denders

I’ll be there. We’re already on the way, with a few stops on the way.

A few more bits of brass.

Thanks folks, one little bit at a time.

We were away for a bit, but it's progressing one tiny brass bit at a time. A lot more to go.

A while back when SB had Meng products on their weekend special, I wasn't interested in any of the kits, but I had a look through their tools. I found these and I've been using them for small parts since. MNGMTS035 Meng Precision Flat-Tip Tweezers - Sprue Brothers Models LLC I found that I can pick up parts better than the very pointy tweezers and they don't twist and send the part off into never-never land if I squeeze too hard. There isn't a lot of 'spring' that I have to overcome to hold the parts too. I've bought a spare (when Meng was on special again) to have just in case too. My hands aren't the steadiest but using these, I think I do better holding parts and placing them.

Fun time is starting..... One little bit at a time.

Hmmm, I used to have a copy, but I'm not sure I still have it. I didn't make the connection. Edit: Hah, I have it on kindle, I think I'll have to re-read it.

Well, I'm back at this one. I decided that I performed too much surgery on the plastic and I bought another kit. (In case someone was wondering.) A little bit of a different assembly path. Back to testing my sanity.

Thanks guys!

Thanks guys.

I finally took time to take some RFI photos. My usual photo taking spot has been in use by the other half, so I took it outside.

I picked this up last fall at the Murfreesboro IPMS show. Thought I'd check them out to see what they are and whether they might be suitable for the grandsons. Hobby Nut vends at that show. Upon opening the box, I found the engineering amazing with the multicolored injection molding. These are the sprues after assembling it, but you get the idea if you've never looked at one of these. Yeah, one corner is clear parts. Also, this sprue is a different material and there are ball joints molded in. I found it amazing. The upper right corner are the hands. There is a ball joint for the thumb, the index finger, and then the other three fingers together. One of the drawbacks, I think, related to the grandsons working on this, is that the instructions tell you to pull some of those ball joints apart to add pieces. I actually had to go through the replacement part process because I broke one of them. That took about 10 weeks. Then, there's all the STICKERS. But, it's done now. Nothing is glued, it's all just pushed together. All the joints move and can be posed. I'll think about it, perhaps I'll go for a larger one. I'll definitely have a closer look at the Gundams on the display table at the next show.

Okay, I think I'm going to call this one done. I'll see when I get to 'good' photos.

For anyone who would like the Studio3 file for the masks, I've uploaded them here. Dave

Hobby Nut HobbyNut Models is where I purchased mine. He doesn't have all the colors. It's not all that long ago that he posted adding the line, so I'm assuming others have purchased from him and that's why he doesn't have all of the colors at the moment.

Wow,

Thanks, Peter. Yeah, a glossy surface is always better for using this type of wash unless you really want to have a little of it stay behind. It is less "smelly" than using the enamel-based panel line washes. Onward, lots of surface to cover and I prefer doing different areas at a time and not all of it at once. And that's probably related to using the enamel-based PLW.

I figured I would try this out. Small area first.

Okay, last pieces of masking placed and painted. Next I have to look at the canopy parts. Then a clear coat and something for all the panel lines.

Okay, first part of the masks on. Paint on. I'm using a Creos 771 (0.18mm) with pressure set to 10 psi and the needle adjustment set at 2. Setting 0 won't allow the needle to move. And masking off. Looks pretty good to me. Just 4 more mask pieces to go.

Actually, when I weeded out the unnecessary pieces, I realized there was a mistake. So, these are the mask pieces, let's see how loony I can drive myself getting them in place.

A picture of the masks, it's a screen capture from the Silhouette Studio software. This is the largest set of masks that I've done. It's raining here, so I'll have to wait a couple of days. I want to paint if it goes on well and not have it sitting around for a bit. It should be interesting.

Thanks, Peter. Now to get back at it after spending a week in Florida getting my wife her "spring training baseball fix". I'm thinking it shouldn't be a big deal, just patience. The yellow parts will be the 'holes' in the mask, I just have to work at making the cutting marks for the cutter.

Actually, if I scan my decals, I should be able to make my own. I guess I'm going to experiment with one of the chipping methods too.

Thanks, I'll check it out.