Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[Big s]

3 hours ago, SteveTheFish said:

I've seen several mentions of IPMS. I attended one meeting in the Chandler, AZ area in 2011, the year before I moved back to Japan. I found that the atmosphere there was not very friendly towards sci-fi modeling, as if it wasn't respected as a legitimate form of modeling. Do you guys get flack for being Macross modelers? I've heard that it's pretty hit-and-miss, depending on who's running the local chapter. Some are welcoming of SF modeling while others treat such subjects with disdain.

Sci fi modeling is in these days. Everything from Gundam to Warhammer and Macross to Star Trek. Even the car guys are doing a lot of Mad Max style customs from standard car kits. The historical stuff is still there, but it’s almost a 50/50 thing to the Sci fi these days 

[nightmareB4macross]

On 4/29/2025 at 5:43 PM, Big s said:

Here’s a pic of the underside gear up

and a 1A with those basic missiles. It’s jut from a quick search though and I’m sure you could get more pics in a simple google search I’d double check though because I don’t remember the backs of the missiles being so red

Macross is such a weird one to try and find consistency in colts and other details 

found the dx version of the weapon set. It’s definitely closer to what I remember

Took me a while to find this, but here is the reason red is prominent in TV missiles.

[Big s]

32 minutes ago, nightmareB4macross said:

Took me a while to find this, but here is the reason red is prominent in TV missiles.

I e been noticing that the red is a here and there thing depending on the scene or screenshot. Sometimes they’re more white and other times a bit red on the back and other times red on front and back

[MechTech]

@Papa Rat That Monster is looking good! Lots of love and attention. Some seams you may be able to fix before-hand. When you can, if you sand the edges flat, like on a piece of sand paper mounted to a board, they'll join better. Then use a ton of glue to make the seams "wet". Then put them together. It will take a day or two to dry, but you may be able to eliminate some puttying (which also requires waiting time). Plus the seam is stronger.

@SteveTheFish and ALCON: Still to this day, a lot of the IPMS founders are stuck in their ways. I've heard fellow club members who read their literature complain about it. That includes techniques too. Don't get them started on 3D printing either! But like Big S said, there is a big group of Sci-fi modellers, mostly Gunpla modellers who are forcing them to change. Our last convention had A LOT of sci-fi kits. Even our die-hard aircraft guys are getting a Gundam just to see what they're all about and understand them better. The last two shows/conventions I was at even had a large group of Gunpla club members en force representing and taking photos together.

The downside, the judges know how easy they can be made to look good. So they get more attention in judging now😉 - MT

 

[Papa Rat]

@MechTech

thanks for the tip. I’ll give it a try. 

[Papa Rat]

So this is a PSA from my bench. Get yourself a ceramic “blade” tool. I wasn’t sure about it but once I started using one I was changed forever. lol not only good for mold lines, it’s also great for smoothing/scraping without cutting if that makes sense?

 

Edited yesterday at 03:01 AM by Papa Rat

[Big s]

43 minutes ago, Papa Rat said:

So this is a PSA from my bench. Get yourself a ceramic “blade” tool. I wasn’t sure about it but once I started using one I was changed forever. lol not only good for mold lines, it’s also great for smoothing/scraping without cutting if that makes sense?

 

Never used one, but lately everyone has something new worth trying. I’ll keep an eye out. The newest stuff I’ve tried that I love are glass files and water color pencils and both of those work great. I’ll definitely give one of these a try and see how it goes 

[SteveTheFish]

15 hours ago, MechTech said:

@SteveTheFish and ALCON: Still to this day, a lot of the IPMS founders are stuck in their ways. I've heard fellow club members who read their literature complain about it.

That's how I remember them to be, so it's why I asked. I went to the IPMS national convention in Phoenix, AZ in 2010 and the showroom was row after row of models built exactly as they are supposed to be built. Not so much inspiration or originality. The SF section was just along one table and that was it. The IPMS club I attended once was mostly just grumpy old geezers who couldn't appreciate anything SF. I'm glad to hear that it's changed, but the contest judging remains obstinate from what I hear. My friend in Canada built a Bandai A-Wing to look just like the Ralph McQuarrie concept art. It looked beautiful with the blue and white scheme, and displayed it for the IPMS event there in Calgary or wherever it was. He was demerited because it "wasn't weathered enough." Well, tell that to Ralph McQuarrie. I'm sure that the judges know Star Wars, but beyond that they probably didn't even know what they were looking at.

