Scargsy

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!

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).

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.

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).

No worries - don't stress and enjoy your build, we have got a small extension on the GB though, if that helps

So most of the window masks are now on... Hopefully I can get this one finished by the deadline!

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.

Sure - I imagine if the people want a weeks extension then it couldn't hurt , unless anyone has an objection?

Maybe @Col. knows how we go about extending things? I haven't got a clue, still trying to do some rush finishing on my two builds and see if I can get them over the line!

Best of luck, I've still got two kits on the go!

So I finally got started on this one! Initial construction went smoothly, building up some sub-assemblies... A few minor issues - the control surface parts are incorrectly labelled in the instructions and the boom parts which have ribs are badly attached to the sprue, making clean-up difficult (not easy to sand them flat as the attachment point goes over both the raised and flat parts). Most of (if not all) the control surfaces are separate so can be modelled in whatever position you like, fit of parts is generally good though the control surfaces under the rear of the main body seem to have a large gap between them which looks like it could be wrong? So I decided to build it wheels up, in flight - thankfully the wheel well doors fit pretty nicely - though as you can see above I added some offcut sprue pieces to help strengthen the join. The rear wheel well / tail, I needed to cut down the articulating door length slightly as well as 'straighten' it by scoring along the join a few times first. The gear leg I did need to remove but it won't be visible. A little filler will be needed, but overall not too much work. I fitted some of the Eduard PE set, though I may have used a bit of artistic license (though I doubt any will be visible when finished). The pilots belts were a little long for the kit seat, but I didn't fancy bending up / building the PE one, so I cut them down slightly. There were also some extra PE belts I omitted - one to fit horizontally across the rear for the tail gunner and another to fit across the between the pilot/front section, though annoyingly they are only colourised one one side. I fitted the engines, booms and wings - one complaint I have is the mounting points seem a little small/flimsy. The booms mounting did have some gaps to fill. I filled using Mr Hobby dissolved putty and cleaning up with IPA - I think it's worked quite well (first time trying this method). The gaps at the rear of the engine cowlings - I'm not sure if they need filling or not, possibly they would be there for cooling? Overall I think the main parts have gone together well, though I've noticed one of the vertical stabilisers is erm - less than vertical. So I managed to get most of the glazing on - once finished I'll have the mammoth task of adding all the window masks!

Ooh yes - are you doing both 1/72th and 1/35th? I've built the AFV Club Scimitar before - would be nice to see either (or both) of these!

So small progress - I decided I will add the motor. I hand painted the interior of the intake black, built and fitted it before adding some primer - this was my first attempt and coat with Mr Hobby, Mr Base White 1000 - which is supposed to have more pigment to block base colours, I'm not sure if it does, yellow is quite a tricky colour to cover, also I've got some mould lines I need to clean up further!

So I finally got around to doing a bit of priming, using Mr Surfacer 1000 mahogany... I built up the engine block parts - it's going to be fiddly to fit it in! I built up the ammo boxes, a simple enough process if a little long and tedious. The rear tailgate and basket were finally added - they have come out quite nicely with the PE, even though I really hate using super-glue (tends to stick to flesh more than anything else) - the plastic parts did get slightly warped when taking them off the sprue but once attached to the tailgate and with the PE they seem to have straightened up. I then applied a 50:50 mix of the brown primer with Mr Color 39 Dark Yellow, then that mix thinned 50:50 with self-levelling thinner. It actually looks a lot lighter in the photo than in real-life. I'll need to add another coat (lightened further) to the bits that will be difficult to get to later. The seat supports I've now glued in (I did so with the seats in place to help alignment) - the bonnet, chassis and rear cage are still loose - though I couldn't help dry fitting them for the photo.

They were developed for the Army to provide a "tactical and artillery reconnaissance aircraft to provide photographic reconnaissance" according to Wikipedia though replaced in 1941 but also used by the Free French Air Force. So I'll say yes.