DocRob

Your 109 looks absolutely fantastic, Chris. I like the chalked and slightly toned down appearance a lot. I used chalks often with earlier builds and liked the "steerable" effect. The only downside, the chalk emphasized the borders of the carrier film slightly on the Balkenkreuze of the fuselage side. Cheers Rob

Fantastic as always Mike. I am eagerly awaiting the rigging phase, as I have a Fe.2b in my stash and more than once, I wanted to start, but shied away, because of the rigging. Cheers Rob

Thank you for posting, PW, I knew most of the pictures from their Airfix boxes and they are instant classics. The Zero and the Helldiver, I can´t remember, but I had the B-29 in my clumsy fingers and made a blob of plastic out of the kit . Cheers Rob

You are absolutely right PW, I would be long out of the hobby, if there weren´t new challenges all the time. Sometimes, there is only an idea, about how a certain subject should look in the end as a guideline. The process is then developed according. I once build a 1/32 scale PZL P.11, only to see, if it is possible to paint a plane kit convincing only with brush and oil colors. Cheers Rob

Yup, he has seen some action, therefore the need to patch him up a bit. Cheers Rob

Thank you Mike. Like you, I always try to keep an open eye on new techniques, here in the forum or on YT or other places. I then try to adapt these techniques to my liking and abilities. I don´t like to be dogmatic about what skills I use to achieve a certain result, meaning, the result is important and somehow, I have to reach that goal. I always have a picture of a finished project in my head and that is my goal, no matter what. Certainly some projects are a bit to ambitious and stall or need to be altered, but that´s part of the game. I built my Duchess of Kingston wooden sailing boat sans rigging and also found, that many learned techniques from plastic modeling helped a lot, but the ultimate necessity is a quality approach, no matter what kind of modeling I do. Fantasy objects help to free yourself from to many fixed aspects and help widen the view, I ever found. What you said about building up thin layers, specially with figures is absolutely right, but I found it very hard to do it right with figures. The culprits are first me and my clumsiness, sometimes blotchy results with acrylics, which doesn´t blend like I want and with oils it´s a whole different game. One reason, the above shown AmmoKnight isn´t finished, is the figure, I planned to go with it. I tried my best to paint her up, but wasn´t satisfied. The welder girl was supposed to have welded the heart shaped patch onto the torn AmmoKnight, but this has to wait, till my skills are up to it. Cheers Rob

What Peter said about the spice of life, is absolutely true. I really like to learn something new with every build and to challenge myself somehow. I even started modeling projects, only as a canvas for a new technique. My first build out of the vague Ma.K universe (shown below) was only to learn a new technique of painting for example. The color on this Kampfanzug was only dabbed onto the suit in many layers to achieve a deep and uneven paintjob, with the weathering included. I could never build only planes or the umpteenth Tiger tank and yes, sometimes I first shy away from a demanding new project, but at a certain point of progress, normally the flow sets in and I enjoy the build. In so far Chris, I build what I want, without limits, I couldn´t really enjoy the hobby without that free spirit. Cheers Rob

Wow, Peter, the level of detail, you show is amazing. I wouldn´t worry too much about the panels and how they fit. This thing is not built for Mach 2 speed, there were other design margins enforced. Cheers Rob

Looks promising with the Prym, PW. It almost looks like steel with the light color. Glad you jumped first into the pond and I can follow up with my first British WWI plane. Cheers Rob

At the moment there is only the 87 edition available from Salvino´s, Peter. It seems, Monogram made an `84 Vintage NASCAR – Salvinos JR Models Cheers Rob

Thank you Peter, I get bored very easily with repetitions, so for me changing subjects, scales and materials is a must to keep on. As most times, I have a picture in my head, how everything should look in the end, let´s wait, if I can fulfill that. There still is a maybe option with the planned dio in form of a sinister looking Neuspotter, but no details as of yet . It´s a bit of a shame to park the Cobra, but on the other hand, time is spars at the moment and the Cobra needs full attention. Cheers Rob

