MechTech

@Rock Your paint is looking really good! The engine discoloration is a nice touch! @pengbuzz Thank you! I'm trying. @arbit Thank you! Yes, more weathering and layers to come with the paints. Aluminum doesn't rust, and active military aircraft are not -usually- allowed to have corrosion on them. So I'm trying to get the right looking wear on them. Usually the paint chips off the zinc chromate (green) layer like you see or off the skin altogether - which quickly gets patched up. I have to create the patching up and weathering now. The masking technique is actually not masking. You paint decal paper and apply it as normal. I used glue because of some thin areas. This technique allows you to work with the material and no worries about paint bleeding or leftover residue from masking. Its not for everything, but was great here and for windshield frames. - MT

@Duymon That's cool! Thanks for showing a complete build! @no3Ljm Thanks for posting the photos! Reactive armor for Christmas! 😁 - MT

@Urashiman Your rendering is looking line-art accurate! You better hurry, ONLY six months left this year! @pengbuzz Your SDF-1 looks FANTASTIC Photoshopped with a background! The rail guns look great too! @Rock That's the kind of pasta I don't like, no flavor to it. Cool idea!😁 @Thom Your work and improvements are helping to add realism to that kit! @derex3592 In a square dance call: "Everyone prom-i-nade!" They're looking good! Thank God the weather changed this weekend! The humidity kicked in earlier in the week and all the clear-coating I was going to have to do would have been delayed. Thankfully we got great weekend days where the humidity was low enough to paint! Painted and clear coated the screws. Here they are masked for "chipping." After FOUR long and frustrating tries, I FINALLY got a good decal and the gloss coat to work together! It's the models name plate and an actual shell casing. The base after several coats of clear gloss (which didn't come out glossy). And then several coats of clear satin which DID come out glossy!?!?!?! I'm thinking I over did the chipping. I might hand paint over it to look like "corrosion control" paint. Then it needs a dirty wash of grime. Don't get frustrated trying to mask a tough shape on your model. Paint a pre-cut piece of decal paper. Apply it with some glue over your model. And then trim it! I'll have to redo the black lines around the shark mouth. Sadly, they chipped off when I was applying them. The sealer didn't work very well. Do you think the claws are too much around the cannon? Last step was to finally glue the props in place. CA sets too fast and might cloud the props. I needed something thin and that would clean up easily. So I used this glue and made a jig to set the blades all at the same angle. And the props ready to go. Excess cement just rubs off the aluminum hubs. I might put a cannon in the spinner. Someone suggested it in our club. That's it for now. Thanks for checking in! - MT

@Thom Your mods are looking good! @Rock Your paint looks good, even though you weren't happy with the other coats being hid. One thing, USAF aircraft are kept clean for the most part. Don't get too carried away with the washes. You'll make some crew chiefs upset😁 - MT

That is probably the MOST eclectic collection of Macross ships I've ever seen! You have some VERY RARE versions, let alone all being together too! Congratulations! - MT

That Macross Zero Dio and bright green Quedlunn look great! - MT

It sounds funny, but yeah, we need a BIGGER Monster kit!😁 - MT

Wow! Cool! This is giving me more flashbacks than an episode of "Kung Fu!" - MT

Great build and photos! I like how you made the navigation lights with fluorescent colors. They stand out. - MT

I guess they made special piece for the chest. Cool new scheme and box art! - MT

Happy Memorial Day to all my fellow Americans! Thank you guys for the feedback! Things are coming along slowly but surely! @pengbuzz Your model and diorama are looking great! I LOVE your effects and adding the missiles in there. It has a nice dynamic and dramatic appeal to it! @Urashiman Looks like your model is being attacked by "the Pink Blob!"😁 @Rock It's too bad about your work being covered over. I know that feeling. You can still post shade with grays afterward. The cockpit details are looking good! @derex3592 At $3.24 for a box of .22 ammo, I thought it had to be your grandpa's!😅 Ammo makes a great paper weight! Your deck work and PE work are looking GREAT! That stuff is a paint to work with too. @Chronocidal That's cool building a simulator cockpit! Let me know if you have trouble with reference photos. We may have the seat you're building at our local museum. There's a nice collection there. - MT

