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Are those stickers or water slide decals? You cant use softner on stickers. If they are very tough water slide decals, you add more softner and press down firmly with a q-tip till they form in place. And keep repeating till it works. But weak water slide decals will risk breaking up. So you test on blank part of the decal to see how much softner it can take. If it is a sticker, I have no idea, but you may google it.

The award for cutest modeler goes to....

That sucks! Buying a new kit on clearance is probably your best best. I have seen people recast canopies in crystal clear (search for a Fan Racer Yamato recast in the Workshop forum). I have also seen vacu formed canopies. They use Tamiya putty to re-mold the canopy interior. But those methods require a lot of experience, and even then you get a lot of failed attempts.

Nice matte finish Crossair.

Painting the markings is a great challenge to take on. Don't give up, it won't be perfect, but it will be something to be proud of. I look forward to seeing more progress. If you're gonna paint a valk, Hasegawa is the way to go. Painting the transforming Bandai is pretty much useless, as it will likely never transform again.

Nice weathering to beat up the old guy. The scratches and gunk are nicely in scale too. I don't have the patience for that level of detailing. And some of those photos are very well done with the angles and lighting. Do you plan a matt coat or semi-gloss at the end? Or is that how you want it? Nice work. Keep em coming.

wm cheng, yeah that Mr softner is powerful stuff. I usually wipe it right off, let it work, then add more and wipe right off again if it needs more, or it will disintegrate Hasegawa decals. And I would say 90% of my time is fixing and repairing

Gloss coat is looking clean. What is your method of applying the coat. Please give some details. I always struggle with this step and can't safely apply oils afterwards. Seems no matter how much I spray, the gloss is not thick enough.

Don't be a stranger, show us your 40k stuff. And thanks for the compliment, but you have no one to blame but yourself.

Look who's back. Love your modern camo schemes. The more destroids the better!

Oh dear, they even include those little jars of paint! Gives me flashbacks of trying to hand paint my models when I was a kid... It didn't go well.

Joscasle, your F-14 looks great. All the weathering has really paid off. And you have a nice semi-matt finish. A lot of these birds get ruined by the gloss at the end. Nice work! Focslain, Yeah, I can see your pain. These 31s have too much Formula One style decals for a simple solution, unless there are custom masks to help out I wouldn't dare do it. Mechtech, so you replaced your window with a plexiglass for the exhaust? Is it wind proof, dust proof, etc? My wife would definitely appreciate a change from my current set up. ("Can you take all that tape off the window so we can clean the dust, please?" Feeling guilty now I still haven't gotten around to it in a few months ) wm cheng, your diligent color matching drill makes me slightly depressed . I just throw in whatever comes out of my airbrush it seems.

wm cheng, nice to see you back on an aircraft. Don't worry you haven't lost the touch. Bolt, your scheme is insane! Ready for your finishing touches. joscasle, nice update with the yellows and weathering. Looks amazing and dirty as hell. As for me, still no modelling until I can grip my tools without pain. The stress ball exercises seem to be working. But I have been learning how to make Napolitan pizza, does rising dough count as my Workbench?

I've heard you shouldn't put the chrome/gold plated parts in the ultra sound together with other alloys. They make a reaction. Also don't put flammable chemicals in the ultra sound. Just warm water, or soapy water.

I recommend watching a bunch of videos on cleaning and caring for your airbrush first. You don't need a deep clean if you're just changing colors, but at the end of a session, you need to go all out. Then before painting any models, get a lot of practice on paper and on plastic spoons to get your thinning ratios, airflow, and distance right, and to get a feel for the differences between primers, base coats and clear. It's not that hard to get a good result on your first kit if you give yourself time to practice first. When those spoons start looking good, have at it.

Dang, this guy's Hachette is out of control.

Looks okay at this stage. Will you be panel lining the entire ship? I would wait till you finish that step before deciding what to do with the engines.

Congrats on developing your own steam punk design. Looks beautiful. Reminds me of when we used to buy tons of cheap Chinese fireworks as kids during summer. It's a miracle we never hurt ourselves. I'm sure that's all illegal now.

Bolt, nice scheme there. I assume that's the v2? How are the retractable wheels and other gimmicks? Nice to see a step-by-step from you. The pre-shading looks nice to me, unless you were aiming for a clean new look.

We feel you. you're not alone. Very nice paint and damage progress. I've had my eye on that kit, but for the opposite reason to you: motorized wings!!!

Nice to see you're all so active while staying at home. As for me, I have been prescribed a stress ball to deal with my finger problems. I'm supposed to dig my nails into it for 5 minutes three times a day. Apparently it is not arthritis, but something degenerative which physio will likely clear up. I mention this because doctor says it may be caused by our hobby work, so get yourselves a stress ball. And I wanted to share this tasty morsel new on youtube. Don't miss the chase camera crash collision

Thanks claude, Glad to wake you from lurk mode! It is a special project to me, kind of like "every kid's day dream". But I don't feel proud, because I see all the amazing modelers out there, and I know I am not at their level. But I am really happy that I pulled it off for me and Macross fans to see.

I hope everyone and their families are staying safe and taking all necessary precautions. Despite the stay at home with the kids, I don't plan on modeling anytime soon. I seem to have developed some arthritis in a couple fingers and need to sort that out first.

Planning to give Gloss cans a try, but it is always dusty outdoors or humid where I live. I do use Mr. Top Coat for final Satin finish, but I also find it is touch and go, hard for me to control, easy to flood. But your TS-13 says it is Satin, not Gloss. I assume you are using the gloss version before lining and weathering? You have mentioned this before, but despite some research I can't find any info on it. Could you walk us through your Gouache technique step-by-step?

That's not my work. Different guy.