Papa Rat

5 hours ago, tekering said:

Dude, you're a machine!  I can't believe how much progress you make with every post in this thread. 😲

I hate struggling with the limitations of vintage kits, and much prefer the accuracy and ease that comes with modern engineering.  I think perhaps you enjoy the challenges of surface prep. and painting more than I do. 😅

Hahahaha. I tend to buckle up and hit it hard with projects and shi* gets done. Lol

Those old kits though. I think you are right about surface prep. I like overcoming a challenge to a certain degree. It just feels good in the end. I also adore the smaller scale of those kits compared to the huge, let’s say VOLKS KOG kit with the buster. That box sits on my shelf which I haven’t had the courage to start yet. One day. 

Also that Nousjadel-Ger looks great! That’s a mouthful. 

5 minutes ago, Big s said:

Looks really great so far and love the little dudes

Thanks. The pilots are my favorite part. 😊

32 minutes ago, SteveTheFish said:

 You're coming along very well. I'm still tempted to think you're a phony when you say that you've only been modeling for about a year or so, like you're having us all on. You demonstrate skill that people who've been doing models for a long time do not have. Heck, I know one young man online who has been building models for a long time. He slathers unthinned paint all over his models and lays down expensive aftermarket decals, then sends me pictures and asks me how I feel about them. He has no self-awareness. You, on the other hand, are doing a fantastic job with your model kits

Hey thanks. Yeah, I love to push myself and try new things. I also read up on how to approach things that interest me so I am prepared to dive in. Maybe it’s making sourdough bread, learning to drywall in my home, fixing my bicycle or whatever it happens to be.

Reading about how to do something and the actual doing are so wildly different. I still learn the most by the doing part and all the mistakes I make are great opportunities for learning. I have a good enough sort of attitude with the hobby for the most part but I pay attention to the process and outcome. There is plenty of room for improvement, growth…

I wish I had started building sooner but better late than never. I think that getting older and having a family has changed my priorities quite a bit. I go out way less and I find that I’m more of a homebody and this hobby just dovetails into my lifestyle at this point.
Also having a place like this with a great community is an amazing resource for creativity, insight, and inspiration!
✌️

Getting closer. Still needs decals, detail paint, top coat, the usual…I’m excited to finish this up but I have to say that this build hasn’t been as fun as some of the old vintage stuff I have been doing. Regardless I’m learning a lot through the process. 
Maybe I’m learning in too hard on the highlight shading thing with my paint jobs? I am on the fence about it. 

A big thanks to @pengbuzzfor the heads up about pilot options. I reached out to @arbit for the digital pilot files. They are tiny tiny and work perfectly for this build. I had a blast painting them and they actually look half decent. ♥️

@derex3592Look! Got one of those stands you plugged awhile back. Super handy, thanks for the heads up. 👍

I’m onboard for the Queadlunn-Rau. The old IMAI kit was my very first model kit build and what got me into this hobby last year and I’m so excited to get a new “more accurate “ version in the mix. 
 

Got a long holiday weekend for Labor Day, so I’ll be laboring over the VE-1

Made a ton of progress today and will get at it again later tonight. 
 

2 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Mottling preshading started on the 1/72 Moscato Cat's Eye 👁️. This is as far as I've gotten on this kit in 10+ or so years.... 🤔 🙄. Still deciding on what paint scheme I want to do, kinda want to do something fun and crazy 🤪. Also picked up a Dspiae mini rechargeable electric sander,  looked kinda cool for $30.... because I despise sanding... LOL 

Awesome! I’m so excited for a full review on the sander and I’m excited to see the Cat’s Eye coming along. ♥️

2 hours ago, Bolt said:

Looking very promising 

😊

19 minutes ago, LocusPocus said:

A touch more detail work, battle damage and a few weapons to wield, ready for action! 

Looks great!

Been super busy with life stuff, kid back to school etc… but got to get to work on that VE-1. So far only getting a few pieces primed in mahogany and painted. The brown primer gives it a really nice warm shift and I think it will be a great balance with all the cool gray colors when sprayed on top.

I have to fix the left thruster “is that what’s it called” since I had glue drip on it when locking it in for assembly and ruined the paint. Ugh… anyway. Getting some putty, some pla plate in the mix. I also cut out the connection for the top thruster pod things so I could attach them after assembly.

Soon I will be cruising on this one. I’m getting excited, but still need to find a simple stand for 1:72 scale. The hunt continues. 
 

1 hour ago, Big s said:

I don’t know if they really had time. They did give warnings the other week that things would be iffy and it was pretty much the other day when a few countries in the region announced that they would stop deliveries as a kind of protest or retaliation against the tariffs since the U.S. was dropping that de minimis exemption. These changes are sometimes coming in the fly and other times there’s a warning with a lot of speculation attached. I kinda think everyone was hoping for the exemptions to be extended rather than dropped.

Yeah seems like the call had to be made hastily. I totally get it. Now we wait and see. 

Told my wife I was going to make a yard sign saying “keep your teriffs off my plastic models” lol. 

11 minutes ago, VF-1A Grunt said:

I’m glad I decided to have HLJ ship my models a few weeks ago, since they sent out a notice yesterday that they are halting shipments to the U.S. while they figure out how the new tariff process will work.

