Deadman Disciple

My wife bought me the Bandai Star Wars AT-ST kit for christmas from an Amazon.co.uk seller based in Japan costing £16 with free shipping. This was supposed to be one of the Bandai SW kits I would have bought with the £70 left over from last November's model kit fair. Looking at the sprues, the parts look smaller than id imagined & the various build pictures ive seen make it look bigger than it actually is. Anyways, construction is fairly straight forward, starting with the belly. It was fairly easy to snap-fit all the belly parts, but the braided tubing was very flimsy, so care was taken when cutting them off the sprues & slight sanding. Also the tubing will need gluing into the relevant holes as they feel really loose & did pop out a few times. Continuing with the legs & it was all easy to snap-fit together, a few peices were a bit flimsy, namely the rear moveable strip caliper. Slowly but surely adding the parts to the legs came the feet, which were a tight fit & took a bit of persuation to snap together but I got there in the end. Once done, id noticed I had built the lower leg back-to-front & the mounting ring was supposed to be on the top instead of underneath, but taking everything apart again to correct such a small mistake to me was pointless. Moving onto the interior cockpit/command area. I primered all the interior wall parts, seating, dashboard & driver figures & started painting. Pretty much all Tamiya XF-80 (Royal Light Grey) & picked out the various light panels & switches in various colors & the same on the dashboard & then gave it a black wash to bring out the rest of the detail. Seating area was nato olive for the seats & a little white for the detail & greyish blue for the joysticks. The rear wall was washed in white wash & black washed around the outer parts. The drivers were then painted:- US Compass Grey for the uniform Folkart Greenscape for the helmets Flesh Pink for the faces Nato Olive for the seatbelts Black for the goggles, gloves & boots. Then I mounted them into the seats with a smidgen of glue for a little extra security. I had to widen the mounting holes slightly when putting the cockpit/command area together, as primer had gotten into them & the back wall took my pressure clamp to get in mounted properly, but all the other walls went together fairly easy. Cheers, Wayne.

I used Micro Crystal Clear mixed with water using a small pump action spray bottle. Sprayed it onto the wood, sprinkled the grass powder & let it settle for a couple of mins. Then I sprayed the MCC/water solution on top of the grass powder & let it dry for 24 hours. It worked a treat for me, the grass dried & nothing comes away. Wayne.

When I did the pavement for my 1313 Mockingbird Lane, I bought some brick scene pavement paper that was made by Tamiya. Maybe they might do the scenery runway paper that you are looking for. Wayne.

Either way she didnt pay anything on top, whether it was a courier charge or customs. If its Parcelfarce, they pretty much charge what they like. So it was a win-win situation in our case.

My wife bought me 2 of the Bandai SW kits for christmas from aJapaneseseller on amazon uk & they were £16 each, free p&p. I told her if she managed to get them, to buy them from the same seller & when I got them christmas day I asked her if she'ed paid any customs & she replied no. My son buys all his anime DVD's & blu-rays from amazon japan (as its the best way for him & cheaper) & I asked him what the customs charges are & he told me they arent too bad. So if my wife would have had to pay customs on the 2 kits she bought me, it would have been about £5-£7 at the most. My son also said that the customs charges are hit & miss, sometimes he has to pay, sometimes he does not. Cheers, Wayne.

The 1313 Mockingbird Lane (Munster House) diorama is all done. I finally started on the garden, with the green grass powder from the scenarama kit I bought. Having to resort to mixing Micro Crystal Clear with water, as the project glue had dried inside the bottle to a silicon sealant consistency & I couldnt get it to re-melt. Using the empty spray bottle that I got with the kit, I sprayed my solution onto the wooden base & sprinkled the grass powder on top with my fingers & thumb all over, then re-spraying the solution on top of the grass, I left it 24 hours to dry. Thinking it wouldnt work, the next day my fears had dissapated the grass had dried to a sandpaper like feel, so I started on the other side of the front garden & around the back. Once everything had dried, I removed the masking tape (for where I was going to place the trees & walls) & placed the completed trees & glued them into place with super glue. A couple of days before, I used some modelling putty & put some around the base of each tree & kneaded it into some grease-proof paper to create a flat-base root type shape. Leaving the putty to dry for 24 hours, the trees were now free-standing. Topping up around the roots of the trees with a little more grass powder, I started on the walls & metal fences. Humbrol 26 Brown & 9 Tan Brown for the walls & Revell 36190 Silver for the metal fences, I also glued those into place onto the wooden base. Also I had to cut the gate in half, but using a spare bit of another piece of the fencing, I clipped off one rod & glued it to repair the other half of the gate, to make it complete. Picking up a tip using Google, I used 4 different types of herbal tea leaves to re-create the fallen dead leaves from the tree around the base of the tree. Simply mixing Camomile, Lemon & Ginger, Blackcurrant, Raspberry (IIRC) & some normal tea leaves into a shot glass & scattering them around the base of each tree, using the clear solution, I think it has made a great effect with the various colors. Finishing off the base with some Revell 36179 Greyish Blue, to re-create a pavement, I started on the finishing touches of the house. I washed the hell out of the house with some Citadel Agrax Earthshade & glueing on the weather vane, TV aerial, chimney pot & spire top. Im really chuffed on how this has turned out, not bad for my first attempt at a diorama. Cheers, Wayne.

