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 15 hours ago 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 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.