Chronic's Research and Aeronautics Project (C.R.A.P.)

[TheChronicOne]

Masking more on the HAWK but I snapped the damn (one of) stabalizer off so It's being glue back on then I need to PSR is and hit with primer again.  All my fault... concentration slipped then I pretty much jammed it into my leg as I braced it for masking. WOOPS!   

SO... I stopped doing that and got back working on my F-84 of the Republic of Molossia! The current task at hand is to create some roundels and fin flash. I plan on it being somewhat of a U.S. style with the round part and "wings" (I saw the proper name for 'em the other day but already forgot). Instead of a star, I use upside down blue triangle and instead of RWB, I use the blue white and green of Molossia in the same order from top to bottom as their flag. This is what I have so far... 



I'll need to spray a bit of white paint onto the fuselage sides before I can mask the area off then paint NMF on the rest. Really, I just need to get two good circles because the "wings" of the roundels already are on a white background. I'll probably have a bit of white come off each side so there aren't any accidental gaps between the circular part and the "wings." Lucked on the actual wings as they will be painted white so no masking necessary, just apply the transfers! 

Still far to windy to be outside and still don't like the idea of trying to spray in the garage. I suppose I could simply hold the stuff and spray it in the air (in the garage).  Might just do that so painting soon, maybe?  Otherwise I may get starting on my cute lil Star Trek starships.     

In the meantime I think I'll stop and play around in MSPaint just a lil bit and whip up a facsimile of these roundels to see what they may look like all together. 

Cheers. 

[TheChronicOne]

Not exactly how it will be but pretty close and I think it looks well enough to "approve."  I was considering being lazy and having the round part be square so it's easier (?) to mask but I don't think it would look very good. This here is decent I think.

[TheChronicOne]

I've about had it with the camera on this phone. I know most of what is wrong is my lack of knowledge of proper use and settings but damn... I swear I don't remember this much difficulty in the past. OH WELL.    I did manage a pic but I'm not playing "paparazzi" tonight taking 85 thousand pictures to weed through to get to a good one.

I sprayed the rear half of the fuselage and the fin so I can mask for the white fin and white roundel border. Ever since Zenrat told me how to do the mist-wait technique my spraying of white has been pretty much flawless. It looks so nice, flat, and pretty! Almost a shame I have to cover about half or more up. Oh well, at least the main wings will have a nice big spread of it.  I just love white paint. This is $1 Wal Mart stuff, too.   

Just goes to show if you learn how to use it, sometimes even cheap stuff can be pretty good! (same thing for the black. Even though the cans are the same and say nothing about the finish, the white finishes gloss or semi gloss and the black finishes matte...  perfect in my mind although matte white would be killer, too, as an option.)

I'm getting off track, here's the work:



Now I want to mask the wings and get them painted.

Next order of business... I went to the Republic of Molossia Facebook page and shared the roundel I made, thanked them for the Christmas Card, and made short mention of the progress made. In short order the President himself arrived:

"Were we to have an Air Force, I have always favoured the Pegasus for its symbol."

And provided a pic of the sweet Mobil pegasus:



So now I'm thinking of trying to get my hands on some sort of pegasus transfers. *I asked if he had a color preference and he hasn't gotten back to me yet but It's pretty safe to assume one of the three Molossia colors and barring that, red just like this one. 

That's all for now I guess.

Thanks for stopping by. 



*EDIT:  hehe... this is fun. He got back to me and said blue or green on the pegasus. Now, I wonder, where one could be had? I'm positive some exist on automotive models like racing stuff, etc... but are there any in blue or green?

[TheChronicOne]

Moving on. I guess I have a bit of spare time, eh? Working on multiple projects! 

I trimmed the Romulan starship from the sprues then ever so lovingly used metal files then sand paper to address the points of removal (I used a pair of tiny dikes to clip the pieces but still leave a tiny bit of "left over"on the parts). I dry fitted the nacelles with the pylons they go onto; I saw a couple tiny spots needing cleaned up then did so, then dry fitted again to make sure they look ok. They do now... sweet! 

Next, I dry fit the top part of the hull to the bottom part.



Is this normal in tiny model stuff???  That seems like a TERRIBLE place to have a seam.

[TheChronicOne]

Good God...  "snap" fit. Sheesh. It took a good deal of force and prying to get the fuselage halves separated again. *There was a substantial step between them so I'm going to delete the guide pins and file down the female retaining slots so I can get the hull halves to fit better and more flush. I do believe this will save a good portion of the inevitable filling, filing, and sanding.

For something the size of a coin it may seem like too much work but I don't care... that's part of the challenge. In fact, it was sort of nice to use my needle files and hit something with a light touch for a change as I refined the trimmed parts.

With that, it's nearing on 10 PM here and I think I'll call it quits. I actually got a good deal of model work done today and it was fun! I worked on three different projects and advanced every one of them despite a set back with the U2. (I even managed to knock out a bunch of household chores, too, --so it was guilt free modeling!!!)

Until next time. 


*EDIT:   OK, I was just told that that ridiculous seam and step was accurate and intentional. OK!  looks like A$$ to me but I'll take it! Eliminates a ton of work...  We'll be keeping it. I guess I can go ahead and snap these pieces back together. They fit so well there's no need for glue. lol   

[TheChronicOne]

Ready to prime the pieces to my Romulan ship. 

