Gamera

Looks friggin' perfect to me!!! 

I rarely get masking to work out that well. I don't get much paint to peel up, just leakage under the mask. I'm tried lower spray pressure and carefully spraying away from the mask and I've been having much better results. 

 

Gloss coated and test fit with foream and shoulder pieces.

Thought I would take a photo of the loose fit to give an idea of where this is going.

Was originally going to do the forearms in red but I am liking the current color scheme and may stick with it.

I used Pledge Gloss and not sure if I like it this glossy or how it is going down.  I chose the PG because of the "self leveling" feature.  Not sure I am seeing that.  I am getting this uneven pebbly texture and in some places what looks like crazing. 

Appreciate any thoughts the group may have on this unexptected behavior from the Pledge.

Looks good! I agree on the white arms. 

I tried Pledge as a gloss overcoat a few times and got the same pebbly 'orange peel' look. So I stopped using it. I've heard it's 'self-leveling' if you brush it on but I like airbrushing to get a nice even overall coat. 

Pledge is officially on my limited use list now.  It does not react well to Vallejo thinners.  Thinned some model color with airbrush thinner to detail a section and everywhere it touched turned into a gooey mess.  Been cleaning up the aftermath.

Maybe it was a weird set of circumstance that caused it or carelessness on my part.  Regardless, done with the clean up and moving on. 

Legs masked and painted.  Forearms and shoulders seams cleaned up and filled.  Arms need another coat of the white grey before removing the mask on the red.

Photos of test fit.  Masking not yet removed on the legs.  

Like how the head and visor turned out.

Panel lines were done with a light grey pin wash.  I think the subdued color looks better.  A black pin wash would have been too dark.

Thinking of repainting the hands in red.  The black doesn't flow with the rest of the color scheme.

The high gloss isn't working for me.  Will try the final clear coat as a satin.

So it's been a rather frustrating couple of days working on this. 

Final check before disassembling the legs for a clear coat. 

While that was drying I started in on the build of the fire extinguisher backpack.

This is going to be hacked from parts of a Super Valkyrie kit. 

These packs are attached to the back of the robot.  I am going to try and  use the attitude jets as connectors for feed lines between the two pods and the foam dispensing gun.

Didn't like the bit that stuck out so hacked it off

The original part was fitted for a different model so cutting having to remove some of the raised detail to create a better fit.

used the tip I learned from FSM to mask around the part to minimize loss of detail.  Had to remove it to take off the remaining stub.

I have plans to further mod this so it looks like there are pressurized tanks in the pack.  That means removing more of the existing structure.

Got that final bit removed.  But broke three blades doing that to get both sides.  I kept binding the blade in the created gap while I was scraping out the plastic.  A fine tooth saw is on my wish list.

Haven't done any scratchbuilding before so no styrene bits available to use.  Went to the hobby store to pick up some cylinderical styrene.  Came back, wrong size.  Measured.  Went back.  Wrong size again.  Sigh.  One more trip in my future.

So while all the above was happening the clear coat was drying and since I couldn't work on the backpack, went to work more on the legs and found this.

No idea where that black stuff came from but it wasn't there when I put it down and I can't find what it may have come in contact with.

Started to sand it off before realizing it wasn't hard but gel like.  Gunked up one sanding stick with it.  Had to use a rag to rub off most of what was there which peeled up the paint.

With lots of cleaning and sanding got it back to this. 

Taking a break from the comedy of errors that was the last couple of days.

Lookin' good!!! 

I got some mysterious black stuff on my cyborg figure- I have no idea where it comes from... 

Gamera

Lookin' good!!! 

I got some mysterious black stuff on my cyborg figure- I have no idea where it comes from... 

Something I'll have to keep an eye out for then. 

Your cyborg turned out amazing!

Been working on the backpack.

Started with this.

And finally removing the top of the pack.

Layout of what it should look like.  The image on the right has the pieces held together with poster tack.

Sanded the topof the cylinder so it matches the angle of the top.  That way the cylinder looks as if it is poking through.  Not sure I like the length of the cylinder.  Probably make it longer so the pack has a more balanced look.

Decals I printed for the model.   Thought it would be amusing to have some fire extinguisher and warning signs on it.   Will probably reprint the checkering as it came out more green than yellow.

Lucky to have an old copy of Photoshop Elements as I was able to use calipers to get the sizing and Elements can resize images based upon inch measurements.  Saves on a lot of trial and error for fit.

Quick progress update.

Pack frame is pretty much done.

Longer cylinders are cut to length and bottoms glued.  Will finish shaping them after they've finished setting.

The legs have been a real b***.  Lots of warping in the plastic causing misalignments and valleys.   Drawn the line in the sand and they are what they are, tired of monkeying around with them. 

The light at the end of tunnel is visible and I am pretty sure it's not an oncoming train. ;)

Fairly big update with many pictures.  Finally got the pack assembled and 95% of the decaling done.

Torso with the single Fire department decal.

And assembled with pack mounted.  Some lens distortion making it look more squat than it is.

Comparison with to his partner.

The foam dispensing gun still needs finishing and a little bit of detailing left but all the major work is complete! 

I was surprisd at the amount of work  needed to create a clean looking model.  Making something look dirty is a lot easier. 

Oh that's really cool! I love the idea of a giant fire-fighting mech!!!

Sorry I haven't been around. I've been looking at your posts but been on vacation/holiday and the Wi-Fi has been horrible so I couldn't really post much. Then I get home and have a pile of work to catch up with.

Gamera

Oh that's really cool! I love the idea of a giant fire-fighting mech!!!

 

Sorry I haven't been around. I've been looking at your posts but been on vacation/holiday and the Wi-Fi has been horrible so I couldn't really post much. Then I get home and have a pile of work to catch up with.

Hope you had a wonderful vacation/holiday. 

Response are always welcome, but not expected.  I take no umbrage from a quiet topic. 

Completed the fire extiguisher.  Calling this done.

 Now go hit those forest fires!

Whoa!!! That looks awesome!!! 

Great job!