cowie165

You said it LTSO

Thanks a lot for your reply Sounds like we're doing the same thing and I just need more practice! I improved things a little after googling a few images on destroyed armor. Helped with the blast pattern/etc. Cheers! Once again, excellent result there. Mark

http://nosutaru.fc2web.com/MACROSS/imai/max-GW/DSCN3757.JPG Anyone else think the whole nose/canopy profile looks weird? The nose seems kinda long and the canopy too shallow/flat. Bertt is that the standard NATO Imai front end they've used?

Carl that looks great! Could you share a little on the battle damage please? I'll chime in with big F, Mars dust is a brilliant touch.

Berttt that is looking very very nice. Hats off for the time and effort you're putting into an older kit! PS That website is great! Time for a brew and a browse

F-A-B Scott! Boy o boy. When I was a kid I used to drag myself out of bed at 6am on a Saturday just to watch International Rescue! But I never did like Penelope... Your folding palms for Thunderbird 2 look great! Wow, what a cool flashback. Re: prototype S-37: I was (am) in such a hurry to finish 'practicing' on 1/144 kits the thought of a splinter scheme was just beyond contemplation Mark

What do you mean by prototype? I didn't realise there was a production version - didn't think Sukhoi made it that far. Hey good advice on the soldiers. I'll see about a little Exacto surgery and insert pins into the feet with the pin vise. I'll report back ... And could you share more detail on what you're working on? I didn't recognise anything there... I need to watch more anime!

lol, fair call gents. The 1/72 Spitfire was for a group build a few years ago that I only recently finished (Brett you remember the Kraplakistan thing?) and the 1/144 is a practice so I do an honest job on the Arii 1/100 Valks on my shelf. Still have to finish a 1/144 MiG 1.44 and maybe that annoying Su-22M. And then off to Macross bliss! Cheers for the kind words lads

Here's another one I was messing around with. I finished this dio a few months ago but took my time taking pics. I'm keen to have another go once I reinstall photoshop. The current changes were using MS Photo Manager (or whatever it's called). I wanted to depict a forced landing due to mechanical fault rather than the more 'glamorous' shoot-down. The aircraft suffered an oil pump failure or some such thing, then threw a piston out through the head. After surviving the crash landing in eastern France the pilot is doing the dash for friendly lines, the Germans are in hot pursuit. I've taken a lot more with better perspective (ie. taken at ground level) but I am going to photochop in a background first. Comments, pointers are appreciated. Mark

Off the bench. Revell 1/144 S-37. I was whining in the 'flat clear coat' thread about how I stuffed the Tamiya base + Future. Looks like didn't mix it thoroughly and came out like white mist that stayed opaque... Anyway, pics turned out ok in the end.

I've been using methylated spirits for the last five years. Works brilliantly with acrylics. Never tried isopropyl, but it'd probably dry faster than metho but cost a lot more.e Mineral turpentine for enamels is ok but white spirits (low odour/faster drying) is better than the turps.

Thanks winterdyne, great how-to! Cheers

The choice of top coat will depend on which finish you are after. Say you are making a 1/24 car: you're looking for a shiny gloss top coat, therefore you'd use Future. If you're looking for a satin/semi-gloss, maybe for mecha or a small scale gloss finish, you could use Future with Flat Base added. If you want an aircraft/valk with a matte finish, you could use any of the flat finishes from your local hobby store. One of the coolest parts of using a sealing/clear coat over your base paint work is that if you bugger up the panel lines or weathering, you can simply wipe it off with your solvent and then start again; all without damaging your base colours.

Ugh. Double post.

Sadly, 24h later, she still looks the same. Perhaps I didn't mix the base adequately or something. Perhaps it just shows up on a black kit more obviously. Cheers for the post Kyle

Brett the valk hands are in the mail to your work address. Please let me know when they arrive!

Future floor polish becomes the clear coat. Once you have finished with colours and assembly, spray future (light coats, don't go to town), add decals, future again, decal, weather, top coat (satin or flat? up to you). Mark

And reference your goal pic: when I made the Bandai variable into a fixed gerwalk (and aiming for a similar pose), the hardest parts were the knee and ankle joints, particularly the ankles. It is a bugger to set the angles right. Looking forward to seeing what you can do bloke. Oh yeah, make sure you throw plenty of lead into the legs. It will make life a lot easier down the track!

Berttt where did you buy your pin vise? I grabbed one through eBay from the UK but I got what I paid for: the bits wont centre correctly as the pawls are not cut accurately. Was it a Bunnings job or did you need a specialist tool place? PS The Bandai hands are at work, going in the post on Monday. Sorry about the hold-up.

1st use, 1st complaint I sprayed about 1:8 flat base:Future on my black S-37. Now the beautiful black finish looks like it has been dusted with light grey? wtf? Please tell me it dries clear...

You have a great point there. I DID buy the kit for a reason. I'll shelf it for a while and look to motivate myself again soon. Phew! Great to hear David because I've always heard good things about Academy and now have a few. 1/144 was really just practice but as it turns out the effort is about 80% of a 1/72 kit anyway! I mean, once the paint is loaded what does it matter if you're spraying a little longer!

lmao @ Berttt's Macrosu-clan ninja hurling little red and white UNSpacy ninja stars whilst he is trying to finish up... kinda like my kids at dinner time tonight *groan*

Yep, ok then I'll hang onto it. I guess I'll burn that bridge another day... cheers guys! and lol @ THOR's pyrotechnics. When I was a kid I used to douse mine in lighter fluid and throw them across the yard, but I like your way a whole lot more

I have this Academy 1/144 Su-22 and it is just driving me nuts. There are a few panels to rescribe. The intake cone just isn't circular. There is no wheel well detail. The cockpit sucks and the paint job is going to be more time consuming than a 1/72 jet. When do you guys make the decision to turf a kit? I've only junked one kit before, and that was a loooong time ago. It's just that I'm sitting here finishing my last two 1/144 whilst dreaming of a nice 1/72! I feel so dirty...! Mark

Maybe that's the problem! It is pretty darn thick; after thinning it with water no doubt I've just diluted that much it doesn't dull the shine... Thanks p5