wm cheng

@Rock I think the biggest problem here is the size of the "flakes/sparkles".  Most metallics have too big of metal particles for the scale of the model.  You don't want it to look sparkly (kind of like what the Bandai VF-31 canopies look like - that would be the worst case senario).  It needs to look like mylar film, a translucent metal without any visible particles would be the trick.

Yeah, the new pictures make the nose looking good!!!  I sure am happy to put those crazy stressful PO nights behind me, I'm just too old of that kind of thing.

This old goat is going to join the new & "hip" crowd and see what this MMW is all about and try my luck from Amazon.  (of course I'll be cursing if I get screwed waiting)

1/72 VF-4 (FB2012) PLEASEZZZ!!!

1/72 VF-X

Thanks @pengbuzz one of the obstacles in preventing me to start on my F-22 (along with time and the metallic greys).  Too bad almost all the ArcForum links are dead, but thanks to your other clear gold gloss link looks very promising.  I would be really afraid to have lacquer on anything clear as it is the "hottest" of all the paint types and could attack the transparent plastic beneath and I'm not confident enough the Floor Polish undercoat would protect it but it's definitely worth an experiment on a scrap piece of clear styrene plastic - I wish I had multiple canopies lying around 😜 - maybe clear spoons?)

1 hour ago, Big s said:

I’m getting some 1/72 scale figures in as a bonus with the next batch of front missions kits later this week. If all goes well and they detailed the eyes decently I’ll post a quick thing about how I do small figure eyes. 
basically on small scale after the flesh base is set then I do a panel lining usually with a brown or tan to have a line to base the eyes on. Then I use a little dull white for the eyes. Then to do the pupils, I like using water color pencils or colored pencils since they can be sharpened to a point you can just do a little spot of color like a blue or green and then you can take a mechanical pencil and just put a dot over that. After that you can top coat it and you can add a little gloss to it if you want.

Thanks!  I'll definitely look forward to seeing that.

So much amazing work going on here (I just stepped away for the holidays a little and its a buzzing workshop here!)

@derex3592 funny I just read your post about your airbrush and really glad you got it working after all that.  My HP-BC from 1986 (my receipt says it cost me $202 37yrs ago) finally broke apart at the siphon tube to the body.  I was too chickensh@# to try to solder it back together with plumbing solder and a blowtorch.  So I was going to replace it with the Eclipse HP-BCS but luckily they had me try both and immediately I felt the trigger of the Eclipse with a very short travel and no feedback vs. my HP-BC which is now High-Performance HP-BC1 had the trigger travel I was used to for more control.  You might want to look into trying an HP-BC1 in your hands should you need to upgrade next.

Your FA-18F is looking amazing BTW!!!  Nice that there's some detail under the forward LERX - the Hasegawa one I've built has nothing but a smooth surface there, no even the ladder panel

@electric indigo I always love your 1/72 models - they always look like 1/48 with the amount of detailing and your superb silky smooth paint job!  I love the Intruder now I'm waiting for the new one you pointed me in that direction.  I always loved the 70s colorful Navy schemes, but your grey newer schemes has a nice splash as well.

@pengbuzz It always amazes me what you cobble together from found objects to make your art.  I absolutely love the background diorama you made for the Robocop and your pose is just spot on!!!  I couldn't believe how convincing your foil looks as a metal finish - bravo!  Everyone is getting sick, take care and get better.

@Rock Tomcat is my favourite plane, can't wait to see what you do with that amazing kit.  Thanks for posting so I can live vicariously through you.  I'm a strictly 1/72 scale guy, but that Tamiya kit is so good that I had to break my rule and get one with all the upgrades too - but its just sitting in my stash waiting for "someday".

@505thAirborne Love that YF-23!!!  Shame it didn't beat up the awkward turned up nosed F-22 (at least from an aesthetics point of view)

@Thom Been meaning to get that Academy new tooling (only one I don't have in 1/72 aside from my GWH, FineMolds and countless Hasegawas).  Is it as good as people say?  Lots of rivet detailing from your photos.  Love your wheel well plumbing - I'm a huge sucker for that, wished Eduard had some resin upgrades or some new 3D prints - but your plumbing looks amazing!  There's a round recess in the flat portion of the well, is that a detail or injector pin mark - I'm not familiar with that detailing?  Is the external fuel tank attachment molded onto the lower intakes so you can't model it without external fuel tanks?

@Chas Great Phoenix, that brings me back; running home afterschool!

@Kurt Wow Kurt, absolutely love the cooler box and bottle but the facial painting blows me away!!!  What kind of paints and brush do you use for the shading and eyes (especially)?  I'm trying to paint my 1/72 Minmay's face in the cockpit of my VT-1 and can't seem to get into the details (especially the eyes and right now it looks like a Zombie!).  I also love the 3D mud as well, so realistic!

