1/72 Hasegawa VF-1 + Booster step-by-step... By W M Cheng
November 18, 2004 –July 19 2007
(Extracted from the www.MacrossWorld.com thread) Hi all,
With some free time on my hands, I've decided to start a new project - another VF-1 for the incredible resin Atmospheric Booster that John Moscato sculpted and Rob & Jesse has brought to our light of day! I thank them for their efforts - this is one of my favourite mechs of all time. With the launch rail
on the way, I thought, I should finish something for the launch rail to support.
I will breeze through the VF-1 construction (as its old news now - and won't bore most of you who followed along my initial VF-1 step-by-step that's trapped on the old boards now). I'll just highlight some of the key things to look out for on the kit for reference and hopefully answer some of the
questions I've been getting on basic construction techniques and seam filling.
OT - who is the moderator for this particular group? I've been trying to ask someone who has the power to pin - to please pin up my "Links to Step-by-step..." post - which I'll update whenever I start
a new project. I spend half of my time answering PMs by just pointing to one of my older threads. PLEASE, what do I have to do to get something pinned around here?! (Ok, enough rant... onto the
I have chosen the VF-1S - I intend to do Hikaru after he took over Roy's VF-1S - which I believe is canon. However, I might modify the booster colours, as I don't think white would be all that
interesting.
As most of you probably know, sprue cutters are pretty invaluable to model building, and are as important to me as my x-acto knife. I keep the flat end of the cutters towards the model side and try
The extra plastic sprue ensures that you don't accidentally nip away at the actual piece itself. It’s always easier to trim away excess than to fill in a hole or depression.
I then use a really sharp x-acto knife to gently cut away the excess sprue - go over the piece a few times is better than cutting it in one hard press - it makes a cleaner cut. Place the edge right on the
Now there's that unsightly gap that must be filled - since this area will show when you swing the wings back.
Now I “guk” up the entire area with some Tamiya putty, there are some injector pin circular depressions and seams all around that must be made smooth as this area will be seen when the wings
are swept forward. I'll let the putty dry for tomorrow and glue a few of the parts from the next steps together - and call it a night.
Yes, the first few items on the links list (the ones with an star beside them) are on the old boards - currently unavailable (however, Shawn may be able to retrieve them at some point). Unfortunately, I
have no back up of them - so they are lost to me too.
Here's one side sanded down - yes, I might of over done it on the putty, but I rather over do it than find out that I missed some spot. When I am done, you can see there isn't a lot of putty left, just
enough to fill the cracks and circular injection pin depression. You don't have to pay too much attention near the pivots as the gear mechanism hides most of this area.
My sanding tools: a tub of water (extremely important as this acts as a lubricant so the tiny plastic particles don't gum up your sandpaper), the red is 600grit and the grey is 200grit wet/dry sandpaper
on a plastic sheet backing, use an old toothbrush to work away any trapped sanding debris from the fine engraved details, and a few rubber holders (they come in various profiles that help hold the sandpaper to get into tight places - like sanding blocks, I got these at a fine woodworking/hardware
store).
I start with the 200grit to get rid of most of the putty, and work up to the 600grit as a finishing paper before its ready for paint. The 200grit might be a bit rough for the Hasegawa plastic - its quite soft,
and takes scratches easily - you might want to start higher at 400 in light orbital motion to avoid lines.
Here's a close up of the affected area. That piece in front of the pivot is pretty important and damn near impossible to get to after assembly. The biggest thing that ruins these types of swing wing
aircraft models is looking into the wing cavity and seeing the hollow plastic.
This is probably the most sanding you have to do on this kit. This piece is fairly finished now, I will add some fences inside one I determine that my wing sweep angles are with the booster attached.
Getting back to my fuselage - you will notice that I use the Testors orange tube cement on major seams - and I apply liberally so that the "melted" plastic/glue mixture actually oozes through when you press the pieces together. This ensures that you get a good bond, and that if there are any little
cracks in the seam - its filled in with this glue/plastic ooze. This is one of my ways to reduce the seams to fill afterwards. Often, this is enough for me to let dry, shave down with an x-acto knife the
excess - sand, and apply a bead of Mr. Surfacer 500 to the seam, let dry and sand again - and with luck, that should be enough work to completely eliminate the seam. I will have to let this dry before I
can do anything else.
I've started to paint the seat and pilot as I require the cockpit to be fully completed and sealed in before I start sanding away at the fuselage (otherwise all the wet sanding particles will get inside and ruin the detail of the cockpit. The interior and seat is painted Tamiya dark grey, while the seat cushion
is dark green and the head rest is tan (from the Perfect Memory marker sketch) and the pilot I've chosen to leave the white the plastic as the finished color, and added the black under the helmet and
shoulder pads (the decals do not cover these) and neutral grey for the backpack and front suit controls. Once dried, I will paint silver in the visor, followed by a clear coat of Tamiya transparent green - it gives the visor a bit of shine when it catches the light and more depth looking at it than just
the black decal strip. The pilot still needs a dark oil wash, with some details such as the black stripes picked out with a fine tipped gundam marker. Oops, you can see I forgot to eliminate the seam running up the inside of the leg - I did eliminate the seam everywhere else with a x-actor knife, lightly
Hey LTSO, how thick is the pro-weld, I am already using the Tamiya liquid cement - which I think is great, but I want a thicker gel like glue that doesn't evaporate so quickly as liquid cement. This will be Hikaru's VF-1S (actually Roy's Skull Leader, but he died, so Hikaru took it over) at least that's what I believe is the proper timeframe when they take Max & Miria's baby up to Britai? Please correct me if I'm wrong. I think it will be Skull 001 with the yellow & black markings but with Hikaru's
name in the pilots stencil on the canopy. I think I will do the boosters in shades of grey/blue kind of like the fast packs but lighter.
This pictures shows the modifications required to make the Hasegawa kit with the gears up. Notice I used some sheet styrene to bind together the gear doors (the edges of the gear doors just aren't enough area for the glue to get a proper bond). Additionally, I added stripes to the inside of the gear
wells to act as a shelf to support the gear doors when laid in. Luckily the gear doors, when glued together is just a hair larger than the opening, when the glue dries, I will sand down the edges to get
The other side of the doors.
yes excessive putty can damage your kit, I haven't ran across this problem in years. I mostly ran across this a long time ago, when I tried to sculpt something out of the putty, but as long as you try
to keep the layer of putty thin, and allow it to dry before adding another layer, it shouldn't be a problem. Sometimes, when you leave the putty in the tube a while, a whitish ooze separates from the
grey putty - this is exactly like styrene cement - this is the putty's solvent, and this is the stuff that will attack your plastic if it’s not properly vented and allowed to dry. If it separates, try to mix it back into the grey putty. I've also found that if the putty is too dry, you can use liquid cement and that will
"thin" out the putty as well - almost to the consistency of Mr. Surfacer. But treat it like solvent cement, don't apply too thick a coat, or it will eat away at the plastic before it can properly cure. I applied a liberal amount of putty to certain parts of the valk, but they are relatively thin layers, just
spread over a larger area - and I haven't had any "melting" problems yet
The Tamiya putty is much better, finer to sand for bigger gaps. Better yet, the Mr. Surfacer is great for smaller seams. Wherever you find Gunze/Mr. Color products, you can find Mr. Surfacer. There are two grades (that I know of) a Mr. Surfacer500 and a Mr. Surfacer1000 - the later being finer and more
This shot shows the corrugated "fencing" I put in (with styrene bought from a local train hobby store - comes in sheets) so that you don't see into the fuselage. I originally fitted the Valkyrie against the
booster packs to get a tracing of the swing wing's inner most swing extents to get the line to glue these styrene strips to. I was too cheap to use the PE parts that Hasegawa provides for this area.
