Lt. Z0mBe

Sorry! I totally read "medium coat of gloss" as "matte coat of gloss" and assumed you meant you were making matte coat out of a glosscoat with a matting-agent. I would still test the Future on an inconspicuous area. I have accidentally frosted a glosscoat by unintentionally shooting a bit of 99-percent ISO onto cured Future before - the ISO was left over inside from cleaning the airbrush. I figured Future clears CA frosting on canopies, maybe it would work on cured Future...and it did. I airbrushed on a couple of light coats and the frosting disappeared. Kenny

I have had the same thing happen a few times with various acrylic matte coats. I would try dabbing a bit of Future over one of the little marks and see if the Future "fills in" the frosting. The frosting is the matting agent that disrupts what would otherwise be a gloss coat. If you can get it to "soak up" a bit of Future, it will get at least translucent, if not transparent. Failing that, you can try popping off the little flakes with a piece of a plastic cotton swab shaft. I hope this helps. Kenny

Here's my unabridged version of working with water-slide decals from many years ago (in case you're uninitiated):

1.) Lay down Future coat. Allow it to cure. If they are self-sticking decals (Adhesive-backed), proceed to step 5.) 2.) Apply decal. If they are the type of decals used on models (water-slide), add just a drop of Future where the decal will go. This will "suck" the decal down into the Future-coated rough steel. 3.) Assuming they are water slide, immediately after placing the decal wick away the excess Future and water with the torn edge of a paper towel. Lint free is best. Again, use the torn-edge of the paper towel for the best wicking. 4.) Immediately after wicking away the excess, press any large bubbles out. You can leave tiny ones alone as they Future-on-Future action will take care of them. 5.) Seal with Future. If you need a matte coat, seal with airbrushed acrylic matte coat. Don't use that Dullcote garbage as it will absolutely yellow over time, sunlight or not. I hope this helps. Kenny

You too! Was worried you would have a hernia or slipped a disc with all of those awards you were carrying back to your seat, lol. Also, what was the name of that Labor? That was my favorite of yours. Kenny

Finally finished this one! I am going to bed so I can take it to WF in the morning. Comments and criticisms welcome. (Yes, I know I need a photo booth ) Kenny

With regards to the Future, could you just order it on Amazon or Ebay from an 'Murrican? Kenny

Here's an opportunity to teach a little model math. So basically your question would be this: 1/x = 6/499.2 (Battroid height of 41.6 feet x 12 inches per ft according to wikipedia). 6/499.2 = .012 ...so 1/x = .012 Solve for "x" and you have your scale: 1 = .012(x) So, what (x) multiplied by .012 would give you 1? That will be the "x" in "1/x." You do that part. Kenny

Thanks! That's what I was thinking. I had this idea for a diorama that's been in my head for a long time and figured now was the time.

Just posted this over on SSM too. The hero zombies for my WWII zombie diorama are finished, for the most part. The reds are not nearly as bright as they appear in these images. I am not a photographer and am not sure why my camera is doing that. Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

Also the is interesting. I'd love to get myself a lathe. Finally, when is MT going to build walking Destroids? Looks like he can. Kenny

Here's some updates for today. First, here's what I call "The Menagerie." They're the background zombies that will be seen through the doorway, not quite out of the lab bunker They've been finished for a while and are slightly less detailed than the "Hero Zombies": Some more recent progress in these images. You can see I have started on the Celluclay groundwork. The earth is clay from my background, pulverized with a mortar-and-pestle and then sifted. The little flags are made using the same gauge copper wire as the pins that will set the figures on the base, thus making sure (hopefully) that the figures' pins have a nice hole to go into: Finally, you can see I've finished with the concrete seams on the bunker. I also added in some plywood "grain" that would have been left over from the forming process. I did this with 100-grit sandpaper, pulled across the surface in the appropriate direction for the "real" form's orientation: More updates to come. Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

Seconded! Kenny

Thanks for the kind words, MT. So much work gone on here in the past few days. Here's a small update for today. All of the hero zombies and protagonists primed and with some minor corrections: Americans: Unfortunate Wehrmacht Soldiers: In the images below you can see where I am laying in the concrete form lines onto the bunker's concrete surface. Basically I laid out the lines with a fine-tip Sharpie and then laid down masking tape that just skirts said lines, leaving a gap in the center. Then, Mr. Surfacer is applied and the tape is pulled up while Mr. Surfacer is still a bit tacky. The resulting lines look like the gaps you see on poured, formed concrete. You can see approximately half of the lines are complete and de-taped in the images: I forgot to snap some images of the finished menagerie zombies that will be spilling out of the bunker. I'll try to remember to get those next time. Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

Posted this over at SSM the other day... This is one I've been working on for a while. I was in love with World War II zombies before being in love with World War II zombies was cool. At any rate, this will be my first diorama. Sure, I have done dioramatic display bases in the past but this will be my first bigtime diorama for diorama's sake. I just finished the hero zombies and the protagonists. Their primary construction took around two months. They're made from Tamiya figures (among others), blessed Aves, and copper wire armatures for the joints and scratchbuilt areas. Their places on the base are already marked and set and they're posed as close to perfectly as is humanly possible. g Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

