Friday 4 October 2013

QMHE 2013

Recently Queensland Hobby and Model Expo was held (8 - 9 Sept). The photo's are of the Competition Table - and some photo's of the Gundam Australia Forum guys and girls who showed up on the weekend.
cobraleader's QMHE_2013 album on Photobucket

Blog Update

Well, My local Hobby Expo has come and gone (QMHE - Queensland Hobby and Model Expo). This was held Sept 8th and 9th. I usually have a break from modelling after this event. So now the break is over, time to get Modelling back on track.
I have over 23 model kits in my backlog. Time to clear these off the bench, some have definitely become shelf queens.

Maker
Scale
Model
MPC/ERTL
X-Wing
MPC/ERTL
AT-AT
Airfix
HMS Victory
Bandai 1/100 W-Gundam Zero Custom
Bandai 1/100 GN-001 Gundam Exia
Hasegawa 1/72 YF-19
Revell 1/72 AT-AT
IMAI
Macross Figure
row 2, cell 1 1/200 Bismark
Wave 1/72 Legioss AFC-01h ETA
Bandai 1/72 Destroid Spartan
Bandai 1/72 Destroid Defender
IMAI 1/144 Destroid Defender
AMT/ERTL 1/72 B-52
Knights Models 25mm Han Solo
HobbyKit 1/72 Blackhawk
Italeri 1/35 M113
Matchbox 1/72 Jet Provast
Revell/Monogram
USS Voyager
AMT/ERTL
TOS USS Enterprise
AMT/ERTL
USS Enterprise
Tamiya 1/35 Dinosaur


 As you may have noticed, a few projects I had posted earlier haven't been updated, so I'll do some blog updating as well. Pics of QMHE will be coming up shortly

Sunday 30 June 2013

Blog Update

Added new images to the gallery page. The Andrea TechnoCop (RoboCop) has been added to the Complete 2013 Models gallery

RAN Sea King 50th Anniversary

Back on task with the RAN Sea King 50th Anniversary build.

Sorry, no video update on the progress. The paint scheme has caused me some headaches and found a few flaws that need to be fixed.

I ended up using Gunze Paint H57 Aircraft Grey, H1 Gloss White and H25 Sky Blue.

I'm using the Hawkeye Models decals for the 50th Anniversary markings. The come with a template for the white and grey demarcation. Unfortunately, due to the detail I've added, they don't fit well, so I've tried using tamiya tape for masking. Used the templates as a guide to cut new templates and cut through to hard and ruined the underlying paint work, so had to fill and re-sand.
After some heart ache, I've got the grey and white demarcation done.

Now the blue demarcation is a soft edge and one photo's I've seen, the radome has overspray - yes over spray of the blue colour. So free hand airbrushing was easy to apply this time.

The Hawkeye decals are not individually cut out, so you need to cut out each one before applying. I have to almost cut right through the backing paper in order to cut the decal film. I learnt as I was applying them on the model, that a sharp knife won't cut them while they are wet and even when dry tend to stretch rather than tear or be cut.
The decals are also printed and there is some pixeling of the artwork.

The colour decals are thin and the colours somewhat transparent. There is a seperate white sheet for the colour decals, to be applied onto the blue painted area.


The colour decals apply right over these.  They snuggle down well with Micro-Sol Micro Set.  With the clear decal film cut close as possible to the markings, the decals look like they are painted on.

The decals go on easily, they can be stretched - I had to be careful around some of the details, as I could easily warp the decal.  This more so around the nose, where all that extra detail was starting to cause problems.







Now the big draw backs the decals aren't really designed to go around the nose, as you can see, I had some problems with the detail, but also, the decals ended up overlapping each other, which caused colour variation where it over lapped - I'll fix this up later.



 

I originally taped the nose cover while applying the side decals.  I removed the tape before applying the main decal.  There are alignment issues, gaps and the sizes are on the large side.  I originally cut a slit down the middle of the main decal, but it wasn't long enough - it needs to go through about 3/4 of the decal.  Since I didn't, the decal curled over and thankfully, the decal reacted well the Micro-Set and the decal snuggled down to a smooth finish, even over all that detail.  Just more areas to touch up later.


Well, thats it for this update ...

Monday 24 June 2013

Blog Update

G'day All, As you can see I'm playing around with the blog layout and structure. I'm use to using FrontPage or Dream Weaver to create websites, so using a blog is a bit of a challenge. So bare with me while I make some changes, hopefully I'll be able to achieve the blog function I want ...

Friday 14 June 2013

Humbrol Weathering Powders

G'Day All,

Playing around with the new Humbrol Weathering Powders at the moment.
There are around 8 different powders available from Humbrol.  At present, my local hobby shop only has 3, Black, Rust and Dark Earth - so its these 3 that I've reviewed.

