WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 VF-25S Messiah Pt.3 – Finishing
The kit decals went on OK. Some are robust and took handling and adjusting well but others did tear and some careful re-alignment was needed.
I also made a big mistake in putting the SMS logo on the wrong side of the tailfins. I had to carefully re-hydrate them to move them to the correct side. In the process I managed to strip the black color on one of the tailfins. So I carefully sanded and buffed the area, masked off the existing decals, then re-sprayed black. It looks OK now.
The whole point of going with Ozma Lee’s VF-25S colors is the very cool skull logo on the back of his VF-25. Thankfully Hasegawa designed it in 3 parts. Due to their intricate design, I went with decals for the yellow and black chevrons. The other yellow markings were masked and sprayed. The 2 shades of yellow don’t quite match but I’ll live with it.
Once the decals have cured, the kit was wiped down, dusted and sprayed with another gloss coat to prepare for the panel wash and weathering.
Weathering begins with a panel wash using Mig AMMO Deep Brown wash. Is it better than the usual oil paint sludge? Not really. But it’s ready to use out of the bottle.
I’m not neat about it at all. What matters more is that the wash gets into all the panel lines.
After 30 minutes or so, I wipe down the kit with a paper towel lightly dampened with odorless turpentine.
I tried my best to wipe from the front to back direction. This follows the direction of airflow (er… yeah even though these things usually fly in a vacuum).
Next I added filters, discoloration, faded the decals and streaks using the same brown wash in addition to white and black oil paints. The efforts are more obvious in the light gray areas.
I made sure to add streaks on the wing actuators.
The overall markings and (especially) the skull doesn’t look as stark now.
Final assembly of the parts is next and I can call this done.
Build Log
Pt. 1 – Construction | Pt. 2 – Painting | Pt. 3 – Finishing
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 VF-25S Messiah Pt.2 – Painting
Looks patchy after a few rounds of gray to check for seamlines. But it’s finally ready to paint.
First is the base of Tamiya XF-1 Flat Black cut with lacquer thinner.
The VF-25S is in a 2 tone gray camo. I used MIG AMMO Light Gray for the lighter gray.
I’m guessing because the mecha were all CGI animated in the TV series the designers could get away with more stylized camouflage designs. That translates to having to do a lot more masking though. In any case, I first used 1.5mm and vinyl masking tape to trace the curves, then the usual masking tape to backfill the rest.
The darker shade of gray using Model Air Aggressor Gray was then sprayed on.
The colors were added in thin coats so the black base shows through. The result is a patchy look that I think looks good for an operational machine.
The masking tape are then removed and checked for any spot fixing required. Luckily there was only a few this time. Once that’s done, it was time for decals. I begin with a gloss coat.
While waiting for the gloss coat to cure, I assembled the thrusters. For some unknown reason the various components were snapfitted together. These will be installed during final assembly.
Finishing this kit is next!
Build Log
Pt. 1 – Construction | Pt. 2 – Painting | Pt. 3 – Finishing
Upcoming : Hasegawa Crusher Joe Fighter 1
It’s about time I say! Back in the 1980s I had the 1/144 Takara release and of course, I wrecked it by painting with Tamiya markers. Since this is from Hasegawa’s Creative Works line, it should be quite nicely detailed. Plus it’s in a nice 1/72 scale to boot.
Can’t wait for the actual finished kit to be shown. More pics at Hobby Search.
WIP : Hasegawa 1/72 VF-25S Messiah Pt. 1 – Construction
Building up a Hasegawa Macross kit is easier than a typical aircraft kit in that they can be built up in subassemblies like a mecha kit. However, some planning is needed to make this work out so I begin by cutting and dryfitting the major parts together. As usual with Hasegawa, the fit is very good though tolerances are tight in some parts.
Since I’m building Ozma’s VF-25S, I went with the single seat cockpit. The ejection seat is nicely detailed although hidden once the Ozma figure is attached.
As with any aircraft kit, the pilot and cockpit needs to be painted and finished first.
With the instrument coamings installed, the cockpit is tight place to be and very little can be seen. The main console itself is a decal.
Hasegawa designs the wings to be movable but I went ahead to cement them in deployed position instead.
The exhausts are very detailed and also movable. I’ll be prepping these separately and only installing in the final stage.
As usual with my Macross kits, I want to build them in-flight whenever possible. The pole is a hollow brass rod secured with a glob of epoxy putty.
The kit came together quickly. Gaps and seamlines are part and parcel of building a kit, but with careful (and multiple) dry-fits, it’s possible to minimize them.
I spray gray color on all all the joint areas to check for gaps and seamlines. The gray color makes any issues easier to see. Luckily for me, there were only a few areas that require fixing.
The canopy was masked and given a coat of Mr. Masking Sol R. The liquid mask will fill any gap I miss with the masking tape and more importantly, it will also hold everything in place. I didn’t use the liquid mask in my previous build and the masking tape lifted and caused some overspray. Lesson learned, I’m not going to skip this step anymore.
Once dry, I’ll attach the canopy to the kit with Gator Glue and then it’s time to proceed to painting.
Build Log
Pt. 1 – Construction | Pt. 2 – Painting | Pt. 3 – Finishing
WIP : Nitto 1/20 PKA Gustav Pt. 1 – Construction
Time to thin my SF3D/Ma.K stash! This is a PKA Gustav from Nitto when Maschinen Krieger was still known as SF3D. It has since been superseded by a snapfit release from Wave. While this is definitely showing its age with its 1980s engineering and fit, it’s a multimedia kit: it includes brass rods, wires, springs and brass mesh to detail the kit up. But it’s so old school it can’t even hold it’s one accesory, the Panzerfaust. 😛
Unlike the Wave kits, this one doesn’t come with the pain in the ass rubber joints. They are instead solid pieces like Gunpla without the fabric-looking covers. The limbs are attached via polycaps but aren’t really poseable: the arms swing and you can bend them slighly. I decided to make the covers with epoxy putty with the folds molded using the flat end of a Tamiya paint stirrer. Since I had some spare epoxy putty left, I also added cushions to the seat and headrest.
Due to how it’s designed, I have to build up the full interior before closing everything together. The majority would be in shadow but the pilot will need some decent painting done as I was planning to leave the visor open. Interestingly, the pilot has access to a PDW in the form of a small sub-machinegun inside the suit. It’s molded with the magazine separate and they are attached to a plate which fits to the back of the suit. Once the pilot is attached this whole piece can’t be seen.
As for the pilot, it took me 4 attempts before I managed what is seen here. It’s definitely not great, but it’ll have to do. I’ll just make sure people see it from 3 feet away.
The legs flop around even with the polycaps and are really only holding a walking pose due to the careful bending of the brass rods that are inside the springs. The instruction indicates that the clear piece on the chest can be wired for an LED (not included) but I replaced this with a Kotobukiya round mold. The original included copper wire running under the chest piece was replaced with easier to bend lead wire. I also added 2 round molds on the chest as small added details.
This kit has some very obvious seamlines which will need fixing and once that’s done, I’m ready to paint.