Thom

Waiting. Looks like it'll be fun, but I'm already paying them for service. That would be like being charged to enter a movie theater - and then pay for the tickets!

9 hours ago, peter said:

There is no winning when it comes to the Ent C, lol!

 

Yeah, there was a whole episode about that!

And it looks like you are persevering with those ships. A nice 'tutorial' for anyone following along.

7 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Some actual painting has been done! and seams are sloooowly going away.... uhhhgggg... 

Coming along great. Some nice color and tones.

2 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Okay... finally got the warp nacelles reattached, and the ship is together again for the first time in roughly 3-4 years (give or take a decade):

After all the work that has been done, the warp nacelles are still uneven and misaligned, the details are a bit crude (still needs phaser banks for one!) and I have no decals for this thing. Regardless, I'm continuing on and will take this at least until I get to the decalling stage. Enough work has been put into this since 2011, and I'd like to call it done. But when you have a PITA Tomcat that needs stripping yet again, suddenly it doesn't seem like so much of a task to reassemble a decade old "problem project".

 

Stay tuned...

 

 

We have faith in the 'buzz! The good news is it's harder to tell any miss-alignments unless you're really eye-balling it

On 3/19/2021 at 2:25 PM, electric indigo said:

@peter I really admire the passion you have for these challenging kits – it must feel like time traveling, working with these crappy molds. Looking forward to see the decals on them.

Some more time traveling today:

Like it! The lights hitting the paint real good at that angle.

20 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Some more work:

Finally beginning to resemble something other than a turd with wings....

All we see are the end(ing) results, and it is looking good. Nice save by the Wifey!

1 hour ago, peter said:

 

Haha, the NX has been the most cooperative so far.

 

The Ent B nacelle decals are the worst.

 

Will post pics of the mess later sometime.

Nice looking lil Enterprise.

5 hours ago, derex3592 said:

You guys seen this!!!??? WOW. Just WOW.  I hope the guy that did this has a really good paying job designing toys! 

 

 

That is one fantastic looking Monster!

Three would be pushing it, four is in two-parter territory, if this had been released in theaters. And I could easily have seen that happening, and it would have been fine. There have been a fare number of movies that have done that in recent decades.

As to the Snyder Cut, that I have yet to see, one thing that troubled me about the director-change-over, was that it was no longer Snyder's film. We know that Whedon changed a lot of what had already been filmed, and in doing so started making the movie his rather than honoring the role he was assuming. And that especially considering the circumstances that forced Snyder to step away from it.

6 hours ago, Valkyrie Hunter D said:

Neee ha-made it to last issue without breaking anything!

I posted more pics here.  It's not perfect, and there are couple of issues I'm still trying to improve, but it's still a great model.

Very nice. A bit weird with the gaps, but it looks like you conquered them good. Nice idea with the velcro.

5 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

UPDATE:

I had thrown this failure in the trash last time I had posted:

Well... the BLASTED thing showed back up on my desk a week ago!!!

When I came out of my "shop" (more like a room for various stuff, really), my wife came over to me and explained that she had rescued it from the trash shortly before city sanitation came to collect the garbage. She hit it for a while, then placed it back on my worktable.

She pleaded with me not to destroy it.

*Okay...when your wife is just about in tears over this, how the heck do you just say "no"?*

I relented and told her I would spare it, but I would need a new canopy and windshield for it.

To make a long story short (too late!), she had me locate a canopy online, and she paid for it. I ordered one from Tamiya, as they were the only folks who didn't run me around like an idiot over it. I know it's going to take some work to fit it, but I can handle that.

She also found some extra decals  that had been kicking around the house which would be of great use for this project.

(yeah... I'm really blessed to have her. She knows my limitations and still stays with me!)

So with that, I figured this much effort on her part to save this 'cat deserved an equal effort on mine to bring it the rest of the way back:

And of course, Maverick and Goose:

Hopefully the new canopy should be here in a week or two (California's getting really hard on shipping times), so we'll see. Meanwhile, just need to find or make the tail logos for Maverick's plane in 1/48.

Stay tuned... this cat seems to have more lives left!

Way to go, Wifey!! Your true gold mine, right there!

@MechTech Ugh, I know! It needs new canopies, as I ruined the ones on it. At least its safe in a display shelf, not collecting any dust until I finally get back to it.

On 3/15/2021 at 8:39 AM, CrossAir said:

Just finished: Sheryl Nome (resin kit from E2046)

Took me five weeks to finish her as I have not much time for hobby left since work is steadily increasing since January.

Though it is a resin kit it was not hard to built - fitting of parts was quite good, not much filling, priming and sanding necessary and everything went fine until the last airbrush stroke which should only be a tiny correction to the sole of one boot. 

