Moments of Zen

[TheChronicOne]

So, i've permanently moved in to my new home! 
I've checked in once in a while to see what you guys have been up to but little time for more has been left after working at work and at home.
Things have been slowly settling down, new habits, daily routines and the rest of the work it takes to get the house to proper living conditions.
Still much to go, lots of money to be spent but i've finally begun setting up my mancave.



Like the rest of the house, still a long way to go till it becomes what i i want it to be.
Just two desks with enough space for my stuff at the moment, still have to assemble the display cabinets i bought for the finished models, which are still in the boxes in which they were moved in.
I ended up choosing one of the rooms as the attic was deemed unfit for the purpose in its current status. The floor is unfinished, no insulation on the roof, or in short, it's completely bare. It will take some time and money for it to have reasonable conditions for a modelling room of any sort.
I've set up the desks i had back at my parents house and i've got the one on the right for the research and assembly area and on the left it will be the paint shop. This will be for now, i also want to either build or buy a nice paint booth so i can spray inside the room comfortably with any weather.
All i can say is that i'm hyped that i've got quite a nice space to work in.
I'm planning to get back to work on all my paused builds tomorrow morning. 2 Revell 1/72 F-16s, a Revell 1/72 F-4F Phnatom, a Monogram 1/48 Spitfire Mk IXc and the 1/72 Italeri AH-1T Cobra.

Magnificent!!!  It looks great, too!!!!     

After you knock down some of the backlog you ought to grab one of your most favorite kits and build it.... make a nice memory!! You can think back years from now how after you got settled in your house, you built such and such and it'll be your masterpiece build!     

[zenrat]

Second that.  First start to finish build in the new place.  Put it somewhere special.

[NARSES2]

Second that.  First start to finish build in the new place.  Put it somewhere special.

That's a great idea 

[DogfighterZen]

Magnificent!!!  It looks great, too!!!!     

After you knock down some of the backlog you ought to grab one of your most favorite kits and build it.... make a nice memory!! You can think back years from now how after you got settled in your house, you built such and such and it'll be your masterpiece build!     

Second that.  First start to finish build in the new place.  Put it somewhere special.

Second that.  First start to finish build in the new place.  Put it somewhere special.

That's a great idea 

Sure is, Chris! Thanks for the ideas, guys!
It seems like a good way to celebrate the beginning of this new phase... and i also like the idea of putting it somewhere special... but i thought that choosing one to build wouldn't be easy, quite a few in the favorite kits list... having a look at the stash on Scalemates just now but amazingly, only one has caught my attention for several reasons... but i'll hold the decision for after lunch, i like to make important decisions with a full stomach...

[NARSES2]

Why don't you get your "other half" to add a small part or one of the transfers to make it even more special ?

[zenrat]

Or let her choose which one to build.

Although that might risk revealing the size of the stash.

[Old Wombat]

Well done, young man!

There's always more to do on a new home, I've lived in mine for 18 years & barely scratched the surface!

SO, what you do is, take time to do things you enjoy & time will take care of the rest!

[DogfighterZen]

Why don't you get your "other half" to add a small part or one of the transfers to make it even more special ?

Or let her choose which one to build.

Although that might risk revealing the size of the stash.

Sounds good to me and she said she'd try!  Regarding the choice of model, luckily, i have no secrets with my lady, so i gave her a few options and she chose this...



Also, she wants it built real world cause she likes the scheme a lot, the colors and shark mouth won her heart... and i also love that scheme so, it's a real world build for this one. She'll be applying the rising suns on the tail and if she gets the hang of it, the shark mouth and a few more.
So, i guess i'd better get my stuff organized to start modelling again.

Well done, young man!

There's always more to do on a new home, I've lived in mine for 18 years & barely scratched the surface!

SO, what you do is, take time to do things you enjoy & time will take care of the rest!

Will do, Master Wombat! Thank you!!

[TheChronicOne]

Dude, she rocks!!!  I'm definitely a fan and for all the same reasons. Much glorious camo, super most fantastic airplane, much spiky and wee! 

