Papa Rat

Kit number five in the books, 🫠 I had plans to shine this all up, but I got cold feet sanding back too far into it before polishing. I have to say all and all this kit went well for the most part. I did run out of gloss top coat for my airbrush and had to do the final coat with a spray can. I kind of botched it. Whoops. My sloppy can control left areas of the surface uneven and there are a couple areas with a slight texture showing up. I need more practice no question. Some attachments on this build are very, very delicate like the wrist and kneecap armor plates. They attach with a single tiny peg maybe .5mm or smaller… Not sure. Of course I had one of the kneecap pieces snap on me as I was trying to attach a leg. I will need to purchase some brass rod(s) and repair later. Never attempted that before. No big deal The most challenging part of this kit for me was the polycaps for the hip/leg attachments. It requires so much pressure to put a leg on I thought I was going to break it apart. It did cause the bond in the thigh pieces to separate which was annoying. I guess I hadn’t allowed the cement to cure completely or used too little? Not sure. I had to completely take the thigh apart and sand down the PC a little so the expansion wouldn’t separate the parts again. In doing so some glue squished out on the paint along the seam and that’s not ideal. It’s hidden by the skirt armor though. Lesson learned. Slow down and less is more sometimes. lol This was also my first attempt at candy color. I tried it on the red pieces and some orange on the shield emblem.. It was fun to do, but I think it looks sort of silly on this build. In hindsight I think I should have went with just a metallic deep red and not such a “in your face” blast of color. Anyway, I had a ton of fun building this and would recommend it to anyone into FSS. Looks real nice next to the Bang build on my bench.

I’m loving the MR Crystal purple on these dark armor pieces. I went sort of light on this part. Now it’s time for all the gloss layers before sanding/polishing.

Thanks. I have a lot to learn no doubt. The more opportunities I have to build the better and I’m having a blast so far! The end goal of completing a kit is great but the path there is what I’m most excited about. (= I also have to say that seeing all the amazing work out in the community reminds me that I can also achieve some great results with adequate experience.

Waiting on paint to arrive so I’m starting another kit along side the Black Knight. In the process of getting the test fit together and going to need a lot of tape. There are no snap fittings at all on this kit so far. Maybe I should use some tack to hold it together? Might be easiest way to get this standing. Anyway, the amount of details in this kit are awesome. Going to be a beauty (=

Now I just need to find a supply of super clear gloss since I’m running low. Unfortunately certain MR color/hobby paints, top coats and especially self leveling thinner is hard to find right now. Finishing this kit may take a bit longer depending on supply chain issues. Once these items become available again I might as well grab some extras.

Checked out your channel today and got very inspired. Such amazing work. It was fun seeing the 1/100 Batsh build since I’m currently working on the 1/144 little brother and seeing the similarities and differences. Interesting enough I’m seeing mold lines in the exact same areas of the larger scale, but since this is a simpler kit and less pieces I’m dealing with less seam lines and gaps. The main piece for the ankle armor is a single piece instead of two for example. I’m spending my evening masking out the skirt pieces and once my paint arrives I’ll get cracking on it. I’m also going for a gloss finish and possible candy color on the red bits which will be a first. I’m very excited! Oh and I’ll be doing the Mr crystal clear purple on it as well. Another first I’m not sure I will take it to the limit and sand to 10k and polish though. Can’t decide 🤔 I’ll update as things develope.

Thanks for the insight and link. I’ll check out your channel right away. I am super late to this hobby but I’m already loving it. It’s such a great way to unwind from a busy work and family life. My moment of zen, my plastic therapist. lol

Thanks. Masking it out sounds like a great idea. I was also thinking about using a toothpick. Don’t know what difference it would make, but do you have any thoughts on using super glue?

Making progress. It was prime day today and I can see I have a lot of work to do. There are plenty of mold lines and some minor nub marks to putty, smooth. All and all there hasn’t been any headaches with this kit. Doing the test build gave me insight in how many of the connection points are sort of loose but no major issues at all. I can’t wait to paint! (= Going to be a bit of masking but no more than the Bang kit. Mostly inside the skirt armor and tiny details on ankle armor etc… There is going to be a lot of gluing post paint. Basically all the armor pieces are going on post painting including the skirt armor plates and there are many. Any advice besides being super careful when it comes to gluing together painted parts?

Next project is starting. By my kids request I opened up the 144 scale Batsh FSS Volks kit. Life is very busy right now so this is going to take awhile, but I’m very excited to dig in, I will do my best to document this build for articulation, seam issues and fit etc… right away I see there is some nice color separation and a straight build could be an option. I look forward to doing custom paint on this with some sort of clear/color shimmering on the black armor parts. I’m excited to have fun with this one

So here’s my 4th build and it’s the Hasegawa VF-1A Super Battroid Valkyrie. It was a fun one and it turned out OK I suppose. It was a nice way to learn more about seam removal and making misaligned elements work. I also had to scribe a bunch of panel lines which turned out rather bad. I need a lot of practice with technique. Lol. I went with the decals for most of the color correcting which I feel was a mistake. It was the least enjoyable part of this experience for me. I would 100% mask and paint all those elements next time no question. I also think I should have panel lined a little darker. I used a light gray and would have preferred a dark gray one it was all done. I have a couple other versions of this kit and am excited to revisit this again down the road and now have a better idea what I will be facing.

