howie

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year everybody! Sorry for the long break. I started this build while I was out of work (and thought I had some decent chunk of time to devote to it - I like to build when I have a solid stretch of time). But with the downturn in the economy and the film business in Canada not picking up, I thought I might seek alternate employment to pay the bills and support our collective addiction ;-) Once I started my new job, it took a while getting used to - you know, impress them and all... then the Holiday season hit (my first where my 2.5yr old daughter actually "got" Christmas - its so wonderful to experience childhood Christmas again, I highly recommend it to anyone here still sittin' on the fence about children). So needless to say, I haven't had time to my hobby much these days. I'm sure I'll be back to these boards with a vengeance when I retire or when my daughter hits teenage years and wants nothing to do with her daddy ;-( Thanks to all who follow along.

Firstly, what does this mean?

I hope its something good...

Thanks for any and all advice. I appreciate it, its the reason I post online - its one thing to show off, but its really the only input I get on this hobby (I don't have time to attend the IPMS meetings and no one I know locally is interested in this hobby) so I end up building in isolation which isn't great for my skills building. No advice or suggestion is too trivial, I might be good in some areas, but I also lack knowledge in some basic stuff too, so please fire away if you have anything to say (if I already know it, then it might help out someone else who is reading this thread at a different experience level than I). Actually, the problem I've been having lately is a very basic one; I'm having problems filling a seam (its model building 101) - I've been away from it so long that I find I keep leaving a hairline seam after filling and sanding, or I sand too much and lose the shape or contour - argh! - its just a finesse thing and I hope its something that will come more naturally whenever I "get back into the saddle".

I've never built an SV-51 (its on my huge pile of unbuilt boxes) but it isn't even on the radar yet.

I'm not a huge fan of Future yet. I've used it for clear-coating canopies, and its great for that. However the last time I used it (I don't know if any of you caught my F-16CJ on ARC - it was my attempt to start modeling again after a long break) I wasn't too impressed with the results. I may of laid it on too thickly, but it partially obscured or filled in some very fine panel lining so the oil panel wash didn't take as well as it should, it did allow the decals to sit remarkably flat and made them disappear and appear painted, but when it came time to airbrush the matte/flat clear-coat finish overtop, the clear coat developed micro-cracks and fractures in the surface (as though the future undercoat was just too slippery to grab hold of, too smooth) and the top matte coat looked like it had slightly shrunken uniformly. In the end after a lot of careful micromesh sanding and multiple coats, it looks somewhat acceptable, but still it was a hassle. Maybe its the mixture of ModelMaster acrylic clear-coats over Future that the combination doesn't like, but for now, I think I will stay with ModelMaster clear-coats all the way and only use Future for canopies & tinting.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'll have a solution to this chipping paint or decal problem. It was one of my first criticisms of Bandai when I first heard that this kit was going to be transformable - in fact I had originally intended to build it in the aircraft only mode and fill in all the seams and gaps. However its moving parts are so well engineered that it seemed a shame negate all that goodness. My plan is to apply many layers of clear coat to help protect it and minimize on the number of transformations - realizing that it is a model and not a toy after all. The tolerances are so tight and the transformation relies on these parts being so tight so that friction can help it stay together that I don't think this problem will ever be truly solved, I think all the clear-coats of whatever people decide to put on will only delay the inevitable, at first its only the clear coat that gets damaged, before it eventually works its way down to some visible part such as the decal or paint finish. Just my opinion, but I'd love to be proven wrong - so if anyone comes with a better solution, let me know!

OK, on to the VF-25, I haven't done much, but did get in a day over the holidays, I basically took the whole thing apart and separated it into painting assemblies (it ended basically un-building the whole thing). I took some pictures which I'll try to get around to posting sometime soon. But there's not much to see but a bunch of parts ready for paint. I also filled and sanded a few pieces (nose cone, forearm seams, shoulder seam and the knee mechanical joints) that I thought needed the seams to be removed, but overall the seams have been successfully kept to a minimum by Bandai's excellent assembly design - as HWK MKII correctly states - unfortunately Bandai did not design for painting assemblies so a few parts will be awkward to mask and paint. Just an update, I haven't forgotten and I desperately want to get back to this baby (especially since I picked up the Ozma one too now).

It's Chinese and it's way of saying "I have waited for updates for a LONG LONG time that flowers have already died"

Proper cleaning is an issue with any type of paint. I always flush my airbrush's between colors and then tear them down and clean them between paint types and after finishing a painting session.

I never find acrylics any harder to use than other paints when airbrushing, and they work better threw an airbrush than hand brushing.

personally though I prefer enamels for most jobs. enamels can do metallic, bare-metal, and high gloss finishes better than acrylics and enamel fumes aren't as bad as lacquer so I can get away with using the stove hood vent's in my kitchen (they're some pretty powerful fans) and a simple respirator.

I only use Lacquer for primer and body colors on model cars. as for acrylics, I tend to use them for colored clears, gloss/matte clear coats, and the occasional wash.

Acrylics are the most useful when painting odd materials like Vinyl.

One thing I found out about enamels (I use them for panel lining and washing) is that they do take a LONG time to dry. I could basically do the wash, put aside for overnight, wake up the next day and play with the piece and some of it will actually come out. Acrylics take a long time to completely dry too, but it does seem to take less time that enamel. And lacquer does dry the fastest, I normally wait for only about 30 minutes before touching it.

And just like you I also use the stove hood vent in my kitchen, and it's very powerful too (if I put a paper on top of the stove, and turn the vent to full power, it can actually suck the paper up ), so I guess I'm set except doing a paint job in a kitchen feels weird no matter how I try to tell myself not.

But ya thanks for the heads up!

