Whats Lying on your Workbench MK IV

[SteveTheFish]

38 minutes ago, Big s said:

Nice

Thanks. I also have a Bluestreak model made from an old Arii Nissan Fairlady Z model kit. It's painted and ready to go. All I have to do is solder the wires together and create a switch and I'll be done with it.  Here's an older WIP pic of it, before I put more pieces together.

[Big s]

24 minutes ago, SteveTheFish said:

Thanks. I also have a Bluestreak model made from an old Arii Nissan Fairlady Z model kit. It's painted and ready to go. All I have to do is solder the wires together and create a switch and I'll be done with it.  Here's an older WIP pic of it, before I put more pieces together.

That’s cool as well

[tekering]

15 hours ago, Papa Rat said:

It sure looks dingy now but I feel like it really brings out all those nice details.

Weathering can be a double-edged sword.  It's gotta be dirty to bring out that detail, but we all know that Max wouldn't allow it to get that dirty (much less the SDF-1 maintenance crews)...  It's not realistic in-universe, despite how cool it looks. 🤷‍♂️

Is that a Hasegawa kit?

6 hours ago, Thom said:

But this is Arcee, I think from one of the cartoons.

Actually, that's the live-action Arcee from Rise of the Beasts.

[tekering]

3 hours ago, SteveTheFish said:

I made this Bumblebee from a 1:24 scale VW Beetle from Aoshima. 

While you're at it, Greg, you might as well give him the proper licence plate.

I mean, if you're gonna go the distance, then go the distance, right? 😉

[Papa Rat]

6 hours ago, tekering said:

Weathering can be a double-edged sword.  It's gotta be dirty to bring out that detail, but we all know that Max wouldn't allow it to get that dirty (much less the SDF-1 maintenance crews)...  It's not realistic in-universe, despite how cool it looks. 🤷‍♂️

Hahaha. So true. Max and the SDF-1 run a tight ship. I slathered on the wash and just toweled off any pooling. I haven’t done any clean up with spirits yet and may just leave it a dirty dog. 
 

Oh, and yes it was my first Valk build and first Hasegawa kit. I was just starting out and decided to use all the color correcting decals to see how it would work out. Lesson learned. Hahahaha.  In the end it was a fun and clumsy experience. 😅

Edited October 16 by Papa Rat

[Thom]

12 hours ago, Papa Rat said:

So cool. Thanks for sharing.
I’d love to see that Starscream! I always loved the voice acting for this character in the animated series I remember as a kid. 

Me too! He had that great blend of boasting and whining all in one. It was perfect.

@Big s Don't know if I'll buy anymore of them, esp with the Trumpeter Transformers, but it is a nice little kit. Quick and easy build and it even has a small light module in the chest. So the eyes and a panel on the chest lights up. Seems motion sensitive and goes off after a few minutes.

@SteveTheFish Great looking VW Bumblebee! The nostalgia is real, yo!

Decided I'd also do the Trumpeter Arcee kit as well as Starscream.

 

I started to do a little detail painting last night, but found my paint 'beading' on the surface. Don't know if it's the plastic or some coating, so I hit all the spru with a flat coat this morning, so hopefully I can get back to that tonight. 

 

Thom

 

[Thom]

7 hours ago, tekering said:

Weathering can be a double-edged sword.  It's gotta be dirty to bring out that detail, but we all know that Max wouldn't allow it to get that dirty (much less the SDF-1 maintenance crews)...  It's not realistic in-universe, despite how cool it looks. 🤷‍♂️

Is that a Hasegawa kit?

Actually, that's the live-action Arcee from Rise of the Beasts.

Thank you! Goes to show how much I remember from that movie...

[derex3592]

Apparently there is a newer version of our beloved Detolfs now for anyone who is interested.....

 

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/blaliden-glass-door-cabinet-black-00520519/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=11019489087&gbraid=0AAAAAD27g7w7JINv_96PNdwMcZmBiVqu-&gclid=CjwKCAjwr8LHBhBKEiwAy47uUpad2p4yQ-sO6Ru2mkT2mObLBzCqV5KsFUdkn4Odhuxwwy5213J08xoCJgUQAvD_BwE

[Thom]

1 minute ago, derex3592 said:

Apparently there is a newer version of our beloved Detolfs now for anyone who is interested.....