Hmm, the new boards handles attachments differently now (is there a way to get it to show like the old way - instead of clicking on them and having them open in a new window?) or do you guys prefer
this way?
Anyways, the arms are show below, with the left before the sanding (a little overkill on the Tamiya putty - but there are some severe elevation differences sometimes especially with flat parts) and the
right after sanding (you see most of it is sanded away, but there are a few sink holes that remain) (ohh, I like this multiple attachments)
Here's the gun pod - originally glued together last year (with excessive glue so that it oozes out to fill in minor seams) plus I "painted" Mr. Surfacer 1000 to make sure it’s all sealed in. I intend to use that
Alclad metalizer here, and it’s very unforgiving - any blemishes and it shows!
Here's the same seam after sanding (notice that I took most of the Mr. Surfacer off – it’s almost used as a marker for me, especially on white plastic of how far I still have to sand down to the seam). I'm using the Hasegawa PE micro saws to "re-etch" the circular panel lines that have been lost due to the
Here's the nosecone forward fuselage - the part I spend the most time sanding. The nose seam has to be perfect – it’s the thing most people (including me) see first on the model. I followed the same technique as most of my other pieces - put a little more than needed tube cement on the seams so that some of it oozes out (be careful to not put too much - otherwise the cement may continue to melt
the styrene and cause sink depressions) and paint the seam with Mr. Surfacer 1000.
I sand down until the entire seam disappears and that you can run your fingernails across the seam and it’s perfectly smooth.
I then washed the assembly, decaled the pilot and cockpit control panels and gave both a bit of white dry-brushing to highlight the details (I did a dark wash last year that picked out the crevices). I'm not going to go overboard on this, since I intend to keep the canopy closed, and with the distortions in the canopy, not real details can be seen. Ok, I've started to cut corners on the cockpit... I rather spend
the time on detailing the rest of the Boosters. And yes I know, it’s the wrong pilot - I'm a bit impatient, and I've really been wanting to see this Booster kit on my display shelf for over a year now
- so I thought if I corrected the pilot for the TV-version, that itself could take a week or at least a few days - plus sculpting such small collars is not my strong point anyways. Plus I like the DYRL pilot suits
I thought I'd dig out the pieces required for the legs and do some pre-assembly to see how this thing all comes together to fit with the resin Boosters.
It was so nice for the captain to provide us with the forward intakes so nicely casted already assembled without the seam. I intend to wash all the resin pieces soon (before I work with them) but
I need to go out and by Comet first – it’s a good idea to scrub all resin pieces with a toothbrush and Comet & detergent to remove any mold release agents that always come with resin kits.
I just couldn't resist - I had to piece something together before I could leave the table for today! its looking good so far...
I still intend to make the Valkyrie removable if I can help it - well see if that's possible, but so far its seem as though the Captain has made such a perfect fit that I might not need anything - friction my
just do the trick. We'll see when I get the legs together – there’s a large chunk of resin I have to remove to get the legs and feet into the Boosters. Plus there's a bit of clean up on the Boosters themselves (my cast had a few bubbles in the vents and forward part of the Boosters that needs to be
filled and sanded first)
Closing the rear landing gear doors - there's no right way to do this, I've done it differently on every one of my models, but with each one, I use less and less re-enforcing. I always glue the doors together first with a styrene strip in behind for reinforcing, since the actual edge of the doors isn't
Then I glue the doors to the side of the leg that has a portion of the door round over - this side is more important than the other side because it’s pretty crucial to get that reveal seam as smooth as
possible.
I add some liquid cement to the backside to fill in the gaps.
The forward doors are a little bit trickier. I used to just shave back the bump behind the door to get a nice flat door that will lay in flat against the leg opening - but that often hampered the mounting of
the green/red leg lights later on. So I decided to cut away the leg portion of the mounts and allow the forward doors to seat in complete with the light housing.
However I still have to cut the support leg off each of these forward doors.
Here's a shot of the two leg halves with the gear doors glued in. The doors are not correctly molded to the curvature of the legs themselves - but it’s nothing that a final sanding won't cure.
The forward gear doors are left off until the two halves of the legs are glued together, they still needs to be shaved down a bit for a better fit. And I can't glue the two halves together until I spray and
a lot of scrubbing and washing the pieces with comet
I have two big bubbles right at the same spot as yours where the boosters contact the avionics hump on top of the fuselage too. Additionally, I also have quite a few bubbles ruining every one of the thin delicate members around the three vertical slots that I have to fill and build up again (argh! ) And yes, I too have a gap between the two mating surfaces around the edge. I don't think any of these is
a big deal yet, I intend to try my hand at filling them with some crazy glue and baking soda. OK, airbrush starting up.
Safety first! I've wanted to build a proper vented spray booth for years now, but in the meantime, I'd make do with a facemask. I've been spraying with my airbrush for years without any kind of protection, but January 16th of this year, my best friend Dan Lee died of lung cancer at the age of 35.
He never smoked a day in his life and led a very healthy lifestyle. However, we've been building models since high school - and breathed all kinds of crap into our lungs - we were young and invincible! He was convinced that it must of been the chemicals we've been breathing in; especially, lacquers which is an organic compound and highly toxic. So in lieu of a proper spray booth for now, I
implore you to use a proper facemask. I used to use the filter paper mask that goes over your nose and mouth, but it didn't form a tight seal around the face. After consulting with our scenic artist, he swears by this mask from 3M which I highly recommend. There are replaceable filter cartridges on
either side for organic compounds filter 6000 series. So please, even if you have a spray booth, it might be worth considering this mask as well. Especially when we spray not only lacquers but the
Ok, enough preaching (modeling is already a dying hobby; we don't want our modelers to be dying themselves!)
Here's a shot of the foot/nozzles, make sure to carefully sand the sprue attachment points with a fine 600 grit paper, these Alclad metalizers are very unforgiving and any scratches and blemishes
The Alcad Steel works wonders on the gun pod! I've also got a different shade of Alcad called Jet Exhaust - it looks like burnt iron. Which I'll try later on when this coat of steel dries - I'll use it to
shade the tips of the nozzles.