I requested the shipment via EMS on August 8, they shipped it on August 16 (it was actually accepted on August 18), and it arrived on August 25.

Of course, a number of other items have arrived since I requested the shipment, but HLJ says they will hold things indefinitely in the Private Warehouse until the tariff process is resolved.

I wish they had reached out to customers about the freeze happening before it was enacted so folks in the USA could clean out their private warehouse, but it is what it is. Shrug emoji. Lol

2 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

Was jsut at the ER last nght: xeroform gauze and it has to be kept moist. Partal thickness 2nd degree burn, some layers missig.

Holy cow. Hope you have a safe recovery 

1 minute ago, pengbuzz said:

Update: last night I ended burning my rght arm badly with hot oil (typing one handed rightnow so its a bit hrd.

beginning to hate cooking.

Until it heals, all projectsare on-hold.

Oh no. That sucks.  Keep the burn dry and clean and rest up. 😢

1 hour ago, Big s said:

There’s actually a thread somewhere for it, but I never see it. Personally I think a lot of us just see things like that here or in the model section whenever someone posts it in random threads more often than its dedicated thread. 
Unfortunately things are very complicated for toy collectors and model builders since the majority of our favorite things come from countries that are affected. At least HLJ is ok with holding our stuff in the Private Warehouse, but then there’s the question of how long is this situation gonna last? Will it be months or even years? Things had already been going up in prices and now these new tariffs are probably gonna pump up the prices even more. But hopefully this will kinda blow over soon and things can get back to normal. I got a big backlog already and when my stuff over there finally gets shipped, I’m gonna have an instant backlog boost

Yeah I also have plenty of kits in my stash, but some of the items in the private warehouse are calling to me. Time will tell. 

Not sure if there is a better place to post this but looks like my items at HLJ won’t be able to be shipped at this time. 
 

@derex3592Wow. That came out great! 😊

@MechTech Congratulations on the new additions. We are currently in talks with our kiddo about adopting a cat, but need to get a few things sorted before taking the plunge. ♥️

Also great work as usual!

41 minutes ago, Big s said:

It still looks cool even without the diorama. 
 

Unfortunately, I didn’t finish in time. I got the majority of the hard work done, primed the model and got a base color and a rough camo on it, but ran out of time due to stuff around the house. But I still plan to finish it up since I got pretty far already. I was gonna add some body and arm stripes, and of course decals and weathering. then I gotta do the interior and pilot and a bit of weathering on the inside to make things look a bit lived in since the pilot face looks a bit on the aged side (the guy’s face in the box pictures has grey facial hair). I don’t think I want him that old, but I would like to try a little bit of grey streaks to give a been there done that kinda look
I got a small base to attach the brass rods for a display and I want to do a sorta lunar surface kinda look. I also had scratch built a tower that I want to make look like a sorta communications use signal tower thingy. I’m just gonna take my time since I already didn’t make the deadline.

I think if I had another week or two, I’d have had it finished, but as a consolation, I get to take my time at this point

Sounds like you have a great plan. I would love to see it once you get time to finish it up. 

I submitted a few photos for the HLJ Ma.K. contest that @Big s posted about. This is a smaller 1:35 scale which was fast and easy.  It was a fun motivator to try out brush painting lacquers and I think it turned out pretty alright. I was working on a diorama too but scrapped it in the end. 
Here’s a few images taken with my phone. Phone cameras are not too shabby these days. 

@Big s Did you finish up your build for the contest?

3 hours ago, wm cheng said:

That is amazing @tekering - such fine detailing, is it a resin printer that you're using?

You guys are so industrialist and have built so much!  All of it looking so great.

I've just learned to use our PLA printer at work and that's this 3D Print of the TOS Phaser.  It's finally finished, the thing I hate about PLA prints is the thing I hate most in modeling... SANDING.  It's so much sanding which is the part of modeling I hate, and there is so much sanding to do on PLA prints.  Your paint finish is only as good as the surface you've prepped for it and I learnt the price in my youth of speeding ahead to painting when I've not properly prepped the surface.

Anyways, I can finally call my 3D Print TOS Phaser finished with the metal parts I got from eBay.  I missed out on the Wand company phaser back then, now that I got my Wand company Tricorder, I felt I had to complete the trifecta of the Tricorder, Communicator and Phaser.  It's too bad this is just a static prop and nothing lights up and I have to make pew pew pew sounds with my mouth 😛

Wow that came out awesome! All the work you put into this build was well worth it. 

12 minutes ago, tekering said:

Another significant detail absent from the Cygnus CGI model I'm printing are these "croquet hoop" fuel pods on either side of the prow:

Even from photographed from the back end of the ship, they're still prominently visible up front.

Nonetheless, I had to kitbash my own because -- even at the tiny scale I'm working at -- the 3D model just isn't adequately detailed.

This "weekend project" has already occupied most of my free time this month, and I'm nowhere near finished...! 😅

Chef’s kiss

@pengbuzz Just wanted to say I love the new avatar! 👍

1 minute ago, nightmareB4macross said:

Thank you.

One day it will be a grand one at that.

For now it’s still a baby.

Hahahaha. Love that little fella ♥️

7 minutes ago, KOG Water Dragon said:

Of course they wouldn't need to do this (and save us some $$) if everyone still painted...

Painting is the best part. 😊