 

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/blaliden-glass-door-cabinet-black-00520519/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=11019489087&gbraid=0AAAAAD27g7w7JINv_96PNdwMcZmBiVqu-&gclid=CjwKCAjwr8LHBhBKEiwAy47uUpad2p4yQ-sO6Ru2mkT2mObLBzCqV5KsFUdkn4Odhuxwwy5213J08xoCJgUQAvD_BwE

Nice. Not seeing any of the big gaps that plagued the older ones.

[Papa Rat]

3 minutes ago, derex3592 said:

Apparently there is a newer version of our beloved Detolfs now for anyone who is interested.....

 

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/blaliden-glass-door-cabinet-black-00520519/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=11019489087&gbraid=0AAAAAD27g7w7JINv_96PNdwMcZmBiVqu-&gclid=CjwKCAjwr8LHBhBKEiwAy47uUpad2p4yQ-sO6Ru2mkT2mObLBzCqV5KsFUdkn4Odhuxwwy5213J08xoCJgUQAvD_BwE

Awesome. Thanks for the link!

[Papa Rat]

I’m calling it on this Ashura-Temple. Not really pumped on how it turned out but moving on. Apparently couldn’t be bothered to go back in to fix some seam lines and shoddy masking. Oh well. 
Here's a before and after. 
 

Edited October 16 by Papa Rat

[Thom]

Quite the change there, @Papa Rat! Good looking finish.

[Papa Rat]

1 hour ago, Thom said:

Quite the change there, @Papa Rat! Good looking finish.

Thanks

[electric indigo]

@Papa Rat The colors look awesome; if you're not too inclined towards the nostalgia I'd suggest trying on some third-party hands – this would greatly improve the overall appearance IMO.

_

Pallas progress:

[Papa Rat]

1 hour ago, electric indigo said:

@Papa Rat The colors look awesome; if you're not too inclined towards the nostalgia I'd suggest trying on some third-party hands – this would greatly improve the overall appearance IMO.

_

Pallas progress:

Thanks so much.

Hands…come to think of it I do have some of those rounded finger Gundam hands laying around from a Gerwalk project I was working on. Great idea!

I’m not familiar with the Pallas, but I am digging the design and that great color scheme. Looks amazing so far!

[Big s]

13 minutes ago, Papa Rat said:

I’m not familiar with the Pallas, but I am digging the design and that great color scheme. Looks amazing so far!

It’s one of my favorites as far as looks, but as far as its story in Zeta m, it’s one of the goofier ones. Reccoa got mad that she was being ignored and not being treated as a lady enough, then switched sides due to bad writing and was given that suit to fight off the people she cared about. They really didn’t know how to write female characters back during Zeta era and often times women would just be an emotionally chaotic mess. 

[505thAirborne]

Hi all. just wondering if these parts can be 3D printed. I recently got super lucky with an Aoshima Legioss & Tread set. Sadly, the plastic on the Tread (oddly not the Legioss) has not held up over time or the factory plastic was a bad batch. 

Either way, these parts are for the back of the legs and used for Bomber mode. Both literally shattered with minimal pressure applied, they are glued back together for now. Crazy how my TOYNAMI Beta's have, fingers crossed, not had this issue. 

Any thoughts or suggestions? 

 

 

[Papa Rat]

So have you ever been super careful with tiny pieces, cut them out and immediately put them in a dish to keep them safe as you work on other elements of the kit? Days pass and when it’s time to clip them up for priming, you look in the dish and the small part is MIA and have no idea how or where they went.

Well it was my turn to deal with this issue. So I guess I need to make a replacement piece. Hope this isn’t too rough  

I’m missing one part of the head/face armor. (Part D10) on the new 1:144 KOG. It’s a tiny piece and most of it is hidden in the end so details can be ignored which is nice. Just glued a couple small pieces of Pla .3mm and some sanding and will probably shape it more for a better fit. Once it’s painted and in place nobody will know.