Here I hand brushed the rear exposed portions of the leg in flat black (the gloss is because I took the picture before the paint dried) When assembled it will help with the illusion of depth when looking from behind and seeing around the leg portion of the nozzle. I am spending time here since I plan of
being able to separate the Valkyrie from the booster - I suppose you can skip some of these steps if the Valkyrie never leaves the booster since you won't be able to look up the tailpipe if it has got its leg
Thanks for tuning in... I take my photos with an old Nikon 990 digital, on macro mode with as small of an aperture (high F-number) as lighting permits. I try to get in tight, and this digital allows me to get
within 2cm of the subject.
I did lots and lots of scrubbing, mostly with Comet and a toothbrush, then some detergent to get it all off during rinsing. It’s very important to always scrub all resin kits, there are always release agents to help the resin "pop" off the molds that will resist paints or worst, interact with the paint coat years
afterwards.
Here I tried the "Exhaust" colour from Alclad - I like it a lot, usually I do it with a very thin coat of flat black, but I have to clear coat seal that in, since the light dusting of black is easily scratched or pulled off with tape. But this Alclad colour adheres to the undercoat of steel much better, plus it’s slightly
brown - bronze metallic in itself - much more convincing as burnt metal!
I tried to spray where I think which parts look best burnt, mostly around the tips and that joint – be careful not to overdo it, it’s nice to see the differences in the metal finishes.
Don't worry about the injector pins inside the cans - you'll never see them. The good thing about building a few of these Valkyries is that you learn where to cut corners
I aged the gun pod the same way (yes I choose steel instead of the grey because I thought it was cooler). This is before using a black oil wash to pick out the panel lines and vents.
The afterburners now get a thinned down flat black wash to pick out the raised details. (You'll hardly see this unless you are looking right into the tail cone with a strong light)
Best way to trim off the excess resin sprue is with an exacto razor saw
Now you glue the resin intakes to the thigh part. I used crazy glue for this bond; regular styrene cement wouldn't work due to the dissimilar materials being bonded. Fortunately, the Captn' provided us with the "Super" parts needed to bend the legs/engines at the knees without having to purchase a Super Valkyrie to make with this Booster. He even assembled them for us, unfortunately, he missed a few injection pins holes on the inside of the intakes, which is a real pain to sand out after the intakes
Before gluing the leg halves together, I thought I'd be smart and mask the black portions and the feet/nozzles off first. It is possible to mask all this after you glue it together (which is what I've been
Make sure when you glue the legs together you don't miss this crucial piece (since its inclusion is only on the Super Valkyrie Hasegawa instructions) - it was nice that the Captn' included a resin substitute
for us. This allows the thighs to attach the legs at the proper bend angle at the knees. It would help that one has built a super Valkyrie before embarking on this kit (even though we are just using a
The legs are now together, again I used tube cement for strength and I used enough so that it oozed out the seams so I can sand them down later. I also used the tape to keep the pieces together and the gear doors properly aligned. Now remember to glue in the forward gear doors (the piece with the
blue/red light) it required a bit of additional sanding around the edges to fit into the leg properly.
A close up shows the before and after of the sanding. You'll notice that there isn't much Mr. Surfacer left after sanding. It serves as a kind of marker to know how far I've sanded down to. I think I might paint a coat of Mr. Surfacer 1000 over the seams again to make sure - I hate to find out that I didn't
sand long enough when I start painting - plus since this will be white plane, I intend to skip the priming stage on the Hasegawa kit (however I will prime the resin boosters).
Anyone with any tips on filling resin part gaps with crazy glue and baking soda - I've been told that's the easiest way to go for minor bubbles and such, but I've never actually done it before. Any help or suggestions or links would be appreciated - do I add the baking soda to the crazy glue on the part, or
pack the part with baking soda then add the crazy glue or do I mix up the mixture on a card somewhere to apply with a toothpick?? I'll experiment on the boosters and show pictures when I get
I've sanded smooth the gear doors, but there are still panel seams between the doors and fuselage, I think it’s more important to make it look smooth and consistent first, then re-etch the panel lines if
necessary, or even draw them in with a thin pencil to be sealed by a clear coat later.
Thanks for the tip on the Mr. Base White, I'll look for it when I get to a hobby store next. I'll still try the baking soda and crazy glue thing, I think the baking soda makes the crazy glue less hard - just wanted to learn a new thing or two. If it doesn't work, I'll use my old Tamiya putty, and I'll still use Mr. Surfacer for the small bubble stuff. But when I post the pictures, you'll see my booster requires a
little more re-construction than just seam filling.
Starting on the actual resin booster kit itself - now I'm going over it with a fine tooth comb to visually inspect it for flaws and work to be done (instead of the blinded gee Wow! filled with glee that someone
actually finally tackled one of my favourite subject mechs) and there are indeed some work to do (even though the Captn' did a fantastic job sculpting this baby, the casting leaves quite a bit of
cleanup work.
My particular cast has bubbles which break every intermediary structure within the 3-slot vents (which makes them very weak). Secondly, there was a bubble on both tips of the forward booster where it mates to the top of the Valkyrie, which needs to be filled, shaped and re-contoured to match. Aside from various seam lines, the forward intake is going to be a bit of a surgical clean-up too, since the yellow resin is quite hard and brittle compared to the white stuff. Maybe I've been away from resin kits and have been spoiled by beautiful Platz white resin or Hasegawa styrene for too long, but all this
I would need to drill out these leg/engine ports to allow the legs feet tips of the Valkyrie to slip in.
OK, that baking soda mixed with crazy glue idea to fill in certain areas was a complete bust! - Failure. I don't get it, I tried mixing a bit of baking soda with the crazy glue in a plastic bowl, and the baking
soda caused the crazy glue to instantly solidify - all I got was clumpy lumpy bits of dried crazy glue. I tried all different consistencies, but I couldn't make it work in the end. However, the crazy glue (as mentioned by Valkyrie before) is really hard - which in this case works to my advantage - I need to majorly reinforce those intermediary struts in the 3-slot vents before I can properly file them down to
proper shape - otherwise they'd just snap while I was sanding them.
So I tried to fill them with crazy glue, but the bubbles where actually too big to just fill in with crazy glue only, so I decided to add some baking soda to the holes, tried to pre-pack them with the soda, then I added the crazy glue to the outside. This seemed to work, plus the struts were strong now
In these photos you can see the clear (milky clear) bits are filled with the crazy glue / baking soda mixture. I added a lot more excess than I needed so I could file away the extra crazy glue. I don't believe I could of used my traditional ways of filling here (although I haven't used epoxy putty yet) since these flaws are too large for Mr. Surfacer, and the resin in these tight cavities would not provide
enough tooth for the regular Tamiya putty to adhere too. The regular Tamiya putty actually includes solvents in the mixture to slight melt the surrounding plastic to create a better bond too, the resin won't react this way, so the regular putty could just pop off and would not provide any strength for
the delicate intermediary struts.