@MechTech Thanks for sharing @neptunesurvey amazing Prometheus.  Wow, that must be huge and those planes must be micronian!  Amazing.  Let him know I had my troubles signing in as well for a few months there and I totally understand what he's going through.  Your build looks amazing, but I have no idea what OTO Melara is, I asssume its some kind of armour.

I'm sorry if I missed anyone, just so much to get caught up on.  So glad everyone seems to be happily and productively modeling away!  I'm really slowed down and back to work so there isn't much progress to show.  Plus everything seems to be breaking down in the house that needs replacing all at once from 37yr old airbrushes, to 22yr old speakers, to 17yr old motorized drop down projector screens to 17yr old dishwashers to my beloved 15yr old BMW M3 that needs repairs - argh!

Wow!  How could I have missed this - absolutely gorgeous work @sc_planet.  I look forward to many more masterpieces from you!  Thanks for posting.

Another vote for non-yellowing YF-30s - I've had in my cabinet since day one.  It's even against the snow we just got last night as color cast balance 🤣  It could be that I protected my weathering with a sprayed on coat Future Floor Polish?  The only yellowing I get is from some old Yammy 1/72 ver 1.0 and Yammy 1/48.

5 hours ago, Anasazi37 said:

We've seen WWM overseas POs become available as early as a week after Japan POs. I think it depends a lot on the store, and perhaps the item. Sometimes Amazon is sluggish, taking a few weeks to a month to list something, but smaller sites like BBTS usually get stuff listed much faster. 

Thanks!  Good to know (I'm really new to this MWW release thing).  I'm really hoping to use up some Amazon GC but don't want to screw myself and miss out. (just a little worried because it's new to me)

32 minutes ago, borgified said:

 @Sildani - Since December has passed with ZERO pre-order annoucements, then January 10 will be the next logical date at 4 pm JST.  Usual web stores: HLJ, AE and others will list it. The North American shores will have this listed some time in February/March as it's a MWW release.

Wow, Feb/Mar that late after Japan PO?  There's no worry about it not being able to order in Feb/Mar MWW release??  I'm hoping this is my first foray into this new convenient/civilized world of ordering as long as I don't get screwed. 😬

I totally feel the same way @derex3592 - I’d totally get the white & gold Elvis version.  It’s quite nice in Gerwalk mode IMHO.  

$100 mark up?!?!  Wow, that's a lot.  But do you think that would include shipping?  I can easily pay $60cdn for shipping and $40 for customs and duties (I'm in Canada ) 

I think I paid around $380cdn for the last VF-31AX shipped and customs charges all in (we get pretty hosed up here!)

As long as I'm guaranteed to get one from WWM Amazon.com I think I'll pay the markup since I have a Amazon.com Gift card I should use up that's not transferable to Amazon.ca.

Wow, step away for Christmas for a few days and all this happens!!!  Looks pretty darn good in the photos now!  So this WWM release means I can order it off the Amazon.com Tamashii store site a week after Jan 10th PO in Japan and not have to fight the madness?  I've never done this before - its seems almost too good to be true?!  So it WILL go on pre-order on Amazon.com Tamashii store site a week later? 

1 hour ago, derex3592 said:

Thanks guys! I see the flaws to easily, I guess. I'm my own worst critic!  @wm cheng - 13 inches long from nose to tail. no stand included OR pilot figs..Boooo. Gonna knock up a cheap basic wood stand this weekend and just stick in on a painted brass rod. 

That's a great size!  I love the lines of the Bone!!!  Might have to put that one on my list.  Are there any resin/3D printed nozzles for the exhaust in that scale?  Is the first bay a fuel tank or a really big bomb?

Beautiful work as always @derex3592.  How long is it at 1/144 scale?  Does it come with a stand?

8 hours ago, mikeszekely said:

...I'm going to hate watch it.

LOL, I thought I was the only one hate watching it...

Wow, that fighter mode just looks so much better than I was thinking (or from previous photos) - the nose actually looks somewhat in proportion.  Did they come up with a new mould or is it just all camera angles/lenses?

Well its been a while since I built up a Hasegawa Valkyrie.  Hard to believe its almost a 20yr old kit, still very nice, but some flash and ejector pins to fill.  Tried my best to paint up Minmay and Hikaru from @arbit's amazing 3D prints (thanks for making the helmet a separate piece it made painting her much easier). I wish I could paint in Minmay's eyes, but I just didn't have a brush small enough to lay down paint, I ended up just using a pin to make some depressions where I thought they should be.