Well, it´s about time to actually do something with my planned Kampfanzug. I built up arms and legs and parts of the body, which is only fit loosely, to determine, how to fit the extremities for later positioning. The fit of the kit is very good so far and the limbs are connected via vinyl elements to keep everything moveable. I got two different left hands to choose from, but found this one perfect, to hold the squeezed empty PE-bottle. I have to plan the painting of the interior and figure - ahem - the rest of it, to be precise and started to mask the side windows, which unfortunately have tobe mounted at a very early stage. That said, many parts are intersecting and depending on the right sequence to be build in. The outer side of the windows is protruding, so I adhered a double layer of Tamiya kabuki tape onto it, sharpened the contour with a fingernail and cout around with a fresh blade. One layer was left on the outside, the other went onto the inside of the opposite pane and vice versa. Inside and outside masking done. Cheers Rob

Good, that the printing of the landing gear worked this time with the reinforcement inserted. Thank you for the detailed description of your printing process. I may have to look into that myself. It´s not that I´m completely out of the dark, as I produced 3D animations in Lightwave, when I was young. I had a "real" 486 processor by this time and rendering the results took weeks. I learned to design 3D objects then, but there was no need for accuracy, it only had to look good. Cheers Rob

Sorry Chris, I meant the `72 Charger, that is the one I have. Cheers Rob

Not for the short sighted pilot or frosted canopies. Cheers Rob

Well Chris, the parts are actually plastic, but real metal plated. Looks better then most chromed plastic, somehow deeper and more chrome like, less toyish. My second Salvino´s kit is the Petty Charger from 1970 in STP livery. I believe the kits are a bit cheaper on your side of the pond or direct from Salvino´s. Cheers Rob

Thanks a ton PW, I will give it a try, as real matte finish is hard to achieve. For gloss, I have other trusty options, but this will help a lot. Cheers Rob

Sorry for the detour, Chris. Is this the stuff you are using, PW? How do you thin it for the airbrush? This varnish seems to be really interesting, if it is really dead flat. Galeria Acrylic - Matt Varnish – Winsor & Newton EU (winsornewton.com) Cheers Rob

Nice extra detailing, Mike, bummer that there is only a very small canopy above for peeks. Cheers Rob

These engine look super cool Peter. All the detail made to pop due to your painting style. Can´t wait to digest your weathering efforts. Cheers Rob

Fantastic result as always Mike, Finish and figure are spot on. My only micro critic is about the flare pistol. I guess, nobody would have left it there barely balanced. Cheers Rob

If it´s Tamiya, why shouldn´t you, Paul . Cheers Rob

You seem to be a bit on a roll with tank suspensions lately, Carl. Looking good and seems to be a nicely detailed kit. Cheers Rob

I was not satisfied with my other sand related objects. A Do-17 in desret outfit, yawn, LRDG Jeep, a little better, but still yawn and then I found the MaschinenKrieger. There will be a lot of weathering involved and maybe some new techniques as well. Firs, I have to build a huge 1/12 garage for the Daytona Cobra, which will be paused during the MaK build. I may be able to build two kits at the same time, but not a demanding one like the Cobra which occupies my whole bench with tons of parts and tools. Well, the AM producers are not what they were before. I could find the squeezed bottles only in 1/16 or 1/24 not in my projects 1/20scale . Earnestly, like you, I was astonished that something like this even existed. The bottles are produced by MAIM, which I believe is a subsidiary of the German online vendor Sockelshop.de. Cheers Rob

I like the matte version better, Chris. Matte finish seems to be a problem with some products. Careful stirring and shaking is always necessary, as the matting ingredients tend to pile up at the bottom of the jar. I never got more matte than semi matte with Tamiya LP clears. Pledge with 25% of Tamiya flat base added will do the job. On the heavily macroed canopy pic, there are some tiny color residues visible. Most times it´s very easy to clean these with a wooden tooth pick. Cheers Rob