Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[Chas]

Holly Crap! That's awful.

[Urashiman]

Building is on!

 

What i found interesting?

I had the initial plamax VF-1 and the max/kakizaki version. Both were identical, save for the decals.

This one? They seemed to have updated a few parts. Aside from the obvious ones, that need to be different, changes were made to the nose and canopy. So, the kit is evolving. 😮

[Papa Rat]

@derex3592Wow. That’s wild. 

[Papa Rat]

59 minutes ago, Urashiman said:

Building is on!

 

What i found interesting?

I had the initial plamax VF-1 and the max/kakizaki version. Both were identical, save for the decals.

This one? They seemed to have updated a few parts. Aside from the obvious ones, that need to be different, changes were made to the nose and canopy. So, the kit is evolving. 😮

It’s cool to see them tweet things. I’m super excited to see this “straight” build. Or I guess no paint build  

Edited December 25, 2025 by Papa Rat

[Thom]

Dang @derex3592! There's nothing inside holding that gap open?

[derex3592]

@Thom - Yes.....and no...LOL. That was the BEST result I could get after a solid HOUR of fiddling with the interior parts. The cockpit fit is fine, the interior bomb bay is snug, but it's fine. I believe the fault lies in the long part with the three "bumps" on the top of the body.  I ended up prying apart the front half of the plane and literally cutting away almost all the extra plastic on one side of that part. Perhaps I glued it in it slightly at an angle, I'm not sure, but it looked fine to me when I did it a few days ago.  Whatever, the result will be fine once I sand and rescribe, I already puttied it and sanded a bit and it's livable. Pressing on! 

[Papa Rat]

On the floor next to the bench. I guess I was good this year. My mother-in-law got me a display cabinet for my builds. It’s sooo thoughtful. Now I get to take some of my favorites out of their boxes to display. Should be inspiring and also show me a fun timeline of where I started and where I’m at now. 
ok…time to build. 

[Big s]

2 hours ago, Urashiman said:

This one? They seemed to have updated a few parts. Aside from the obvious ones, that need to be different, changes were made to the nose and canopy. So, the kit is evolving. 😮

Mine is still sitting in my private warehouse at hlj. Can you post the differences, kinda curious to see

[Big s]

33 minutes ago, Papa Rat said:

On the floor next to the bench. I guess I was good this year. My mother-in-law got me a display cabinet for my builds. It’s sooo thoughtful. Now I get to take some of my favorites out of their boxes to display. Should be inspiring and also show me a fun timeline of where I started and where I’m at now. 
ok…time to build. 

I need to get some smaller taller shelves. My old house that I was renting had more space, this new one is more cabin style and even though it has two stories, the rooms are much smaller up here

[Urashiman]

11 hours ago, Big s said:

Mine is still sitting in my private warehouse at hlj. Can you post the differences, kinda curious to see

Hard to show, but the instructions might give a hint. I‘ll post that later.

here some progress pictures. Remember: no priming, airbrushing and so on. Only bare plastics and highlights with permanent markers.

[Papa Rat]

It’s nice to see pilots included in these kits!

[derex3592]

Well.... Wifey-Clause was good to me! 😂 Somewhere she found a tiny little Hasegawa 1/72 Kawasaki Ki-61 model kit from 1980, still sealed up. I did some research and it was originally a Revell Great Britain kit dating allllll the way back to 1963! This one was a repop from Japan 🇯🇵 in 1980 apparently after Hasegawa copied the mold in the mid 70s.

And then she got me this.... 

The Beast....Tamiya 1/48 F-35A....I've heard this is one of the best engineered kits to ever come out so I'm sure I'll find a way to screw it up! 😁 😂

Edited December 26, 2025 by derex3592

[Papa Rat]

40 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

Well.... Wifey-Clause was good to me! 😂 Somewhere she found a tiny little Hasegawa 1/72 Kawasaki Ki-61 model kit from 1980, still sealed up. I did some research and it was originally a Revell Great Britain kit dating allllll the way back to 1963! This one was a repop from Japan 🇯🇵 in 1980 apparently after Hasegawa copied the mold in the mid 70s.

