John,

Is this red and "froggy" enough?

It's the Pejite Brig from "Nausicaa", and it does operate off of sand!

This thing has been bugging me from the back of my mind for some time now, and it will be a sort of exercise to gain experience in refinishing the Bakagalas.  I had planned on it being 1/144, but after some recalculations, I realized it was bigger than I thought.  So it will be 1/250, in-scale with the Bakagalas.  This means if I do the Tolmekian Corvette (which I do want to do), it will also have to be 1/250, which works out nicely I think.

John: That looks good! Good luck with the figures. 

Mongoose: Wow that looks cool!!! 

Mongoose: That looks good! Great addition!

Gamera: I could use the rat, but I'll probably save it for the future...I definitely like have extra animals to put in dioramas! (Besides, you never know if I'll need it in a future Models, Inc. build, right? )

I got to work again on the R-35. The turret is now assembled, and most of the Assembly overall is complete. 

Since one of the crewmen that came in ICM's figure set won't fit in the open hatch, I'll probably be using the figure which Tamiya provided with the kit. I got started putting him together, too. 

Hey the campfire lights came in   the pic wont do them justice but they look kinda cool. I will add some cotton painted gray to the exha to blurr the bulbs so it's not so bold. i set up the height so here's a few layout shots 

Ouch, hope you were able to find what you needed Mongoose. 

John: Sounds good, looking forward to seeing how it works out. Maybe you work the rat in there somewhere too! 

Ouch! I hope your HL shopping goes more smoothly! 

I have get working on my project again. The good news is, my 1/35 frogs came in! Yay! But that wasn't all. I was pleased to find that the seller threw in a free 1/35 rat and a resin head. Has anyone else noticed that foreign sellers are often more polite and generous than American ones. Very nice! Just wish Americans would do the same. 

Highly recommended:

https://www.jonsmith-modellbau.com/132-135-frogs/

Thought I'd post a quick update so you guys knew where I was at. Everything has been delayed because the resin I ordered never came in. Had to request a refund as they claimed it shipped but it never showed. Tomorrow I'll try and stop at Hobby lobby and see if they have a half gallon of resin.

John that looks good! And if you've got the wheels and tracks done you've over two-thirds of the way done with assembly! 

Take 2  

So, I have done some wheel assembly

And then there was THE TRACKS!  

These took time to make!

I finally got the tracks glued into three separate pieces per side. Hopefully, this will work!

Plus, more hull work including the driver's hatch:

 Cut scene

You know, just spitballing here, If you had the SR-71's wingtips just barely touching the walls of water, you could do a water trail in those walls of waves. Maybe that would upset the SR-71's flight and slow it down, but interesting to imagine, nonetheless. :)

Wow Mongoose- that's gonna be frelling epic!!! 

Agreed, lightning on the small end! Best tunnel vision effect. 

John you gotta watch those xacto knives, they're scared of frogs!

last night i grooved the mdf board and glued, well "Gooped" in, the fiberglass supports. Had that goop on the shelf for a couple years and finally got some use out of it. I added some wood blocks to square it up.

I think the big end should stay opn. Do the lightning on the small end...what do you guys think?

TheMongoose

After seeing the graphic, can we all agree that you gotta add the lightning bolt and glowering skies?! Lol, just kidding...

HA, you kid but I'm seriously considering that! Honestly o not sure if i want to close up either end to do it. May have to wait till the framing is done and then look at another mock-up?

 

Lol! Go big or go home! (You from TX or something? )

So, time to crack open my loot:

First off, I start on the tank:

Lower hull:

Upper hull:

Full hull:

Out of the required blood, sweat, and tears it takes to build models, I can check off the blood requirement; for my X-acto attacked me. 

Time to take a break from the tank and to get started on the characters in our cast:

Children first! Starting with the youngest:

And then his brother in arms:

That's it for episode 1! 

After seeing the graphic, can we all agree that you gotta add the lightning bolt and glowering skies?! Lol, just kidding...

HA, you kid but I'm seriously considering that! Honestly o not sure if i want to close up either end to do it. May have to wait till the framing is done and then look at another mock-up?

Gamera

Oh WOW Mongoose! I don't know how that's going to work so I'm really interested in following along! Please work your magic, I'm all eyeballs!!!

John: Good luck with the Bel Air! I've only really built military style stuff with matte finishes so glossy and pristine is a whole new ballgame for me.

 

i gotcha covered Gamera  here's an early inxprocess shot. An old trick from the body shop. Once you rough out what you want in corrugate slather it with fiberglass  my radiator fan is gonna run for 6hrs to keep the smell out of the house!

this should make a nice frame for the parting sea. Ordered the resin for that last night. May slow down for awhile unfortunately. We're working ot tomorrow and I've got some chores I've been ignoring lol

Gamera

Oh WOW Mongoose! I don't know how that's going to work so I'm really interested in following along! Please work your magic, I'm all eyeballs!!!

John: Good luck with the Bel Air! I've only really built military style stuff with matte finishes so glossy and pristine is a whole new ballgame for me.

 

Thanks, Gamera! Not sure when I'll start it, but the fun part about the Bel-Air is the idea of plastering it with custom-made decals on the back!

In news on my project, I ordered the frog for my diorama! Hopefully it doesn't take too too long to get here.

If anyone else is interested in getting 1/35 frogs:
https://www.jonsmith-modellbau.com/132-135-frogs/

TheMongoose

Ok moved up to spitball'n here! In the interest of lots of pics for a wip here's the current mockup

you should start getting tunnel vision now. The end you're looking through will be solid, with a clear acrylic rod sticking out to hold the Blackbird, well probably 2 rods, 1 for each engine to be stable. Sand along the bottom of course. 

and that's everything i laid out to start setting the size and depth. The dang SR71 is huge even in 1/72. It's what I've got tho so not buying a smaller one haha I'm supposed to reduce my stash. another huge display I'll have to trip over later lol

yes, that is a drywall square in the background. This will be 30" long and 11-12" wide. For now i put arcs every 6" in hopes that would be enough to support the shape of the water. More on that later...

