Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[MechTech]

@Papa Rat That VE-1 is looking GREAT! Nice weathering! Great print work and designs too! I guess you're one of the few who still touches typesets?

@505thAirborne Those helmets look VERY realistic and authentic (I can say that from experience😁). I had to do a replica of an old WWII M-3 aircraft flak helmet for a display one time. It's harder than people think!

@Cheese3 No one will accuse you of not using your own original paint schemes - that's for sure! Cool designs and collection too!

@LocusPocus Wow! There are A LOT of bias lines on that print. But like you said, good learning experience! Those joints you're installing will make it much better.

@derex3592 You are going to have quite the 1/72nd Air Force! The paint is looking clean too.

@nightmareB4macross Yeah, yours is MUCH better 😁

 

I'm predicting people are going to run out to their Dick's Sporting Goods, or local equivelent, this weekend and buy track shoe spikes. These were about $12.00 USD for 14 vs the same cost for just a couple from an aftermarket company. They are SHARP and DURABLE vs the aluminum ones that are aftermarket extras.

You can use a 12-24 tap to make threads for them, or just use super glue! I saw these while my wife was looking for shoes. God gave me a great idea after seeing these😉

Oh, and this was supposed to be a simple 1/100 Z'Gok build to work on while sitting with my wife watching TV. I just couldn't get over that '70's look and thought it needed more "Machismo". I'll post more as I complete it. Thanks for checking in! - MT

[Papa Rat]

1 hour ago, MechTech said:

That VE-1 is looking GREAT! Nice weathering! Great print work and designs too! I guess you're one of the few who still touches typesets?

Thanks so much! I should have it all done over the weekend.  Not too shabby. 👍

Cool idea with the track spikes!

Yeah…letterpress as a commercial print process as well as the people who run them is rather rare.  I have been doing it for probably 20 years now and love it. It was a fun hobby “had a smaller platen press in my garage” that turned into a career printing on larger Heidelberg windmills. It doesn’t pay that well but I choose a modest life for the freedom and creativity it brings to me. I am so grateful. 

Edited September 5 by Papa Rat

[SteveTheFish]

13 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Yes, it's the Academy 1/72 bird. I'm going the NATO Black now, going to mask some panels as you suggest with some very dark greys and then try some light oil washes for streaks and white chalk, but like you mentioned, I've had that disappear with clear coat. 

If you are interested, here is how I went about weathering my Blackbird. I have the old 48th scale Testors/Italeri Blackbird model in my closet, but if I was to build it, I'd have no place to put it. 

[Big s]

5 hours ago, LocusPocus said:

The hasegawa one will likely arrive before I can button this guy up!

Well, they barely put up the tv Queadluun Rau, so probably another six months and they’ll do an alternate color of that, so I’d say maybe next year till we might get one of the Nousjadeul Ger kits and it may be the tv version first so you got a bit time still unless Hasegawa pulls out a surprise 

[Big s]

13 hours ago, MechTech said:

@Papa Rat That VE-1 is looking GREAT! Nice weathering! Great print work and designs too! I guess you're one of the few who still touches typesets?

@505thAirborne Those helmets look VERY realistic and authentic (I can say that from experience😁). I had to do a replica of an old WWII M-3 aircraft flak helmet for a display one time. It's harder than people think!

@Cheese3 No one will accuse you of not using your own original paint schemes - that's for sure! Cool designs and collection too!

@LocusPocus Wow! There are A LOT of bias lines on that print. But like you said, good learning experience! Those joints you're installing will make it much better.

@derex3592 You are going to have quite the 1/72nd Air Force! The paint is looking clean too.

@nightmareB4macross Yeah, yours is MUCH better 😁

 

I'm predicting people are going to run out to their Dick's Sporting Goods, or local equivelent, this weekend and buy track shoe spikes. These were about $12.00 USD for 14 vs the same cost for just a couple from an aftermarket company. They are SHARP and DURABLE vs the aluminum ones that are aftermarket extras.

You can use a 12-24 tap to make threads for them, or just use super glue! I saw these while my wife was looking for shoes. God gave me a great idea after seeing these😉

Oh, and this was supposed to be a simple 1/100 Z'Gok build to work on while sitting with my wife watching TV. I just couldn't get over that '70's look and thought it needed more "Machismo". I'll post more as I complete it. Thanks for checking in! - MT

Love that Hesher Z’Gok. I remember back when I we were in middle and high school buying similar spikes and putting em on jackets and boots. The sporting goods store had a bunch of em and I think we also “borrowed” some from the school teams

[Mog]

On 9/2/2025 at 10:42 AM, 505thAirborne said:

 

Mospeada related, I'll be working on a Dark Tread/Shadow Beta soon, I'll be using the MPC Beta that never was as my guide. I'm just waiting for the paint to arrive. 

Curious what you’ll be using as the base figure for this custom.