I know it aint the same, but the grass powder ive been using has gone down really well. Using micro crystal clear & water, spraying it on the wood base, sprinkling the grass powder onto it. Then spraying some more on top of the grass & leaving it to dry for 24 hours, has worked really well. Especially for another first timer like me & its gotta be better than shocking yourself all the time. Wayne

After a brief review of the scenery items I ordered online that have all now arrived. Ive started on the base, glueing the house base to the wood with PVA glue, using clamps & some of my wifes books to hold the base down whilst the glue dried. The next day I started the final construction of the house, using superglue to hold down the west wing, porch & the spire down, as the porch plate kept tyring to push up from the base. Once dry I started with the rear & sides of the house, but I had a lot of difficulty trying to get the main back plate & the side plate into the west wing & spire respectively, I had to cut bits away & eventually they slotted into place. The last 2 plates slotted in fine, but a little gap appeared (which I now since filled with some putty). Then started the roof, which was 3 parts. Mansard roof which mounts into a groove at the side of the spire & holding in down with some tape on the back edge, the front section of roof which slides into the grooves on the west wing & the spire & the rear roof which slides on top of the front section & a groove at the rear of the west wing. I also cut the path from the Tamiya paving sheet & running my knife under the steps so I could get the sheet to slide underneath & glued that down with some clear n glaza & used my wifes books again to hold that down whilst the glue dried. Its now time to start the garden scenery. Cheers, Wayne.

Those look like resin kits & the price matches at $150 to $200+ Its a shame Moebius are putting the release back, but IMO id rather theyd delay the release & make an awesome kit than rush it & rely on aftermarket parts to correct mistakes. Wayne.

Now all the primering is all done, Ive now started on the painting of the house. Starting with Humbrol Enamel No.7 (Light Buff), I painted all the side panels & around the windows, then with Humbrol Acrylic No.251 (Dark Brown) I painted the roof sections on the spire & west wing buildings. Took 2 coats of the enamel & once dry I touched up around the windows with white & once dry, I then painted the windows in Humbrol Acrylic No.41 (Ivory) for the off-white effect. On the spire deck & Marilyn's balcony deck I painted Revell Aquacolor 36188 (Ochre Brown). Then using the clear n' glaze glue I glued on the insides the window inserts. Once the glue dried on the inserts, I glued in the railing inserts & the roof onto the spire, along with Marilyn's balcony on the west wing. Also glueing the painted main roof section onto the west wing & once that was dry, I started on the rest of the loose wall panels. Using the same colors as stated above, they are all now complete along with the main front porch & front door which I painted in Humbrol Acrylic No.9 (Tan Brown) Then going onto the base, I used the Humbrol No.26 (Brown) to paint the brickwork inserts, Ochre Brown for the porch deck & Revell Aquacolor 36179 (Greyish Blue) for the steps. But, on the underneath of the base is hollow with cross-sections, which didnt meet with the top of the edges of the base. So, when I glue the base to the wooden base I have, it would have only be able to hold around the edges of the house base to the wood. To combat this, I managed to get a reject sheet plastic safety sign from my work's plastic recycling bin & using a Old El Paso cardboard box to make a template. Using the template to trace the shape & cutting around with some scissors, I cut the shape into 4 pieces & glued them to the base & its filled the gaps to meet the edges a treat & now gives me a better whole flat surface to the wood base. All I have to do now is wait for the supplies ive ordered to make the garden & then I can get cracking on with final construction & the garden. Cheers, Wayne.

Moving swiftly on. This time with the 1313 Mockingbird Lane kit from Moebius, which is the 2nd & last kit my wife bought with the £70 I had left from the model fair. Started off with the brick inserts on the base, glueing them in, one by one. Then came the spire, which was 1 half & the other half was 4 quarter panels, but Moebius have made a slight error with the number placements. It states parts 17.16.15 & 14 (in that order) to be glued together, but 16 & 15 will not glue together as they have mounting tabs for 14 to fit into, so 14 should be swapped with 15, so they can go together. Once that problem was solved, the spire walls went together really easy. Spire roof was 4 quarter pieces & when placed on top of the bottom hexgonal peice, glued together easily. Using the base to make sure the peices were aligned for the spire, I did the same when starting the west wing construction. Front (1) & back (2) walls connected to the wall (13) with a dovetail joint like effect & that made glueing very easy & the short wall (22) was the same too, using electrical tape to hold them together whilst the glue dried. Once the glue dried on the west wing I test fitted it after I took the tape off & the holes & pegs aligned perfectly. I then glued the 2 roof side peices onto the west wing assembly & again used electrical tape to hold those down while the glue dried. Also did another test fit with the roof & that fitted perfectly. Caught a break in the weather, as it was very mild & dry outside for the one day, as either side days were raining, so I managed to do a lot of priming. Grey primer for the west wing & once dry I masked off the roof & went with white spray for the walls. Also primered the sprue parts in grey primer & again white on top for the wall sections. Now its all primered, im all ready for paint.

