Rock Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 @Convectuoso There is a fixed resin fighter form conversion for the 1/72 Bandai vf-25f. Your still going to have to paint stripes though. Tamiya's 1:48 F-14D Tomcat. Had I known this kit was this amazing- I'd have grabbed some resin and metal bits to detail her up. I might have to grab the F-14A too for an open hatch build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MechTech Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 @Rock The guys who have built that kit in my club say you just throw it in a bag with some glue and it goes together by itself! I got the padeyes (tie downs) punched into the flight deck. Same method as before. I machined a die and used a drill press as an arbor to stamp them in place. It still needs some hatches and other deck details in there before it gets glues to the side rails on the hull. The holes are for future landing light lenses. - MT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vsim Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 I need to get in the habit of visiting the forums again more often! I've been working on this VF-0B kit off and on again for years now, lol. 2020 has brought a first born child into the house so finding time to work on the kit is now even tougher but I try to work on it at least once a week now and have gotten better at working on it for short periods of time, except for airbrushing which takes forever due to the cleanup :D. This is my first kit in a while and I'm painting all the stripes rather than using the decals to get more time/experience with my airbrush. Next plan is to get the child into this hobby so he can take over my backlog! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electric indigo Posted January 10, 2021 Share Posted January 10, 2021 A bit of progress on the MiG-21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arbit Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 12 hours ago, electric indigo said: A bit of progress on the MiG-21 Exquisite work! Very delicate shades of paint, and the panel lines and cockpit are squeaky clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derex3592 Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 (edited) +1 for that beautiful paint job @electric indigo! More fun with photoetch over here today...between constant petting interruptions! Edited January 11, 2021 by derex3592 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MechTech Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 @vsim You definitely need to get back on the boards again! Looking good! Stripes on white are tough. @electric indigo AWESOME paint! It looks nice and clean! @derex3592 Did you get the feeling they should have just made the whole top one piece of photoetch!? Great gluing all the same. Cat hugs are cool! - MT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electric indigo Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 Thanks for all the flowers, guys. I can't recommend the Eduard kit enough, the surface engravings are super sharp & only needed a hint of a wash. @derex3592 I admire your patience with the photoetch. This is my attempt to get everything more or less lined up on the BBQ skewers of the Fitter & the MiG, and it was quite the nerve-wrecking business: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MechTech Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 That looks nice and clean! Now you won't be able to look at without that stuff bending! - MT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derex3592 Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 (edited) Looks great! Back in Runabout land today, I made super thin windows out of overhead transparency film for all the windows on the ship. I was able to bend the front one using my photoetch bending tool and get the angle just right! This will aide greatly in saving room for the pilots, the control desk, not to mention the fact that you can see through it clearly, unlike the kit plastic clear parts. Tomorrow will be pilot and crew figure priming! Edited January 13, 2021 by derex3592 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 (edited) @vsim Nice striping! I almost always have trouble putting on decals stripes, so painting is probably the best way to go. @derex3592 That PE is looking good. And such cute (handsome?) cats!! And that's awesome with the clear windows on the Runabout. Looks great! @electric indigo The Mig is coming along great, esp with the paint and those 'stabby' things... Sweet! For myself, I finally got another build on the table. It's seems every one now is an attempt at a 'mojo-buster.' This one is the 1/1000 kit of the Kelvin, though I'm calling this one at 1/650. It's also not the Kelvin, but the USS Ampere NCC-0516. Edited January 13, 2021 by Thom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 Preshade and wash went smoothly. Decals and off to the dirt and grime! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electric indigo Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 Nice to see the forum's Tomcat fleet growing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angesdad Posted January 15, 2021 Share Posted January 15, 2021 No crazy builds here but I got the waterslide decals from @Anasazi37 for dressing up DX DYRL VF-1’s. Man, talking about tiny, intricate decals! With my magnifier and shaky hands in I went for the job. What a difference the skull squadron insignia makes eh. Bandai could’ve omitted some of the mumbo jumbo decals and included this one instead. Been a while since I built anything to a completion but it was fun messing around on my bench. This is the aftermath of my attempts. I used Tamiya mark fit which is like a combination of micro set and sol. Do be careful following the instructions on the bottle which tells you to apply another layer on top.