And then she got me this.... 

The Beast....Tamiya 1/48 F-35A....I've heard this is one of the best engineered kits to ever come out so I'm sure I'll find a way to screw it up! 😁 😂

Congrats. It’s so nice having a partner that knows what you like and can still surprise you. 👍

[Urashiman]

8 hours ago, Papa Rat said:

It’s nice to see pilots included in these kits!

Actually, this kit has two pilots. DYRL and TV versions.

 

so, for the changed parts.

here the original one (one big black canopy piece - step 4).

and here, the new version where they cut off a piece of the canopy, just to have this little piece molded in white. (Step 10)

 

I decided to use the water slide decals. They are already really soft, so mark setter almost melted them away. I‘ll probably peel this one off and use one from the leftover sheet of the other vf-1 i just build.

But everything else comes along quite well. It’s a bit more pieces and stuff to panel line. Few more highlights to set. But hey, it‘ll be fine.

[Big s]

5 hours ago, Urashiman said:

Actually, this kit has two pilots. DYRL and TV versions.

 

so, for the changed parts.

here the original one (one big black canopy piece - step 4).

and here, the new version where they cut off a piece of the canopy, just to have this little piece molded in white. (Step 10)

 

I decided to use the water slide decals. They are already really soft, so mark setter almost melted them away. I‘ll probably peel this one off and use one from the leftover sheet of the other vf-1 i just build.

But everything else comes along quite well. It’s a bit more pieces and stuff to panel line. Few more highlights to set. But hey, it‘ll be fine.

That’s an interesting change 

[Thom]

If someone is going to put it together without paint, that does help.

[derex3592]

Ok, I couldn't resist.... For a kit originally designed in 1963 by the British... and repopped who knows how many times by the Japanese before this copy from 1980, I gotta say, fit is not bad at all! 

Work on the BUFF continues... 

Edited December 27, 2025 by derex3592

[Urashiman]

Progress from today.

[tekering]

You're making quick work of that Plamax kit! 👍

As work winds down at the end of the year, I have more time to devote to this huge puzzle I've saddled myself with...

Today I sorted out all the miscellaneous loose parts I've salvaged from the wreckage.

As with any puzzle, it's thrilling to find where broken parts fit together to form complete structures.

Having worked well past sundown, I finally have a corner completed, where two walls meet the roof...

...and the condominium is slowly taking shape. 🙂

[pengbuzz]

UPDATE:

Over the holidays, someone was kind enough to send me a couple of projects (much thanks to them!) as to keep my mind from going to complete $#!7 with current circumstances.

Here are both of them:

And I started the first a few days ago:

Have yet to do decals and painting:

Keeping it in components so I can actually do this without driving myself any further up the wall than I already am:

Planning on doing transparent purple over the inner grille to replicate the lit "warp effect" without lights.

Stay tuned...

Edited December 28, 2025 by pengbuzz

[Thom]

Looking very impressive from that low angle @tekering. This may be the start of a whole city center for you!

That Enterprise is going together just right @pengbuzz. I like the idea for the grillers.

[Urashiman]

@pengbuzz awesome! Seems you got a few nice friends.

about the VF-1.

Only some decals left and venier thrusters here and there. Provide done tomorrow.

[Papa Rat]

18 minutes ago, Urashiman said:

@pengbuzz awesome! Seems you got a few nice friends.

about the VF-1.

Only some decals left and venier thrusters here and there. Provide done tomorrow.

Looking great! How are you handling seam lines or are they placed in inconspicuous places?

[Urashiman]

5 hours ago, Papa Rat said:

Looking great! How are you handling seam lines or are they placed in inconspicuous places?

On the plamax VF-1, most of them are hidden. The ones that do show are sanded down.

