The Imperial Shipyards
Imperial Creative Engineering => Models, Scratch Builds, and Miscellaneous => Topic started by: JDeck on October 28, 2014, 07:59:43 PM
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This is a moisture vaporator I built using spare parts and styrene sprues. I'm playing with some parts to make a binary droid to maintain the vaporator. I'm just wondering if it could pass, I know its not movie accurate but I was going for some kind of variant. Let me know your thoughts.
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Pretty nice, I need to go add this one to your update.
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I found some moisture vaporator blueprints online all the parts are there. The intake, coolant nipple control panel Colling rods and so on. Just looks different. On a different note I think a real moisture vaporator could work its like a combination dehumidifier and moonshine still. Pretty cool star wars tech.
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Ok that looks cool and great use of parts.
Ron
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The control box I made from .003 styrene the cooling rods from model sprues but the rest are all various parts. The intake is from an AMT speeder bike. The base is a foot powder top.
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I couldn't sleep last night so I had the idea to make a Worrt the toad that sits outside of Jabba's Palace. He was always one of my favorite creatures from star wars. I built most of his front side still need to work on the back. Once he's cured I'll use my woodglue technique to add the texture and skin. I think he looks pretty neat but I haven't gotten much sleep either. I need to a just a few things here and there now that I look at it.
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Time for the toad to grace the front page. Cool project.
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Good looking sculpt you have started on your custom Worrt toad. DH
Can't wait to see it completed.
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I'm anxious to put his skin on after work today.
I might use silicon gel for some of his spikes in addition to the woodglue warts.
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that is really cool ! i dont think i have seen anybody do this as a custom i look forward to seeing this completed
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I was really disappointed that they didn't make a 3.75 scale worrt toad so I made one. They made every other creature under the suns except him.
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This is how I'm making my skin I'm using woodglue to first blend my seams and add the first layer of warts. Now I have to let it dry before adding my second layer.
My second layer
I added a little silicon gel to make some of the spikes then covered them with the woodglue. Then let it dry. You repeat the process until you've reach the look you want.
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Finished the skin on my worrt toad. Tomorrow it'll be ready for paint.
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I'm using an oil based paint mainly because the finish is dull and organic. You can also add texture with oil paint unlike acryics. Also since oil paint it takes so long to dry its very forgiving and it blends well. I'm using mostly browns with an off white belly. It takes a whole lot longer for oil paint to dry but for me its worth it.
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Caution wet paint!!
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I got somebody wanting me to make a 6" salacious crumb. So I guess that's my next project. It ought to be fun he's an interesting character. The worrt toad only took me three nights but a 6" scale crumb a little longer.
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"Let sleeping toads lie." This little guy was a fun sculpt initially he was made as a background character for my sandtrooper diorama. Not bad for my first sculpt as an adult. I had to use my booger pickers since my tools still aren't here. I think its the beginning of a long list of custom creatures.
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Great work on the worrt toad and the paint apps look great also. Thanks for letting me know about the parts you used for the moisture evaporator it's given me a few idea's for mine when I do a sandtrooper dio in the next few weeks.
Ron
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Great work on the worrt toad and the paint apps look greta also. Thanks for letting me know about the parts you used for the moisture evaporator it's given me a few idea's for mine when I do a snadtrooper dio in the next few weeks.
Ron
Thanks for the complements. With the vaporator sorry I can't remember all the parts I used but glad to be any kind of help. To me that's what this forum is about, sharing ideas and techniques, so others can learn from my successes and failures. Hopefully I can pick up a few ideas too.
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I like the toad. Time for the front page.
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If anyone knows the dimensions of the black series salacious crumb let me know. I'll try to sculpt him sitting on his pillow. I just need to know the height of his torso the rest I can figure out. If not I can do research on the original puppet and convert it to 1:10 scale.
So his overall height is 0.7m so in 1:10 comes out to 2.7". Minus his legs, probably 1.5"-1.7"
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This is a scratch built 1:35 scale 720ci. horizontally opposed junkyard aircraft engine I was going to put in a Mad Max style dune buggy. Its pretty detailed I use probably 75 parts all together. The main block was made from two 4 cylinder blocks the rest is just various greebles. Its got push rods, spark plugs, spark plug wires just a ton of details.
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I figured I'd start on my crumb today. Iknow his pillow looks like a cheez-it lol. but I had to do something with the extra clay I prepared.
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Great work yet again mate and love the sculpting on the torso and pillow.
Ron
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My next step is to make wire armatures for his limbs I'll build his head last I already know it'll be a pain in the arse.
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My next step is to make wire armatures for his limbs I'll build his head last I already know it'll be a pain in the arse.
Well I'll be looking forward to seing how it turns out.
Ron
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Love that moisture vaporator! Great job on Wort! He looks spot on.
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In the spirit of the holidays I would like to do my take of the Star Wars Holiday Special. I would like to build Boba Fett's Panna moon beast. I was doing some research on the old stop motion puppets and figured I could use that technique to build the beast. Basicly a wire frame and some bluefoam for the skeleton. Foam rubber for the muscular frame and liquid latex for the skin. So Tuesday I'll go to the craft store to find some materials and give it a try. Its gunna be freggin huge but I'm only building the top half above the surface of the mud.
Perhaps do a small vignette diorama of the beast with Boba on the mud moon.
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Sounds like fun to me.
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Started on the head sculpt I figured I'd get that out the way first build the body around it I know it sounds bass-akwards. I started with the cranium and the eyes. The yes are 6mm crackled glass beads. I want to let it cure before moving on to the mouth and small details its just easier for me to sculpt details when I have a hard surface to build on.
Finished with the head sculpt. I wanted his head to be a cross between admiral Akbar and jar jar binks. The pics don't do much justice. I like it! I'll start the body later it will be really simple since there's no limbs just the neck. I'm making that from heavy gauge aluminum armature wire. Meybe a wire frame not sure yet. But I'll make the skin with liquid latex and tissue paper.
I drew the "skin lines" on the sculpt. The lines I'll use to apply the skin using tissue and latex. I'll apply the skin in slightly overlapping layers. I'll apply the skin closest to the bone first and the more loosely fitting skin last like the eyelids and lips.
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I had to build a custom Boba Fett in order for him to fit on my Panna moon beast also so I know how wide to make its body and to build a custom saddle. Mainly he needed ball pivot hips in order to mount the beast. So I used dagobah training Luke's hips/thighs. I used ESB gauntlets and shins. ROTJ boots all on the animated fett body. I still need to paint it I might make his pants pockets bigger maybe add some small bags or hulstors. I'll update the color scheme of the animated Fett to make it more modern and more realistic.
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Looks good on the front page. We need more figures that can actually ride the vehicles and beasties they are supposed too. I am worried that the new six inch Hoth Luke and Hoth Han won't be able to fit on the Taun Taun.
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Looks good on the front page. We need more figures that can actually ride the vehicles and beasties they are supposed too. I am worried that the new six inch Hoth Luke and Hoth Han won't be able to fit on the Taun Taun.
Thanks Tamer. Its hard to say whether Hoth Han and Luke will fit the Taun Taun Luke is much shorter than Han and the saddle should fit Han but would his coat impead his ability to sit, I never thought about it I assumed he would. We'll see.
But yeah I can now build the beast with confidence knowing the exact size of the fett I'll use and that he will be mounted correctly. Otherwise I'd have to put him on side saddle like he's wearing a skirt, very un-boba fett like.
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Started on my Panna moon beast's body. I was playing around with the liquid latex and made some pretty cool looking skin. It might not look like much now but I'll work on it tomorrow my day off who knows I might finish then.
Honestly I'm doing this project as practice since I've never done anything like this. I'd really like to build a 6" dewback but that would be way more complex with the legs and the skin would have to be made separately. I'll just see how this turns out first.
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Good Luck!
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I'm mostly done with the construction and in midlayers of the skin I'm leaving it out in the sun to dry before adding more layers.
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Another pic with boba. One more coat ought to do it
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I decided to paint Boba Fett's Holiday special Panna moon beast brown instead of tan. I'll probably paint some more coats and washes. I like to use oil paint on my creatures gives the skin depth and more subtle color transitions. I still need to wait until my milliput comes in to build the saddle. Same with my boba fett paint.
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Nice beasty. Off to share.
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Hey Bro, Nice Panna! This is one I've been itching to do. I really like the way the skin came out. I especially like the way the skin on the neck looks. It is wrinkly and baggy and reminds my of elephant skin. Nice job!
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Hey Bro, Nice Panna! This is one I've been itching to do. I really like the way the skin came out. I especially like the way the skin on the neck looks. It is wrinkly and baggy and reminds my of elephant skin. Nice job!
Thanks Darth glad you like it. The skin was made with latex and toilet paper. This is my first creature of this magnitude it was pretty simple I used upholstery foam instead of foam rubber so it took a lot of latex coats but all in all it looks pretty good to me I still have some work to do on him. My inspiration for the muscles and skin were elephants, camels and giraffes.
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Started painting my fett like I said I'm not much of a figure guy but I'll get better in time. I put some larger pants pockets on him I might make them smaller but this will work for now. Sort of wanted his suit to be a little dirty in the "used universe" its hard to keep white pants clean. Lol. Still have to touch him up a lot.
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Great work capturing the feel of the Panna. Some great techniques in trying to give it character as a creature. I'd say the practice is paying off! Fett looks great too.
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Top notch work on the hoilday Fett and the Panna.
Ron
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I built this holographic transceiver for an Imperial Modular Command-post. I built it using a cheap broken watch I had sitting around. I gutted it and added a mega chip LED I also added some greebles to the outside to make it look less like a watch. Towards the end I was going for an Imperial Probot look. Eventually I'll put the SW Miniatures General Veers hologram on it but I'll use this saga series holo figure for now.
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Awesome idea here. Love it.
I would love to see a Holo Vader with his arms behind his back sitting on something like this.
On the front page.
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Thank you Tamer for the FP slot. I wanted to use Darth but I couldn't find a small holo version of him giving orders but Veers is cool too. I had that watch sitting on my washer for a couple years. I washed it one too many time and I've been wanting to make something with it.
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This is my Holographic Transceiver all finished up its not flawless but it makes a cool background piece. Not bad for a days work.
I got the idea from the SW Battlefront command post. Im building a dio based on the game. I wanted to create a practical use and reason for the hologram.
I imagine it is a portable transceiver with repulsorlift engines to aid in transportation. Its used for holographic transmissions, mapping and technical information. It also gives the commander a real time view of the battle while staying in the rear with the gear. Its equipped with a self destruct mechanism in case it falls in the hands of the enemy.
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I like it. Off to share.
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Been experimenting with custom Imperial Officer rank plaques. I used my Guinea pig stormtrooper to test it out. I just used thin styrene and cut them in rectangles then in squares I had the top squares but they
were damaged in cutting. I'll try a few more tricks, but they are tiny. I have some decals but they are dull in color and 2 dimensional. If anyone else has an idea or know of a better way let me know.
I think if I order styrene strips in .01"x.035" and cut them in .035" squares then glue them to a .01"X .08" X .? (length depends on on rank )plaque it will work.
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Put the holographic veers on the holographic tranciever. Its a little darker than the saga series holofigures but it looks pretty good. I figure I'd post it before I delete it.
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Nicely done on the rank plaque and awesome work on the holographic tranciever.
Ron
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Looks good!
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I was really jonesing to build something or at least start on something today. As I'm waiting for the parts for another project to arrive. I started experimenting in laminating styrene. When I first started scratch building I bought a bunch of .06" sheets then I realized they were way too thick for practical use but they work great for laminating. Basically I cut and stacked sheets of styrene to create a compound curve like this 6" scale probe droid upper head. I covered it in putty now I'm just waiting for it to cure so I can begin sanding. The whole process took me about 4hrs but it beats trying to find something pre-made the right shape and size. Laminating is pretty much the only way to get a compound curve without resin or a vaccuform.
Starting to look like Mayor Mccheese. Haha. But once I sand it and add the eyeballs and whatnot it'll be more recognizable. Just figured I'd let people know a way to make compound curves.
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Interesting.
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I think I'll put my new droids in this section instead of my diorama section since I don't know when I'll build the Jawa and droids dio. Its been so long since I've added anything here I forgot I had it.
This is a power droid I made for the tutorial I did (the green one). I decided it would be cool to have a removable lid like the vintage collection GONK. I just need to black wash it and whatnots.
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I a really enjoying your Gonk tutorial thats for sure.
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I a really enjoying your Gonk tutorial thats for sure.
Thanks, I hope it inspires or gives someone ideas.
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I started my LIN droid today. It'll be more of a prop than anything the dome won't be removable. So before I paint the dome I'll show you the basic structure. Yes that's an IG88 arm. The IG88 I had couldn't stand on his own so I'm cannibalizing him. I'll use the rest of his parts for other projects.
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Looks great. I am gonna like this one too. Off to share.
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Looks great. I am gonna like this one too. Off to share.
Lol. Thanks Tamer! Im liking him too. Its hard to tell from the movie or pictures whether his dome is painted or tinted. It seems to be tinted, you can see lights inside him. Not sure. I'll figure it out tonight.
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I'd say he is finished. I changed some things to make him more accurate. I watched that particular scene several times today, and no arm. It must be a Hasbro invention. I just assumed it had an arm, but it makes him more interesting. I have a couple more droids in mind, like the KPR droid and Treadwell, just need to figure out the details.
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J deck, look totally awesome! Love that use Ig arm for the Lin droid- that being creative!!!!
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Thank you Stan. The 6" IG-88 looks cool but you can't bend his elbows and he kept falling down. I wanted him in my Jabba dio, but I would have to prop him up like weekend at Bernie's or something. I figured I'd do like they did in star wars and use IG's parts to make other things. I may use his leg for the Treadwell.
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I like the addition of the arm and the whole droid. Off to share.
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I like the addition of the arm and the whole droid. Off to share.
Thanks Tamer!! I think he'll make a fine addition to my 6" droid collection. But you know how, you build something and immediately think of a better way of doing it. But I'm content with this one, the more I look at it the better I like it. As they say on to the next one.
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Awesome!! I really enjoy for your stuff! DH
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Awesome!! I really enjoy for your stuff! DH
Thanks Larifari!! Glad to hear! I enjoy building them. These kitbash droids are real fun. The original designs were so simple for episode IV it makes replicating them simple too.
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Awesome work mate, I'm going to have to build mine now thanks for the inspiration.
Ron
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Awesome work mate, I'm going to have to build mine now thanks for the inspiration.
Ron
Thanks Ron! Glad to return the favor.
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The last couple of days I've been experimenting with making an asteroid for my TIE fighter model. There are several variations of asteroids but I think I'll go with the style ILM used (brown, rough and grainy). I'm using scrap Bluefoam glued together. I ran a scewer through it to make it easier to work with and paint. I carved it into a rough shape and coated it with spackel. Tomorrow I'll add another coat and sand it down. I think it'll work. If not I have plenty of scrap Bluefoam to try again.
Fun Fact: ILM used a shoe and a potato in one of the asteroid shots in TESB. So there's no wrong way to do it.
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The asteroid is looking good mate.
Ron
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The asteroid is look good mate.
Ron
We shall see. Lol. I have to keep in mind the scale too when I detail and paint it. Its about the size of the TIE Fighter 1/72 so relatively small. Just need one more coat of Spackle. Actually I may coat it in thinned plaster to seal it. I'll experiment. I think it would be cool to make a display piece with a TIE Fighter weaving around asteroids.
