MechTech

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!

@pengbuzz GREAT looking revamp and restoration of a classic figure! That stand is AWESOME and a GREAT touch to finish off that restoration. I LOVE the nostalgic look of your Enterprise and what a GREAT job you did fixing all those mechanical issues with it too! The colors look great and that Photoshop picture is the icing on the cake! @derex3592 You are doing a TITANIC job of lighting that model! The details to include the lighting are really adding to the look of realism to the model. @Thom The modifications to your Yamato with the stand are well engineered. It should hold up to the weight of it sitting like that. Got a little done this weekend. Made two decal sheets and got everything hooked up. It works! Now its time to finish off the painting and finishing. QUESTION: Do you guys think I should paint the base, or leave it natural aluminum? I'm throwing it around and not sure. The original plan was to paint the base and weather it to look like it came from the actual plane (if it existed). Thanks for your time and feedback! - MT

@arbit It looks cool! There are some differences between the lineart and this version I see. Namely the cockpit shape and bulges around the nose area. - MT

@pengbuzz WOW!!! You REALLY breathed new life into that! Now he DOES look like Hikaru. Also with less obvious metal joints now too.😄 I haven't seen one of those figures in forever it seems too. - MT

@Bolt Looking cool! - MT

It's looking GREAT so far! - MT

@Photogirl Still THE BEST TV version kit out there decades later! - MT

@Photogirl That 1S looks REALLY good! Especially all the details in the cockpit and pilot. @pengbuzz That Enterprise looks 100% better than the stock model!!! Especially with all the corrections and scratch building! You're DANGEROUS with a heat gun! 😄 I've been putting these steps off, but you gotta do what you gotta do! Cut a carefully sized hole in the bottom for the connector. Then glued it in. Then had to clean glue out of the female contacts that somehow got glue in them!🙃 I also re-etched some of the panel lines sanded down with the scratch building. On to the stand! How do you get a 12" in long drill bit into a drill press with only a few inches clearance? BIG cans of vegetable and wood shims! A regular drill bit wouldn't reach all the way through the round, so I had to get a special bit (which thankfully is not expensive). Two things in this photo. I cleaned all the brass and clear coated it along with the base. Second, look at all the yellow pollen on everything from just this week! The diorama I did needs a label on it for the title. So I thought it would be cool to use a real round for it. So I got a 7.65mm casing and cleaned it up, soldered on a holder and machined and inserted a screw into it. It also got clear coated. Attached to the stand. And backed away to see the whole thing. I have to make a clear decal now to put on it for the title. That's it for now. Thanks for checking in! - MT

It's looking great! You can leave the main body whole without a seam and just do a "drop-in" landing gear box. It may be easier for pre-and post production of the model. - MT

Thanks for sharing that! Cool! - MT

That looks cool!!! - MT