Things have been busy here lately! Here are some project updates. We had a Sci-Fi theme this past club meeting, so it was time to complete EVERYTHING with little bits waiting in the wings. The oldest project was the AV-98 (2), I believe. Finally completed that! I LOVE this kit! Model accuracy with near "action figure" pose-ability. A couple of building tips to help you with this one. Parts are Styrene and ABS. Superglue works, but could tough to get in small spots. I used Acetone which fused both together great. You might need a little more than standard thin cements. Acetone dries QUICK! This kit has dry transfers and stickers. When you're careful, the transfers are awesome and look clean - no clear "halo" around decals and no clear coat needed (unless you want to seal it). I left off the clear coat since it could get scratched and look funny over time. You can see the micro power switch and push-button for switching light modes. The "Remington 870" looking shotgun "chambered for 90mm rounds!" It actually has a pump-action movement! I SUCK at painting figures! The PVC material didn't glue well either with super glue. The bad glue job didn't show up until paint was applied. I found out later that Acetone works on gluing this material too! Isao Ota's eyes came out looking like he was high. So what do you do when you look high (not that'd I know), you wear sunglasses! So I took sprue, shaped it and cut thin slivers to make him sunglasses. Now its harder to tell when he's angry all the time under there.😁 The 1/35th ARMOR Diorama was basically done, but needed a creative label for it. There were pictures posted before of the shell being soldered and lacquered. It took three tries to get this right. Here's the completed label now. "Assault Reconnaissance Mechanized Operations Robot." The Turbo Spitfire is coming along slowly. LOTS of repainting parts to get a good finish on the name plate (to be shown later). A Zinc Chromate looking undercoating was applied. This will show up with chips and rub marks under the main color later on. While waiting for paint to dry, I started work on the next base for an upcoming project. It is a sliver of oak cut from a fallen tree. It looked so cool and organic, I knew it would get used one day. Pegs were added to level-out the top of it. That's it for now. Back to the Spitfire (hopefully this weekend). Thanks for checking in! - MT

@Urashiman Your F-5 is looking great! I think its worth it. I love that airframe anyhow. I always thought it was elegant and sleek. T-38s fly over my house all the time and I love the sound of those "tiny" turbines. Your Tomcat and Valks are looking good too! You're gonna have an unusual Air Force from this year's builds. @arbit Your Alto figure looks great! Can we have the VF-4 without Alto?😅 Just kidding! @pengbuzz Those are some VERY original mods to the GBP! I love your paint scheme and additional load-out too. Your base is VERY realistic and looks like you sliced a chunk of moon rock for the base. Congrats on another cool and accomplished build! - MT

😅😂🤣- MT

@Urashiman I forgot to comment on your stuff. I think the Canadians are upset because the VF-19 and 22 pilots look better! They look REALLY good too! - MT

@pengbuzz Your Enterprise and special effects painting looks fantastic! The Cassini probe on there is a cool touch too! Great collection photos too. The foil on the probe makes it stand out and definitely look old-school NASA, @arbit Think 80's Glam Rock. I think he needs bigger hair. Also, longer legs if you want to go line-art accurate. That was 70's / 80's anime in a nutshell. Long hair and long legs - for guys and gals. The rings around the cuffs may be too pronounced when printed - I'm not sure. It may detract depending upon how it comes out. Only positive feedback! He looks really good. I've got to get going into 3D stuff. @Rock That stinks about the gaps being so BIG! You'd think a newer kit would not have those issues. - MT

Sorry about your car accident! I hope you're feeling better and don't have a pain in the neck leftover. BEAUTIFUL sculpt, Jason! The lines look good and so does the assembly too. I can't wait to see this in plastic! - MT

These figures look great - especially in 1/48 scale!!! The detail is really good too! The guys in my model club are talking about using Prisma Cololr pencils for some details. I'm trying it out. I know their metallic pencils (silver and gold) work good. I'm looking at alternates to paintbrushing which is a PAIN. - MT

@Thom Your detailing on the Yamato looks good! @electric indigo Despite the issues with painting, it is looking nice and clean! Thank you guys for the feedback! It is basically tied for opinion. I think I'll go with the base painted, weathered and chipped. Working on pieces for it now. - MT

That is looking great! The optional pieces are a good idea too! - MT

That's COOoool! Thanks for sharing! - MT

Absolutely AWESOME Arbit!!! Great detail and even backlighting stuff. Why is Misa looking at the photo from photography bot and why is it on the bridge!😄 Does it have a soundtrack of the bridgecrew gossiping about Misa?😂 You TOTALLY blew this one out of the water! - MT

Yeah, sometimes you find the right woman. I guess you could compare the VF-1 series to that😄 "Forty and still fine!"😉 - MT

Great color and variation in colors for depth! - MT

Looking cool!