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Great work on the asteroid. Looking forward to that scene, sounds like right outta TESB to me!
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Thanks Tamer. I'm going for a TESB look. It would be great if Bandai made the Falcon. One day they will, for sure., but this TIE will do fine. Here is a couple of reference pics asteroids used in TESB. Now the question of the day is what scale are these props. I guess a rock is a rock. I know the bigger they are the more smoother, rounder and more craters they will have
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I finished my experimental asteroid this afternoon. The final coat was made of a mixture of plaster, water and dish soap. The dish soap creates bubbles in the plaster forming the tiny craters. I then used woodland scenics watercolor to paint it. With all that I'm pleased with the overall outcome. I may not use this one for my display piece, but I know what works and what doesn't. I made a few mistakes but that's part of the experimental process. Since it cost me nothing to build I'll make some more and experiment further.
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Awesome work mate, I especially like the small craters you have all round it.
Ron
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Awesome work mate, I especially like the small craters you have all round it.
Ron
Thanks buddy.
I added some bigger craters and constructed the Bandai TIE Fighter. Now I can play around with it and see what to do.
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Alright this is what I have so far today. I wanted to get the base asteroid done today but, well it didn't happen. I did get some of the mounts mocked up. It was a tremendous pain in the rump but, its looking cool. Not nearly done yet, but its getting there.
I'll add some small asteroids here and there, I've been using 1/8" acrylic rods to support them, its thin enough not to notice it right off, but just strong enough to support weight. I still need to adjust the supports to make them look neat, they're not invisible.
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Nice, very nice. Looks even better on our front page.
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Cool. It looks really neat.
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Nice, very nice. Looks even better on our front page.
Thank you Tamer. I'll have an update soon. Very soon. Its about done now, I might tweek some things before unveiling. Its pretty cool, I like it.
Cool. It looks really neat.
Thanks bunches, DarthSamurai! Glad you like it. Hopefully It will be cooler when its finished.
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Coming together nicely. The bubble/crater technique seems to work perfectly.
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Thanks clonehead I saw a guy on YouTube a couple years ago do it to make plaster lighter. I liked the way it looked, so I kept it under my hat, until now. I like the way it looks, like a once molten crust.
My TIE fighter display is finished. I added some smaller asteroids made from melted foam, I didn't add plaster to them because I wanted them to seem weightless. I also painted them a slightly different color to contrast against the larger ones.
This scene is non specific. It could be from The Empire Strikes Back, but I like to think its the remains of Alderaan.
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Daggone that looks great. I can't even see the rods you have attaching this all together that much. You have to be pretty stoked. off to share.
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Daggone that looks great. I can't even see the rods you have attaching this all together that much. You have to be pretty stoked. off to share.
Thanks Tamer! I am happy with the results. Only thing is I need to up the ante for the custom TIE I'm building.
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Wow! I like this so much!! Great job!
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Wow! I like this so much!! Great job!
Thanks Ben, glad you like it!! It was a fun build.
I've been looking over this Bandai Y-wing, and it is so detailed I can recognize the Tamiya parts ILM used to make the original model Bandai used as a reference. I just can't believe the detail. The last picture is a part I recognize from the Tamiya 1/35 SD.KFZ.222, and the second picture is either a Tiger tank or panther grill. If you look close you can even find a shovel from a 1/35 German tank. They must have 3D scanned the ILM model and shunk it to 1/72. It was the same way with the TIE fighter you can recognize the Sherman tank parts they used for details. I can't wait to start on it. So far this has proven to be worth every single red penny.
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The Bandai kits are all written in Japanese, so I've been researching the ANH Y-wing Gold squadron, and found some very helpful info on the Y-wing variations. Thanks to Kuhn Global for this info http://www.modelermagic.com/?p=70776. So the bandai kit is modeled after Gold Leader/ Gold 1. It has all the markings down to the TIE fighter kill mark on the nose. Been struggling with the idea of building a Gold 2 Y-wing. The kit does come with an R5 droid as well as the R2. Basically the difference between G1 and G2, G2 has a white stripe on the roof, a yellow panel on the port side, no yellow stripes on the engine, no kill mark on the nose. The tubes and mechanical details are more rusty than G1, also it doesn't have some detail parts on the rear that G1 has. Figuring out which I like better is a tough choice. Of course Red Jammer is always cool too, being the Y-wing prototype. Decisions decisions.
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This is the Bandai Y-wing without paint and/or decals. I didn't take as long as I thought to build it. Just a few hours, working off and on, all those pipes had to be individually placed. I left the engine cone on the port side off and assembled the landing gear, I want to build a Yavin maintenance/hangar display. I'm going ahead with Gold leader details, meybe next time I'll do G2 or Red Jammer. So I'll paint most of the details rather than use the decals. I'm liking these Bandai kits, I think I'll give Hasbro a rest for a while.
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Wow, looks great. Man, I can see why you wanted to give em a break, hasbro that is. Off to share.
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Wow, looks great. Man, I can see why you wanted to give em a break, hasbro that is. Off to share.
Thank ya, Tamer! The whole reason I got back into Hasbro was they were making awesome products. The "big wing" TIE Fighter, the Walmart exclusive Falcon, then the 6" Black Series they were almost model quality. Now that Bandai is making great quality OT SW models and big H is making toys again, the choice is clear. Even with Hasbro's overcompensating 6" TIE, its just a giant expensive toy, the wings are too short, its god awful big. If I pay over $200 for a TIE it better be right and be able to display it without needing a hangar. Bandai consistently makes new models every month on the dot, and you can't ask for better quality. Its all 3D scanned from the original ILM model, everything is right as rain.
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I was finally! finally! Able to pick this dagone Bandai TIE Advanced x1 today. I actually took a detour on my route if not I'd never be able to get it from the PO. Theoretically I'm thinking I can mash this with the TIE fighter, make a few cuts and create a TIE interceptor. The construction on this is different from the TIE, I was hoping that it would be the same, but no matter, it might still work. Speaking of work I'm at the warehouse now so the pics look green. In the next day or so I'll plan out my cuts, and show you how to do the same.
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Alright I'm home now, got something to eat, ready to go. I masked off the area I will be cutting. It looks good to me, as long as I cut it within the tapeline. The frame I'll make out of the TIE kit parts, I mocked it up, and I'm happy with it. I may reverse the tape to protect the wing from the dremel and/or razor blade. I love it when a plan comes together.
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Looking forward to see how this shapes out. Good luck!
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Another great Bandai Project. I can't wait to get the AT-AT.
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Another great Bandai Project. I can't wait to get the AT-AT.
Yes! I'm on pins and needles waiting for any info on the AT-AT. My best guess is February, because they can gain the most profit during the slowest time of the year, its a trick some companies do. I'm sure it'll cost at least $200. That's only a guess, it could be a year from now, they just want to build anticipation. I'd be happy with a 1/144 or 1/72 Millennium Falcon. The 1/144 Slave I is coming next month so the MF may be the same scale.
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I made the cuts to the Vader TIE wings, to convert them into the Interceptor style. I also framed it using the TIE fighter kit frames. I just need to add some minor details to the knuckle I think it has some kind of cannon on it, then the mandible tips needs those rods or cannons whatever they're supposed to be. But the hard part is done, the part I was most worried about, anyway. Overall the wings are a tad bit short height wise, but that's just the way it is. I'll be the only kid on the block with a Bandai TIE Interceptor.
I added some detail to the modified Vader TIE "interceptor" wings. Now they will fit the TIE Fighter fuselage, when I build it in the next day or two. I used model kit parts including 1/35 Sherman and 1/72 panzer wheel, to mimic the interceptor knuckle. The wheel is a bit large but had run out of my small ones and this isn't studio scale, but I can live with it.
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These look pretty good to me. How did you cut such straight lines?
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These look pretty good to me. How did you cut such straight lines?
Thanks, I just masked the part I wanted to keep, scored it with a razorblade along the tapeline, just like you would cut styrene. I thought about making short work with a dremel but Dremels are sloppy. I just need to putty it better, sand it. Then I'll paint it once its all built. I'm thinking since its not 100% ROTJ accurate I'll make it Black Squadron or Royal Guard. Not an EU fan but the EU TIE variants are cool.
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Well I finished this Interceptor. It really isn't bad for a kitbash. Especially since I wasn't sure if it would work. With the paint I wanted to try something different. So I basically gave it a TIE pilot look. I had fun building it. Weird thing is its cheaper to buy two Bandai kits than a Fine Molds Interceptor, since they lost their licencing.
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I actually took a second last night to compare the new SW Hot Wheel Ships to my AF and MM stuff and was fairly disappointed. These Bandai kits give me some hope. Your latest build is great. Off to share.
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I actually took a second last night to compare the new SW Hot Wheel Ships to my AF and MM stuff and was fairly disappointed. These Bandai kits give me some hope. Your latest build is great. Off to share.
Thank you for the FP spot. Yeah the Hot wheels and MM is cool for collectors. I like the Black series Titanium stuff. But there is no better detail or quality than Bandai as far as Ships go. Even Fine Molds isn't as crisp as Bandai. The crazy thing is theyre all snap fit. The TIE Fighter couldn't be easier to build, 15.mins at most. They will soon be distributed in America by a distributer based in MD. so shipping will be faster and cheaper, hopefully one day the directions will be in English. Man, I can think of dozens of ships and figures I hope they'll make. 1/144 Lambda shuttle, 1/72 B-wing, snowtrooper.
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Awesome dude, real nice. If there are any interceptors in TFA I could see them looking like this. Well done!
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Thanks GL1!! I thought the same thing, that it looks like a TFA TIE, just needs those white solar panels. I'll have to get used to those white solar panels because they would be self defeating, they would reflect light instead of absorbing light, but I digress. I like how the paint turned out, I ran out of flat black so I mixed gloss black with matte medium, so it ended up being eggshell, which is pretty nice.
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I weathered the heck out of this Y-wing. I wanted to get it as close to the Gold Leader reference pics as possible even though its much smaller than the studio model it still packs a lot of detail. Rebel ships and especially the Y-wing and Millennium Falcon are very dirty and weathered. I want to build a Yavin IV hangar base for this I think that would be cool.
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I gotta go share this one. It looks fantastic!
You are really, really selling me on these Bandai Kits.
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I gotta go share this one. It looks fantastic!
You are really, really selling me on these Bandai Kits.
Thank you Tamer!! These Bandai kits are a godsend for me, Star Wars had been neglected as far as models go. Some companies make resin kits, but some of them have problems, I won't take a chance on a $200 kit. These kits are like 20-30 bucks, so far I have no complaints.
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I started working on the Yavin IV hangar display. Just the basic layout and a few props. I'm going to make those floor lights so I ordered the appropriate LEDs, the base is made of foam so I can just cut holes to run the wires. I have some figures to incorporate in this dio the R2 came in the kit. By the time the LEDs arrive it'll probably be done.
I built this tank/pump, to look like the one in the Yavin hangar. Pretty simple I used I-AM- BOBA-FETT's idea of using magnets to attach to the Y-wing, or to be put in a stowed position. I'll make a few other props and machines, the fuel supply machine I think is the weird flower looking gadget. I'll probably invent my own design if I can't replicate it.
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Looks like a perfect way to display this to me!
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The Y-wing and base look fantastic and the Tie Interceptor is awesome I'm surprised no one else has done it.
Ron
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The Y-wing and base look fantastic and the Tie Interceptor is awesome I'm surprised no one else has done it.
Ron
Thanks a bunch Ron! With the interceptor I got the idea from the ROTJ photos of ILM building them. The wings just looked like modified Vader tie wings.
Looks like a perfect way to display this to me!
Thanks I think so too. I'm planning to do the same with the X-wing and Snowspeeder too. Meybe Yavin or Home One for the X-wing and Hoth for the speeder.
I've been working on my Y-wing base. Since I can't replicate the exact props from ANH I'm going with a Rogue one inspired look, based on the photos that have been released. I'll add darker washes to the base and build more props and of course paint the figures. Once I get the lights hooked up it'll be pretty cool.
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Daggone thats nice. Off to share.
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Daggone thats nice. Off to share.
Thanks bunches for the FP spot and the comments! I made that big TFA/R1 engine prop. I think it looks like the Flash Gordon ships which is cool because I like that look in all honesty. The figures will be tough to paint I usually don't do 1/72 scale.
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I installed the floor lights. I used warm white nano chip LEDs, I think they look pretty cool. Really all I need to do is paint the figures, after the paints I ordered arrive.
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Simply fantastic, the lights really add to it. Everything is perfect. I wish I had room to do stuff like this.
Well done!
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Simply fantastic, the lights really add to it. Everything is perfect. I wish I had room to do stuff like this.
Well done!
Many thanks GL1!! It isn't really big same scale as Action Fleet, you could make the base 1/4" smaller on all sides. Its really simple, many of the figures and props are from Haswega 1/72 ground crew kit.
While I'm waiting for paints I started on my Wedge Antilles Red2 X-wing. Again 1/72 Bandai kit without paint and/or decals. It was a very simple construction, this only took me about an hour or less. You can build it in landed or flight position with s-foils open or closed. It comes with two pilots, one standing one sitting, and has R2 and R5 droids. I'll paint it in Wedge's paint scheme and build a base for it. I might just buy a few more of these x-wings.
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Awesome Y-wing dio buddy and looking forward to seeing how the X-wing turns out.
Ron
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Awesome Y-wing dio buddy and looking forward to seeing how the X-wing turns out.
Ron
Thanks Ron!! I'm anxious to see how it turns out too. Lol. I would like to do a "Home One" style hangar but Yavin I think is more interesting.
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Looking good in here. Can't wait to see the final outcome of that Y-Wing Hangar. That is just all out good everywhere you look.
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Thanks for the compliments Tamer!
I painted my figures for this Y-wing maintenance hanger display. I'm not Da Vinci when it comes to painting figures, more like an impressionist, lol, but in 1/72 you don't need much detail. The pilot is Jon "Dutch" Vander and his droid along with some mechanics. From my references the R2 is all grey so that's how I painted it. I like this display, since I was building WW2 models/dios I've been wanting to do some kind of maintenance hangar. So I think I'll make more hangar displays with some of the other Bandai vehicles.
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I Painted Wedge's Red2 X-wing today. It came out much darker than I wanted. I may or may not make a display for this. I have another x-wing I'll do something cool with that.
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Awesome! You nailed down all the colors perfectly. I don't think it came out too dark. Always liked Wedge's Red 2 X-wing. Will the next X-wing you do be Luke's Red 5?
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Awesome! You nailed down all the colors perfectly. I don't think it came out too dark. Always liked Wedge's Red 2 X-wing. Will the next X-wing you do be Luke's Red 5?
Thanks GL1 for the compliments! Yes the next x-wing will be Red5. With a dio depicting it in Dagobah levitating out of the swamp. I think that's a classic. I've been wanting to do that for a long time.
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This is not to dark! I love it!
Man you do awesome work!
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This is not to dark! I love it!
Man you do awesome work!
Agreed. If you still think it's too dark, then just tell people its post Battle of Yavin. It's supposed to be that way.
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This is not to dark! I love it!
Man you do awesome work!
Agreed. If you still think it's too dark, then just tell people its post Battle of Yavin. It's supposed to be that way.
Thanks Ben and Sjefke. I'm happy with it, I just made a rookie mistake of not allowing the white wash to dry completely before adding the black wash, I thought it was dry enough. I often consider every build as being practice because I always learn something or figure out a better way to do it next time.
Thanks again for the FP spot, Tamer!
