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Stupid newbie question. I'm thinking about dipping my toes in modelling after being interested in it for years. Vehicle, aircraft, and figures, all as kitbashed as possible and sci-fi themed is what I'm mostly interested in. I did some 40k and a tank or two when I was a kid so I know the absolute basics. I don't really want to throw any real money at it until I'm sure it isn't just another temporary ADD interest. Is there a super cheap way to get bits and things to kitbash with other than plastic bottles and other every-day trash? Is it possible to get toy bits and other little detailed pieces without buying a bunch of stuff from the dollar store and taking it apart? I could do that but I feel bad about breaking up perfectly good toys.
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Sep 29, 2023 02:42
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grassy gnoll posted:What all will we need to provide to kick things off, other than a photo of the doom-shelf? I've got plenty to do, and there are literally not enough hours before the end of the year for me to empty out my backlog. I think that and a pic of the final product ought to do. Maybe just keep track personally and make an effort post at the end. That’s my plan.
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Sep 29, 2023 02:59
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Texas finished, with a number of poorly-aligned parts and misplaced bits. Still, I had a lot of fun with it. On to the Iowa!
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Sep 29, 2023 10:17
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Nyyen posted:Stupid newbie question. I'm thinking about dipping my toes in modelling after being interested in it for years. Vehicle, aircraft, and figures, all as kitbashed as possible and sci-fi themed is what I'm mostly interested in. I did some 40k and a tank or two when I was a kid so I know the absolute basics. There are some lines that are made for kit bashing like the 30 Minute Missions from Bandai. That line is specifically made so that the joints and connectors are compatible with each other so you can mix and match limbs, heads, weapons, and other accessories. There are plenty of other vendors you can get them from, but this is one: https://www.usagundamstore.com/collections/30-minute-mission They are all pretty cheap. All you really need is a good pair of nippers, a glass file, and a hobby knife, imo.
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Sep 29, 2023 14:39
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https://twitter.com/s20_tbl/status/1707704959851270232
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Sep 29, 2023 16:54
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The game Model Builder is free on the epic games store now. No idea if it’s any good or not but free is nice
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Sep 29, 2023 17:18
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Nyyen posted:Stupid newbie question. I'm thinking about dipping my toes in modelling after being interested in it for years. Vehicle, aircraft, and figures, all as kitbashed as possible and sci-fi themed is what I'm mostly interested in. I did some 40k and a tank or two when I was a kid so I know the absolute basics. Kibner posted:There are some lines that are made for kit bashing like the 30 Minute Missions from Bandai. That line is specifically made so that the joints and connectors are compatible with each other so you can mix and match limbs, heads, weapons, and other accessories. There are plenty of other vendors you can get them from, but this is one: https://www.usagundamstore.com/collections/30-minute-mission Yeah, the gunpla thread in ADTRW is a good resource for what you're looking for, I think. I primarily do gunpla, but I love this thread for techniques and also because beautiful planes and armor make my brain happy. The skill floor is really low since the kits generally are just snap-fit and come premolded in the color the part needs to be, with minimal stickers for accents (depending on the age of the kit--stuff from the 1990s/early 2000s can be dire). And you can go as deep as you want: painting, detailing, dioramas, kitbash, full conversions... sky's the limit. A great way to get started, but might also set some unrealistic expectations for armor and planes if you branch out into them.
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Sep 29, 2023 19:00
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Okay, for Backlogtoberfest the rules are simple. Post a pic of your shelf of doom kits sometime this weekend. By the end of the year, post which of those kits you finished. Whichever finished kit is coolest, I'll throw you a small Amazon gift card. To be considered, your kit has to appear in both the before and after pics.
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Sep 30, 2023 01:45
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Saw these at the Maritime museum and have a massive itch to make a Stuart-era wooden boat model: 1550’s era ship  1670’s era ship I took pictures of these 2 to show the development which is really quite stark, but I definitely be airing towards the latter - if not something closer to the mid-18 century. I do have the airfix Cuttysark model but it’s just so old and feeble, It’s very difficult to drum up any enthusiasm for it!
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Sep 30, 2023 12:25
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I've taken a pause from building plastic kits for something somewhat different. My wife's parents visited us recently and brought a gift for me. It's one of those dollhouse kit things and it's pretty neat:    About halfway done or so as a lot of it is building books and boxes that represent stacks of books, but it's pretty dang neat as a diversion. It even comes with LED lights.
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Sep 30, 2023 18:28
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stealie72 posted:Scale modeling E/N content: The neat thing about car models is that all it takes is a leftover gun from another kit and they can become technicals.
