MechTech

@CaptainGlobal That's a great mod and thanks for sharing the file! - MT

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend! May this year be better than the last! New project. Long story, but I'm working on a modernized version of the British Spitfire. This version will be 1/72nd scale and have counter-rotating, fan blade props. Part of last week and this weekend was spent just trying to make the gearbox and drive mechanism. First the gearbox. I had some metal gears from old shell timing fuses (bought as scrap online). I bored through the center of them on the lathe. My lathe has been off-center for a while, so part of what I had to do was re-machine the lathe tailstock holder. After fixing that, two gears had different sized holes drilled. One for the steel shaft and one for the hollow brass shaft to go through it. Then the last gear was milled like a "crown" gear. This is where teeth stick up for 90 degree meshing. The shaft of the crown gear sits in a 2mm ball bearing. The case is of course styrene - carefully aligned what seemed a thousand times to make everything mesh smoothly. Everything else sits on brass tube bushings. When one gear drives the crown gear, the crown gear drives the other gear in the opposite direction. This was the smallest and most simple gearbox I could conceive. The whole thing is going to move slow enough to be seen, like when an engine first starts up. so a micro drive (6mm diameter) geardrive was used. Yep, it looks like my pilot will be straddling the motor! The black plastic gear is from an old camcorder and of course, I had to bore that out too! It was tough finding a gear to mesh with the blue gear. I got one of the two prop hubs machined in aluminum and fitted over the first (brass) shaft. This is actually the second prop hub, the first was messed up testing techniques. It also looks like I need to re-align the gearcase a little too! There is a normal, 3 degree, down-ward angle in propeller aircraft. Despite using a jig in assembly, it looks like I need to decrease the downward angle just a tad. The current nose makes it look worse until the air scoop is installed below it. That's it for now. Thanks for checking in guys! - MT

@Thom Thank you! I'm hoping to enter it into our club contest mid-year. I didn't even know I was building something in that category (sci-fi). @pengbuzz If there was only room left on the base, then I could practice my resin skills for simulated pee🤣 @arbit Thank you very much! I did work hard at the sand and matching colors. The tank was part of the plan all along. If we ever went mechanized like this, I don't think we'll ever completely get rid of wheeled or tracked vehicles. They're cheaper and faster. I wanted to show them together in a more realistic environment - if that were possible. The inspiration was literally holding pieces together decades ago to try and create a more realistic mecha, similar to MADOX or VOTOMS. Emphasis on the more realistic or contemporary. Thank you. I need to make a photo booth. I just grabbed some foam board and a spotlight! There are too many shadows and not everything is lit evenly. Thank you guys for all of your support! - MT

@neptunesurvey BEAUTIFUL lighting job! The mix of LED colors looks VERY realistic too! I believe that is a combo mill and lathe? Those little UNIMAT are pretty cool! Alright, I'm calling this project finished! I think this and the lighthouse are the only finished, complete models for this year😁 The hip joints looked naked so I made boots to fit them from an old melted Ingram model (you all know how the vinyl melted the styrene on those). I believe the rest are self explanatory... Let me know if you guys see anything that needs fixing. I've been staring at this project waaaay tooo long! It's ALL starting to look like sand now! Thanks for checking in! - MT

@arbit I think its one of those things you have to get used to, like speaking in front of large crowds. @Grayson72 I'm guessing your son is not a toddler😁 That is cool that you did that for him! "Plan A" was to say "Merry Christmas" yesterday and post pictures of my finished model here on the boards. Reality was helping my son troubleshoot his PC for hours and watching Hallmark movies with my wife. Regarding the latter, somebody has to do it🤣 I did get this far though... Cleaned up the tires to reduce the caking. Used cloth "starched" with wood glue and made inserts for the collar area. Lets see, plastic work, metal work, acid treatments, heat treatments, landscaping and now textile work. Yep, got it all on this model now! Also cut and painted PE mesh to go over that for more layers of texture. And after the glue dries and everything is put back together... I also cut and applied the Hi-Q Parts polarized green sheet extra areas to make the windows at the base of the collar. That took forever trying to keep it smooth and burnished down. And Tamiya weathering pastels all over the tires and the base. I LOVE that stuff! It's like instant dust or dirt and looks like it too! That's it for today. Thanks for checking in guys! - MT

