mustang1989

I have been busy with this and have got some colour on it. I only have to fit the nose section and then I can paint the rest of the top half and then of course the bottom.
I have found the best colour match to the screen SD's in Gunze paints - in particular their Gundam paint. I'll look the # up if anyone cares enough to ask, but its the right shade (well, to my eyes anyway) to what they're meant to be.
The first building is base painted as well, but I haven't taken any pics yet as there is more I want to do before then.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Well, that's it for now. I'll glue the nose on tonight and get the top half ready for painting. I'm fine with the black basing, it's the hours of tedious, repetitive masking I'm not looking forward too
Anyway, as always, thanks for stopping in and looking
Si

I know I've already posted a fair bit over the past couple of days but I thought I'd share my successful lighting in the one part I had strong doubts about getting lit.
 
The part itself is only 8mm x 5mm x 4mm and there was no way I was going to be able to thread nearly 20 fibers through it, so I went with the flood light method which is cutting off 4mm pieces of single strand fiber and sticking and gluing them just 1mm into the wall and then sealing off the bottom with a strip of styrene (that has some al-foil stuck to the bottom to better reflect the light up).
Inside the rear of the wall. I stuck a 2mm SMD upright through another small strip of styrene and then glued that onto the roof.
Hopefully the pictures will explain better than what I can in words
 
(sorry for the slightly blurry image there - I was struggling to get the phone to focus)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I've already fixed that light leak but I kinda wish I hadn't as I like that floodlit area. Maybe once its been painted black again I can chip a bit out and let that spread. We'll see how much light is left leaking soon enough.
Anyway, I was pretty happy with this
Thanks for looking
Si
 

LOL - thanks Highlander
 Quick couple of extra shots showing how high the SD sits above the base:
 
 
 
 
 

hey again
Got one building done and primed and have started on the second one. I'm hoping to have the first one painted by the weekend. I have already drilled out the holes where the fibers will be going. I lost count after 50 and 8 drill bits later
The good news is it won't require a lot big lengths of fiber. I am contemplating sticking in just little bits of fiber and flood lighting the entire inside but I am not sure I can get much light through the top sections. They'd require longer lengths I think. Also, there would not be enough room to angle an LED bright enough to fill the space... unless I used SMD strip?
Enough pondering, here are the pics. I used my phone and not my proper camera coz I can't be faffed getting it all set up
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In black primer with a very light white primer highlight coat brings it all together nicely
 
 
 
 
And together with the new building. I drilled out some vents on the side of the tower and I'll stick in some strips of clear sanded styrene to cover the openings from the inside. With a red LED shining up from the bottom it'll look pretty cool with the sanded styrene diffusing the light nicely. At least - that's the plan
 
 
 
 
 
and lastly, the new position of both on the surface:
 
 
Well, I think I have bored you all enough, but as always, please feel free to critique or suggest anything that could be improved. Like, share, subscribe...? LOL
I watch way too much Youtube
Thanks for looking

I realised I forgot to add this image which might help see it all together:
 
 
I have been adding a few smaller structures around before I started these buildings, so I am hoping that it will balance out more soon enough

I found this tower like structure last night in the box of spares and immediately thought this would be a cool addition:
 
 
Also found in amongst stuff I fully forgot I had, was this little gem (the big bit in the center). 
 
 
I layed out a few parts just to get some kind of structure going. Obviously, its just a base, but what do you think? Should I use it as well or just stick to the one building? Is it a bit too 'Old factory" in it's appearance or would it pass in the world of SW? 
One thing that I've noticed or thought about is the rest of the tile details. Is it too much with another building? Are these buildings out of scale with the rest of it? I don't think so, but I am doubting my scaling abilities lately, so I thought 'd see if I can get some honest, constructive feedback.

Hi again all
For the past 2 weeks (well, more like 6 days when combined) I have been working away on the top plate. I decided to make something to go on top as I feel it needs more visual interest. Yeah, I know its the DS tiles I'm using but I don't really want this to BE the Death Star - more, my own interpretation. I wouldn't go calling my display a battle-station. Probably more a mechanical planet  
It's far from being finished - I still have heaps to do, but before I really get lost in this and put more energy into it, I thought l'd just get a general gauge if this is a good idea or not
It's basically superstructure parts from my ill-fated Bismark and other bits and bobs. My favorite bit is the landing platforms
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
this is where Im intending to put it
 
 
 
If all else fails, it could always be a new hull part of a space ship
 
 
Well, that's it for now, but feel free to let me know what you think. 
As always, thanks for stopping by and having a look

Hi all
Quick update
The edging is all done and putty applied. Still a couple of spots to clean up but nothing dramatic.
I've started to add some more detailing to the surface, with some gun batteries which i thought could be quite cool. I'm not trying to replicate the DS or its surface to its filming parents, so the relevancy of their existence is mute. Looking at them, I do need to change the shape slightly to mask their origins though. Just on the bottom front corners I think
I'm looking at making some kind of central building structure, like a control center of sorts, again, just to break up the surface more. Not too high, but high enough. I've been furiously rummaging through the spares box looking for something suitable but nothing is matching my idea, so I think it'll have to be scratch built.
 