As you can see the openings themselves are quite rough, I'd need to use my flat files for the sides and my round file for the tops and bottoms later on. I will allow these crazy glue fills to cure now
Ok, on to the tips, the reconstruction was actually too large to just pack with baking soda, I just did it in layers, applying crazy glue, then dipping it into baking soda, then applying crazy glue on top of that
- and built it up in 4-5 layers till I filled it beyond the shape I want to file down to.
away - instead of letting the putty dry.
You can see in this photo that the main central intake may take a bit of work trying to get those two resin sprue connections out of this crevice situation
I'll leave the booster to cure for a little bit, the crazy glue is actually warm to the touch while curing, that's when I know I've used a lot to fill all the flaws.
On to the engine bells! Man, I don't know what kind of resin these are made of, but its pretty weird, some bits are quite soft and flexible, while others are a real *&$%$@#! to sand. These shots
show some of the typical seams (2 each per bell) that I need to get rid off.
Man, after so much sanding, I barely made a dent!! What are these things made of?! I've never dealt with this material before. The entire engine bell deforms under the pressure of my hands holding it to sand, but the seam refuses to go away! I started to move down the grit ladder from 400-200-100
Its weird that some bits are so soft, while others so hard, like the 4 little engine fins - on one bell they are like gummy bears, on another bell, they were so hard and brittle that one broke off before I
started even sanding it!! hmmm...
Well, I finally remembered that I bought a dremel contour sander a while ago thinking that it would ease my sanding chores (I hate sanding the most out of any process in model making!) but I never used it since because even on the lowest setting, it ate through my styrene like butter. But with this crazy resin, it just might work. So I used the 100 grit sanding film and went to town on these bells. After quite a bit of work, it’s started to smooth out the seam - only after it wore away at my sanding
Ok, that's another thing to add to my next hobby store shopping list; Tamiya polyester putty (I assume its epoxy putty), Mr. Base White, and slow
At least now I think I'm on the right track with the sanding
sander up till now...) so I switched to some industrial strength 50 grit diamond sandpaper instead of the sanding film - and finally it's working better on some of these bell seams. At least now I'm getting
rid of the seams instead of my sandpaper tooth!
ladder to 200 to smooth out the rough sandpaper marks, and probably coat it with some Mr. Surfacer before the primer since I want to use the Alclad metalizer on the engin
absolutely flawless for the metal finish.
You can see that the bell deformed from just me holding it with my fingers and thumb. Ok, that's another thing to add to my next hobby store shopping list; Tamiya polyester putty (I
assume its epoxy putty), Mr. Base White, and slow-cure gel crazy glue...
At least now I think I'm on the right track with the sanding (I thought I wasted good money on this sander up till now...) so I switched to some industrial strength 50 grit diamond sandpaper instead of
and finally it's working better on some of these bell seams. At least now I'm getting seams instead of my sandpaper tooth! I think I need to work my way back up the grit ladder to 200 to smooth out the rough sandpaper marks, and probably coat it with some Mr. Surfacer
before the primer since I want to use the Alclad metalizer on the engine bells and they need to be absolutely flawless for the metal finish.
You can see that the bell deformed from just me holding it with my fingers and thumb. Ok, that's another thing to add to my next hobby store shopping list; Tamiya polyester putty (I
cure gel crazy glue...
(I thought I wasted good money on this sander up till now...) so I switched to some industrial strength 50 grit diamond sandpaper instead of
and finally it's working better on some of these bell seams. At least now I'm getting I think I need to work my way back up the grit ladder to 200 to smooth out the rough sandpaper marks, and probably coat it with some Mr. Surfacer
e bells and they need to be
Thanks Sar - sure Talc powder, yeah I have that lying around at home all the time... NOT. I'll look, but I'm not too keen on trying it again... Maybe the polyester putty though. However the areas I used
the crazy glue are strong.
I've tried to shape the nose of the booster, and it seemed to work out pretty well - I used a combination of file and sand paper, just be careful of the surrounding resin. The crazy glue is hard, however, this resin is pretty hard too, and there doesn't seem as much of a hardness difference as I
would of suspected. Back to sanding...
Ok, another 3 hrs of sanding (Man! a whole day of sanding mostly to get the engine bells in shape!) and working my way up the grit papers. Some of the rough scratches are out.
One of the bells are quite soft, you can see it deform under my finger pressure just holding it for sanding. I hope this doesn't cause problems later on when I'm painting with flaking paint. As long as
I need to re-scribe all that great detail the captn' originally put in - that was lost due to the sanding. Some of the seams were so deep that when you sanded them smooth, the bell no longer had a round shape - so I had to feather the sanding on either side of the seam (which was a lot more difficult than
it sounded with this weird grey elasto-resin).
I used a pin-vise to re-drill some of the larger bolt holes. The hasegawa P.E. razor saw to re-etch the circumferential lines, and a sharp tweezer point to re-press in the tiny rivet details.
There was a weird crazing of the surface after I sanded it, it was like there were lots of tiny cracks - you can see it as white lines in the above photos. I've never seen anything like it, and was sure if they
were indents or raised areas. Just to be doubly sure, I hand painted two coats of Mr. Surfacer 1000 over the all the sanded areas. Additionally, you'll notice that all the little fins at the end of the engine
bells are also painted too because they all have some divots and holes in the middle of them as well Not exactly smooth sailing, but after a day’s work, it’s done! I hope to sand down smooth the painted Mr. Surfacer (hoping that it should fill in any sanding or hairline cracks which I have missed)
and they should be ready for a full coat of primer. You can see the bell on the right is by far darker than the rest - this is the soft one. In fact each bell seems to be of different hardness (varying by its
grey colour, the lightest on the left is the hardest, with the darkest on the right being the softest)
Not as far as I hoped to get today - the engine bells proved that there was still a lot more clean-up than originally thought. That’s it for tonight.
I hope to finish up and prime the bells tomorrow and start clean-up on the actual booster parts themselves, with the 3-slots detail taking priority. I think I might cover them in a metal mesh, and
build some kind of engine detail that can be seen though them.
With that great news. I concentrated on the three remaining engine bells, sanding the Mr. Surfacer 1000 smooth - careful to feather it back into the rest of the bells and continue the Captn' great
I started filing down the 3-slot openings. Naturally I started with the one in the best condition first - it turned out pretty well. I used a flat edged file for the straight bits and a cylindrical file for the ends of
the lozenge shaped openings. The only thing now is that the resin is a bit un-even and thick around the openings, I might carefully dremel out some resin behind the openings to thin them up a bit since
I'm planning on putting "engine-gak" back there.
You can see in the left photo in the background one of the 3-slot openings mess before I filed them out.
Here's some before and during shots of finishing out the 3-slot vents. Luckily since I wasn't going to use the opaque vents that the Captn' thoughtfully provided - I didn't have to worry too much about making the vent slots larger through the sanding process. In fact, I wouldn't mind making them a bit
larger to show off the gak inside.