Thanks for the very kind comments guys. Wayne.

A quality finish there. Turned out great, im sure the empire would be most impressed.

Your refurb work so far looks like its going great. Always wanted to do a dropship & the apc.

I built Pegasus last year & it went together really well. Liking the surgery you did to get the PE inside the landing bay side pods. Just be weary of the sandwich plates between the sidepods, paint them first before you glue them together. Also glue the guns in before you fully assemble the head & paint the nooks & crannies before you assemble the head too. As it will prove more diffcult to get the paint in later. There are some helpfull videos on YT. Wayne.

Amen to that.Just lightly dust from above a little higher & each pass over your model will do the trick.

Indeed they do Dave. http://www.moebiusmodels.com/ourkits/kits/productpage-munstersgrandpa.html For the Grandpa kit. The Herman & Grandpa Kits actually link together, like this. I might get a grandpa kit, eventually.

Herman is all done, its finale time. I started by glueing his feet to his legs, then clamping them whilst the glue dried. Then once dry, took the clamps off & glued the completed legs & feet to his torso by glueing the back square mounting inside his torso into his bottom & pushing the front of his trousers into the bottom of his jumper. Using string to tie around his legs to around the shoulders & using foam to protect the areas from rubbing the paint off, I then pulled the string quite tightly to help make a more secure fit whilst the glue dries. Once the glue dried, I mounted Herman's complete body to the base using the pegs & glued around them. My paint finally arrived from America, which was Americana Sea Glass & Folkart Greenscape, after doing a Google search on Herman's skintone & finding Nightowl on HobbyTalk Forums discussing which paint he used. Using Nightowl's tip, I painted Herman's face & hands in the Americana Sea Glass & thinned down some of the Folkart Greenscape with some water to wash consistency & washed his face & skin a couple of times. I then started on his facial features & once done & sealed, I glued his head & hands onto his body. I built the table, which was the tabletop, the 4 carved sidepanels & legs into the square holes underneath the tabletop (which was really easy), primered it & painted it in humbrol brown, gave it a black wash to bring out the wood effect on the top & the carvings on the sides. Putting all the instruments & glassware together, which started with the electrical box which was 4 sideparts & the eletrical conductor (all, again really easy). Copper mixed with gunmetal for the box, humbrol trainer yellow for the "DANGER" lettering, humbrol metallic brass for the conductor. The glassware was just a little green & washed with earthshade wash & glued to the table with clear 'n' glaze. Skull was painted in white with some earthshade wash. Base was painted in revell blueish grey & earthshade wash & humbrol mattcote. Table (with instruments) was glued to the base & my wife is happy with the results. Cheers, Wayne.

If you accidently get some on your canopy, I found using citadel wash (or any wash) cleared the superglue residue up.In fact, it actually gave my podracer's windscreen a used & slightly scuffed look, with what little residue was left. Micro Crystal Clear or Glue 'n' Glaze is good for canopies, goes on like pva glue, but dries clear. Wayne.

31 Inches tall, daymn thats big. My wife is the same, she hates it when I spend money on my models, especially aftermarket parts.

Congrats on the award. That is some truly exquisite work, the tones of colors you used have really bought her out, especially her skin. The shield pattern came out brilliantly. If you ever met Katherine Winnick in person & you showed it to her, im sure she would be instantly impressed. Truly nice work. Wayne.

Looking at Bubblearch's Cmdr Cody build & he mentioned using hairspray. Tell me to suck eggs, but how does hairspray work on models? Can you use it as a clear coat spray to seal & he said he used to help create a chipped used effect. What brand hairspray is the best to use & if it can be used to clear coat a model, what kind of finish does it leave if used properly? Always looking for easy/practical tips to help me improve. Cheers, Wayne.

Nice pics there, he looks great & your use of Halfords sprays has gone down really well. The battle weathering is class. I also use Halfords Primer and he must be pretty tall as he looks like he dwarfs those cans & Halfords cans are quite tall, by themselves. An awesome job. Wayne

Never too young to start models, he's done a cracking job so far. Models should be taught in schools.

Just finished doing Herman's head. Started off with some Americana Sea Glass Green, then gave it a couple of applications of Folkart Greenscape wash. Then painted the hairline all around his head & the rest of his hair in black. Scar on his forehead also black & the staples in silver. Eyeballs in white & his pupils in black ( just glad he dont look cross-eyed. Did a little of his lips in black, trying not to go overboard. Bolts on his neck are in Gun Metal. Im just glad the Sea Glass & Greenscape paint finally turned up from America. Its the most difficult intricate painting ive ever done, but it aint turned out too bad. Cheers, Wayne.