I do have a question whether Wedge flew his "red 2" x-wing during the battle over Endor I've seen the movie millions of times but no clear shot of Wedge's x-wing.
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I do have a question whether Wedge flew his "red 2" x-wing during the battle over Endor I've seen the movie millions of times but no clear shot of Wedge's x-wing.
I always assumed it was the same X-wing, just repainted. In ESB when Luke crash landed on Dagobah there's a long shot of his X-wing stuck and I remember seeing the 5 red stripes on the wings. If Luke had the same X-wing I'm assuming Wedge did too.
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I do have a question whether Wedge flew his "red 2" x-wing during the battle over Endor I've seen the movie millions of times but no clear shot of Wedge's x-wing.
I always assumed it was the same X-wing, just repainted. In ESB when Luke crash landed on Dagobah there's a long shot of his X-wing stuck and I remember seeing the 5 red stripes on the wings. If Luke had the same X-wing I'm assuming Wedge did too.
I always thought it was strange Luke still flew the "red5" x-wing even though he was a commander in ESB. I realize its a movie, I won't read too much into it, but seems like they abandoned the tradition of painting x-wings according to the pilots rank after the battle of Yavin. Wedge's ship was badly damaged during battle of Yavin, so when they repaired and repainted it did they give it "red2" marks, or would they not even bother? Then that brings the problem of having 2 Red2 x-wings during the battle over Endor. Lol. Its a movie though, meybe I'll make my own custom ROTJ Red leader x-wing one day.
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Yeah good points. Its tough to say. I'd assume Luke took over as Red Leader, leaving Wedge still as Red 2. But that still leaves Luke's X-wing still with the Red 5 markings in ESB.
At the Battle of Endor I believe Red 2 was flown by a Y-wing - at least the way it was edited. It went like this:
"Watch out! Squad at point oh-six!"
"I'm on it Gold Leader."
(TIE Interceptor gets destroyed by a Y-wing)
"Good shot Red 2!"
With how that scene was edited, I'm not sure if that was supposed to be another Y-wing pilot or Gray Leader. If its a different Y-wing pilot he is very identical to Gray Leader. It could be like in the Battle of Yavin where someone said "Red 6 can you see Red 5?" well after Porkins was killed.
I've always liked the X-wings and how the stripes indicate what number in the squadron you are.
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I'll have to watch it all again but yeah it was an editing nightmare, in their defence that battle scene was a MONUMENTAL task. I like the idea of star fighters having ranks painted on too, I think its neat. But not practical, when the squadron leader gets shot down they'd all have to repaint their ships. Now if the squadron leader was last in succession, say red 10 and the rookie was red 1 they could just add stripes as they gain rank.
I watched that scene on YouTube and I paused it at just the right time and he was piloting the Red2 x-wing. So that begs the question, did they do away with the insignia ranking system on the ships. Because Wedge is inarguably Red Leader, but he pilots Red2.
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very cool!
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very cool!
Thanks Ghostskull!
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I did the same thing not too long ago and saw Wedge was piloting a Red 2 marked X-wing at Endor. I think that might be just something to do with the production - similar to the special edition, the fly by of the X-wings and all of them were marked as Red 2. I remember another mistake, the scene just before Luke meets Biggs in the Yavin hangar, he runs his hand along the bottom wing, and you can clearly see there's one stripe, Red Leader's X-wing. They have their chat and Luke climbs into that same X-wing. Jumping the gun a little, Luke?
Its definitely interesting for sure. To me though, it would make more sense Wedge's X-wing be marked with one red stripe, seeing that's how the markings were in ANH.
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Yeah ROTJ had a lot of inconsistencies especially dealing with the scale of the ships. That movie has so much going on its amazing they did what they did. The Death Star alone was a massive undertaking, built out of individual photo etched brass beams. So they probably didn't care about the rank markings too much. I wouldn't be surprised if they used the same x-wing for all the shots.
But I did see a behind the scenes pic of a red3 x-wing with a 1982 calendar in the background. It could be because Wedge is second in command behind Lando, that he pilots the red2? I would like to talk to the guy in charge of ILM at the time. Not Lucas but the guy that made it all work. Forgot his name though but he's awesome.
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Ran out of time for comments here yesterday, but did get that Y-Wing Hangar on the fp. You rocked that one JDeck!
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Ran out of time for comments here yesterday, but did get that Y-Wing Hangar on the fp. You rocked that one JDeck!
I noticed you put it on the FP. Many thanks again for the exposure and your kind comments!
I built this Bandai Sandtrooper over the weekend, its pretty good, and I'm really picky when it comes to Stormtroopers. I haven't built the Bandai stormtrooper yet so this is new to me. The range of motion and overall aesthetics of the figure is far superior to Hasbro's 6" rendition. But it is definitely not a toy, I dropped it a couple of times and parts just flew everywhere. I actually like the clean look, I'll keep it this way unless I build a dio for him. I may not build dios for a while, until I re furnish my work space, with new display shelves and work station.
You gotta have more than one Sandtrooper so I built another one the commander. Now I just need a few black pauldron troops and I'll have myself a nice squad. Like I said I like them just straight out the box, really great looking figures. Ironically the Hasbro Sandtroopers are more expensive than the superior Bandai Sandtroopers, that's cool with me!
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You ought to put this review in the Imperial Review Section.
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You ought to put this review in the Imperial Review Section.
Yeah, originally I was going to do a full review of all the Bandai Star Wars kits, but there isn't much interest for them especially among toy collectors. That's why The Black Series Darth Vader costs $50 and the far more accurate Bandai Vader can be bought for 15 bucks. You either love models kits or you don't, to each their own, I guess. I figure I'd just do a simple review when I build them, then customize them in the same feed. It just amazed me how great this sandy looks. I thought the Black Series was top notch, this just makes it look like a POTF figure or something. You know. There is a guy on YouTube that does full reviews of these on "The FWOOSH" channel. He does a great job of just explaining things. Of course videos are much better than any article. I may do a review on the next Sandtrooper I build in the review section. That way I can photograph the parts that may need explaining.
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http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yVHI7nKMqlE
I thought this was cool. I saw it on Forbes.com, its an inside look of the Bandai Gundam factory, very similar to the Star Wars model kit factory. This is another reason why I like Bandai, the kits are built in ethical factories by master craftsmen. This video just shows a glimpse of the technology involved in making these products. The video is about 5 minutes long but its pretty cool. Its like that show how its made but without the commentator.
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I built a Bandai stormtrooper today, I haven't put the decals on yet because I'm waiting for my microset to come in. I'll get into that later. Just look at the comparison between it and the Black Series Stormtrooper, its just amazing. The proportions of the bandai stormy is spot on as for the Black series he looks sickly. Also I like the smokey green lenses and the shiny white poly-styrene armor. The Black Series is dull with that painted vinyl plastic. Like I said I'm REALLY picky when it comes to Stormtroopers. They have to be right, and this Bandai kit is right.
Like I said I'm waiting for my microset to come in to do the decals. Microset is a solvent you add before placing the decal. It removes any oils and dissolves the decal so only the paint is left. Because many of these helmet decals are placed over details. Two things happen you lose detail and the decal doesn't stay. I found that out on the Sandtrooper. For those interested I'll run a step by step. I'll get into this later but the decals that come with the kit correspond with the ANH Stormtrooper, but I would like an ESB version. Specifically the mouthpiece or "frown" as some would say, in ANH its grey and ESB and ROTJ its black. So something to think about.
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Nice. I like the looks of him.
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Nice. I like the looks of him.
Many thanks again for the FP feature.
I've been looking at the SH figuarts figures, Man those look good! This may be the end of Hasbro for me. You snooze you lose. Bandai is taking Star wars figures and ships to all new heights.
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Love Y-Wing dio mate great details and weathering and the X-Wing turned out great.
The Sandtrooper looks awesome I now have 7 and can't wait to make them and with the alternate back packs to give them some difference it makes them even better. Also did you know you can alter the black brow section so that you can have a small amount of the white between the eyes? It makes it look even better.
Ron
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Love Y-Wing dio mate great details and weathering and the X-Wing turned out great.
The Sandtrooper looks awesome I now have 7 and can't wait to make them and with the alternate back packs to give them some difference it makes them even better. Also did you know you can alter the black brow section so that you can have a small amount of the white between the eyes? It makes it look even better.
Ron
Thanks Ron! Yeah these Bandai Sandies are awesome! I noticed the two brow types, I wasn't sure what to make of it. Its a cool feature in order to have subtle variations between troops. I'm sure you can make many more than three variations of the backpacks too. I think I'll kitbash sandy parts on some stormy figures too, to give them more subtle differences. I can't get enough of these things.
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I'm sure your all on the edge of your seats wondering what sort of genius project I'm working on. Well not really but I'll show you anyway. No its not a robot phallus I'm attempting to build a 1/12 E-web cannon for my stormtrooper squad. I wanted to start with the tripod first, but I changed my design and had to order different sized tubes. So I started with the cannon first. Still has a ways to go like the firing mech, the scope stuff like that. As soon as the parts arrive I can build the tripod, I spent a week or two developing the design, so I hope it ends up the way I envisioned.
I changed some things to the canon I made that parabolic shaped thing bigger changed up the middle part of the canon as well. Also the back of the canon was changed. So I'm back where I was but it will look better than the version 1.0 once its painted.
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Interesting, looking forward to the finale on this.
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Looks good so far. This gun is gonna pack a punch
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Looks good so far. This gun is gonna pack a punch
I'm having trouble getting the moving parts to work right. I pretty much got the tripod done then the glue ran and jammed the whole thing up. So I'm still working out the kinks.
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I started painting the 1/144 TFA Falcon. First I gave it a pre-shadow using German grey, instead of giving it a dark wash later. Then I shot it with flat white spray, and gave it an off white wash. Then I shot it with flat clear. Soon I'll add the decals there's about 117 of them but some I won't need, as I'll paint it instead.
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Looking good to me.
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I put the decals on the top half of the Falcon. Since I'm building a dio of it in the landed position, I may not put too many decals on the bottom. I brushed "micro set" on the surface of the model, since some of the decals must be set over details. Ideally you want to use "micro Sol" as well to further liquefy the decal, but I didn't have any. Soon I'll seal it with a flat clear coat, and weather it using oil paints, and chalks.
Adding blaster marks
I added the blaster holes to the model. For some reason it wasn't a part of the kit, even in decal form. First I took a drill bit holding it with a pair of pliers. I heated it real hot with a bic lighter (don't use the el cheepo lighters, they act weird when they're on for a long time). Then while the bit is still hot I make my holes. Once the melted plastic has cooled, I take off all the excess melted debris.
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Nice effect those blaster holes. Off to share. It is really looking great JDeck.
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Nice effect those blaster holes. Off to share. It is really looking great JDeck.
Thanks Tamer! The decals are a godsend. Other kits you have to paint each individual panel. The micro set worked like a charm.
I use the same technique to make blast holes as bullet holes. Except with bullet holes you use a heated nail. THEN you use a cool , slightly larger drill bit and place on the hole and twist with your fingers. I've been doing that for a while, works pretty well. It would work great with Boba Fett's armor.
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That Falcon looks fantastic, JDeck. Love the blast marks as well.
Keep up the great work!
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That Falcon looks fantastic, JDeck. Love the blast marks as well.
Keep up the great work!
Thank you GL1! This is my first Falcon kit. I've been wanting one for years, but wasn't confident in my painting, but the decals make things much easier. The weathering will be fun, I just need to keep from over doing it.
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I weathered my Falcon last night. I used oil based washes and chalks. I use oil because it has a nice consistency, and makes really cool streaking effects. Another advantage to oil is it gives you a very slow dry time, allowing you to work longer to get the right effect. If you put too much on you can just wipe it off. Of course the chalks work great for adding soot to the blast holes and engine screens. I'll have more pictures tonight.
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I took a few more pics of the weathered Falcon. Now I can start the diorama. I was thinking since its such a small scale I may experiment using tile grout. Its already the right color, no need to paint. It has a superfine texture. I dunno, we'll see. If all else fails I'll use the Spackle.
I did a test run on the tile grout diorama sand. I think it'll work pretty well. I bought the mosaic grout on amazon. Its Ivory white, but its a little yellowish, so I added thinned white acrylic paint. It spreads nicely, and drying time is slow, and you can increase dry time by adding water. It dries a little more crumbly than I expected, but its cool. I can add a little glue to the mixture, to add strength.
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This is looking great. My internet was out at home this morning, but look for me to feature more on this one soon.
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This is looking great. My internet was out at home this morning, but look for me to feature more on this one soon.
Many thanks again. I should be wrapping this project up soon. If all goes perfectly well, meybe this weekend. Some reason It seems like I've been working on this a long time, but its only been a week since I started. It'll look pretty sweet with the finished Jakku junkyard dio/display.
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I was able to get this posted and am looking forward to how this gets completed.
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I started on the Jakku Junkyard dio base last night. I used bluefoam with WS concrete watercolor basecoat, I really like that stuff, it looks like stone/concrete. I made a power generator out of 1/35 and 1/72 tires. I'm still working on that, so it looks less like glued together tires. I also made a contraption that is supposed to resemble a moisture vaporator, but its not necessarily a moisture vaporator. I began experimenting with the tarps, using tissue paper soaked in glue/water. Once its dry it's easily mailable. Soon I'll add the sand, and that should do it. Meybe tomorrow it'll be done.
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I like this project. So many steps which make the end result impressive.
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Looks pretty awesome to me. Great tip on those tarps too.
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I like this project. So many steps which make the end result impressive.
Thank you Sjefke. Its been a fun project, but its nice to see it almost done.
Looks pretty awesome to me. Great tip on those tarps too.
Thanks Tamer. The dio is sort of based on the concept art. I couldn't remember from the movie how the tarps looked, I can't wait till the Bluray releases. My next project is in the planning stage. I think you'd like it. I know I will.
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I added the sand last night, its still drying. I ended up mixing the grout with spackel. The spackel I use is from dollar tree so its a fraction of the price. It doesn't have the usual fluffy texture, it has the consistency of yogurt. It works great as a base for snow, mud or sand. It'll probably take another day to completely dry. I'll call it finished, just need to seal it with a clearcoat. Its a little discolored and shiny now due to being wet, but you get the idea.
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Very nice, I think this turned out great. Off to share.
And moving on to Rey's house? Fantastic!
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Very nice, I think this turned out great. Off to share.
And moving on to Rey's house? Fantastic!
Many thanks again! I can't wait to start on Rey's home. I ordered the MPC 1/100 AT-AT from 1981. For practical purposes the kit's a nightmare, but it'll work great for the project. I should have it by next week. Right now I'm getting my greebles together to make that quadjumper that's inside.
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I look forward to seeing the work in progress shots for this. I am still excited about that Dragon Model Kit.
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Can't belive I missed Falcon dio, it looks fantastic mate.
Ron
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Can't belive I missed Falcon dio, it looks fantastic mate.
Ron
Thanks Ron! I went a little conservative on the dio, but I liked how the model came out, I didn't want to make things too messy and distracting.
I got my MPC AT-AT today. Pretty cool for a 35 year old kit. They actually used the same mold up until 2005. Then in 2010 Revell resculpted it in a larger scale. I love the box art, on vintage kits, especially this one. I was able to buy a factory sealed kit. Right now its a fairly rare kit, but if your lucky you can find one pretty cheap. The way the kit is boxed the parts fall off the sprues as the box gets rattled. There's a slight amount of flash on the parts but its not bad. The parts need to be sanded a little anyway. The parts are pretty detailed, I have a vast amount of Photoetch detail parts I can add to it. The panel lines are raised like all the others , but after its all said and done, its barely noticeable. So I won't re-scribe the surface, its too much crap. The kit comes with 2 little snowspeeders and 2 rebel cannon turrets, but I won't be needing them. Cool kit. Obviously It won't be a straight build so I need to figure out a game plan first. I couldn't wait until the Dragon kit released, besides this mold will work perfectly for Rey's AT-AT home.
