1/500 scale BANDAI Space Battleship Yamato 2199

[Captain Canada]

Huge ! Are you going to dirty it all up when it's done ?

[seadude]

Huge ! Are you going to dirty it all up when it's done ?

Weather it? I don't know. Maybe. Though I don't have any experience/skills when it comes to weathering models. I wouldn't know where/how to start. 

[seadude]

Not making much progress on the interior hangar expansion set, sadly. This is one of those things that I'm not sure how much I want to detail it simply because so much of it is hidden inside the SBY hull. And secondly, I'm stuck on painting it. 
See the below two pics. Notice the edges of the fighter pallets and how the edges look painted maybe some sort or brown, copper, or other color? I can't figure out the closest equivalent to a Testor or Tamiya color. It's got me going crazy.  Help?
And the planes are so small, almost more like 1/700 scale, I may have someone paint those for me instead as my eyesight wouldn't be good enough for that. So don't expect any progress on the fighter craft for a long time to come.
In other news........ordered 2 more MCB's. I hope those orders aren't cancelled on me like the last ones were. *prays*

[Captain Canada]

Love that rotary bay....the edge almost looks green, like army olive or olive drab.

[dumaniac]

yes the rotary bay makes sense

[zenrat]

yes, looks like Olive Drab to me too.

[seadude]

About those MCB's..........

Some of you already know that I plan to buy/use what are called Mechanical Chain Bases (MCB's) to create a dock/maintenance diorama for my SBY. They are originally intended for use with 1/100 or 1/144 Gundam robot kits. But could be used for other sci-fi kits/scenes if needed.



I plan to have a MCB diorama that is 4 bases long x 2 bases wide = 8 bases total to display my SBY.
I already have 5 bases.
1 more is already being shipped.
Another one was ordered today.
That only leaves one more left to order yet.

Now here's the problem with these MCB's:  Painting them.  I don't have an airbrush and my eyesight isn't good enough for airbrushing. Spray can painting might be ok, but there are too many nooks, small corners, and other tight spots where a spray can can't get to. Brush painting is the only alternative, but I worry about the huge amount of brush strokes that could be seen on the painted surface. Another alternative is to just leave the bases plain as is and be unpainted. Thoughts? Also, I bought the following to decorate the bases:
http://starshipmodeler.biz/shop/index.cfm/product/2383_188/generic-decals-no1-hazard-warning--caution-signage.html
............but the decals have a problem:

Nice art...but not opaque
by Timothy Fusco from Murfreesboro, TN on Sep 11, 2012

  I bought these for the scratch building I do. I applied a yellow warning stripe over a blue base coat and was disappointed to discover the inks used on these is a transparent ink...like one would find when printing decals on an inkjet printer. The yellow stripe became green. So, I would only advise using these on a white or very light colored subject.

Thoughts/opinions on using the decals?

[Sticky Fingers]

Lay two decals precisely over each other. Usually does the trick.
If you paint your MCB's white you might get away with just using one.

[Captain Canada]

Tough call. Leaving them the way they are might work out, but you'd have to detail it somehow to make it look more realistic. Maybe with decals and figures.

[seadude]

The MCB's might be another thing I might commission someone else to paint/decal for me. Not sure yet.

[sykotik]

looks good so far Seadude
In regards to your paint issue, I'd suggest you use a spray can, but decant some into a small jar using a straw over the nozzle and use that to paint the nooks and crannies with a brush. This way, you should also alleviate the brush marks that your concerned about as the paint is thin but will spread more evenly than using acrylics.

Don't be afraid to weather your ship. Using pigments is a good way to go because if you screw it up, you just use a wet rag to wipe it away and your back to the beginning again. There's plenty of info online on how to apply pigments. I've really only just begun using pigments myself (my BR-52 was my very first outing with them) and I'm quite surprised at how easy they are to use. The key is moderation and patience.

I hope some of the above helps

Si

[scooter]

I use rattle cans on my Nerf guns, and they're probably bout as bad as your MCBs when it comes to nooks and crannies.  The key, for me at least with them, is multiple coats from different angles, as seen below-

Nerf Centurion




Nerf Longstrike


The Centurion was worse, because it's bright orange and red, but I started with my primer and base coat of Krylon Ultraflat Sand, and proceeded from there, but even the Longstrike was pretty bad with the blue and orange.

[zenrat]

Ooooh, Nerfguns.
They'll be modified in areas other than the paint jobs?
The pressure restrictor in my longstrike accidentally fell out...

But yeah, rattle cans.  Light coats from different directions should see you OK on you bases seadude.

[Captain Canada]

Cool. We have some big ol' Nerf guns that could use a nice paint job !

[seadude]

Not much new to report. Work has proceeded well on the interior hangar expansion set I've been building. Though I have decided not to paint or decal some stuff due to how bad my eyesight is. The fighter craft will be especially "plain" as I can't paint all the tiny details on them. Sorry. It will be a long time before I have any pics ready as my comp hard drive has crashed yet again and it'll be awhile for my comp to get fixed.