Schwarz-Brot

Someone around here used cord instead of masking tape. Brilliant idea and perfect effect. Spares you the cutting of the tape.

Seems to be too dry when it hits the spoon. Usually I don't have problems with vallejo. Thinner might be a problem. A tad of flow medium and / or drying retarder helped me quite a lot with water based acrylics.

When trying to find a local dealer I stumbled over the fact that it looks like a direct copy of the larger SMER bender which always put me off because of its price. Well, I don't care. Found a supplier here in Germany who even has this exact one in stock while it is out of stock at the small shop Saves me a huge amount on shipping, too, so I'm quite happy. I also tend to spend quite a lot of money to get me the right tools. For a long while I've been looking at the large trumpeter PE bender. But something always put me off. This one is obviously way sharper with lots of nooks and pins to bend stuff over and even larger. More expensive, but I don't care - I'm sure this one is the one to keep. Thanks again for the link!

That's one gigantic pencil! Beautiful detail - hopefully it will be seen at least a little with the cockpit closed.

Poul, there is a complete set of good video tutorials available from Autodesk. It really helps to play along these to get you up to speed. They also helped me to understand the mindset behind Fusion workflows better.

Link works, thank you.

I'll vote for Autodesk Fusion. Drawback is that all your stuff lives online, though you can export everything in the most common formats for local use. Object files can be exported easily. Indeed 3d-printing is widely supported by Fusion. It has a steep learning curve but can do anything the really large CAD-packages can do. Since it is free for private use you don't have to worry about subscriptions and stuff. Though they may pull the plug one day. There is no standalone version. My biggest problem with Fusion is that its tools are very close to Inventor, though the underlying workflow is completely different. - This matters very much to me, as my dayjob is at least 95% construction work with Inventor. Above that I think it is a playground for the inventor developers as successfull new features I see in fusion come drippling down into inventor some time later. This means constant upgrades in functionality, but sometimes it becomes instable and the interfaces change every now and then which is bad if you use it only occasionally. Biggest plus for me is the very good freeform workspace which allows you to model surfaces with irregular curves very well and quite intuitively. This I haven't seen in any other CAD package yet - but it started to dripple down into Inventor... If you want a very safe bet and can live with oldschool CAD-Work theres OpenSource packages out there. I think freeCAD and libreCAD were the names of the most advanced ones. But these were on a level that compares to professional parametric CAD-packages of about at least 20 years ago the last time I looked into them. This was when I decided to use Fusion. So, Autodesk Fusion360. Any other solution with no or little investment won't even come close. There's only the big names in this game. It is in my eyes perfectly suited to modelling. For Freeform modelling without advanced CAD functionality there'd be Blender. This is a very advanced open source tool suite aimed at cinematic animation, probably on par with the big names. Naturally this involves sculpting tools, so the freeform capabilities are pretty good. Parametric CAD capabilities are on a level with free or basic CAD packages I'd say. It's learning curve is even steeper than with Fusion, and to be honest I didn't come to grips with the concept of doing things. The moviemaking, lighting and FX-overhead didn't make this beast any easier to use for me. Coming from parametric CAD design it is very hard for me to work with freeform sculpting. Hope I could help you out a little. This of course only reflects my personal experience and opinion.

Would you mind sharing? This indeed is good stuff.

Why would you stick to Tamiyas Colours? They only have a limited pallete and naturally only suggest their own products. Take some reference pictures and see what you really need, or if you want to stick to the manual use a comparison chart to see the aproximate equals from different manufacturers. Or take some liberal approach and do it to your own style. There is no wrong or right - it is your model.

I love your sense of humor on the 1:1! Fender War is just gold. That stance without airride - when dropping a car is not just for show but a lifestyle. Great. And obviously you know what your doing so your 1:8 looks absolutely believable. Great work all around.

What PE bender do you use there? It looks really good and is likely large enough for the huge PE-parts I'll face with my F40. Your result is very good in my book. When I draw sheetmetal parts at work that have curved surfaces they are usually produced exactly like you did. Just with larger steps. So your method is absolutely valid. Though a Panelmaker would smooth everything out of course. I wonder - is there something like a miniature english wheel for those uses? Probably something I'd expect as jewelmakers tools. I'll fire up google 😄

This. Plus I'd love that 850 as daily.

You know what kind of trouble lies ahead of you. Still you wander that road. I guess it cannot be too bad. Have fun!

@RidgeRunner I think Nigels answer applies to the topic starters question while it ignores your more specific request. Shelf life only tells you how long the glue will be usable. It doesn't tell you about the properties after using. CA is a pretty hard material when dried. If the surfaces don't lend some teeth it will eventually detach. This is even more the case if there's residue on the parts (Mold release, finger oils, dust - you name it). But this applies to all glues. It is always a good idea to roughen up larger surfaces. Baking soda acts as a filler. CA has some filling properties, if you use the gel types. But these are slow curing. The thin stuff is usually faster curing but cannot fill gaps well. Here comes baking soda into play - just dust it in and you have a very fast curing filler that is well sandable. It needs to be build up in layers, but that is no problem as it hardens very fast. When freshly cured it is comparable in hardnes with plastic or resin, so best to sand and smooth out while it is still fresh. The stuff becomes very hard within a few hours. It's probably a good idea to search youtube for some tutorials on gap-filling with CA. Better to see then to describe. With the slow curing gel types you can add baking soda to get a paste that lends itself very well to remodelling and filling large areas. This paste also is perfect for building support from the inside of structures by simply adding it generously over seems or where stiffening is needed. I think Paul Budzik has a video about doing that. Though he uses some different paste the technique is the same.

