Hasegawa 1/72 Macross VF-1A Max TV Custom - 3

Some minor progress on Max's VF-1A. I moved onto working on the engine nacelles. As I noted in my last post, the kit's engineered in such a way that you have to paint the exhaust outlets before you can assemble the nacelles. I had originally had planned to do it that way, but decided against it because I didn't want there to be the possibility that I would ruin the painted outlets while I was assembling the legs.

After thinking long and hard about it, I decided that I would cut half the cup that the outlets sit in, then assemble the leg. 

The assembled nacelles. Since I'll be displaying the finished model in flight mode, I also glued on the landing bay doors. However, the kit was engineered for gear down display, so the fit of the doors is a major pain in the ass. It's not a clean fit, so I'll be doing some sanding and filling to get everything at least semi-flush.

However, it turns out the that even with the cut out, the outlets are too wide because of the slight riser that sits in the cup. With the nacelles assembled, there's no way to slide the outlets in. I had to shave the sides of the outlets down enough for it slide in, but leave enough material for it to be able to seat into the inside the leg. The right shows the stock piece, and the left the shaved down unit.

You'll also noticed that I abandoned the idea of adding a ridge to the end of the outlets. I simply peeled of the pieces of styrene, cleaned it up, and scribed in new panel lines where the ridge would have been.

That's it for now. My plan this week is to finish cleaning up the nacelles. I've got most of the sub assemblies finished, so hopefully, in the next couple of weeks I can start putting primer on. Until then, happy modelling!!

Tamiya 1/20 Lotus 99T - 4

Managed to make some progress on the Lotus. The last couple of weeks, I'd been working on painting and decalling the monococque. In my last post I had managed to get it primered and start placing the bare metal foil to simulate the rivets. The next step after that was to paint it.

I applied a couple layers of Testors Gloss Black enamel. Because of the tooling process Lotus used to lay up the chassis, the monocoque is finished in a rough carbon fiber. I tried to manipulate the airbrush in such that the paint would create some texture to simulate the effect.

 Once the enamel had dried enought that I could handle it, I took some Tamiya cotton swabs dipped in enamel thinner and began rubbing the gloss black off the raised rivet details. Overall, I was happy with the way it came out. Some parts where the Bare Metal Foil was wrinkled up became exposed, but it's very minor. I'll probably just touch it up during final assembly and inspection.

I had originally planned to use aftermarket decals, but my impatience got the better of me and I went with the decals from my original issue Lotus. However, I had forgotten how thick Tamiya decals are. I spent the next week and a half using Micro-Sol to try and eliminate the decal film, but with little luck.

 Eventually, I decided the Micro-Sol had at least thinned enough of the decal that the clearcoat would eliminate it. I sprayed on three coats of Testors Lusterless (Flat) Cote. It managed to eliminate most of the film edge.  It's noticeable at some angles, but for the most part, I'm please with the result. I'm trying not to let the "perfect be the enemy of the good" as it were.

 Another angle. With the flat clearcoat, you can see how the raised rivet really stand outs. Another benefit of using Bare Metal Foil is that it's raised,  simulating the areas where the carbon fiber was laid over the chassis' bulkheads.

I also added primer/sealer to some other body parts, such as the front and rear wings, and the monococque sides. I'll be wet sanding those in preparation for another coat of  primer/sealer, and hopefully color coats before the end of the month.

Tamiya 1/20 Lotus 99T - 3

Quick update for today. Managed to spray gray primer onto the monococque. The plan is to spray it gloss black, apply the decals, and then clearcoat with flat black.

You can see from this pic that I've started to put Bare-Metal Foil over the rivets. The plan is have the foil covering all the rivets on the tub, spray the black, and then use a Q-Tip dipped in thinner to expose clean away the paint from the raised rivet detail. It's a technique used for raised engine lettering and badging on car bodywork.

Also, I joined the Classic Plastic Model Club, and have to say my motivation has gone through the roof. I had a lot of fun at my first meeting, and I'm really looking forward to taking part in my first show in October.