It is also important to use glue which is bonding surfaces by dissolving them and then joining them. Also - clamps. Use clamps to make sure stuff is sticking together until the glue dries.

Then I use sanding papers and sponges.

180/320

600

1500

In that order. It won’t go away fully, but most of it.

[wm cheng]

@Urashiman I can't believe there's no paint, it looks great and a lot of fun!  I might have to pick one up to finally get my bug of just a straight forward build for fun right out of the box out of my system!  My current J-20S started out with that intention but my anal self didn't let it go that way 😛

@pengbuzz So glad you are doing something to take your mind off of things.  How's the Enterprise kit fit wise (I have that but don't know what to expect from PL kits) and the Reliant because you can't just have one?!?!

@derex3592 That B-52 is looking sweet - crazy you got that seam.  You must have a pretty cool 1/144 bomber collection going on there (I've always wanted a 1/144 US bomber collection but I'd have to have the B-58 and the XB-70 in there, are those next?)

 

Got a little bit of time to myself after everyone went to sleep and I stayed up letting all the food settle.  Got to unmask the canopy finally!!!  Man this jet is pretty sleek...  I don't get why I always get a tiny chip off the edge of the canopy on my last few builds lately (luckily its small enough for a hand painted touch up).

Oh yeah, this is the reason I couldn't just simply enjoy an Out-Of-The-Box build - there were so many exposed internal bays, but they all had so many many ejector pin marks all over and including the doors that I had to either get rid of them or cover them up with detailing.  The landing gears were also so simplified that it would have been embarrassing; they didn't even have the torque links on the oleo structs (I've been noticing this detail being omitted from more and more 1/72 scale kits lately).  Luckily I had these links to use from my VT-1 Super that was built in flight mode so I had the spare landing gears to use.  The hydraulic hoses were added (a first for me but it wasn't as bad as I had feared - painting them was another matter though) and they really did bump up the realism.

I think I'm getting old, as something always happens when I build, that's 2 steps forward and one step back!  I had to touch up some overspray and I re-masked after I had decaled, even though I had used MicroSOL on the decals and clear coat gloss over them, and then clear coat matte over them. The Tamiya white flexible masking took off my 4 white outlined triangle ejection seat symbols - argh!  I had to search through all my extra decals to find another 4 identical white ejection seat triangles.  Finally I found a black and white set from a Super Hornet that was the right size, and the english writing on it wasn't so clear so it didn't look too obvious it wasn't in Chinese - oh well.  I don't have the last bit (horizontal fold) of the bottom doors glued in yet (gotta let these big doors dry first).  Weird for a kit so devoid of internal details and bad profiles that I needed all the internal bracing to prop up the fuselage, it got the slight twisted wing structure bang on from the photos!  It does make a cool imposing front view!

The rear engines were totally devoid of detail as well.  Funny enough, the kit provided these serrated exhausts (for the WS-15 engines) as an option to the Russian AL-31 engines, but both lacked any internals.  I'm normally not a stickler for the entire afterburning section but some interior petals/detail would have been nice.  Luckily, I had some leftover Phantom afterburning sections from a FindMolds F-4J kit that I used the resin 3D print and these kit cans fit perfectly inside the kit part and provided a pretty realistic opening for the WS-15.  You are probably getting the sense that I'm a pack rat, and I save every little un-used scrap/option from every kit I've ever built - the trouble is storing and finding them again to use.  I would spend hours going through spare decals and parts sometimes.

With so much internal bays exposed, I'm glad I spent the effort to detail them and fill in most of the ejection pin marks.

Now which colour scheme for the missiles should I use?  All the photos show a light blue missile body with white fins in these bays - what I would suspect to be training missiles or dummies.  I think it might make a nice contrast to the grey and white bird.  Or do I use live ammunition rounds with just an overall white missiles (which I think might get lost in the bay).  There no photo reference at all with this J-20 with live munitions - only blue dummies.