From here on I went through modelers’ hell as I had to redo the right leg completly cause somehow I managed to ruin the finished paint job due to color on my fingertip. After this I thought I had overcome the worst part of this build, but it struck me even harder. During assembly of the veil on the back I dropped the idea of screwing it to the body and decided to use solely superglue. When I checked some minutes later I almost got an heart attack as I noticed a drop of glue had run down the right thigh.

Even worse, since the veil came off again I had marks of superglue on other parts, too. Once again I had to sand down the thighs, paint and clear coat it again. this time even on the already assembled figure. Same on some other parts. Took me the whole weekend for the repairs. And this time I attached the veil with a screw. But I still wonder how smoothly I went through the restoration process in the end. 

Final conclusion: I hate superglue!!!! 

Very nice work!

On 3/15/2021 at 9:55 AM, derex3592 said:

ahhh, superglue, it's such a blessing and a curse! Cursing is just part of modeling. I said a few choice wirtyderds myself this weekend!  "Let's try thinning Tamiya Liquid primer with lacquer thinner and airbrushing it on the deck of the USS Fort Worth so it won't cover up all my hard work on the tiny PE! It worked great for the guy who did it on YouTube!"  Yeeeehhhh....about that. It does work, however, you have to thin the ever loving crap out of it to get it to spray good. Despite my best efforts it still laid down rough in spots so I stripped it off and said screw primer, I'm just gonna paint the plastic. Used Vallejo Model Air - I have to say, that paint is phenomenal! No mixing, straight into airbrush and BAM! perfect mix to paint with and it has NO smell. Not even a whiff of anything. Not that I mind the Tamiya acrylic smell, but the Vallejo is better IMHO. 

Work continues on the Runabout warp nacelles, sanding and filling, filling and sanding..uuhhhhghhh....and then there's the hour I dedicated to working on stripping the disastrous primer/paint mix off the Cat's Eye. Slowly but surely!  Onwards and upwards, maybe by 2022 I'll have something finished! 

@peter- I agree with you on the Ent C - I left it alone. Just so you know, the warp engine decals on that one and the E are some of the most challenging! 

@electric indigo- Love the paintjob!  Great work! 

@MechTech - Soon you'll be making those guns really shoot tiny projectiles! I can see it now! Amazing work! 

 

Reminds me of where my Cat stalled at...

@valkyriepm That scheme is gonna looks so good!

@electric indigo That is one handsome pair of Russian jets! They fit very well together.

RIP good sir!

6 hours ago, electric indigo said:

^ MechTechMadness! 

_

After a few setbacks, I got this beast done. Better pics when the sun comes back.

Sweet looking bird! Nice on the camo.

10 hours ago, MechTech said:

I've been working on parts for the Oto Melara 76/62 76mm gun - below deck portion. I'm thinking of displaying it on a clear baseball cube container. Gun above it, all the workings below it in the clear cube. Here's the real deal below deck and an inert 76mm round for comparison:

 

 

Easy bolt heads. Take a metal plate, drill your selected size hole in it (1mm in this case), and get a Allen wrench driver bit the same diameter. Line up the bit with the hole (I used my drill press) and punch the plastic. They're not perfect, but passable. I made about a hundred bolt heads in about 20 minutes.

The fun part was trying to figure out how to make the parts that hold the rounds. You can tell by the mat with one inch squares in the photo how small the parts are. I used a bolt, cut the head off, and used opposing facing nuts to hold plastic in place. A Dremmel bit was ground to the right thickness (you can see it in the photo) and used to make cuts on my rotary table. The actual plastic is .020 mounted to a 1/8" thick piece of plastic with double sided tape. The 1/8" plastic acts as a disposable table and supports the thin plastic for milling. You can see the part after machining and cleaned up. Getting the double sided tape off was a pain.

 

Here are some of the parts LOOSELY fit together to give you an idea of what it looks like so far. You can see where the 1mm bolt heads went. The rounds actually fit snug into the carousel.

 

RB Models makes the 76mm ammo, and cheap too! The ammo for the German 75mm PAK 40 is the same size as what I need. But they are on a long break from making it and nobody has it anywhere in stock! I did find their 76mm ammo for the Sherman Easy 8 tanks (and other similar guns). The problem, the shell casings are too short, like about 1mm. They also have a pinched neck which is wrong. It also threw off everything else in the carousel. So I had to make the shell casings. I spent several days and after DOZENS of failed attempts (I mean that too) I figured out how to lathe the 76mm shell casings. It required grinding a new cutting tool and setting my lathe up like never before.

