WIP : HGUC RX-78GP01 Pt. 2 – Painting & Finishing
General malaise has slowed down my builds but I’m trying to ramp it up again by finishing this one. I managed to lose the insert on the left torso so I scratchbuilt something out of plastic plate and Kotobukiya minus molds. Painting begins as usual with a base coat of black. My GP01 will have …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 SV-51y Pt. 1 – Construction
My annual Macross build begins with this one, a part of a build-off with my good friend Maxwinamp from Out There. He is done with his while I’m still taking my own sweet time. Ah well. Anyway, beautiful CGI boxart as usual from Tenjin Hidetaka. A dryfit shows a surprisingly huge kit. As usual with …...
WIP : HGUC RX-78GP01 Pt. 1 – Construction
I’ve had this kit snapfitted for a few years already so I thought it’s time to finish it before Bandai eventually releases a new version. Except for the overly large hands typical of older HGUC releases, I’ve always liked the proportions of this kit. So there’ll just be very minor mods on this one. First …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 AV-8B Harrier II Pt. 2 – Construction, Painting & Finishing
Gap fixing took some time as quite a few prominent joints didn’t fall on natural panel lines. There was a noticeable seamline where the LERX meets the wing which required filling and rescribing of the whole area. The bottom was relatively free of annoying seamlines. The fit of the gunpod though… The gunpod system is …...
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 AV-8B Harrier II Pt. 1 – Construction
I started this kit in early December 2020 thinking that since it was from Hasegawa I should be able to finish it by the end of year and hit my target of a dozen kits completed. Alas, I had too much faith in Hasegawa. This kit really needed ‘some basic modeling skills’ after all. What …...
WIP : Fujimi 1/72 A-4F Skyhawk Pt. 2 – Construction, Painting & Finishing
Work continues with the smaller details that need to be addressed. First up is the mis-molded tailhook which eventually broke during my handling during construction. I cut off the tailhook bar and replaced it with 0.5mm plastic rod instead. I drilled a hole into the actuator side and inserted the rod to get a more …...
WIP : Fujimi 1/72 A-4F Skyhawk Pt. 1 – Construction
I’ve been wanting to build an A-4 Skyhawk armed for an Iron Hand (air defense suppression) mission for a while now and have heard good things about the Fujimi kit. Let’s see how it goes together shall we? The ejection seat has very fine belts molded on but I replaced them with 0.7mm masking tape …...
WIP : Academy 1/48 F-16A ‘TOPGUN 51’ Pt.6 – Painting & Finishing
So we finally come to the meat and potato parts of the build: painting and finishing. I begin with a base coat of Mr Hobby Black Surfacer 1500 thinned with Mr Leveling Thinner which results in a smooth and semi-gloss surface. This is now my go-to base coat when I can spray outdoors. For the …...
WIP : Academy 1/48 F-16A ‘TOPGUN 51’ Pt.5 – Construction
It’s been a long WIP but it’s finally the last post for this one. The kit only comes with decals for the console details although it comes with detailed foot pedals. Very odd choice by Academy. There’s no open canopy option although I’ve always intended to keep this one closed anyway so I’ll live with...
WIP : Academy 1/48 F-16A ‘TOPGUN 51’ Pt.4 – Construction
Since I took the time to correct 1 aspect of the kit, I inevitably had to go ahead and try to correct the other more obvious ones. Unlike the Hasegawa kit, the missile rails here are separate but was designed to fit in a strange way with the connecting point being visible. The tab also …...