I opened up the canopy for these final round of shots for now.  I'm missing these two white round tubes (Cartridge Activation Device) at the front of the inside of the canopy that I'll have to scratch build (or scrounge from my parts to find two hydraulic cylinders) as well as the missiles.  Weird that they would have these CADs and also canopy det cords at the same time (I guess the PAAF is a belt and suspenders kind of outfit :))

Good night for now... (I'm loving the slight metallic sheen to the grey, really looks light and dark at the same time depending on the lighting - weathering not really showing up though).  It was refreshing to paint something so new and very lightly weathered for a change.  Don't know how I'm ever going to paint he F-22 😮

[Papa Rat]

@wm cheng Wow, that’s outstanding! Thanks for sharing.

@Urashiman Thanks. I’m excited to see it finished. 

Edited December 29, 2025 by Papa Rat

[Papa Rat]

Recently finished up this build “Volks IMS 1/100 Vaiola” for a FSS discord contest happening in Jan.  I am not a photographer by any means but did my best to take a few phone camera shots that looked alright. Here are just a few.  
The build was fun and working on a larger scale went better than I had expected. (=

Edited December 29, 2025 by Papa Rat

[Urashiman]

@wm cheng yeah right? Crazy how this turns out. Btw: the j-20s looks awesome!

@Papa Rat great build!

Fiddled around this morning. Almost done.

[pengbuzz]

6 hours ago, wm cheng said:

@pengbuzz So glad you are doing something to take your mind off of things.  How's the Enterprise kit fit wise (I have that but don't know what to expect from PL kits) and the Reliant because you can't just have one?!?!

Same here; the fit on the Enterprise is okay (snap together and all); I plan on leaving it as "snap" until painting and decals are done. Not going to do any "aztecing" because visually, at the scale distance it would appear, I don't think it would be visible (did that for my 1/537 as well). I don't have Reliant, so not sure how that would fit.

Need to do a different stand for the Enterprise, as the dome one that came with it fell apart (some weird kind of "delamination" happened). I'll see about doing one of my famous "black stands".

 

6 hours ago, wm cheng said:

Got a little bit of time to myself after everyone went to sleep and I stayed up letting all the food settle.  Got to unmask the canopy finally!!!  Man this jet is pretty sleek...  I don't get why I always get a tiny chip off the edge of the canopy on my last few builds lately (luckily its small enough for a hand painted touch up).

Oh yeah, this is the reason I couldn't just simply enjoy an Out-Of-The-Box build - there were so many exposed internal bays, but they all had so many many ejector pin marks all over and including the doors that I had to either get rid of them or cover them up with detailing.  The landing gears were also so simplified that it would have been embarrassing; they didn't even have the torque links on the oleo structs (I've been noticing this detail being omitted from more and more 1/72 scale kits lately).  Luckily I had these links to use from my VT-1 Super that was built in flight mode so I had the spare landing gears to use.  The hydraulic hoses were added (a first for me but it wasn't as bad as I had feared - painting them was another matter though) and they really did bump up the realism.

I think I'm getting old, as something always happens when I build, that's 2 steps forward and one step back!  I had to touch up some overspray and I re-masked after I had decaled, even though I had used MicroSOL on the decals and clear coat gloss over them, and then clear coat matte over them. The Tamiya white flexible masking took off my 4 white outlined triangle ejection seat symbols - argh!  I had to search through all my extra decals to find another 4 identical white ejection seat triangles.  Finally I found a black and white set from a Super Hornet that was the right size, and the english writing on it wasn't so clear so it didn't look too obvious it wasn't in Chinese - oh well.  I don't have the last bit (horizontal fold) of the bottom doors glued in yet (gotta let these big doors dry first).  Weird for a kit so devoid of internal details and bad profiles that I needed all the internal bracing to prop up the fuselage, it got the slight twisted wing structure bang on from the photos!  It does make a cool imposing front view!

