MechTech

That's cool Derex! "Buzz-Buzz-Buzz-Lightyear to the Rescue!" I didn't even know that was a kit! Big F, depending on how you're going to use it, clear decal sheet with your "interior" color first then your primer and top coat colors so the thickness and shades match your paint (paint the paper when you paint your model coats). White decal paper where white for the interior is OK and works too. Micro Sol clear coat for decals over the top of that to ensure it doesn't chip, will help. Use a SHARP knife to cut your stripes and panels! A dull one will chip or rip the paper. My favorite medium is metal foil. Pre-cut strips can even be embossed with rivet detail. The foil can be polished to a high, glossy shine too. The foil can be carefully painted too and or chipped to weather it. The "NASPLANE" racing Shinden fighter plane I did used a lot of polished foil and a metal spinner to "cheat" making high-gloss metal finished parts of the plane without having to mess with laquers and special paint techniques. - MT

Thanks anyhow Pengbuzz! That's cool Electric Indigo. As far as canopies go, I don't mess around with painting them. I paint decal paper and apply it. The other option is I use trimmed metal foil to make frames that are natural and on clean, smoothed canopies. - MT

Thanks Pengbuzz. It's actually a Takara Dougram Hasty. The knees are on a hinged angled piece. The angle broke making it impossible to fix unless it is torn apart. Electric Indigo - Nope, nothing shiny. This is for matt paint. In our last meeting, one guy held the jar up to the camera and it is about 80% - 90% thinner. They just make a ton of passes to keep it thin and hold detail. It also helps with mottling the surface to add scale to panels and keeping details clear. - MT

That came out great Jason! Nice engineering and execution with the modifications. - MT

Sorry about the fit issues wmcheng! One of our club builders is having the same issues. He's about to get covers for all the vents! He's even coated the interior with latex which now looks like Derex's nacelles. I HATE sanding too! Your model is looking great with the flying surfaces cut out. That sucks Derex! Once again, great recovery! And it's probably smoother than an androids butt, but I have nothing to compare to. Electric Indigo, your finish is smooth as always! What ratio of paint to thinner do you use? We have some guys in our club that thin down something like 8:1. They do a ton of coats to build it up. Their bottles look like thinner with a thin layer of paint at the bottom. Kelsain, I agree, go brass with the joints (or ABS sprue). I built my classic 1/48 Hasty knowing the stock knee joints needed reinforcing. I finished the model and the knee broke after completely finishing it off. To make it worse, wires run through it for batteries in the feet. I just can't rip it all up now to fix it without doing major surgery. - MT

That looks really good Gatsu. The paint has a nice anime-looking feel to it. It is heavily weathered, like it was used heavily in the series flying daily sorties. I can see you put a lot of thought and effort into your build! - MT

That's cool Shawn! I always wanted to get those paints back in the day, but no one carried them. I was happy just to find Tamiya paints in stock anywhere. - MT

That Tomcat looks great Joscale. The color variations look realistic. - MT

@ Delta One One Trent's Hobby Shop or Burton on Trent (that's a good shop)? I STILL have paint with Beatie's price tags on it and some styrene sheets. Your valk looks like it's coming along great. - MT

If your making pizza on your workbench (real or styrene), it counts! - MT

Your trainer is looking good. Arbit did this with lights: Yeah, the Battletech kits were cool! Some were reboxed Nichimo and Nitto kits. I had a few too including the Minerva. I spent a total of ten years in the U.K. Sadly, there hardly was any Macross stuff there. I think it was Beatties that slashed a bunch of Southern Cross kits on sale. I scooped them up! - MT

Thanks for sharing guys! I love the Nichimo kits too! Its too bad they folded. Thankfully I got one of the re-issued box sets. They still don't have all the cool stuff like the rubber stamps. I also have some of the Testors reboxed kits from Nichimo with suction cups and green clear backdrops. The Nichimo box art is beautiful still today. When I was back in Southern California, I found a comic book shop around 1990. They had a bunch of kits not selling so they marked them down cheap. Same thing, way back in the "attic" of the store where no one would see them. I bought all could afford! There were several Imai Macross kits and Mospeda kits. Then there were smaller toy stores selling off other anime kits like Orguss really cheap too. Ahhh, those were the good ole' days. - MT