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Looks pretty cool to me. One thing I need to do is go down and track down all the AT-AT Model Kits over the years. Its on my to do list.
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Looks pretty cool to me. One thing I need to do is go down and track down all the AT-AT Model Kits over the years. Its on my to do list.
They're neat little kits. I think there are about 6 different AT-AT kits so far. MPC 1/100 (1981), MPC 1/156 "Battle for the ice planet Hoth (1981) MPC 1/100 ROTJ (1989), AMT 1/100 (2005), Revell 1/78 (2010), FTOYS 1/144 (2014). 3 of them are straight re-packs of this kit, plus there are the AirFix variants.
I started Rey's home by assembling the MPC kit turret and body. I cut a large portion out of the bottom to make the hollowed out hull. I added quite a few Photoetched brass details on the underbelly. I added parts on the inside of the hull to add dimension. You won't see most of it but I'm adding blast/rust holes, so the light will bounce around, it'll make it look cool. On the turret I cut out the view port so it'll look empty. All this is necessary to achieve the decrepit look, otherwise it'll just be a MPC kit lying on its side. I'll probably add more details, but you get the idea.
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Awesome work so far mate, this is going to look amazing.
Ron
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Great start. Off to share.
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Awesome work so far mate, this is going to look amazing.
Ron
Thank you! Its a fun project. Its like a cross between a ship, a building and a diorama all mashed up.
Great start. Off to share.
Thanks again for the FP slot and comments. I'm just going off of some concept art, I don't remember exactly what it looks like. I'm going to take some artistic liberties. I was reading an interview with JJ Abrams regarding the Falcon. He basically said don't worry about making it accurate just make it work. So that's my outlook on it.
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Really nice start to this great dio. I look forward to seeing it finished. I do agree with you about some blast holes - it should add some fun lighting to the project.
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Can't wait for more.
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Really nice start to this great dio. I look forward to seeing it finished. I do agree with you about some blast holes - it should add some fun lighting to the project.
Thanks Starchaser! I used my hot drill technique to make my blast holes today. I think it works pretty well.
Can't wait for more.
Thank you Sjefke! Soon I will have more WIP pics.
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I built Rey's Quad Jumper, that's in the concept picture. I really don't remember seeing it in the movie, but it makes sense she has one, to learn to be a pilot. Its made of X-wing, droid, aircraft parts and styrene tubes. I just detailed the front half since you won't see the rear. I also painted the AT-AT hull. And added blast holes. It still needs major weathering. I need to start the terrain next. I still have a long way to go, but the hull is done.
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This is coming along brilliantly mate.
Ron
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That Quad Jumper is great. As is the rest. Off to share!
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That Quad Jumper is so awesome. Great kitbash. I think that ship gets a pretty detailed profile in the Cross-sections book that came out for The Force Awakens.
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This is coming along brilliantly mate.
Ron
Thank you. I'm trying to figure out the right way to make sand especially at such a small scale. So I'll look over some of your recipes, your sand always looks fantastic.
That Quad Jumper is great. As is the rest. Off to share!
Thanks again Tamer! I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but its pretty cool. BTW I had some inspiration for my next project. I wish I had a snowspeeder the last few days, I got stuck so many times and counting. Heck I'd take a TaunTaun.
That Quad Jumper is so awesome. Great kitbash. I think that ship gets a pretty detailed profile in the Cross-sections book that came out for The Force Awakens.
Many thanks. I enjoy kitbashing its a fun way to make a ship without needing a whole lot skill. I bet you can make some awesome ships using that cross-sections book.
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You and me both JDeck! I have a four wheel drive truck and got out this morning, but wow is it slick and the roads are in awful shape. This one I think may have the 96 snowstorm beat and we got more snow then. The problem with this one is it keeps refreezing. Ice is now a part of the mix. Stay safe bud.
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Thank you. I'm trying to figure out the right way to make sand especially at such a small scale. So I'll look over some of your recipes, your sand always looks fantastic
Cheers mate, at this scale you can get away with using plaster of paris and by adding washes and dry brushing you can get it to look like sand.
Ron
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You and me both JDeck! I have a four wheel drive truck and got out this morning, but wow is it slick and the roads are in awful shape. This one I think may have the 96 snowstorm beat and we got more snow then. The problem with this one is it keeps refreezing. Ice is now a part of the mix. Stay safe bud.
Yeah today we had great melt off, it was nearly 60. But man those first few days sucked. I drive a bread truck so you know how popular I was. I got stuck big time yesterday, took me an hour to chip through the ice/snow. Today much better still sucks though. It's not really a whole lot of snow, but it just seems way worse than previous years.
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Thank you. I'm trying to figure out the right way to make sand especially at such a small scale. So I'll look over some of your recipes, your sand always looks fantastic
Cheers mate, at this scale you can get away with using plaster of paris and by adding washes and dry brushing you can get it to look like sand.
Ron
Yeah that's great advice. I bought superfine reptile sand but even that's too much grit. Plaster is slightly gritty. Desert terrain isn't my strong point.
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I didn't do much today, just weathered some props and the hull. I just use oil based washes. For the speckled rust look I just shaved some rust colored chalk over the model while the wash was still wet. After everything dried I sealed it with flat clear spray. For the movie the AT-AT. was painted metallic grey so it'll show up against the background, but I did not want to do that. The quad jumper I weathered too, I figure if she does have one it would be in pretty rough shape, made of cobbled together parts. Of course the micro machine speeder needed to be repainted and weathered. Its a slightly larger scale, 1/86. No BFD.
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Looking great buddy love the weathering. I have been thinking about the sand at this scale and spakfilla would be perfect.
If you get some add some PVA/Woodglue and mix it together until it's a paste and then add some brown sand paint and a little beige brown and once mixed in apply it to the base. Once it dries the paint that was added will dry and will look like sand and if it's a little dark you can drybrush.
Ron
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Looks good to me! Off to share.
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This project looks like so much fun.
Love that weathering.
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Looking great buddy love the weathering. I have been thinking about the sand at this scale and spakfilla would be perfect.
If you get some add some PVA/Woodglue and mix it together until it's a paste and then add some brown sand paint and a little beige brown and once mixed in apply it to the base. Once it dries the paint that was added will dry and will look like sand and if it's a little dark you can drybrush.
Ron
Thanks bud! I started experimenting with the Spackle on the base layer. It came out to about what I want, PVA glue would help make a nice paste. So I'll just do that for the top layer. I'll probably paint the base layer a slightly darker tan add some beige paint to the sand mix. Then add thin washes dry brush as needed. That should create a nice shadow effect. Thanks for your help!
Looks good to me! Off to share.
Many thanks again! I finally got the TFA concept art book today. In the middle is a huge two page picture of Rey's home, so that helps.
This project looks like so much fun.
Love that weathering.
Thanks! It is a really fun project. Hope it turns out decent. I'll have pics of today's progress later on.
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I finally started on the actual diorama today. I used blue foam then I cut holes for the buried parts. Then set the parts in plaster. Then I created high spots using spackel. All I need is to create some junk props and give it a top layer of sand. I think the thinned down Spackle will work the best, for the sand surface. Last picture is the same concept drawing that's in the TFA concept book. I'm basically using that as a reference, but I'll have to change a few things.
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Nice, very nice. I will be so glad when my concept art book comes. Looks great so far. Off to share.
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Beautiful work, fine craftsmanship, stunning painting, congratulations! ;)
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Nice, very nice. I will be so glad when my concept art book comes. Looks great so far. Off to share.
Thanks again!! I sculpted the plaster I already laid, so it look less like a mashed potato planet and more like sandstone. Then of course I'll add the sand later. I'm going to use some model train techniques, this dio is the same as HO scale.
That concept book is awesome. The art is organized from earliest to post production. Some of that early stuff is far out.
Beautiful work, fine craftsmanship, stunning painting, congratulations! ;)
Thank you Lari'! I still have much to do. Thanks for the encouragement.
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New progress already. Off to share yet again.
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New progress already. Off to share yet again.
Thanks again!!! I was thinking about it off and on all day at work, so as soon as I got home I started working on it. I carved the layer of Spackle with a broken bamboo scewer. I used the point to make broken chunks, and the splintered end to create scratches. Then I gave it washes using Woodland scenics earth tone watercolors. I went a little crazy on the watercolor, but I wanted some of the color to show through the sand to give it variation in color.
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Fantastic work mate, I really like the look of it.
Ron
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Fantastic work mate, I really like the look of it.
Ron
Thank you!
Im about done with the groundwork. I added a mixture of sand and dry plaster to the base and added water a little at a time. The natural color of the sand was all I needed. Then I added woodland scenics watercolors and a few junk parts. I also added a few little bushes, made of woodland scenics green fibers. And added some woodland scenics fine ballast. The pics aren't that great plus its still wet. I think its looking pretty good, I usually don't do desert dios, but I've been wanting to make one for a long while. I'm more or less recreating the concept art, not movie accurate. Still much to do.
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I got my art concept book just yesterday and this is spot on to some of the artwork I saw in that book. Great work JDeck. Off to share again.
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I got my art concept book just yesterday and this is spot on to some of the artwork I saw in that book. Great work JDeck. Off to share again.
Many thanks again! I'm almost done. I had to re-do some of the landscape, the sand was too course, and I wanted to redo the sandstone outcrop. I added some props, and things I'm waiting for it to dry, I need to dry brush it but my paints got lost in the mail. Here's a little teaser shot.
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I can't see much, but I am gonna assume its good. Off to share.
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I can't see much, but I am gonna assume its good. Off to share.
Lol. Thanks Tamer!! I took a picture to see how photogenic it was, but it was still pretty wet. I tried to filter it out, but since I'm sooo close to completion, I'll just give a teaser. It does look better than my last update, I'm getting better at building desert scenes. I have a 1/144 Rey, it just needs to be painted. That's it.
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Alright I'm calling 'er done! Not much more I can do. I decided not to add the 1/144 Rey, because the AT-AT is 1/100 and the speeder is 1/87. It would have been off. Plus I ran out if paint :( I may add it one day. All in all I am satisfied. Thanks to Hemble for helping me figure out the groundwork. Thanks to all who left comments. Hope you all like it.
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Excellent work as always!
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Now those images I can see! Awesomesauce! More comments on the front page.
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Outstanding mate.
Ron
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Excellent work as always!
Thank you.
Outstanding mate.
Ron
Thanks Ron. The groundwork would have been better if my paints didn't get lost in transit. I had to blend watercolors.
Now those images I can see! Awesomesauce! More comments on the front page.
Thanks again Tamer. Soon I'll start my snowspeeder dio. I've had this Bandai Snowspeeder for several months. In light of all the inspiring snowfall, it's time to build it.
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I am close to my first bandai order. I want the AT-ST and Snowspeeder.
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I started on this Echo Base Snowspeeder maintenance diorama. I've been wanting to build this for quite some time. In light of all the snow we've been getting, now's a great time. This is actually the first time I've built the Bandai Snowspeeder. Its a great kit like all the others. Easy to assemble. I might not paint it, I may just clear coat it after setting decals, then weather it. Instead of masking all that detail.
I made the walls with bluefoam, then I used a craft grade foam cutter to make the scars. I started wiring some LEDs I'll be using. I ordered some Star Wars minifigures that I'll kitbash with Hasagawa's 1/48 modern US ground crew set A. I still need to do a bunch of stuff, but this is the basic look.
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I got a lot of the groundwork done. First I painted it this sort of metallic blue el cheepo craft paint. Then I painted it white before the blue completely dried, so it mixes a little. Then I added silicon gel to make the ice formations. Then I covered the ground with a mixture of glue/water. After that I sprinkled baking soda over the glue mixture. Real simple stuff.
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This is looking brillant already mate and love the look of the ice wall.
Ron
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I agree, it is looking fantastic already. Off to share on the pages.
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This is looking brillant already mate and love the look of the ice wall.
Ron
Thanks Ron. Yeah snowscapes are much easier than deserts, I could build them all day.
I agree, it is looking fantastic already. Off to share on the pages.
Thanks Tamer. I ordered a bunch of Star wars hoth miniatures, so what I don't use I may build another small Echo base dio. Definitely get a bandai Snowspeeder, I took me only a half hour to build it. They don't cost much, you can get them on Amazon prime, for around 25 bucks, or so. That's still under the original price of $35.
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I've been working on my Echo Base dio. I decaled the Snowspeeder a little and weathered it. I took off some panels and the heat diffuser or whatever you call it. That way it appears to be under extensive modifications, due to the extreme cold. I added a few mechanical greebles to the repulsor lift engines and under one of the air brakes. I received a few of my SW Miniatures in the mail, I'm still waiting for a few more. I still need to paint some props, and permanently hook up some LEDs. I should be finished soon.
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It sure looks good on the front page. So gonna get me a Bandai Snowspeeder.
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Looking awesome mate.
Ron
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Thank you Tamer and Ron, appreciate it.
I got a lot of the final steps done today. I'm calling it about done. But is anything ever really done? I spliced together some SW Miniatures to make the welder, and adjusted the arms on the others. They're about 1/50, so I couldn't mash them, or mix them with 1/48 military figures, like I wanted. The speeder is a little dark, I made the same mistake I made with the x-wing I did a while back, but ehh screw it. I can build an even better one whenever I want. I have some more Hoth officers coming in, so I may replace the pilot with them. Other than that I really like it. Cool thing is, It looks different on three sides. I'll make some adjustments so it has 3 different little mini scenes going on. Its done but not done.
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On the front page. I put in my order for a snowspeeder and an at-st yesterday.
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One word mate - BRILLANT.
Ron
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I love this!
What are the dimensions of this dio?
Great detail work. My eyes are aching just thinking about it.
I have so gotta start trying to play with LEDs.
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On the front page. I put in my order for a snowspeeder and an at-st yesterday.
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Thanks again!!! You've taken your first step into a larger world. Lol. Nothing compares to the Bandai vehicles. Plain and simple. You won't be disappointed.
One word mate - BRILLANT.
Ron
Thanks Ron!! I really like this one, I may change some things around over time.
I love this!
What are the dimensions of this dio?
Great detail work. My eyes are aching just thinking about it.
I have so gotta start trying to play with LEDs.
Thanks Sjefke!! The dio is less than a cubic foot, so not big at all. I try to stay under a cubic foot most of the time.
I get my LED kits from www.modeltrainsoftware.com. they have really cool kits like welding lights, fire, strobe lights, even tiny Christmas lights. The kits come with everything you need. Switches, wires, battery holder, and shrink tube. The company is based in Colorado. I live in VA, it arrives at my door in 2 days. The only hard part is finding a good location to place the battery, but you can also get the AC/DC adapter kit.
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As most of you know, I'm an OT guy, so for the longest time I've been trying to figure out what to do with the Revell Prequel kits. I decided to make them early rebel Alliance vehicles. I built this kit yesterday and of course I had to JDeck it out. I added a ton of greebles to the engines. With this project I'm going for a combination X-wing/Y-wing/T-47 inspiration, to give it an OT Alliance look. I always thought of the rebels as being a galactic Dukes of Hazard, they take a stock vehicle make it faster more powerful, and put a rebel flag on it. Yeehaw! I just put on the pre shadow coat, soon I'll paint and decal.