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Sep 30, 2023 18:42
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Southern Heel posted:Saw these at the Maritime museum and have a massive itch to make a Stuart-era wooden boat model: If you do decide to take the plunge, definitely take a look at Vanguard models. If he makes a kit you like, even though it's a bit pricier than older companies/kits, the materials are top notch, his designs are actually made to be buildable by normal people, and the instructions are excellent. https://vanguardmodels.co.uk/
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Sep 30, 2023 19:22
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Lavinia Spenlow posted:I've taken a pause from building plastic kits for something somewhat different. My wife's parents visited us recently and brought a gift for me. It's one of those dollhouse kit things and it's pretty neat: I haven't gotten one yet, but since some of my favorite relaxing youtube channels are people making kits like this, I keep getting tempted. I've seen a couple really neat looking ramen or sushi shop kits.
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Sep 30, 2023 20:02
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The Locator posted:If you do decide to take the plunge, definitely take a look at Vanguard models. If he makes a kit you like, even though it's a bit pricier than older companies/kits, the materials are top notch, his designs are actually made to be buildable by normal people, and the instructions are excellent. These look awesome! I have no interest in brigs and small boats though, so according to this chap I’m not in contention for his HMS Speedy / Sphinx 
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Oct 1, 2023 12:10
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Southern Heel posted:These look awesome! I have no interest in brigs and small boats though, so according to this chap I’m not in contention for his HMS Speedy / Sphinx So if you are going to take on a project like Speedy / Sphinx as your first wooden ship, then a kit from Vanguard would give you a much greater chance of actually completing it then an old kit from Constructo, Amati, Artesania Latina, etc. Vanguard is the newest maker of wooden model ships on the scene and the quality of design, materials and instructions are much higher than anyone else. I'd personally recommend that you select a subject that you are actually interested in for sure, as you are more likely to work through the tough stuff than if it's something you don't care about, but having a kit that actually gives you good instructions and materials is gonna give you a huge advantage over the older kits where things umm.. are left to the builder to figure out in many cases.
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Oct 1, 2023 16:21
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The Locator posted:So if you are going to take on a project like Speedy / Sphinx as your first wooden ship, then a kit from Vanguard would give you a much greater chance of actually completing it then an old kit from Constructo, Amati, Artesania Latina, etc. Vanguard is the newest maker of wooden model ships on the scene and the quality of design, materials and instructions are much higher than anyone else. I was definitely considering whether it was better to get a kit which was easier but I don’t care about versus getting a kit that I do care about that might be impossible for my skill level! If Vanguard is going to give me the best chance then I feel slightly more comforted. Speedy is one level “lower” than the Sphinx so maybe a good shout!
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Oct 1, 2023 17:13
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 Hello, everyone. It's October 1st, so Backlogtoberfest 2023 officially begins! Everyone who builds scale models with any frequency has a "shelf of doom," a place where half-built and forgotten kits go to die. I know it, you know it, and you could argue that it's all part of the scale modeling experience. Either you lose your motivation for your particular subject, you hit a wall with an incredible patch of tedious, fiddly bits, or (like me), your gnat-like attention span forces your mind and heart to wander - cracking open the next kit before this one is ever done. Enter the 2023 Backlogtoberfest SA group build. This group build is intended to help give you the motivation to power those lost, forlorn kits that have been languishing on the shelf of doom for years; staring at you longingly as they watch you open new box after box while they sit collecting dust. The premise is simple: post a picture of the started kits in your backlog to declare your participation in the group build, then complete as many of them as you can by December 31st, 2023. Post your completed builds by that date and you'll be in consideration for a small prize (read: Amazon gift card from me, most likely). The only real rule is that, to be considered for said modest prize, your completed build must appear in a state of partial build in your initial participation photo. If I can figure out a way to do it gracefully, I'll set up a way to do a quick community survey to select the winner after December 31st. Else, I'll just pick whichever one I think is neatest, like I've been saying I would. You are welcome and encouraged to post progress photos as you go along. We'll keep everything in this thread so as not to dilute an already very niche subject material. So, off we go and best of luck. Get those derelicts off the shelf and start cracking. 