Will do. Sort of treating this thread like a journal as I start this hobby. I’ll post updates as I reach benchmarks. I’ll focus on Macross but am so excited about these FSS kits.

Still wrapping up my first Battroid VF-1A Max color-way and will post the final build soon-ish…but wanted to do a quick little show and tell. Today is my bday and my wonderful wife and kiddo got me a couple more kits for my backlog which is starting to form. Soooo grateful and excited.

Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll have to look into it. For my first two builds I just started my sanding at 400 and finish up with 800. I was just curious about using a metal file so this Battroid is a test for that approach. In the end I went back to using 400/800 sand papers

I tried out a new metal file on this kit for seam removal which left a very rough scratchy surface that needs a lot of attention. I was surprised by the surfacer 1000 I used and its ability to sort of smooth out the surface to a decent degree. I’m currently in the process of filling with putty, priming, sanded and more to go. I figured it would be easiest to just make custom details out of plate material since those seam lines were causing some alignment problem. Fingers crossed it doesn’t look horrible. Also in the process of scribing panel lines that were sanded off.

Total height is 10 inch complete. As far as articulation, the PC’s are very tight and I have no problem posing and not having it fall over or sag with shield extended if that makes sense. Hip sockets and ankles are very tight and strong in a good way. I would highly suggest attaching legs before skirt is glued in place since I don’t think you’ll have room without a chance of breaking something. Space is very limited. Oh one more thing to mention. The cables/power cords details are made of the PC material and I am having issues with paint simply flaking off of those parts and I think it looks messy. I’d avoid painting those all together if I get another kit with similar details/material usage. Just a heads up.

Thanks. I hope to build a LED Mirage once I dig into these macross kits.

Dang! I should have documented it. Anyway, most of the seams are well placed behind elements so clean up was very minimal. There are a few dips in some spots especially the shield, but I left them since it didn’t bother me much. There is thin plastic on edges of parts that need to be sanded off and a few mold lines here and there. Nothing major I’d say. Overall it was a super fun build for me. For context the Hasegawa VF-1A Super Battroid I started lastnight is going to take 1000% more work to look decent. Almost every major part has a seam line down its center. Putty and rescribe time for the foreseeable future. 😄 I’m so excited to take this kit apart and get to work.

Ahhhh, I see. Thanks. I’m new to that series. Read the manga online over the past week. The mecha design is awesome, but that’s just my opinion. Lol

HLJ order came and now it’s time to get busy. Which kit should I start with? Hmmmm… I’m thinking the Super Battroid, Max color-way While I was waiting I grabbed a 1/144 FSS Bang kit from Volks. Finished it up today. I had read a bunch of negative reviews on this kit, but I really enjoyed my time with it. I’ll have to do more of these FSS kits. I also got to use my airbrush for the first time. I went with Mr Color Lacquer paints and had a blast. It’s not perfect; not even close, but I had so much fun. I have lots to learn. Just need to build/paint more kits.

That’s exactly what this is. I have a 6 year old and this one was for him. Had to customized it with their first initial and birth age. He’s so pumped!!! He just told me I need to add damage to it so I got to get back to work on this hahahaha I’ll post more Macross once my giant box from HLJ full of Hasegawa kits gets here and I get busy with it. Until then happy building everyone. I’m already hooked. Going to need some new glasses. ✌️

Yeah so I went out to get one of the Bandai gundam kits. You were not joking when you said they practically build themselves. lol. Hope I’m not breaking the rules posting this non Macross kit here. 🙃 I found out we have a rad Japanese bookstore out here that also carries model supplies. They didn’t have any macross but were full of gundam kits, paints and supplies. I went with the $9 entry grade RX-78. I recognize it as the iconic Gundam but went rogue on the color scheme and gave it some love. I also grabbed some water slide numbers/letters and one for the RX-78. Yesterday I found out I got the wrong scale decals but used them anyways. Oh well regardless It was such a chill experience. Complete opposite of the Queadlunn-Rau I can see why it’s so popular.

Nice, I look forward to moving into the larger 1/72 scale. I think all the Hasegawa kits I have on order are the same scale. It will be nice to see them all together. I can’t wait to dig in. However my model time is rather limited in my life; having a fam and 6 year old but many late nights will see it through. Now I'm really intrigued about that monster kit…I guess it’s time to invest in some putty(s)

Thanks so much. I was nervous sharing it since there are so many amazing builds on this forum. The path to completion was a disaster but a good one. Haha. I’m a sucker for a challenge and will be doing more 80’s kits down the road. “Looking at you Monster” I just ordered the big sister kit along with a preorder for the Max version even though I think they are identical. lol I imagine the Hasegawa kits are more user friendly?

Hahahaha. Guilty as charged.