A really impressive result after your Odyssey with several repaints and broken pieces. Such a beautiful model. One you can really be proud of. It fought you all the way, but in the end you won!

That's the stuff for glueing windows, right? So it's just PVA.

There's plenty of models with full engine detail out there, especially Tamiya and Revell come to mind. This detail of course needs to be improved, but it can be done as many folks around here show. Starting with additional wiring and little scratchbuilt details, or if the money allows detail up kits will give you lots of stuff to fiddle with. Do your research if the model is curbside before spending money. Chose something that completely reveals technical details in a normal service arrangement: Some Group B rallye-cars come to mind immediately. With the bodypanels completely lifting up the whole engine and suspension is seen. Opening the hood on a Lamborghini on the other side only reveals some shiny engine covers. Maybe Motorcycles are something for you? They reveal most of the technical bits without being stripped and always come with full engine detail Avoid ancient moldings and reboxed versions of them - they can fight you quite a lot. Scalemates is your friend to research that. While a modern kit is not guaranteed to fall toghether it is much more likely. Look around for WIP topics to help you decide: If there's trouble with a kit it will usually be mentioned. Question the builder if in doubt. If there are problems with fitment question yourself if your skills will be enough to tackle that problem or if you are willing to take it on. MFH kits are well worth the money imho, but you need some serious skills to do them justice. And of course they can be enhanced even further. But if you are not able to get a usual kit to your liking I'd heavily advice against starting a MFH kit. Car (and bike) finishes are the most difficult to get right imho, as they tend to be pretty glossy. To overcome the associated problems it can help building a well-raced version with grime and even blemishes. Or all-out on weathering with a muddy rallyecar. Older cars were not so shiny, so you'll get a believable finish without going wet-look glossy. Nothing can help you with improving your skills. You'll need to practice, there's no way around that. Then there's different philosophies to go with. Some would rather do one kit in two years (or more) and work until every detail is right, wich means redoing stuff over and over until it is right. @Codger is the prime example to this approach. The other way is building lots of kits and clean up only the major mishaps, aiming for overall consistency. This route is more rewarding in my book while the first approach is demotivating at times. But that might depend on your personality. Problem with the first approach is - maybe you get the engine detailed to perfection but only manage a rather usual paintjob - then the whole model will be let down by that. The inconsistency in quality will be very obvious and the related disappointment pretty big. On the other side an engine with some nice additional details - not maxed out - and a good paintjob will give an overall look that is convincing and by being consistent it will also be more appealing to non-modelling viewers. Look at this build by @Bevital for example. It isn't overly detailed, but that would be overkill on an ancient Merit kit. Instead the well-placed details enhance the very basic kit and turn it into a rare, beautiful and convincing build. If you are only into the technical details, another approach might be building the complete chassis without any body panels at all as a kind of technical art piece. Though you'll probably have to do a complete scratchbuild then. A presentation with pictures of the complete car will give the relation for all viewers. Haven't seen this put to words before in relation to modelling, though most folks tend to do it naturally. It is a well-known approach in miniature painting. Hope this helps a bit. Level your expectations. If everyone could build masterpieces everyone would do that. The masses of topics on here are by mere mortals, and even the masters started out that way. Post your WIPs, ask for help and guidance, fail or succeed, rinse, repeat, become master. You can do it!

Not only should you be glad, you should be proud of your work. It leads to beautiful and rare models, so what else would you want? Not every model needs to meet MFH detail levels. Still it can be more than just a plastic kit. This is exactly what you show with your quite effective upgrades.

That is very impressive PE work. Both - from the manufacturer and also you putting it all together. Some nice tricks to learn along the way.

Some wonderful scratchbuilding. Simple, but more than enough to push these basic kits onto a whole new level.

Moment should be available as "Pattex" in most places. Water-resistent PVA or bookbinders glue for glossy materials will work well. Both stay flexible and are almost identical. I wonder if the material could be heat-welded - most of these fabrics are purely synthetic and thus should respond to heat. Maybe with the edge of a heatened scalpell blade they can be pressed together to form one piece? Obviously - don't try this on your showpiece

CMON is among the best producers of tabletop games with miniatures that are not wargames, imho. Pretty crisp and rich in detail for massproduced one-piece figures and very good plastic. Though they tend to reuse poses and pieces of miniatures quite alot. I know because I own a few different games and sometimes they even reuse whole miniatures. Some of the poses of the swordsmen I have also seen in 7 sins But why not - the miniatures are still great and usually their games are pretty good as well. Zombicide for example is a long-time favorite with my ladies.

That would be really impressive. Seems like you are more lucky than me

How well is the spindle balanced? I've had my share of cheap and not so cheap clones. None came even close to Dremel and Proxxon quality. While they all worked and were built appropriate for the price the spindle would vibrate like crazy and even get into resonance at some speeds. Some were better, some worse. But no way to do precision work with any of these. I guess I just had no luck at all so will stick with Proxxon.

The detailed wheels in combination with the beautiful lines and nice paintwork suggest a high quality kit. Never would one think this started as a blob of paint dipped plastic. Looking forward to your wip - your techniques will be helpful to many of us.