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Oct 1, 2023 17:19
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Here is my backlog as of today. Clockwise from 9 o'clock: 1. A 1/35 Panther A from Dragon. I built it then realized it needed Zimmerit to be accurate, so I shelved it. I have a diorama idea for it that wouldn't require Zimmerit, but that would need a building and a few other vehicles to come to fruition, so it might be back burnered even longer. 2. 1/35 Panzer IV E also from Dragon. It was a really nice build with no issues, but when I got to the painting stage, it just kinda pooped out for no real obvious reason. Along with the figures in the bowls above it, I have another diorama idea that I think I might be able to bring to life by the end of the GB. This will be the second project I work on once I'm done with my current build. 3. 1/350 IJN Kongo from Fujimi. I wouldn't exactly call this a shelf of doom build. I get it out from time to time and chip away at it. Between the kit itself and the aftermarket PE for it, it's just an incredibly detailed and extensive project, so I'm slowly, if not intermittently taking little bites of it here and there. 4. 1/32 SBD-3 Dauntless from Trumpeter (it's in loose pieces on the desk). I had a dio idea for this 3-4 years ago, but it is probably greater than my skillset allows, so I'm shifting directions and will recreate a couple historical photos of a Guadalcanal/Cactus Air Force aircraft instead. I just broke this out yesterday and got it primed, so this will be the first project I focus on. 5. 1/32 B-24J liberator from Hobby Boss. Much like the Kongo, this is just a massive undertaking, though it's been shelved for quite a long time. The interior is ~80% built, but I just hit a wall knowing I'd have to hand paint a billion little bits like ammo boxes, fire extinguishers, and other ancillary crap. This will likely be the third project I work on if I can finish the SBD and Panzer IV ideas I have. I'll likely divert from my usual SW Pac theme to build this as the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Cat_(aircraft)]Black Cat[/b], the last American bomber shot down over Germany before the end of WWII. I read the book, "Wings of Morning" by Thomas Childers, the nephew of the radio operator who was KIA on the mission years ago, and it's a haunting and well-written book. Really drove home the point to me that the guys doing the fighting in WWII were just kids. Since finishing the A-20G a few weeks ago, I reduced my shelf of doom by 3 count. First, I finished the 1/32 Tamiya Zero I posted a couple pages back, then I pitched two other kits. One was the 1/32 Revell Mustang I bitched about (just a lovely, lovely, lovely kit), and the other was a 1/32 Trumpeter Hellcat that I'd hosed up beyond recovery trying to do some nifty mods to it. So, there you have it. I'm off to resume work on the SBD build. Good luck, all! Chuck_D fucked around with this message at 17:43 on Oct 1, 2023 |
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Oct 1, 2023 17:20
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Southern Heel posted:I was definitely considering whether it was better to get a kit which was easier but I don’t care about versus getting a kit that I do care about that might be impossible for my skill level! If Vanguard is going to give me the best chance then I feel slightly more comforted. Speedy is one level “lower” than the Sphinx so maybe a good shout! Speedy looks like a nice kit. You should be able to find a bunch of build logs on that kit at modelshipworld.com as well as maybe even interact with the owner of Vanguard (who designs all these kits) on that forum. I only did one kit before taking on a similar type of ship but an older and crappier kit (because Vanguard didn't exist) and I got a great result out of it, so if you are willing to put in the effort and have a lot of patience I'm sure you could do Speedy as a first wooden kit. Note that you can download the full instruction manual from the Speedy page on the website and actually go through it and see exactly what is involved in the assembly of the kit. Edit: I lied. I was thinking of Alert, not Speedy, but honestly the only thing Speedy is going to add is "more", not necessarily harder, than a single master like Alert. More guns to rig, more rigging and masts to build, etc. The Locator fucked around with this message at 19:11 on Oct 1, 2023 |
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Oct 1, 2023 19:04
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Here's my shelf of doom: I hope I'm not bending the rules too far having only one partially started kit, the Subaru Impreza WRC. The Savanna RX-7, Monkey 125, and Pinewood Derby kits have been hanging around the last year and change. The others were acquired this year, so I will channel my energy toward these older kits.
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Oct 1, 2023 21:40
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I’ll give it a go too, but the only partially built kits I have were bought that way. eBay special for the tools and workshop kit. I’ll be working on those, along with the garage diorama for my shelf. Beyond that I’ll be starting on the RX7, because it’s the kit I’ve had the longest and am the least excited to build.  
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Oct 1, 2023 22:34
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nitsuga posted:Here's my shelf of doom: My shelf of doom is a bunch of wood and a multi-volume set of books and plans. hehe.. Someday, maybe.. I'll get back to it, but not right now, life is too busy. Good luck to all you back-logger builders, have fun!
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Oct 1, 2023 23:18
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It's nice to see so many car kits so far in Bacglogtoberpalooza or whatever it's called. I personally only have 3 armor kits I'm working on right now in various stages 2 are in the paint stage one is in the assembly stage. So I don't know if that counts as a backlog but it's taking me forever to get through them.