They are a bit of a mess to start off with, but with sanding (argh!) they started to shape up. I also used a dremel and routed out the inside of the vents to make them thinner and made the thickness more consistent (be very careful if you intend to use a dremel like I did, it will sand away at the resin
I found these metal meshes lying around (I must of picked them up a few years ago at a hobby store - I think I was going to drill out the vents on the super-fast packs gun rear section and replace them
with these). You can find them at most local hobby stores - these are for model cars engine parts. I thought I might back the vents with this mesh.
Now for the engine gak...
I had a brain-wave! Why not use the un-used rear landing gear bays - its already got molded details with wiring. We have two from this kit which I made the Valkyrie with the landing gears up, and I'm sure I can dig out another two from another Valk that I've made with the landing gears up too. That’s
4 bulkheads, but I want to lay them horizontally - so I might make up the rest with some extra parts like missiles glued side by side and extra landing gear struts.
I found some extra missiles lying around from an old 1/100 AMAI kit - but they could really be anything (preferably round and cylindrical) and started gluing them up. I was going to go to town detailing these areas up, but I noticed that the mesh isn't all that transparent (which is good) so with
some proper painting, maybe this will be all I need. I am going to make one up to see how it works before I start on the rest of the 3 bulkheads.
Here's a shot with the bulkhead taped behind the 3-slots.
Yeah Brett, this proved to be a lot more clean-up work than I expected - I am much farther behind than I thought I would be by now.
I also noticed that if I were to put the bulkhead right up against the mesh - I don't see a whole lot, but if I set it back away from the mesh, I start seeing more of it - so I added some bulkhead ends to
stand it off from the booster shell so it sits a 1-2mm away from the mesh.
The second shot shows some preliminary painting. I painted the entire thing flat black as my basecoat - as well as painting the interior around the 3-slots flat black. Then I mostly dried brushed some metallic grey, medium grey and a spot of white to bring out the highlights. Then I added two spots of
yellow just for interest. I'm not sure how far to take it, I still want it to look dark and grungy, but I need to exaggerate the dry brushing so that something will show through the mesh.
It’s pretty dark in there - but you see it better in person, it’s really hard to photograph what you see. I've had to artificially over expose the shots to get some of the detail to show up - but they show up
much more strongly in person (too strongly for my taste - but this is before I put the mesh in front of it).
I didn't dry-fit the mesh yet since the bulkhead engine details are still wet - I'll let it dry first. I don't want to get any paint on the real metal mesh - I think the real metal finish of the mesh makes the model look more realistic. Now I have to start worrying about whether to paint the booster first, and install the engine gak and mesh after all the painting is done or carefully mask off the 3-slot vents? I think I'll like the edges of the 3-slots to be black and only have the exterior grey colour on the outer
I couldn't find the extra rear leg landing gear bulkheads to my other "in-flight" Valkyrie, (ideally you'd need four of these pieces - 2 for the outside and 2 for the inside vents) so I thought I'd keep the good ones for the outside, and fabricate some simpler bulkheads for the inside vent slots. Since you don't
catch much other than some silver highlights through the metal mesh, I took the lazy way out and just stuck some stuff onto a styrene sheet. Which I'll paint black, and silver brush some highlights
onto.
Ok, back at work on the boosters...
Try as I may, I couldn't get the forward intake between the boosters to look smooth; it’s a really tough area to sand down, especially the back surface.
So I thought I might find something to hide this area. I didn't use that trapezoidal vent for the rear tail section of the Valkyrie, so I thought I'd put it in this slot to cover up the mess. It kind of fits, since its like the rest of the super Valks, when the tail section flips up and around to rest on top of the Valks chest piece. I had to sand down a bit of the resin booster slot and the styrene plastic part to fit. I also
fitted some extra corrugated styrene strips that I cut to fit into the two sides and the centre of the trapezoidal vent (too lazy to sand out the two injector pin marks inside this vent, I also glued a strip
of the corrugated styrene inside it as well)
I just cut some thin styrene sheets into these shapes and glued them down. I then took my pin vise and drilled some small holes in it for detail.
I wanted to bulk up the rear valley between the two top boosters a little - I thought it might look better a little beefier when we got closer to those massive engine bells.
For those of you who have the VE-1 Elintseeker Hasegawa kits - you're in for a treat of spare parts after you've finished the kit. These arm armour parts are extras from that kit - since it has a modified
piece for that drop down sensor/antenna array. I thought that these pieces were nicely molded, and had a slightly sloped profile that might fit nicely to the boosters with minimal alterations. I wanted as much surface detail on these boosters to tie them together with the Hasegawa fast packs, since I wanted them to look part of the same language. I intend to decal them and paint them like the fast packs later on. It seems more consistent in the Macross universe than the white boosters shown
Oh, gawd! What have
Under the
I decided to drill out the holes for the Valk's feet on the lower portion of the resin boosters I wasn't paying attention to the instructions of t
assembly, all three pieces and painted them. I was thinking that I wanted to have the Valk pretty intact so I may be able to detach them later on... hmm I'm now not so sure it was such a great idea.
According to the instructions, you only really need the "shin" of the lower portion of the feet, and I assume everything else is hidden
hollow out the feet holes, I didn't realize that there is into this area, and I am trying to
with a dremel at the four corners. Then I took a larger drill bit and drilled out the centre. Did I have I done!! I really opened a whole can of worms now...
Under the category; "WTF was I thinking..."
I decided to drill out the holes for the Valk's feet on the lower portion of the resin boosters I wasn't paying attention to the instructions of the resin booster kit, but I built the entire feet assembly, all three pieces and painted them. I was thinking that I wanted to have the Valk pretty intact so I may be able to detach them later on... hmm I'm now not so sure it was such a great idea.
ng to the instructions, you only really need the "shin" of the lower portion of the feet, and I assume everything else is hidden - then you don't need to hollow out the feet holes. Well, I tried to hollow out the feet holes, I didn't realize that there is actually a fair amount of resin that has settled
ing to root out 2-3" thick of resin! I started by drilling smaller pilot holes with a dremel at the four corners. Then I took a larger drill bit and drilled out the centre. Did I
I done!! I really opened a whole can of worms now...
I decided to drill out the holes for the Valk's feet on the lower portion of the resin boosters I guess he resin booster kit, but I built the entire feet assembly, all three pieces and painted them. I was thinking that I wanted to have the Valk pretty intact so I may be able to detach them later on... hmm I'm now not so sure it was such a great idea.
ng to the instructions, you only really need the "shin" of the lower portion of the feet, and I then you don't need to hollow out the feet holes. Well, I tried to
t of resin that has settled 3" thick of resin! I started by drilling smaller pilot holes with a dremel at the four corners. Then I took a larger drill bit and drilled out the centre. Did I say it’s
a lot of resin... to dig out?! I was almost choking with all the dust in the air - then I remembered my mask... hmm, I'm sure fine resin particles isn't great for the lungs either I felt like a dentist, switching to more of a grinding stone bit to try and hollow out the hole - I slipped a few times, so I need to re-build out the opening. But this was much more work than I thought it was going to be (I'd do it as per instructions and leave the resin in and just modify the feet construction to not include the
last two pieces next time...) but I'm in for the job now, since I've damaged the opening and I've started and opened this can of worms.
