MechTech

Thank you guys for the positive feedback! @pengbuzz That cooment on putting a finish on your arm was funny! I'm glad to see your doing better - without a clear coat😁 I'm a little late to the dance, but cake airbrush compressors work too. In fact, I got a nebulizer froma thrift store and use that for mine. Works great too! There's also this: https://www.lowes.com/pd/PointZero-Cake-Airbrush-Decorating-Kit-Airbrush-Compressor/7148487?user=shopping&feed=yes&srsltid=AfmBOorjUp999F_Y2nwtA2jv-f1ZXAD83SMOoRqVKMD5Rt-qn-MtwH2HMSY I believe this one at HL (and other places) can be unthreaded and a hose used: https://www.hobbylobby.com/crafts-hobbies/model-kits/airbrushes/cordless-airbrush-kit/p/81182932 I hope that helps! - MT

@Papa Rat That VE-1 is looking GREAT! Nice weathering! Great print work and designs too! I guess you're one of the few who still touches typesets? @505thAirborne Those helmets look VERY realistic and authentic (I can say that from experience😁). I had to do a replica of an old WWII M-3 aircraft flak helmet for a display one time. It's harder than people think! @Cheese3 No one will accuse you of not using your own original paint schemes - that's for sure! Cool designs and collection too! @LocusPocus Wow! There are A LOT of bias lines on that print. But like you said, good learning experience! Those joints you're installing will make it much better. @derex3592 You are going to have quite the 1/72nd Air Force! The paint is looking clean too. @nightmareB4macross Yeah, yours is MUCH better 😁 I'm predicting people are going to run out to their Dick's Sporting Goods, or local equivelent, this weekend and buy track shoe spikes. These were about $12.00 USD for 14 vs the same cost for just a couple from an aftermarket company. They are SHARP and DURABLE vs the aluminum ones that are aftermarket extras. You can use a 12-24 tap to make threads for them, or just use super glue! I saw these while my wife was looking for shoes. God gave me a great idea after seeing these😉 Oh, and this was supposed to be a simple 1/100 Z'Gok build to work on while sitting with my wife watching TV. I just couldn't get over that '70's look and thought it needed more "Machismo". I'll post more as I complete it. Thanks for checking in! - MT

@pengbuzz I'm sorry to hear about your arm! I pray you have a quick and thorough recovery! Thank you guys! Thank you @Papa Rat! @Big s Thank you and I believe you are right! I'm glad that she had the conversation though😁 - MT

WOW! I can't believe how many AWESOME builds I have been missing! I had to go through several pages and don't have time to comment on everyone's beautiful work! What the heck; everything from phasers to chickens besides the usual suspects! My apologies, I'll try to get on more often. I have just been more busy and been spendingmore time with family than on the bench. First off, my main excuse. After losing our one cat, Shadow back in February, a friend of my wife's talked her into getting a couple of kittens - for multiple reasons. Mainly that our exhisitng cat would have friends while we're out at work. Cats ARE pack animals and prefer social settings than being alone. So, the latest edition to my workbench is Stormie and Tygra (L to R). And the whole gang chillin' on the couch. They were so tiny and young that they slept with us and always had to be with us. We lost A LOT of sleep! But they're getting used to everything now. It also means me backing off on the paint and glue while they'e around (which is A LOT too). Even now they'e up here with me😁 But I'm not a total slacker and did get some stuff done. The 1/35th Dougram DX comes with that GIANT backpack cannon and a tiny rocket pod! So I made a bigger rocket pod to "balance it" a bit better! Here's all the parts and making the rocket tips to glue into the pod. The tine holes in the non-drilled out end are for "stays" made of wire to get glued in place. And how they were made and cut-off on the lathe... The F-35B is on hold for sci-fi stuff. But the cockpit is getting there. The seat is UPHOLSTERED! It's covered with THIN fabric from tiny wire tape on top of thin brass sheets. Then it's all glued together. The panels are Eduard photetch and seatbelts. The kit and Eduard did not include a joystick on the right, so I had to make one. The ejection seat pull handle is made from yellow and black thread white-glued and twisted together on a Dremmel. The main panel is made from decal bits. The Eduard one looked like a newspaper and I messed it up with a clear coat. And finally, my old Takara Dougram Hasty Ironfoot gun muzzle wasn't looking so hot and getting nessed up on the seem (not visible). So I machined a new one in steel. Then heated it up to give it that burnt effect AND protect it from corrosion. That's it for now. Thank you for checking in and I'll do better getting on more often. You guys make SUCH AWESOME STUFF!!! - MT

@tekering That looks BEAUTIFUL!!! It will look awesome with paint! Even with all those collector's items, now we know which series you are the BIGGEST fan of!🤣 - MT

@pengbuzz That stand looks awesome, helps tell the story, and put the whole display together! I see a lot of good models that people just stick on a pole attached to an unsanded, ugly piece of unfinished timber. @Cheese3 I haven't seen one of those Nichimo kits actually attached to the suction "stand" in decades - I think. It's cool to see one done so nicely. The Gwazine came out great too! @Nyankodevice That Zenith print looks cool! I always loved how their designs are more realistic. ALCON, If anyone is interested, here's one of the roughly completed models of the Gatling cannon. I haven't added any of the handles on to it since I won't be using them. Also pictured is the motor, switch and batteries. The parts are molded in ABS according to the sprues. The good news, most parts are molded in undergated sprues, so cleanup is easy with little signs of nubs left over. I don't know if I did something wrong, but the battery fit is too tight. I've seen multiple videos where they were not, so maybe it was just me inserting the battery tabs wrong. I'm not worried because I'm not using them either. Here's one leaning against a standard 12oz American sized can. The COOL news, it runs awesome and the action is quiet! It doesn't sound like a servo running. The recoil looks cool, but of course, it's not "canon". Like I said earlier, those gear motors are awesome and compact. I got some more work done on the F-35B. The driveshaft connecting the LiftFan unit is to narrow, so I had to make a thicker one. Hasegawa completely left any detail out of the rear engine bay! It's totally visible too! So I had to find some decent photos (which was tough) and add some semi-accurate details in. Thanks for checking in! - MT

