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Scargsy

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  1. Finally a KUTA build with wings from me - a FW 189, ICM kit. Another oh so close build, It needs some masking/painting to do the yellow areas on the body/under-wings, decals, the props and various other minor bits attaching. Let's hope that texture on the wings is mainly dust and those glazing masks come off without too much damage!
  2. A couple of 1/35 shelf of shame builds, needing a kick... Whilst not exactly a single build they are quite linked (and both are SO close to finished!) - WWII and modern versions of a stripped down, all wheel drive, British, desert recon vehicle In the foreground a now serial KUTA entry - my Tamiya SAS Jeep (originally from the 'less than a tenner' group build - though inflation may require a few more pennies now), I got a little annoyed with sanding all the seams, especially on all the stowage - but it's still a good kit for the money (no clear parts though, so might need to do something for the headlights). In the rear the more modern (historically and moulding) Land Rover Wolf WMIK kit from Hobby Boss - this one is pretty much finished other than the clear parts, weathering, some detail painting, addition of some stowage and maybe the addition of some crew (I have an appropriate set of aftermarket figures, if I get time) - the Jeep kit actually comes with a pair of figures which I'll add.
  3. Tamiya 1/24 Alpine-Renault A442B Turbo, Le Mans winner 1978. An old kit (complete with motor!), Shunko replacement decals. Build thread here.
  4. A little bit of weekend work and I can call this one done! After a coat of semi-gloss (Mr Hobby rattle can), it was a case of just adding a few of the finishing touches. The headlights aren't clear parts but chromed, I wanted to keep this but paint the surrounds so added some Krystal Klear over the lenses then stripped the chrome. However one thing I hadn't counted on is that the bleach would react - this ended up making the clear go cloudy, however it was a simple job to wipe it off after I'd washed the bleach off (luckily) so it acted as a sacrificial layer and kept the chrome bright underneath. One annoyance I have is that it wasn't until I'd got to decaling that I realized that in the Le Mans race the front sets of vents were actually covered (I'm not sure what with, but in the photos it looks like the rear portions were secured with duct tape! The actual after market decals do come with something to simulate it, though it would be a bit late to try and fill them! The semi-windscreen (if you can call it that with a hole at the front and top) has a slightly opaque section at the top - it's hard from the photos of the real car to work out if it was like this or painted (I think it may have been painted later in its lifetime) but I really wasn't confident enough in my masking skills to attempt it. Anyhow it's finished finally, maybe a bit rough around the edges (and the masked parts) but the black lines do help draw the eye away from the worse parts).
  5. I managed to get a bit of weekend build time... The fuel filler flaps were painted and added before I gave the shell a coat of Mr Hobby rattle can semi-gloss. It might be a little too dull now for my taste (I wonder if it's possible to mix gloss and semi-gloss to get a custom shine). Clear parts were added to the shell and the interior is now all assembled up - ready for connection. Almost there - just a few bits left to add (lights, wing mirrors, door handles, ariel, engine shutoff, wipers, etc. There are a couple of rubber hoses in the engine bay I only connected one side of (they mount from the under side of the engine bay) but I doubt they will look too bad. I also had an issue that the rear window doesn't fit as deeply as I expected and I should have really run a bit more black up to the bottom edge (annoyingly there's quite a wide strip of blue body paint behind it). No major issues in these steps but one nice touch is that the kit provides some sun visors - though good luck seeing them behind that giant sun-strip given they're folded up and painted black against a black roof! The mud flaps are suggested to be painted blue in the body colour, I did have a go doing it with brush painting but they're a bit streaky (lacquer paint isn't great for brush) though hopefully I can weather them a bit to look like dirt. I gave them an over-coat with some thin electric blue water based paint which has given them a nice sheen.
