Hasegawa 1/72 Macross VF-1A Max TV Custom - 1

I've also started working on the 1/72 scale Macross VF-1A by Hasegawa. I'm a huge sci-fi and anime fan, and Macross is one of my favorite animes. I'll be building this to represent Maximilian Jenius' custom colored white and blue VF-1A. Again, sticking with my "back to basics" theme, this will box stock (mostly, as you will see below).

First step was to assemble as many sub-assemblies as possible before it goes to primer. So I assembled the main fuselage, the engine intakes, and rear stabilators.

An important step is to work on the exhaust nozzles. The way the kit is engineered, I need to paint the nozzles before they can be assembled into the engine nacelles. I decided to add styrene to represent ridges at  the edges of the nozzle. The kit parts have a panel line to represent this, but it's fairly faint. The modified part is on the left, the original kit part on the right

It took me two hours to add the ridges to the nozzles, so I decided to take a break from them and move onto another area of the kit.

 Like a majority of aircraft kits, this kit requires that the cockpit tub and interior be painted before the fuselage halves are glued together. I primed the cockpit and fuselage interior, then covered it with Testor's Model Master Gunship Gray FS36118 enamel. A light wash with Model Master Black acrylic to bring out the details, then drybrush Testor's silver on the corners to show some wear.

The fuselage was glued together. I mocked it up with main fuselage to get a feel for how it will look. 

I filled the seam with a putty made from super glue and talc.

And the sanded result. I love using the super glue/talc putty because it dries quick, dries super hard, and won't shrink over time. When I primer it, I'll go over any voids I missed with Mr. Surfacer 500.

That's it for this week. My plan for the upcoming week is to get the exhaust nozzles painted and the main engine nacelles assembled. As awlays, any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Tamiya 1/20 Lotus 99T - 1

Alright, so my first kit in my "Back to Basics" approach will be this 1/20th scale Lotus Tamiya 99T. Believe it or not, that's an original issue Lotus 99T. Even has the original tobacco decals. This will be my one deviation from box stock. The original decals have yellowed pretty significantly, and the blue faded. So I'll be using aftermarket decals for the kit.

Tamiya kits have a well deserved reputation for going together fairly well and have a fair amount of detail. I also like the fact that it's one color, which will help me to focus on developing a consistent painting technique. Plus as an F1 lover, it's a subject that I thoroughly enjoy.

The bodywork is fairly straightforward. I glued the radiator ducting to the main body. 

This is one of those moments where it's ok to add more styrene cement than necessary. As you can see in the pictures below, when you press the pieces together, the excess cement will flow out of the joint. The cement will cause the styrene to "melt", welding the two pieces together, and voila, you've just filled the seam.

While waiting for the glue to dry on the ducts, I went and decided to tackle the rear wing. Since the entire rear wing assembly is one color, I decided it would be best to assemble it, and then paint it as one piece along with everything else. My biggest concern was assembling it in such a way that would allow the entire assembly to be square. Below is the parts breakdown.

The first step was to put a strip of double sided scocth tape onto a 90 degree angle plate. Then attach an end plate to the scotch tape

Then I took the upper elements, and glued it to the endplate, using a smaller machinist square to ensure it sits at 90 degrees to the endplate.

Next, I glued the main element to the endplate, placing the machinist square upright, but still using it to make sure all is squared up. A second square is used to support the main element while the glue dries.

Then glue the other endplate to the assembly. The mounting tabs and slots have a certain amount of play, so I used a machinist square across the top of the assembly to ensure everything is squared up.

A couple of views of the completed rear wing.

By this time, the glue on the radiator outlets had dried, and I sanded it down along with the rest of the body. I sanded it using 3M Fine Sanding sponge in preparation for the first coats of primer. I mocked up the rear wing with the body to give me an idea of how it will look and make sure it will sit correctly when fully assembled.

That's it for now. For next week, I hope to have it in primer and initial wet sanded. As always, any comments or suggestions is appreciated. Thanks!

Back to Basics

Hey folks! It's been a while, huh? Well, I'm going to make a concerted effort to make more regular postings, and to attempt the hardest part of any modelling project, and that's to actually complete a modelling project. And I plan on doing so by taking a back to basics approach. Let me explain.

In the almost ten years since my return to model building, I think I've completed a total of 2 projects. That's not to say I haven't started or worked on a lot of projects. I have, and I think the tens of open boxes and half worked on kits can attest to that. But the biggest hindrances to actually completing anything are self inflicted. One is a form of ADD that is acute to plastic model builders. We always have our eyes and thoughts on the next project. Or the hottest new kit that hits the market. 

The next is what I call letting the good become the enemy of the perfect. The hobby has always had it's rivet counters - people who obsess over the smallest details of any subject, taking apart and analyzing any imperfection in a kit and doing all they can to correct. And that's where I tend to fall. Usually, my downfall tends to be tolerances. I do what I can to correct gaps or imperfections in the way kits fit together, so I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get that last nanometer of perfection and end up going way overboard and ruining all the work I put in. There's an old saying in the hobby "It's always easier to take material off than put more on", and it's one I always had a hard time heeding.

So what do I do to combat this tendency. Well, to focus on building some box stock models and focus on developing a clean building technique with what's available from the manufacturer (for the most part, more on that later). For example, my first project under this philosophy is a Tamiya Lotus 99T that you will see in the following posts, as well as a Hasegawa 1/72 Macross VF-1A . So wish me luck.