Does anyone have pointers of best practices to keep parts safe. I may have to get some zip locks or tiny jars with lids? An open dish is well…open and ready for failure I guess. Lol

 

 

 

Edited October 17 by Papa Rat

[Big s]

53 minutes ago, Papa Rat said:

Does anyone have pointers of best practices to keep parts safe. I may have to get some zip locks or tiny jars with lids? An open dish is well…open and ready for failure I guess. Lol

 

I use snack size ziplocks and sandwich size ones for larger parts. I separate them for main body, left and right sides and if need be another for accessories. I usually put a small bit of paper inside to label them left and right, but a sharpie would probably work as well for labeling

larger kits of course may need larger bags

[Chas]

Go to the dollar store and look for bead organizers, or take the easy way and get something like these from Amazon

https://www.amazon.ca/Pure-Future-84-Piece-Bead-Organizer/dp/B0DY7WTQL8/ref=asc_df_B0DY7WTQL8?mcid=45aac5890169360cbae523b9328bd091&tag=googlemobshop-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=752810048793&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13313951402467629014&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9000702&hvtargid=pla-2420512250336&psc=1&hvocijid=13313951402467629014-B0DY7WTQL8-&hvexpln=0&gad_source=1

Edited October 17 by Chas

[Papa Rat]

@Big s @Chas I really appreciate the tips. Thanks so much. 👍

[Mog]

23 hours ago, derex3592 said:

Apparently there is a newer version of our beloved Detolfs now for anyone who is interested.....

 

https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/blaliden-glass-door-cabinet-black-00520519/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=11019489087&gbraid=0AAAAAD27g7w7JINv_96PNdwMcZmBiVqu-&gclid=CjwKCAjwr8LHBhBKEiwAy47uUpad2p4yQ-sO6Ru2mkT2mObLBzCqV5KsFUdkn4Odhuxwwy5213J08xoCJgUQAvD_BwE

A key drawback is that the borders kinda obstruct your view more than the old Detolfs (Detolves? ).

[Thom]

27 minutes ago, Mog said:

A key drawback is that the borders kinda obstruct your view more than the old Detolfs (Detolves? ).

If it keeps more of the dust out, that's a trade-off I'd take. (Detulf..?🙃)

[tekering]

On 10/17/2025 at 12:11 AM, Papa Rat said:

Here's a before and after. 

That's a fabulous way to demonstrate your work, and it's all the more impressive as a result. 

I think I'll try the same:

The tiny conning towers on these were almost absent from the 3D models, and pretty much had to be scratchbuilt to approximate the line art.

Now, onto the battlefortress itself...

19 hours ago, Papa Rat said:

I may have to get some zip locks or tiny jars with lids? An open dish is well…open and ready for failure I guess.

Yeah, you want something with a lid.  I like toolboxes myself... 

I've been disassembling Star Wars figures for decades, and find this to be an effective way of organizing parts for customs.

Regardless of how you do it, though, you've already got the most important element: the ingenuity and skill required to scratchbuild the parts you've lost. 

On 10/17/2025 at 4:39 AM, Big s said:

They really didn’t know how to write female characters back during Zeta era and often times women would just be an emotionally chaotic mess. 

Zeta Gundam had far better production values, mecha designs and music, but the dialogue and character motivations were often baffling... especially among the women, yeah. 🤨

[Papa Rat]

@tekering 

Thanks so much! When moments present themselves to me like in this case where my own negligence “losing a part” offers me an opportunity to learn how to make something I can’t say it’s all that bad in the end. Lol.
 

I’m blown away! Beautiful work and such a beefy build at that. I think you mentioned being super busy in preparation for a macross event. 40th anniversary if I remember correctly? I imagine the SDF-1 will be on display? Maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about. Hahahaha   Anyway, If you have time please share more when the event happens and I also love seeing all the progress you make along the way. 
 

Oh and I’m digging your tackle box(s) of figure parts. That’s amazing!

Edit* I guess it’s the 43rd anniversary of Macross

Edited October 17 by Papa Rat

[Thom]

Some Starscream parts got a bit of detail painting. They were just straight black, except for the hands and the gear. 

And a pinwash on the colored parts.

And the same for Trumpeter's Arcee

Some of the silver trim was already on there.

They were then sprayed with a flat coat and should go together pretty quickly this evening.

Thom

 

[pengbuzz]

2 hours ago, Thom said:

Some Starscream parts got a bit of detail painting. They were just straight black, except for the hands and the gear. 

And a pinwash on the colored parts.

And the same for Trumpeter's Arcee

Some of the silver trim was already on there.

They were then sprayed with a flat coat and should go together pretty quickly this evening.

Thom

 

Anticipating seeing these Thom!