The rear engines were totally devoid of detail as well.  Funny enough, the kit provided these serrated exhausts (for the WS-15 engines) as an option to the Russian AL-31 engines, but both lacked any internals.  I'm normally not a stickler for the entire afterburning section but some interior petals/detail would have been nice.  Luckily, I had some leftover Phantom afterburning sections from a FindMolds F-4J kit that I used the resin 3D print and these kit cans fit perfectly inside the kit part and provided a pretty realistic opening for the WS-15.  You are probably getting the sense that I'm a pack rat, and I save every little un-used scrap/option from every kit I've ever built - the trouble is storing and finding them again to use.  I would spend hours going through spare decals and parts sometimes.

With so much internal bays exposed, I'm glad I spent the effort to detail them and fill in most of the ejection pin marks.

Now which colour scheme for the missiles should I use?  All the photos show a light blue missile body with white fins in these bays - what I would suspect to be training missiles or dummies.  I think it might make a nice contrast to the grey and white bird.  Or do I use live ammunition rounds with just an overall white missiles (which I think might get lost in the bay).  There no photo reference at all with this J-20 with live munitions - only blue dummies.

I opened up the canopy for these final round of shots for now.  I'm missing these two white round tubes (Cartridge Activation Device) at the front of the inside of the canopy that I'll have to scratch build (or scrounge from my parts to find two hydraulic cylinders) as well as the missiles.  Weird that they would have these CADs and also canopy det cords at the same time (I guess the PAAF is a belt and suspenders kind of outfit :))

Good night for now... (I'm loving the slight metallic sheen to the grey, really looks light and dark at the same time depending on the lighting - weathering not really showing up though).  It was refreshing to paint something so new and very lightly weathered for a change.  Don't know how I'm ever going to paint he F-22 😮

Some really clean work there, WM!! I can never do anything "clean"; I manage to smudge and mess up my paintworks constantly!! O.o

  

13 hours ago, Urashiman said:

@pengbuzz awesome! Seems you got a few nice friends.

A few; I lost one last November though; my friend of over 30 years died of Glioblastoma (diagnosed in April, it killed him in 7 months flat. 😮 ) After that, most of our group pretty much went their own ways and broke apart.  

Thankful for whatever friends I have here; admittedly, I'm not the easiest person to try to get along with.

Edited December 29, 2025 by pengbuzz

[Urashiman]

@pengbuzz haha, no worries. Nobody is perfect.

 

btw: it has been done. Lo and behold!

 

Really clunky christmas tree ornaments I tell you...

[Big s]

14 hours ago, Papa Rat said:

Recently finished up this build “Volks IMS 1/100 Vaiola” for a FSS discord contest happening in Jan.  I am not a photographer by any means but did my best to take a few phone camera shots that looked alright. Here are just a few.  
The build was fun and working on a larger scale went better than I had expected. (=

Love this one. It has such a great look of importance. Very regal and demanding of respect without saying a single word

[Big s]

1 minute ago, Urashiman said:

@pengbuzz haha, no worries. Nobody is perfect.

 

btw: it has been done. Lo and behold!

 

Really clunky christmas tree ornaments I tell you...

Looks really cool for a simple build

[Papa Rat]

@Urashiman those both came out great! 
 

@Big s I agree. It’s very regal indeed.  In the Manga the Vaiola is not destroyed during the confrontation with the Terror Mirage, but rather captured since it was one of a kind and viewed as important to save intact. 

Edited December 29, 2025 by Papa Rat

[Big s]

1 hour ago, Papa Rat said:

@Big s I agree. It’s very regal indeed.  In the Manga the Vaiola is not destroyed during the confrontation with the Terror Mirage, but rather captured since it was one of a kind and viewed as important to save intact. 

Edited 1 hour ago by Papa Rat

I can see why, it’s a thing of beauty 

[Papa Rat]

19 minutes ago, Big s said:

I can see why, it’s a thing of beauty 

Also has some nice details rarely seen. NSFW