Does anyone here build scale models?

[SignOfZeta]

I love garage kits in general. Is that locally produced or from far away?

[ClodBuster]

That penguin was originally just the mascot partner of some other manga-related kit and did not had any Frankenstein features, but the mold has been altered by members of the model kit group I'm part of. I don't know if this was done by somebody locally or farther away, got to ask. We supply small kits like that for workshops that are held at conventions, to draw new people into the resin kit hobby, usually women are more attracted to it than men.

I know a lot of people are buying their recast resin kits at Chinese pirating sites like E2046, I avoid these places like the plague though.

[SignOfZeta]

I don’t know why. I have loads of those things. When the original is limited to 100 pieces there’s really no alternative.

[ClodBuster]

Building model kits just one of many hobbies I like to do. So I don't have the urge to collect more kits than I can  finish.

I'm just happy that I can do more with my hands than pushing plastic buttons and beating meat.

[SignOfZeta]

It’s a blessing.

And yeah, considering it’s taken me almost two years to complete the last major GK I bought (FAZZ conversion for 1/144 HGUC ZZ Gundam) I have slowed down on buying them. The same group this year released another massive thing that will take me forever to build so should I buy it? I probably will. I don’t have many EX S Gundam...none, come to think of it.

If it has more than 200 parts and it’s resin I need to book about a year to make it unless something really crazy happens like I get laid off. I haven’t been laid off in six years though so the work is really piling up.

[Arkhan]

I like models but I hate assembling them so I just buy figures.

Games Workshops a$$hole pewter models may have drove me to that.

The mid 90s pewter engineering teams were all a$$holes.

One little knob to hold like 1lb of pewter to another piece.  Yeah ok, f*cktards.



That stupid thing on top fell off constantly.

My dad took a drill and a screw and jammed it in there.   Now I can pick it up by the f*ckin' howdah on top.

Pinning it didn't work at all.

[SignOfZeta]

Bandai 1/144 HGUC Juaggu "War Orphan"

This was done using all Mig Jimenez methods.

[SignOfZeta]

OK, so here's some work I'm doing for a 1/144 FAZZ diorama...

According to Model Grafx magazine the FAZZ is not a prototype Full Armor ZZ Gundam, its really a test mule for the Full Armor because the ZZ Gundam was itself being developed in parallel. This is why the FAZZ has no High Mega Cannon and whatever and why the head is different.

So I thought I should have this FAZZ in flight and it could be being escorted by a core fighter that was itself a weird sort of prototype of the ZZ Gundam's Neo Core Fighter.

Here is a standard Neo Core Fighter's line art:



Here's some f*cking sweat Kobayashi concept art from back in the day:



Here is the current Bandai plastic 1/144 Neo Core Fighter:



As you can see the "intakes" are very clumsy and thick compared to the ideal (or anything that flies). Bandai likes to get a lot of milage out of their molds so they avoid sharp detail. As amazing as Bandai's engineering is, this Core Fighter would have been a lot cooler looking if Tamiya or Hasegawa had made it:



Here I've made some improvements, removed probably %40 of the mass but you can cut cheese with the things now:



I wanted this to be a proto Neo Core Fighter so it would look half built or bespoke. Since I work in testing and development myself this aspect of Gundam Sentinel really appealed to me. I figured there would be such a thing...since its escorting a FAZZ it may as well have a ridiculously big gun.

I opened up the sides but the plan isn't to replicate the line art here but to emphasize the part separation but in a unique way:



Here I've knife edged the rear "intakes" as well and started to extend the rudder. I've removed as much bulk as possible to make this brick look more like the drawing:



Here I've added some stainless mesh and thinned down the rudder some:



You can see from that pic that the more I remove from the engines the more it exposes the ugly guts so the only way forward is to hollow out the nacelles completely and make new engines out of the old ones:

You can barely see them in this photo:



You can also see the stabilizer has been knife edged as well:



Here I've gone and built a massive gun out of a large spare ECU terminal and the ZZ Gundam's beam saber back pack thingamabob:



Here they are as they sit today, I added some more details from styrene, brass, and spares:

[ClodBuster]

What a cute little flyer.
I see that you use Tamiya X/XF-paints, too. Any advice on hand brush-painting these with a stroke-free finish? Apart from the methods I use, which means:
- Filling portions as needed into smaller jars
- Adding a stainless steel agitating ball for lossless mixing
- Mixing them well to the needed viscosity with Tamiya X-20A thinner
- Using Tamiya primer spray on the model
- Using synthetic brushes to apply thin coats on the model one after another

[Gypsy]

That Juaggu is fantastic.

