Papa Rat

Hahahaha. Thanks. It means a lot to hear from you guys on this stuff. Same goes for all the amazing builds that I see here. It’s so inspiring.

Same here. I wanted to cancel and just buy off eBay for cheaper. Too late. HLJ has a small pack option for kits in average sized boxes and it’s not completely horrible for price

For sure. That’s a motivator

@Big s I totally see your point. I have a kit that had a “special” coating on it. I didn’t want that version but that’s all that was available. It didn’t have under gates so it left bruises all over the place. I knew it was going to be an issue and one that could have been avoided if the gates were hidden. I may go back and strip off the coating and paint it later. Yeah didn’t want to pay $140 for the the Q-Ray TV version but that’s what happened. 🥵 Hate to say it but EBay might be a feasible option these days.

The first under gate kit for me was the first Hasegawa Q-Rau which was helpful on some of the giant seam lines. Speaking of Q-Rau. Finally had to ship the TV version today since my free storage like yours, had run its course. over $100 to ship a $40 kit. Ouch

Hahaha

Very cool. Also lol at Christmas ornament. That’s actually a great idea. I might do that. Haha

I’m on a roll. Next up is the 1/100 R3 release L-Gaim MK-II. Started test fit tonight and hope to wrap it up tomorrow then get to work on surface prep over the weekend. This kit builds itself. Lots of under gates on the armor bits which I appreciate and the fit is perfect! It really feels more like an action figure than a model. It’s wild. There are a few elements that are made of colored rubber material so I guess I just leave them be. Too bad there aren’t any resin or plastic replacements for those parts.

@wm cheng Thanks so much. I really appreciate it. 😊 The way the kit is made/parted out allows for no masking if you are feeling handy with a brush. I ended up using lacquer, enamel and acrylic. I might go back in with more enamels to brighten up some small details.

Nice. Bring it on! Also hope the Phalanx goes preorder soon. ♥️

@Big s @electric indigo thanks you two. I‘m really happy with how this one turned out. Honestly the amazing killer design/sculpt helped carry me to a nice conclusion. I did learn a few things along the way and had a lot of fun with the work flow which is the best part for me.

Well it’s late…I mean early anyway Bellvine is done. I was super loose on this and had lots of fun. Didn’t mask anything and tried out some paint layering and filtering that was new to me. I should have spent more time on seam removal and surface prep but here we are. 🙃

@SteveTheFish oh yeah time with my kiddo is number 1. I get most of my bench time after they are sound asleep and I work into the late night which can be quite productive. I pay for it the next morning though. Hahaha. I’m a zombie until my morning cup of coffee. Oh and the T-Rex stuffie only shed a little stuffing, is stitched back up and is supposed to make a full recovery. Tonight my kid is building a BB8 Lego and goofing off before bedtime. ♥️

Well the outcome looked beautiful to me. Hahaha. Sometimes we get into rough waters and discover cool things as we attempt to right the ship. I’m sure your next go at the process will yield even better results. 👍

Yeah. I just held the piece and stuffing in my off hand and sprayed. Went lightly at first and finding a sweet spot for paint flow will just happen. Smaller bursts of paint were most effective for my attempts. Soooo simple. I found that after the stuffing was used a bit the effect was better since there were some more defined pathways for the paint to penetrate. Does that make sense? The whole process was inspired by folks spraying through dried up distressed baby wipes to create marble effects I didn’t want marble but used a similar method. I didn’t have baby wipes so used stuffing as a filter Next time I will make sure to put on gloves. Hahaha. Well as far as weathering I absolutely loved the Ostrich you shared on here. That had such an amazing surface treatment and required quite the process if I remember.