RobL

So, moving on from the Sir Terry of Pratchett reference in the thread title... For reasons I decided to buy an oldhammer dragon last year. Not done much painting since October '23 (for reasons, health) so I thought I'd start the year with this. It's an ebay rescue of Rakarth on Black Dragon (those into Warhammer Fantasy/The Old World will know). I'm repurposing it for Talisman 3rd edition (a mid 90s Games Workshop board game), hence no rider. I tried to paint it like one of GW's current Age of Sigmar dragons but it didn't quite work out right. It'll do though... Thanks for looking, C&C welcome.

I cannot make a judgment other than to say it's a snap fit kit, goes together well, and lacks/has simplified details compared to the studio examples. Other options I'm aware of are the AMT/MPC/ERTL kit, resin kits (Anigrand?), and toys by Kenner and others, but I've read they all have their faults compared to the studio models (obvious shape differences mostly), plus they're more expensive/rare, and often bigger (even at 1/106 I find Revell's kit to be as big as I'd go).

I've stuck a fork in this and called it done, finally. Now on show in RFI...

Kit Manufacturer: Revell. Scale: 1/106. Paints used: Archive X and one black and one silver paint (Vallejo). Clear coats: Windsor and Newton Galeria Satin. Weathering products - a black clay wash overall. Aftermarket - Arduino nano and LEDs (plus 2 CR2032 lillypad battery holders, wires and solder). References - https://modelermagic.com/shuttle-tydirium-studio-model/ So, this was intended to be a quick build over Xmas 2023. At least that was the plan, due to health issues and other things getting in the way that plan went out the window!! Here's the WIP thread to show some of why it didn't go to plan... Anyhow I've reached the point where I want to call it done, I could do more weathering but I've had enough... Photos below, unfortunately I don't have a large enough work area/backdrop to photograph this properly, so these photos aren't the best... And if a picture speaks a thousand words a video speaks volumes (just took this to test my new turntable and so y'all can see the timing of the nav lights.) It's a bit naff, especially as I moved the tripod down towards the end to show the underside nav lights also... Made a slight error in placement of the wingtip nav lights, they should be further out, I forgot to account for the "trench" I added! Had to re-solder the wires for one of the battery holders (again), that'll be the third time during progress of this build that I've had to re-solder in awkward areas with short wires and I'm useless at soldering!! FYI the battery holders are in what was the cockpit, accessible by folding down the "canopy"... If I were to do this again, I'd use a better power source (probably a 9v battery) to power the Arduino and run all LEDs off it (I ended up putting the engine LEDs on their own power source in this one), and I'd cut the bottom of the hull to make an access panel for the battery (there's loads of room inside), and I'd put a switch somewhere through the underside of the hull so it's external. I'd use better/different COB LED strips because I had a bit of difficulty soldering wires to the one's I used, and I'd make a proper lightbox inside to stop light bleed. I'd also make a larger base, it's comically small, I'd also probably make the rod a bit thicker. I'd also try to route the wires from the wings to the hull better so I could keep the wings foldable. I can sit and plan these things here at my PC, but when I sit at the "workbench" my mind seems to go blank! Anyhow now it's done I'm fairly happy with it, just a shame I also have nowhere to display it! Thanks for looking. C&C welcome.

RIP

RIP Carl Weathers. Watched Force 10 from Navarone yesterday, co-starring Mr Weathers. Good movie.

So, er, just going to resurrect this thread for a moment... Thanks for all the initial responses. I've been waking up early morning recently, and I swear I hear the doorbell go. It's usually too early for my mother's carers though, and there's no-one at the door. When I try to go back to sleep I can "hear" noise, like my PC is on, even though it's not, and I "hear" sound like people outside, even though no-one is there. I suffer with very mild tinnitus anyhow, and around 08:00 to 09:00 we get parents + kids passing by, but none of that explains "hearing" them when they're not there! Think I'll have to see a GP, it's getting worrying and I'm not easily worried!

So, like many (I guess ?), I'm a member on various forums. Just been having, what was basically an argument, intentional I believe by at least one bad faith actor (one of the moderators), on one of those forums and it's left me perplexed... Basically a discussion started about a big hobby corporation potentially being at a tipping point and going bust, for various reasons, based off a typical "the sky is falling in" youtube video. One reason, put forward strongly as a sole cause is 3d printing proxies of the corps. products - people printing at home and "sticking it to the man". Now I deal in cold hard facts and evidence. I put forward my point(s) with links to sources as to why 3d printing isn't going to bust such a big corp. They're a multimillion corp, are making £100+ million profit year on year, and ex-staff members from product dev and other middle level management roles have been interviewed and stated that customers who 3d print are not their target demographic so aren't a problem - their target demographic is late teens, who come into the hobby fresh and un-knowledgable, not niche "seasoned" hobbyists. Their CEO says they're in "rude health", financials back him up on that. Now, other members of that forum are adamant that because they've got a 3d printer and, according to them, it's "plug and play", that soon everyone will be 3d printing and the corp. in question as a result will go bust. No evidence to back that claim, just belief and conjecture. I provided sources who state 3d printing isn't plug and play yet, they dismissed them reiterating their own experiences. What perplexes me is three things - People's assumption that their experience is the same as everyone else's - the "it's great for me, it must be great for everyone" mentality. People's adamant claims based solely on belief and conjecture when facts/evidence completely disagree with them. Their refusal to acknowledge they are wrong, instead trying to make out those presenting the facts are wrong. Can anyone give some insight into this? Thanks.

