happy new year and resolutions

Very happy new year and here are my new year resolutions. Finish these half done kits... For me I have such a bad habit of starting kitskits after I get inspired by looking at ma.k books or finished works from plamo or Mak forum.... Well we will see at the end of 2013.

Jerry and super Jerry

Just started fixing Jerry and Super Jerry... Not my favourite walker but it kinda grew on me. While fixing I found that the engine cover on the rear looked very familiar... and found that it was donated by the star wars AT AT kit.... nice find?

Merry Christmas to all

Merry Christmas to all and ma.k on people from my family and I! Been building new stuff jerry and super jerry plus Luna diver no 2. Posting them later.

falke pilot painted

Sprayed black on the figure... Then hand brushed lacquer paint... Lazy to mask and airbrush...

cockpit of falke 4

First cockpit of the falke which I am doing. Base coat of grey followed by decals for the intrument panel. The decals are thick and the one surrounding the right hand button had problems fitting. Manage to break one of it. After the decals dried I layered on two coats of gloss lacquer. Did two instrument panels and glued the better looking one to the falke. Next up the pilot...

Back in the game with Lunadiver!

I've been working on building kits the last few months, just that I've not gotten the time and energy to setup the spraying table for any serious painting. Finally back in the game!

Still working on my Falke No.4 and the Lunadiver No.1 As you can see, I preshaded the 1/35 Prowler and Fireball (black black stuff in the middle), decaled up the dashboard of the Falke (lower left) and sprayed bluish gray for the internal cockpit of the Falke.

Here's the Luadiver preshaded with pure black on primer.

After the preshade which was done in 1-2 days, I spent another 2 days slowly building up the base color which is a custom mix of white, yellow, green and grey.

The front.

The bottom.

Sorry for the long long absence

Sorry for the sudden and long long absence. One word: work. I suddenly became so busy due to a company wide deployment of a new ERP system. I was working 60hr workweeks, holidays, weekends... Coupled with the growing up of my toddler Elias Chin... I did get a bit depressed as model making stopped completely for a few months. Everything was just chucked into my robot room. I am angry that I did not even get to take part in the local model convention and meets. Well now the worst is almost over, I am slowly picking up my life and the hobby again. Will post real soon with something new. Will

Buried by work

Not much updates recently cos I am buried by work, got sick and then passed te bug to Ashley. Started another kit to retain my sanity. It's the plastic version by Hasegawa. I've been meaning to compare this against the resin version by Rainbow Egg. Stay tuned!

Back from my reservist

Sorry for the lack of updates for a week... I was back in te army for my reservist. Nothing serious as I was just a lowly clerk during my NSF days.. Now back to the modeling bench aka coffee table!

Super hot in Singapore

It's really hot last few days averaging 29deg at night.. Not much modeling work done except sanding down the air filter. Nowadays when I do modeling, it's to enjoy the process and to 'get that model I saw in the book'. My motivation has been encouragement from my fellow modellers and self actualization. In the past I did work towards a competition and hope to win big, but seeing how many powerful modellers and their works I was greatly humbled at my amateur works. It became too stressful and not enjoyable anymore. So, I just want to enjoy the hobby and get the kits to display at home! What's your motivation in modeling?

Falke 4 : air filter

Tiny update: constructed the air filter using just Pla plate. Will putty the gaps and sand down.

Falke 4 : minor update

Been sanding the air brakes and will make the rivet holes using a 1mm tube by first softening the styrene with the extra thin cement first. Learnt this trick from the Mak in sf3d vol 2 where max watanabe did the same thing to deepen the rivets and panel lines on the Falke.  Started to make the air filter. As I can't find good images of it online, I will build it creatively... :)

Falke 4 : Oogling the boom engine and some progress

Oogling the boom engine made by futch and from the box, sold thru ihysc roboterkampf... It's really detailed and made of 3 parts and a piece of wire which replicates the pipes.

I had initially thought I could scratch build it using pictures from the Mak books but after seeing this resin, there is no way I can get to this. Also dropped the idea of rubber casting to make a duplicate for the other side cos it's too complex a shape. Going back to the build, I added plapate to the air brakes, putty up the gaps, and added another thinner layer to simulate the front bulge being slightly thicker and being bolted on.(see the one on the back)

In parallel, I am scratch building another main weapon based on Zuru jp's sketch of a Falke mounted on a tank. I sketched it out on a piece of paper and will build it based on a lighter. Note that I dun smoke, lighters are used for lighting candles on birthday cakes.

Falke 4 : Resin engines arrived!

Look at what came in today!

A kind member of the Mak forum gave me an original Falke engine resin made by futch who made and sold the resin Falke before the styrene version which we are building, came out!
It's beautiful!
Now I gotta figure put how to fix it inside ...

Thanks so much zerobxu!!!
So exciting !!

Falke 4 : after much filing...

Almost done.. Moving on to the airbrakes!

Falke 4 : putty time

Cut out the front armor and after much bending and filing, I came to this using no 2 as the template.

The underside shows how I did it, gluing  plapate and then reinforcing with a part epoxy putty which is my favorite.
After everything dries, filing down to get the rounded edges.

It's not exactly like the original kit version but it's close. Agar agar (which means roughy there) as we love to say in Singapore.

Made the sensor using putty. Should have placed a plastic sheet on the hatch before I shape it but ran out of the sheet. It's much bigger now as I will file it down to shape. Man is it hard to get it symmetrical!

Embedded another magnet inside so it will attach onto the hatch. 

Next up, an open kit review!

Falke 4 - tiny update

Been very tired last two nights due to work and a sick Elias.
Finally managed to cut the front armor from styrene and finalise the shape of te air brakes.
Also puttied up the two exposed magnets and added more on the top interior so that I can hang the Falke if necessary.
Time for bed!

Falke 4: Griffon part 1

Tiny update. I started on the mods to get the Griffon configuration.
I used a piece of paper and using the images from the web, started shaping the front shield.
Once finalized, I will use this paper template to styrene.

Falke 4 : magneto!

The magnets are so strong that I can place them on the inside of the fuselage and they will hold the magnets outside. I used 4 for holding the missile unit and 1 each for the ag shields for the Struzzo configuration.



I used magnets outside to adjust the positions before using super glue and epoxy putty to secure them.

Playing now, here's an easy conversion to Zuru jp's Nightraven design using the snakeeye's hatch and THAT neuspotter's missiles. I will cast thr hatch and scratch build the missiles to be closer to what his design envisioned.

Falke 4 part 2

Based on my experience on building the Falkes, I decided to apply what I learnt.
I deepen the gap between the front piece so that even after I glue it the panel line will be evident.

I drilled out holes and added strong magnets so that I can attach the different parts and swap them out to make different configurations.

The square holes provided the perfect place to insert the magnets. Later I will add magnetized plastic to the weapons so they can be attached. These magnetized plastic are recycled from my kid's barbie toy which uses magnets to hold the clothing and accessories.

I hollowed out the back and added color marker caps for added internal detail. They will be colored black silver.

Here's wishing all a Good Friday!