-It ripped the decal as it softens in my case. Just a dab of the stuff underneath a decal should suffice. One down, three (four if Bandai gives us Hikaru 1A) more to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasazi37 Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 11 minutes ago, Angesdad said: No crazy builds here but I got the waterslide decals from @Anasazi37 for dressing up DX DYRL VF-1’s. Man, talking about tiny, intricate decals! With my magnifier and shaky hands in I went for the job. What a difference the skull squadron insignia makes eh. Bandai could’ve omitted some of the mumbo jumbo decals and included this one instead. Been a while since I built anything to a completion but it was fun messing around on my bench. This is the aftermath of my attempts. I used Tamiya mark fit which is like a combination of micro set and sol. Do be careful following the instructions on the bottle which tells you to apply another layer on top.-It ripped the decal as it softens in my case. Just a dab of the stuff underneath a decal should suffice. One down, three (four if Bandai gives us Hikaru 1A) more to go! That Hikaru 1S looks so much better now! And the aftermath is why I include extra decals with each set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derex3592 Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 I made a shiny black conference table with a screen on it for the meeting area in the back, I didn't like the little one that came on the floor part, so I cut it off and made my own! Still gonna use the smaller one as well, so I have two! Just gotta finish painting the figures now and then the interior will be DONE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 4 hours ago, derex3592 said: I made a shiny black conference table with a screen on it for the meeting area in the back, I didn't like the little one that came on the floor part, so I cut it off and made my own! Still gonna use the smaller one as well, so I have two! Just gotta finish painting the figures now and then the interior will be DONE! Good, cause that crew is clearly anxious to get to work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MechTech Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 @Rock Your Tomcat is looking good! @Angesdad Anasazi's decals make that look much better! @derex3592 So does the table get cable TV? The interior is looking good! You can include these too: - MT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MechTech Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Sorry if this post is image intense, some people like to see process on how you did something. This week we dive into the exciting world of bitts/mooring bollards and chocks! For those non-nautical, here's something new for you (it was for me!). The photos below show how the mooring bitts (or bollards) are used to tie up the ship when docked. Chocks (not airplane wheel chocks) are what the rope goes through. How the two have the same name is beyond me! First the bitts. I used a hole punch to make the top pieces. Then lathed a bunch of tube pieces the same length. When cut-off, they had a flange left over. What I thought was a pain to clean off, ended up being a blessing. I drilled holes in a strip of plastic the same diameter as the flange and used that to keep the tubes aligned on the base piece instead of just gluing them on loose and having to guess alignment. It took me almost as long to engineer the chocks as to make them! They are internally compound curved and I needed 8 identical ones. You just don't get them from Plastruct or Evergreen stock. A set is $40 on Shapeways! Forget all of that! I modified Dremel bit by narrowing the waist and milled a length of 1/4" x 3/4" Evergreen strip. You can just see the double-sided tape holding it down. Then I glued a strip of styrene over the length and milled the sides to slope. Then I used a common router bit to round off the top like a "D." Then the same bit to angle the sides was used to open up the interior. A ball bit and a lot of funky hand-sanding was used to round-out the opening. Two days later all I got was this! Actually 9 bitts and 8 chocks. I did manage to do a little deck work too. The interior flight deck level got tie-downs stamped into it. The lower deck area was made from the old flight deck piece to recycle all that work. I added some access panels to the flight deck area for detail. And here's the whole length of flight deck including the hangar area with bitts and chocks glued down. Now you know more than you ever wanted to about stuff to moor (tie-up) a ship! Thanks for checking in guys! - MT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derex3592 Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 (edited) Ok, @MechTech, I gotta ask this brah....what's your annual styrene budget???!!! Inquiring minds wanna know! That all looks great man! Love the ships! Edited January 17, 2021 by derex3592 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derex3592 Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 Update on rear cabin, almoooost there! Gonna look pretty sweet with some people standing around by the consoles and windows I think...