Anyways, enough words
 
 
I just started the detailing, but you get the idea of where its going
 
 
 
 
That's all for now, but open to ideas, suggestions or constructive critique
Cheers
 
 

wow - it has been a while hasn't it? Hi all, and thanks for stopping in. First of, sorry for the really long delay in doing anything to it until recently. RL has interfered a lot as have other projects blah blah. We all know the reasons why etc that things go on hold but, I do have an update that's worth showing
So, I am unable to paint anything ATM due to weather and other such stuff like getting ready to move up north to Brisbane at the end of the year, plus a reno and as such, that limited my options. But I have been chomping at the bit to get restarted on just something to do with this build as its just dragging on and on (rather my my words) so I thought I would continue on with the base.
And I must say, so far, I am super happy with it. It's coming out way better than I had hoped so far! I am almost finished the edging on the top plate as you'll see in a sec and the shape of it is working perfectly. I will need to cast another 2 or 3 plates and some more of the original plating for the bottom and mid tiers, but that won't take too long
So, first up, the top plate as it is now:

 
The advantages of using resin is you can sand it super thin and then remove excess bits with a sharp knife to create new shapes
 

 

 

 

 
And the bottom plate has also had some treatment started to it. There is HEAPS more to do of course
 

 

 
And combined, it starts to take shape. There is a tier to go in between them but not there just yet
 

 

 

 

 
Well, that's it now for the next 3 months.... nah, just kidding. It's 7 if you're lucky
Hopefully the next update will come sooner rather than later.
Thanks for any continued interest
Till then!
 

Hi all
Well, I have finally sorted out my last remaining hurdle and it's onto the final stretch - more or less. Yep, I have finally sorted out my mounting device and at long last, I will be able to slip the ship on and off it's mount (I'm not sure how many times I would want to but for transportation this will be invaluable)
all I have to do is attach the sleeve onto the bottom of the ship and we're good to go. I've got it so I have 4 separate power lines which I will be able to distribute to hangar bay lights, engines, superstructure and floodlights.
It's by no means pretty but it works which is more important. The wires will travel down the back side of the armature into the base. Once I have the last bit of wire covered, I'll paint it all black
 
 
 
 
 
As I said, not the prettiest stuff ever but I had to make do with what I had
Anyway, that's it for now.
As always, thanks for looking
Si

Italian Duilio Fanali was a Spanish Civil war veteran and was in Libya before finding himself on Sicily flying bomber escort missions to Malta in the plane I have depicted here.  He has 4 victories to his credit, along with many assists.  He was the commander of his unit on Sicily.  He flew #155 from October 1942 to April 1943 when his unit upgraded to the C.205.
The kit is the Hasegawa Macchi C.202.  I also used the Eduard wheel well kit, resin wheels, and Stormo decals.  The smoke ring camo was brush painted.  The kit has relatively few parts, but builds up nicely.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I hope you enjoy the pictures.  Thanks for viewing.

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated!
 
Now finally finished!
 
 
 
Matt

hey all
Just finished off a side project in the form of the Tamiya R34 Nismo version. As per usual, its good quality and everything fits as it should. I had no CF decal sheet, so it was just plain black that was matched with SMS Tropical Blue. Interior was black and Magic Blue from Fantasy Game Colours (Vallejo)
 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 

 
That's it but thanks for looking!

Getting back on this tonight (I really didn't work on it all that long, 45 minutes or so), I've now started the track run for the other side of the tank.
 

 
And once again, track flexibility is being maintained.
 

 
 

In addition, the area around the weld seam I'd added to the hull rear, was terrible, so I've now (I hope), corrected that as well. Back to the paint area for this baby, probably some time very soon.
 

More baby steps. Rear fenders had to wait until I did more hull repairs, as well as dealing with the 4 per pin marks.
 

After accidentally ordering two of the ammo "concrete" powders, then discovering that it's a bizarre yellowish color, I ordered a tub of another brand.
 

 
While it's a lot closer to what I had in mind, it's still a sort of brownish shade, but I think will work out OK, especially with the other treatments the tank will eventually receive. Some of this new stuff has already been smeared here and there on the road wheel, but barely shows up at all in the photo, it's so subtle, though when viewed "in person", actually looks pretty cool, at least to me.
 

While I was already in a spraying mood, I've now given the remainder of the bits and pieces a spritzing with Tamiya XF-87. The drive sprockets still need some work, so I'll hold off on painting those for a bit. I left the jack mounted wire cutters off until after painting is complete, so the bracket for that is only installed loosely. Once I tweak the hull just a bit more, I'll start spraying the chocolate brown, and I'm really looking forward to that, probably this week sometime.
 

 
 

Pioneer tools, all that have wooden handles, now given a base coat of Tamiya XF-78. After a day or two, I'll hit these with some oils to add a bit of wood grain look to them.
 

Pioneer tools, all that are solid metal anyway, now given a base coat of Gunze tire black, which is real good stuff. The only paint I like better, is Floquil engine black, and I can't find my bottle, though I know it's here somewhere.
 

 
 
 
 

This was a while in happening, but I've now finally sprayed the road wheels and return rollers. I used Tamiya XF-87 for this, which is an excellent match for the MRP grey used on the vehicle itself, not a perfect match, but certainly close enough. They'll all probably require a little touch-up here and there, but I've grown to expect that. Once skanked up with washes, powders, concrete dust, colored pencils and a bit of dried mud/dirt, they should look just fine (I hope).
 

 
And another contrast shot.
 

 
 
 
 

Oh boy, paint time. Here's all of the road wheels and return rollers with their base coat of tire black. They'll get skanked up well beyond this.
 

 
And one on the hull to show color contrast.
 

 
 

My goal tonight was to finish the prep work on the 10 road wheels, and aside from removing some acrylic putty here and there, I believe these are now ready for paint. Sorry for the somewhat fuzzy photo.
 

Apparently I can't count. What I thought was 80, turned out to actually be 60, so tonight I made it my mission to finish the other 40. What you see here is now 100 pieces even, enough for one side of the vehicle. From this experience, I now suspect it'll be quite some time before I tackle the 1:16 Panzer IA!
 

So far, so good. This is 80 track pieces, cleaned-up, pinned and glued. Again, baby steps, but better than no steps at all.
 

 
And once again, track flex is maintained, which is excellent (and required).