Noyhauser

Probably me:

What I'm currently working on....

Fraking awesome!

Noyhauser, you just reminded me to pick up that bomber from Anigrand, I've forgotten about it, great subject.

Mine actually is the Planet Models version. I thought it had better casting, but there were some fit issues with the wingtip sections... more on that later.

Working on Fujimi's 1:16 Ferrari F40, a commission build for my brother. Commencing work on the body, and I'm a little terrified... I don't want to screw this up. My goal is to get the paint as perfect as possible (aka, I can see my face in it).

I'll be glad when I'm done this.

If I may, I'd like to impart an small epiphany I had that changed my view of modeling and made it more enjoyable:

You can always buy another one.

If you mess this one up, you can buy another and redo it. I know its a higher quality model that costs a bit, but don't worry about screwing it up. Half of the fun of modeling in my mind is the building part, and its not fun if you're worried about screwing it up. Be bold and have fun with it. (you can also order replacement parts if need be... a cheaper route)

Good luck and show us some pictures.

Swing wings are so last century

SO ARE FUSELAGES!

(waiting for replacement decals for my F-14A... though I got some work done on my F-14D)

Re: Tintin and the Land of the Soviets, Congo and in America -

It is unfortunate that these early books get such a bad rap, particularly Tintin in the Land of the Soviets. In a time when the "serious" Western press and academia were lauding supposed Soviet progress, Tintin in the Land of the Soviets was actually telling the truth. The depiction of the Soviet Union in that book is perfectly accurate, even if it's based soley on prejudice and stereotype. History has demonstrated that that particular prejudice was a healthy one and that particular stereotype was spot on and factual.

Tintin in the Land of the Soviets is politically good - on par with Tintin in Tibet or Tintin and the Blue Lotus. The only difference being that the latter two books are more sophisticated, while the first is more basic. Still, it is actually extremely accurate.

Tintin in America on the other hand never bothered me, and the allegations that it's in any way racist towards indians are strange. Herge was a scout, he loved Indian culture and dreamed of visiting the native Americans. In fact, in Tintin in America, Herge uses satire to show the sad and tragic side of American industrial progress as it destroys the Native American culture. How is that racist? Herge was a supporter of Native Americans/Indians. When he finally visited America, he was very dissapointed when he visited an Indian reservation and witnessed lethargy and drunkeness - he was sad that this culture was eliminated and opressed and his Tintin in America was his grand vision of the western frontier which he adored.

As for Tintin in Congo - I think this book is probably the hardest to defend, but Herge himself has said that he was simply ignorant and writing on the basis of existing colonial prejudice.

Pete

And I think he gets much better as time moves on. Tintin and the Picaros shows a much much more realistic and nuanced view of politics in developing country.

Ridiculous Plot?

Check

Ridiculous Hairdos?

Check

OBJECTION!

Check.

I'm all for this one.

The scale seems fairly accurate if it's based on the deck crew figures. But nobody's actually sure about how tall Rex is.

Oh I mean if you didn't tell me they were 1/144 I'd never know! They look like they could be larger.

They seem to multiply like rabbits around here.

Nicely done... they don't look like that scale at all.

Watch the skies!

Maybe you should!

(sorry for the crappy cellphone photo...)

^ don't forget that Fujimi is releasing a 1/72 F-15E too.

I'm excited for the VF-11D and especially the Jamming birds variant... the spherical canopy actually is my favorite part.

actually, the 1/60v.II IS a more realistic portrayal of the VF-1. why?

because it is carefully and precisely proportioned to reflect exactly what a VF-1 would have to be designed like

in order to pull off a three form transformation in the three-dimensional, physical real-world, had technology advanced far enough along

to make such a variable-form military vehicle possible in the first place.

i, for one, see the 1/60v.II as no simple "Toy" but a precision scale replica of a theoretical advanced combat vehicle design

that is simply not possible to realize with current technology, but nevertheless functions beautifully as a functional scale mock-up...

But it isn't, nor will it ever be. You don't see massive trenches on modern fighter aircraft. I and other modelers spend days on models to fill in seam lines, while adding painstaking detail. As for the proportions, I don't really agree because there isn't really an established convention for its exact proportions. Also I don't think the proportions look that great at fighter. It makes the fighter look stubby and unflyable in my mind. (see photo below)

Furthermore In order to enable transformation Yamato makes unacceptable compromises that make it unattractive as an accurate representation. For modelers the following is unacceptable even with weathering and cosmetic enhancement:

Do you see anything like that in the photos in this link?

Not ignoring a thing.

