Papa Rat

@Big s @derex3592 Wow, those are both great looking kits! I want to see the sickie built up and that Falcon looks spicy 😬

52 minutes ago, Big s said:

Poly caps don’t hold up as well on the bigger kits like master grades and they’ve kinda switched to a styrene that’s more like ABS that holds up better. a lot of the Chinese kits are all ABS, like my Iron Sickie🤮. I still love that they’ve rereleased that kit a few times and haven’t corrected that awesome typo
It does get a bit more risky with lacquer thinners though.Seen a few people online getting cracks on unpainted kits when using panel liners and that really wasn’t a thing with the older styrene. Gotta at least top coat kits these days. 

That kit looks sickie! Lol

Thanks a bunch for the info. 

2 minutes ago, Big s said:

Strangely, Bandai has come full circle and polycaps are becoming a thing of the past

Interesting. Wonder why? 

Whoops double post

Was able to prime and paint a few elements today. Then it’s onto glueing said parts within the armor, seam removal and priming more parts. Having to finish parts within unfinished parts is standard on these old kits. No poly caps. I found some mr color lacquers made for the Gundam Char mech which are the same scheme and will be perfect for the armor. I’m stoked!

2 hours ago, electric indigo said:

Meanwhile, in the Zeta timeline...

Looking sharp!

@derex3592  you are brave. Yeah I don’t think that’s in my wheelhouse. I’m down for the challenge of building old kits but let’s not get carried away. Hahaha. 
 

Hey, it’s going to look amazing in the end though. 👍

40 minutes ago, Thom said:

And that moment, just before the anealing and the afinding, after the adropping, a piece of the soul is adying...

 

 

Hahaha. 😂 

1 hour ago, pengbuzz said:

Anealing is what I do when I'm afinding parts that I adropped on the floor.

I see you Pengbuzz. Hahahaha

1 hour ago, SteveTheFish said:

I'm planning to attend the All-Japan Model Hobby Show on the 17th. I'll take pictures and video of the event and share pics here of the new stuff. I hope to get closeup pictures of their VT-01 figures of Hikaru, Minmay, and Misa. 

Exciting stuff. Have fun. 

8 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

How I spent my last two days...... 1/350 photoetch is........not my favorite thing to do. I'll just leave it that. Only messed up one spot, I'll have to dig out some extra Titanic railing to fix it, but overall, I'm gonna give myself a thumbs up on this. Never rolled PE before and never folded tiny little three dimensional baskets either... And PE staircases are my nemesis! I need a LARGE drink... LOL. And this is only the first tower I've completed... 🤔 🙄 😂 

I don’t know what PE is but I’m assuming it’s that beautiful railing you have going on there. This looks awesome! 

@Chas That looks great! 😊 

1:144 L-Gaim, Ashura Temple test fit is not too bad considering it’s an old kit. I guess this A-class heavy Metal Set/boxset came out in 2021. Not sure when the original release was of the individual kit but it’s feels rather dated. Love the box art and can’t wait to get jamming. 

16 minutes ago, Big s said:

That dark beast really shines in the light 

Hahaha

@nightmareB4macrossThanks so much! Yeah I love when my kid has some say in a fun project. They are still young so not much kit building unless it’s one of those 30 MM Bandai kits. 
 

@Big s @Thom hahahaha. So true. Not only do I like building these old kits, I also love the esthetics. Give me all these chunky/clunky and strange proportions. That’s part of the charm. 
 

Brought this beast out of the basement bench space and into the light of day for a couple photos. 
 

2 hours ago, GMK said:

Armoured Valk next!

 

 

😍 oh yes!

“Oh honey, I’m home!”

*Photos are sort of lacking and may try and get updated ones tomorrow with natural light  

You can sort of see the blue shimmer on the back. It’s hard to capture, but best seen in natural light.

Next up by request from my kiddo, we have the L-Gaim 1/144 Ashura Temple 

@tekering Wow you are soooo busy! Best of luck to you. 👍✌️

8 hours ago, nightmareB4macross said:

It looks great in high gloss. Try applying a smoke or charcoal grey dry brush on the joints and top coat with saint, joints and black areas only. Finish stark colors like yellow and pink with matte or satin matte.

It’s looking great.

FYI - I still have to finish the cockpit amongst other details. Not quite close to the finish line.

Hey thanks. Looking at it again this morning I see more potential in it now. Just needs some dialing in like you mentioned. 

Wow this is one fugly beetle mech. Haha. I think I am changing course and going to do a matte finish on it and weather it up. The high gloss on this is not working for me at the moment. It’s hard to photograph but the pearl shimmer is refracting off the rough surface in a very chaotic jarring way. I’ll sleep on it before I go further. 
 

@nightmareB4macross Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll have to get some of that stuff for future builds be it bug wings or some other cool details. 
 

Also loving your updates. Feels like you are on the home stretch! ♥️

@nightmareB4macross Thanks. I Love how silly and “clunky” it looks.  Hope to finish it up in the next couple days. 
 

@SteveTheFish Thanks.

Also those builds look great! Thanks for sharing.  I hope you give those crystal paints a go on the ship you mentioned. It takes on a very different look based on the value of the underpainting. It’s more vibrant on a darker value but also as interesting in a different way on lighter values. 

Here is the green crystal color over a white base paint on the armor and also on the green shield. In the right light it shimmers the green pearl effects.  Oh I also used the red crystal color on the orange buster cannon. It’s really hard to photograph but fun stuff, 😊

@Big s Yeah I will painting the wings in the shimmering pearlescent blue too. I haven’t tried those crystal paints on clear parts yet so that will be fun to see how it turns out. 

47 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

Thinking about your project here (how bug-like it looks), have you considered an iridescent top coat on it? I saw this online and wanted to know your thoughts:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pouring-Masters-Professional-Acrylic-Pearlescent-Mixing-Effects-Medium-8-oz-Bottle-Create-Pearl-Iridescent-Metallic-Effects-Improve-Flow-Consistency/2340932760?classType=REGULAR&adsRedirect=true

It says it can be used as a topcoat to add an iridescent effect to paint (clear, just iridescent). I thought that maybe it would help it look more alien, but you might not want to go that route. Just a suggestion.

I think that would be a great addition. I am unfamiliar with this specific product but I have a few Mr color crystal colors that add a really nice effect. I think I have a nice blue one that may elevate this build a little. Lots of beetle carapaces have that jewel like shimmer. Good call.  I guess I’m now leaning towards a more high gloss for the armor parts and flat for the joints, nooks and crannies. 
Thanks so much for the suggestion. 👍

This is what the blue crystal color looks like over dark lacquer paint. This is from Wave co. FFS kit

First layers of brushes painting lacquers are down and looking rough. Going to do another thin layer all around then it’s time for clean up, some panel lines “I guess I’ll call them that”, flat top coat and weathering etc… been super busy lately so its taking forever to get this done. 
 

12 minutes ago, nightmareB4macross said:

Adding teeth.

There is no end to your madness. I love it!!!!👍