 

this is the wave style. Image frogs leaping from the curls. There will be some red to the sea of course. Going to depict it with the algae bloom it's named for.

ok let er rip. Perfect time during ideation to throw out opinions. What do you think?

edit - late night work...

 

 

 

 

 

Mongoose, I like it! Very intense diorama; it'll be fun to watch it come together!

After seeing the graphic, can we all agree that you gotta add the lightning bolt and glowering skies?! Lol, just kidding...

Oh WOW Mongoose! I don't know how that's going to work so I'm really interested in following along! Please work your magic, I'm all eyeballs!!!

John: Good luck with the Bel Air! I've only really built military style stuff with matte finishes so glossy and pristine is a whole new ballgame for me.

Ok moved up to spitball'n here! In the interest of lots of pics for a wip here's the current mockup

you should start getting tunnel vision now. The end you're looking through will be solid, with a clear acrylic rod sticking out to hold the Blackbird, well probably 2 rods, 1 for each engine to be stable. Sand along the bottom of course. 

and that's everything i laid out to start setting the size and depth. The dang SR71 is huge even in 1/72. It's what I've got tho so not buying a smaller one haha I'm supposed to reduce my stash. another huge display I'll have to trip over later lol

this is the wave style. Image frogs leaping from the curls. There will be some red to the sea of course. Going to depict it with the algae bloom it's named for.

Haha! Throwin' in some speed there? That might work, Mongoose!

Guys i am eyeballing my stash

was looking for something in 1/72 to keep the red sea of a reasonable size, you know maybe a Spit I could do in North Africa colors to fit the sand theme

what do i see on the shelf, I've been saving this and, you know with Revell launching the new 1/48 Blackbird, which I've seen sprue shots of and it's beautiful, I'm thinking what better aircraft "to part the Red Sea" than an SR-71 Blackbird? Should i do it? Worth it? Tell me what you think!

oh, and my daughter chimed in saying the squadron nickname has to be a locust...she said cartoon character but i translated haha

Gamera

Cool guys!!! 

I started on my little car but getting there are some nasty seams on the front around the headlights. I filled and sanded multiple times and think it looks decent now. The main issue has been my big bugaboo- gloss finishes. I've sprayed the kit a few times and sanded it off- fingers crossed I'll get something I'm happy with soon. 

 

I hope the paint job turns out well for you, Gamera! I don't really build glossy auto model kits, though I do have a Bel Air waiting to be built. :)

TheMongoose

OK! I've got it. After brainstorming with my wife (whose name is MaryJane...you'll see the value of this in a second if you know any slang from the 60's...) 

im going to do a plane parting the red sea with a plaque of frogs escaping from the seafoam! I would anticipate making the frogs red poison dart frogs to doubke up on the red.

whatcha think? I do great water effects, i'm stoked about it. Think i could possibly pull it off.

 

Very creative, Mongoose! Gonna be a diorama of Biblical proportions, eh? It'll be fun to see the plague of frogs!

OK! I've got it. After brainstorming with my wife (whose name is MaryJane...you'll see the value of this in a second if you know any slang from the 60's...) 

im going to do a plane parting the red sea with a plaque of frogs escaping from the seafoam! I would anticipate making the frogs red poison dart frogs to doubke up on the red.

whatcha think? I do great water effects, i'm stoked about it. Think i could possibly pull it off.

Gamera

 

 

TheMongoose

 

 

Gamera

Cool guys!!! 

I started on my little car but getting there are some nasty seams on the front around the headlights. I filled and sanded multiple times and think it looks decent now. The main issue has been my big bugaboo- gloss finishes. I've sprayed the kit a few times and sanded it off- fingers crossed I'll get something I'm happy with soon. 

 

 

 

 

you may laugh but I'm truly anxious waiting to see that frog eyed car And what you do with it!

 

 

 

 

Lol me too! I've never had good luck with gloss finishes. This one is so small it's a good test subject! 

 

yeah for sure. traditionally mine have had alternating tones of satin and gloss. On my latest it's been all about holding a steady distance and flow rate so that the paint seems to 'pool' on the surface. It can't go down thin like we do with flat paints for aircraft haha so it is essentially JUST SHY of 'running'

TheMongoose

 

 

Gamera

Cool guys!!! 

I started on my little car but getting there are some nasty seams on the front around the headlights. I filled and sanded multiple times and think it looks decent now. The main issue has been my big bugaboo- gloss finishes. I've sprayed the kit a few times and sanded it off- fingers crossed I'll get something I'm happy with soon. 

 

 

 

 

you may laugh but I'm truly anxious waiting to see that frog eyed car And what you do with it!

 

Lol me too! I've never had good luck with gloss finishes. This one is so small it's a good test subject! 

Gamera

Cool guys!!! 

I started on my little car but getting there are some nasty seams on the front around the headlights. I filled and sanded multiple times and think it looks decent now. The main issue has been my big bugaboo- gloss finishes. I've sprayed the kit a few times and sanded it off- fingers crossed I'll get something I'm happy with soon. 

 

you may laugh but I'm truly anxious waiting to see that frog eyed car And what you do with it!

Cool guys!!! 

I started on my little car but getting there are some nasty seams on the front around the headlights. I filled and sanded multiple times and think it looks decent now. The main issue has been my big bugaboo- gloss finishes. I've sprayed the kit a few times and sanded it off- fingers crossed I'll get something I'm happy with soon.