DocRob

Not sure, if I ever saw the Ewok parts in Star Wars. I saw only the first movie in cinema, when it came out. Where there any of the furry menaces in that one? In my dio, the AT-ST will be Russian owned and stomping on a Sd.Kfz. 251-D in winter camo. Cheers Rob

I build a real steam engine, when I was 16, maybe 17 in the early eighties, therefore no pics as I've left the engine stored back in Berlin, when I left. I started an apprenticeship as a light engineer then, in the workshop of a research institute. We, the pupil and the engineers, developed a steam machine together as a model for basic engineering training for us and later sold the concept. The idea was to use all the basic and advanced skills you achieve, to build a steam machine, each. After the final grading, you were allowed to use the paintbooth and galvanic to improve the looks of the machine, if desired. Mine was completely black based and chrome and nickel parts, the only one, not looking like a parrot. The final verdict about the machine was, how much pressure it needed to start to run, the lesser the better. Later we had a similar project, constructing a tiny CNC milling machine from scratch (mind, we are talking 1982 here, were some of our CNC machines still received punctured paper tape), including a PC as a steering unit. Yeah, I had a very thorough education as a light engineer, even complaining when there were more than four equal screws to shorten . Cheers Rob

Sorry, net probs, therefore multiple post

May you should take a look at the NAIM stuff. It's available through Sockelshop. One example: Front 46 No. MAIM35518 - Schwabenland Army - Hammerschlag #2 frühe Ausf. - Front46 / 1:35 _ Figuren (dersockelshop.de) Some interesting stuff here too, Industria Mechanik, I have some of their resin kits, but don't like the Mechas that much, but these steam punk submarines... Mecha - Industria Mechanika Shop Cheers Rob

Thanks Martin, this one will be painted 4BO. Cheers Rob

Nice work Gus, which doesn't apply to the quality of the pics . Camo looks great on that interesting tank and the weathering fits like a glove. Cheers Rob

Onto the bench and off in one day as the oils on my PZL dry for a while. This is part one of a strange new project, including a little dio and another kit. The Bandai AT-ST is easy to build and very detailed. There are no distortions in the plastic and I glued only some tiny parts, the rest is only snapped together and will enable to paint the kit better. There is no PE or resin included, but the main guns are bored hollow . Chewbacca will be removed and another pilot will be added later. No Ewoks were harmed through the build . Cheers Rob

Sweet Phil, the cockpit is looking great and it's good to see a non PE-pit with hand painted details. Seat cushions and seat belts are also very nice. Cheers Rob

Great tutorial and very nice result. The Tiger head and tail looks absolutely phenomenal. Cheers Rob

Har, all the best to you my friend. Cheers Rob

Cool, one of my most often non-buys, or almost buys, the ED 209, I mean. The 240z is attractive too. I had the Horizon kit, Carl mentioned and it was not great detail wise and being a bit on the delicate side with the vinyl pars. I definitely prefer vinyl on my turntables. Please do a WIP of the ED-209. Cheers Rob

Since I can't source Tamiya's rattle can primer anymore, which was my go-to primer for some years, directly from the can, I switched to Mr. Surfacer 1200, thinned with Levelling thinner, with the ratio 2,5 parts thinner and 1 part primer, setting the AB to 1 bar. Works perfect with supersmooth results. I used it for some builds now, using acrylics, lacquers and oils on to it without any issues. I masked over it and had no lifts at all. I clean all my kits with alcohol, before I prime. I have a jar of Tamiya primer as well, but haven't tried it, as I like to have good working constants in my sometimes adventurous experiments with colors and the way to applicate them. Cheers Rob

Thanks Harv I'm glad you like it, thank you. Maybe my 1/16 Chinese Tankette will be next with an oil paint job. I remember yours and liked it a lot. Thanks Gaz, the actual color tends a little more to the brown side and looks ok to me. If I don't like it after varnishing, I may put a filter on, let's see. Also thank you for trying to force me into a dio build . No way with this one, where I haven't even a pilot figure. Cheers Rob

I visited their website, just to know if I'm stupid or not. 1ManArmy says, that the sets include basic markings, stencils and group numbers. There is no placement manual to be seen or explained which airplanes or schemes are covered in the sets. I think, 1ManArmy should recruit a second man for marketing and maybe better product shots on their site. I don't buy high priced products, when I'm not sure what I get . Cheers Rob

Thanks for showing Phil. I saw these for a month or so, but thought the pricing ridiculous, for what I thought, I get in these sets. The package claims to only include the stenciling, but the Modelling News review shows, that national insignia are also covered in the sets, which sounds way more interesting. Cheers Rob

Thanks Peter, I'm shooting JPEG, I generally hate post processing pictures, but may have to go that route more frequent in the future. My dogma in photography is, I make the the picture, the moment I capture it and that's it. It's the old analog thinking (of course there was post processing too), but digital possibilities has changed the game. Nearly everything is possible with post processing, except, taking the right picture at the right moment, with the good focal angle, with the actual metering. No picture is objective, but capturing them in one moment, while pressing the trigger makes them authentic. You might argue against my thinking, pointing out, JPEG algorithms are post processing itself and you are right, but that's the Compromise I found for myself, after working with analogue material seemed no more appropriate. For the pictures above, I used the correct custom WB-setting for the LED lighting, which is given. The hue, a slightly greenish tint, is caused by the micro 4/3 chip on my Lumix camera, it's not true to real colors. I know, I can correct the hue in the camera, but I don't want to, as it's only visible under some extreme conditions, macroing models unfortunately, is one of them. It doesn't miss by a lot, but it's distinctive, I can tell you, as I work with that color for days now . When using the Lumix, I try to get all the variables right, which I'm not doing with my Iphone. I use the Pro Cam App for the phone, which allows to adjust many parameters. With that, I use a different approach. I adjust the pic on the screen as long, till it looks right. Impossible with the Iphone, but close enough for most purposes. Cheers Rob

Great work with the engine wiring. The steering arm looks precious with it's complicated geometry, you seem to have a very good spatial sense. Cheers Rob

Great progress on your interesting project. The interior of the cabin looks very realistic, only the cabin light may need to be filtered a bit to the warm side, with a touch of clear orange. The running gear is also very beautiful and is a pleasure to see in working mode. When I was young, I build a steam machine from scratch and it was always very satisfying to see the mechanic gear work with precision. Please keep us in the loop with your locomotive build. Cheers Rob

After another zillion brushstrokes, which barely touched the surface, I think, I got where I wanted to be, more or less. I will let the oils dry for some days and re-evaluate, before I seal the oil color with varnish. It's really hard to get the color show on the photo as in real live. For the following pics, I used my Lumix camera instead of the Iphone and tried to get the lighting and white balance right (Idid that with the Iphone as well). It came closer to the applied color, but still has a hue in it. My interpretation of the Polish brown, seems hard to capture. Cheers Rob

Muchas gracias Amigos, I'm not completely satisfied with the outcome in the moment, I want to spread the color more even onto the fuselage, but decided to let it dry overnight, as it is easy to abrase too much of the color. Working with oils is not always about applying color, its about removing applied colors as well. Hard to explain, but sometimes I work with a color free brush and after half a minute, I remove the accumulated paint from some strokes with a paper towel. @GazzaS I don't have a Tante Ju in my stash and don't plan to purchase one, albeit it's a fascinating airframe. I may go back to the roots with a Junkers D.1 build. My D.1 will be finished in NMF and since a long time, I thought about trying AK's True Metal waxes rubbed into the surface for painting. Cheers Rob