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Oct 1, 2023 23:21
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I finished my first MaK kit last night. It will be eventually going into a diorama but the additional bits have not yet arrived quite yet so here we are. Paints are a mix of VGC/VMC/VMA and MIG Ammo-- the latter was a six paint Great War armour set that I picked up. This is the first camo scheme I have ever run through my airbrush as previously I used it mainly for doing large primer coats. I run an Iwata Revolution CR that I have had for years and it performed admirably. I did most of the painting at around 10-15 PSI, skewing lower for smaller patches of colour. Process was a tannish MIG base colour over a while VMA primer, followed by splotches of other MIG greens, browns and greys over top and occasionally another pass with a tan stripe here and there when I got carried away. I applied a Vallejo gloss coat ahead of adding decals (which are a mix of things from the kit and a Battletech sheet that I had kicking around), then a double matte coat to protect the decals ahead of weathering. 99% rubbing alcohol was applied sparingly to get the decals to set down evenly on surfaces where there were complex curves and it worked extremely well-- but if you go down this route do not fart around with it as it absolutely will soften and strip acrylic paints. Weathering was accomplished by stippling on patches of dark red (to simulate exposed primer) and dark silver with a piece of sponge, patches of orange rust added with grease pencil and smeared around a bit with a q-tip and then the entire thing was given a pass with different colours of dirt from a Tamiya weathering pigments set. This muted the camo scheme a bit and brought it all together. The Single Finger Salute was accomplished by modifying one of the hands that came with kit-- the middle finger was modified and reinforced with steel wire pins for the sake of durability. Overall, a very fun and silly kit to put together and paint and I will almost certainly be doing more of them going forward. I think this one is a recent re-release from Hasegawa and much like a lot of the Bandai or modern GW kits, it practically puts itself together.       As stated, it is the first piece of a small diorama. I may add a couple of things later on, chiefly some tally marks on the laser/gun arm but we shall see! For Backlogtoberfest:  These three in 54mm scale. L-R, Rifleman, 95th Rifles; Norman knight, early 12th century; Roman Signifer, 1st century AD. All cast in metal (probably tin/lead/antimony alloy, very soft and easy to work but tends to clog up files). All have been basecoated and given a shading wash before a white drybrush ahead of painting.
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Oct 1, 2023 23:41
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My shelf of doom is less a shelf of doom and things that I ran out of steam on when work got busy. All of them have the bodies complete with decals and clear coat (which I'm really good at getting to this stage of a build before shelving them). The Audi I'm waiting on decals for but is just about done. The Lancia I decided to scratch build piles of stuff for and got burnt out on. The Peugeot only stopped production because it needed clearcoating but the weather was poor all of last summer so it didn't happen. The longest standing kit is the Mazda which I wanted to add a pile of detail onto. It ended up shelved because it requires brain power which is sometimes in short supply (and there is a fear of messing it up). I might end up getting fresh decals for it because the fluro orange has faded along the way despite being stored inside mostly in its box for ages. I'm less afraid of messing up these days as I managed to get a second kit from the same person I bought the first one from. 
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Oct 2, 2023 02:41
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This will be a lot easier than I thought, then. I tend to finish my kits because of bloody-minded stubbornness, so I've only got three things hanging out in chunks. Unfortunately, the Tiger probably has more parts than the other two put together.
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Oct 2, 2023 04:16
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Geez - I've got a shelf of doom, a closet of doom, and some boxes in the attic of doom.
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Oct 2, 2023 17:53
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 Stash! The Felixstowe is unstarted. The Dekno kit is a DH89 Hornet Moth and the only resin kit I have, started but not got very far. The Vega and Wilga were started before I got them and I haven't done anything with them. The only reason I got the Wilga is because that's the plane that Nigel Farage crashed in and a diorama would be funny, but a lot of work so  . Apparently I keep buying Gee Bee Racers but not making them  'Early Birds' is a weird one, it's basically 3 framework kits that you put together and then cover with tissue. I always liked the idea but haven't touched them yet. I started the Angel Interceptor and was going to steampunk it up but lost interest at some point. And there's a Hi-Mock. I'm just finishing off an 'Airfix Vintage' Bond Bug, but I'll definitely pull out one of those next. Not sure which yet.
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Oct 2, 2023 18:10
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I’m not gonna throw in because I’ve got two half assembled kits on the table as it stands.