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I have that horn sound in my head. Off to share.
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I get my LED kits from www.modeltrainsoftware.com. they have really cool kits like welding lights, fire, strobe lights, even tiny Christmas lights. The kits come with everything you need. Switches, wires, battery holder, and shrink tube. The company is based in Colorado. I live in VA, it arrives at my door in 2 days. The only hard part is finding a good location to place the battery, but you can also get the AC/DC adapter kit.
I'll definitely save the link. I've been looking at LEDs from Asia, but I'd have to get it all the components ala carte.
Ever heard of the Lightbulb Man from Jabba's palace?
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I have that horn sound in my head. Off to share.
Lol I guess that would make Darth Vader Rosco. Thanks again Tamer.
I get my LED kits from www.modeltrainsoftware.com. they have really cool kits like welding lights, fire, strobe lights, even tiny Christmas lights. The kits come with everything you need. Switches, wires, battery holder, and shrink tube. The company is based in Colorado. I live in VA, it arrives at my door in 2 days. The only hard part is finding a good location to place the battery, but you can also get the AC/DC adapter kit.
I'll definitely save the link. I've been looking at LEDs from Asia, but I'd have to get it all the components ala carte.
Ever heard of the Lightbulb Man from Jabba's palace?
Yeah! I've seen him on some behind the scenes photos. Not sure where they were going with it , but that would be a great custom.
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I painted the base coat and added a few decals. I may add more or hand paint some details. I still need to give it the ol heavy weathering. Right now its what it would look like in pristine condition, but we can't have that now, can we.
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That thing looks snazzy on the front pages. I almost hate to see you mar the ole girl up.
Ah, who am I kidding, I normally like the weathered look the best. Good job though JDeck!
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That is spectacular!
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Fantastic! I love the Rebel logos and the Red 5 markings. Seriously, Hasbro should offer you a job.
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Very cool, the early Rebels will certainly have used obsolete material.
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Just brillant buddy, the weathering and detailing is spoton 10/10.
Ron
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That thing looks snazzy on the front pages. I almost hate to see you mar the ole girl up.
Ah, who am I kidding, I normally like the weathered look the best. Good job though JDeck!
Thank you Tamer. I'm sick as a dog today, but I'll weather it soon. I hadn't missed a day of work in 5 years, I think I'm getting better.
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That is spectacular!
Thank you clone crazy, appreciate bud.
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Fantastic! I love the Rebel logos and the Red 5 markings. Seriously, Hasbro should offer you a job.
Lol. Yeah I don't know why Hasbro is abandoning realistic 3.75 vehicles. The decals I used were spares from the Bandai kits. The rebel logos and kill marks are from an EBay seller spuds87 or something like that.
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Very cool, the early Rebels will certainly have used obsolete material.
I've been playing this game on my phone called Star Wars Commander. The rebels use a lot of clone wars rejects. They say anything in games are canon. Its a really cool game if your into war strategy games.
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Just brillant buddy, the weathering and detailing is spoton 10/10.
Ron
Thank you Ron. I haven't finished weathering yet, I just need a couple washes.
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Just brillant buddy, the weathering and detailing is spoton 10/10.
Ron
Thank you Ron. I haven't finished weathering yet, I just need a couple washes.
I should have read your post correctly mate and I still think it looks brillant even thou you haven't given it the heavy weathering yet.
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I did some weathering to the LAAT. I didn't do a fantastic job, I've been laid up sick this whole weekend. I did create a little back story of how the Alliance was able to obtain a few of their LAATs. Keep in mind I've been feverish, but I've been watching a lot of ww2 in color and Star Wars Rebels.
The Low Altitude Assault Transport or LAAT, was officially decommissioned by the Empire in 7 BBY. The remaining fleet was sold to the Kuat driveyards to be stripped down, and recycled to fill the Empires order of the new All Terrain Scout Transport platform.
Alliance intelligence gathered that a large shipment of LAATs were being sent to a recycling facility on a remote middle rim planet called Varro. Although Varro had no Imperial presence the transport carrying the LAAT shipment was escorted by two Imperial Star Destroyers. The Alliance determined the best time to steal the transport was while it was landing and the escorts were still in orbit.
Selected to carry out this mission was an elite group of Pathfinder commandos lead by then Col. Crix Madine . While Madine’s commandos were stealing the ship the Bothan Spynet sent the escort destroyers a counterfeit distress signal, requesting their immediate response to a rebel attack on a nearby system. The escorts dispersed and the commandos were able to escape.
The mission was a success. However the Imperial propagandists brushed it off, claiming the rebels had merely stolen a garbage transport. Never the less, it was a great score for the Alliance, as well as a huge boost for morale. The individual resistance cells could now merge into a single army group, and deploy troops during a large scale assault.
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Awesome work mate the weathering is perfect.
Ron
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Looks good to me. Off to share.
Hope you get to feeling better.
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Awesome work mate the weathering is perfect.
Ron
Thanks bud! The preshadowing technique is great for very small scale but for this it just needed a little extra.
Looks good to me. Off to share.
Hope you get to feeling better.
Thanks Tamer, yeah I'm better today, I went back to work everything is cool. I really have no idea what it was, never been that sick. I'll have another Alliance conversion soon.
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I'm in the middle of a Rebel Alliance AAT diorama. I just repainted the Revell AAT, I didn't do anything to the mechanics of the vehicle. Im building this Dantooine grassland dio to go with it. I have to lay each grass tuft, so it'll take a while.
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Very cool concept of Rebels using old Clone Wars tanks and ships
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Very cool concept of Rebels using old Clone Wars tanks and ships
I agree it makes perfect sense. Off to share! Love the looking through the grass part.
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That's epic! Great work!
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Very cool concept of Rebels using old Clone Wars tanks and ships
Thanks bud! I'm sure they would have. They wouldn't have been able to convince manufacturers to build them a fleet, because it would have been treason.
Very cool concept of Rebels using old Clone Wars tanks and ships
I agree it makes perfect sense. Off to share! Love the looking through the grass part.
Thanks again Tamer. I think the AAT was the coolest prequel vehicle.
That's epic! Great work!
Thank you!
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I'm trying my hand on a kitbash TIE Bomber. I was fooling around today with some spaceship parts, and came up with a basic structure. I had the chance to buy a Fantastic Plastic tie bomber a few months ago, but passed it up, now I'm kicking myself. That's life, so I'm building a 1/72 scale one. Really all I need is the bandai TIE Advance x1 to complete. I'll use the wings, interior, and some of its parts to finish the exterior. It won't be accurate by any means, but you'll get the idea. Meybe I'll make it a First Order TIE Bomber. We'll see.
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Wow, it sure works for me. Off to share.
I vote TESB if I get a vote. ;D
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Wow, it sure works for me. Off to share.
I vote TESB if I get a vote. ;D
Lol. Yeah I'd love to build a TESB version. Its just the matter of accuracy, I don't feel comfortable calling it a TESB version without being anywhere near screen accurate. So I may come up with my own variation, something imperial era. Like a TIE reconnaissance, or something. Add some sensors and stuff like that.
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Your custom TIE Bomber is off to a great start! Can't wait for the next update.
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Your custom TIE Bomber is off to a great start! Can't wait for the next update.
Thanks bud!
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I got my Bandai Advanced TIE today, Amazon Prime is awesome. I started mocking up the parts, I temporarily glued it all together to see what I need to change. Its a little wide and crooked, but I can fix that. I dunno, its starting to look kinda cool. Its just one of those fun low budget builds. I'll change a few things. I still need to add some greebles, and something to make it really unique, to make it a cool variant. Like reconnaissance/light bomber, or something. Or a couple of defensive turrets. I'll think of something.
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Lovin the Tie bomber buddy and can't wait to see more.
Ron
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Oh yeah, that looks great. Off to share. Daggone this build is going great.
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Lovin the Tie bomber buddy and can't wait to see more.
Ron
Thanks bud! I should be done soon, just need minor tweaking.
Oh yeah, that looks great. Off to share. Daggone this build is going great.
Thanks Tamer! I've been studying the original studio TIE bomber, I can recognize most of the greebles they used, and I have many of those parts. However studio scale is about 1/48 or so, and mine is 1/72, but I'm using those parts in different ways. As a matter of fact those pod tubes are from the same kit ILM used to make the Y-wing, but these are the smaller set. I would have pics, but I had to disassemble it to make some tweeks.
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It sounds like more progress to me.
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I got some work done on my TIE Bomber.I straightened everything out and permanently glued the two pods together. Then I constructed the part that connects the wings to the pod, I was going to use the x1style but decided to get as close as possible to the real thing. I added a few greebles , some of which were used on the original model. I decided to make a tail gun turret on the rear of the cockpit pod, inspired by ww2 and FO SF TIE fighters, with a design resembling the Millennium Falcon turret. Now I just need to make the part that the bombs shoot out of, that hangs off the bottom.
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Looking good from here. Off to share.
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Looking good from here. Off to share.
Thanks again Tamer! Yup I'm just going to add a couple more pieces, sand it, wash it and paint 'er up. After this project I'm switching gears a little. I'm going to try my hand at some small scale resin model ships. Not the local bulk cruisers mind you, I'm talking about the big corellian ships. So that's pretty exciting. I'll Step my game up a little.
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Well that sounds interesting too. Looking forward to new updates.
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I painted my kitbashed TIE Bomber today. I used Tamiya Light Royal grey spray. I know TESB TIE Fighters/Bombers are blue, but I like the ANH grey. I'm not going to weather it Imperial ships are well maintained besides TIEs don't survive long enough to get dirty. All around I'm happy with the results. I wasn't real optimistic when I first started, but its not bad for a weeklong build. Its too bad manufacturers don't make a TIE bomber. Also its unfortunate the unlicenced manufacturers were stopped. But this will suit me fine for now.
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Looks great to me. I wonder why Bandai won't release one of these? Its a pretty cool ship. Off to share.
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Looks great to me. I wonder why Bandai won't release one of these? Its a pretty cool ship. Off to share.
Thanks again Tamer! I don't know what manufacturers thinking. they're all doing x-wing, Snowspeeder, TIE fighter, Falcon, I'd like some variety. Bandai was making a figure and a ship every month, now its either or, and this month nothing. If they ever ask me I have a long laundry list of kits they need to do. 1/72 B-wing, 1/72 A-wing, 1/48 or 1/72 T-16 skyhopper. 1/72 TIE Interceptor and Bomber. We really need small scale stuff like 1/1000 Tantive IV or 1/10000 Home One. The market is starved for quality big ships, and vehicles in general.
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Damn impressive mate, I'm lovin it.
Ron
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The TIE bomber looks really awesome! You do such great work, keep it up.
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Damn impressive mate, I'm lovin it.
Ron
Thanks bro, I think it looks pretty cool.
The TIE bomber looks really awesome! You do such great work, keep it up.
Thanks bud, Im going to concentrate on Rebel ships and fighters for a while, it might be a while before my next update, but I'm working on it.
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I got this awesome resin 1/2256 scale Nebulon B recently. The kit also comes with a CR90 corvette, and I also have a millennium Falcon and Medium Transport, from another kit. I'm also getting some x-wings Y-wings and gunship from Shapeways. My plan is to build an Empire Strikes Back ending display. My problem is I'd like to put lights in the Nebulon B but the other ships are too small to light, at least with my skill set. Its not impossible, but difficult. Would it look lame to have one ship lit and not the others? Its a tough decision, if I don't light the Frigate, it'll still be cool, but it won't have that WOW factor. I dunno, what do you guys think?
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Lights would be cool!
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I started working on an MPC 1/48 A-wing model kit. Pretty simple kit, other than the inverted panel lines its really nice, especially for a 33 year old kit. So far all I've done was wire up the lights for the engines and cockpit. I'm using a warm/white chip LED for the cockpit, and two warm/white 3mm LEDs for the engines. Not too many modifications to mount them, mostly drilling holes, and cutting a couple things. This is just a mock-up, I still need to modify some things, take it apart again to paint. At first I didn't like the smoked glass, because its not accurate, but it filters the light perfectly. I still have a lot to do, but Its starting to look pretty rad.
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Nice. Those lights really add a great style to this. Any pics of what you are using to do it or a pic of your light work inside the guts of this when you tear it back apart to paint?
Off to share.
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This is going to look awesome once it's painted.
Ron
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This is going to look awesome once it's painted.
Ron
Thanks bud, yeah, I hope the paint job turns out good enough. Those raised panel lines are a mind boggling.
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Nice. Those lights really add a great style to this. Any pics of what you are using to do it or a pic of your light work inside the guts of this when you tear it back apart to paint?
Off to share.
Many thanks again. I'm afraid there's not much to show. I'm putting the 9v power source in the display base, so I don't have to preform surgery on the model just to change the battery.
I kitbashed a pilot today. The body is 1/48 modern U.S pilot, head is ww2 Russian pilot. It looks better than what came with the kit. I wanted it to be similar to the pilot in the original ILM model.
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Thanks for showing me. I really would love to read a few tutorials, if you ever get the time, for how to wire up and do all that light stuff. I think it really adds to any project. Off to share.
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Thanks for showing me. I really would love to read a few tutorials, if you ever get the time, for how to wire up and do all that light stuff. I think it really adds to any project. Off to share.
Yeah that would be cool. I can put something in the reference section. I have a basic knowledge of electricity, I've recently graduated from caveman status. I can give a circuit diagram, with light battery switch. Its all really simple, I'll be getting into fiber optics soon, and that is super simple. As I learn more I can add more. Of course others can share their knowledge as well.
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Thank you, I appreciate it. I know a lot of other folks would love to see this too.
One of my goals this year is to do a podcast on lighting as a basic how too, where to get supplies, etc.
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I did some basic paintwork today. I need to clean up the paint lines, always use 3M masking tape. I used Dollar store brand, I was in a bind. I was way behind. I was willing to make a deal. But I can fix it, a black wash will help too. Once I paint the interior it won't be so bright. Looks like my figure is in a tanning bed. It'll look cool once its detailed and weathered.
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The lights look absolutely amazing! Your modeling skills are off the hook. Keep it up.
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Still really enjoying the light work on this. Keep it coming, back to the front page.
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Really cool,i love it!
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The lights look absolutely amazing! Your modeling skills are off the hook. Keep it up.
Still really enjoying the light work on this. Keep it coming, back to the front page.
Thanks Tamer and Starchaser! I'll be making that LED tutorial soon. I just need to cut all the wiring down, the problem is I want to use those parts in my next project. Meybe I'll use the next project as a tutorial.
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Really cool,i love it!
Thanks larifari!
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I finished up the A-wing model. With me nothing is ever really finished, I may fine tune some things. My original goal was to make the model better than the Titanium series stuff, or anything on the market, which unfortunately isn't a tall task. I found a polar lights display that will look good, and it might be big enough to hide the battery. I'll have to modify it with a hollow tube, and a switch.
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That looks excellent mate the paint apps and the lighting really bring it to life.
Ron
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Nice, off to share.
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Since today is such a great day for spray painting, its sunny, warm no wind, great conditions. I decided to re paint the X-wing miniatures Gr-75 rebel transport. The old paint was fine but not great. First I decided to crack it open so I can add some lights later after paint. The best way to do that is to crack open the weakest point which is the front tip. Then with a screwdriver work your way back a little on both sides there's 7 male/female pegs with a little glue on them so its tough as hell.