I don't know any other way of applying washes than with a brush. Glosscoat the thing with Future floor polish (if in the US) or with any other acrylic glosscoat applied with an airbrush. Then after it's dried for a good 24 hours or more, hit it with a wash along the panel lines. If you skip the glosscoat, you will end up staining the color coat, just so you know. Kenny

Prayers and condolences to you and yours sir. When I lost my granddad a couple of years ago , I spent a week straight at my bench. It really helped. Kenny

That's looking pretty sweet. That's how I do hard-edged camouflage and masking - built myself a Tamiya tape layout on some glass, draw on the patterns and cut out patterns with a fresh blade. That APC has the near Future "macross-ish" look to it. Well done. Can't wait to see how it turns out. Kenny

Thanks guys! Praise from the masters, indeed. As far as WarThunder, I've never played it but heard it's pretty epic. If it were up to me, we'd see this bird in there. Kenny

Love to see how that one's going. Always have a soft spot for the underdogs. I just finished my AZ Models' Gotha P.60C7. I did a scratchbuilt conversion, making it a single seat dayfighter. The engine nacelles were relocated, the canopy was trimmed in length and the gun ports were scratchbuilt from styrene tubing to give them a slightly raised appearance similar to those on an Me262. The cockpit fairing behind the canopy was scratchbuilt from Aves and a portion of the original part. The intake spinners and the exhaust ports were scratchbuilt from styrene tubing, greeblies and plastic beads. Finally, it is finished in Minitaire and Vallejo acrylics, with weathering from pastels, oils, oil filters in various colors and chipping using various techniques. Comments and criticisms are appreciated. Kenny

I just finished the Revell Magnaguard fighter. I built it as a hypothetical Porax P388 Mass Production type. I figured it could have been in service early in the rebellion. It's finished in Vallejo and Createx enamels with a burnt umber filter, some pin oil washes, pastels, salt and sponge chipping. The cockpit was mostly scratchbuilt as was the aircrew. I removed the goofy comb-like thrusters, the bulky sensor cabling and added little RCS blisters all over the thing. Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

Future is essentially clear acrylic paint. You're not going to be able to not scratch it if you have it in an area where it's getting rubbed by moving parts. Process I use is like this: 1.) Prime if necessary and then Preshade 2.) Color coat(s) 3.) Glosscoat (Future) 4.) Decals with more Future over them after they've dried 5.) Glaze (W & N ink in Future with a Liquitex Flow Aid - 20/1 ratio) and wash (oil paint or pastel). This is where the panel line and recessed details come out. Let them cure. 6.) Oil paint filter. 7.) Flat coat (Liquitex matte) 8.) Drybrushing of raised details and edges followed by another flat coat. 9.) Pastel weathering/chipping effects 10.) Another flat coat to seal the pastels. The panel lines will get protected by multiple coats of clear flat. Note this process doesn't cover stuff like salt and hairspray weathering. As for brushing Future, it's a delicate thing if you're trying to cover a large area. You have to build it up in multiple light coats if you're covering a large area. When I say thin coats, I mean like fog on a window thin. You want most of it off of the brush. My first question is why would you want to do it that way? That being said, I would say that using oil paint over anything other than gloss is a lot more difficult to control. I hope this helps a bit. Remember to keep it simple. Kenny

You really need to use it from an airbrush to get consistent results as a glosscoat. I have been using it since 1996 and have done pretty well. Here's what I do: 1.) Shoot at 20 psi or so, about 10-to-12 inches from the piece in order to get a deliberately "pebbly" appearance. You want to just mist it on 2.) About 10 minutes later while the first rough coat is still tacky, hit it again. This time you're in closer. The self leveling property combined with the pebbling breaks the surface tension, making it get really smooth. Also, you're using oil-based panel line markers. If you're doing highlighting of panel lines like that, do it over the Future, not under it. The appearance will be smoother and, due to the Future being alcohol/ammonia solvent based, you can wipe off the "incompatible" solvent-based marker that you put down on top of the Future just by using a cotton swab moistened with either turpentine (if you literally mean "oil-based") or mineral spirits. Also, unless the paints you're going over with the marker were glossy, even if they are acrylic like Future, your marker will stain the paint, making it difficult to remove/correct on the fly. Why? Flat paints' surfaces are microscopically rough and cracked by design. Again, that's why you want the Future - it's glossy so the paint/wash/highlight stays "high up" on the surface. I hope this helps. Kenny P. S. All bets are off if you're not in the states. The overseas version formulation literally changes from quarter-to-quarter as the overseas stuff sold in stores comes from varying manufacturing plants used to fill the orders at the time. I had a conversation with someone at Johnson & Johnson a few years ago and learned this.

I am going to call this one finished. It will be on the table at Wonderfest come Saturday morning. There's a little speck of lint to the right of the canopy. I removed it a few minutes after snapping the image. Sorry the foreground in this one is a little blurry. But I think you get the idea. Comments and criticisms welcome. Kenny

That's a big block of resin, Robb. I look forward to seeing it. Here's today's update on the Aerotech Samurai. In these images, it's been Future coated, decaled, had a burnt umber, white and yellow filter applied, had some glazing and had a deep purple brown pin wash applied to various spots. It's going to sit for a little while and then get a bit of weathering, a flat coat and some more pastel weathering. Comments and criticisms welcome, as always. Kenny