@pengbuzz Your Batmobile is looking great! The details and updated tires are a nice touch! Yeah, classy GIFs! Thank you! - MT

That is looking great!!! - MT

@Bobby Thank you! Yep, I've already saved it to "re-gift" next year! - MT

@electric indigo Your paint is looking good! EVERYONE - Here's hoping you have a Merry Christmas!!! - MT

@tekering GREAT finish and color use! Adding the extra articulation is cool too! -MT

I love the colors (they look accurate) and polycaps! Yeah! @GMK Thanks for sharing! - MT

That looks GREAT Arbit! Yeah, just a light wash to make all those details pop. - MT

That Daedalus is AWESOME! It's pretty accurate too! I LOVE all the same scale stuff to go with it too. That is A LOT of work (I know). - MT

Those guys look great! - MT

@Thom Thank you! @arbit That is Supercalifragalisticexpialidocious!!! It looks GREAT!

That's REALLY cool! The different colors make it look like Christmas candy! That is cool to include the hover platform too! - MT

@pengbuzz Looking awesome! I like the iridescent look! A pearl coating would make it that much better. Yep, he definitely needs a Vicky Vale to go with it😄 Got a little work done this weekend! Once again, normally people clean their tires, I'm gluing sand into mine! The one that looks dusty I tested the Tamiya weathering shades on. I like that stuff! It will make the dusty look on the tires realistic! Then I got the smoke grenades painted and glued in. The fun part was drilling out the TINY holes for the antennas and then gluing/painting the steel music wire antennas to go in them. Still have LOTS of shading and coloring to do. That's it for this week. Thanks for checking in! - MT

The pod model looks great! Overall, if the fit and details are better than the original from decades ago - it's a vast improvement! The articulation looks great too! - MT

Some cardboard, tape and the Joker's goin' down! That is some talent right there! I think all your Batmobile is missing is a couple of old headphone speakers for a sound system🤣 - MT

I LOVE the LCD displays! Nice touch! - MT

@pengbuzz Your Batmobile is looking great! Having an opening canopy is cool too! @Thom Your Tomcat is looking good! Weird looking panels in some places, but at least the wing slips over the swivel. Nice for painting and detailing later. - MT

@GMK Your Boxer is looking great! The details will make it look more authentic too! I got some work done this weekend on the diorama and armored car. The first step was to make the shell casings look more authentic. I pulled them up one at a time as I processed them to ensure they all went back as I originally arranged them. 1. First step, clean therm up and then polish them. 2. Second step was to clean up the residue with isopropyl. 3. Third step was to lacquer them with clear nail polish. 4. I used some leftover powder from a tiny Estes rocket engine (black powder) and put just a bit in the shell casing mouth and ignited it. Instant powder burns on the casings! 5. CAREFULLY glue them all back in one at a time. Yes, they look shiny, but will still become a little dull over time. I did the same thing with the muzzle break. I filled it full of powder and ignited it. Combined with the char from a lighter, it too now has powder burns on it. then I sealed it in a clear matt coating. The decals are now drying on the tank. Not many at all. I thought drilling-out three of the rockets in the robot's shoulders would look more realistic, so I did that too. I need to touch up the paint now too. That's it for this week. I'm trying to get this done before the new year. My two-month project is way over my estimated time - just like a real military project in development! Thanks for checking in! - MT

@pengbuzz Your Bat-mobile is looking good! The cockpit looks just right. You need room for Vicki Vale too! He kinda looks like he's sayin', "C'mon babe. How's about a ride"? @derex3592 Thanks; that looks like a cool kit! They made it a light color though!? Unusual for a Blackbird kit. Everything about the Blackbird was cool. They had to secretly buy titanium from the only people who massed produced it - Russia - who it was built to spy on. Then they had to learn new welding techniques because some welds held, others didn't and environmentally controlled welding was invented. The engines were special. The intakes were special (and won awards). It was a crazy, cool design! - MT

@pengbuzz Looking good! You have a good frame to build on. @derex3592 I remembered you talking about it months back, and then saw it go up for sale, but I forgot to say something. That old kit sucked! Yes, I had it. It went together like oil and water! I'm glad you got the new kit. I have to do a Knight Rider for my wife one of these days😅 - MT

@pengbuzz Cool project! The Express Mail box will make it go faster😄 - MT