PG,

The Spartan is shaping up really nice.  The finish line is so close, you can almost taste it.  I mean, figuratively.  Nobody likes to lick a painted stripe on the pavement!  At least I don't think so...  

My first anime mecha build was a small 1/550 scale marine Mobile Armor from Gundam:

That was way back in 1983!  Your modeling progress has been light years faster than mine!

Bakster

Hey PG, this is looking sweet! Really nice. And yeah... the decals are really starting to pull things together. Your paint work looks really nice too. It looks like it laid down nicely.

Thanks Bakster!  I'm pleased with the paint job as well.  Still working on mastering pre-shading, but I'm happy with the progress I'm making.  It really helps mecha pop.  All those panels and edges make for great places to apply it.

Bakster

...good idea about the alignment guage you made for the missiles.

I've tried glueing things freehand.  They are about as consistent as when I try drawing a line freehand without a straigh edge.  Modeling has certainly taught me to acknowledge and accept personal limitations.  That last bit being really important to me.  So if I can't do it with current skill, I find or create tools to help.   This particular build has showed me it takes far less effort (and skill) to accomplish gratifying results.  I would have never believed that to be true before this.

Bakster

Btw. Stepping away so as not to rush made me chuckle. I often do the same thing. You invest so much time into a build it can be like walking on eggshells. One misstep and kaboom.

Oh man.  This makes me thinks of all the mistakes I've had to fix simply because I saw the finish line and decided to push on.  Thankfully, mental klaxons now start going off when I have thoughts like "you don't need to wait.  Look how close your are.  Just keep going and you'll have this finished and ready to present."  Oh boy.

I discovered the hard way that those can be some of the most dangerous thoughts for me.  The worst part is when I do push on and things turn out great.  That gets me believing I can do it again.  And wouldn't you know, that's when disaster strikes.  At least now when I push on I ask myself if I'm willing to risk disaster.  Sometimes I am, and when disaters does strike, I usually maintain my calm and push on.  Accepting the risk ahead of time seems to help keep me from losing my sh*t when things go awry.  Not always, but more often than not.

All the above is probably why I slow down so much when getting cloe to the end of a build.

Bakster

I wish I were a seasoned modeler where it's old hat. I could just bang out models. lol.

LOL, there are some amazing weekend builds the forum members turn out.  I don't know how they do it.  I don't think I'll ever be a seasoned modeler.  I'm too busy trying to push myself.  Makes it hard to recognize "good enough".  Unless I'm sick of a build in which case "good enough" is equivalent to done and therefore awesome.  :D

This is the first model I built when I got back into the hobby three years ago.

It took me over a month of evenings and weekends to build and paint it. I have it in a central position of my collection.  He not only re-ignited my interest in bulding models, he's also my inspiration for developing skill. 

Whenever I wonder if I'm really growing as a modeler I lookup and see that guy and everything that's followed since and I can't help but recognize how I've grown.  It's what keeps me trying.  That, and the words of encouragement from you and the other wonderful members of this forum.  Keeps me going back to my stash to grab another kit and discover what the next build will reveal.

Tanker-Builder

OOOH!

 Hey Mom! A Mecha. Kin I look, Kin I Look? Phoenix that is looking good. First one I think I could get interested in .Fine paint work too. Are you going for pristine or weathered? I'm gonna follow from here, for sure!

LOL, thanks Tanker!  Glad you like it. 

I'm going with a weathered look.  Personally, I feel weathering giving a sense of gravitas and history to a piece.  Weathering is a form of visual story telling.  It makes me wonder what it's journey was to end up looking like that.  

I have that running in my mind when dirtying it up.  How did that dirt get there?  What's the envirnoment and weather like where it operates?  What are the maintenance conditions?  In the end I hope some of what I was thinking reveals itself in the final look.

Decals on the main body are complete!  I think the paint scheme and decals go well together.  Admittedly I had not taken that into consideration when I chose it.

These will likely be the only shots of the Destroid with the missile bays closed.  Once the missiles are in they can't be posed closed.

Going to be a little bit longer before sealing in the decals.  They've got a couple more rounds with some Micro Sol to finish settling them on.  Most went down well but there are several places where there is noticeable silvering.  Especially the trim on the legs. The Model has a rough surface texture that creates the challenge.  It shows even in their directions.

While that is happening the missiles will be getting their decals.  We'll do a few of those and share some before & afters.  Toying with the idea of possibly doing half the missiles with the decal and half without.  We'll see.