Also, I'm monkeying about with my camera settings here. Not sure I've achieved much yet but I'm trying.

[TheChronicOne]

Just saw a funny out on the ol' Facebook. 

[Rick Lowe]

Har! Like that one.

WRT the Enterprise from that 3-set, it looks to be the same one from the 3-Enterprise set you could get at one time (Original, -A and -D) - this was before they offered them individually for a more expensive price...

WRT the Pegasus; if you're going to print your own decals, I'd just get the shape/size right and then use whatever colour you want when printing? JMHO.

I think 'Snap Fit' refers to when you try to take the test-fitted parts apart again...

[TheChronicOne]

Har! Like that one.

WRT the Enterprise from that 3-set, it looks to be the same one from the 3-Enterprise set you could get at one time (Original, -A and -D) - this was before they offered them individually for a more expensive price...

WRT the Pegasus; if you're going to print your own decals, I'd just get the shape/size right and then use whatever colour you want when printing? JMHO.

I think 'Snap Fit' refers to when you try to take the test-fitted parts apart again...

Hahaha!!!! Tell me 'bout it!! I was so scared.... The level of force I had to apply was bordering on, "I just know if I pry on this some more it's going to break." Thankfully, it gave (the proper)way.

Yeah, I do believe it is the same... they just subbed the other E ships for the alien ones. Works for me! I'd like to get ahold of that other one, too, though. I'd like a nice rack of 1/2500 Enterprise ships all the way through. I know ... uhh... AMT? Released a set with ALL the E's in it but I don't recall at what scale.

I don't print my own decals yet but plan to learn one day. I'm thinking most likely I won't be able to include a pegasus with this scheme no matter how much Mr. President wants one....   



Anyway!!! Yesterday I masked and painted the wings of the F-84 and started on the Romulan Warbird. Both glorious white. Finish on the F-84 could have been better but I'm happy with it. The finish on the Romulan ship looks fantastic. One more coat to sort of "fill in" around where the nacelles attach and I can let it sit a couple days then decal it. Quickest, easiest build ever??   

After that, I need to mask for or just "go for" the painting of the round bits at the front of the nacelles. Paint instructions call for "amber" so I grabbed "neon red"  (which looks orange to me, for sure)  red, and yellow and will try to mix them into something reasonable. I'd like to only partially mix the paints to leave streaks inside to represent a swirling motion like what is on the Enterprise. I'll have to check, first, to see if it is accurate or not. If not, I'll mix the paints well instead of having the streaky stuff.

[TheChronicOne]

OK, update photo of the wings. I got all the masking off. Some of the green on the tip tank came off but it looks "natural" and thankfully metal color was beneath. So... it looks fine!  This is what I get for painting acrylics on top of enamel and I don't even think I "roughed it up " first.

Anyway! The rest looks pretty decent:

[Rick Lowe]

The Enterprise Collection in Glorious 1/2500 are all available from Round2, but as I say- they've broken up the 3-sets into separate kits.
There are others now available; Reliant, Yorktown, Cardassian, etc.

http://round2corp.com/product/cadet-series-motion-picture-era-set/

http://round2corp.com/product/star-trek-adversary-set/

http://round2corp.com/product/star-trek-cadet-series-deep-space-9-3-ship-set-snap/


It seems I am mistaken:

http://round2corp.com/product/star-trek-u-s-s-enterprise-box-set-snap/

ALL OF THEM!

Dang, there are some interesting things on that website...

Anyhoo, hope this is of use.

[TheChronicOne]

That's it! I believe the person I saw mention it said it was $80 U.S.  I'll get one one of these days.   

Pro: they say the come with "display boxes."  I'd like to know just what that means..

Con:  "Pressure sensitive decals provide intricate surface details, pennants and registry letters without the need for water ...."    Sounds like BS talk for "stickers."

[zenrat]

Stickers or dry transfers if you ask me.

Interesting that it contains the Ambassador Class Enterprise C which was only seen in one episode of TNG.

[TheChronicOne]

Lil Romulan feller is pretty much done with the main painting stage.


Moved my picture taking to directly under the light source(you'd think this would be common sense but I truly am a pure rookie at picture taking) here in the room. Also, I manually selected the focus point.


Forgot to focus this time! Oh well, it's still a neat picture because it is a pretty nice angle as it were. Like she's flying past. 

Next I will paint the amber colored round bits at the front of the nacelles. I'm not sure how to approach it. I've half a mind to try to free hand it with my fine brush but I'd rather a clean line from what could be produced by masking. But, it's so damn small I don't know how to mask it...  A bunch of individual little pieces???  Use my cutting mat and circle stencil to knife out a ring made of masking tape??      The little half spheres are about half the size of a half of a marble or even smaller. This stuff is so tiny..

[TheChronicOne]

Stickers or dry transfers if you ask me.

Interesting that it contains the Ambassador Class Enterprise C which was only seen in one episode of TNG.

I love that one! Ambassador class is such a pretty ship.

I forgot about the dry transfer types. I remember using those on the little...damnit.. the little wooden blocks we made into cars to run on CO2. Rub 'em with a pencil or what not. 
I still have a sheet in fact, numbers, letters, punctuation marks and the like. Gold colored I think. I never considered using them on plastic models, though!