Once it was all apart I sprayed it black, let it dry. Then sprayed it with a couple coats white.
After that I used a black oil wash and pastel chalk weathering. Now I gotta figure out how to wire the lights.
First picture is the painted and assembled transport. Second picture is the old paint. Third picture is new paint. fourth picture is a reference from the ILM transport.
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I also started on this 1/2256 Nebulon B Medical Frigate. I assembled it, and started painting. Again, I painted it black then white. Now, I'm in the process of giving it black, and white washes, as well as some color variations. I was going to wait until I got the wood base I'll be using, but its taking its time getting here.
Ohh yeah, I decided not to put lights in it. Too dang small. K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid, is what I always say.
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Looks good. Off to share. I got outside and built some bird houses yesterday.
Well basically it was just put a roof on an existing one, but I didn't follow the kiss principle and ended up getting into building two new ones. Still it was fun time with my daughter and power tools.
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Looks good. Off to share. I got outside and built some bird houses yesterday.
Well basically it was just put a roof on an existing one, but I didn't follow the kiss principle and ended up getting into building two new ones. Still it was fun time with my daughter and power tools.
Thanks Tamer! Sounds like great quality time. I need to build a bird house. I've got tons of birds. Cardinal, blue bird, even a couple orioles in early spring. What would be cool is a death star bird house. Get a plastic globe, paint it black with grey panels. Put some sand on the bottom for weight. Lol. That would be rad!
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Awesome idea. You should build one!
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I made the display base for my "Haven Rendezvous Point." display. This type of display is great for star wars mircro machines, X-wing Miniatures, models and more.
I started with a cheap pine 7" x5" plaque with "fancy" cut. The pine is not by any means stain grade and you'll have to sand it to get a good enough surface. I decided where I wanted my ships to go, and I drilled small holes in the plaque. I used fairly thin brass rods for the ships, and even smaller yet rods for the fighters. I placed glue in the holes followed by the rods. Let it dry for a couple hours. I then painted it with several coats of flat black. After that was dried, I dilluted some flat white paint and used a toothbrush to create the star effect. Just dip the toothbrush into the diluted paint and flick it using your thumb. You could give the base a few flat matte clear coats to protect the paint and give it some depth. That's about it. Easy peasy.
The last picture shows basically how it'll look finished. I need to add detail to some of the ships, but it gives you an idea. If you look closely, you can see the x-wings and Y-wings. Very tiny, but in scale.
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Wow, that looks great! These look incredible all together like this. Such small detail too. Reminds me of the end of TESB. Off to share.
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The ships alone are awesome but adding to the base really brings them to life.
Ron
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Wow, that looks great! These look incredible all together like this. Such small detail too. Reminds me of the end of TESB. Off to share.
Thanks Tamer! Yeah I'm trying to recreate the end scene from The Empire Strikes Back. I'm almost done detailing the ships. Yeah they're tiny, but the resin kits pack a ton of detail. And I'll have better pictures soon, I was playing with the Photoshop, got carried away. I like this display a lot. This is probably the most expensive project I've done.
The ships alone are awesome but adding to the base really brings them to life.
Ron
Thanks bud! Yeah they're ships from a couple different kits, and some 3d printed ones. The display is small. I'm pretty happy with it.
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I'll go ahead and call it finished. Sometimes less is more. When I was a kid my dentist had a U.S Naval fleet model under glass, I thought that was the coolest thing ever. It had a carrier with planes, frigates, gunships, the works. You see similar things in naval museums. Its not exactly museum quality, but I was going for that look. At 7" x5" the display is fairly small, and it looks good anywhere without taking up a bunch of space. The base, I thought turned out great. The resin ships are very nicely detailed, which makes painting easy. I really like the 3D printed 1/2256 x-wings and Y-wings from J_roncho, on Shapeways. They really complete the display.
I'm starting to get the hang of painting micro scale ships, some ways its easier, faster at least. The more detailed the model the easier it is to paint detail, obviously. I found the white 3D printing material is junk at this scale however the transport in the background is done in 3D white, but the corellian ships I got, I ended up using them for painting practice.
I have some ideas to do something similar with Mon Cal ships. I have a 22" MC80a winged cruiser, but I'm not quite ready to tackle that just yet. In the mean time I have some cool Mon Cal ideas. Meybe incorporate some custom figures into the displays, we'll see. I also have some SW REBELS displays I'd like to tackle as well. So hopefully we'll see more fleet displays.
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A couple more shots.
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It looks pretty nice to me. Love seeing all those capital ships together. I could see you doing an Imperial Display like this. Off to share.
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It looks pretty nice to me. Love seeing all those capital ships together. I could see you doing an Imperial Display like this. Off to share.
Thanks Tamer! Yeah I have some Imperial fleet ideas. If I can find a scale solutions executor super star destroyer, I can make something cool. I passed one up a few weeks ago, now its gone. So I'll keep my eyes open for another one. For the most part I'll be building Rebel ships, for a while at least.
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I was just looking at your last few pics and thought how cool it will be doing a display like this using the Bandai 1/144 and Dragon 1/144 ships when they come out.
Ron
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I was just looking at your last few pics and thought how cool it will be doing a display like this using the Bandai 1/144 and Dragon 1/144 ships when they come out.
Ron
I hear yah. The 1/144 x-wings and Tie fighters alone would add so much more to any 1/144 ship dio or display, already in existence. Bandai falcon & Slave I, Revell imperial shuttle, resin rebel transport etc. Not to mention the AT-AT and AT-ST also in 1/144. Im excited! A lot of people are complaining about the size, but they dont get it. Still no release date though.
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Such a creative diorama! Love it!
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Such a creative diorama! Love it!
Thank you! I really like it too. Soon I'll build an ROTJ inspired version. It'll be in 1/10,000 scale, with 20 ships including two 5" Mon Calamari cruisers. Unfortunately it won't have any fighters, or falcon but, It'll be huuge!
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Looking forward to seeing it buddy.
Ron
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Love the reference stuff.
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Looking forward to seeing it buddy.
Ron
Thanks bud! I think it'll be cool. For some reason I like these little ships.
Love the reference stuff.
Yeah that one diagram is from this war gaming/reference book, West End Games: Rebel Alliance sourcebook (1990,1994). I haven't bought it yet, but it seems really cool. A lot of the strategy is from actual battleship and dogfighting here on earth. Thatch weave, section engagement or whatever, the same as air&sea tactics. Makes sense except the naval battles in space are 3d, 360°. Other than that same stuff. The also have ground force references. I might have to pick that book up, they have an imperial one too, I think.
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I got my 1/10000 scale ships today. Theyre the Odyssey Slipways 1/10000 MC80, MC80a, CR90 corvette (4), Nebulon B (3), gunship (4), Gr-75 ( 8 ). They're pretty cool. Some of them need assembly the transports and gunships don't. They have a little bit of flash but that's easy to take care of. I tell ya those transports and gunships are tiny tiny, but excellent detail. You can't tell from the pics but, they're really nice. All in all, I like em. I'll start assembling them soon, stay tuned.
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I also got these Armada Rebel Alliance Squadrons. They're made for the Armada strategy game, but I think they're good enough for a display. There are 6 of each fighter, A-wing, B-wing, X-wing and Y-wing. They come with these little trees that stand 3 in a group. They're really nicely detailed for their size, the x-wing canons are a little thick, no BFD. They come out to about 1/800 give or take, A-wings and Y-wings are out of scale. They are unpainted, which is no problem. What I'm thinking is, getting another pack and creating a display showing an entire squadron of each fighter in formation. And I can display them with the bigger model counterparts. Just need to paint them, and I'll make my own trees from brass rods. These I think will work well for my needs.
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This is going to be another awesome display, I can't wait.
Ron
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This is going to be another awesome display, I can't wait.
Ron
Thanks, my plan is to build a rebel alliance display shelfcase. Using customs and collectables highlighting each of the rebel ships and fighters in different ways. Like a Rebel Alliance Air&space museum. Sort of my year long commitment.
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I assembled the 1/10000 ships. The MC80 ships are pretty nice. It just took a bit of filling and a good bit of sanding. The other pieces weren't difficult, I just had a bad case of butterfingers today, lost one bitty piece, so I just fabricated a replacement. They just need to be painted. I mocked them up to see what size plaque to use. I think it'll be pretty rad.
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Nice, this is gonna look great when done.
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Nice, this is gonna look great when done.
Thanks Tamer! It'll be cool in three dimensions.
Here's some more pics of the mc80s underbelly. I had to prepaint around the main engines before assembling. Pretty neat kit. I like having my ships the same scale. Too bad micro machines and even armada miniatures are so out of wack.
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This is gonna look pretty cool when assembled.
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This is gonna look pretty cool when assembled.
Yeah, it'll be cool. A little unconventional, building displays from war game pieces, but I'm an unconventional kinda guy. I got a slab of wood, this time made in USA, so better craftsmanship than the other one I bought last time. Its a 7" x 9" with routed edges, no French corners, because I want my gunships on the edges. This'll be my layout, I'll mark the positions with a pencil, then drill the holes. I'm just sandbagging right now till I get my paint. I'll use Vallejo paint this time. I like Tamiya a lot, because its thin and covers beautifully, but the Vallejo formula is thicker making dry brushing more effective. Basically I'll paint the small ships black with white dry brush. The MC80s will be more complicated. I'll get into that later. You can see the middle Nebulon B where I had to make my own antennae, I still can't find that sum gum piece I dropped.
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I did some painting on the MC-80s the winged version came out like I wanted. Mon cal ships sort of look like a combination Blue Whale, Shark and conch shell, so I used them as inspiration. The non winged one, I would have liked to have better color variations, but at this scale its almost impossible without it looking wacky. I'll work on the display, meybe tomorrow. I've been a little side tracked lately. After this I've got an idea for my next project, I've been trying to simplify the design, but still be cool. Anyway, you'll see what I mean.
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Nice, more comments on the front page.
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Thank you Tamer! Yeah I hope to get this done before my time off from work, next week. The idea for my next project is another Rebel Alliance repurposed Clone Wars vehicle. This time the AT-TE. I wondered how the rebels would repurpose one. I figured, it would work great as a construction/recovery vehicle. The AT-TE is too cumbersome for covert operations, like the rebels use, so a base defender/construction vehicle would make sense. I'll just re engineer the back section, I was going to re design the front, but K.I.S.S., ya know. So I'll work on that during my time off, as I stopped vacationing a few years ago. Its more relaxing to stay home, and do whatever I want, that I can't do while I'm working. I'll use the Revell 1/90 AT-TE, and here are some examples of military heavy equipment I'll use as a reference.
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The Rebel fleet is going to look awesome mate.
The idea for a recovery AT-TE is awesome.
Ron
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Cool idea, you have my full attention! I am down for anything walker!
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I started working on the magnetic crane mechanism. Now that I have the crane I'll be able to figure out how to mount it to the back of the AT-TE, and make my modifications. I think it looks pretty neat . Its fully functional with elevation, traverse and the magnetic grapple can be lowered. Once the rubber tubes start to stretch the grapple will hang better. I'll add a few more details later, for now I have what I need.
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Looking great mate, this is going to be one awesome project.
Ron
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Great project. Off to share.
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Looking great mate, this is going to be one awesome project.
Ron
Thank you Ron.
Great project. Off to share.
Thank you Tamer. Here's a wip shot. I'm still figuring out the engineering. I may have to do a great deal of plastic surgery.
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It looks great to me so far. Off to share.
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This is a very interesting concept.
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Really liking the AT-MPV (all terrain multi-purpose vehicle) or whatever you're going to call it. I've been thinking about something similar, just not on such a grand scale. I'll look forward to the final product.
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Coming along great, have you done any more to it?
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Coming along great, have you done any more to it?
I've been working on it slowly. I'm kinda stuck where I'm at. Trying to mesh the crane and the AT-TE frame and still look good. I fooled around with it today some, ruled out a few ideas I had. I may just use tubes to frame it all up. The idea is to have it look stripped down, like a Y-wing sort of, in the back. You know I like to over engineer everything. I'd like to show the giant servo motors and inner workings.
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This is a very interesting concept.
Really liking the AT-MPV (all terrain multi-purpose vehicle) or whatever you're going to call it. I've been thinking about something similar, just not on such a grand scale. I'll look forward to the final product.
Thanks guys! I think its the most practical use of an AT-TE, for the Rebels. I'm not sure what to call this contraption, I was thinking The C.R.A.B. (Construction. Recovery. Armored. Base-defender.). I went ahead and threw together the crane frame. Its made of model kit frames, attached to key structural parts of the vehicle. Now that the hard part is done, all the other parts should fit as intended.
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Looking good. I am anxious to see this finished product too. Like the crab name. Off to share.
BTW, thank you for putting me onto Hobby Japan. In a week where all my SW stuff arrived damaged the package from them with the Star Destroyer showed up pristine.
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Got to agree with Shawn it's looking great and I can't wait to see the final piece.
Ron
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Looking good. I am anxious to see this finished product too. Like the crab name. Off to share.
BTW, thank you for putting me onto Hobby Japan. In a week where all my SW stuff arrived damaged the package from them with the Star Destroyer showed up pristine.
Thanks Tamer! Yeah Hobby_Japan is one of the good ones. I should get my 1/144 x-wings soon, meybe today.
Got to agree with Shawn it's looking great and I can't wait to see the final piece.
Ron
Thanks Ron. I just need to greeble it up, and add the rest of the parts.
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Looks good so far. I like the way the parts seem to fit together.
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Looks good so far. I like the way the parts seem to fit together.
Thanks bud! Kitbashing of this sort takes a lot of cutting and test fitting, along with a vast amount of model kit parts. The two frame pieces were actually meant for the 20mm FLaK, but in 2 different scales grey 1/35 and tan 1/48, for some reason they mashed up well for this application.
I added more greebles to the rear. I gave it a bunch of brackets and braces, to make it look stripped down. Once its all painted the same color it'll look better. I'm not sure if I want to add the front ball turrets, they aren't my style. I was thinking since the crane assembly is detachable, I could build other variants, like AA gun, backhoe or flatbed.
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Oh yeah that looks just awesome and the recovery equipment fits in great with the walker.
Ron
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Looks fantastic. It belongs in the SW universe for sure.
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Now that is one cool machine. Great idea JDeck. I am enjoying this build. Off to share.
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Oh yeah that looks just awesome and the recovery equipment fits in great with the walker.
Ron
Looks fantastic. It belongs in the SW universe for sure.
Now that is one cool machine. Great idea JDeck. I am enjoying this build. Off to share.
Thanks guys! I gave it a German grey primer coat, but then it rained, AGAIN. Fortunately it dried before it started, but I couldn't put on the main coat. This gives me time to think about how I want to do the details.
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Looking good buddy
Ron
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I cannot wait to see the final incarnation of this. Just a great build.
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Wow! That's an impressive vehicle.
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Looking good buddy
Ron
I cannot wait to see the final incarnation of this. Just a great build.
Wow! That's an impressive vehicle.
Thanks guys! It will be finished soon.
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I'm pretty much done with my Rebel AT-TE recovery. I've nicknamed it "Oola Belle" as a spoof on the "LuLu Belle" the name of the piece of junk M3 Grant tank in the 1943 film Sahara.
After the German grey base coat I painted her royal light grey, then painted a few areas like the cockpit Hull Red. I added the Rebel decals, I thought about adding more decals/colors but less is more sometimes. Then I weathered it using pastel chalks and oil paints.
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Awesome work mate.
Ron
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This is one great vehicle. It looks great on our pages. So cool JDeck!