Yeah, everything is getting expensive. Problem is there are too many people who think nothing of dropping, what to you may seem like, significant money on a kit. People keep buying, companies are going to keep pushing the prices up, until they reach a point of no return. I was surprised to see Airfix's upcoming 1/72 B-24 is relatively reasonably priced (given Hasegawa's prices for a B-24), ditto Airfix's new tool 1/72 Chinook, if they weren't just going to get chucked in my late father's shed (I'm out of room indoors, and short on room in the shed also) I'd be tempted. ICM's 1/48 Blackhawk is equally tempting as it looks like it might be a 160th SOAR bird oob... I have mostly gone back to doing Games Workshop figures since 2020 (my bread and butter between 1993 and 2005, until I picked up scale modelling again in 2014, having bashed a few kits together in the very early 90s as an early teen), when my health issues aren't getting in the way, and that's equally as expensive at times. Fortunately I don't play their current games, and I have a backlog (pile of shame) of figures to work through.

Unfortunately you're not going to what you want buying additional occasional use paint or mixing. Nature of the hobby I'm afraid. As they're Bandai you could leave them unpainted. If you already have paints that are close to what's been described go with them, your models, no-one will worry about it.

I'll add my accurate £0.02 to this... ILM used Floquil enamels. TIEs were painted Haze Grey. Due to post processing it looked different in A New Hope, grey rather than blue/grey, why and how I don't know. X-Wings, Y-Wings, A-Wings, Falcon etc. were painted Reefer White + Concrete, more to the Reefer White side, over black undercoat. Any red details (like on X-Wings) were Caboose Red. Floquil are no longer made however. I'll second Archive X, I've used them so far on my Lambda shuttle. You can buy direct from them, as Rwa66 said they do sets specifically for most vehicles/fighters/ships. They're even named after the original Floquil names. Link to Archive X site - https://archivexpaint.com/collections/all-acrylics Alternative seller in the UK, Element Games - https://elementgames.co.uk/paints-hobby-and-scenery/paints-hobby-and-scenery-by-manufacturer/archive-x If you're airbrushing you'll probably want their proprietary thinners. I've tried Vallejo thinners and it didn't go well, water just about works OK. Alternatives are Tamiya or equivalent mixes. Using Tamiya, for TIEs, Haze Grey is Tamiya XF2 + XF82 50/50 mix or TS-32 Haze Grey spray. Base colour for X-wings etc. is Tamiya Deck Tan + White 50/50.

Started putting the base colour down... Quick photos - That's Archive X Reefer White and Concrete mixed 1:1ish. So far, so good. Revell would have you paint some panels a light grey and a dark grey, but that's going to be too contrasting and it's not how the studio model looks. How the final result looks grey on film I have no idea! Probably won't take any further photos of this, as they'll spoiler the "final reveal". Thanks for looking, C&C welcome.

Spent 4 hours in the stupid hours of Tuesday AM, due to insomnia, filling/gluing spots and putting paint down on this... I nearly had a disaster as I was sanding the styrene I've got disguising the side seam. I was getting the wings to fold and I sheared one of the LED "hot" wires, leaving a tiny short length on one end!! Luckily I managed to rescue it by soldering a length between the break. Not the easiest solder joint I've ever attempted, especially as I'm a useless noob when it comes to soldering. Anyhow disaster averted I decided to glue the wings in position to avoid further disaster. All LEDs are still working at time of this post... Photos of progress below, it's been light-blocked and undercoated all in one go - That black paint is Archive X's Grimy Black. I found it a little difficult to get working at first. I thought they were "airbrush ready", nope. As they're acrylic I tried thinning them with Vallejo thinners, which didn't really work well, then I finally got reasonable results just using water. Archive X sell their own thinners but as the paint is a water-based acrylic you'd have thought Vallejo's stuff would be sufficient. I didn't try IPA, but it did do a good job of removing overspray from the exhaust ports. I still need to do a little more light blocking as the engine glow can be seen through gaps where the two rear wing fold cog things are - I should have completely sealed the LED strips in a light box as I originally intended instead of bodging it!! I'm thinking though that I can put some Perfect Plastic Putty into those gaps and then paint those areas black... Now, I can't get any further at this time. I could swear I bought Archive X's Reefer White, but I cannot for the life of me find it!?!? So, I'll have to buy another. I've ordered one from Element Games, but it's on back-order from Archive X, and Archive X's own site shows it as out of stock. Hmmm. Hopefully it won't be out of stock for long... So much for an Xmas week build, it's taken me nearly 4 weeks to get this far. Nearly done though. Thanks for looking, C&C welcome.