Newbie Resin VF-XS Battloid

[macroadster]

I got the kit 2 days before Christmas. My initial plan is to make this VF-1S a different pose from the stock kit. However, I am not sure if I should convert this to VF-0S for uniqueness. Here is how I started it...

[macroadster]

This kit comes with really rough parts. There are things sticking out all over the place and some of them ruin the details...

[macroadster]

Here is a piece of the shoulder. I apologize for the blury picture, but you can see there is a big junkie piece stick out of the shoulder.

[macroadster]

I manage to sand all of the pieces. Resin is much more easily to sand than plastic. Resin turns to powder rather quickly.

[macroadster]

I am not so sure what to use to glue the resin parts together. Hints anyone? For now I am drilling holes between the pieces and pin them with staple pins.

[macroadster]

Here is a shot of the staple pins in the left arm.

[macroadster]

Here is a shot of the staple pins in the left arm from a different angle. Note, try to avoid using the bended section of the staple pins.

[macroadster]

Here is a dry fit of most of the pieces of the kit. The drilling and pinning were done in matter of couple minutes...

[macroadster]

Here is a rough visualization of the pose. The gun is pointed in the different direction instead of holding by two hands. I am almost convinced to alter this kit to become a VF-0S, but it will be a lot of work to reform the legs and various parts using eproxy putter. Lucky for me, I got some extra eproxy putter left over from my VF-0S plane project. Now, I just need to wait for someone to enlighten me on how to glue resin parts together.

[Highside]

Use super glue for resin kits.

[HWR MKII]

those chuny bits are pour stubs. most resin its have them. yours have actually been trimmed down a bit for you. its where the resin gets poured into the mold. its quite common some companies (not many) actually clean them up alot more so all you have to do is a little touch up sanding.

a good brand of gleu to use is ZAP CA glue in the green label bottle. it dries a little slower and is slightly thicker.

[f91]

I've used coat hanger wires to pin models before, but that might be too big for your kit. Any type of stiff wire or even plastic rod will work. Be carefull with that resin dust. It isn't good for you.

[Gundamhead]

Ok quick basics for you. You've done great so far.

1. Try wet sanding resin. Keeps the dust to a minimum, it sands much better, and healthier. Go slow, resin sands easy and you can sand away detail pretty quick.

2. Crazy Glue (CA) or Epoxy bond resin kits. Careful with the Crazy Glue, it bonds instantly sometimes on resin. It's also harder than the resin, so if you have to sand away dry Crazy Glue, go slow or you might accidentally take away the area around the glue you're trying to remove.

3. Your model should get a warm soapy bath in a detergent soap. (Simple Green or even Dawn) It removes the mold release which can interfere with paint.

4 Your pins are very good. It adds strength to the parts. However, you might have gone a little overboard. Once you glue that guy, he'll never come apart the same way. Pinning is usually for areas that bear heavy stress, on heavier models.

Hope this helps you, and show pics when you finish.

[Jagull]

where did you get the kit at?

[dyowelb]

where did you get the kit at?

you can try e2046 or hobbyfan

[Aurel Tristen]

Nice kit.

However a VF-XS...... http://nanashino.macrossmecha.info/variable/vfxs.html

I trust you meant VF-xS....

[macroadster]

where did you get the kit at?

Got it at hobbyfan.com. I think that's the only place available online now.

[macroadster]

I've used coat hanger wires to pin models before, but that might be too big for your kit. Any type of stiff wire or even plastic rod will work. Be carefull with that resin dust. It isn't good for you.

I breath in a lot of the white powder. I will watch out from now on...Thanks

I hope I don't die any time soon.

[macroadster]

those chuny bits are pour stubs. most resin its have them. yours have actually been trimmed down a bit for you. its where the resin gets poured into the mold. its quite common some companies (not many) actually clean them up alot more so all you have to do is a little touch up sanding.

a good brand of gleu to use is ZAP CA glue in the green label bottle. it dries a little slower and is slightly thicker.

I will try out the ZAP glue. I don't want my kit to glue together too fast by super glue, so I can model it a little while I am building it. Thanks for the tip.

[macroadster]

Nice kit.

However a VF-XS...... http://nanashino.macrossmecha.info/variable/vfxs.html

I trust you meant VF-xS....

Yes you are correct. My bad for using a big "X".

[macroadster]

I am trying to fill some of the holes and alter the details with epoxy putter. I am not sure if I am doing it right. I used my fingers to mold the parts into something that look like the shoulder pads, and fill in the circle on the legs. I also added some putter to the head so it would look like VF-0S's head. However, those hand made parts don't look professional at all. I am waiting for the parts to dry. Next I will sand those parts to remove finger prints from those parts. If I am not doing this right, let me know. I will try to remove the putter as soon as possible.

[macroadster]

I put the kits back together and wait for them to dry...

[Gundamhead]

I've used coat hanger wires to pin models before, but that might be too big for your kit. Any type of stiff wire or even plastic rod will work. Be carefull with that resin dust. It isn't good for you.

I breath in a lot of the white powder. I will watch out from now on...Thanks

I hope I don't die any time soon.

Wet sand! It's just better all around.

[Myersjessee]

Looking good...keep us in the loop please.

[Aurel Tristen]

Nice kit.

However a VF-XS...... http://nanashino.macrossmecha.info/variable/vfxs.html

I trust you meant VF-xS....

Yes you are correct. My bad for using a big "X".

Okay cool

Good luck with it. It looks good so far.

[macroadster]

I brought a new automatic sanding and cutting tool today. It used to take me hours to send a single part. Now, all parts were sanded in 10 minutes...

[macroadster]

The cutting tool helped in dividing the top right arm into two pieces for my new pose.

I was extremely pleased with the cutting result.

[macroadster]

I haven't got much done today. I only painted the chest, and air in-take part is looking more like VF-0S than VF-1S now. The air breaker piece has been hand drilled, but I probably should have used a pan to align the holes before I drill them. They don't look aligned when looking closely. I sand away so much detail today that there is no turning back to a VF-1S now.

[macroadster]

Since the black strips are linear, I thoguht it would be easy to use the painting tape to tape all parts and brush away quickly..

[macroadster]

By the time the black paint were dryed, I peal off the tapes and realized that I screw up big time. I probably didn't tape it tight enough or I was using too much paint. Perhaps, this method only works with air brush. I was pretty discouraged for the mess that I made. In addition, my new boss called me that I will be starting in a new job soon. Therefore I won't have time to play with the model anymore.

[macroadster]

Let's not panic. I decided to paint the head to boost my mood to continue to work on the model.

[macroadster]

Things are starting to look up again after I pin the legs together and realize that this model is really good looking..

[macroadster]

prime the steel parts to ensure the steel color would stick on them.

[macroadster]

The right leg has been assembled and joined by epoxy putter, and the left leg has been joined by crazy glue. The original kit's right leg does not really connect, so I add some putter to ensure there is no gap in the knee section. In addition, I sand away the olive shape of detail beside the air-intake to make the robot looks like VF-0S.

[macroadster]

I used epoxy putter to join the right arm too. This is because I cut off the right arm and re position the arm to another angle which is probably hard to be joint by crazy glue.