With the Canopy (dry fit) on you don't see as much as I would have hoped.  (I really should have dusted before I took these photos)

These are just some other reminders of the injection pin depressions I filled (with crazy glue) some added cut styrene and notching out the thruster pivots so I can paint them separately and install them at the end after everything is filled/sanded and painted.

Now that the strikes are over, I hope to be getting a paycheque from my real job, so I might not be able to finish this baby up too soon.

That looks great @Thom can't wait to see more!  Would love to get my hands on the newer Academy kits but its not that readily available here in Toronto (lots of older Revell, Monogram & Hasegawa, but any of the newer FineMolds, GWH are hard to find and usually expensive online shipping only).  At least I believe the Academy is supposed to be cheaper than the FineMolds & GWH ones.

Those cockpit decals really bedded down amazingly!  Wow, who needs the 3D stuff when they lay down so beautifully especially if you've going to leave the canopy closed.  I wonder if the rear RIO coaming is too narrow like the GWH version (reason why I did mine with the canopy down in the end) but that lump above seems odd as well as those lines in the forward coaming too. 

I've finally started on my VT-1 (after about a 20yr wait...) thanks to @arbit amazing 3D print.  I've always wanted a Minmay in the back seat without her helmet off (on her lap and @arbit was kind enough to make it a separate piece for me) yelling at Hikaru in the front and finally got my wish.  Thanks so much to @arbit for his amazing sculpt.  The only things are both of their legs are a bit long and I have to cut their butts at a 45 degree because the Hasegawa has this strange seat bump that comes out like butt cheeks that pushes the figures too far forward.  I wanted them to look seated into the seats, I ended up having to cut poor Minmay's legs at the ankles.  I didn't realize how brittle these 3D prints are (never worked with them before) - I ended up breaking Hikaru's right arm at the elbow (weak spot) and Minmay's left leg at the knee.  A little crazy glue fixed it and I'm in the process of painting now.  I thought I'd try to use crazy glue as filler this time around (I'm sick and tired of using multiple coats of Tamiya or Mr. Surfacers only to find out they contracted during drying and having to do another coat).  I've been told crazy glue is a good filler and it doesn't contract - we'll I'll try to learn something new.

Hey @Thom - looking good, what's in the cockpit of that F-14 - looks like a 3D cockpit set?  I'm surprised you got the seamless intakes before resin seats - you see the seats up front and personal, you really have to shine a flashlight into the intakes to see that far back.  I'm always disappointed with all the work I do to the fan face when its so difficult to see afterwards.  What do you think about the Academy F-14 (I've been meaning to get one) compared to the GHW or FineMolds (I've got too many old Hasegawa that I don't think I will ever get to nowadays with so many better kits out!)

@electric indigo - that's a lot of bad seams on that HobbyBoss kit.  I wonder how the new Trumpeter Intruder at that scale will be fit wise.  I just race through to get to the painting and decaling stage - I hate doing all the filling and sanding.

On 10/24/2023 at 7:14 PM, Mog said:

For comparison purposes, Yamato’s 1/60 fighter from a similar angle:

Not exactly a perfect match to the Bandai’s angle.  But with the nose closer to the camera, you would expect it to exaggerate the length of the nose a bit.

Not seeing that with the Bandai fighter pic is concerning.

It's just not the same angle, it has to do with the focal length of the lens.  You shot your Yamato with a very wide angle lens (short focal lengths), so it exaggerates the perspective and elongates the nose disproportionately.  Where as long lenses (long focal lengths) tends to compress background and foreshortens length towards camera.  I think the magazine was shot with a long lens, look at how parallel the wing root separation lines are vs. your Yamato wing roots definitely converge at the perspective vanishing point within the image.  I'm still holding out hope for that side angle view we were treated to earlier on.  I just hope all this complaining here means I might have an easier time at pre-order (but somehow I don't think so :P)

On 10/23/2023 at 4:13 AM, electric indigo said:

You might want to wait until next year for the new Trumpeter kit:

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/11030655

OMG!  That looks amazing especially for 1/72 scale.  Thanks so much for pointing me in that direction.  Although they could have had a more interesting colourful scheme to provide decals for.

This looks so good!  Man I really didn't want to branch out from Star Wars too much, but with this and Concorde lately, my wallet needs a break especially with the strike still going on!

I don't get how the nose in fighter mode could look even shorter but in battroid mode look too long?!?!  I was hoping there would be some magic transformation to extend the nose in fighter and shorten it for battroid as the YF-19 lower calf fill out panels were genius.  I'm still getting one though (if I have any luck at pre-order time).

Wow @electric indigo that is absolutely stunning!!! Congrats on another amazing addition to your collection.  Love it so much.  Is it 48 or 72 again?