Daedalus, I'm afraid... Work has kept me busy this month. I'm pleased with this color scheme, so I'll apply it to the Matchbox as well. Now that looks good 👍👍 Quote
tekering Posted June 1, 2022 Author Posted June 1, 2022 After a two-year hiatus, I'm finally back at it! From here on out, I'm going to post weekly updates to this build until it's finally completed. Despite the narrative significance of the Macross bridge, Takatoku made absolutely no attempt to reproduce it on the toy. All we got was a solid red inset in the conning tower, where the bridge should've been visible (had there at least been a clear plastic piece)... So the first thing I did was to hollow out the "head." I've got plenty of dental files for detailed work like this: Nevertheless, it's very difficult to be accurate at this scale. As you can see, the opening is very small -- less than a centimeter, in fact -- and I needed a special macro focus lens just to photograph it properly. Now, scratchbuilding a bridge at this scale would be impossible, of course (and I don't have access to a liquid-resin 3D printer), so kitbashing is the only viable solution here. ILM elevated kitbashing to an art form making Star Wars, creating incredibly detailed studio miniatures by adding little bits and pieces from unrelated model kits, so that will be both my inspiration and (thanks to Bandai) my source of parts: Bandai's insanely small "Vehicle Model" line of Star Wars kits includes a highly-detailed Star Destroyer I can cannibalize parts from, approximating the multi-level "face" of the SDF-1. Once the seam lines in the conning tower are removed and the "head" is painted, I can add a transparent plastic cover. Quote
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