WIP’s
What you see on this page is a compilation of all posts based on works in progress I’ve had on various models. You know, in case you don’t want to skip all over the place reading them.
Aoshima 1/24 Toyota RAV4 L “Exciting Tuning Vehicle”
September 20th, 2008 – September 29th, 2008
1. This is what’s best described as a ‘kit long time coming’. I got it quite a few years back from someone as a birthday present, and I recently dug it back up to try my hand at modeling cars for a change. I did some searches on the Internet, and I realized that it wasn’t much different from Gundam modeling, except for painting the main body. The first speedbump I encountered was that there wasn’t an instruction manual, but I still managed to dryfit most of the chassis and interior parts correctly:
(The RAV4 in the background’s a pullback toy, used as ‘reference’ and ‘moral support’). I also primed the main body, and let it dry in a dust free environment (an old candy container from Costco).
I plan to paint the car in reference to it’s ‘Prussian Red Pearl’, so I got the closest match I could find: Testors Purple Metal Flake enamel. It’s my first time using enamel paints (I usually use lacquers), so I searched around a bit and found enamels take some time to dry. After a day or two for the primer to harden, I’ll go mist a couple of coats on and see what to do from there. Until then!
2. Body is now fully painted. I misted 2 coats at intervals of 15 minutes each, then I sprayed 3 wet coats, an apart hour each. I also tried heating the can in warm water first, as I’ve heard that helps the paint flow. I’m pretty pleased with the results, but there is a bit of orange peel on the hood. I’ll probably sand it down after I clearcoat it.
I also sprayed the base of flat black onto the chassis plate and did a wash on the rims so they don’t look so shiny and toylike.
So far, so good.
3. Today I masked off most of the black areas on the chassis and painted the rest of the parts purple. Then I took my weathering kit (consisting of pastels, Tamiya Weathering Master, Tamiya Weathering Stick, some old pencil crayons, and Gundam Markers) and weathered the chassis until I felt satisfied. The idea is a car that’s been used for a while, but the owner still cleans the body regularly.
Before (left) and after (right). While doing the chassis, I also painted the brake discs and did the foglights.
So, with a dryfit, this is where I stand right now (I also clearcoated the body).
About halfway, wouldn’t you agree?
4. As Murphy’s Law would have it, something was bound to happen to my project. It was going too smoothly, see. And today, it happened. I was putting the finishing touches on the rooftop rack I scratchbuilt from sheet styrene when I accidentally knocked over my bottle of glue, right onto my model’s body. That left a nice little blotch of messed-up paint and bodywork, so I had to sand the paint down, then rescribe some panel lines. I also masked and painted the inside of the windows with German Grey.
Here you can see the styrene rack.
Also, instead of completely stripping the paint on the bodywork, I opted to simply mask off most of the car with Tamiya masking tape and some old magazine pages. In the picture, you can see the reprimed bodyside. Let’s hope that’s the full extent of bad news from this kit.
5. After lots of swearing, Tamiya masking tape, and cuts on my finger (thanks to a sharp hobby knife), the body was masked and prepped for the black bodytrim painting.
As you might’ve noticed, my Space Marine has become something of a mascot for my posts.
Next up, the unveiling, polishing, and waxing.
6. For polishing the body of the model, I employed the use of something I have actually never used. Tamiya Polishing Compounds!
That’s all for today (short update today…).
Tamiya 1/24 Honda S2000 Hardtop
September 30th, 2008 -
1. After I finish with the Aoshima, I plan to begin work on my other ‘standby’ kit, a Tamiya Honda S2000. I can;t really decide on the colour yet. But I’m thinking Racing White.
2. Today I just took out and cleaned up most of the parts. Most of the parts have their flash sanded off, etc. From what I see so far, this is typical Tamiya quality. Barely any mold lines, almost no flash, and most injection marks are hidden in places not seen. Only downside is that this kit is curbside. Oh well.