Hey PG, this is looking sweet! Really nice.  And yeah... the decals are really starting to pull things together. Your paint work looks really nice too. It looks like it laid down nicely. Lastly, good idea about the alignment guage you made for the missiles. 

Btw. Stepping away so as not to rush made me chuckle. I often do the same thing. You invest so much time into a build it can be like walking on eggshells. One misstep and kaboom. I wish I were a seasoned modeler where it's old hat. I could just bang out models. lol.

Anyway, keep up the good work. This project is gonna be cool when done.

OOOH!

 Hey Mom! A Mecha. Kin I look, Kin I Look? Phoenix that is looking good. First one I think I could get interested in .Fine paint work too. Are you going for pristine or weathered? I'm gonna follow from here, for sure!

Gamera

Any updates Phoenix? I really want to know how she's going! 

Great timing Gamera!  I just got some new content progress shots up.  I can't believe it's been almost three weeks since my last post.  :(

What I also can't believe is how long it's taking me to complete this one.  So many interruptions.  I had a run of really good luck for a couple of years where time at the bench was not an issue.  Seems like payment for that has come due.  Now I'm struggling to get any time in.  Fingers are crossed that this spate of time sucks will die down and I'll be able to get some serious time at the bench. 

Real G

Dang it, my post has glitched and auto-erased twice!  I'm getting tired of retyping.  And those stupid pop-up ads are like an annoying kid in school that keeps on getting in your face, blocking what you are typing.  Except you can't punch them in the face.  

Anyway, did anyone see the Jan/Feb issue of the IPMS Journal?  A 1/100 Arii Destroid Spartan is on the cover, and inside there is an article of how the builder added a ton of detail, including the gun and missile bays.

If anyone does not have access to the mag, PM me and I can scan the article for you if you wish.

Oh that's really cool.  I didn't even know there was an IPMS Journal before this.  I'll have to looking into the mag.  That article sounds right up my alley! 

Won't bore y'all with the details of the latest hiatus.  Needless to say I'm back at the bench and have a progress update to share.

Finished making the gluing templates for the missiles.

Tested them out with the my earlier prototypes.

They're not intened to be left in place, simply there to help align the missiles during gluing.  I want them to make neat little rows rather than wandering around

And even better news.  Decals are starting to go on!

Made the executive decision to step away at this point to ensure everything is looking good.  Don't want to risk ruining these in the rush to get it done.  I've got about half of what I want to use in place.

I decided the missiles were a little too plain so I made up some decals to put on them to look like labeling.  Should add some additional visiual interest to them.

Been messing around with time lapse photography while building.  Intersting to watch myself work at 10x speed. 

I may try to post them in some fashion to complement the usual stills.

I've been trying to avoid YouTube.  Though I may have give in to the dark side.  I'd rather spend my time at the bench than figuring out how to setup video sharing on my gallery.

Any updates Phoenix? I really want to know how she's going! 

Dang it, my post has glitched and auto-erased twice!  I'm getting tired of retyping.  And those stupid pop-up ads are like an annoying kid in school that keeps on getting in your face, blocking what you are typing.  Except you can't punch them in the face.  

Anyway, did anyone see the Jan/Feb issue of the IPMS Journal?  A 1/100 Arii Destroid Spartan is on the cover, and inside there is an article of how the builder added a ton of detail, including the gun and missile bays.

If anyone does not have access to the mag, PM me and I can scan the article for you if you wish.

Ouch that sucks about the arm joints! But looks great nevertheless! I like the idea of using lighter shades for the shadowing as you move up, but as you said I guess it has to be so dark to even show up. 

Ah yes, the one-eyed avocado!

Hasegawa shoud do a new series of Zentran and Meltran ships.  IIRC the old Imai Quel Quallie was 1/720.  Not sure what scale a new tool kit should be.  At 1/350 it would be like a very large one-eyed potato.

Real G

I think we all go through the bench clutter thing. As we work, the clear space gets smaller and smaller, until we have no more room to maneuver. And that is the time we have to stop and put everything back.

Exactly what happened.  Compounded by the steady accrual of new tools.

Real G

Rock on with the Spartan, for who knows when the next Zentradei attack will be.

Sadly, the only Zentradi craft I have is a single Regult.  Their craft are suprisingly difficult to find.  I'd love to get a model of the Quel-Quallie reconnaissance craft.  Really any of the Zentradi fleet. :)

Bakster

Your story mirrors an experience I had with a compressor. I never drained it and one day I hear a hissing. Checking the lines, fittings, all looked good. Still hissing. I lift the compressor and find a small hole in the bottom of the tank. Basically, it rusted from the inside out. Who'd a thunk.