00 is getting more and more interesting in the new season (just like Code Geass did in season 2), but i don't really dig the fact that marly (is that how you spell her name?) all of a sudden became so feminine...somehow it sounds laughable.

Thanks for the heads up guys!

I also heard from some one from a local hobby store that acrylics are actually harder to airbrush compared to enamels and lacquer because acrylics will form clots in the airbrush if not cleaned properly. And since most of the time acrylics can only be used on top of everything but not as the base, it feels like it complicates the painting process a whole lot.

So for now I think I'll stick with lacquer, and I'm planning on using the ventilation fan in the kitchen to suck the harmful fumes out so I don't get a headache after each paint job

Basically, it's how "hot" each type of paint is. And you can go by smell and common sense. Lacquer is the hottest. It will dissolve/eat anything, even plastic. Nothing else will affect it. Enamel is in the middle--lacquer will eat it, it will eat acrylic. Acrylic is the "weakest"--it won't eat anything, and will be eaten by all other paints. Note that lacquer will smell strongly for hours, while you can brush-paint acrylic for hours with almost no smell.

Another basic rule---enamels and lacquers will re-liquify when exposed to their own proper thinner/solvent, acrylics will not. (this is important for bottles--if some dry or almost dry enamel paint falls back into the bottle--it'll reliquify in a little while, no problem. But a dry clump of acrylic--will remain a clump floating around forever)

Thanks for the reply David.

Just to confirm, so basically it's impossible to apply lacquer over acrylic then??.... Also panel-lining using enamel over acrylic will eat it away too?...

See the thing for me is I don't have good ventilation at my house and smelling lacquer makes me feel sick and even if it doesn't I'm pretty sure it's unhealthy (I do wear a mask tho while spraying), that's why I wanted to switch to acrylic. So now seeing all these advantages of acrylics, should I just stick to lacquer for now and never mind switching to acrylic then?

Since I see that many modelers here use Tamiya Acrylic and I'm old enough to consider my health seriously, I think it's time to say good bye to Mr. Color (which is Lacquer) which has been damaging my health for the past 2 years and it's time to switch to Acrylics.

I vaguely remember somewhere I've read an article that said if you spray a layer of lacquer on top of acrylic, it'll dissolve the acrylic and mess up the whole thing. And if you use enamel on top of acrylic, it'll do the same thing. However, it said if you apply acrylic over lacquer, it'll be fine??

I've been using Lacquer and Enamel (enamel for washing) ever since I started using airbrush and I've never had experience using Acrylic before. If you guys can give me some heads-up here that'll be great (i.e. do they dissolve each other? if so how should i avoid it?).

ps. Anyone knows a good place to buy acrylic paints (Tamiya, Testors, etc. doesn't matter) in Toronto? (Any online-stores having a base in Canada is perfect too)

Thanks!!!!

From the link posted a few posts ago: "Canada – Loblaws, No-Frills, Sobeys, Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart, Valu-Mart."

oOps didn't see it...

Thanks!

And could any one answer my question about the use of Future with lacquer/enamel paints?

oh, and can I use Lacquer/Enamel on top of Future?

And the other way around - Future on top of Lacquer/Enamel?

And finally, where can I get this thing in Toronto, Canada? Does Canadian Tire/ Walmart have this thing?

Thanks!

Iwatas are equal if not far better Than Paschee

as far as i know, Iwata's are WAY better than Pasche's....

I've been working on this one, also:

wooooo~ I like this one far more than SF

well, my big question is, is the Future in its original bottle airbrush ready???

enjoy

The Complete Future

wow, thanks alot~~~~~

I see that many modelers here apply Future to their kits before applying decals or just simply for sealing the kits.

Since this is the first time I heard of this magical being, I have several questions:

1. Does it need any thinning?

2. How do you apply it? Airbrush? Brush? Just soak parts in it?

3. Would any application of enamel/lacquer on top of it eat it away?

4. Finally, in Toronto, where can you get it?

Thanks a lot.

Aaaah, I see. FIRST, clean all the parts with detergent (or wipe down with 70% Isopropyl). Next, lightly sand the seam areas. THEN use a solvent glue. If your glue smells like citrus, it's not solvent. My personal preferrance is the watery liquid stuff. You can clamp the parts together (just where you want them) together and run along the seems with a bead of it, or build it up on the halves and connect. If you use enough, the softened edges will even fill in seemed areas if you work it right. A little goes a long way too. - MT

ah ha! I think I'm using a solvent type cement and probably there's something wrong with my technique. Thanks for the tricks and I'll definitely try these out on my next model (which should be coming next week~ ya I'm so happy )

Howie, welcome to the boards! I'm not sure which type that is (they have a couple of orange caps). Regular solvent glues like Testors, Revell, Humbrol, etc... should work fine. After the parts are put together, it should only take about five minutes or so for the parts to hold on their own. If you're in a rush (bad idea), you can use super glue. Super glue is fine, I use it all the time. The only problem is that it is harder than the plastic when cured. Sanding/filing afterward can make uneven areas. Try another type of cement. Most evaporate quickly. If it's an "eco-friendly" glue, those take longer to evaporate verses regular solvent glues. Hope that helps. - MT

THanks for the suggestions MT. The problem I have with mine is that it's not strong enough. I can almost always easily take parts apart after being glued together and left overnight. Maybe something wrong with my technique?...

Anybody know of any shops in Canada? Even if I had to pay a few bucks more it would probably be worth it so I don't have to pay $40 bucks shipping all the time.

same question here....

so far i've bought my kits from either Ebay or Rainbowten, both of them are online shops, which cost a lot for shipping....

for hasegawa kits?

I'm currently using Gunze Sanyo's, the one with the orange cup and cone shape. I found it hard to use since it takes way too long to dry and harden...

thanks for any suggestions