The individual sprues:
2. Today, I basically finished the interior of the car. First, I sprayed a base coat of flat white, followed by a coat of flat red. Then I masked off the appropriate parts and sprayed semi-gloss black. I followed that with a black wash along all the parts. I then used Gundam Markers for the steering wheel and central panel. I even did the decals.
I also masked off the windshield and sprayed flat black on both sides of the windshield, and basecoated the underbody, and began masking it off for the next colour.
3. So, I decided on a yellow colour for the body, instead of the original white. I masked off most of the black parts from the chassis (I sprayed it flat black last time, if you recall) and sprayed yellow on it. The masking was a pain in the buttocks (especially the main fuel tank), by the way.
After that, I handbrushed the main driveshaft, transmission, and exhaust system using various Tamiya lacquers, then applied various washes and drybrushing for weathering along the chassis.
I actually think it turned out really well. Sorry for the bad photos, but I forgot to turn on Macro and adjust the ISO accordingly.
I also applied a wash with flat black before drybrushing the rims with Tamiya Titanium Gold. Here you can see a before/ after comparison. I think I did a pretty good job eliminating the ‘plastic’ feel of the stock rims pretty well. Oh yeah, I painted the brakes and their calipers, too.
And right behind the chassis, you can see the upturned body of the S2000 (I was about to attach it to a stand for priming), my old Gelgoog model, and my 1:18 Chaparral 2E in the back.
4. Well, the epic mistake for my S2000 (since there’s always an epic mistake in all models I’ve ever made in my life) was that I didn’t close the lid on my airbrush’s feed can properly, so when I started spraying the body, it leaked a few drops onto the body of the S2000. As you may have guessed, I was pretty pissed.
So I had to sand it down, reprime, wait another day (or two), then respray the entire body. Here in this picture, you can see the body after it’s been sanded down and ready for its new coat of primer.
Progress is delayed, once again.
D:
5. Finally reprimed and repainted the body. After waiting a while for the paint to gas out, I went on and polished it using good old Tamiya compound and wax. And I have to say, it really made a difference this time. The body looks really, really shiny.
For a unpolished body, the paint went on pretty shiny, abeit with some orange peel.
And here’s the body after polishing. The colour even looks more vibrant polished.
Again, this is before polishing. Here you can clearly see some blemishing and orange peel.
And after. I am really pleased with the results. However, the body got hit with some slight overspray, so there are a few random red dots on the front end of the bodywork. Oh well. Maybe next time.
Though not 100% perfect, I am still very pleased with the results. I waxed the body a couple of more times after these pictures were taken, so it looks even better in real life.
6. Small update – Got most of the front fascia done: just missing the headlight lenses. I also finished painting the front two wheels (they weren’t painted the last update). Also got the front suspension mounted for good. I’ll mask and prep it for trim, which I’ll use Semi-Gloss Black on.
I did the headlights by spraying it flat black, then using my hobby knife to stripe off the black paint to ‘expose’ the chrome underneath (which saved me from having to pick up a paintbrush <_<).
6.5. I got the headlight lenses installed and painted the rear lights. I’ll get the third brake light painted and installed by tomorrow. Then it’s masking mania time.
Here you can clearly see I neglected to sand and polish the front bumper. I didn’t even notice until I saw this picture. So I guess it’s time to get out the compound.
I painted the rear lights using Gundam Markers (black and chrome markers), and for the red parts, I just used a red Sharpie. Yes, I know the rear fender’s messed up. That’s just what I get for rubbing too hard with the compound. Oh well, lesson learnt.
And a side profile:
The car’s gradually taking shape.
Master Grade 1:100 Strike Gundam Rouge
October 19th – October 26th
1. Anyways, I decided to start this kit, since it’s been stored in my basement for about a year now, and I happened to have the paints needed for this job. Also, a friend gave me his almost-complete-and-unpainted Strike Gundam (which is the same, save for the colour) as a donor kit. I plan for a basic OOB build, with whatever inspiration I’m suddenly struck by to just fall in.
