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dmjung

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Everything posted by dmjung

  1. That could end up being rather unappetizing based on some of the voluptuous miniature figures I've seen and the modeler in question.... :) --David
  2. When I load up the airbrush with these custom colors I want to do as many as I can at one time. Right now every stick clip I own has a part on it which is a record for me...about 60 or so. And there's still a bunch of parts still on the sprue. Bandai has an interesting molding technique making the parts in the intended color. One sprue might have two or three different plastic colors...some interesting engineering going on. And that means I found some more green-tinted clear parts on a sprue at the bottom of the pile. Heh. --David
  3. My problem is almost every kit eventually pisses me off and gets set aside. I have easily started way more model kits and miniatures than I've ever finished. Flying rockets are easier to build. I have a number of FP kits I've picked up over the years in my build stash (i.e. storage unit). Hopefully the older ones are OK as I didn't check them. That's a shame as I was kind of interested in their Atomic bomb kits, but I'm really gun-shy at this point about trying another one without a physical examination before the purchase. --David
  4. Under the heading of "it's never too late to do the right thing...." This morning I'm clipping the remaining parts and prepping. At least for this kit, there haven't been many exposed seams on sub-assemblies so rather than start-stop-start-stop to get a missed part ready might as well get them all ready. Here's the remaining clear green tinted parts clipped and ready to be degreased/washed and dipped in Future. I had to label each part on the stick for this kit since as far as I can tell they're just an angular "something" that may be mostly swallowed up into another part/assembly. --David
  5. The upper torso is kind of done...unless I come across some parts I missed. I think there's about eleventy-billion parts here. I have a new-found respect for the guys who build these and know what they're doing. --David
  6. Alrighty...two boots. The whole time I was assembling them the old Traffic tune The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys kept running through my mind... 10 parts in each boot. I can just imagine the engineers cackling about the parts count and daring each other to see how many parts one assembly could consist of...probably got paid by the piece. --David
  7. Mark, Did you ever finish the Monkeemobile? That was one of the first kits I ever built as a kid which I intend to do again one day. --David
  8. This thing keeps staring at me while I work on the Gundam, so I decided to prime the base and see where I was. (Weather hasn't been cooperative for outside painting is my current excuse for the lack of progress.) Not too bad--down to three pin holes and a bit of a gouge/valley near one of the corners. I'll put the orb sander back on it tomorrow and reprime. I'm debating whether to fully coat the airframe with epoxy rather than the patches I have now over the pin hole groups. --David
  9. Parts and parts and parts...this would go faster, but I keep finding a piece to this jigsaw puzzle that didn't get cleaned up, primed, and painted. Probably should have prepared every single piece ahead of time, then sub-assemblies and then final assembly. And there's a few parts on sticks sitting in a box not in the pictures...and a bunch still on the sprue. I guess part of the attraction is the blind-assembly transformer-ish...takes a while before enough sub-assemblies are brought together to see exactly what it is you're building. --David
  10. Well, this is an "easy" build...meaning I'm not having to spend any time figuring out how to make something fit properly. There's a horrendous number of pieces and the green-tinted clear parts incorporated into the body make fixing seams non-trivial. I'm only 3/4 of the way through the first page of instructions and only have the upper torso built. Paint instructions are vague and would be impossible without assuming the sprues are approximate. Maybe its there in the text, but it would have been nice to label what it is you're building and have color call-outs on each step. Oh well, other than my probably non-canon color scheme here and there, its been kind of fun and I'll probably build another Gundam. Front torso... Back torso...I'll let someone else make the obligatory joke about the nice rack for the missiles. --David
  11. I'm in. Need to see if there's anything around here I might finish by then... --David
  12. I don't know where I saw somebody's workbench where they had one of those so I can't take credit for what was a totally brilliant idea. I think you can buy something like it from Mr Hobby or somebody which would look nicer, but this was free other than spending about 15 minutes cutting up a box and taping the bundle together. Best 15 minutes I've spent building something to help with modeling. If I do another one I'll probably make it a bit wider and less tall. --David
  13. While I was waiting for the new epoxy hardener to come in this week, I decided, hey, why not start another build? Because I like building...finishing happens so rarely that I don't know if I'd like that or not. So this was on sale for about $33.... Bandai HGUC 1/144 Full Armor Unicorn Gundam (Destroy Mode). I've never built one of these and supposedly they're molded in all the proper colors and fit nicely. So no painting. "Full Armor" and "Destroy Mode" pretty much sold me without any research on the kit. So has lots of parts...so much for my next build being easy. And who am I kidding, of course I'm going to paint it. Wait, half the colors are a mix of Mr Color paints that I don't have. Yay, an excuse to buy more paint. And since I couldn't wait, hours spent on paint cross-references showed a mixture of Vallejo and Lifecolor that I have on hand matches one mixture that I need. White Tamiya primer is white so I'm half way there...thought about glossing over that, but I kind of like the satin look of this primer. We'll see...if I get it about done, then a screw-up with a gloss coat will give an excuse to strip it and start over. (Did I mention I like building more than finishing?) First set of parts painted and curing... And this is what it would look like if I actually finish it... Modeling is fun. And yes, I will build just about anything. :) --David