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Awesome work mate.
Ron
This is one great vehicle. It looks great on our pages. So cool JDeck!
Thank you Ron and Tamer! It came out just as I envisioned when I started. That rarely happens. I don't know what my next Rebel repurposed Clone Wars vehicle will be. Revell made tons of prequel kits. I was hoping they would make tons of TFA kits, at least Rey's speeder. Yeah they have Kylo Ren shuttle, but the wings look like he's overcompensating for something.
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Super creative, I really like this one. Great job!
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Looks great!!
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Super creative, I really like this one. Great job!
Looks great!!
Thanks guys!
I've had this idea brewing for a few days, so I started tooling around. I've been wanting to figure out a cool way to display the Bandai 1/144 X-wing, and I thought it would be cool to make a larger scale body panel to display with the model. I want to paint up the model like the Tierfon Yellow Aces. In TFA, Rey had Reh's helmet from the Yellow Aces, so I thought it would be cool to make a matching X-wing. So far I've only painted a thin base coat, I spent most of my time making panels. I have some custom decals coming, some Yellow Aces symbols and kill marks. The color scheme will be blue & yellow. I've been looking at WW2 spitfire and p-51 schemes for inspiration. We'll see how it works out.
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That is a great idea, this is going to look awesome.
Ron
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That is gonna be great.
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That is a great idea, this is going to look awesome.
Ron
That is gonna be great.
Thanks guys! I changed the panel a bit. The old one reminded me of a door off an old Buick. I knew I would end up changing the panel many times so I used telescoping tubes to mount it. I'll put this project on ice until I get my decals, then I can have a better visual. I know I'll have to build another panel, but I've got a prototype.
I weathered the A-wing. I just gave it a flat clear coat, black/white washes. Not the best job but not bad.
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The Oola Belle turned out absolutely magnificent! A great concept, brilliantly executed. Love the paint job as well.
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The Oola Belle turned out absolutely magnificent! A great concept, brilliantly executed. Love the paint job as well.
Thank you Starchaser! Sorry for the late reply. Busy busy busy. I've gotten to the point that I use Tamiya spray paint on all my models. Not sure if its laziness or what, but the final product usually turns out nice.
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I got a Revell AT-RT that I'll be giving the rebel alliance treatment to. This is a really cool kit, I've read many reviews and this kit is very much underrated. First off its 1/18 scale, which is awesome, it looks better aesthetically and more accurate, than any of the Hasbro versions. The articulation is nice, it even has little hydrologic pistons that move. This kit doesn't come with a stand like the other Revell kits, I'll have to make my own. It is a Revell kit so assembly is not real smooth, but its not rocket surgery.
For now I have Endor Leia as my rider. I need to give her swivel wrists to look right. I'll fix all that when I make a completely custom rider. For my application I'll change the gun a little, repaint, and add some rebel equipment. For the paint scheme, I was thinking of a Slave1 look. Light grey with worn down light green making a sort of camouflage.
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Nice. Looks good already. Off to share.
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Nice. Looks good already. Off to share.
Thanks Tamer. I got my paints, figure parts plus some liquid mask. Its like liquid masking tape, I've been using silicone gel, which works alright, not ideal.
Got home late again, but I did get a couple coats of paint on before it started raining. I just used German grey undercoat, and USAF light grey for the base coat.
I applied the liquid mask in the worn areas, areas that get hit with branches, debris, or gets stepped on, whatever. Apply it in layers, the thicker it is the easier it will be to remove, plus it will be easier to find after its painted. The liquid mask is a resin, but it dries like latex and its easy to peel. I'll let it dry and tomorrow I'll give it a shot of IJN grey/green. The USAF grey and IJN green is a nice subtle contrast, about the same colors used on the Slave1 fuselage.
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I am looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
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Here's the end result of the liquid mask flaking. Worked as expected. I gave it a clear coat to stop further flaking. I need to give it some washes, once the clear dries.
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I'm almost finished with the vehicle part. I weathered it, added some bags, equipment, weapons and so on. I spliced the main gun with the heavy repeater from the Bandai stormtrooper kit. Its bigger and more detailed than the original. I just need to touch it up a bit. Then finish the figure, and make some kind of jungle scene.
I get a lot of inspiration for these vehicles from WW2 movies. I watched Castle Keep the other day. I liked the beginning when they were drudging through the mud in that old jeep. i might make it something like that.
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Nice, time to go share this. FB is acting wonky, but its on the main page for sure.
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WOW buddy you have been busy. You have done an awesome job on all of the but I have to say the AT-RT looks impressive.
Ron
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Nice, time to go share this. FB is acting wonky, but its on the main page for sure.
Thanks Tamer!
WOW buddy you have been busy. You have done an awesome job on all of the but I have to say the AT-RT looks impressive.
Ron
[/quote .
Thanks! I like to experiment with new products on projects like this. The liquid mask works well and I may use it on the Slave I kit. I'd like to see how Silly Putty works with making camouflage, I may use that on my next project. Whatever that may be, maybe another AAT, as I wasn't pleased with the one I made.
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I got one of the Revell Imperial Shuttles. Its the new recasting and the plastic isn't as white and shiny. That kind of sucks a little, but the paint apps are a little nicer. Other than that its the same shuttle as the earlier 2010 model. You can display it in both landed and in flight. It has landing gear, but I was too lazy to put it together just to show you. A lot of folks assume its 1/72 scale because of the figures it comes with, but they are way too big. I did my research and it comes out to 1/144.
I also got a couple Hot Wheels TIE fighters. I think they're about the same scale, 1/144 or so. The hot wheels TIE isnt too bad it is die cast so not a ton of detail, but itll work as background pieces. Personally I think they are better than the Black Series Titanium fighters, plus theyre inexpensive and very easy to find.
So i think making it Darth Vader's Shuttle, with TIE fighter entourage, would be cool. I thought about making the Endor Landing platform, but would be too dang big. Actually Im not sure what im going to do with it. Meybe take it apart again and run LEDs through it.
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Alright, so i decided to add some LEDs to the shuttle. I should be able to put the battery and switch inside the cockpit. The tricky part is getting a light diffuser curved to the shape of the engines, but i had a very simple idea. I cut out the engine thrusters. Afterwards I cut a .5" diameter tube to length, then I cut it longways in half. The blue lights will go on the inside and the tube will diffuse it, so it will be a soft consistent glow. I just need time for my lights to arrive, we'll be set. I've seen folks try many different ways to tackle this conundrum, but my way is super simple. You know, sometimes I amaze even myself.
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Another fantastic display once it's completed.
Ron
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Enjoyed reading your review. Nice new dio. Off to share the latest.
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Another fantastic display once it's completed.
Ron
Thanks Ron! Yeah it ought to be good. I need to figure out how to mount the shuttle. I belive it was designed by Revell to be balanced, which is great.
Enjoyed reading your review. Nice new dio. Off to share the latest.
Thanks Tamer! Yeah i like those little Hot Wheels ships. I totally discredited them until i saw a display at one of my stores, they looked pretty good. The shuttle is pretty nice too. Even though its basically the same as the 2010, overall with the paint apps and all, its better. Back when i built the 2010 model, i was not at all impressed with it. Meybe im not as scrupulous as I was back then.
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Okay. I got my LEDs in the mail, and im back to work. Special thanks to Evans design at modeltrainsoftware.com they make things very easy. You order everything you need. All the bulbs are pre-wired and sortrd by Voltage. Their processing and shipping are very fast, often same day.
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http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/ledlights1.html
Update shared!
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http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/ledlights1.html
Update shared!
Thanks Tamer! Yeah i was going to put the strobe lights on the wings, but the two wings weren't hollow, so running wires would have been prohibitive. Keep it simple.
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I buttoned everything up. I started adding some washes, Vader's Shuttle isnt as pristine as the Emperor's. I put the switch inside the cockpit, so I just flip it open to hit the switch. This is a mockup of the layout, I just need to figure out how big i want the base.
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Looks pretty nice to me. Update shared!
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Looks pretty nice to me. Update shared!
Thanks Tamer! I just need to wait for some brass tubes, that I'll use to mount it all on a wood base that I have. In the meantime I'll finish weathering the Shuttle.
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This looks excellent.
Ron
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This looks excellent.
Ron
Thanks Ron! Coming around the home stretch, now.
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I continued weathering the Shuttle today. I used several alternating washes of white and black along with dry brushing applied with cotton swabs, to get the streaking effect. I also used a little bit of pastel chalks. Now I just need to mount it all, and paint the wood base. That'll do it.
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Fantastic work on the paint apps and especially the weathering.
Ron
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Yepper, the weathering looks good. off to share.
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I pretty much finished Vader's Shuttle. I was able to mount it all pretty easily using plastic and metal tubes.
For the shuttle tube I used .25" outside diameter brass tube. Then I used .256" inside diameter plastic tube to connect the brass tube to both the shuttle and wood base. I used the same concept mounting the TIE fighters using .16" OD brass and .16" ID plastic tubes. Its all detachable and the mounting holes are unnoticeable. I still need to mount one of the TIE fighters better. If your interested i can give a demonstration, it would work better to use square tube but im lazy.
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Awesome work JD.
Ron
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Awesome work JD.
Ron
Thanks Ron! I think it turned out pretty good, especially against a black background. It seems to make a difference.
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That turned out great. Off to share.
Had my hands on the Revell AT-ACT yesterday. I wasn't too impressed.
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That turned out great. Off to share.
Had my hands on the Revell AT-ACT yesterday. I wasn't too impressed.
Thanks Tamer! Yeah, the Revell AT-ACT is definitely made for kids. If it's as bad as I think, Ill still make something cool. I wont even attempt to make it screen accurate, or whatever, I was thinking of making an urban vinyl toy, just do something wild. Im going on vacation next week, so I wont start till I come back. In the mean time I'm coming up with some rad ideas.
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You know how much I like AT-ATs, but this new AT-ACT seems a stretch and gimmicky all the way around. They should have just used the venerable AT-AT and at most shown us something like the AT-IT (like the Vintage mock up they did back when), and am not thinking they had to redesign everything with this new movie.
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Ehh. I think the AT-ACT is an interesting variation, instead of transporting troops it transports materials in a removable container. However it would be extremely impractical to haul lumber on an AT platform. It would have to be extremely valuable and important. Like vital Death Star weapon components. Because those things only move like 30mph, so it would take all day to get from A to B. Id much rather have the AT-AT, but we'll see if it works in the movie.
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Yeah I guess, hate to be down on any form of AT-AT you know!
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Ive had this C3PO kit in my closet for a year, trying to figure how i want to build it. This is my favorite Star Wars kit period. Just choosing which 3po to make is the hard part. I chose 3po from when he and r2 were wandering around on Tatooine. That scene always interested me. Its like a cross between Lawrence of Arabia and hidden fortress. Anyway, ill get another R2D2/BB8 kit and make a little diorama display.
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Looks good, they sure got the paint job right on this one.
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I really enjoy looking at your projects from the first page on!
The holographic tranciever is one of my favorites! I am working on some electronic parts right now as well and can't wait to share it (some Cantina stuff). Also your Comic projects are amazing!
All the references e.g. the moisture vaporator draft are great!
Thanks for sharing and inspiring!
Your 3PO looks just like the original costume! Your excellent paint-job with the oil stains gives it a perfect likeness and make 3PO look alive!
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Looks good, they sure got the paint job right on this one.
Thanks Tamer! I only buy vac-plated c3po figures. Hasbro stopped because of the inferior plastic they use. This is the only vac-plated 3po in 6" scale. Same goes for Captain Phasma.
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I really enjoy looking at your projects from the first page on!
The holographic tranciever is one of my favorites! I am working on some electronic parts right now as well and can't wait to share it (some Cantina stuff). Also your Comic projects are amazing!
All the references e.g. the moisture vaporator draft are great!
Thanks for sharing and inspiring!
Your 3PO looks just like the original costume! Your excellent paint-job with the oil stains gives it a perfect likeness and make 3PO look alive!
Many thanks legion! I like building one of a kind things, however ive been conservative lately. Ive been meticulously weathering my C-3po today, and took some full sun pics. I think it's fairly screen accurate.
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3PO looks awesome JD.
Ron
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3PO looks awesome JD.
Ron
Thanks bud! I put a couple thin coats of matte on him, he was still too shiny, plus i needed to seal what work I've already done . I may have put too much on, but ill wet sand it tonight, that'll bring back a little shine, and give him a natural looking patina. In retrospect I should have started with the matte coats. "He'll be quite alright. You'll see."
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That 3po is excellent ! An amazing paint job . Bravo
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3PO looks awesome JD.
Ron
Thanks bud! I put a couple thin coats of matte on him, he was still too shiny, plus i needed to seal what work I've already done . I may have put too much on, but ill wet sand it tonight, that'll bring back a little shine, and give him a natural looking patina. In retrospect I should have started with the matte coats. "He'll be quite alright. You'll see."
JD he looks awesome mate and I wouldn't worry about the matte it will dry and the amount you put on is great it really brought 3PO to life.
Ron
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That 3po is excellent ! An amazing paint job . Bravo
Many thanks Mr. Jedi! Im going to concider him finished, before I do irreversible damage.
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3PO looks awesome JD.
Ron
Thanks bud! I put a couple thin coats of matte on him, he was still too shiny, plus i needed to seal what work I've already done . I may have put too much on, but ill wet sand it tonight, that'll bring back a little shine, and give him a natural looking patina. In retrospect I should have started with the matte coats. "He'll be quite alright. You'll see."
JD he looks awesome mate and I wouldn't worry about the matte it will dry and the amount you put on is great it really brought 3PO to life.
Ron
Thanks Ron! Yeah the matte finally dried clear. I woke up this morning and it was still pretty milky, had me worried. I still gave it a light wet sand though.
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Im calling the C-3PO part of the project finished. It looks better in person. It's difficult to photograph something like this. looks totally different in some lights than in others. But I like it. I found out I won't have my R2-D2 kit until late next week. Bummo. But I have a few things to do in the meantime. I'm using r5 as a stand in for now.
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Outstanding JD he looks like he walked out of the movie.
Ron
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Looks good. Off to share.
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Outstanding JD he looks like he walked out of the movie.
Ron
Thanks Ron! I started laying the groundwork. Btw thanks for all the great tips on making sand dios over the years.
Looks good. Off to share.
Thanks Tamer! I got my Bandai Captain Phasma today, so that'll be a fun build.
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Outstanding JD he looks like he walked out of the movie.
Ron
Thanks Ron! I started laying the groundwork. Btw thanks for all the great tips on making sand dios over the years.
Looks good. Off to share.
Thanks Tamer! I got my Bandai Captain Phasma today, so that'll be a fun build.
Your welcome JD and glad they helped you out and the dio looks awesome.
Ron
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I built this 1/12 Bandai Captain Phasma. Its a cool kit, same as most of the other figures exept its vac-plated chrome. The kit comes with 2 capes, a hard plastic articulated cape and a soft goods one. I despise the articulated cape, and the soft goods looked like a black dryer sheet. So I ordered a loose TBS phasma cape, however it has one drawback, you can't position her crouching or anything, but I can live with it. She doesnt do anything in the movie anyway. I also painted the Blaster "Jet Exhaust " to be more screen accurate and to give it contrast, so its not chrome on chrome. Actually I need to detail it with some black. I might weather it SLIGHTLY. meybe even build a dio or something, i dunno we'll see what inspiration comes.
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Great work JD and yeah a cloth cape is the way to go for sure.
Ron
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Off to share! Love the metal paint job on this.
