Dragline

That is most excellent...

Couple of in progress shots.

I am watching that Briz. it's coming along nicely.

Those SAFS kits are Ma.K. or Maschinen Kreiger. Very cool and are perfect for weathering and other Military techniques. If this was not a cell phone pic you'd see that I went kinda hog wild on the weathering and chipping. I'm just glad Jimmy digs it.

I'll chime in here. I recommend a compressor with a tank. The small type generally pulse a lot and give an uneven finish. If it has a tank then that is what you want. Look on Amazon. I got my Master airbrush kit with compressor and brush and that brush has been great. I have a couple of higher end ones so I can use one for primers and base coats and the others for fine work, But to start out with this kit was great. 3 tips and needles so it could handle all the jobs I was getting it for and the price was excellent. If you have 100 or so to spend you will get something decent.

I use acrylics a lot in my own Military and I can say that clear finishes are used on every build. Whether it's to weather and do a wash a flat or stain finish is often laid down to seperate layers as weathering proceeds. I've also used gloss clear over flat black to create the smoothest black paint job I ever laid down. It works.

My old Comic Book shows partner Jimmy is a monster Star Wars fan. So when he showed this old kit in his collection I was intrigued. Every part was off the tree, the decals were iffy at best and the box was shot. I said Hey, why don't I build that for you." He has since bought a nice minty kit for his collection. Skip ahead a year and a half and here we are. Jim came to pick it up the other day and he was thrilled. I am too. It was fun and considering its age it still is a decent kit. The pilot figure could be better and there a few other small items, but overall it's a cool kit. I did quite a bit of space junk and chipping. I masked and sprayed all the red marking as not only were the decals shot they are thicker than heck. I sprayed em with clearcoat to see if I could use them but they we just not very good. Since the patterns are all right angles masking was a synch. It was fun.

Lotta work turning into A VERY cool ride. Well done.

My limited knowledge is that 1/24 is standard outside of the US, and 1/25 is an American thing. I have no preference and display them together. There are other who feel it is asthetically unpleasent. Then, there are scale bigots who will not buy 1/24 in some sort of protest or solidarity. I see no other reasons why they would boycott the scale. Perhaps they will chime in with their particular reasons. 1/24 offers a wider world in kits so why limit yourself since the size difference [for me] is negligable. Although parts don't usually swap between the scales, it can be done if you are clever. Then there is the whole Monogram/Revell thing. Which I'm not sure really is a thing, but there are examples of the dislike here and there. Hope this confuses it more.

Ridonkulous!!!

Very clever and executed particularly well. I'm digging this a LOT.

There's another forum? Nice build.

Whomever built that fish market should be very proud. That thing is a masterpiece.

The best matches are Tamiya French Blue and Fourescent red. Over white primer they are a dead ringer for the Petty colors.

I've seen excellent Future finishes that were polished with [get this] DRYER sheets. You could always dip it into a light ammonia mix and it will all come off and go at it another way.

You probably did a couple of things here. The top coat might be a tad thick. When you wet the topcoat it goes through to the hairspray which then becomes soluble and allows the chipping. IMO chipping fluids work better but water based hairspray does work well. Your result isn't terrible, just not as good as you hoped and it needs to be worked more. I'd let the water sit on it [perhaps a bit warm] for a bit before trying again to see if you can get the medium layer to start loosening. I've used hairspray with good results but have switched to chipping fluids from both Vallejo and Mig Ammo. They have varying levels of effect from heavy to mild. This example is certainly not a wash, it just needs to be worked a bit more. Keep working it.

Where have I been? Dagnabit if that isn't some fine work right there..... Always great to see you killin it Big J.

Those Bees really set off the cheesiness.

This is such a great kit. I'm loving the lighting. Watching and learning.

I'd buy several...

Great looking stuff all of you guys, I'll put my sickness up later tonight when I get home,.

Unreal stuff. Just superb.

Still lots more to do and for some reason the blues aren't showing up in the light I shot this in. There's a lot more blue and variation than this photo seems to show. There is also color modulation that's not showing and it seems darker in spots. No worries, in the light of day it looks better. Still have to airbrush the engine grime and that will be later tonight. I also have some dark gray powder to finish off the engine grime but that will be at the very end and then fixed with a pigment fixer. Just thought to share. Bob

I usually spout about client builds but never post them. Most don't wish them to be seen outside their control and I respect that. However, this client didn't care and will probably post it a million times on Sci Fi websites and especially Star Wars fan sites. I asked if i could post some progress and they were all giddy so I'm posting it here. Quite a few newer techniques for me here and it has quite a way to go but the top is shaping up quite nicely. This is the MPC kit and I have some resin extras to go on as well as figures to paint for the ground. We are negotiating a Mos Eisley diorama for it to sit in. I'm hooked on this build and bought a Fine Molds Falcon for myself. I almost commisioned the Fine Nolds but didn't feel i could deliver on time so I passed. If I have one already done it will probably sell quickly but that's faaaaar down the road, should I live so long.

I would be good...