I found it easier later on to also work from the inside hollowing out material - just be careful you don't do too far and create a hole into the body of the lower boosters. The really long and tedious process of
finishing the holes with a flat file is what I have to look forward too tonight. The resin is still pretty tough, and my files are pretty fine - so it may take a while, but hopefully when I'm done, the Valkyrie
I added some styrene to reinforce this area so that I can re-sculpt some of the opening profile that I lost when my dremel slipped
I was going to file it down smooth, but I think I'll leave it raised like an attached panel for some interest, maybe add a few rivet details to the ends.
There's this gap here that’s been bothering me, it’s supposed to be there, but it just seems a bit big with nothing inside.
I'm not sure yet, but either I'd fill it with machinery gak or close it up, or maybe I'll just leave it alone. I want to get to the painting stage first...
When the Valk is removable, I think I can always come back to address this portion later on. Plus with the entire thing finished it might not be so bad.
You can see the clear tip at the end of the resin piece where it meets the Valkyrie - I started hunting for all these little broken bits or bits with bubbles in it and started filling them in to sand them
I then went over the boosters with Mr. Surfacer 1000 looking for any small imperfections, bubbles or details I didn't want. To the Captn's credit, he included some fine details on the boosters that will
match nicely to the Hasegawa kit, but there were two details that I am choosing to omit, the "refueling hatches" on one underside of the booster and some diagonal ladder designs which did not
cast well.
I also decided to make something of that main lateral line separating the two halves, instead of trying to sand it smooth to mate both the top and bottom halves, I thought I give these edges a bit of a chamfer (sanded the edges at a 45 degree in) so when they mate, it will form a V-groove - hiding the slight mismatch of the top and bottom curvatures and creating an additional detail line laterally across
(which will form the top part of the black line on the line art).
Thanks to the Captn' so much - I just received his replacement for my "squishy" engine bell!! Yay! Boy, this one is fantastic, there's only one seam!! and it’s really minor, the resin is easy to sand, and all of the little four fins are intact and flawless!! Wow, as you can see, it only took a little sanding, and it’s done! I'd painted a stripe of Mr. Surfacer 1000 to be sanded away just to be sure. I will prime this
I'm gluing in the fine metal mesh from the inside, be very careful that the crazy glue you use is fairly thick, otherwise, the thin stuff tends to run into the fine mesh and clogs up the holes.
Once the mesh is in, I also crazy glued the completed bulkheads with the engine detail
I went a little overboard here with the details, you see the details (more so in person than these photos show) but not as much as the effort I put into
mesh, but then the scale might be too big, if the openings are larger.
I also painted the interior of the bottom portion of the booster, just so that when you look into the feet holes, it appears black and dark, and
I'm gluing in the fine metal mesh from the inside, be very careful that the crazy glue you use is fairly thick, otherwise, the thin stuff tends to run into the fine mesh and clogs up the holes.
the mesh is in, I also crazy glued the completed bulkheads with the engine detail
I went a little overboard here with the details, you see the details (more so in person than these photos show) but not as much as the effort I put into them ) Oh, well - maybe a more transparent
mesh, but then the scale might be too big, if the openings are larger.
I also painted the interior of the bottom portion of the booster, just so that when you look into the feet holes, it appears black and dark, and just in case you see through the mesh, I don't want any
resin peeking through.
I'm gluing in the fine metal mesh from the inside, be very careful that the crazy glue you use is fairly thick, otherwise, the thin stuff tends to run into the fine mesh and clogs up the holes.
the mesh is in, I also crazy glued the completed bulkheads with the engine detail - I must admit, I went a little overboard here with the details, you see the details (more so in person than these
maybe a more transparent mesh, but then the scale might be too big, if the openings are larger.
I also painted the interior of the bottom portion of the booster, just so that when you look into the case you see through the mesh, I don't want any
I crazy glued the halves together. You need to file down a bit of the mating surfaces to get a nice flush fit. The main lateral seam worked out well as a detail line. I just couldn't resist piecing it all together.
I also gave the overall booster a bit of final sanding. I drew in pencil the size of the Macross Kite (from a 1/48 decal set that Anasazi made for the Yamato Fast packs - which I think is pretty perfect in terms
I drew this circle so I can place putty to eliminate the main lateral seam at where the Macross Kite symbol will be.
I put tape at the two ends, and filled it with Tamiya putty, we'll see if this holds onto the resin - if not, I'll resort back to crazy glue again.
I then cut little strips of Tamiya masking tape and filled in the meshed portions. I will paint liquid masking fluid around the tape to get a nice seal between the mesh and the resin struts. The masking
tape just allows the masking fluid to be removed easily afterwards and prevents the fluid from "soaking" through the mesh to the other side too much. Since I also want the black sides to the resin
Ok, I think I need some help here with the liquid mask...
This booster just doesn't want to be primed... I let the liquid mask dry overnight so that I could get a fresh start to the priming today, but I found the liquid mask to have all dried, cracked and peeled. I
don't get it. I usually use Microscale MicroMask liquid masking, but my bottle is like 8yrs old, and the medium has turned to jelly-like consistency - I couldn't get it to thin with water, it just broke up into little chunks, so went out and bought Mr. Hobby Mr. Masking SOL (thinking if it’s from Japan, it must be better! ) - This was last year, and I've haven't used this new stuff since (but how different can it
be?). Well, it’s also a thick goopy mess, so I thinned it down with water (is that right?) to a paintable consistency (at least the Mr. Masking seems to thin down - but a lot of bubbles formed). Should I have not thinned it down with water? But it was too thick to apply. What should I use to thin
down masking liquid? What masking liquid do you guys use or recommend? Have you seen this
I gooped some into the rear engine ports since I want the crazy glue to actually adhere to the resin instead of paint on the resin after I've painted the booster
point since the engine bells are a little on the heavy si
since I might want to play with the placement of the engine bells, maybe splay them out a bit more. I just mixed up another batch of the Mr. Masking SOL and gooped it onto the pre
surface, hoping that this batch would tie all the previous batch together so they pull out in one lozenge shaped chunk after painting. Wish me luck. I'll have to sand those puttied areas down when
the masking liquid dries, I just don't want to get a bunch of san Cross your fingers and wish me luck...
down masking liquid? What masking liquid do you guys use or recommend? Have you seen this happen to liquid mask before?
some into the rear engine ports since I want the crazy glue to actually adhere to the resin instead of paint on the resin after I've painted the booster - I'm a little wary of this small connection point since the engine bells are a little on the heavy side. I may have to pin it later on, but I hope not,
since I might want to play with the placement of the engine bells, maybe splay them out a bit more. I just mixed up another batch of the Mr. Masking SOL and gooped it onto the pre-existing cracking
e, hoping that this batch would tie all the previous batch together so they pull out in one shaped chunk after painting. Wish me luck. I'll have to sand those puttied areas down when the masking liquid dries, I just don't want to get a bunch of sanding/putty dust into the wet liquid.