I'm still getting large flakes of rust out when draining the tank.  I'm pretty certain what you described will be my experience in the not so distant future.

Gloss coat finished curing and started applying pin washes yesterday.

Decided trying something a little different this time.  I've several brown washes of various darkness.  Decided to use the darkest at the lowest points, medium middle, and lightest at the very top.  Theory being the most dirt will stick on the pieces lowest to the ground.  It sorta worked.

It was a little too light at the top.  So kept with medium in most most places and reserved the darkest brown for the deepest places.

In the process of dirtying this guy up I decied he's going to look more "used". I tend to think of the Spartans as being front line mecha and spending more time out in the field.

Removed all the masking for the next step.  Forgot that masking tape left on for months is much harder to remove.  Thankfully it did come off with minimal damage.

Posing for the camera with the missile bays closed.  Those are going to happen last because the assembly is rather delicate.

The arms are hanging like that because the joints loosened dramatically.  This is going to become a fixed pose build when done because the joints are too loose.  I've already started gluing the feet .  Hence the blue tack at the heel and toe.  The arms will be done after all the other work is complete.

Next up is decals.  Once they are in place the final weathering can begin.

I think we all go through the bench clutter thing.  As we work, the clear space gets smaller and smaller, until we have no more room to maneuver.  And that is the time we have to stop and put everything back.

I also had that compressor experience.  I always blow down the tank as the last thing  when putting the compressor away.  By leaving a small amount of air pressure in the tank, it helps blow out any remaining moisture.  It's kind of neat to see a small amount of ice form from on the paper towel blotter due to the pressure drop.

Rock on with the Spartan, for who knows when the next Zentradei attack will be.

I like the spelling on the old Imai boxes: Zjenthuolauduey!  So I guess Meltrandei would be Melthuolauduey?

Your story mirrors an experience I had with a compressor. I never drained it and one day I hear a hissing. Checking the lines, fittings, all looked good. Still hissing. I lift the compressor and find a small hole in the bottom of the tank. Basically, it rusted from the inside out. Who'd a thunk.

PhoenixG

 

 

Bakster

Hey PG, it sounds like you got bit by the same bug that got ME. I had the spray booth revamp, you are redoing your work area. There is no known inoculation for said malady. Simply, one must go through the process until the malady takes it course.  It's all good. Declutering can be a very good thing. 

 

Good luck with the restructuring!

 

 

 

Hiya Bakster, good to hear from you.   I must have been bit by the whole friggin' swarm!  LOL

You are so right.  Getting the bench and garage in order was all consuming.  The clutter that was hanging over my head was such a mental weight.  Didn't realize how heavy it was till it was eliminated. 

Now that it's done I feel great and re-energized to work on the Spartan!

 

Gamera

Good luck Phoenix! I only clean the area when I can't find something..... 

Thanks Gamera!

Not being able to find anything was exactly my problem!  I spent half my time searching for what I needed. 

The re-org should help with that immensely.  I'm looking forward to giving it a test drive and see how it goes.

Bakster

Hey PG, it sounds like you got bit by the same bug that got ME. I had the spray booth revamp, you are redoing your work area. There is no known inoculation for said malady. Simply, one must go through the process until the malady takes it course.  It's all good. Declutering can be a very good thing. 

 

Good luck with the restructuring!

Hiya Bakster, good to hear from you.   I must have been bit by the whole friggin' swarm!  LOL

You are so right.  Getting the bench and garage in order was all consuming.  The clutter that was hanging over my head was such a mental weight.  Didn't realize how heavy it was till it was eliminated. 

Now that it's done I feel great and re-energized to work on the Spartan!

suomi39

What a cool model -- nostalgic, even though I was never into that fandom. Apparently a little aged, eh? A labor of love, for sure, and especially given how nice modern BanDai kits are!

Love what you're doing with it. 

 

Thank you Sumoi!  The model dates from the 80's.  Well before Bandai's revolution.  So it definitely needs a lot of TLC to achieve a good presentation, but it's been a blast to work on.  Hoping I'm done with other distractions and can finish knocking this one out in in the near future.

I declare the garage re-org done-ish.  ;)

I can't believe I spent almost a month reorganizing things.  However, I think it was time well invested.  I don't feel a sense of dread when approaching my bench anymore.

Perhaps it's time for some revealing photos.

This is the sight that would greet me when I'd go to work on a model.

It was overwhelming.

After I got it cleaned up I decided I wanted to spread out.  The space to my right was a junkpile.