Your idea is coming along great. Look at a lot of the multiple layer paint jobs people are even airbrushing. Looks similar! You're on the right track. - MT

Looking good Derex! Your fleet is growing fast! Joscasle, looks like you're getting ready to make the death star run soon! William, I empathise with you. I did a bunch of scratch building in 1/350 scale stuff. Now I think my eyes would give me issues. Magnifiers suck on machinery. You're close enough to see the work, then you can't see the controls with them on. The F-18 is looking great! - MT

Thanks for the heads up. The 70's were cool, but can't last forever Maybe my children will like it. - MT

That's too bad Kelsain. Like Pengbuzz mentioned, that's one reason I keep some of my ABS sprues around after building a kit. They're good for fixing stuff and it machines better than styrene for some things. Superglue bonds it to styrene pretty well. The Ghost is coming along great Bolt! I'm glad to see you're building the male power armor Gabe! Looking for something different to watch, my son grabbed the Macross saga so we've been watching it (after many years). He asked me if there even was a male power armor. So now he'll get to see one being built! - MT

The mods are looking good! - MT

It wouldn't kill the Rebels if they used some soap and water on their spacecraft every now and then I think the nozzles look good. How dirty do ion engines get? - MT

Thank you guys, I appreciate it! Yes, decals are evil!!! That's why i try to avoid them too! My Dougram kits took almost as long to decal as to build! - MT

Pengbuzz, great scratch building details! That dio looks great too! Bolt, that hex pattern is looking nice n clean! That is going to look smooth. Derex, that sucks about your paint. Hopefully you can recover. I've lived places that where the weather was too cold or too humid. I got through it by painting outside (rattle can) and then leaving it in a closet or empty room in the house. That way it's inside, but not stinking up the house. Got an spare room/closet? Arbit, I'm glad your hand is fixable. The human body is pretty much "use it or lose it" for everything. So I'm surprised our hobby is not considered good on the hands keeping them moving. Thanks for posting the video too! Joscasle, The chipping on that X-wing looks great! Its looking like it took some "hits." It is nowhere near complete yet, but attached are some views of the parts I have been building. This is the guts in my ships cannon that will fire-off cap strips. The core is a geared motor with a sleeve that fits over it with a helix around it. The motor started slipping so I had to make a brass cross piece to lock it in. That spins inside the frame you see. It still needs refining. The helix also has a tab that engages the flower looking piece which feeds the cap strip through the chute where a bolt cocked by the helix strikes it. Still got a way to go to make everything function smoothly. The chute is styrene so technically its still a model - MT

The rust bucket is looking good! - MT

This is looking great Tekering! I like your idea and mods. Plus the yellow will be gone when you're done - MT

Lots of great build guys in this and the past page. Derex, the shipyards got nothin on you! You're popping those suckers out fast. You can take on the Borg with ships to spare! They're looking good too! Thanks for sharing Gabe. I'd love to see that guy finished. Looking good Pengbuzz! It's sad about people buying everything out! No isopropyl on the shelves anywhere. No noodles, no TP, but there are plenty of vegetarian foods on the shelves! No real photos yet of my canon build. The pieces would look like modern art until put together. - MT

Derex, I AM at home and teleworking. It's still tough to get to modelling. In fact, I've gotten less done since teleworking! Although we do get smoke breaks (minus the smoke and plus the modelling I can't sit all day, a guy's gotta get some exercise at the bench. Cool Electric Indigo! I got to see some of those abandoned in Afghanistan. I wonder if that was the aircraft some LT sat in and pulled the ejection seat handle (and yes, it still worked) That's coming along great Pengbuzz! The flaps add realism. No plane sits out on the ready minus flaps down. So to relate with everyone's pains, I just had carpal tunnel surgery about two months ago. Next hand is probably coming up soon. I can only hold parts for a while before my hand goes to sleep. I miss the days of my "kung foo grip" on parts. That's one thing that slowed me down. Now it's just reworking my current design. - MT

Sqidd, I've used good ole isopropyl alcohol for decades. 70% and 91% are both fine. Its good to ensure all oils and waxes are cleaned off and won't touch the plastic. It may harm some paint (not usually) so protect pre-painted parts just in case. - MT