[DogfighterZen]

Dude, she rocks!!!  I'm definitely a fan and for all the same reasons. Much glorious camo, super most fantastic airplane, much spiky and wee! 

This is one of the real world planes i'm gonna enjoy building cause the F-5 is one of my favorite planes and the scheme is glorious indeed.
It's also going to be another colorful plane compared to the rest of my builds but still sober enough for my taste... and it has a shark mouth, enough said.

But still, i don't want to leave the rest of the paused builds behind for too long, i'll try to do a bit on each model on every session.
The Phantom is ready for some more weathering, the F-16 pair is at its early construction stages, the Spitfire needs some work on seams and the canopy masked before some paint.
The AH-1T Cobra will be left aside, though. I've only cut some parts of the sprues so it'll wait till i finish, at least, one of the others.

I've been looking at the F-5F's sprues and there is quite a bit of flash to clean up but it's a typical raised panel line kit so i'll have to be extra careful sanding the seams and cleaning flash...
And, because my Lady said it should be displayed in the living room instead of the room, we've also made the decision to build it in flight and put it up on a proper stand, unlike the rest of the in-flight models i've built so far.
Because of that decision, i've just ordered a set of Hasegawa 1/48 USAF pilots and ground crew, and to take advantage of cheaper shipping costs, i also bought a set of 1/48 US air to air missiles and targeting pods for some of the 1/48 kits that might lack some good go get'em sticks and laser guided boom bags...
The pilots will be for other projects too but i bought them because of this build as there's only one standing pilot in this kit and i have no other pilot figures of 1/48 scale that i can use on this kit.
After an afternoon spent going through the stash and getting all my modelling tools, products and paints sorted and at hand, i've got everything set to get back to work...

[DogfighterZen]

After another month, things are now settling down in my new home. Got the internet and TV service installed and a bunch of other things done and still had some time to play with plastic.
No whiffing, though. The only whiff i've got going at the moment is the PoAF F-4F Phantom and i'm lacking the oil paints i wanted to use for weathering it a bit more. Never tried that type of stuff so why not on this one, right?
The Monogram F-5F... all i can say is that it's been interesting, so far... i've made a few changes to the initial plan of displaying it in flight mode cause the rear canopy doesn't fit very well so, i'll put it on a base with the kit's figure and maybe one or two from the Hasegawa US ground crew and pilot set i've recently bought.
Also engraved the panel lines as i figured i'd end up losing most of them with all the PSR i'll have to do on almost every seam... Didn't do a very good job of it but i think it's better than having half of the raised lines sanded away. Anyway, after that, i've painted the cockpit tub and today i've closed it inside the fuselage halves. Went as far as assembling the vertical stab and dorsal antenna, wing fences, intakes, exhausts and nose... and spiky it is...



Will have some fun with the intakes, that's for sure...



Now, i admit i love the size of the 1/48 scale aircraft but they take up so much space... good thing i don't have many, only 25, just a quarter of my 1/72 stash.

Plans for tomorrow include using the Deluxe PPP for the F-5's and also the Spitfire's seams but i may have to use some sheet styrene and old tamiya grey putty on some of the gaps i have to deal with.

[TheChronicOne]

Why is it always the damn intakes?!?! 



Shame about that rear canopy fitment. But, you made the wise choice. Sometimes trying "re-adjust" that whole area as akin chasing a purple dragon.

[zenrat]

Why is it always the damn intakes?!?! 



...

Are they any worse?  Could it be that they just look worse because they are so f****n obvious sticking out there like sore thumbs.

[TheChronicOne]

It's not the look this time, it's the fitment. There's a bigass gap there and the top side even looks to have a step and is mis-aligned. At least, that's what I'm assuming is the issue from the picture. DFZ may need to elaborate.

[zenrat]

I meant the fitment.  I have no idea if they look right.
How's the fit  between the wings and fuselage halves on the underneath DFZ?  That's usually another place that stuff doesn't fit.  It is however hidden out of sight whereas those intakes are right there in your face teasing and giving you the finger.