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MechTech Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 @derex3592 Ha ha, thanks Derex! My annual styrene budget is VERY low! A lot of the sheet stock goes back to the 1/200 Daedalus build. On the rare occasion I actually buy some Evergreen or Plastruct. In fact, one of the pieces I used this week was about 15 years old judging by the hobby store price tag I removed. Thankfully Hobby Lobby started carry some Evergreen stuff. My favorite place to buy in bulk, when I do, is U.S. Plastics: https://www.usplastic.com/search/?it=item&keyword=styrene This is the cheapest way to get huge sheets. You can buy one or in bulk. They also cut to order for a fee. Shipping may be more than the styrene, it depends. Thin sheets can be rolled into a cheap box. A .040" thick x 40" x 72" long sheet is only $15.56, but you can't roll that up! So it may need to go by truck if you want the sheet intact. - MT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arbit Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 Mechtech, Nice detail work. People are going to wonder where you bought that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derex3592 Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 MAJOR MILESTONE this afternoon, warp engine #1 wired in, glued together to impulse engine part! No turning back now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arbit Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 9 hours ago, derex3592 said: MAJOR MILESTONE this afternoon, warp engine #1 wired in, glued together to impulse engine part! No turning back now! I like it. I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MechTech Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 @arbit Thanks Arbit! @derex3592 Great work on your lighting! It looks like the kit seam fit is atrocious. I don't envy the fixes you'll have to do. - MT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derex3592 Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 @arbit - thanks! @MechTech - Thanks! Yes, the seams fit/seams on the kit is terrible. Just getting the blue clear pieces in place was a bear. They just kinda have to "sit there" with nothing to lock them into place. I used Gorilla Super glue and a toothpick and prayer! All things considered though, for what it's worth, they sealed up pretty good. Putty and sanding, might have to rescribe a few lines, but all in all, I'm happy with it at this point. Here's a pic in the dark this morning running at 7.5 Volts. If you crank it up to 12 volts, its stupid bright! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MechTech Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 1 hour ago, derex3592 said: If you crank it up to 12 volts, its stupid bright! At 12 volts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pengbuzz Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 1 hour ago, MechTech said: At 12 volts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 4 hours ago, derex3592 said: @arbit - thanks! @MechTech - Thanks! Yes, the seams fit/seams on the kit is terrible. Just getting the blue clear pieces in place was a bear. They just kinda have to "sit there" with nothing to lock them into place. I used Gorilla Super glue and a toothpick and prayer! All things considered though, for what it's worth, they sealed up pretty good. Putty and sanding, might have to rescribe a few lines, but all in all, I'm happy with it at this point. Here's a pic in the dark this morning running at 7.5 Volts. If you crank it up to 12 volts, its stupid bright! I like it too! Nice and glowy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 Got a little more done today. Finished up the saucer (I think) and started to paint the clear parts blue and red, and dark copper. I think I can start closing up the ship now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignacio Ocamica Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 Making some more progress with my Zentran soldier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MechTech Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 @Thom Looking good, Thom! Looks like you're improving on the details too? @Ignacio Ocamica Your details look good and I like the wrinkle you put in the shirt, it adds realism. Originally I spent all that time on the Mk-45 5" gun turret. It just looked huge when I was done. Plus, it's heavy! Mine and the real one! The actual Mk-45 Mod 4 is something like 53,000 pounds - before you add in the magazine and feed mechanism, then ammo. The Oto Melara/Leonardo 76mm Super Rapid is about 16,000 pounds ready to go minus ammo. It also has a rate of fire of 120 RPM - but of course shorter range. With the vertical launch cells up front, the lighter gun is more realistic. I thought two would be cool, so I'm messing around with the idea. I've been undecided and that's why I made a cap mechanism and two turret cases for the 76mm earlier on. What do you guys think of the ROUGH MOCKUP? - MT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 @MechTech Ha! Don't know if I am improving anything! Real good work on that fore deck. @Ignacio Ocamica Cool work on that torso! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derex3592 Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 ..........then there were two! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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