dannybgoode

The biggest bugbear of this era of Tamiya F1 cars is the bodyshell fit. The kits are generally supremely well thought out and go together with ease... until it comes to the damned shell. I don't think they were much better new from memory - always required a good amount of teasing it to actually have an acceptable fit. I am sure you will get there though

Having played a fair bit of Nier: Automata I am very much of the opinion definitely 2B and having never tackled a figure before, much less a detailed bust, having been tipped off about someone on Etsy 3d printing some lovely Nier characters I just had to give one a go. No paint yet, just thought I would start the thread off with the bare figure . Really keen to get cracking on this and see how she turns out...

And lo, a hut was born. It’s ridiculous The amount of detail we put into the interior of things like this for much of it to be hidden however I don’t think they ever look quite the same without such work. For the ‘broken’ window I CA’d a broken screen protector behind the main Perspex and then used some balsa to make to repair. I also added a bit of balsa to the tops of the front and side panels to add a bit of depth. Finally a bit of ash from the coal stove on the roof to simulate the ash and fallout from the reactor fire. To weather the panels I airbrushed them dark grey first and then in the light grey as per the colour chart but made sure coverage was uneven. The I mixed up a quick wash using brown and black with a good dose of thinners and quickly dipped the panels and the windows in and then let it drain off and dry. I can finally start work on the truck now

Stunning - possibly the prettiest F1 car of the modern era. Love the detail parts as well - I keep looking out for one of these at something remotely resembling a sensible price

I’ve just read the Jag XJ220 uses the same engine albeit modified to accommodate the turbos etc. Mental!

Boy this kit is pushing me to the limits - so many firsts however I am enjoying the challenge. Gives me something to focus on 100% which is good :). And I promise it does involve a vehicle eventually - I am just getting the hut out of the way first and then will commence on the truck however I thought it best to keep the whole build in one thread. So first figure done and in situ. I have never painted a figure before so this was entirely new to me. I am reasonably happy and the reason I did this one first is he will be in the shack so somewhat hidden, although not entirely. I have learned an awful lot just from doing this one and I hope to improve with the next three that come with the kit. To make the telephone cord I took some fishing wire and wound it round a cocktail stick and then quickly heated it with a lighter to encourage it to keep its shape. This has worked ok-ish. I am not quite happy with the scale of it however it is far better than the kit option which would have seen the telephone receiver just floating in mid air.I have also added a couple of 'sheets' of paper to the desk as again the kit has nothing and this would have looked a bit odd.

Next step airbrushes - which to get. I have really taken to airbrushing and whilst my H&S Ultra is brilliant to get the basics down with and fine for larger areas it is not the best I don't think for detail work. So which brush to progress to? I have narrowed it down a bit; I really like the way H&S brushes break down for maintenance etc, they are do straightforward and well thought out in this respect so an Infinity Cr is a candidate however I am not convinced it will be that much better for detail work than the Ultra. Next on the list are the two newer Mr Hobby brushes; the PS-289 if I am being tight or the PS-771 if I am feeling flush. The 771 is not far off an Iwata Custom Micron and the 289 looks to be very handy, particularly for the price. Or, do I go whole hog and just spunk out on a Custom Micron? They are an awful lot of money though! Anyone have any direct experience of the Mr Hobby ones in particular as they are the most tempting at the moment...

That looks really nice. I too am keen on this kit, such a beast of a rally car and they just are not the same these days; haven't been for a long time. IIRC the engine was a bit of a tight squeeze on the real thing so I guess they've just scaled that down 🤣

Lovely job. I too have returned after many years absence and have been taking my time to really try and do a thorough job. Used to rush through them when I was younger but now if it takes me an hour to complete one little bit really well so be it. I need to try one of these big Tamiya bikes also. They look such nice kits.

Bit more done on the 'Rod' 1/35 ICM Chernobyl build. This is the floor of the hut with bed, desk and stool. I've tried to really grubby up the floor where the foot traffic would be from the door to the bed and desk whilst leaving the edges pretty much untouched. Note my awful first attempt at pre-shading the gaps in the floorboards . Tried to get a little bit of blanket like texture on the bed by pressing a fine cloth up against the almost dried paint and then gently rubbed some charcoal dust on it to dirty it up a bit.

And of course London continues to be different because they went from an 01 STD to an 02x STD whereas everyone got moved, at last, to 01xx or 01xxx 🤣. My aunt and uncle lived there and I have visited on many many occasions and my work in insurance occasionally takes me into 'The City'. Any more than a week there and start to get twitchy and irritable though - certainly wouldn't want to live there...

And then of course there were the new ‘up and coming’ cities where they felt the inward part of the number needed an extra digit as they’d run out of numbers so the lines of Sheffield, Leeds, Bristol etc got a new 4 digit STD and then (usually) a 2. Caused huge confusion because people thought the dialling code for Sheffield was 01142 and the inward number remained xxx xxx. Giving them the 01xx STD code allowed the overall number length to not exceed the likes of Newcastle and the areas that went to 01xxx and kept 6 digits (Worthing for example went to 01903 from 0903). From memory working in call centres at the time this was important for software reasons but I could be wrong. Similarly London went to 020 7xxx xxx or 8xxx xxx depending on whether it was inner or outer London this bringing all UK phone numbers to a common length inc the STD. This gave London a common STD of 020 for the whole region but again allowed for an exponential increase in phone numbers. Very occasionally when driving round the country you’ll see a shop that’s never updated its signage. Looks rather quaint . I wonder if they’ll have to change again? And yes, apologies to those that don’t quite have the same interest in the history of UK phone number allocation

@Anteater I knew the area codes didn’t have the first 1 but thought the local part of the number was only 5 or 6 numbers for some reason. You are indeed correct though although some cities did acquire and extra number (such as Sheffield and Leeds) Really nice effect either way

Nice. Ultra pendant note; uk phone numbers of that era were 5 or 6 digits :). Really nice job though. Love old Transits and love the backstory you’re creating for this one.

Lovely paint job on that and a lovely car. My uncle is very fond of Citroen and pretty much rebuilt a DS to concourse standards - did all the hydraulic lines and everything. I will show him this thread I think as it would interest him.

Excellent - great stuff. The way my web host sorts SSL's without paying more money is a little clunky so I have to decide whether to keep doing it this way or just stump up the cash before I upload too many more photos

Right - I think I have sorted some https bit for my image hosting. Could someone kindly let me know if they can now see the photos ok as per the below

What an awesome looking car and an outstanding build. I really like that...

Another outstanding scratch build. Looks utterly superb

I host my own photos on rented web space so I’ll look into that - thank you. And thanks for the feedback too

Odd, they’re showing for me. I’ll check the settings etc

That’s a lovely looking kit and I’d be interested in tracking down. Not sure I fancy all those rivets though! Love the paint job you’ve managed on the body. Looks really good

Sublime work. You scratch builders are just another level entirely. Just stunning work

Love traction engines. I really need to see some ‘livea’ so to speak. I remember having a working Mamod model when I was young - lovely thing it was. This looks a great kit and a smashing build

Stunning job. One of my favourite classic cars and this is a really lovely rendition of it.