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Oct 2, 2023 22:22
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 I have an 'in progress'/'to-be-started' shelf at the side of my desk that desperately needs some space made on it, so here goes for Backlogtoberfest:  Dragon 1/700 HMS Trafalgar vs Oscar class sub, with a cute little Nimrod too - unsure whether to try and make some sort of diorama out of them (having both subs within earshot of each other like in the boxart seems unlikely but maybe the Oscar and the Nimrod?). Got as far as priming and sanding them down and got distracted last year.  Special Hobby 1/72 Armstrong Whitworth Meteor NF Mk 14, but I decided to complicate it for myself by trying to replicate a Ferranti radar test aircraft from the 50s. I was going to print my own decals then changed my mind and cut masks with a cricut so hopefully I'll get the chance to finish masking and spraying that this year.  Tamiya 1/72 BF109G6 I started in January then got scunnered with trying to spray the mottling, I think I've sprayed then removed the mottling three times now.  Revell SLT 50-3 'Elefant', Panzerhaubitze 2000 & Fennek - these have been sitting in a drawer for two years waiting for me to get my mojo back to finish off spraying the camo and doing final assembly. It looks like the running theme with my shelf queens is that I get bored halfway through painting them.
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Oct 2, 2023 22:30
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Sweet! We have a great mix of subjects. This ought to be really cool.
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Oct 2, 2023 23:29
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I didn’t include my stash cause they’re very much not shelf of doomed just yet and there’s only 4 kits in it atm. Started work on the Peugeot last night and am further along than I thought with only the interior and final body parts left before I can call it done.
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Oct 2, 2023 23:34
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I'm not affiliated with this guy or his website in any way. I'd never even heard of him before this morning when he posted pictures of the radial engine in one of the Facebook modeling groups I'm in. Absolutely jaw dropping work and worth a look: https://anyz.io/shop/gallery
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Oct 3, 2023 03:20
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Skunkduster posted:I'm not affiliated with this guy or his website in any way. I'd never even heard of him before this morning when he posted pictures of the radial engine in one of the Facebook modeling groups I'm in. Absolutely jaw dropping work and worth a look: Some amazing detail work shown in that gallery. Prices for all the little switches and stuff is pretty reasonable also. Of course shipping to the US would probably be stupid.
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Oct 3, 2023 04:37
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The Locator posted:Of course shipping to the US would probably be stupid. Looks like free worldwide shipping on orders over 50 euros and 6 euros for shipping on orders under 50.
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Oct 3, 2023 14:08
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tidal wave emulator posted:
I like the look of that one, nice scheme. Bond Bug!  Not my best effort, nostalgia build really of a kit that came out in 1973ish and only recently got reissued. It's a fibreglass british car from the 70s, you've probably seen (bits of) one before because they based Luke's landspeeder in Star Wars on its chassis. Anyway, I got that Felixstowe out again. The reason I've never started it isn't all the struts and rigging, it's how the wings are put together. The instructions look like this -  - which looks fairly straightforward; both top and bottom wings are in 3 pieces. The problem is that the wings look like this -  The wingspan is going to be about 15 inches but the wings are about a millimetre at their thickest, there's no slots, tabs, locating pins or anything. Normally with that sort of thing you can drill into both ends and put a bit of stiff wire or something in, but it's really thin and I don't know if I can do that. But I might as well give it a go.
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Oct 3, 2023 19:52
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Question for the thread: My younger brother is chain-smoking, tattoo covered welder. Just off of appearances, he is a scary looking individual. He is also an enormous fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation and has an abiding love for the Enterprise D. Any recommendations for kits for the Enterprise? I'm open to doing LED lighting to really let the deflector dish and warp nacelles pop. He's recently bought his own home and it is looking a little spartan so I would like to build a nice display model for him but want something that is not going to be utterly enormous.
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Oct 3, 2023 22:21
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best bet is probably the latest release of the AMT 1/1400 kit. comes out to about 18 inches long and its modelled in clear plastic to make lighting it easier https://www.scalemates.com/kits/amt-955-06-uss-enterprise-ncc-1701-d--1070447 that said the tooling is nearly 40 years old so expect lots of trim and fit work needing to be done
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Oct 3, 2023 22:39
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I built one of those, it’s the original grey plastic issue though. It’s an ideal display size and pretty accurate to the shooting model, which is not always true of AMT Star Trek kits. Shown here with a Polar Lights reissue of the AMT Enterprise C, which seems to be in around the same scale.  It’s a kit I built as a kid and later on stripped and rebuilt. I don’t remember where this aftermarket decal kit came from, the lifeboats are actually numbered!  I chucked out the stands that came with them and made my own out of 1/4 aluminum rod and wooden plaques.  starshipmodeler.com and culttvman.com have pages of galleries of people’s builds of these.
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Oct 4, 2023 02:48
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I have the original DS9 model in my unbuilt stack in the basement. I started on it but the thought of putting all that fiber optic was daunting. I also didn't (and still don't) have anywhere to put it.
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Oct 4, 2023 05:51
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