Since I was lazy, I just noticed how I neglected to sand the front frame-thing properly, so now there’s a bit of ugly sprue sticking out. So, in the 5 minutes of progress it has so far, I built most of the torso, and I plan to at least complete the head today.
If you look closely, you’ll se the bottom section (which won’t be seen anyways) was undersprayed.
I gave the parts that were completed a German Gray wash, since black will be a bit to obvious.
Since it’s still the 19th, so it can’t really be a new update, can it? So, anyways, I finished the head and one of its shoulders. I also got the shield done. And, as I’m building this thing, I can’t help but notice how girly it is. I sincerely hope that this thing is supposed to be used by a woman.
(Later) Anyways, I fixed the earlier underspray problem on the torso, and did the decals. I took a bit of creative license and put one of the ‘Kusanagi’ decals on the torso. After a long time, I managed to apply it properly, over the curve and the little fold down the middle. All in all, I think it looks great.
Yeah, yeah, camera handshake.
After some Mark Setter on the decal, it looks almost like it’s printed on. I like it.
I’d just like to point out how that ‘Kusanagi’ sticker is put over an angled surface. It’s very hard, I assure you. Also, although it’s impossible to show with photos, the pink parts are all sprayed with pink pearl. I looks really, uh, pretty in real life.
2. Well, I (almost) finished the waist unit and decaled it today. It should be noted that my Honda S2000 project isn’t abandoned. Just put on hold, since a certain somebody wants me to get this done, after so long.
And here’s the picture of the pearl effect, as promised. It’s really, really, really hard to photograph…
Right at the caption, there, you see some pink sparkles? That’s the pearl effect. Now imagine it throughout all the pink parts, wherever the light hits. It’s pretty (in real life). Too bad it doesn’t looks as good in the photo.
3. Really small update this time, but I finished completely applying the decals on the body. I’ll seal these with a topcoat soon. This is going exactly as planned, but I can’t help but feel the decals creating a sort of a ‘cluttered’ feeling around the body.
I like the way the lighting plays with the next shot.
As I just found out, there’s some underspray on the inside portion of the shoulder pad I’ll have to fix.
Dryfit: For the fun of it, and to see what the kit will approximately look like when completed, I took the donor kit’s completed legs, rifle, and right arm and put it onto my version’s body.
I have no idea what my friend has tried to do with the body, but to put it briefly, it’s a beginner’s kit, basically. Sprue marks, seamlines, you name it. It looks like he tried to paint the right leg or something, too. And as you can see, the left foot is missing. Aside from that, Rouge has a sort of a cool stance. It looks ‘lean and mean’. I would’ve put the Aile Striker on it too, but it seems my buddeh has broken the male connectors.
The head is still lacking something, though I can’t put my finger on it. It just looks…not as well-constructed as the rest of the kit so far. Oh well. It could be the cheap-o-rama foil sticker eyes that I was too lazy to paint. We’ll see.
4. Today I painted and assembled the leg. The usual pink pearl paint and Alclad Aluminum was used.
Tomorrow I’ll do the other leg, and maybe the arm. Either way, I think I can finish this before Monday. And the seam in the circly thing in the ankles was corrected after the photos were taken.
The total time it took for the legs was a measly half hour. These pictures were taken about 15 minutes apart.
Master Grade 1:100 Gelgoog Version 2.0
November 5th -
1.Using a spare Zaku shield and spikes from Kämpfer, I made the ‘knuckle’ shield today. A really simple mod, that any dumb modeler with a pin vise can do. Still, I feel strangely gratified.
1.5
More drilling today, and I fitted the handle on the knuckle shield. The entire assembly is unsanded and stuff, which is why it looks so crappy. I’ll sand down the nubs and slap on a primer coat soon. But first, I plan to at least get started on the mobile suit itself.
High Grade 1:144 Astrea Gundam (Exia Gundam Conversion) (Coming soon)