  6. Another stalled car build. Original thread here I'd had issues before with the clear parts - the pre-cut window masks had left behind some horrible sticky glue and I couldn't seem to shift it. I tried a few things (IPA, soaking it in vinegar, etc.), they ended up soaking in some water with washing up liquid for over a month. After that I decided to try sanding the crud off, so I used various grades of micromesh and polishing - it removed most of it though they were far from crystal clear, I then tried using some floor polish to help coat them/fill any gaps. They aren't great but will do I guess but at that point I'd kind of fallen out of love with the build and it joined the shelf of doom. Time to reboot, I built up the lower chassis (the parts I'd painted before) and seemed to spend an age trying to get the ribbons threaded through the PE to make the seat harnesses... The kit comes with some rubber parts for the HT engine leads but I really couldn't get them to fit/attach so I decided to make some from thin wires instead, though this was an a bit time consuming and one of those things you wonder if it will ever be seen! The body shell I had pretty much finished before although I'd forgotten to add/paint the fuel filler flaps (it would have probably been best to add these before painting). I had previously rubbed down the worst lumps, hairs, grit, etc. out of the paint coat but I may give it a semi-gloss coat to try even out the paint, make the remaining lumps less visible and the car looks a bit less shiny and like a working rally beast than something out of a showroom. I might add some panel lining, I'm not sure yet - it can look a bit over-done sometimes to my taste.
  7. So over the Christmas holidays I managed to get the decals on, I did break a few of the fine lines but luckily the Shunko decals include a few spare corners and straights - though it was very tricky to use them for the curve section I'd broken on the front wing, although the curves were quite gentle so in the end I did manage it by breaking the straight extra section into a few smaller sections. With them all in place I decided it would be best to get them sealed in, so I decided to go for a 2k clear coat - for this I used some Ammo Mig Cobra for the first time, I have to say it seemed to go on well (other than the usual dust magnet that clear coats seem to be). The 2k is somewhat different to the rest of their range (I'm not sure if they are alcohol based) but I will try them at some point. It did seem to take a little longer than standard 2k to dry off but this might just be a temperature thing given the time of year. I finished off the interior/chassis too, I did test the motor which still seems to work, though the batteries do somewhat force out the sides of tub but I'm doubtful I'll be racing it across the floor! The wheels I stripped the original chrome off with some thick bleach, it turns out they were made of semi-translucent plastic! With them stripped I applied some Mr Color Ueno gloss black followed by some Xtreme Metal Aluminium. Then clear coated with some Gauzy Agent - that is water based so it turned out to be quite easy to overdo it (with it running) but it seemed to have self levelled OK (I made sure lie them flat so I wouldn't end up with a thick lump on one side of the wheel where it was running). Finally I used some panel liner to fill the parts between the 'spokes'. The driver had some helmet decals on the original Tamiya sheet (though not the replacement ones) I did give them a try but unfortunately they were past using! The next job is to try sand the worst of the dust and lumps out of the clear and then I think I'll give it a coat of semi-gloss as it's a bit too shiny for my liking, almost there!
  8. So my shelf of shame is getting a bit busy, a change of job and various other factors seem to have reduced my ability to get things fixed together. This is my entry (there are more to come for the GB, if I can get the time). I originally started it in the classic Japanese GB, thread here: Alpine Renault A442B Turbo - Big In Japan - Classic Japanese Kits GB - Britmodeller.com The kit is a pretty simple affair but seems to have been fighting me all through the build. The kit supplied decals have seriously yellowed over the years, though are actually usable (if a bit brittle), the aftermarket ones however had their own issues - firstly they didn't supply the larger area ones (for some of the white areas and black ones) and the white decals are somewhat less than opaque - especially on the bright yellow background. I used the kit decals for the black areas, decided to overpaint the logos (badly) and will attach the decals on top. The actual areas I masked seemed to come out relatively well (the large white areas at the front and rear) - though it was a bit of a struggle initially getting enough white primer and gloss white on to cover the kit plastic yellow, only to overcoat most of it with yellow! I should have masked up and airbrushed the black too, and done the smaller areas in white in hindsight. Here's a shot of the side, showing just how badly my brush painted black bits are on the sills, also the difference in colour between the white areas - the lower left one is just the kit decal (and appears to have a bit of a weird