Mike Delano

Haven't gotten too much more done this week, but I did get the name and registry taken care of - these are decals from PNT Models - they're quite nice - much easier to handle than the JTGraphics decals, though they are not as 'sharp'.

This was actually a weekend build - this piece was built up from the old 1990's AMT BOP release. The only reason I built it was the box was crushed and it really hurt the 'Feng shui' of my model closet.... I preshaded with Floquil Engine Black followed by a base coat of Gunze Russian Green (2) and followed by several lighter coats of Floquil Coach Green and Floquil Depot Olive. Individual panel detail was done in MM Green Zinc Chromate. The wing pattern was done using Floqui Oxide Red. I took a little bit of artistic license with this one and did the red pattern on the upper and lower wing surfaces (I believe the studio model only had the red pattern on the lower surface). Other details such as the nav lights were done in various MM and Gunze colors - Insigia Yellow, Bright Green, Winde Red, Bright Ret, etc... For the windows, I used Architects' ink liners - since my wife is one, we have a neverending supply of them around here and she never notices when I steal them... If you're a Sci Fi modeler, I highly suggest them for blacked out windows. The warp drive housing was the most challenging part as I did alot masking and painting from the inside to give it a bit of translucense. The piece was given a final once over with Testors dullcoat lacquer. I'm actually thinking about going back over again with another coat of Future and giving the whole thing a black wash to give it a really beaten up look like the original studio model.

It's true - if you get it on anything that has cotton in it, it'll cause a reaction that releases a good amount of heat - if you spill enough, you'll get smoke...

Thanks for the kind words guys - I have a feeling that I'll be doing another one of these - I'd like to do another one using regimental colors of the 501st Legion - cobalt blue hilights as opposed to red Also Ed - I LOVED the article on K.I.T.T. in the journal - I was a HUGE fan of that show as a kid (though I was too young to really enjoy it during it's original run, I caught the reruns...)

All - Just an update to this problem I originally posed.... it turns out, I had some sort of residue buildup at the very inside tip of my Iwata nozzle that soaking wasnt taking care of. Furthermore, the method I was using to scrap the residue from inside the nozzle wasnt getting far enough up in there to get rid of it. I finally used a pipe cleaner (My thanks to James Corley) soaked in thinnner to get up in there to clean it out - looked almost like some sort of carbon buildup, but who knows. Either way, I can now spray my Ginze colors and my mr surfacer again with not problems. It's funny that these were the only paint products that were affected by this.

Time for the Friday night update.... I've moved on to the Bussard collector (the dome on the front of the nacelle).... I started by masking of the dome portion of the part and then painting the inside with a highly thinned mix of Gunze Wine Red. Once that had set in enough, I cut out a cricle of tape and taped off the rear of the dome so I could paint the exterior of the collector without getting any inside the dome (I didnt want to darken it from the inside). With that portion masked off, I painted the entire thing with Floquil Light Lark Gray. Once that was dried, I masked off the 3 ribs and painted the remaining assembly with Floquil Lettering Gray

Well, I finally finished it - now I can get it up on a shelf somewhere and out of my way! After the final coat of Future, I used 'Pro Modeller' black wash - that stuff is great! It was all then given a final coat of Testors dullcoat lacquer.

Well, in the half or so hour since the last post, I got the deflector painting done - for this I used Alclad II 'Pale Burnt Metal'.... I'll have to do a little bit of touch up on the bottom of the deflector as the curvature of it made it a bit difficult to get into with the airbrush.

Believe it or not, this project is still making progress. I haven't been spending as much time working on it since work has been fairly busy. I got the final base coat on and now I'm ready to spray the find end of the secondary hull from which the deflector dish protrudes.... I have that masked off and ready to paint. The next step will be a few more details and a Future topcoat. I have the decals ready, now it's just a matter of getting them printed on quality paper with quality ink..