[505thAirborne]

@Mog I'm using this MPC for the Dark Tread, surprisingly it was very easy to disassemble, and the plastic used it excellent. no signs of wear & tear on it. The missile bay section is a delight in that the panels just slide out; no masking needed for those. 

@tekering offered some good suggestions for colors to use, so I have some Tamiya spray paint cans on the way, sadly none of my local hobby shops sell Tamiya brand. I miss my old hobby shop from CA, Smith Bros. had everything. 

Edited September 6 by 505thAirborne

[Papa Rat]

I huge shoutout to @tekering for the amazing 3D print. It arrived safe and sound.
 I am so excited to get to work on this. It came out great!

[Big s]

1 hour ago, Papa Rat said:

I huge shoutout to @tekering for the amazing 3D print. It arrived safe and sound.
 I am so excited to get to work on this. It came out great!

Looks pretty cool, very organic 

[Papa Rat]

Put a fork in it, it’s done. “For now”

I might settle on getting one of those Hasegawa Macross stands for this. Anyone here use one?

 

[tekering]

Dammit, @Papa Rat!  My Arcadia Premium Finish 1:60 VE-1 Elintseeker isn't looking so "Premium Finish" now... 🫣

In fact, it looks like a cheap toy next to your model. 😞

18 hours ago, Papa Rat said:

I huge shoutout to @tekering for the amazing 3D print.

Can't wait to see what you do to it! 😋

Incidentally, I just got around to repainting my Gachapon ALIEN Juggernaut:

It now resides in the lower left corner of my 1:3000 starship display.

Now, let's see if you geeks can out-geek this geek:

Who can identify what I'm printing this week?

And for what purpose...?

[pengbuzz]

24 minutes ago, tekering said:

Dammit, @Papa Rat!  My Arcadia Premium Finish 1:60 VE-1 Elintseeker isn't looking so "Premium Finish" now... 🫣

In fact, it looks like a cheap toy next to your model. 😞

Can't wait to see what you do to it! 😋

Incidentally, I just got around to repainting my Gachapon ALIEN Juggernaut:

It now resides in the lower left corner of my 1:3000 starship display.

Now, let's see if you geeks can out-geek this geek:

Who can identify what I'm printing this week?

And for what purpose...?

The two engines we see in the background of Mos Eisley on Tatooine for the landspeeder scene (Obi-Wan and Luke) in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope?

[Papa Rat]

33 minutes ago, tekering said:

Dammit, @Papa Rat!  My Arcadia Premium Finish 1:60 VE-1 Elintseeker isn't looking so "Premium Finish" now... 🫣

In fact, it looks like a cheap toy next to your model. 😞

Can't wait to see what you do to it! 😋

Incidentally, I just got around to repainting my Gachapon ALIEN Juggernaut:

It now resides in the lower left corner of my 1:3000 starship display.

Now, let's see if you geeks can out-geek this geek:

Who can identify what I'm printing this week?

And for what purpose...?

Hey, thanks for the compliment. It means a lot.

Also stoked to see that Juggernaut! So tiny and looks great!

Oh and just a random anecdote, I was looking up to see if there was any Invid model kits out there and I stumbled onto a post you made years ago of a resin Gosu.  Wow that is next level. I was blown away!!!

Final note…I can’t identify the project you are working on and I’m a huge nerd. 🤓 You win. Hahaha

Edited September 6 by Papa Rat

[Big s]

15 hours ago, Papa Rat said:

Put a fork in it, it’s done. “For now”

I might settle on getting one of those Hasegawa Macross stands for this. Anyone here use one?

 

Looks Awsome. I can see that little nose scratch from this side that you were talking about, you could try and do a couple other little scratches here and there and it will just look like some weathering 

[Papa Rat]

22 minutes ago, Big s said:

Looks Awsome. I can see that little nose scratch from this side that you were talking about, you could try and do a couple other little scratches here and there and it will just look like some weathering 

Thanks. 😊

Yeah, that’s a great idea. I might do some very minor damage around the build to help unify things and bring less attention to the nose. Less is more is what I’m learning. 

Edited September 6 by Papa Rat
Spelling

[pengbuzz]

15 minutes ago, Papa Rat said:

Thanks. 😊

Yeah, that’s a great idea. I might do some  wry minor damage around the build to help unify things and bring less attention to the nose. Less is more is what I’m learning. 

Now you can say it's scrarchbuilt.  

[Papa Rat]

4 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

Now you can say it's scrarchbuilt.  

Hahahahaha. 

[Big s]

54 minutes ago, Papa Rat said:

Thanks. 😊

Yeah, that’s a great idea. I might do some very minor damage around the build to help unify things and bring less attention to the nose. Less is more is what I’m learning. 

Yeah, just some lil ones here and there and it’ll just be perfect 

[Papa Rat]

1 hour ago, Big s said:

Yeah, just some lil ones here and there and it’ll just be perfect 

I agree. 
 