Hey everyone, quick post! I don't know if you have seen these before, but it is an AWESOME add-on to your mecha builds! This is a mechanical Gatling cannon that has ROTATION AND RECOIL action!!! TOTALLY COOL! They can be hard to find and sell out fast, but Hobby Search has them (at this time) for only $13.00 (plus about the same price for shipping registered mail to the U.S.). This version COMES WITH the motor, batteries and switch: https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/11182826 I just got mine in the mail and have yet to build it. If you're not familiar, Hobby Search is another great place to get stuff, especially if you're used to HLJ and them being out of stuff all the time. I've been buying from them for years. They seem to ship out faster than HLJ too. The motor is a compact gear motor and they are excellent for other projects too! I bought a bunch a while back. You'll see them in high end toys and kits. The small "ammo container" on the side holds three small 357 batteries - that come with the kit! I hear they don't last long, but adding in an external battery pack would be easy. The Hobby Mio logo is cool too, a cat with a wrench!😻 Here's a decent review minus the motor kit that the link above DOES have. The last video shows it in action. Enjoy! - MT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV9pNTma73o

@SteveTheFish That's sad. Marking down for "not weathered enough" is not cool. That choice is up to the modeller. That can also be fixed by noting what you did on the judging sheet and why. A lot of people don't know that they SHOULD make special notes. The last contest I judged, someone did some Gundams with a wood finish to them. We didn't mark them down because that's not what a Gundam looks like, but the wood effect was very bad. Like @woodsider said, things are changing A LOT! VERY rarely are models made out of wood anymore. They are now plastic. That's a paradigm shift. Sci-fi becoming VERY popular is the latest shift. Allowing 3D printed models in Gundam competitions is the next one. 😉 @pengbuzz Judges Pengbuzz's model and notes, "Left masking tape on model." 🤣 - MT

@Papa Rat That Monster is looking good! Lots of love and attention. Some seams you may be able to fix before-hand. When you can, if you sand the edges flat, like on a piece of sand paper mounted to a board, they'll join better. Then use a ton of glue to make the seams "wet". Then put them together. It will take a day or two to dry, but you may be able to eliminate some puttying (which also requires waiting time). Plus the seam is stronger. @SteveTheFish and ALCON: Still to this day, a lot of the IPMS founders are stuck in their ways. I've heard fellow club members who read their literature complain about it. That includes techniques too. Don't get them started on 3D printing either! But like Big S said, there is a big group of Sci-fi modellers, mostly Gunpla modellers who are forcing them to change. Our last convention had A LOT of sci-fi kits. Even our die-hard aircraft guys are getting a Gundam just to see what they're all about and understand them better. The last two shows/conventions I was at even had a large group of Gunpla club members en force representing and taking photos together. The downside, the judges know how easy they can be made to look good. So they get more attention in judging now😉 - MT

@pengbuzz THE Masking Tape Master!!! @Cheese3 Cool to see those ole' tiny kits being built! I like the highlighting on the Defender. @woodsider That 1J looks beautiful! I think you'll win some medal with that one! ALCON - Here are International Plastic Modeler's Society (IPMS) judging guidelines (there is a Gundam section): - MT https://ipmsusa.org/about/competition-information/ipmsusa-competition-handbook-2024

@pengbuzz Your Shuttle looks GREAT! I love the protective coating on the lab module. It looks realistic! @Papa Rat No problem! Winning something at a con is cool too! Maybe fewer entrants? - MT

@Papa Rat Good call on the magnets for your Monster! By the way, if you're careful, they will still work just under the surface. That way you don't have to cover them with anything. Concerning your Talgeese: As a Sci-Fi judge for my club's last show, we dinged stuff like seam lines, rough paint, decals that were not blended well into the finish, or silvered decals (air gets underneath and it looks silvery). Stuff that will help you, adding detail bits, adding more scribing details/panel lines, and being consistent with your paint scheme (wear should be even across the model or rust, just not here and there). You should be able to get a a hold of the judging rules. If not, I'll see if I can find ours. Honestly, you should be able to walk into a show and have a good idea of where you stand. You know if you did a good job or not. At the very least, it's a lot of fun and a GREAT learning experience. You will see A LOT of awesome models and good ideas to borrow from. Who's hosting the show? If they are IPMS based, their rules are pretty much the same across the board. @Cheese3 Your paint shading looks good on that model and helps build size (for something so small). @derex3592 Good help is hard to find; I'm glad you got some! 😄 Sorry your Seymour-Johnson decal got jacked up. That squadron must of had a special deployment to Australia or something, maybe with a special paint scheme it sounds like? - MT

That's awesome she did that! I wanna say, "Sneaky wife, happy life" but that can go bad too.😁

@pengbuzz That's AWESOME man! Thank God for your wife and finding an ORIGINAL 80's kit! I remember that kit too - pretty cool! It's also great you got your starship nacelles sorted out too! Things are looking up! - MT

@Chas I think I used Super Lube (liquid) last time I stripped my old airbrush down. It has Teflon in it and coats nicely. @derex3592 Congrats on moving indoors! I lived in TX for a short bit and the heat and humidity can get bad! The Eagle looks good too! @Papa Rat Cool! Those will be a BIG improvement over the stock butcher block hands. - MT