The casings below STILL NEED to have the rims trimmed, they are still rough. Left to right, a pile of casings (about 30), a piece of 1/16" tubing as the working material, a completed round with RB Models projectile, and a correct size shell casing next to RB Models shell casing. "So, what did you do this weekend?" I made itty bitty cannon shell casings - MT

 

And after all that work!!

I'm being hopeful! For the most part, they did great by Pike and Co in Disco's second season.

13 hours ago, Keith said:

At this point, would't it be cheaper to get a few sheets of plexiglass and assemble them into a case?

4 hours ago, oshanmacross said:

That's what I'm thinking!

...whistling tonelessly...

https://makesharelearn.wordpress.com/2014/09/13/diy-project-acrylic-display-case/

Could always build it ourselves. Take your dimensions to the hardware store, or wherever in the area sells/cuts plexi, and glue it all together. If you're not worried about some dodgy edges and just preserving the model, it would serve well enough.

https://makesharelearn.wordpress.com/2014/09/13/diy-project-acrylic-display-case/

6 hours ago, MechTech said:

 @Urashiman Ooooh, Langnese honey is on sale! C'mon, tell the truth, that is multiple kits you are putting together! That nose seam is horrible and the winshield. But you're making it SOOOoooo much better!

@Thom The Joxer looks like the muscle car of Starfleet! It's all nacelles and little ship. It just needs a supercharger scoop on the hood somewhere Great build! Nice-n-clean finish too!

 

Ha! 'Muscle car of Starfleet!' I like that!

@Gabe Q Good looking pack! What scale is that? 1/72?

@peter Shame you keep hitting all these 'easy builds' and not finding it easy at all! Wresting them into shape though!

7 hours ago, Mog said:

  Hide contents

 

I did like the flashback episode, because it cleared up that Wanda didn’t go to SWORD to revive Vision; she just wanted to bury him.  

And I did like Westview Vision using logic to reason with Vision the White.

BUT I take serious issue with your reasoning quoted above:  what right does Wanda have to impose her will on those people?  Is living in her fantasy world, forced to play the role SHE thinks is best for them (at least subconsciously), really “better” for the citizens of Westview?

Just because they may look unhappy to her doesn’t mean those people actually are unhappy.

And the last scene seems to imply she didn’t learn a damn thing, tinkering with a book of dark spells, possibly worrying about her imaginary kids.  That’s not grief, that’s borderline obsession.

She needs some sort of comeuppance.  Even Tony Stark eventually had to eat the consequences of Sokovia and making Ultron, especially during Civil War.

 

 

What I meant by this...

Quote

Yes, it was all Wanda, caught up in her grief and loneliness and just trying to make things better for herself, as well as Westview to judge by how the place is without her powers covering it up. She just convinced herself that everyone was better off playing in the sitcom of her life. In the end though, she did decide to end it and free Westview, even at the expense of her family. No, they weren't really real, but in all the ways that mattered, they were to her.

...was definitely not

Caught up with the last two episodes of WandaVision...
 

9 hours ago, peter said:

I bet that thing would mop the floor with the BOP.  That is an awesome gunship!

I would hope so! And thank you!

4 hours ago, arbit said:

Thom, Nice photography there. 

Urashiman, Interested to see what you do with that clunker. I'm sure with your experience it will look great. Keep the panel lines thin and any weathering to scale, and it will be better than Matchbox thought possible.

Thanks!

10 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

I've wrestled with this model for years, literally. Can't find a canopy for it, can't mold a new one, can't buy one, and I don't want to try anything else with it because now the seams have let go... sorry, i'm going to have to leave off on that and go do something else for a few weeks. My blood pressure is up and I don't feel very well.

Hoping your pressure comes down and you start to feel better. Sucks being sick, not the least of which that it limits the mojo.

This is a build just recently off the workbench. I took some Refit nacelles, the bridge dome and the torpedo housing and made a torpedo boat out of the Grissom.

So is born the USS Joxer!

4 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

I had an idea for trying to get a canopy for my F-14 model kit: Guillows (balsa wood planes) had an F-14 in 1/48, so I tried contacting them. While they did allow folks to buy parts separately, they didn't have it in stock and were not expecting it back in at any point.

So, frustrated, I was searching for canopies online when I went to open a window and knocked the model off the table, sending it to the floor.

Well, I solved the issue with needing parts...

 

  Hide contents

I THREW THE DAMNED THING IN THE GARBAGE.

 

And so I managed to "finish" my model.

 

 

Sometimes that's where they end up... Sad but true. But maybe you should pull it out and put it in the parts bin instead. You could kitbash an A-Wing out of it! You'd just need a canopy though...