Cross your fingers and wish me luck...
down masking liquid? What masking liquid do you guys use or recommend? Have you seen this
some into the rear engine ports since I want the crazy glue to actually adhere to the resin I'm a little wary of this small connection de. I may have to pin it later on, but I hope not, since I might want to play with the placement of the engine bells, maybe splay them out a bit more.
existing cracking e, hoping that this batch would tie all the previous batch together so they pull out in one shaped chunk after painting. Wish me luck. I'll have to sand those puttied areas down when
A final test fitting before priming...
Hmm, the liquid mask cracked again, but I thought, there was so much in there, that the chance of the several layers of crack being on top of each other allowing the paint down through to the mesh to
be highly improbable. I want to chance it and prime the sucker I’m starting to get excited about the upcoming steps...
I hope I can get all the liquid mask out
You can see the crackling more with the primer on it. I'm thinking I will go out to get more liquid mask tomorrow and re-apply over this just to be sure. In the meantime,
types of liquid mask? Is there a way to thin Microscale Mask?
It's been so long since I airbrushed (over a year
Sometimes you get a really rough su
high, and the particles are drying before they hit the surface, and starts to build up a finish like sandpaper or fine hairs. It takes a bit of practice getting back into the flow of airbr
pressure is a finesse thing. I forgot that the primer required a much lower spray pressure. I am using the pre-mixed AlcladII primer - I love this stuff. But it uses 12
Oh, well, nasty lesson - but it’s not too bad,
do anyways. You should polish the primer with 800grit sandpaper anyways regardless of creates a much smoother base for the paint. Now I have to sand do
where I sprayed the primer at too high of a pressure
really nice surface without having to re
I hope I can get all the liquid mask out of there – it’s mostly sitting on those thin strips I cut out of Tamiya masking tape anyways.
You can see the crackling more with the primer on it. I'm thinking I will go out to get more liquid mask apply over this just to be sure. In the meantime, are there any recommendations of
types of liquid mask? Is there a way to thin Microscale Mask?
It's been so long since I airbrushed (over a year! ) And I made a real stupid mistake at too high a pressure.
Sometimes you get a really rough surface with flat paints or primer – it’s because the pressure is too high, and the particles are drying before they hit the surface, and starts to build up a finish like
sandpaper or fine hairs. It takes a bit of practice getting back into the flow of airbr
thing. I forgot that the primer required a much lower spray pressure. I am using I love this stuff. But it uses 12-15psi, and I left my compressor on 20
25psi for Tamiya acrylics.
s not too bad, it forces me to perform a step I usually am too lazy to do anyways. You should polish the primer with 800grit sandpaper anyways regardless of
creates a much smoother base for the paint. Now I have to sand down the roughness on the areas where I sprayed the primer at too high of a pressure - luckily and sands down easily, and creates a
really nice surface without having to re-prime it.
s mostly sitting on those thin strips I cut out of
You can see the crackling more with the primer on it. I'm thinking I will go out to get more liquid mask any recommendations of
) And I made a real stupid mistake - I airbrushed
s because the pressure is too high, and the particles are drying before they hit the surface, and starts to build up a finish like
sandpaper or fine hairs. It takes a bit of practice getting back into the flow of airbrushing, and thing. I forgot that the primer required a much lower spray pressure. I am using
15psi, and I left my compressor on
20-it forces me to perform a step I usually am too lazy to do anyways. You should polish the primer with 800grit sandpaper anyways regardless of finish; it
wn the roughness on the areas luckily and sands down easily, and creates a
I use Windex to clean my brushes and rinse out my airbrush – it’s a lot cheaper than the thinner. I wouldn't have been able to soak the mesh since I painted the engine details behind the mesh in Tamiya paints - I did try painting the mask with Windex, but it didn't do much good - like you said,
you have to soak it.
The rest of the priming went really well, and the sanding/polishing worked well to save the rough areas.
Luckily a quarter of each of the engine bells is mostly hidden (portion which faces each other towards the center) so I can mark off which side of the bells are not perfect and face those inwards. I'm going to let it sit until I can get some masking fluid tomorrow. I have to work on getting rid of the
I was going to weather and detail both the booster and Valkyrie at the same time using the same materials - so I have to get my Valkyrie now up to the same primed state as the boosters. I realized I hadn't sealed the cockpit in yet, so I have to work on getting rid of the seam on the canopy. As most of you know by now, there is a seam running up the middle on the outside (thank god!) of the canopy which was a process of a 3 part mold which allows the canopy profile to bubble
out realistically like modern fighters. I'll briefly outline the steps involved...
too much pressure (I always try to hold it from behind with my fingers supporting the underside of the bubbled canopy). It’s always better to understand (you can keep going if need be) than to sand too
deeply and scratch the canopy too much (just more finishing/polishing work later on). 1. Clear canopy with seam
2. Lightly sand with 800 grit (careful to just sand the seam portion)
3. It looks horrible now... but it has to get the worst before it gets better - now move up to 1200 grit and sand a little bit more (in a larger area)
4. Finally, I move up to 2000 grit and sand in an even larger area (careful to always overlap the sanding areas with a finer grit film)
It should look uniformly foggy at this point with no visible swirls or lines. I usually double check the work by dipping it into water from the underside, the part where the water touches should appear
5. Some people skip the next step and jump right to coating it with future floor polish at this point - but I add another step here. I use Tamiya rubbing compound (kind of like toothpaste) and polish out
polish the entire canopy. I do this even on canopies that have no seam (or require no work), it gives a shinier more polycarbonate like appearance and makes the canopy appear "brighter"
6. Lastly, I dip the entire thing into future floor polish. Make sure that you are in a relatively clean and lint-free room (which is near impossible for my basement work area - but I do this before I sand or airbrush for the day). Make sure there are no air bubbles trapped - keep dipping it back in if there are
imperfections on the surface (worst case - you can strip it with windex and try again - I think its the ammonia that strips it off).
I usually hang it to dry at an angle so that the excess Future builds up in one corner and I would occasionally dab that corner with a paper towel to soak up the excess. You don't want a bubble of
excess future to gather at the corners, they turn milky over time.