Personally I prefer the models, just taking Shaorin at his word, and wondering why, if he prefers the 1/60's so much, he would bother with the models?

I didn't find anything in his posts that pointed to a possible explanation, or reason for his decision to go with the Hase kits instead of the Yamoto 1/60's, which he obviously owns and prefers. (not that he needs to explain himself at all, it just seemed odd to me, so I asked.)

I didn't say that you were ignoring, rather that he/she was ignoring major advantages of a plastic model, like realism. Sharoin claims that the Yamato is more realistic, which was what I was disagreeing with.

just received this thing a couple days back.

i can already tell that, while this is definitely the best fixed-mode VF-1 model that's ever crossed my way,

and it definitely does a superb job of simulating a variable-form aircraft, by early-2000's standards,

it very much pales in comparison to a modern meisterwerk such as that of the YAMATO 1/60v.II,

in it's precisely-balanced overall proportions, and accuracy in portrayal of an honest-to-goodness,

fully functional scale replica, in three dimensions, of a fighter jet that happens to transform into a robot.

in effect, the 1/60v.II has very much spoiled me for any other scale replica iteration of the VF-1,

as it is, IMO, the FIRST, and ONLY VF-1 replica to date that has been carefully and accurately engineered

as a fully functional transforming aircraft in three-dimensional, real-world physics,

with absolutely no compromise. engineered in service to itself, as a variable Aircraft/Mecha,

not in service to the ultimately flawed original early-1980's line art, nor in service to looking "Best" in one specific form.

in sum, to restate myself, all this has totally spoiled me for any other scale iteration of the VF-1,

and has totally destroyed my ability to suspend disbelief in any fixed-form VF-1 model

that attempts to fool the eye into belief that the model can transform when it in fact cannot.

that said, perhaps the HASEGAWA's new 1/48 version can succeed where this older 1/72 has ultimately failed?

As with Petar and Chas, I think you're ignoring the many advantages of styrene. Personally I'll never buy a yamato toy, because its just that to me... a toy. I don't "play" with my models after they are built, so a non-transformable kit with aerodynamic proportions is what I'm looking for.

The 1/72 (and 48) Hasegawa kits is to me is the most accurate representation of the VF-1 in flight mode. There are no large transformation break lines that you wouldn't see on a real aircraft. The Yamato 1/60 kit looks like a toy with them. They also don't have the fine details that the Hasegawa kit has.

Finally I have 50+ 1/72 aircraft that I can display my VF-1s with... how many 1/60 aircraft do you have?

Herve: I think someone on here discovered that the Fujimi F-14D actually is the most accurate model for a F-14Kai... because they probably used it for a studio model to make the anime version. All the inaccurate parts of the Fujimi F-14D (because its an A version with some different parts) are what they modeled on the anime.

Wow, I'm glad I asked. I used to only wait for an hour or two [dry to the touch] before applying the next coat. The way things look, it'll take me a few weeks to finish this model kit.

Actually the Tamiya primer is an exception. I actually use it almost primarily because it dries quickly and provides a great base for doing follow on coats of lacquer alclad on small parts (like exhaust vents). Give it three hours and its good to go.

Hmm, I've never had that problem with the Gray primer... maybe its a new bottle or a bad one but its one of my favorite products.

At this point all you can do is sand it down. Getting it smooth is good enough... you don't need another gloss coat. For future reference, you wouldn't necessarily need a primer coat under the gunze silver metallic. Its an enamel and is strong enough to sit as primer coat of its own.

I finally decided to redo old model kit I did as a kid, and this time, I planned to do it right, primer, paint, top coat and all.

Now I've never used primer before, and the first time I used it on the kit today, it left a rather grainy finish. Is primer supposed to be like this? I thought of sanding the surface to make it smoother, but I was worried that if it were too smooth, it might not have enough "teeth" to hold the color paint, which is silver.

On the other hand, the graininess might cause the color paint to take on grainy finish as well.

In short: is the graininess normal for primed surfaces [in which case I should leave it alone], or would it be a good idea to lightly sand it down?

Thanks for any advice.

Well for starters you will need a glossy surface for a silver; rough surface under the silver will not come out well. Its tough to say if the primer worked as advertised. What brand was it? Smoothness doesn't really affect the bite of a paint. It really depends what sort of finish you want, and what paints you're using. However in this case gloss is what you want.

^Very nice... I love the small cockpit! And I love the work CW... I really want to see how the SV and the VF-11 build up.

I've been busy with a couple of kits... mostly US navy stuff due to the ongoing Naval Centennial.

