wm cheng

Orange peel is when you are spraying too thick of a mixture. You need to thin down the paint more and spray in lighter multiple coats instead of one thick coat. Generally, there are other factors too like too low of PSI when spraying can contribute to that too or the substrate/layer underneath wasn't prepared properly. Painting is kind of a "voodoo / black art" I still find that sometimes I do exactly the same thing as I did before that turned out great didn't turn out another time. Good luck and don't be discouraged. The beauty of the MF is that its so weathered you can turn it into an effect.

I just love how clean and smooth your paint finish is - fantastic!!!

Gorgeous electric indigo (amazong paint scheme, turned out fantastic)! What kits are those? Love those Sabbs.

WOW arbit!!! That gunwell turned out great. I used the same PE kit and maybe because I might have gotten the first run, a lot of my lighting holes weren't drilled all the way though. It looks so good - congrats!

Totally second this! It's all I use now and so much easier now.

Yes, same thing here, I've got the Fujimi 1/72 F-22 and can't start it due to the metallic paint issue - I heard a while back there were F-22 metallic sheen made specifically for model paints but its no longer in production. http://hawkeyes-squawkbox.com/2010/04/23/introducing-raptor-sheen/comment-page-1/ Maybe a Alclad metallic coat (dark aluminum) with a misting of grey over top? I don't know yet.

Thanks Chronocidal for your very helpful assessment. This is my first exposure to these. I agree, I have about 6 Hasegawa kits and 2 Fine Molds F-14s and just about every resin/photoetched upgrades for 1/72 F-14s that are available - but just no time to build any of them. I was hoping that these would temporarily fill the gap - but ultimately you're probably right that I wouldn't be satisfied.

Wow those are nice F-14s - I never knew about them. So Calibre Wings is better than Century Wings? How so? Any sites with comparisons? I'd love to get that Wolfpack scheme, but without the initial QC flaws - but it looks like its sold out anyways.

Hey Peter, it came out great!!! I really enjoyed your photos, it even got me looking at my 1/350 Bandai Yamato again (ahh, someday!). I totally get your middle-aged eyes comment, I can't work without my jewelers head magnifying glasses and a big magnifying glass on an arm now which sucks!

All great suggestions arbit, just don't get discouraged. You just need a bit of experimentation to get the hang of it. Future gloss coat spraying is different than regular painting, and I find different paints behave differently too (like spraying Tamiya Acrylics versus Alclad Lacquers). For a Future gloss coat I usually spray heavier than regular paint as un-thinned Future tends to be self-leveling, but you need to get enough on there for the liquid to self-level. Glossiness can only look shiny if the surface is smooth, so a heavy coat of Future (not dripping or running) and letting it self-level will work better than lots of thin coats of future, because if you get a pebbly/orange peel texture between coats, that defeats the shinyness, I also turn down the airbrush to 15-18psi and spray 6-8 inches away. When painting, I usually up the air pressure to 18-20psi and spray from a little farther away 8-10 inches (unless I'm doing detail work then I get in real close at 4-6 inches, but turn down the PSI). Regular paint is when its better to build up in thin layers. Better to error on too thin of paints and build up in layers than one thick layer. Thinner paints tend to level out better and has a longer drying time which is good for you, especially when its hot and you're in a dry climate. It should be thinned to a milk consistency. Good luck!

Beautiful work as always Lolicon! Glad you're taking up the mantel of improving these previously naked valks.

THANKS for your list!!! My alarm didn't go off (3:50am over here) set it to PM by mistake. Opened up to the last page here and found your very informative/useful summary and got one from CDJapan. I thought I was done for, but I couldn't believe 50mins in and still got one. You are a lifesaver!!!

So is there a lighting gimmick? Some images look like the yellow shoulder lights and the green visor lights up but it doesn't say anything in the text does it? Does anyone find it weird that with all the extra tampo markings, they missed the red ejector seat triangles on either side of the cockpit? It seems to be the only thing that was around and canon since the TV show.

Yeah, its tough, but I still really love my 1/48s and they do take up so much room. I never sell mine as I weather them a bit. Well, when I die I might have my family sell my collection :P Gotta think of others here too

Don't get me wrong, I love the TAMPO - just where its appropriate (go see Hasegawa). I totally agree with you Chronocidal, its important for the markings to make sense. However apparently they consulted with Tenjin on the additional "new non-canon" markings - so he's the person to slap! I just hope the canopy isn't frosted - I see some promo pictures with frosted canopy and the video clear without the blue tint. Too bad about the silver Bandai landing gears though - the white gears really do make it so much more realistic. Wished there were more molded details like the original 2015 promo shot that had more panels with rivet details which at this larger scale would look great. The price is right though. :P Let's just hope we can get our hands on one.

Less than a week away PO and still no release on the official price?

Amazing set I just had to order right away!!! How would one make it closer with Lego?!? I'd love to see someone try or examples. Lego and 007 together is a wish come true for me (plus that $85 off in VIP points from the MF didn't hurt either!) I'm just glad they didn't come up with new pieces just to make certain things work out, I hate large one piece specialized fenders for the sake of being accurate, its how you use the existing system to solve the problems that fascinates me.

I hope it would be that cheap and not enter the stratospheric prices of Arcadia (they've priced themselves out of my collection)

Oh man!!! I wonder how much?

ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!! Did you use the Hasegawa 1/72 decals, or did you scan and printed your own in the right scale? I never got a VF-0S and would love to decal one up like that too, but I can't justify the crazy prices right now for a Premium Finish version. Congrats!

Thanks so much for the HLJ link! Even though its a bit more initially, they usually have cheaper shipping. Got it, going back to sleep now...

Mine doesn't have that issue either, but there are so many joints to massage - the more articulation you have, the greater the chances that something might be a tiny bit mis-aligned.

LOOKS FANTASTIC!!! (Those Hasegawa decals totally paid off!)

I totally get you RTKF and agree! The VF-4 is probably one of my favourite designs and I was so excited when I first heard of this 1/72 possibility. But having seen it, it just seems "off" on so many little things that the overall impression isn't very favourable in my personal opinion. I'm still going to hold my breath and wait for a Hasegawa rendition (in my fantasy). Kudos for those of you here that are making this work!

Hey Derex, Sanding is the worst part of modeling!!! So is this stuff water soluble when wet and once its dried, it becomes impervious to water?