I usually put my work lights on it to help speed up the future curing. And no sanding or airbrushing while the canopy is drying (in fact I leave the room all together to stop debris from being kicked up
Future is not a necessity... it just help
the fogginess is by using a rubbing/polishing compound like Tamiya. I merely said it was like tooth polish, but I don't mean to use tooth
stuff, its purposefully for plastic models and worst case, order it online. David is absolutely
you get as good as he is... you can skip a few steps and use fewer levels of grit sandpaper to do the job. However, it’s been over a year since I built my last model (it
need a few models to get back into the groove of things before I feel confident enough to start skipping steps. Sanding clear parts is a feel thing, a
feel for it, it’s no different than any other opaque part (I just wanted to try to the stigma behind scratching and repairing clear canopy parts)
advice... but just remember that different things work for different people. Basically the long of short of it - get the canopy to a foggy state (no visible lines or scratches), then to eliminate the fog do one
1. Buff with a rubbing/polishing
2. Dunk in Future Floor Finish (which turns the fogg Or be extra cautious like me
I don't think there's a danger of over
or a file! ) but the danger is pressing too hard and splitting or cracking the brittle canopy. Remember the clear parts are much more brittle than the styrene pieces. And I don't know of any
repair that will seal in a crack all the way through a
the liquid acrylic (Future) seeps into all the microscopically fine scratches (which refract the light giving the foggy appearance) and in effect, flattens the surface of the canopy
dents and imperfections. That's why I dunk it in water to see if it goes clear, since the water does the same thing (it just doesn't stay)
Now, remember to let it dry overnight impressions of your fingerprints on the future
canopy part now, and if you're not careful, you can scratch it off or etch it away. Future is to ammonia based products such as blue Windex or Humbro masking fluid
newly Future’d canopy - and handle it gently. I prefer to glue it to the plane (which seals in the inside surface) right away as soon as its dry. And I paint a coat of liquid masking fluid to the outside to
seal/protect the outer surface too. This is the canopy glue I use (it
somewhat flexible when dried which is great when the canopy doesn't perfectly match the fuselage. I've also used white glue
Future is not a necessity... it just helps out, but if you don't use future, then the only way to eliminate ness is by using a rubbing/polishing compound like Tamiya. I merely said it was like tooth polish, but I don't mean to use tooth polish instead Like Stamen said, I'd hunt down the Tamiya stuff, its purposefully for plastic models and worst case, order it online. David is absolutely
you get as good as he is... you can skip a few steps and use fewer levels of grit sandpaper to do the s been over a year since I built my last model (it’s kind of like starting over again...) I need a few models to get back into the groove of things before I feel confident enough to start skipping steps. Sanding clear parts is a feel thing, and thus is hard to explain - but once you get the
s no different than any other opaque part (I just wanted to try to alleviate
the stigma behind scratching and repairing clear canopy parts) All of the tips given is good ... but just remember that different things work for different people. Basically the long of short get the canopy to a foggy state (no visible lines or scratches), then to eliminate the fog do one
of the following;
1. Buff with a rubbing/polishing compound and rag until clear (i.e.; Tamiya compound) 2. Dunk in Future Floor Finish (which turns the fogginess clear)
Or be extra cautious like me - do both
I don't think there's a danger of over-sanding "through" the canopy (unless you're using 50 gr ) but the danger is pressing too hard and splitting or cracking the brittle canopy. Remember the clear parts are much more brittle than the styrene pieces. And I don't know of any
repair that will seal in a crack all the way through a clear piece.
the liquid acrylic (Future) seeps into all the microscopically fine scratches (which refract the light giving the foggy appearance) and in effect, flattens the surface of the canopy - filling in all the tiny
hy I dunk it in water to see if it goes clear, since the water does the same thing (it just doesn't stay)
Now, remember to let it dry overnight - at least 12 hours before you touch the canopy, or you'll get impressions of your fingerprints on the future coat. Always remember that there is a coating over your
canopy part now, and if you're not careful, you can scratch it off or etch it away. Future is
to ammonia based products such as blue Windex or Humbro masking fluid - keep these away from and handle it gently. I prefer to glue it to the plane (which seals in the inside surface) right away as soon as its dry. And I paint a coat of liquid masking fluid to the outside to
seal/protect the outer surface too.
the canopy glue I use (it’s very much like white glue) it dries completely clear, and its somewhat flexible when dried which is great when the canopy doesn't perfectly match the fuselage.
I've also used white glue - which works very well.
s out, but if you don't use future, then the only way to eliminate ness is by using a rubbing/polishing compound like Tamiya. I merely said it was like tooth
Like Stamen said, I'd hunt down the Tamiya stuff, its purposefully for plastic models and worst case, order it online. David is absolutely right; when
you get as good as he is... you can skip a few steps and use fewer levels of grit sandpaper to do the s kind of like starting over again...) I need a few models to get back into the groove of things before I feel confident enough to start
but once you get the alleviate any fears or All of the tips given is good ... but just remember that different things work for different people. Basically the long of short get the canopy to a foggy state (no visible lines or scratches), then to eliminate the fog do one
; Tamiya compound)
sanding "through" the canopy (unless you're using 50 grit paper ) but the danger is pressing too hard and splitting or cracking the brittle canopy. Remember the clear parts are much more brittle than the styrene pieces. And I don't know of any
the liquid acrylic (Future) seeps into all the microscopically fine scratches (which refract the light filling in all the tiny hy I dunk it in water to see if it goes clear, since the water does the
at least 12 hours before you touch the canopy, or you'll get coat. Always remember that there is a coating over your canopy part now, and if you're not careful, you can scratch it off or etch it away. Future is susceptible
keep these away from the and handle it gently. I prefer to glue it to the plane (which seals in the inside surface) right away as soon as its dry. And I paint a coat of liquid masking fluid to the outside to
s very much like white glue) it dries completely clear, and its somewhat flexible when dried which is great when the canopy doesn't perfectly match the fuselage.
Basically, I'm prepping for a overall coat of white primer - to make sure all my seams are sanded and sealed properly.
At this point, I sealed in the canopy and protected it with some liquid mask (which I can peel off at the end of the airbrushing. I've also glued on all the delicate little antennas and the vertical stabilizer fins to the legs. You want to glue all these bits now since I want the solvent-type cement to actually have styrene to styrene contact (for some strength). You don't want to glue to paint or solvent, since the
connection will only be as strong as the paint is to the styrene. I want to get everything white first, then see if there is any need for repairs. If the white primer is good (I intend to use a thinned down Mr. Surfacer 1000) then I might be able to get a coat or two of Tamiya white in there. Leave those hip
bulges out for now, since I have to paint the accordion detail behind it in metalizer steel first. I hope to get to a coat of Alcad metalizer steel for the hip bend accordion thingy, the intake shields,
So I went out and got this Mr. Base White 1000 primer. I'm so glad they finally made one in white instead of the grey - it makes painting white planes easier (since the grey requires so many coats to
completely cover it).
However, maybe I thinned it down too much (50:50) it doesn't cover as well as I hoped, it gives a great smooth primed surface to paint on - but you need many coats to completely cover any
non-white marks.
I thought I'd also get the head lasers ready for painting at this stage now too. It looks a lot cooler if you drill out the ends of the lasers. I started with a fine/small bit for the pin-vise - the trickiest part is
trying to center the bit in the end of the antennas/lasers. Start very gently all you want to do is getting a dent in the middle of the lasers. Then, once you're satisfied that you are reasonably
centered, I then move up to a larger sized bit. You don't need to drill too deep - just 1-2mm depression is enough to give the impression that it’s a hole all the way through.