I've been working on a 1/72 Hasegawa F-4J Phantom

And completed...

A 1/72 Hasegawa EA-6B Prowler.

The crewmembers approve!

An Academy 1/72 F-8E Crusader... one of my favorite kits ever.

And this is my burgeoning airgroup for the last year....

Here's pics of the Studio Half-Eye version. Not the greatest of pics, but hope they suffice.

:Edit: I'm trying to see how feasible it is to get this kit 3D scanned, and enlarged to a 1/60 scale, so it's the same size as the other valkyries. Wouldn't that be somethin'?

Why? isn't it already in 72.

ADDENDUM: My wife added to my birthday haul. A 1/350 scale Battleship Musashi from Tamiya. She hid it from me because I mentioned that I really didn't like building ships, when I should have said I've never built ships before, so I have no opinion. Kit looks real nice, though. Looking forward to trying my first ship kit.

I guess a 1/500 scale Space Battleship Yamato doesn't really count.

I've got a 1/200 Yamato my father gave to me... I've been stalled on it because its just sooo much work. 1/72 is instant gratification; one month and you're done. This will take me six months at least.

I can't believe I watched the whole clip.

Well the end did have the use of the TDU-10 Towed Target... which is something I've never seen before. Kinda interesting in a way.

I think KKK/brownshirts is exactly what they were going for with the PKC. Don't forget that

they're really a Terraist organization

.

My problem with both the Terraists and the PKC is that they're both blatantly evil in a setting that's otherwise very gray when it comes to morality. They really just don't fit right.

I think the series is pretty harsh towards any group that is deemed "inflexible" in its thinking. The old royalists are portrayed in a somewhat similar light, undertaking evil schemes to maintain their power at all costs.

Not done, but pretty close. I hope the members down under like it. Hasegawa 1/72

I'll take some more photos with a better Camera when its done.

Nice JSF kit... is that the Fujimi one?

That's a great looking airwing you've built there Noyhauser! Lots of great detail for 1/72 scale and the finishes are fantastic!

You did an especially great job on the bare-metal jobs. My hats off to you for those! I'd love to hear some tips about the methods and materials you use for them if you find the time.

Thanks Jardann!

Okay well I've been experimenting with new techniques concerning metal finishes. Typically I use Alclad, sprayed over a black base. I'm starting to use the black base for all NMF models because it basically allows for a type of panel shading where you can fill in the main sections and leave a darker edge, which works our really well if its done right....I don't have a great photo of the effect. This build does it really well..

As for the different panel shades, there are two different approaches. One is to use different alclad shades. For the MkV Sabre, chrome was used for the body, and the blueish tint I think is stainless steel. First I put the panel color down, then masked it...

And voila.

There are all different types combinations. For "distressed" look alclad have a product called dull aluminum... which after you buff it with a very fine polish (like tamiya's) it gives a really nice effect. The new technique someone suggested is a craft "rub and buff" product which I apply with a old brush. It gives a really worn look like where people have been stepping on the surface... you can see on the top of the Canberra's wings, engine nacelles and a few panels on the fuselage... its also how I did the P-51H after it.

A key part of weathering a Natural metal bird is the oil wash. Usually "worn" panels see alot of oil and grime accumulate. A good oil wash also helps to change a plane's tint, which gives a nice effect. Things that are particularly apparent are oil leaks and fuel spills. You can kinda see it in the wings the mk IV I'm working on.

Finally a word about finishing coats. Its really depends on the paint effect you're aiming for. On the duller Mk IV, I used floquil flat coat, which went better with the worn look I already had. Newer, shinier finishes should have a higher gloss, but straight future is too much. So I add a bit of Tamiya's flat base to my future and spray it on. I can't give a precise amount (I do it according to my airbrush cup) but I'd hazard to say that 10% of volume is about right. Most of the semi glosses take too much gloss off... and this approach just takes a slight bit of shine off which gives a nice effect.

If you don't mind, could you tell me what kits you used for the Sabres? They look fantastic and I just love the lines of that plane!

As for the two kits, the Mk IV is an older Heller kit. Its surprisingly well done except that its got raised panel lines which needs rescribing when you're neurotic like me. The other is a Fujimi kit, which apparently was reboxed by testors. Absolutely great kit; gorgeous detail and really nice fit... however its got some shape issues (particularly along the nose.) Its only noticeable when you put it beside the Heller kit, which seems a slight bit sleeker.

Hope that helps...

Some really nice builds going on. I haven't really posted much lately, but I've been busy.... These are all in 1/72.

Not much macross but maybe soon.