[spenoza]

Macross or GTFO.

[SignOfZeta]

What a cute little flyer.
I see that you use Tamiya X/XF-paints, too. Any advice on hand brush-painting these with a stroke-free finish? Apart from the methods I use, which means:
- Filling portions as needed into smaller jars
- Adding a stainless steel agitating ball for lossless mixing
- Mixing them well to the needed viscosity with Tamiya X-20A thinner
- Using Tamiya primer spray on the model
- Using synthetic brushes to apply thin coats on the model one after another

Primer is KEY in models. Finding out at the end of a project that you didn’t use good primer when you started suuuuuuuuucks. I usually use Mr Surfacer 1000 or 500, sometimes from a rattle can and sometimes from an airbrush. I also have “Mr Resin Primer” but I can’t honestky see any advantage. If you prepare resin properly and apply Tamiya Super Fine or Mr Surfacer (the right way) it really really sticks. Put Humbrol enamel on that and it ain’t going nowhere. It’s hard to even scrap it off with your fingernail.

I use a lot of different paint. The Juaggu was done with crappy Euro eco paint from Vallejo, AK, and Mig (same shit) because this exact weathering system works best with this products. Normally we Americans only use that crap for camouflaging our breakfast cereals. I’d never use it where a quality finish is needed. It’s just ridiculously weak paint. Using good primer from Tamiya/Gunze helps a lot but still...best kept to military and miniature subjects.

Car bodies are almost always best done with rattle can.

For Tamiya I generally don’t mix much but putting the BB in the bottle is a good idea. I’m going to try that. I use blank Tamiya jars and the paint usually dries out because I’m only making a little of it.

For airbrush I use that super overpriced Tamiya thinner (I think it’s X20A) at about %40. The next best thing is washer fluid for your car or just water. I mix it in the airbrush cup with a paintbrush.

For hand brush...this I have a lot of experience with since I had a 15 year “f*ck airbrush” period. I use water, any water, and put it on in many super thin coats. I’ll post some examples of this later.

[SignOfZeta]

That Juaggu is fantastic.

I’m going to do another one, it will be even bigger and better. Some maniacs made a 1/100 one for C3 this year so I’m going to use that as the basis for a diorama idea I came up with only after the 1/144 one was finished.

The guy has got to be pretty big in 1/100. The 1/144 dwarfs most other 1/144 robots in width especially.

[SignOfZeta]

This is most of the SD stuff I've built. Some of these go back over 20 years.

The MD Valkyries are something a lot of people haven't seen. There is a Macross "power collector" near me and he had never seen them before. They were really cheap. I don't think they had gum in them but they were just this side of that. They were as good of plastic kits as the smaller ARII stuff so good enough for me. I *think* these came out when they re-ran the show with the SD intro. Was that the 10th anniversary? So 1992 then. The Armored has an extra GU-11 because the VT-1D came with one which is like...WTF, guys? Didn't you see the movie? It has no weapons! And I'm not giving it any because Sunset Beachy is sacred!

Everything here was Tamiya Color brushed by hand, btw, except maybe some of the white on the Dendrobium which may have come from a rattle can. I'm assuming most have Krylon clear matte or perhaps an art fixative I don't know, like I said these go way back and my techniques change every once in a while.

The Mk2 is the newest thing here. It was done for a 48 hour group build 8 or 9 years ago. All the SD's have legs now and its bullshit. I still have at least a half dozen from when they were all branded SD Gundam G Century after the Playstation game so I'm probably set until the "no leg SD Gundam revival" of 2023.

[SignOfZeta]

Here's a more recent SD, the B Club SD Nightingale. Its huge compared to regular SDs from Bandai. Its boot, of course. The decals are all gold leaf from some dude on eBay. This was the most complex resin kit I had every built at the time, maybe 110 parts, this was about 3-4 years ago I think. The paint is Humbrol enamel. There was a great deal of polishing and whatnot with this guy to get the finish I got, which could be a lot better.