The decision was made to clear it out and put my other bench in its place.  Then it could be used as something other than a horizontal plane on which to store stuff.

But first I needed to organize the shelf above my bench.

So I built this to fit the space and make all my music accessible and give my models something to sit on.

Sooo much nicer.

That worked out so well that when I looked at the new bench I decided the cabinet above it needed an organizer to hold my sheet styrene, rods, tubes, and odds and ends.

So then I built this to fit in the space, but I ran out of plywood and can't go more just yet.  The truck is in the shop (whole other story there).  When it comes back I'll fetch more plywood and finish that organizer.  When completed it will hold everything I have with spaces for more.

Here it is all nice and finished and installed.

While going through this exercise I learned that air compressors have a drain plug because water will condense inside them.  I've had that compressor for 2 years and never drained it...  Ooops.

About 1.5 cups of very rusty water came out of it.

Disgusting.

The surprising part is the moisture trap was practically bone dry for the last two years.  I've never had more than a fog of water vapor in it.  Weird.

Final shot of the completed overhaul.

There is still some tidying to be done but it'll be quick.

Oh!  One more thing.

New needle and nozzle arrived for my Iwata.  Installed that tonight.  Such a difference!  I'd completely forgotten what it was like when I first got it.  Can't wait to try it out.

Well enough about my workspace.  Back to the Spartan!

Good luck Phoenix! I only clean the area when I can't find something..... 

Hey PG, it sounds like you got bit by the same bug that got ME. I had the spray booth revamp, you are redoing your work area. There is no known inoculation for said malady. Simply, one must go through the process until the malady takes it course.  It's all good. Declutering can be a very good thing. 

Good luck with the restructuring!

What a cool model -- nostalgic, even though I was never into that fandom. Apparently a little aged, eh? A labor of love, for sure, and especially given how nice modern BanDai kits are!

Love what you're doing with it. 

Gamera

That looks really good Phoenix! I'm sure the brush marks will sand out without a problem. 

Thankfully they did.

However, in the process of workng on that I became fed up with the clutter at my bench.  I was spending more time cleaning and straightening my bench than working on models.  It started a domino effect of reorganization.  Centered at my bench and spreading throughout my entire garage.

This whole process is like having a couple of pebbles kicking off an avalanche.  It keeps getting bigger and bigger and there's no withstanding the force of it. 

My bench is laid out, but not done.  I cleared off one of my other workbenches and added it to my modeling area.  It's now been expanded to nearly 16 linear feet of workspace.  It is split amongst a computer research station+printer, brush painting+weathering station, airbrush station, and finally an assembly/cleanup/scratchbuilding station.  Hopefully this layout will improve the workflow.
However, I still have the rest of my garage to take care of.  Imagine if you will what it might look like if a tsunami could spontaneously form at one side of your garage and works it's way to the oppostie wall.  That's my garage.All the junk is pushed away from my bench and into the rest of the garage.  My goal is to get everything else into a semblance of order.  Then I can resume work on this build and get it closed out.The Spartan is so close to be doing done it's like an itch I can't scratch and it's driving me crazy!  But not as crazy as the mess that's piled up around me.
Once more unto the breach dear friends.  Wish me luck!

That looks really good Phoenix! I'm sure the brush marks will sand out without a problem. 

Whoops, almost forgot to mention I'd been building up the final set of missiles during all this as well.  Was a busy day today.  :)

Progress shot.  The rightmost two are fully built up.

If you look in the background those little white dots are the final piece to be glued onto the missile.

These are actually all finished and are now awaiting paint.

Last couple of days haven't been without activity, but there wasn't much new to post as I was still building up color on the body.  Pretty satisfied with the way it looks now.  I applied a clear coat of Vallejo Mecha Matte Varnish.  Which is a misnomer as it's more of a satin.

Rather than using masking tape I thought I would experiment more with the Vallejo liquid mask to outline the supports around the windows.

It's a very thin liquid but it dries pretty quick.  It also gums up the brush pretty thoroughly so it's best done with a brush you don't mind getting trashed.

The panels on the back made me think of some sort of Steel access or airlocks so I outlined those in prep to be painted with steel.

I decided to brush paint everything for this.

Peeled off the mask and the results were mixed.  The cockpit needed some touchup as it was looking a little rough.

However, the backpanels turned out really nice.

At the same time I was working on the missile covers. Also used liquid mask around them.

More brush painting.

But I ended up with some really bad brush marks.  Not sure what happend as it's the same brush I used for the steel panels.  So next step on those is sanding them down and trying again.