yellow/orange tint) - the other two however, I'd come up with a cunning plan.. As you may have noticed in the previous image there is a small piece of paper at the front. I used my scanner/printer to effectively photocopy the decal sheet - this can then be transferred (using masking tape, which takes up the print) to the backing of some white decal sheet, cut to size (slightly smaller to fit inside the black border) and applied as a second layer of white! The decal film sheet itself isn't completely opaque but together they do a good enough job. You can use the inkjet to print directly onto the other side of the decal film (I did try this) however I guess because the film is plastic and non-absorbent the ink never seems to dry and easily smudges - not a problem in my case as I was cutting off the exterior print and not needing an actual pattern. The reverse image method (on the back side) seems better as I don't need to worry about the masking tape ripping the film and it gets discarded when you water slide the backing off - for my needs it's fine as the decals are pretty much mirrored left/right on the car. Other than the white translucency the aftermarket Shunko decals have given me other issues - they supply the black stripes to go around the white areas painted which have been somewhat of a PITA as they are thin and prone to snapping but on the bright side they do distract the eye/cover any minor mistakes on the masking. In hindsight I should have probably just placed all the original Tamiya decals on and then over applied the aftermarket ones for most of the white areas (I did that for the decals on the air scoop and I think it looks fine). There is a reason some kits end up never getting finished but I'm hopeful I can at least get to the point of calling this one done, even if it has tested me along the way!
  9. As mentioned brittle (but possibly less brittle than cast resin), I find clear printed resin to be particularly brittle. It sands well but you should take precautions as like all resin it's potentially toxic if inhaled (I wet sand to keep the dust down).
  10. I've just recently got a Mars 4 (not the ultra) - the build plate is the same size but it doesn't fit securely in the Mercury wash station - but then it's slightly larger than the Mars 3 plate (which I think snuggly fits). I don't find it a huge issue, but I guess it depends what you're printing. You can place the whole plate into the basket (e.g. with the knob at the bottom and the plate at an angle) but it's annoying you can't neatly sit it on the lip. Possibly you could manufacture some kind of support plates to snuggly fit it horizontally? I dare say they might come out with a new metal frame for it in future. I usually remove my parts before washing though.
  11. I'm still new to it (and 3D printing) but it does have some neat features (and also some annoying quirks) Positives: There are boolean operations built in (so I can add a box for example, scale it, move it, then use that to 'cut out' a section of my model) - this is far nicer than say using MeshMixer (which seems to modify the geometry in ways I don't want) - I'm into 1/24 scale cars so being able to cut out air intakes, etc. on models is handy. You can export the STL files (I'm not sure if all such software does this but it's handy for me to do the above edits, then export to import into another slicer). On the negative sides: It's a bit of a pain using with a mouse-pad (on my laptop) - yes I should just plug in a mouse. When I rescale items it seems to want to stick them back at z=0 (build plate) I haven't figured out a way to do auto supports AND add additional manual ones (Chitubox seems easier to handle that in).
  12. No worries - don't stress and enjoy your build, we have got a small extension on the GB though, if that helps
  13. So most of the window masks are now on... Hopefully I can get this one finished by the deadline!
  14. So with the finish line fast approaching I'm hoping I can get this one done... Firstly I gave the main parts another coat of paint with a lighter mix of the brown primer and dark yellow. I managed to get the engine and gearbox attached into the body with a bit of wiggling. I left of some of the detailing parts for the engine (fluid boxes, etc.) and didn't bother doing any detail painting as this will be sealed up and not visible. Getting the chassis attached to the body with the drive shafts in place was a far more difficult, with a lot of wiggling and swearing, in the end I had to cut down one of the shafts but it's hidden behind a chassis cross beam. I also had to cut the exhaust and tape the silencer back onto the chassis during this, before rejoining the front part once the chassis was attached. Next it's onto getting everything put together before the final paint coat, I added some masking of the pre-painted seat with clingfilm and tape - hopefully I'll be able to easily remove this post the paint coat. I continued adding the detail parts (grill, etc.) the PE headlight grills are going to be a pain to bend and I'll need to attach them as a final point post adding the headlights.
  15. Sure - I imagine if the people want a weeks extension then it couldn't hurt , unless anyone has an objection?
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