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Great work JD and yeah a cloth cape is the way to go for sure.
Ron
Thanks Ron! Usually I get soft goods from richor409 but man it takes 3 weeks to arrive. Last time it got all the way to my local PS and they sent it back. That really turned me off. Its not his fault but that was it for me. I like the black series cape though, nice details.
Off to share! Love the metal paint job on this.
Thanks Tamer! Yeah I like the chrome, there's no other way to go for this figure.
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Great work JD and yeah a cloth cape is the way to go for sure.
Ron
Thanks Ron! Usually I get soft goods from richor409 but man it takes 3 weeks to arrive. Last time it got all the way to my local PS and they sent it back. That really turned me off. Its not his fault but that was it for me. I like the black series cape though, nice details.
I got my first cloth goods from richor409 and it took 2 weeks but a few days the parcel was at customs as they opened it. So 1.5-2 weeks deliver time is good for where I live and his cloth goods are awesome, I picked up a 2 x Luke Farm boy tops and 2 x Brown Jedi robes.
Ron
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I've had this Bandai 1/14000 Star Destroyer for a while, and it's a great little kit. However there isn't anything in the same scale to go along with it, not even the Armada miniatures. So I thought it would be cool to make an Imperial Shipyard. Though in technical terms it's more like a Slipway, or an orbital drydock, but it's where they make Star Destroyers. Right now this is just the basic frame, I still need a lot more detail. I have some photo etch 1/700 railings for the beams or whatever. But, this is the general idea. I thought of getting another SD kit and make it look like it's being constructed.
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Well now if that isn't the coolest thing I have seen all week. An Imperial Shipyard at Imperial Shipyards! Does it get any better than that I don't know! Off to share.
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Well now if that isn't the coolest thing I have seen all week. An Imperial Shipyard at Imperial Shipyards! Does it get any better than that I don't know! Off to share.
Lol. Thank you Tamer! Yeah, I thought you'd get a kick out of it. Originally I was going to do something else, but I couldn't think of a cooler thing than an Imperial Shipyard on the Imperial Shipyards. I'm almost done adding parts and greebles, I'll have an update soon. Well alright meybe a peek. The forks are almost done, I still need to add detail to the hangars inside and out.
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Awesome work JD and awesome idea.
Ron
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Needless to say I am loving this project. The update makes it look even better. Off to share.
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Awesome work JD and awesome idea.
Ron
Thank you Ron! I've been wanting to build something like this for a while, especially after seeing Rogue one. That Shield gate was cool looking.
Needless to say I am loving this project. The update makes it look even better. Off to share.
Thanks Tamer! I had an idea, to make an Imperial Shipyards decal to place on the display base. That might be cool. We'll see, I haven't gotten that far.
I do like the older style with the Star Destroyer. If you have some graphics in your archives Tamer. If you would, post a couple on here, I can copy and have something printed out.
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Woah, an ISY Base sounds fantastic too. So cool, I am having a hard time not wanting to own this one. Really cool work.
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Woah, an ISY Base sounds fantastic too. So cool, I am having a hard time not wanting to own this one. Really cool work.
All I can say is we'll see how it turns out. As long as I don't make a catastrophic mistake it should be pretty cool. I am curious to see how it looks painted.
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I've been debating whether to paint it dark grey or light grey or even hull red brown. So I ended up with a medium grey. It is light but it contrasts the near white of the Star Destroyer. I will paint the hangar interior darker, and meybe some of the rigging hull red. I still need to build the Star Destroyer specifically for this build, meybe in the building process. We'll see, easier said than done. Im actually watching a show about how mega ships are built, that's another reason I did this build, I'm a big nerd about stuff like this.
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Very impressive JD, you could actually see this in a SW movie.
Ron
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I agree. I could so see this design in a Star Wars Movie. Great work JDeck. Off to share the latest. I could so see you adding an led or two to this too.
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Very impressive JD, you could actually see this in a SW movie.
Ron
Thanks Ron! It took a long time to come up with a design, since there's no shipyards in any of the movies. I did find an early concept of a star destroyer dock, but that's about it.
I agree. I could so see this design in a Star Wars Movie. Great work JDeck. Off to share the latest. I could so see you adding an led or two to this too.
Thanks Tamer! Unfortunately it's too late to add leds. Originally I had it so i could disassemble it, until I started adding the support beams and such. I'm tempted to make a part deux, with lighting. All I would need is another space 1999 Eagle kit.
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Well I had been building the in construction Star Destroyer, but I wasn't thrilled with it. After a whole days work I've completely changed my mind on how im going to build the SD. So bare with me I'll have something soon.
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I was wondering how everything was going.
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I got a Vintage Death Star Cannon today in the mail. It has been painted by the previous owner, but he did a pretty neat job. I dont need to undo it. I've never had one of these, I thought it would be way underscaled, but its pretty close, it's huge. The details are pretty nice and accurate especially for being 40 years old. I wouldnt expect much more from Hasbro today. However I will give it my own special touch.
First I will chop off the seat, replacing it with 1/18 car seats. The original prop had two small seats, side by side on the right facing the cannon.
Second I will grind off some of the original detail, and add my own greebles. Mostly the pipes and tubes.
Then putty the screw holes, and finally paint it. So stay tuned, after I mock things up, this should be done rather quickly.
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Really looking forward to seeing the progress and end result mate.
Ron
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sounds like a neat project.
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Look forward to seeing this mate.
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The Imperial Shipyard dio looks awesome.
I wanted to make something similar for the small Revell Star Destroyer but i never got around to it.
I'm looking forward to see the reworked Death Star Cannon.
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Great work and can't wait to see the development of the Death Star Cannon
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Alright. Its been a while since I've posted anything. However I have been lurking on a daily basis, and have been enjoying everyone's awesome work.
So I finally got around to building the Bandai 1/12 General Grevious. Its a very intricate kit. It has a lot of small parts that break easily. Actually in the instructions it literally says do not break, well I saw that after I broke it. But i fixed it good as new. This kit was kind of a pain in the neck to build, but its pretty freggin awesome though. His gits are cast in brown plastic, so i painted that using a combination flesh and red paint mixtures. Of course you cant even see it hardly, so kind of a waste of time really. Some of the parts fall off, so I will just glue them down. However first I will break it down a little so I can weather it.
There are a few different options. Mainly the arms. You have the option of either the two arm or four arm configuration. Also he comes with an articulated plastic cape, I personally do not like articulated capes.
So I'm going to break it down a little, wash it, and weather him soon.
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Great to see you back JD and great build mate can't wait to see it all weathered.
Ron
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Man that looks good. It is great to see you back too. Off to share.
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Great to see you back JD and great build mate can't wait to see it all weathered.
Ron
Thanks Ron! Pretty much the entire neck assembly needs to be glued down, along with other various parts. Its a good kit, but it is very fragile.
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Man that looks good. It is great to see you back too. Off to share.
Thank you Tamer, it's good to be back. Just got out of the habit of building everyday, but the work I've seen on here has inspired me to get back into it.
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I started the weathering process. First i disassembled the armor parts. I sanded them with sand paper and a scouring pad. Then I used an exacto knife to create scratches and scars. You can barely see them, but with a blackwash it'll show better. Now I'm just soaking the parts in soapy water.
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Wow, that chest cavity looks so awesome!
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Wow, that chest cavity looks so awesome!
I know! Too bad you can hardly see it, but a creative person could do something with it.
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I weathered the General Grevious. I used the woodland scenics earth colors belive it or not. First black, Tan then Brown. The weathering i had dpne prior now shows up much better. Grevious' armor looks very much like old bones, so thats what I was going for. I also glued many of the peices together using Tamiya styrene cement. It is much better now. Before I could barely touch it without the thing falling apart.
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It does seem like it would break apart easily. Good idea on the cement. It looks great.
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It does seem like it would break apart easily. Good idea on the cement. It looks great.
Yeah I have to ship it across the country. At first I was like, man its gonna be a box of parts when it gets there, but I'm more confident it will survive. I should freeze it in carbonite.
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Wow, JDeck - Grievous turned out great!
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Damn he looks awesome JD and your right it's a pity the chest cavity is covered up as you did an awesome job on it.
Ron
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This build is really amazing! Your sculpting is really excellent. I look forward to the finished project, I think it will be outstanding.
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The weathering on General Grievous is superb! What a great idea! I am very impressed by all your projects! Will take some time to go through all 30 pages, though!
Love the moisture vaporator especially the worrt! Your modelling skills are excellent and I think the worrt is my favourite sculpt so far! Have you considered to make molds of your sculpts?
- Philipp
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Thank you Ron, Starchaser and Phillip for the great words of encouragement. :D
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I haven't worked on any projects lately. I've been out of practice. So I figured I would do a quick excersize project. It's a TIE Interceptor, with Imperial airfield base.
I've been thinking about doing a TIE fighter Imperial air base diorama for a while, but it wasn't until I saw Talonreap's landing pad that I finally got off my duff and built it.
The base is just 4 bases from the Bandai 1/12 figure kits, fitted and glued together. Then I just painted it matte black, even though it's black already, I wanted to give it a matte sheen. Then i added a white triangle decal from a model aircraft decal sheet, then placed an imperial decal from the AT-ST kit over that. In my imagination the triangle signifies the TIE INTERCEPTOR landing area.
I made the light post spire thing out of model kit parts. A 1/35 20mm cannon, and some other various parts. The laders are from a 1/72 airfield kit, I just glued them together then on to a 1/72 tank deck, to make what I call a maintenance sled. I figured it was a repulsorlift creeper like thing with a ladder system to perform maintenance duties. I have fun inventing my own Star Wars tech. Lol. The figures are Micro Machines TIE pilots and officer with some modifications.
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Looks awesome JD.
Ron
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The TIE base diorama looks great.
I like the landing light and the maintenance sled.
Excellent work.
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Very nice. Good to see you with a new project too. Off to share.
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Looks awesome JD.
Ron
Thank you! Those Bandai display tiles come in handy. I need to buy more figure kits. Lol.
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The TIE base diorama looks great.
I like the landing light and the maintenance sled.
Excellent work.
Thank you. Yeah I enjoy kitbashing bits together. Its like a puzzle with no paticular answer.
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Very nice. Good to see you with a new project too. Off to share.
Thank you. The cool thing about these tiles is, I can expand. Possibly make another for either Vader's TIE or regular TIE. and i can connect them all together. Just need more tiles.
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I was sitting thinking about what my next little project should be. I'm going on vaccation in a couple of weeks, so I have not much time or money. I remembered I have a Bandai AT-AT that needs TLC. I kind of want to make an Endor AT. I have a few LEDs I can use. I'm just in the mocking up stage. Disassembling, drilling holes running wires. That's the awesome thing about these snap kits, you can take them apart very easily. I have a few ideas, I'm going to put the switch under the removable panel, and the battery fits well inside the body cavity. I just have to drill holes and run wires through the neck. Then pull it all apart and paint it. Then put it all together again.
(Edit) I ran the wires through the body. I still need to install the switch and trim the wires. If my old shop teacher saw this he'd say it looks like a damn blown up spaghetti factory. Lol.
The last picture is a comparison from the original AT-AT and the model with a blue filter. I know they used a blue filter for the movie. Perhaps with a slightly more blueish tint to the paint. I think I have just the right shade already. I'll probably start on that tomorrow.
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Really looking forward to seeing this when it's completed.
Ron
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Wow, spot on for that lighting period. Off to share.
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Really looking forward to seeing this when it's completed.
Ron
Thank you Ron. Meybe when I come back I will make a Dio for it.
Wow, spot on for that lighting period. Off to share.
Thank you Tamer. I was looking through my paints and every thing I have is either too dark or too light. So I just went ahead and ordered a can of British grey, its just the right amount of blue in it.
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oh yeah, that color looks great.
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While I'm waiting for paint, I started fooling around with the landing platform section. I shaped a sheet of styrene with boiling water, reinforced it, and gave it some panels. Then I started on the gantry/ walkway thing. I just formed the supports. Right now I just tacked them in place, I may tweek it a bit. There is a lot of work to be done. I just need to order some open web trusses. The rest I already have the materials.
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Wow, this is really turning out nice. Off to share.
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Wow, this is really turning out nice. Off to share.
Thank you Tamero. I worked on it slightly but there's not much I can do until I get the trusses.
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Are you gonna light up your landing platform too?
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JDeck, that landing platform is shaping up nicely. I look forward to the final product. Would you be willing to show us a picture of the backside of the platform? I'm taking notes:)
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Are you gonna light up your landing platform too?
Yes. I think I will. Just inside the hallway, about 6 leds. 2 on the outside 1/3 up the tower. Possibly the 2 red lights at the top end of the hallway. I had a crazy idea to light all of those tiny lights on the tower with fiber optics, but no. No way man. Lol. So I'll order them meybe when I get back from europe.
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JDeck, that landing platform is shaping up nicely. I look forward to the final product. Would you be willing to show us a picture of the backside of the platform? I'm taking notes:)
Thank you. Yeah its just a peice of Styrene to make a D shape. I formed the rounded tower with hot water, but I glued on the sheet to make it more structurally sound. It wont bend or flex.
It's just going to be placed at the edge of the diorama. That way it takes less space and I don't have to build the whole thing.
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I started painting the AT-AT. The Royal Navy grey is actually very close to the color of the plastic. Ahh well. It'll work great. It is very slightly darker though, but not noticeably different. However it is a more flat color than the plastic.
The body I wanted some chipping effects so I painted it a darker color (Dark Ghost grey). Then I used the masking paint to create the effect. Once it is dry I can paint it the royal grey and peel the liquid mask. I don't care about accuracy anymore, I'm just doing whatever I want.
I'm not sure what I want to do with the head, so Ill see how the masking effect looks.
The legs I painted royal grey with no chipping.
I'll do the same for the undercarriage.
The last picture compares the original plastic (head) and the Royal Navy grey (leg) pretty close. But I must say this color is very strange. Sometimes it's really dark, sometimes it looks light. I use it a lot for imperial models, works great for ANH TIE fighters, and walkers.
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I think your new paint looks good. Looking forward to seeing how that masking effect takes off. Off to share the latest.
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Another awesome vehicle project! I'm very excited to see the final result!
- Philipp
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I think your new paint looks good. Looking forward to seeing how that masking effect takes off. Off to share the latest.
Thank you Tamer. Yeah it's pretty subtle. Just adds a little more to it. I went and bought some lindseed oil for weathering and oil streaking. I appied it, but it will take some time for it to dry.
Another awesome vehicle project! I'm very excited to see the final result!
- Philipp
Thank you Phillip. I am excited too. Lol. It's a pretty small model so it shouldn't take too much longer.
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The weathering (especially the chipping effects) looks great.
I can't wait to see the finished walker.
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The weathering (especially the chipping effects) looks great.
I can't wait to see the finished walker.
Thank you Faila! You can achieve the same chipping effect using liquid latex, however personally I find latex to be noxious at times. But it is a cheaper and more widely availible option.
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I put a flat clear coat on the legs and body. The lindseed oil dries way too slowly than I wanted.
On another note, I did get my trusses in today. They seem like the correct size. So I'll work on that tomorrow. Then finish up the rest of the weathering on the walker.
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Looks pretty good to me. Glad those trusses are the right size. Keep going man. I like it. Off to share.
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The paint job is looking really good on this AT-AT. I enjoy watching the progress and appreciate the explanations very much.
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Wondering how this is progressing and if those trusses worked.
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The progress pics looks excellent mate and I can't wait to see more.
Ron