While I get to work on that Space Jockey I’m also getting back to what I love. Old janky kits. ♥️

[Bolt]

18 hours ago, Papa Rat said:

Put a fork in it, it’s done. “For now”

I might settle on getting one of those Hasegawa Macross stands for this. Anyone here use one?

 

Nice job ! That came out great!

[Big s]

27 minutes ago, Papa Rat said:

I agree. 
 

While I get to work on that Space Jockey I’m also getting back to what I love. Old janky kits. ♥️

Arii is definitely a janky company, but I’ve built a bunch of their kits since they were the only Macross ones I could find back in the 80’s and early 90’s until the internet age. Basically they were my childhood and I rarely saw imai kits available 

[Papa Rat]

53 minutes ago, Bolt said:

Nice job ! That came out great!

Thanks. 

[tekering]

8 hours ago, pengbuzz said:

The two engines we see in the background of Mos Eisley on Tatooine for the landspeeder scene (Obi-Wan and Luke) in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope?

Mad props to @pengbuzz, guys!  Got it in one. 

[Urashiman]

What's lying on my workbench (couch).

I purchased something that has been suggested to me through one of my many ali express orders for RC car parts.

For a whopping 7.65€.

I couldn't say no to this. The box arrived squished up, so I hoped the pieces would be okay.

Checking the pieces - they seemed fine.

Everything is snap-fit, colored already and printed on.

The assembly is straight forward.

Here is a little step by step:

The super detailed landing gears - I've never seen them this detailed before XD:

 

And done:

With wings that can be swept in

 

It were a fun 5 minutes to snap this thing together. Probably the least accurate Tomcat ever, but hey - 7 euro-something for a plane already painted and printed on? I don't complain. haha... look at those huge panel lines. hahahaa

[Big s]

3 hours ago, Urashiman said:

What's lying on my workbench (couch).

I purchased something that has been suggested to me through one of my many ali express orders for RC car parts.

For a whopping 7.65€.

I couldn't say no to this. The box arrived squished up, so I hoped the pieces would be okay.

Checking the pieces - they seemed fine.

Everything is snap-fit, colored already and printed on.

The assembly is straight forward.

Here is a little step by step:

The super detailed landing gears - I've never seen them this detailed before XD:

 

And done:

With wings that can be swept in

 

It were a fun 5 minutes to snap this thing together. Probably the least accurate Tomcat ever, but hey - 7 euro-something for a plane already painted and printed on? I don't complain. haha... look at those huge panel lines. hahahaa

You should do some weathering on it for laughs

[derex3592]

Any progress is good progress they say..... 🤔 

[505thAirborne]

So many amazing builds & customs going on here, well done everyone!

@derex3592 The Cats-eye is looking superb so far! 

@MechTech From one of the masters of scratch building, I appreciate the compliment on those Nam Helmets. I remember the M3 Flak helmet you posted years ago, I 'm still taken back how you did those flaps, very impressive to this day. 

@Papa Rat Your VE-1 is a masterpiece, I love the detailing! 

[Papa Rat]

1 hour ago, derex3592 said:

Any progress is good progress they say..... 🤔 

Drool! Love it

[Papa Rat]

52 minutes ago, 505thAirborne said:

Your VE-1 is a masterpiece, I love the detailing! 

Thanks so much! 👍

[Papa Rat]

I’m finding the easiest way to align pieces “that will never align” on these old kits is to simply just lay down some .3mm on top and move on. 
 

Been thinking ahead about color on this. I always see the VF-1S in a bright white and I may stick with that, but what if I do a rich red undercoat and see what happens? A cool blue would make more sense but why play it safe. Hahah We will find out when this puppy gets into the spray booth. 

[wm cheng]

On 9/5/2025 at 11:56 PM, Papa Rat said:

Put a fork in it, it’s done. “For now”

I might settle on getting one of those Hasegawa Macross stands for this. Anyone here use one?

 

WOW!!! That turned out absolutely amazing.  Congrats, looks so good.  Why would you need a stand if its on wheels?

[wm cheng]

2 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Any progress is good progress they say..... 🤔 

That's looking amazing too!!!  Nice subtle mottling underneath that super smooth paint job!

[pengbuzz]

Well, progress on my latest project:

     

The first is when I first burned my arm; the second is a few minutes ago. I guess I got the "mottling" down... just needs decals and some dullcote.

 

[Papa Rat]

1 hour ago, wm cheng said:

WOW!!! That turned out absolutely amazing.  Congrats, looks so good.  Why would you need a stand if its on wheels?

Thanks so much!

There are two options when building and installing the lower radar. One allows for clearance while on the ground while the other is in a lower position “extended” which dips down below the level of the wheels.  I prefer the later version with it extended so I need to get it off the ground. 

Edited September 7 by Papa Rat

[Papa Rat]

22 minutes ago, pengbuzz said:

Well, progress on my latest project:

     

The first is when I first burned my arm; the second is a few minutes ago. I guess I got the "mottling" down... just needs decals and some dullcote.

 

😂 wow but seriously it’s looking way better.