I've gotten a little more work on the Star Destroyer that I started way back in May for the National Model Day event.... The underside of the ship is completed for the most part minus the panel wash. I still have the rear 'tail' section to panel off, the thrusters, the guns, and the upper sail to complte and we'll be all done. I'll be glad when it's completed since it's just been in my way in the office for the last 3+ months...

Yeah - The resin conversion by Accurate Armor is the only one I've ever seen, but it's more expensive than this entire forthcoming Dragon kit.

I just saw this release on Dragon's website - I guess they've been trying to hide it from me until now... It has a release date of early august - has anyone spotted it in stores yet?

Well, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's had this problem. Call me a sadist, but I enjoy Dragon's MagicTrak link by link track runs much more than the DS Track.

Thanks Jack - this one's been sitting around about that long too, I was just needing to do the final track prep and running gear assembly...

Here's the Tiger I Late with Zimmerit release from Dragon... It was a pleasure to build, though I feel like the DS track lengths were 1, possibly 2 links too long... It was finished with a base coat of Floquil Depot Buff followed by Depot Olive and Freightcar Brown. Followed up with an oil wash and a dusting of Mig Pigments Europe Dust.

I'm going to give it a couple more shots - again, I've tried it with and without thinner with the same results - with different thinner brands (including Mr. Thinner), so now I'm going to make certain everything's clean in the airbrush and try again...

OK, guys - either I'm not doing something right or I'm an idiot (probably the latter) but I'm having a serious problem with any of my GSI Creos Mr. Color lacquers that I have never had with any previous paint (laqcuer, enamle, or otherwise) Whenever I run them through my airbrush, they come out in a stringy mess - it looks like an accumulation of hair if you spray for a few seconds I've tried mixing with generic no name lacquer thinners, Mr. Leveling Thinner, regular Mr. Thinner - even with no thinner at all. I've tried it with running a low air pressur and with a high air pressure through the airbrush - I have a moisture trap, so I'm not getting moisture in there. Everything I have tried yields the same results, but only with the GSI lacquers - none of my other paint types are affected. Any thoughts?

I think that being more of a small tractor, the 'why' would be that the kettenkrad was a very purpose driven vehicle - while you wouldn't have seen it used a a transport vehicle, it was more of a workhorse utility vehicle - as a tug for A/C, for example.

I agree James - I thought the space dock designe was an obvious homage to the Franz Joseph TM.....

I Found an interesting artocle on the Round 2 website about Ryan Church - designer of a number of ships from the reimagined Star Trek universe... http://www.round2models.com/articles/church-interview

He mentions something in this article I never knew - the cost of the studio model of the Enterprise - over 250,000 dollars - and that was 30 years ago.....

I've been working a little more on the decals for this project and actually put together a sheet of kitbashing decals.... Designed in Adobe Illustrator CS4 - when printed, they will be on a standard 8.5 X 11 sheet with half inch margins all around....

Just another update to this - I finally have all the major assembly done and the base coat down. For the base this time, I used Floquil SP Lettering Gray. Additionally, I airbrushed the interior of the Bussard Collector Gunze Winde Red, then ainted the 'ribs' on the surface a flat black - this portion was masked (so you cant see it yet) prior to the base coat being applied. I think what I will do with the Bussard dome is paint the interior with Tamiya Clear Red... I've also been doing work in Adobe Illustrator creating a sheet of Registry and naming decals so I can stay true to the project and use the 'Kelvin' name. I'll probably end up using LaserJet compatible decal sheet for this since I'm using a mix colored decals from JT Graphics and the Polar Lights sheet. I imagine at this point the next step will be a couple of coats of future and some more fine sanding to get out as many of the imperfectiosn in the paint as possible and smooth out the edge of the saucer...

What worked the best for me was plastic grocery bags - for one, the compress very nicely and form well to irregular shapes - their second advantage it that when they expand, they dont put alot of pressure on small delicate parts. Whenever I have had to move models, I've always packet them with wadded up grocery bags and I've never had a single broken part!

That project has crossed my mind more than twice.....