Anyhow, my Rei and Asuka are done. I have them both placed on a wooden plaque. I'm thinking that I might paint the plaque and print out an Evangelion or Nerv logo decal (although I honestly don't really care for the show). Yesterday it was 34 degrees C (I think that would be 91F) and last night I saw that Asuka was leaning forward. Drat! It's because of the way their feet are made, in segments. If they were just one piece, I could fill them with plaster better. As it is, sofubi tends to bend when warm. I removed the 2mm copper rod and I will replace it with a much longer one to give her leg more support.

Also, the two girls have those life support backpacks or whatever they are. On Rei, I  put some superglue in the wrong place and it turned out messy. It's that semigloss black section on her back. I wetsanded most of it off and now it doesn't look so bad. I'm not sure if I should risk trying to remove more or not. 

[Papa Rat]

17 minutes ago, Big s said:

Never used one, but lately everyone has something new worth trying. I’ll keep an eye out. The newest stuff I’ve tried that I love are glass files and water color pencils and both of those work great. I’ll definitely give one of these a try and see how it goes 

Nice thing about the ceramic blade is that it has either 4 or 5 flat sides depending if it has a curve. Sort of like an ink knife or mud knife for drywall. Make sense? It can’t cut your skin but at the correct angle it shaves off plastic with ease and never gets dull. I guess it can be a bit fragile and break if dropped?

Edited yesterday at 04:00 AM by Papa Rat

[woodsider]

@Papa Rat @Thom @MechTech Thanks guys! Yes the show was good to me.  @SteveTheFish Yes IPMS has come a long way when it comes to Japanese SciFi/Gundam modeling, but in my experience there's still the old timers who couldn't care less. Besides SCGMC, IPMS is pretty much the only game in town in terms of exhibitions. I'd like to see one of those IPMS guys put that Monster together and then let's what they say!

[pengbuzz]

On 6/17/2025 at 11:55 PM, SteveTheFish said:

That's how I remember them to be, so it's why I asked. I went to the IPMS national convention in Phoenix, AZ in 2010 and the showroom was row after row of models built exactly as they are supposed to be built. Not so much inspiration or originality. The SF section was just along one table and that was it. The IPMS club I attended once was mostly just grumpy old geezers who couldn't appreciate anything SF. I'm glad to hear that it's changed, but the contest judging remains obstinate from what I hear. My friend in Canada built a Bandai A-Wing to look just like the Ralph McQuarrie concept art. It looked beautiful with the blue and white scheme, and displayed it for the IPMS event there in Calgary or wherever it was. He was demerited because it "wasn't weathered enough." Well, tell that to Ralph McQuarrie. I'm sure that the judges know Star Wars, but beyond that they probably didn't even know what they were looking at.

This is one reason why I don't enter contests or shows: too many "judges" I feel are so stodgy or set in their ways that their criteria for decisions is way off, 

They'd utterly hate how much masking tape I use on my stuff.

[Papa Rat]

I’d still like to have the experience of the model show at least once since I’m so curious about it. At the end of the day building is for me since it’s fun, personal and challenging. It’s not to be better than someone else. I like the idea of sharing the work I do/have done with others who are interested. 😊

Edited 3 hours ago by Papa Rat

[pengbuzz]

7 minutes ago, Papa Rat said:

I’d still like to have the experience of the model show at least once since I’m so curious about it. At the end of the day building is for me since it’s fun, personal and challenging. It’s not to be better than someone else. I like the idea of sharing the work I do/have done with others who are interested. 😊

Understood; I feel the same way about my work, I just don't like it being judged by folks whose criteria is so esoteric that it was formed back when you had to make your own models out of stones and sticks! 

[Papa Rat]

Hahahaha 

[MechTech]

@SteveTheFish That's sad. Marking down for "not weathered enough" is not cool. That choice is up to the modeller. That can also be fixed by noting what you did on the judging sheet and why. A lot of people don't know that they SHOULD make special notes.

The last contest I judged, someone did some Gundams with a wood finish to them. We didn't mark them down because that's not what a Gundam looks like, but the wood effect was very bad.

Like @woodsider said, things are changing A LOT! VERY rarely are models made out of wood anymore. They are now plastic. That's a paradigm shift. Sci-fi becoming VERY popular is the latest shift. Allowing 3D printed models in Gundam competitions is the next one. 😉

@pengbuzz Judges Pengbuzz's model and notes, "Left masking tape on model." 🤣 - MT