  14. Kev, it does look they weren't getting a vacuum that day...assuming they do that with these big pieces. I think the body is just rotocast. This is actually my first resin kit build other than small add-on bits so I didn't think to check for voids...the major alignment issues had my attention from the get-go and I didn't get zeroed in on these until now. :) So the slow hardener came in yesterday instead of Wednesday. Don't know why vendors generate a shipping label and then don't bother shipping for several days....in any event, this levels out much better for the purpose of filling low spots and filling holes. Not quite cured from the pour last night, but I can probably take a sander to it tonight. If not, the heat gun gets plugged in. I should have done a better job of wiping it off before the pour. Just used a brush instead of a cloth. It'll sand out... :) There was a nub for the landing gear foot at each corner about the size of two stacked nickels that I sawed off to make leveling this thing easier. In their place, I drilled some marker holes that you can see which I'll use to peg a replacement back. Note to self...if you mix up X amount of epoxy, you don't have to use X amount of epoxy. I should have squeegeed off more of it, but I hate wasting that stuff. --David
  15. Have a bit of a pinhole dance going on with the fuselage so decided to set it aside and work on the base. Pinholes there as well, but not as many. Flat surfaces are not very flat. Decided to spread West Systems epoxy and let it settle out. First attempt was OK, but I need the low viscosity hardener so ordered that. Put the base aside and take a closer look at the three legs which I know have a few issues. Seriously? Started poking everything that looked suspicious and opening up anything that looked like a void. Picture makes it look better than it really is. <sigh> For this much money and and resin casting isn't exactly a new thing...kind of discouraging. Fortunately, its mostly on the side facing the fuselage, but is visible if you care to look. Setting everything aside until the new hardener comes in later this week. --David
  16. Lovely. Did the props come from the kit? --David
  17. Greg, It does have three legs and a base...may end up sitting next to the high-power rockets or at work. Decided to prime coat again as it was getting difficult to discern the shapes and issues with all the colors. Into the back year on an old, broken cymbal stand...with the central Texas heat today didn't take long to get dry enough to move into the garage to cure. Looked like I uncovered more pin holes getting the shape sorted out, but I think the heavy sanding is out of the way. --David
  18. Well, ended up lining the sides of the landing gear bays with sheet styrene. I may go back with a strip and/or some corrugated plastic, but smoothing it all out may be good enough. The Disney Moonliner was supposedly more of a model/mock-up of something larger so a model of a model of something never built means I'm going to take whatever liberties I want to at this point. :) You can see on the left the saw-tooth pattern where the original corrugated side had broken through to the top. Probably 3/4 of the edges had this problem. And some of the corrugated patterns were a little dodgy as well. --David
  19. I may not count rivets or know/care how many antennas/windows/wheel-spokes a Mark-whatever is supposed to have, but odd shapes draw me like a moth to flame. :) Ultimately though its our model, our shelf, and our time... Alas I won't make it to Columbia this year...but my wife is already trying to make reservations for 2017 so I might actually get something finished by then. Maybe. --David
  20. After perusing pictures, I think the shape should be round and not flat-sided (if actual matches your picture.) In any event, if you drop the model and accidentally step on it you can rebuild it like this: I love old airplanes... --David
  21. Maybe its just the perspective/shadow in the picture, but the the engine/boom nacelle at the wing sure does look oddly waspy-shaped. I went looking for pictures and got distracted by this: --David
  22. Encore 1/32 Albatros D.II 'Boelcke'. Because I can't quite pull the trigger on a Wingnut Wing's kit... :) --David
  23. Look on the bright side--you didn't drop it onto the stove burner, start a fire, and burn down the house. :) Seeing an old vac come to life almost makes me want to drag out the ones I have in storage. Almost. --David
  24. Its interesting how people look at things differently based on their experiences and what-not, but we generally are drawn to something that seems out of place. GIL was drawn to the jacket which to me looked like a normal leather motorcycle jacket. I tend to be drawn to details that don't seem to match the big-picture and I wonder what I'm misinterpreting or if physics/reality is being violated in some manner. You probably see completely different aspects. So, for me, the trigger was the cracks in the dirt--my first thought was it must have been really wet and was drying out. Without a reference point for the environment its ambiguous if the ground is still wet or not, but the cracks led me to then interpret the coloration of the ground as damp. And then I'm wondering why aren't the tires covered in mud. Again, this could be the photo and it looks completely different in real-life. Consider that if the MC and rider were on a cobblestone/paved road, then I would have seen nothing out of place other then he must have just gotten new tires. :) Packed dirt roads or paths tend to be really beaten down where the animals or vehicles travel and potentially dusty. Perhaps think a lighter band/track where the traffic is from end to end and darker/foilage/grass/different where there isn't traffic. It's not really a vignette/diorama to me, but you're implying movement and something happening. I think the model is nice, now perhaps tie up the loose visual ends into a cohesive package and it moves to the next level. --David
  25. Looks nice. My suggestion involves the terrain and how it impacted the subjects....maybe it's the pictures and I'm not sure what the terrain is supposed to represent. In any event, the tires look brand-new/unused and a bit out of place and possibly the bottom of the raised boot. If this is mud...then muddy tires/boots and the rider/motorcycle would have left some tracks as well. If dry ground, then at least dusty tires/boots? And aged rubber should look somewhat duller/greyer? --David
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