 

[Papa Rat]

@Thom  Nice. Please post the results. 😊

[Papa Rat]

Was able to knockout the copper on the frame and underside of armor pieces today on the Volks 1:144 KOG. I used MR Color Super Copper over a black primer, I’m digging it. Next I need to mask that off and move on to gold. I’m excited for this little KOG. Going to be shiny. Too bad I am already seeing a little dust here and there, but most of this is not very visible when it’s completed. I think I need to clean my spray booth well before I do the outside armor pieces and make sure my dog isn’t at my feet shaking off that summer coat. 
 

Edited October 18 by Papa Rat

[Big s]

4 hours ago, Papa Rat said:

Was able to knockout the copper on the frame and underside of armor pieces today on the Volks 1:144 KOG. I used MR Color Super Copper over a black primer, I’m digging it. Next I need to mask that off and move on to gold. I’m excited for this little KOG. Going to be shiny. Too bad I am already seeing a little dust here and there, but most of this is not very visible when it’s completed. I think I need to clean my spray booth well before I do the outside armor pieces and make sure my dog isn’t at my feet shaking off that summer coat. 
 

Looks really cool can’t wait to see it finished. Did you ever find that missing piece?

[Big s]

8 hours ago, Thom said:

Some Starscream parts got a bit of detail painting. They were just straight black, except for the hands and the gear. 

And a pinwash on the colored parts.

And the same for Trumpeter's Arcee

Some of the silver trim was already on there.

They were then sprayed with a flat coat and should go together pretty quickly this evening.

Thom

 

This is looking interesting so far. Don’t see too many builds of transformers kits

[Papa Rat]

2 hours ago, Big s said:

Looks really cool can’t wait to see it finished. Did you ever find that missing piece?

Thanks. I never found it. I assume my dog must have ate it. Otherwise it would be around the general bench area which I tore apart looking. I also reached out to Volks US site to request a replacement sprue. I guess you can sometimes purchase them if they have them. We will see if they can help me out. Otherwise the small piece I built will suite the purpose fine. Until then I will work on getting the gold down and small hand painted details here and there. 
 

The color callout for the gold is a Gaia star bright gold which is as rare as a unicorn so I went with this MR Color Rough Gold. It has an interesting texture and sparkle to it, but I think it looks nice. It’s difficult to photograph but here’s a look before I put a gloss over it. 
 

Edited October 18 by Papa Rat

[Big s]

22 minutes ago, Papa Rat said:

Thanks. I never found it. I assume my dog must have ate it. Otherwise it would be around the general bench area which I tore apart looking. I also reached out to Volks US site to request a replacement sprue. I guess you can sometimes purchase them if they have them. We will see if they can help me out. Otherwise the small piece I built will suite the purpose fine. Until then I will work on getting the gold down and small hand painted details here and there. 
 

The color callout for the gold is a Gaia star bright gold which is as rare as a unicorn so I went with this MR Color Rough Gold. It has an interesting texture and sparkle to it, but I think it looks nice. It’s difficult to photograph but here’s a look before I put a gloss over it. 
 

Gaia colors are very tough to find these days. But some of them are absolutely great. Star bright gold is pretty cool and I got the star bright brass because I saw a barbatos Rex video showing it and that one looked really good for something more yellowish in the spectrum and figure it may look really good on a Hyaku Siki or Jagd Doga. Supposedly they come out super smooth more like chrome if you do a five or more parts thinner to paint mixture and end up highly durable. Downside is just getting either of those colors

[Papa Rat]

5 minutes ago, Big s said:

Gaia colors are very tough to find these days. But some of them are absolutely great. Star bright gold is pretty cool and I got the star bright brass because I saw a barbatos Rex video showing it and that one looked really good for something more yellowish in the spectrum and figure it may look really good on a Hyaku Siki or Jagd Doga. Supposedly they come out super smooth more like chrome if you do a five or more parts thinner to paint mixture and end up highly durable. Downside is just getting either of those colors

 I have notifications on from many retail sites for any restocks so one day I might get to try it out. I have the larger 1/100 KOG with buster in my stash.  I‘M saving that big boy for the Gaia. 🤩

[Thom]

@Papa Rat Keep an eye on the dog and you might find it again...

Alright, Arcee is done! May need a little extra touch up here and there, but she is in the altogether.

And next to the transforming toy I bought from Wallyworld. 

It's a trade-off, the toy has better size but the model has better detail. Think I'll keep both.

As for Starscream, I'll put him together another night soon. It's getting late and there is a model show to go to tomorrow!

 

Thom