I chose an Airfix WWI Female Tank for the weathering process.

Overall, the powders are ok, they do go on as indicated by the Humbrol YouTube, and can be worked with the Humbrol range of Enamel Thinners, MattCote and DecalFix.
The powders look like someone has ground up a chalk pastel stick of colours.  You get varying sizes of dust particles in each bottle.  They can be worked onto the model with paint brushes.  Humbrol MattCote and Thinner can be used to apple the powder and hold them in place.  DecalFix and water can be used as well, although the MattCote is the better alternative, as its a bit more resilient to handling.  I find you can work with both mediums for awhile, however after a few hours the MattCote/Thinner mixture is difficult to work with.  The other medium is still workable after a few hours.

The powders are messy to work with, so make sure you are prepared for a messy work area and hands.
I'll post some videos below of my earlier attempts at using them.  Although I hadn't tested decalfix method at the time of the videos being created, I have tested them since.  They do work well in this medium.

My tip to everyone, use very cheap or old paint brushes, as applying the powders can damage the bristles, especially if you want to create a caked on mud look.

I have mixed the powders with Tamiya weathering powders and get similar results.

In the videos, I'm also reviewing the Airfix Female Tank and creating a diorama.

Here are the videos;






Sunday 19 May 2013

Gundam MS 08th Diorama

Taken a bit of a break from the current workbench workload.

I've watched Gundam MS08th recently and thought a Gun Sniper dio would be a nice little change.
So to make this one more interesting, A Gun Sniper about to take out a Zaku.

So to get the ball rolling here we go.

The 2 kits are the BanDai 1/144 HG GM Sniper and the 1/144 HG MS-06J Zaku II.


RAN Sea King 50th Anniversary

Its been awhile between updates.

I have moved abit further on the Sea King.  Primer and Paint applied and found a few mistakes and the paint finish ended up being grainy, so I have to redo it.  I will post the paint update as soon as I've finished.

Thursday 21 February 2013

RAN Sea King 50th Anniversary

Intervention !
Okay not that bad, just had a few sleepless nights that allowed me to move fast on this.  I actually do sound tired in some parts ....

Part 7















Part 8





















Tuesday 5 February 2013

RAN Sea King 50th Anniversary

Well, the Sea King conversion is going along nicely.

I've upload several videos.  I've found an old video that i did mid 2012, but never got around to posting until January 2013.
This is Part 3a



Part 4


Part 5


and Part 6



And here are a few pictures of the work i've done of late ...



























Monday 28 January 2013

RAN Sea King 50th Anniversary

I've been working on converting the Airfix 1/72 Westland Sea King AEW. Mk.2/ASaC.Mk7 into a Royal Australian Navy Mk.50 Sea King.

I had originally started uploading YouTube articles of the build, but had no blog of the build, so here it is ....

To catch everyone up to where I'm at, here is a run down on what I've been doing.

Brought the Airfix 1/72 Sea King kit and Hawkeye Models 50th Anniversary Decals.
So I'm converting this



into this



Here is a breakdown of the kit parts.
Basically the kit is a re-box with extra new parts.  The old sprue runners are the same as the original Sea King Rescue chopper.

The instruction sheet is a thin booklet, however there are 2 colour (painting) sheets included.






The Clear sprue come in their own seperate bag - this is a big change from previous Airfix boxings I've built.






On closer inspection, the parts all have molding flaws, all tranparent parts have dimples on both sides.  They all appear overly thick, so these should be easily sanded out.

The sprue trees all come in one bag.






Now to show you what I've been doing up until a few weeks ago, here are my Youtube videos of the build in action .....

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3





Sunday 6 January 2013

Dragon US Infantry, 2nd Armored Division (Normandy 1944) Diorama

Completed

okay, declaring this one completed .....







Dragon US Infantry, 2nd Armored Division (Normandy 1944) Diorama

Figures Part 2

I've added a Nemrod Medic and Wounded GI, drilled out the Flak Gun muzzles, repainted the flak gun, glued everything in place, added diorama scenery......

















Dragon US Infantry, 2nd Armored Division (Normandy 1944) Diorama

Figures 

I'm somewhat behind on updating this Blog - so, I'll flood it with updates .....



Here I've built the figures and primed them ready for painting.





I've painted the figures, using a layering technique, where you start with a dark base (above) and work towards the highlights (below).
Model Master has a "Skin" Colour series.  Skin Tone Warm Tint, Skin Tone Shadow Tint and 2 other colours ....
I also used Model Master Tan (FS20400) and Humbrol 73.

Mixed a dark colour mix and slowly worked towards a light tone by mixing the lighter colours.  Used the layering technique - about 10 layers and then dry brushed with a Tan and Skin Tone Warm mix.